My Life as a writer - When I'm not scribbling

In life we are bombarded with images and sales pitches on things we should want, aspire to have, save up for or buy immediately. Sometimes it's nice to take a step back from all this and just appreciate what we have and find ways to enjoy life that do not add to financial stress etc. Anyway, I was thinking about the things in life that mean the most, I enjoy the most or simply make me feel safe, comfortable, confident, and a lot of them are just simple things.   So I guess there's some truth in simple things can mean the most. Here are my top five simple things; 1. Going for a walk with my dog Hero Hero is my baby, he's an amazingly intuitive dog, he's loving, he's cuddly, he's soft and he's always by my side.  He's also infuriating when it comes to the ten minutes before his walk time - oh I swear he doesn't need a watch he can tell the time and he has an unhealthy interest in cushions - which somehow always end up in my garden. I oft

I've been seeing and reading a lot of things lately about Hygge, which I've heard described as the feeling or mood created by taking genuine pleasure in the simple things in life.   There's  pictures of cosy knits, warm drinks, soft materials, books and baking. I think the concept of Hygge is a beautiful one from what I've read so far, it's something I plan to read more on in the coming months. From what I gather I think a lot of us have higgle in our lives maybe we just don't realise that that is what it is.   I can look back over things my grandparents used to do, like sitting together of an evening reading their books in front of the fire and eating freshly baked cakes or treats.  They just enjoyed those quiet moments together and if they were stressed it wasn't something I ever saw, I saw the quiet relaxed moments and maybe that's what Hygge was for them. Anyway, I was looking at the pictures of some of the beautiful cakes and biscuits and star

There's nothing better than the smell of fresh baking.  I love to bake and I love to try new things.  This is a recipe I've been playing about with this idea from Sainsbury's since Christmas for a mid morning pick me up. You will need:  Puff Pastry - ready rolled is ideal  Jam / Mincemeat - for the filling - as you play with the recipe there are loads of other things you could use  Cinnamon - around two table spoons (for sweet toppings)  Sugar - around two table spoons (for sweet toppings)  You can use any filling/topping you like - for example tomato and cheese (probably a hard cheese like parmesan would be best) to create a pizza like twist.   Step one  Preheat your oven to around 180 degrees  (fan) 200 degrees   Pepare a a baking sheet with grease proof paper - you can at a push use the paper that comes with your pasty  Mix the cinnamon and sugar together - you can keep this in a bowl or as I do put it in a dispenser like and unused