It has finally happened: I am now a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland citizen*. That means no more visas, no more immigration…
I am a goal-setter and, mostly, a goal-getter. But sometimes I set too many overly ambitious goals, and I struggle to meet them. It’s not…
For 2024, I set out to breathe new life into old things, and I managed that – although it will be an ongoing objective as…
Today is International Pronouns Day, so please let me introduce myself to you, again. (And again.) Hello, my name is Frances, and my pronouns are…
I love dinner parties. Indeed, in my former life, Paul and I had monthly dinner parties. We were the only guests at these lavish meals,…
Anyone who knows me knows that I am not (generally) an entertainer. I don’t host parties or gatherings and rarely invite people into my home.…
Welcome to Castle Ryan, my new house that I hope to transform into a home. It was about 16 years ago that I last made…
Regular readers will know that I am a runner and have been one pretty much my entire life. From a little 5K jaunt to dust…
And so, it begins. I am now a quinquagenarian; more commonly known as a human in their 50s. This is not a bad thing to…
In the past several months, I have hinted at Big Things that are afoot – and I even came close to saying outright said that…
With the start of the new year, it’s time to start thinking about new things. New goals, new adventures, and new life. In recent years,…
My overarching goal for 2023 was “simply me”. The objective was to focus on my needs and to prioritise them a bit (something I have…
Well, it has finally happened. I have finally applied for settled status in the UK. And let me just say, it’s not been without a…
It has been more than 22 years since I first arrived in Scotland, and now it’s time to test my knowledge of this place I…
I found a photo of Mum a couple of months ago, taken the day after her 48th birthday. As I looked at it, I smiled…
I took another big leap into The Real World yesterday, and I am not completely certain it was the right thing to do or how…
Today marks the halfway point of 2022 – and the halfway point for my goal of running 750 miles for the year. All thanks to…
It’s now been 13 years since my beloved husband, Paul, died suddenly and unexpectedly. It’s a strange feeling, being this far from the immediate grief…
I had so many amazing plans for a motivated, positive start to 2022. But here I am, at the start of the third month of…
Today is the Lunar New Year, marking the Year of the Tiger. This is an important “zodiac” sign* for me because I was born in…