So many small businesses have had to adapt how they work during the Covid-19 pandemic, many do not have websites​ and there are real people behind them still needing to earn a living.  I have always enjoyed supporting small local businesses on my blog and have made many new friends from networking events and collaborating.  

On this blog post I am bringing you the background story from Wendy who runs a gorgeous home based boutique in Maidenhead, called The Wendy House.  Wendy is actually a bookkeeper but a number of years ago retrained and became a nail technician alongside her home based bookkeeping business.  She then ended up buying and selling a few accessories to her nail customers and when she realised she had accumulated quite a lot of stock she decided to make a bigger leap, had a fabulous garage conversion done to use as her 'shop' and ​The Wendy House was born.

The Wendy House has a large selection women's clothes (brands include Cream, Red Button and Luella), gifts, accessories and scarves.

Whenever I get together with my girlfriends one conversation that always comes up is menopause and hot flushes.  It used to be children and before that boyfriends then weddings ... oh how things change!  So with the warmer months coming up I thought I would pass on the best solution I found to help with the pesky problem of sleepless nights due to night sweats and/or hot flushes.  And one simple change you can make that really does work, I know because I have done it, and I have not looked back, is to invest in a wool duvet.  Let me explain ....

The Covid-19 lockdown is continuing and even if we are seeing some small changes I think it is unlikely any of us are going very far from our gardens this summer!  So the focus is very much on enjoying our homes, getting on with DIY projects we have been meaning to do for ages, making the most of the warm weather in our gardens and being creative with our social lives.

Because my blog is also about recording my own story, an online diary for my family, long after I am gone, I enjoy sharing parts of my personal history too.  Like the Me at 20 post, or my thoughts on the lockdown and how I am coping.  Back in 2017 I told you a little bit about 'my cottage in the woods'.

With this blog post, I am telling you a bit more about the history of our little cottage and sharing the details of a beautiful keepsake map I have just been gifted from Mapiful.

How are you all?  How are you coping with the ongoing lockdown situation, do you feel anxious about it all?  I am surprisingly okay, I am getting bored and I am keen to start going out now, I'd love to sit in a pub garden or go for a walk along the South Bank in London. I am also missing time to myself and a quiet house.  Too many bodies passing through at the moment, and a lack of routine!  But I need to remember to be kind to myself and remind myself I am doing a good job and it is okay to take some time out for me.

Remember back in February, before we knew what was about to hit us, there was a lot of talk about how important it is to Be Kind following the sad death of Caroline Flack?  Well, Mental Health Awareness Week (18 to 24 May 2020) is hosted by the Mental Health Foundation and their chosen focus this year is Kindness.