New decade, new beginnings, new opportunities.

Inevitably we all tend to review our year as we head for the end of December and I am no exception. Has it been good, bad, average? High points, low points - we all have them.

Personally, it has been an incredibly mixed bag for me, we went on a fantastic 3.5 week holiday in spring 2019 to see my family over in Australia but got back to a very poorly spaniel, through no fault at all of our incredible dog sitter I hasten to add - she was just brilliant - but Ollie had swallowed a stone and it was just one of those things. He recovered well from his operation but a series of other issues have been the theme since the summer and now at the age of nearly 13 he is facing more medical problems so 2019 is not ending so well for him but we are fortunate that he is heading in to 2020 with his tail still wagging so not all is bad. I feel it has clouded my year in many respects but in the grand scheme of things we have been very lucky.

        Bali, on the way back from Australia.

My eldest son was voted in as head boy of his school this year which made me very proud - he will hate me for saying it but I am :)

My step daughter has started a PHD - she has worked so hard for everything she has achieved and I am super proud of her too.

The Soap Coach has proved more popular that I ever imagined for which I am so grateful. A big thank you to everyone who has attended workshops so far or purchased the eBook. I am so excited to be teaching many more workshops in 2020.

I have spent a fair bit of time on mindset work and self care in 2019 and if there is one bit of advice I can give it is spend a bit of time on yourself.

2020 sees me reaching 50 and  I have decided life does begin at 50 - and by that it means I am going to spend a bit more time doing those things I want to do. I am off on a spa weekend in February with a friend and my husband and I are going to Lisbon for my birthday weekend. It is not always easy to arrange these things as our lives are so busy but they are important and it is not just about the big things, sitting on the beach in summer or going for an evening walk are also things I love to do. Or I often spend an hour sat (hiding !) in my bedroom early evening just for a bit of down time away from the hubble bubble of being surrounded by others.

Either way the choice is yours. I would love to hear if you have any specific plans or resolutions for the new year and decade and of course, you know where I am if learning to make your own soap in 2020 is on your agenda, you can find out more about that here

Foot note... sadly I wrote this a couple of days before the end of the new year, events took a turn for the worse with Ollie and we had to say goodbye to him on New Years Eve. It was the right time for him, He could not breathe properly when doing normal doggy things. He had a fab long life and we have no regrets, sadness yes but regrets no. RIP Ollie. You are a legend.