Category Archives: Blogging

(Slightly late) Tuesday Treats

February 19, 2014 By in Blogging Tags: , , , 13 Comments

heart leaf

One of the things I found most frustrating during my time away from social media was not being able to share great content. I was still following all my favourite blogs on Bloglovin, but even when I read something I loved I wasn’t able to shout about it like I usually do.

What I did instead was favourite them all to share in this longer than usual edition of Tuesday Treats – the weekly roundup of top blog posts curated by me, Chris at Thinly Spread, Lizzie at Me and My Shadow, and Becky at Baby Budgeting. I hope you enjoy at least one or two of these, and I would love you to share some links to things you’ve read and loved recently in the comments below. Continue reading →

My month without social media

February 17, 2014 By in Blogging, Family Tags: , , , , 34 Comments

A Month without social media

*peers into the gloom*

Do I still have any readers after my month off? I hope so. I’ve missed you!

Giving up Facebook and Twitter for a month was surprisingly easy, but giving up DorkyMum was hard. I’ve filled half a notebook with scribblings that need to be turned into proper posts over the next few weeks, but I thought I would start with a few reflections on the four-week social media detox. Continue reading →

My One Month Social Media Detox

January 15, 2014 By in Blogging, Family Tags: , , , , 28 Comments

social media diet

For all the years that we have known each other, DorkyDad and I have done a January detox. It is usually much needed. Like most people, we fill our cupboards even fuller than usual over the Christmas holidays, with booze, biscuits and other unnecessaries.

Come the New Year, our bodies are practically begging us for a break. So we both give up alcohol for the month, step up our exercise regimes, and cut back as far as we can on carbs and candy.

After a grumpy, jumpy first week, we tend to find that we are sleeping much better, feeling more clear-headed and starting to lose our little festive potbellies. We finish the month feeling refreshed and energetic, ready to face the rest of the year.

We are doing all that again this January, but two weeks in I don’t feel like it is enough. My body is definitely feeling much better. But my brain? Meh. Not so much. It still feels overloaded. I am not in the calm and relaxed place that I should be. I am craving peace, and space, and silence.

Continue reading →

Cheerio 2013!

December 31, 2013 By in Blogging Tags: , , , , 6 Comments

That was quite a year, wasn’t it?

DorkyDad and I had a lovely time out at the Taste of Tasmania festival last night, and we were reflecting on what big changes there have been in our lives over the last twelve months. I thought I’d spend the last afternoon of 2013 pulling together a short roundup of posts and images from the blog. I hope you enjoy them.

Thanks so much for reading DorkyMum over the last twelve months. Every comment, every page view and every shared post still fills me with surprise and delight. I may not have the most readers in the parent blogosphere, but I definitely have the best ones…

Much love to you and your families – I hope 2014 is full of laughter, love and happiness.

Ruth x

Edinburgh in the snow

January was about writing my shovel list (and indeed lots of other lists), considering my employment options, and attending the launch of the IF campaign. Continue reading →

My Word for 2014

December 22, 2013 By in Blogging Tags: , , , , , , , 45 Comments

Compass street art

Since my dear friend Emily – The Startup Wife – introduced me to the practice a couple of years ago, I’ve taken a morning or an evening every December to complete Susannah Conway’s Unravelling the Year workbook.

It’s a very worthwhile activity. Susannah challenges you, in the gentlest way possible, to look at the year that has just passed and reflect on what went well, what could have gone better, and what you’ve learned about yourself and others along the way.

You then take time to think about the year ahead and what your dreams, hopes and ambitions are, as well as noting any obstacles you expect to face and considering how you might overcome them. To tie all that together, you choose one word to keep in mind and inform your actions throughout the year – an overarching theme for everything that follows.

Continue reading →