Books By My Bedside...

I actually took this picture a few days ago, and, as you may have read here have since given up on Anjelica.

I have owned The Beat Generation Writers for quite some time now but it has been languishing in the cupboard. I recently dug it out to dip back in to. It features Alan Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, LeRoi Jones, Carolyn Cassady and many others.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver is a re-read. This book is pretty mind-blowing. How Barbara and her family managed to eat locally and sustainably, growing much of their own food, is so inspiring although certainly not practicable for everyone!

Finally I have Margaret Thatcher; The Downing Street Years by my bed. The first ever female British Prime Minister. The Iron Lady. The woman whose beliefs and political will shaped my early life... how could I not want to read this? Maggie Thatcher fascinates me so when I spotted this in the book store I had to pick it up. I read biographies last year on William Pitt (the youngest Prime Minister the UK has ever had) and Queen Victoria so I think I've gotten a taste for books on iconic people wielding political power!

Have you read any of these? Book Club?

On blogging and changing...

I recently read a post on changing over at The Wiegands where Casey talks about how your blog evolves and changes as you grow older. How sometimes you might post something that later you disagree with or makes you cringe. How your readers are literally watching you grow up.

I sat back and though about Casey's post and how my blog has changed over the last couple of years and how much it is evolving currently and then I left this comment..

"I think that's it's a positive thing that our blogs change with us, that are thoughts and opinions can evolve in our little space. We are making ourselves more accountable to ourselves by putting our thoughts and feelings out there... it allows us to see ourselves in a different light and to look back at past posts and see if that is the person that we wish to be. I think that my blog is helping me to shape a happier, better me."


Blogging has given me creative inspiration, a platform on which to find my voice, the desire to get into photography, to try out different things and to share my depression. I really do feel that it has become a part of my journey to become the woman that I wish to be and for that I am thankful.

Why I'm raising money for the Epilepsy Society

Hi guys!

As you may have noticed this month I've been raising money through my blog and shop for the Epilepsy Society, a charity close to my family's heart.

My step-dad, Simon, was ill for a good couple of years with doctors being unable to diagnose him, only able to say that it looked like epilepsy but they were completely sure that it wasn't. One hospital doctor watched him fit multiple times in one minute (potentially fatal) and then declared that nothing was wrong with him! You can imagine how scared and frustrated we all were. Eventually he was referred to a specialist epilepsy hospital in Buckinghamshire, run by none other than the Epilepsy Society, where they were finally able to diagnose him with NEAD or NES as it is also known. Finally getting his diagnosis meant that Simon could finally get the support that he needed which is, of course, the first step to being able to live with an illness or disability.

Unfortunately little is know about the cause of NEAD and there is no specific medication to help control it. The Epilepsy Society is conducting ongoing research into this condition as well as epilepsy itself which is why mum and I want to raise money for this particular charity.

Here's how you can help!
I'm donating 50% of the proceeds of all sales from my shop until the end of May and I'll donate an extra £1 for each new follower I gain on my blog! So... if you don't want to shop but you do want to help just click 'follow' on  either GFC, Bloglovin or HelloCotton in my sidebar!

Step Down Sunday

This week I found this blog and her weekly feature Step Down Sunday. I was instantly up for joining her challenge! Kate is a Quaker living in the North of England whose group have created a program called Step Down to help their members live more sustainably and to collectively lower their carbon footprint. Kate is doing the Step Down Sunday link up on her blog to share her personal week by week attempts to live in a more sustainable way so I figured that this week would be a good time to join her!

Having pledged to blog vegetarian recipes all week, obviously we've been eating veggie at home too. So this past week, I've bought no meat. None at all. Which means my carbon emissions this week were lower than they usually would be. It also means that my wallet is better off as I wasn't buying meat for every meal. It's been a stretch coming up with something different every day but that was part of the fun and creating new habits is never easy. I found that I had more energy this week too, although how much of that was my extra vegetable intake and how much of it was the final arrival of the sun I don't know!

Have you reduced your carbon footprint in some way in the last week? Did you try veggie for a week?

Link Love

For this weeks link love I thought I'd share some tasty looking vegetarian recipes that have caught my eye...

Make your own falafel here

yummy vegetable lasagne here

Aubergine parmigiana found here

These knish look incredible

And this salad looks delicious.

Have a great weekend!

PS.Take a peek at the shop! New goodies now available and if you buy through May you'll help me raise money for the Epilepsy Society!