November 2015 - Page 3 of 3

Natalie Ray November 6, 2015 Competitions

Being organised: Black Friday deals

Every summer, I decide around August time that this year, I’ll be ready for Christmas. By the time November comes around, I have usually realised that my decision was absolute nonsense. If I’m honest, this year is worse than ever. Last Christmas, I finished making my Christmas cakes sometime around midnight on Christmas Eve. I’d overdone it on the fruit soaked in brandy and there was quite a lot left over. Well, enough for another cake. So, I decided that when we’d finished our Christmas cake I’d make another one. I didn’t. Until the end of August when we were…

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Natalie Ray November 5, 2015 Our Thursday Photos

Our Thursday Photo #78

Things are definitely getting a little easier here. I’m still struggling to find the time to do anything but somehow it just doesn’t seem quite so difficult. Perhaps that’s because we’ve had a few really nice days since last Thursday. The first was the fireworks at Drayton Manor last Friday. Sad though it was that my husband couldn’t come, it was lovely to see my friend and we all had a fabulous afternoon and evening. The fireworks were truly spectacular. Libby is back at nursery now that half term is over and she’s got straight back into the swing of things…

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Natalie Ray November 4, 2015 Being a work from home mum

Trials and tribulations of a work at home mum

When I started my first job working from home, it was a bit of a novelty. I was vaguely aware that it was possible to work full time from home, but before having children it never really crossed my mind. The past few weeks since my husband’s accident, I’ve experienced both the best and worst parts of working from home. The thing with being a freelancer is that there’s no respite. When I was driving an hour each way to and from the hospital every day, I still had to find the time to work. There was no respite, no…

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Natalie Ray November 3, 2015 Lifestyle

How to use Pinterest to promote your blog

I’ve recently been trying to get my head around using Pinterest to promote my blog. It’s an absolute minefield though and quite frankly, internet searches just confused me even more. Luckily, I’m in the fortunate position to have a good friend who is both a professional photographer and a Pinterest guru. Melanie Chadd is a photographer based in Perthshire, Scotland. Up until recently she was local to me in Herefordshire and over the years she has taken some of my favourite photos of my family including our pets. She has very kindly agreed to write a guest post for me about…

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Natalie Ray November 1, 2015 Holidays

Making holiday memories

I often write about my crazy holidays back in the good old days before having children. So when I was asked to share a post about childhood holiday memories, I thought it would be a doddle. I thought back to photographs of me on the beach as a child. Wearing a ridiculous sun hat, being covered in ice cream, walking along the sand and throwing stones into the sea. But since spending countless hours thinking about it I’ve realised I don’t really remember that much about childhood holidays. I think my earliest memories of holidays were when I was about ten years…

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