Nourish Your Life The Brocante Way
Where I Am At
So there I was charging along on my treadmill, doing a little giddy dance inside my head as I reached my personal best without having a coronary, while merrily listening to a rather strange book. Yup right there in that moment, all…
The Put Alison Back Together Plan
People are so very kind. It simply never ceases to astonish me how when my world falls down in this way, so many step in to cradle me with concern, wanting so very much to understand and being careful with their opinions…
Left/Bereft
I cried in TK Maxx yesterday, I stood in front of a chenille pink flamingo baby rocker – of all things – and suddenly I was balling. In public! Not tucked away in my bedroom hiding my sadness from the rest of…
Keeping My Hands and Heart Busy
Things are really rather sad here, as Ste’s mental health issues have once again come a-calling and he has moved to his Mum’s and emailed to tell me that he is never coming home again. Heckity pie the hits just keep on…
The Slow Scrub Challenge at BrocanteMe
How does your house feel right now? Have you managed to squeeze in a Spring clean yet? Is it feeling as fresh as a daisy ready for all the lovely chaos of Summertime? No? Mine neither. In fact after a looong Winter,…
The Scooby Doo Solution
One of the things that is ridiculous about me (and trust me I am positively abundant in ridiculousity) is my quiet passion for Scooby Doo. In fact sometimes when I am wandering the house wearing my woman on the verge face, a…
BrocanteMe is Now Open!
Today I am thrilled to announce that our lovely new UPGRADED community is finally open and I am here to invite you all inside! Membership is free for all, with access to The Common Room, our lovely BookClub and some gorgeous daily…
Goal Setting for Homemakers
We are living in weird times aren’t we? Most of us have grown up in an era when life felt relatively stable and our sense of self and purpose was clearly defined by personal history, values and gentle ambition for ourselves and…
How Focus Was Lost
I do believe I have just two modes: serene and swanlike or completely off my head. And honestly, completely off my head seems to be the way I’m rolling through most of my days at the moment. It isn’t pretty. I try…
An Ursula Bloom Season
The Easter holiday is almost upon us and in my house that means I will be inundated with boys lounging around the place, which calls, I think you will agree, for a bookish antidote in the form of the frivolous lovely I…
Cath Kidston Pyjamas
I used to work for a lady called Sara. I was young, living in my first flat and she had just bought a beautiful barn she wanted me to decorate with hand-painted soldiers marching around her walls and multiplication tables in her…
Housekeeper’s Diary
It is March. And I am fifty. Two things that strike me as quite impossible for wasn’t it Christmas just yesterday. And surely I am just twenty-eight? Time, my sister tells me, doesn’t exist, so therefore yes, I declare myself under thirty…