Time Flies…

August 24, 2026 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.7 Comments

I cannot believe we are into the final week of August and I haven’t posted on my blog since May. It has been a busy few months with decluttering, DIY, wedding planning and getting ready for the kitchen renovation over at himself’s house. I still can’t believe we are into August.

Of course here in the UK we have had the most amazing Summer weather, five periods designated at heatwaves, which I have loved and it was fabulous to see people out and about, in Summer clothes, smiling and happy and enjoying the Summer holidays. Usually I would be out gardening, yes, even in the heat. But I had painting of doors to do, decluttering to do and paperwork for the wedding to organise. I did get out in the garden over at himself’s house and the roses were just in abundance over there, absolutely beautiful.

I will have to post a separate blog post with photos of the roses, I was so proud of how they grew this year. I don’t know what I’m doing really with garden plants, I have a go and see how they turn out. So far so good although I have managed to kill off a few plants. Oops.

I have also been working on the licensing and release of one of my own songs to be released in time for the wedding and that song ‘I Knew’ was released last Friday. Another blog post to follow about all of that too. I’ve been out singing at the open mics so I need to catch up on all of that news too.

And yes, how could I forget, I said yes to the dress!!! I really am behind in keeping my blog up to date and I started off so well this year. I do enjoy writing my blog, I’ve had it going since 2015 and it’s lovely to look back and read the journey I have been on in those years, some very sad and tearful years and now I’m embracing the happy years and the new era that lies ahead. Life has it’s peaks and troughs, the up’s and down’s, the sad and the happy. When we are in the midst of the grief and sadness we just can’t see a way forward. We keep going, we take small steps every day and eventually we emerge into a new us. Parts of us will never change and other parts are totally new because life changes us as we learn to deal with our life journey. So for now I am loving this new phase of life and I am thankful every day that life has changed in such a happy and positive way for me. I have no regrets about the past, I am at peace with it. It was hard but it really was an honour to look after my parents in their final years and also to help himself with his Mom in her final years also.

It really feels like at last, this is my time.

With love, sparkles and more blog posts to come xxx

Life Sparkles

And Just Like That…

February 23, 2026February 22, 2026 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.11 Comments

2026 has become a much busier year than I ever expected it to be. I didn’t see an engagement or wedding planning on the cards but we had been planning some renovation work and for me to move to his place and now suddenly we have got into gear on all fronts. I’m decluttering at my home, still finding lots of things belonging to my parents which I hadn’t yet dealt with and somehow you have to look at every single object, piece of paper or random birthday card you find. I have a couple of small storage boxes to keep the very special items in and people are right when they say, you can’t keep everything but nothing can take away the memories you hold in your heart.

My bathroom needs serious renovation. It’s the original bathroom from when the house was built in 1982 alongside some very quick and makeshift changes I had to make when I was caring for my parents. Now, it needs to be fully re-done and ready for whoever may live in the house next. After a couple of years deliberation (you can’t rush these things) I have finally chosen the items and the builders will be coming on 7th April to get started.

Over at himself’s house, a long overdue job is the small ensuite which has been out of action for a couple of years. That job is being started today…just think of the dust!!

We’ve had some long conversations about the wedding and what we would like to do. Himself is a quiet man, not one for being in the spotlight, not comfortable with being on show and no interest in social media whereas I love the few socials I’m on and I have got used to being up on stage. Neither of us were interested in a big formal wedding. I think we have waited so long to get to this point, we love the idea of just going off and getting married. An elopement wedding. Sounds very romantic doesn’t it? We have decided on Sorrento which is where we went on holiday for a week last year. How bizarre that I was there last year, walking around the area that I’m actually going to be getting married in this year. Life sure is strange at times.

We have chosen The Cloisters of Saint Francis for the ceremony, located in central Sorrento. It’s such a stunning setting and lends itself to both formal and informal marriage ceremonies. There is a lot to sort out and I have chosen Perfect Weddings Abroad to work with to get everything arranged. We have decided not to wait until next year until the kitchen renovations have been done. We have already waited a long time to get to this point so yes, let’s go for it. I will run everything past himself of course but the wedding planning is my project and the kitchen renovation is his project although as the woman of the house to be, I will be having a big say in what’s what in the new kitchen (of course).

Alongside all this, my open mic nights have taken off and I’m singing at least once, sometimes twice a week. So it’s all systems go on all fronts. A huge flurry of activity after such a different period of life. It certainly is a new era of me.

In other news, I joined the gym!!! More on that in the next post…

With love and sparkles xxx

Life Sparkles

2026 – A New Era.

January 19, 2026January 18, 2026 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.5 Comments

2025 has been quite a year, from the highs of happiness to some sad losses, the circle of life and the paths life takes us down. Once again I have been very lucky to have done some travelling and have visited some beautiful places; Sorrento, Costa del la Luz and Ireland. I have met some wonderful people some of whom are now good friends and are as crazy as I am about singing, dancing, music and having the craic. I’ve also achieved things I thought would be impossible for me to achieve.

None of the above could I have done without my amazing friends and family. I know there have been times over the past couple of years where they must have looked at me and wondered what on earth I am doing and no doubt there will be more of that in the coming year. In the past few years I have found some new confidence, new strength and new power to try things out and push my comfort zone. It’s been scary but so worthwhile.

I’ve been very lazy with my blog and at times I have thought about giving it up. As if the universe is pushing me, almost as soon as I have these thoughts to end the blog, I receive an email from WordPress to inform me about people visiting my site and that spurs me on to keep it going and actually start writing again. I always found writing my blog very therapeutic, it helped me through the darker times in my life and from the messages I received, it helped others too. I also connected with some wonderful writers on here and to sit back with a coffee and read a blog post was very relaxing.

Thank you for all your support, your love and kindness, for giving me confidence to follow my dreams. It’s still January so I’m not too late to wish you all a very happy, healthy, peaceful, love filled and totally sparkling 2026.

With love and sparkles and more to follow xx