I had my first baby at the age of 24, so going into pregnancy twelve years later at 36 I really didn’t know what to expect. Except for believing the (incorrect) trope that, as I was over the age of 35, I’d be called a ‘geriatric’ mother. Nope – we now call it ‘advanced maternal age’, presumably because the term ‘geriatric’ is not particularly flattering, and you’re now only considered high-risk as such when you’re 40+. So, in medical terms, going into pregnancy at 36 is no different to your twenties.  From a lifestyle perspective it was a whole new world. I was 12 years further into my c ..read more

In my opinion, orzo is risotto’s much better, bigger sister. It tastes better – when does pasta not taste good? – is ready in 7-9 minutes versus the untenable wrist-aching 30 minutes of its ricey relative, and unless you want to create a big sauce to go with it you won’t find it going all stodgy, claggy, or porridge-like as risotto sometimes can. I don’t know why, as it’s easier to work with, but orzo also gives me the feeling of being a bit more cheffy than if I’m cooking risotto. Maybe because it’s not as common to cook with (my v scientific research, i.e. a Google for ‘Orzo Recipes’ yields ..read more

It feels fitting somehow that I started this blog when I was pregnant with my first child, and I resurrect it 13 years later carrying my third. Less fitting, perhaps, that the rest of the world is divulging into Substacks and TikToks, yet I’m returning to long-form web publishing. Who knows, perhaps I’ll be seen as that trendy one who prefers vinyl over digital – only my vinyl is WordPress and a QWERTY keyboard. (Although, having just typed the word ‘trendy’, I highly doubt that to be true). I can pinpoint the time my blog, and life, to a degree, came crashing down – for one reason or another ..read more

I’ve always admired the brilliant Gayle Mansfield from afar (i.e., from Instagram ;). She’s an artist, owner of the lovely Gayle Mansfield Designs, and has the most incredible aesthetic in her home: think the most stylish open plan Scandi with touches of texture, greenery and exposed brickwork. It’s pretty much an interiors dream in her period Worthing property. Her house truly has been a labour of love for Gayle and her partner, and I wanted to hear all about its transformation. Read on to find out about knocking out walls after walls after walls… Credit: Images © Fiona Walker-Arnott www ..read more

One of my most favourite people on the internet, and perhaps the world, is Vickie of INPO Life. She’s everything that makes me smile: warm, caring, funny and not afraid to have a good time. Oh yes, Vickie is one of those women who makes you think, hell yeah, I could drink a whole lot of Prosecco with you. I’ve long admired Vickie’s aesthetic as the inceptor of gorgeous art brand Just A Line. Her prints and cards have adorned some of the loveliest homes around (including mine, natch) and are as heartwarming as she is. Vickie’s is a family of 6, and I’m always intrigued how she remains so stylis ..read more

There’s nothing bolder than a house that embraces the cosiness of a dark wall and floor alongside colour and panache, and that’s exactly why I asked Kelly, owner of Folk Public Relations in Bristol, to share her amazing home. Kelly moved with her family to the west country from London three years ago and has truly placed her bright-slash-modern-slash-midcentury-slash-Scandi influences on her eclectic family home. It’s an absolute feast for the eyes: from the neon light to the gorgeous sofa (I’m thinking of starting an unusually-coloured sofa fan club ;) to the incredible wallpap ..read more

One of the most common misconceptions I find about life with kids is that they’re a nightmare to travel with.  You know what I mean: you spend nights before your holidays tossing and turning imagining worst-case scenarios –  tantrums in airports, mislaid suitcases, disrupted flights. But I’ve flown with my children plenty of times, and in my experience the expectation is always much worse than the reality. It really is never as bad as you think it’s going to be,  though when it does go wrong the only thing you can do is man up, get on with it and laugh at the situation. Take a flight I was on ..read more

One of my very favourite online videos – because, let’s be honest, I have many favourite online videos – is one where two seventeen-year-olds are challenged to dial a phone number on a rotary phone in four minutes. I won’t spoil the suprise of how hideously difficult they find it (because of course, they find it hideously difficult), but the struggle of the teenagers to manage something that less than two decades ago was totally normal is really quite illuminating. I mean, have you ever thought about how baffling it must be for our own young kids when we tell them to ‘hang up the phone’? Grant ..read more

It’s 10am and I’m still in bed, with a woolly jumper-clad 9 year old next to me. It’s not that we’re lazy, though actually, we are kind of lazy on Saturdays ;). But that it’s FREEZING: and getting up out of bed this morning means facing the chill – it’s one degree, people, ONE DEGREE – and quite frankly, I don’t want to get all cold and whiny. Because you know the two go hand-in-hand. The one thing that makes the chill slightly more bearable is FOOD. Warm lovely food. Soups, casseroles, steaming bowls of pasta. Anything that makes you feel like you’re getting hugged from the inside-out. YES PL ..read more

After my much-thumbed Instagram, Rightmove is the most-used app on my phone. I spend hours, absolutely hours, combing through houses I will never live in located in places I will never visit. There’s just nothing like a snoop inside the lives other people lead, and I adore trying their homes on briefly, like window shopping six-inch heels I’ll never wear, or perusing bakeries for cakes I’ll never eat (anyone else do this?!). So when RightMove wanted to come and have a look around our home themselves, and have a chat with me about the journey to our rented house, The Old Post Office, I was th ..read more