djclare Profile

Latest Blog Posts

• Preparing a heat-loving Beagle for winter
  on Dec 19, 2016 in dogs
  The other week during our first blast of serious winter weather I encountered a neighbour on the dog walk who greeted me with the words “I’ve just met a Beagle wearing a very smart coat.” We both looked down at my undressed Beagle a...
• Free downloadable wine bottle labels for teachers
  on Dec 14, 2016 in design
  I like to keep it really simple for teachers at the end of term, so I mostly buy them wine. I figure if they’ve been teaching for any length of time they must already have a whole houseful of Best Teacher mugs, handmade gifts, orchids and hand...
• Why we’re cutting back on spending and waste this Christmas
  on Dec 13, 2016 in simplicity
  I always used to think that people who limited their Christmas spending were either lacking in generosity or lacking in imagination. I thought buying things was an indication of how much I cared about my family and an expression of how well I knew th...
• Behind the scenes at a Water Babies underwater photo shoot (video)
  on Dec 7, 2016 in family life
  It never ceases to amaze me how two children in the same family can be so different. Whilst Theo still hasn’t cracked swimming (despite classes and lots of encouragement) it was obvious even when Alice was eight months old that water was someth...
• Home Life Project – December
  on Dec 5, 2016 in photography
  Wow, a whole year of the Home Life Project has passed and I’ve found it such a great motivator to take photos that I otherwise wouldn’t have. Often people assume that because I have a good camera and enjoy photography that I have stacks o...
• Spare room makeover – A sneak preview of the progress
  on Dec 3, 2016 in diy
  There was a point about a week ago when I was ready to give up on trying to make our spare room makeover work and we even discussed changing round the rooms to put the bed in the study next door where there was more space, but I struggled on and havi...
• HomeLifeProject – September
  on Sep 5, 2016 in photography
  I’ll be totally honest and admit I’m feeling less than enamored with my photos this month and I’ve been sitting here this evening trying to work out why. Is it the lens I’m using? Is it that I’m distracted by a crawling...
• How to survive a week on a boat with a crawling baby
  on Sep 1, 2016 in travel
  Last week our family group of twelve (plus two dogs) spent a wonderful seven days on boats exploring the canals in Brittany. Next week I’ll be sharing some photos and video from the trip, but before I do so I wanted to share some tips about how...
• We’re brand ambassadors for JJ Jiraffe
  on Aug 30, 2016 in fashion
  When Alice was born one of my friends passed on a lovely bundle of baby clothes which included a brilliant pair of multi-coloured leggings. Alice has worn the leggings continually since we gt them receiving lots of compliments from people in the proc...
• Our garden in August : Out with one tree, in with another
  on Aug 23, 2016 in garden
  This month we said goodbye to a large pine tree in our garden. It was a decision I felt torn about right up until the morning that the tree surgeons arrived, but I’m relieved to say we are delighted with the results. The tree was about 30ft tall an...
• Turning 40 and embracing new challenges
  on Aug 16, 2016 in video
  Yesterday I celebrated my 40th birthday. I’m pretty sure this is something I’m supposed to keep quiet about and that I should probably try and fake being in my 30s a bit longer (at least publicly) but I’m happy to move on to another...
• In search of the perfect capsule wardrobe
  on Aug 10, 2016 in fashion
  One of the things I loved about being pregnant was my capsule maternity wardrobe. Every item of maternity wear I owned got worn and got worn often. Every morning I reached into the wardrobe and plucked something out, I knew it would fit and if I need...
• Home Life Project – August
  on Aug 8, 2016 in photography
  It’s our eighth month this year documenting our family life and it’s lovely to look back on each month’s collection of images and get a window into what we were doing at that point in the year. This month’s images have a lovel...
• Mid-century eyeball lamp review
  on Aug 4, 2016 in home decor
  It’s funny how you can be fairly oblivious to the existence of a design and then once you are aware of it you start seeing it popping up everywhere! Until our replica eyeball desk lamp arrived a couple of weeks ago I’d never seen another...
• Our Saturday on London’s South Bank
  on Aug 2, 2016 in family life
  Last weekend we decided to do something I rarely do with a young baby, which is to take her away from home for the entire day and rob her of her lunchtime sleep. It might not be a popular way of doing things, but for me routines have provided an esse...
• Our garden in July
  on Aug 1, 2016 in garden
  Our July update is a little late but I’m determined to keep a record of our evolving outside space as this year has already been a significant one for changes and we have a few more lined up over the coming months. But first a look at what̵...
• Winter wellies in July…
  on Jul 27, 2016 in fashion
  Our family spend a lot of time in wellies, so much time in fact that a couple of years ago I spent quite a lengthy period of time researching and writing this post about the best pair of adult wellies to buy… and then had them stolen after I bo...
• How to take great photos on a trampoline this summer
  on Jul 25, 2016 in photography
  This summer we are testing out a Springfree trampoline and as well as having a lot of fun bouncing on it, over the last couple of months I’ve also been enjoying capturing photos of my kids using it. Like all types of photography there are a few...
• Our Weaning Journey with SMA® PRO Follow-on Milk
  on Jul 22, 2016 in baby
  This is a sponsored post with SMA® Nutrition. Alice was eight months old a couple of weeks ago which means we are already well into solid foods It’s flown by incredibly quickly and only in the last week or so do I actually feel like I’ve...
• I Quit Sugar… and then what happened?
  on Jul 21, 2016 in food
  A couple of months ago I gave in to curiosity and bought the bestselling book I Quit Sugar. I wanted to experiment with the idea of minimising or completely removing sugar from my diet and I had a couple of good reasons why. Firstly sugar has always...