A new chapter in my life and blog

The banner for my Blog in 2006

Echoes of a Dream started life in 2006 when I was in the throes of raising three young children and I felt that I needed a creative outlet. It started tentatively with my sharing little bits and bobs about things I made and as time went on, it inspired me explore and try new things which I was then able to share with my readers. At first it was little sewing tips or recipes but over the two years I delved into things like plant dying, (waldorf) dollmaking, knitting projects, felting and ideas for the nature table. It was predominantly a crafting blog with lots of how-to's and inspiration. I even had an Etsy shop where I sold things.

But life was already quite busy with the children and homemaking and a move in 2008 to another part of the country meant that there just wasn't enough time for me and my crafting and my blog and sadly I stopped. I look back on that time and the community that I created with such fondness. I had a loyal readership base that when I said one summer that I'd love to go to America, five people invited our whole family to go and stay with them if we went over. That year we had a wonderful two week trip taking in New York, Long Island, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Vermont – all staying with people who followed my blog! People who put up a family of five and treated us with such love and kindness. I will never forget that trip and things like this certainly restores one's faith in humanity. Fast forward eighteen years and I decided that it was time that I found and expressed my voice again. Miraculously the URL was still available – surely it was just waiting for me to come back! So here I am back blogging.

So much has happened in the ensuing years. My elderly parents both passed away, my children left home for university and then to start their careers in different countries. I went into therapy to sort out my stuff as they say. And then three years ago I decided to call it a day on my marriage. We had come to the end of our journey together and it was time for me to to reclaim my life and finally put myself first. I retrained and now I am a coach, a podcast co-host and I'm back here doing what I love doing the most.

Tulips in the garden

What will you find here you may be asking? Well there is so much I would like to share not just from my life experience but things that I have learnt, information that I have gathered. Projects that I have tried, things that have inspired me or not as the case may be. I’ll be writing about health and well‑being and food and I'll be sharing creative projects. I will talk about the small moments in our everyday life that invite us to slow down and listen. So you’ll find contemplations, simple ideas and how‑to posts drawn from my own experiments and experiences of a life well and truly lived.

You are warmly invited to read along, share your thoughts or to simply take what you need

and carry it into your own life. I am so glad you’re here.