January started off with lots of snowy walks and trying to get back in to work mode. I’m not one for resolutions but I do set some goals & I didn’t want to set ones that were unrealistic so I just wanted to focus on finding a place to call home!
February was all about my health, I eat a plant based diet and have done for 3 years, ever since my dad had a stroke. I wanted to be healthier and focus on what I ate and where my food was coming from so becoming plant based felt natural and like I was in control of at least one aspect of my life. I never really followed recipe books but I found I was eating the same meals on rotation so decided to buy a few Vegan specific cookbooks to inspire me to be a little more adventurous in the kitchen & it worked. I bought Deliciously Ella & Keep it Vegan.
March saw us on the road & spending some time in Scotland with my family, we are lucky that we are self employed and can work from anywhere. We often pack up the car and head north of the border for weeks on end. We always pay a visit to St Andrews when we’re up that way. Its just so beautiful and even though its small I love to walk the cobbled narrow streets and we always end up on the beach as the sun sets. Its such a romantic place.
Much of April was also spent in Scotland as my brother was in Mexico so I helped look after my dad and got to spend time with him and be part of his on going recovery. I try to spend time with my niece Alyvia when I am in Scotland too as she is growing up so fast.
May saw us in Liverpool quite a few times and I went to Uni there back in 2001 so its nice to see how much it has changed. I love visiting Central Perk when I’m there, its always a mission trying to get the sofa.
June was all about camping in Cornwall and realising after a few attempts over the years at being campists I’m just not cut out for sleeping under canvas in a field in the freezing British weather. I am not high maintenance but I like creature comforts. The whole point of visiting Cornwall was to see if it still felt like home (we lived there 5 years ago). So much has changed in our lives since we were there last and we’d always dreamt of moving back so we had a lot of things to weigh up after our roadtrip south. Oh & the tent has since been sold!
July is always one of my favourite months of the year its my husbands birthday and we had a trip to Amsterdam planned. You will know if you’re a long time reader of my blog how much I adore that city. I try to go twice a year and I fall in love with it more each time. I am working hard to eventually be able to call it home. If you want to read more about my Dutch adventures then I have a couple of Amsterdam posts on the blog.
August was a month of important decisions and finally finding a place to call home. We thought long and hard about returning to a rural setting 600 miles away from family, knowing that we’d have to do the 1200 mile round trip at least every two months. We realised we needed that rural idillic setting to re charge our batteries and discover what it was that made us tick. The past few years had seen us hit rock bottom & we retreated from life so we found a house (renovated Methodist Chapel from 1849) and decided to go for it. Oh & we stayed in our first Air BnB whist viewing houses – I wanted to live in that it was so unbelievably beautiful. If you want to read all about The Cabin <—– click there
September we packed up our belongings & collected the rest from the storage unit we had been renting for almost 18 months and we moved to Cornwall. It was such an exciting month and it went by so quickly. We did a lot of exploring in between unpacking and reacquainting ourselves with the area, we moved back to within 3 miles of where we lived previously.
October in Cornwall was an absolute scorcher, we spent our mornings having breakfast in the garden and walking the coastal path. Oh & and I turned 37 – how did that happen? I still feel 25. We had a tonne of deliveries for the house including all of our white goods and a shed (get excited).
November involved a trip to Scotland to see family and have an early Christmas. I went Christmas shopping with my Mum in Edinburgh it was so cold but all the festive lights and markets were beautiful. I spent way too much money in Anthropology & H&M Home.
December we were in Scotland until the 17th before driving back to Cornwall with a stop off in Manchester to catch up with friends. It was the first time in our 16 years together that we’d spent Christmas just the two of us. It was relaxed, quiet and pretty perfect. We even managed a walk along our favourite beach despite the insane winds.
