What Sarah Kate Says

Summer has arrived and we are finally getting the chance to enjoy the garden. Sitting out with a cup of coffee I started to notice areas that were just a bit shabby looking, needed attention and just needed to be made more interesting to look at. It's been a while since I spent any real money on the garden so I was happy to invest less than £100 to bring in a bit of cheer. Hopefully what I've done may give you some inspiration for your own green space. About the space - it's a small back yard, no grass, mainly concrete, with one large planting bed. Where nothing but weeds thrive: There is an annoying patch in the garden bed where plants just don't seem to stick, plus our lovely dog seems to like lying in the mud here. So to combat muddy dog bellies, and keep weeds at bay, we laid a single slab to support a new small trough planter. The french lavender looks amazing against the grey and stands out beautifully amongst the greenery that surrounds it. I...

In this post I list some key questions to ask yourself if you are preparing for surgery. This is based on my personal experience as, two weeks ago as I type this, I had to undergo a bit of surgery myself. I thought it may be useful to share here my experience of how I prepared for it - in case it helps anyone else facing surgery. I found burying myself in the practicalities really helped me feel less anxious about the surgery itself, so listed below are some questions you need to think about when preparing for your own surgery. Hospital: How will you get to the hospital on the day? Who will be contacted about you when the operation is complete? How long is your stay in hospital likely to be? What entertainment will you take?  I packed magazines, books and my iPad, but I found my ability to concentrate on any one thing was really poor, so I couldn't focus on a book. Instead I flicked through the magazines, but mainly streamed catch up TV to pass the time. How will y...

Afternoon Tea is a bit of a British institution and one I am always happy to partake in. I was recently very kindly treated to a wonderful afternoon tea for my birthday at a gorgeous old mansion hotel & spa located not far from where I live in the beautiful county of West Yorkshire . The inside of the hotel reception just looked amazing and for the tea we were escorted to a wonderful drawing room, with open fires and cosy seating. We were positioned right next to a huge window overlooking the majestic golf course, so could enjoy nature as we glutted our way through delicate finger sandwiches, scones as big as our fists and other pretty sweet treats. The service was friendly and attentive (without being invasive) and I would highly recommend this as an Afternoon Tea venue. My friend and I just had the loveliest time nattering away whilst stuffing our faces - a great way to spend your birthday...or any random afternoon to be honest! Oulton Hall itself...

I'm sure we all have those spots in our house that we avoid cleaning or sorting right?  I can't be the only one! Well the purpose of doing this spring project series is to force me to just do it and stop procrastinating (I am an A* procrastinator btw). Tupperware: The first area I tackled was the dreaded tupperware cupboard. For weeks my partner has been moaning at the fact we have more lids than we do containers and how long it takes him to pair them up correctly. So after we purchased a couple of new containers from Home Sense I felt it was time to finally sort it all out. All the extra lids were put in the recycling and any containers we rarely use, or were just really stained, were also trashed. Taking on board my partners number one peeve I now pair the container and lid in the cupboard - it takes up more room so we keep fewer/better tubs, but it is so worth it for no moaning! Pet Junk: If you're like us and have a dog you may have noticed they seem to...

Finally winter has past and signs of spring are literally sprouting everywhere. When the seasons shift like this I find it motivating for finally getting some stuff done around the house and garden. Usually things that I've either been putting off for a while or tend to only like to do once or twice a year. Having taken a short hiatus from blogging I feel like now is the best time of year to get my mojo back and start sharing with you once again. Today I am sharing with you my sort out of under our kitchen sink. The before: As I'm sure it is in most households the cupboard space beneath our kitchen sink has somehow become a dumping ground for all things cleaning and laundry related. It's a normal sized cupboard but is made awkward by the pipes from the sink above. It's become harder to find things when we need them and every time I open the doors my heart sinks at the mess of it all! So having been motivated to spring (ha ha) into action...

It is the time of year when I start to realise how soon Christmas will be upon us and how many of those "little" jobs I didn't get round to yet. So there's now more motivation to get them done when I think of the busy festive season ahead and having family come to stay. We started this weekend with a quick trip to the local tip.  Finally we are rid of that damaged lamp, old iron and broken Christmas Tree!  We are lucky enough to have a cellar which hides a multitude of sins, so it felt good to get even just a little of that space back (although you cannot tell really!). I enjoy seeing other peoples posts about getting stuff done, sorted and tidied, so I'm going to be sharing just a few of the little pre-Christmas jobs I like to get done.  Hope they motivate you to tackle yours. First up ... drum roll ... is the dreaded pantry cupboard.  No matter how we organise it this happens after a week or two: (Before) It's always quick to sort ou...