Hey – I hope you are all ok and you are all staying in – finding your new normal and keeping the anx at bay.

I usually post these monthly ramble chats (to nick a phrase from the fab Adam Buxton) at the start of the month but as this month has been the craziest one I can ever remember it slipped to the wayside.

I actually haven’t been very well – I wouldn’t be at all surprised if I have had this years most talked about monstrous mega lurgy – and so I have been totally staying in and  taking things easy(ish) – as much as a mum can with two children to entertain; couples postponing their weddings to look after; a house to keep in some assemblance of order whilst encouraging the 8 year old to junk model from recycling…etcetera etcetera. I will be the first in the Amazon queue to buy a self testing kit once they are released. Anyway, I feel like I am coming out the other side now so I’ll leave the sick chat there.

Anyway, I was going to rattle on about Mothers this month (…God I miss mine, my best mate) but instead I thought I’d share with you a few of the things that have made me feel better this month.

• Calm is a fab app and they have lots of free sleep meditations if you are struggling. Try Deep Sleep Release. 
• This recipe that was in the Huffington Post is a new favourite. Scroll down for the Vegan Butternut baked beans. So so yummy and even tastier the next day.
• Silly films – nothing high brow – we just watched Here comes the Boom as a family –  the Fonze was in it and was gently funny. Also we subscribed to Disney+ for the free week and have enjoyed watching the shorts. My son is into writing comics and animations in a BIG WAY and he is now creating his own character around Bao the Dumpling Boy – which had a shocking twist that made us laugh. What are your fave funny films – send them over!
• My brilliant friend Zena – Humanist Celebrant extraordinaire – hosting a very sensible Social Distancing Pre wedding Wedding – an amuse bouche if you like – before their other wedding day and party now set for January 2021. LOVE ALWAYS WINS! See here. 
• Baking, gardening, even bloody cleaning. I am enjoying the physicality of these activities.
• Watching the lovely birdies we attract just outside the kitchen window.
• The kindness of my couples who have been so lovely and calm whilst reorganising their weddings. The government may be doing little to help folk like me at the mo but you lot have been nothing short of amazing. Nuff love! x
• The Facebook group ‘Family Lockdown Tips and Ideas’ – set up just a couple of weeks ago by one of my brides from 2013, Claire…which now has close to an incredible 1 million members worldwide. It is a fab resource if you are wondering what the hell to do to entertain your kiddos.
• Thursday night clapping session for the NHS and our key workers – that was heart warming, huh?!
• Facetime – I’ve always been a bit camera shy but I’ve fully embraced chatting on the telephone and video chats. Watching my son call and chat rubbish with his friends has warmed my cockles too.
• And, finally, I read this by the brilliant, Caitlin Moran and loved it (a letter to her teenage children)… “And as for fun, I know this summer, this year, is going to be sad and lonely for you. Everyone wants their children to enjoy their teenage years – we didn’t want you isolated and uneducated and feeling like the world is at war with something we can’t even see. But imagine what it will be like when it’s all over. Imagine how amazing it will be when they finally give the all-clear, and people can go out again. The world will explode with joy – there will be street parties and raves, and hugging will come back, and you’ll be dancing to all the new songs that people, even now, are composing in their rooms, which will be the most outrageously life affirming, catchy songs ever written. It will be the best time ever – like the Roaring Twenties, the Summer of Love, acid house and Britpop combined. Everything has it’s equal and opposite reaction – and however sad and worried you feel this summer, next summer will be the most exciting and carefree of your life” 

I do hope you are all ok – genuinely. If you want a chat then just holler. Here to chat rubbish anytime <3