One of my favourite little moments in London wasn’t inside a museum at all. It was walking into The Admiralty in Trafalgar Square and taking in all the history, the atmosphere, the woodwork, the brass, the stories hidden in the walls. 🥰 For many of you from across the pond, a traditional British pub is something you’ve only ever seen in films, so I thought I’d bring you along with me. It’s a lovely reminder that creativity isn’t confined to galleries or studios. Sometimes it’s in the architecture, the design, the signs above the bar, the conversations, the worn wooden tables, and the centuries of stories a place quietly holds. Curiosity has a funny way of rewarding us when we look beyond what we expected to find. So here’s a little peek inside one of London’s iconic pubs. I hope it feels like you’ve stepped through the door with me. 🇬🇧❤️ Have you ever found inspiration somewhere completely unexpected? I’d love to hear where. 🥰 https://youtu.be/XtSDrvysSTk?is=NPxmAfdRs_rN5DEq

It’s been very hot here in Cornwall this week, and my body has definitely let me know about it. 🙈 If you’re new here, I live with a few health conditions, so when the temperature climbs, everything slows down. Even the simplest jobs suddenly feel like climbing a mountain! 🫠🫠🫠 That means I’m a little behind with Around the World in 80 Sketches. If you’ve only just joined us, it’s our weekly creative adventure where we “travel” to a different country using Google Street View no passport required! We sketch, paint, write poetry, collage, or create in any medium inspired by that place. It’s become one of my favourite parts of our community because we get to explore the world together from our own homes. ✈️🌍 The good news is I have a very exciting weekend ahead! @Kane Andriunas and I are heading to St Austell, where we’ve rented a beautiful old cottage, and then we’re off to see Mika perform at the Eden Project. 🌿🎶 If you’ve never heard of it, the Eden Project is one of Cornwall’s most iconic attractions. Built in a former china clay pit, it’s home to enormous biomes that recreate tropical rainforests and Mediterranean landscapes from around the world. It’s a fascinating blend of nature, conservation, art and architecture and one of my favourite places to visit. Pic below 👌 Normal service will resume very soon. Until then, I thought I’d share a few little moments from my garden this week. Sometimes, when life slows us down, nature has a lovely way of reminding us that slowing down isn’t always such a bad thing. 💚🌸

Why I Created The Lantern Room. 🥰 People often ask me why grief feels so important to me. I think it’s important that I tell some of my story for context 🥰🌱🏮 The truth is, grief has been woven through my life from a very young age. On my thirteenth birthday, my mum married her second husband. Just a month later, he died. None of us knew that years of alcoholism had caused so much damage to his body. Within weeks of their wedding, he was in hospital. His leg had to be amputated, but it was too late. A blood clot travelled to his heart, and he died. Overnight, my mum became a widow. I was just thirteen. What followed shaped me in ways I wouldn’t understand for many years. I found myself carrying responsibilities no child should ever have to carry. I helped organise the funeral and was expected to be the strong one, supporting the adults around me while trying to make sense of my own grief. I was taken to view his body because I was told I was needed. It was an experience that stayed with me long after everyone else had moved on. Just over a year later, my mum remarried and moved to Spain, shortly before my sixteenth birthday. It was another profound loss, and one that left me navigating much of my teenage life on my own. By the time I was sixteen, I was already working in care. Not long afterwards, I was offered a role on a palliative care unit. Looking back now, it feels as though all those difficult experiences had quietly prepared me to sit beside people during the hardest moments of their lives. It became work that I loved deeply. Grief, however, continued to find me. My sister died at just thirty-six from alcoholism, leaving behind her teenage daughter. The grandfather who had always made me feel loved passed away, and I wasn’t told until after he had been cremated. Then, years later, my mum’s third husband died suddenly while they were living in Spain. At eighteen years old, six months pregnant, I flew to another country to organise another funeral. It felt as though I had stepped back into the same role I had been given as a child.

This week is shaping up to be a very exciting one! 🎨✨ Tomorrow Holly and I are heading up to London for one of our favourite annual traditions… the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. Every year we wander the galleries together, but this year is extra special because we’re finally going to buy a piece of art while we’re there. I can’t tell you how excited I am. 🥳🥳🥳 We’re also off to see Beetlejuice the Musical (its first run here in the UK!) and we’ll also be visiting the Frida Carlo exhibition too ! 🥰😍 It’s going to be a wonderfully full few days of art, theatre and inspiration. 🎨🎭 I can’t wait to soak it all in… and, of course, bring you along with me. If all goes to plan, there’ll be plenty of photos, videos and little moments to share along the way. Here’s to filling our creative cups. 💜

This little fella landed right next to me yesterday and stayed long enough for me to grab a few photos. What a beautiful creature. 🐉✨ Dragonflies always feel a little bit magical to me, like tiny prehistoric helicopters with stained-glass wings. The detail on them is incredible when you stop and really look. 👀 A gentle reminder that sometimes the most extraordinary moments arrive when we simply slow down enough to notice them. ❤️💚🌱 What beautiful things have you spotted lately? 👀🌿