As surely as day becomes night, summer must also turn into autumn and I find myself asking "what the hell is 2020?"

Now I must firstly say that I'm currently sitting at my desk catching up on 9 days off whilst also throwing my arms in the air singing along to "Proud" and other wonderful music from my "Happy music for musical moments" Spotify playlist.  I'm happy when I'm at my desk in a way I don't think I ever was previously, there's a simple kind of joy in sending out parcels which bring delight to the recipients of what I like to call gifty goodness.  Who can even believe I'm sitting here in my home office where I have an online gift boutique?  Madness, that's what it is, that's what this whole year has been.

I've been genuinely distressed at several points of this year, I remember just after lockdown thinking I'd lost both of the businesses I had when we went into 2020 as well as being separated from my daughters for way longer than I wanted to be and that was even before I broke my arm!

Where are we now?

So, where are we now?  Well, my gift boutique certainly seems to be thriving, even in August, the 4am of retail it did pretty well by anyone's standards and I have high hopes for Q4.  I'm still not fully ready to talk about the future of my wedding and portrait photography business, it's currently just in a coma sleeping, paid work is still incredibly hard to come by and after losing between £20-30K this year, well let's just say I try not to think about it for fear I'll throw up.  I don't think there are any answers as yet, we're in a massive bloody recession, people still don't feel safe and there are so many restrictions around what I can actually do that I do question often if it's even worth it.  Dammit though, I do still love photography and I love my clients, I love telling stories through images (and words) and I still cry at most of the weddings I shoot because love is beautiful.

What Happens Next?

What happens next is anyone's guess really, I do know that the one thing I have fallen in love with again is writing about my life and more specifically about travel so when Abigail asked me if I wanted to go to Gdansk next Monday for a minibreak, first I questioned how I was old enough to have a daughter who wanted to take her mum on a minibreak, then I accepted with much gratitude, I've had a Polish guidebook on my bookshelf for at least 2 years, I literally can't wait to go to Poland, to soak up the culture and to spend time with my daughter before she goes off to Uni in a few weeks.  I will, of course, take many photos and write a few words to go with each on both here and on Instagram and you can bet that my soul will be full and happy and nourished because travel fills my cup until it runs over and soaks everyone else it touches with love and enthusiasm.

The best adventures are yet to come...

Ways to support my writing

If you have enjoyed this article or found it useful and would like to support my writing I'd love a virtual coffee

I also have a lovely Facebook group I'd love you to come and join 

You could also come and follow me on Instagram to keep up with my adventures, I really am grateful for all

of your love and support.

Oh and of course, you could just treat yourself to something lovely from Philomena's Boutique, my gift boutique

which is diverse, sustainable and totally lush!

It's back to work day!

It's that day we all dreaded, back to work proper day!  I do hate when my children go back to school and this morning neither Looby or Holly even responded when the alarm went off, Holly is a big fan of getting up at a very gentle pace at around 9ish in the morning, she was not impressed when I told her that 7.15am is now getting up times, well at least for the next 6 weeks or so.

I've changed my working hours to Mon/Wed/Fri and either Saturday or Sunday depending on bookings, this means that Holly will never be on her own for more than a couple of hours and what I've already noticed is that she of course gives me that look which says "Walkies now or I'll eat the rug/floorboards/jumper/anything"   You wouldn't refuse this menacing look now would you?

Holly really has changed my life in so many ways and I certainly feel like she's made me a much better person, she teaches me things about life on a daily basis and I try to take it all on board, well apart from the message that wood is the tastiest thing to eat in the whole wide world!

Usually in January I'm giving myself an extra week off because literally nothing is happening but this year for some strange and bizarre reason I seem to be busier than usual, I have a couple of photo shoots midweek and that never happens in January, my calendar seems to have things in for most weekends and if you are interested in having a photo shoot in Saltwell Park then I have availability on 17/1, if you would rather go with Jesmond Dene you'll find me there on 25/1, I have no current plans for Tynemouth Longsands but if you do want to take advantage of the gorgeous winter light then get in touch and I'm sure I can brave the cold for an hour or 2.  Remember that photo shoots at all 3 of those locations are only £25.

I've been trying to come up with all of those important goals I need to motivate me during this year, I know for instance that I want to do much more writing as it fits in with my working life really well and I don't have to particularly go anywhere to do it.

Oh and about the UK Cityscapes project, it kind of took a back seat when my marriage fell apart and I still feel for the most part that I don't want to be away from my kids or indeed Holly but I've been formulating a plan over the Christmas holidays and Looby and I are going to continue and where possible we'll stay in dog friendly hotels and take Holly too.  It does mean of course that it's going to take longer before the project reaches completion but I started the project and committed to it and so therefore I have to finish.  What I do know is that it's probably going to take another 3 years approximately, for 1 thing my income has fallen and my outgoings have risen due to being a single parent but complete it I will and hopefully no one will get there before I'm done!

So that's 2 goals and things which will motivate me this year, have you made any goals or do you have things you want to focus on, get in touch and let me know.