My blog year in review

This has been the most amazing year of changes for me. It started with me working as a part time IT technician working in East Sussex schools whilst trying to balance single parenting 2 children and coping with sorting out the family home. Looking back to January I was hoping to get in shape for my big 40th birthday in October and read 100 Books over the year. Well I failed at the first and I'm not sure if I managed with the latter! I also tried my hand at Sleep is for the Weak's Writing Workshop.

I then had to decide in February whether or not to stay in Hastings or to move up to Kendal and in either case prepare to move to somewhere smaller. This downsizing operation took many months and required plenty of help from my fabulous friends and family. In March I had my first Guest Post from My Baby Adventure, I think this is a lovely way to add a new dimension to your blog. Another first that month was my Gallery post which I have found a fun challenge this year.



During April I joined the Secret Post Club as a way of getting a nice surprise every month. It was also when I lost my grandfather and found a new home in Kendal. Altogether a roller coaster month!

My first product review was in May when we tried the England Football cake. A post I did that month on pigeon holing children was somehow picked up by a feminist website and has become my most popular post ever! It was in June when I did a few posts about days out with children, this included my Legoland Survival Guide which I wrote after I won a family day out there. I also signed up to Lottie's Finishing School but never completed the course!


July was another emotional month with my daughter regularly asking for a new daddy and not happy about moving away from all she had known in Hastings. But we went ahead as planned with the children moving up to their grandparents' house at the end of the month. 

There wasn't much on the blog in August with moving in to our new home. In September we started to discover lots of the fun things there are to do in Cumbria such as Mintfest, Westmorland County Show and Low Sizergh Barn. It was also the month I demonstrated my lack of domestic goddess status with How Not To Cook Like My Daddy Cooks (my 3rd most popular post!).


With my 40th birthday taking place October was a busy month. My daughter was showing the strain of settling in to a new town and new school. It was a lovely month for being out exploring the surrounding areas of Windermere and Gowbarrow. November was a interesting mix with my children having one of those conversations which should never happen to a mum. My son's 4th birthday was celebrated with a trip to see Thomas the Tank Engine. We also went on our first single parent holiday with a snowy trip to Derbyshire.

Most of my December posts were for Cafe Bebe's Countdown to Christmas. I also managed to escape for spa day at the Low Wood thanks to a lovely 40th birthday present. It was this month that my blog gave me a few minutes of fame as I was live on BBC Radio Cumbria and will be on again pre-recorded in the first week of January!!


I hope you have enjoyed my blog this year and it will be interesting to see how it develops over the next 12 months as my life moves on in Cumbria.