Thursday photo #228

I don’t often have time away from the children. I don’t mean the days when they’re in school, but actually staying away for a couple of days. And when I do, I realise that I need it. Don’t get me wrong, I missed them. But a couple of days only thinking of myself made me feel so much better.

BlogOn conference

The BlogOn blogging conference takes place twice a year, in May and September. It’s a well organised, not-for-profit conference that gives bloggers and brands the chance to get together and chat. There are also numerous sessions for bloggers to attend to learn about various aspects of blogging. And the goody bags are legendary. With calendars like this in them, you can understand why!

I’ve been to BlogOn before, and I’ve always enjoyed it. This time though, it seemed better than ever. Perhaps that was because I put a bit more thought into what to attend. I didn’t shy away from the things that make me nervous – vlogging and presenting. Instead, I picked out those sessions to attend because I knew I’d learn something. And that’s exactly what happened.

I came away with some great ideas on how to make my videos more engaging. And more importantly, the confidence to make them. I don’t often share my videos on the blog and don’t intend to, they will stay on my YouTube channel. But I am looking forward to branching out. I also went to a session about writing and publishing a book. Maybe that will be my next goal.

Winter colds

September is such a tease. It promises more hours in the day with the children back at school. It tempts us with warm scarves, hot chocolate, frosty sunrises, vibrant red leaves and collecting conkers. But what it actually brings is grey weather and sniffles.

Within a fortnight of starting school, Lia had the traditional autumnal sniffle. Like the kind little girl she is, she’s passing it around the family. I’ve been feeling like I’m coming down with it for the past few days but it hasn’t properly materialised. There’s some speculation among the open water swimming community as to whether swimming in cold water can boost your immune system. I’m managing to fight it off so far, but it’s river swimming day this morning for me. I suspect it will be either kill or cure.

Unusually, I’ve taken very few photos of the girls this week. I usually take them when we’re on a day out and as I was away for the weekend, they went on an adventure without me. That’s why I’m breaking with tradition and sharing a photo my husband took. They all went to Cattle Country in Gloucestershire to see the visiting unicorns. Sadly, they were too late to book a ride on a unicorn, but they did queue up to have their photo taken on one. Lia in particular was delighted.