AD, this is a sponsored post but all opinions are my own // I don't think I understood the importance of packing a hospital bag until, of course, I was pregnant myself. But even then, for the first couple of trimesters I was really relaxed about it, it felt like such a long way off. All of a sudden, that time is now here! And a friend of mine recently went into labour over four weeks early, her biggest message in our pregnancy Whatsapp group is 'Pack your bag now ladies!'. You're actually meant to carry it around in the car with you, or at least have it prepared a good six weeks before. And so it becomes this really lovely ritual, part of the nesting process, of getting everything prepared, thinking ahead to the time when you'll give birth, what you'll need, for both you and the baby, with both the essentials to the little things that could make your hospital visit so much more comfortable, to save your partner from running out to the shops at that special time. I'm really grateful that M&S asked me to partner up with them on packing my hospital bag as apart from the pharmaceutical type products, they have everything you need in one place with a quality you can trust without being overpriced. Cute, super soft baby clothes, muslins, a dressing gown, maternity bras, even all of your skincare and beauty needs - M&S are your one stop shop. I'd love to show you what I'm packing today along with sharing some invaluable tips I've learned from friends who have given birth recently.

AD this is a sponsored post but all opinions are my own // Hobbycraft had got in touch at the start of the year, they're a company I've worked with a few times now after being a lifelong fan {anybody else spend a large part of their childhood's making cards, buying rubber stamps or those hema beads and not wanting to leave the store?}, asking if I'd be hosting a baby shower this year. At first and for a couple of months I said no, I was adamant that I didn't want a baby shower at all. I feel like baby showers are often associated with people feeling like they have to bring a present for the baby before they're born, which I never really like, and then there are the nappy cakes and the cheesy games. All well and fun if you like that kind of thing, but I wasn't convinced. But then all of my friends kept asking if I was sure that I didn't want one, and one made a very good point that it's more about having all of your close friends round pre baby to celebrate friendship as well as the growing bump, especially as I'll never really have this time again. And so I decided to go for an afternoon tea instead, at home, with twenty of my favourite women. I went back to Hobbycraft and said yes please to your gorgeous decorations {they have SO much choice and just about everything from partywear to paper straws to balloon arches} with a dedicated baby shower range, and you know me and party decorations... And so, last Saturday happened and it was just the loveliest afternoon.

I've written posts about growing hydrangeas {here} and dahlias {here} but I feel like I've promised you this post on roses for the past couple of summers and haven't got around to it! This Spring, as I was planting two new roses out that I got as Birthday presents, I finally took some photos and then looked back through my archives to find lots of my favourite rose photos. You see, roses are one of my favourite ever flowers to grow and are definitely the easiest and lowest maintenance out of hydrangeas and dahlias. Yes, they might cost a little more to begin but they don't have to, and once planted, should last for years and years giving you at least one full set of blooms every year. I thought I'd put together all of the tips I've learnt from growing roses over the past six or so years....

After last year's crazy hot, dry summer that lasted for months on end, parts of our garden needed a bit of an overhaul. Some of the garden had become too baked, the grass at the end of the summerhouse like straw and the beds to the far left and right under the trees, too dry to plant much. The meadow/fruit tree area that we'd planned to be all wild and whimsical next to the summerhouse just looked a bit of a mess and it was an area that we weren't using to it's full potential. It's also the area of our garden which gets the most sun throughout the year, when in the early Spring/late Autumn and throughout winter, the rest of the garden is shaded by the house. When we were in Palm Springs at the start of this year, I enjoyed working out outside in the mornings by the pool, Ben and I were walking one day and were talking about outdoor living and our plans for the garden when I realised that we either have wet grass in the mornings or gravel, neither of which are ideal for a workout mat without slipping or getting covered in wet grass! I know, I know, first world problems but it would be really nice to have a garden that suits our needs/wants given that we had the space to do so. So then came the idea of decking the bottom of the garden, which would solve the messy/dry part, hide the dark trees at the back and our compost heap, give us an area for a raised bed for planting some salad/veg at home and create a large space that our new baby can happily play on without grass/gravel and we can entertain on and enjoy the sunshine when the rest of the garden is shadowed