Hello and how are you all?  The early heatwave was amazing wasn't it, we have had some rain now but I am still managing garden time.  And I haven't regretted (yet) putting my winter clothes away.  How are you coping?  What is it - 5 or 6 weeks of lockdown?  My days do feel very 'samey' I get up every morning to the usual routine of tidying up, thinking about what to cook for dinner, writing my to do list and making the most of some quiet time before the family rise.  

With every day that goes by I am missing my beauty treatments more and more, I really would love to get my roots done properly, my hair trimmed, my legs waxed and my nails, oh my nails ... I cannot keep regular polish on, I miss my gel so much!  I also feel I would benefit from a facial!  I am keeping very busy, I am relieved my mental health is back to some sort of normal after a very difficult time at Christmas. I appreciate these are very minor problems and I assure you I do have bigger worries (that I can't share) - so love and hugs to everyone, but for now on my blog, I keep it light hearted.

My husband has been spending a lot of time in the garden, he had to pull a tree down that suffered during the storms so he has been busy clearing up and making the area tidy again, he has done a lot of weeding and clearing of some overgrown areas.  He has power washed the patio and driveway and he has been painting the exterior woodwork.  

That tree by the way was the one we used to hang the children's swing on, first of all their plastic baby seat, then later on a wooden seat.  It was also the home of our much loved tree house.  My husband built it from an old shed when our son was about 3 or 4, the tree house, a small play house, a home-made see saw and the swing were the sum of our children's outdoor toys - no yellow and red plastic in our woodland garden, so they were both very sad to see the demise of the tree house and are nagging for a replacement for the grandchildren (still a long way off).

How are you all getting on?  How are you coping with staying at home?  When I started making notes for my 'being fifty and fab' post earlier in March I never imagined how much our day to day lives would change in such a short time.  It seems a bit odd to be talking about the outings I had earlier in the month! But I am so glad that I did manage to fit in some of these things.

My days now consist of tidying up after my family, wondering if I can log onto Ocado and update my shopping list, getting out for my daily walk, deciding what to cook for dinner, and have I got all the ingredients.  Oh and trying to escape the noise caused by my husband running his business from home and the constant telephone calls.  But I am still very busy, I've not yet had time to sit and watch TV or read the books I have piling up.

I've not done my regular 'being fifty and fab' blog post since last May!!  Life got so crazy, I got busier on the blog and I needed to take some time off to support my daughters move to uni that meant I couldn't keep up with it all so my regular blog posts - being fifty and fab and embracing life ... in midlife had to take a break too.  But I've missed them so I am starting here with this one.  Normal service will resume!!

Being fifty and fab is my monthly round up of what I have been doing, wearing, exercising, and reading.  Just my life really and sharing a few tips and thoughts along the way and encouraging you to live your best life and 'be fifty and fab too (or whatever age you might be ... approaching 50, turning 50 or post 50, it is all fabulous)

So here we are in March!  Thank goodness spring might be on the way, what a wet and miserable February.  I have had a really tough time recently and I am glad to see the back of the winter months.  I have felt really uninspired by my wardrobe this season and I think that goes alongside my struggle with feeling so down but also my attempt to 'buy less' which given my recent mood is proving difficult.  When I look back at my photographs from this time last year, we were already seeing some brighter days and I was beginning to wear lighter clothes, let's hope that is just around the corner this year!