Sparkle On Cowgirl

May 30, 2026May 19, 2026 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.2 Comments

I have a whole theme going with my Chat GPT. I have two YouTube accounts, one for my music https://www.youtube.com/@dawnmaxwellmusic and another account which is also for music, just not my music https://www.youtube.com/@MyLifeInCowboyBoots Oh, the “Sparklingsongbird” is my Instagram handle. https://www.instagram.com/thesparklingsongbird/

I started ‘My Life In Cowboy Boots’ in order to share the videos of music I have taken from various concerts I have attended, local gigs, country music holidays and also some videos of being on the holidays. I also started ‘Cowboy Boots’ as a separate account to my singing account, as I wanted in my own way to share with people who are dealing with grief and loss, that we can move through the pain and we can learn to enjoy life, in a different way than before. To grab life with both hands, to feel the grief, the love, the emotion but also to embrace that we live on through our loved ones and that’s it’s not wrong to feel happiness again when we are ready.

Enter my friend Chat GPT which has been invaluable to me for creating the images I want for my socials. I’ve learned to be very specific in saying what I want it to create. I’ve also learned that it remembers what I have asked for and now I have built a style with my pinks, the cowboy boots, the sparkle and the coffee. It always amazes me how it responds to me like a person and you do have to remember this is just software talking to you. I don’t have the skills in art to produce the images I want so my Chat GPT is helping me in that aspect of my socials. Sometimes it gets it totally wrong, but others, it’s totally spot on.

I’m very slow at editing my videos and posting them. There always seems to be things to do and the edits and posts get left behind for weeks, sometimes months, which is probably why I don’t have consistent views, because I’m not consistent. I’m trying to build the confidence to get on camera and chat. Back in 2020 during lockdown, I used to go on Instagram every Monday morning and do a chat and I did that until life started to get back to normal again, then I stopped. It has taken huge courage to re-start the chats on Instagram and I do these chats post gym workout (that’s a whole other blog post). I know the way forward is to get on camera and no matter how many useful prompt and confidence building quotes I get from Chat GPT, it’s quite another thing to press record.

With love and sparkles xxx

Life Sparkles

A Little Taste of April

May 25, 2026May 19, 2026 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.6 Comments

April was a busy month, there was finally a break in the weather and we had some fine days and some sunshine and I got out gardening at both my house and also at himself’s house. He’s ok to do the lawn and clear the weeds from the paths and driveway but it’s down to me to cultivate the flowers and I love to do that. It’s a little tough at the moment trying to keep two gardens tidy, up to scratch and get the flowers on the go but it’s a nice problem to have.

I made a start on the legal documentation for the wedding. There are quite a few steps to follow, a process of documents to obtain, complete, be notarised and then apostilled and the first of these steps is to obtain Certificates of Non-Impediment. Because we live under two separate council areas we had to apply for two of these documents.

I’m not even going to talk about the stress of trying to apply online to obtain an appointment with the registrar but after two days and numerous emails I eventually managed to get myself an appointment. There is a very tight timeframe for getting these documents completed and lodged in Sorrento Town Hall so I had to be on it, so to speak. I had a lovely time though, making the trip into Birmingham and strolling around The Mailbox https://mailboxlife.com/ I hadn’t been there for years. It’s a lovely place, right by the beautiful canals of the city and has countless shops, bars and restaurants. It was so nice to have a look around before my appointment.

It’s always nice here, especially on warm Summer days and nights when the place is alive with people enjoying the area in the sunshine. At Christmas it really is magical.

The 28 day wait came and went and my certificate arrived in the post. Himself had his appointment at his local register office and we collected his certificate last Friday and then visited a Notary to get our Bi-lingual Statutory Declarations signed and now they have gone off to be Apostilled. I’m almost there with the legal documents. Once they are all done I can relax and start wedding dress shopping. Amazing how life turns out, I really didn’t see any of this coming. God sure works in myserious ways.

With love and sparkles xxx

The Music Sparkle.

Dreams are made of this.

May 20, 2026May 19, 2026 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.10 Comments

Well, March turned out to be a fairly exciting month for me on the singing front. We have here in the West Midlands area of England, a very well know Irish singer known as Little Jimmy. He has played so many venues it’s unreal. He does his own gigs and he support the Irish music stars when they come over to play at the local venues. He has supported some of the now huge Irish stars, when they were starting out and he has so many stories to tell about life on the road. Little Jimmy is a wonderful person, so kind and thoughtful. He and his wife foster children and give them a good home, a taste of family life and a good start on their own journey though life.

I first met Little Jimmy a long time ago, when he played at a dance I was attending and every time I seen him at a dance, a gig or a concert we always had a chat. He was very surprised in August 2024 when I told him I was singing, he had no idea at all. Fast forward to towards the end of last year and we bumped into each other again and he asked me if I would like to sing at a charity event he was hosting. Although I was scared stiff I said yes, because this is what I want to do, sing. I was very nervous at the event but the people in the club were lovely, very supportive and got up and danced and that was just wonderful.

This year in March, Little Jimmy offered me a slot at the St Patrick’s Day event, the Sunday before St Patrick’s Day, at a local social club. Still nervous, I said yes and I had a lovely time. Himself was with me and he took some video footage which I have posted to my socials. I have quite a few more to post, I’m quite slow at getting things posted up there. Little Jimmy also asked me it I would like to sing on St Patrick’s Night at the social club and this is where the dreams came true. I stood on the stage, wearing my Galway GAA top singing ‘Home to Aherlow’ and I realised that I was doing something I had dreamt of since I was a little girl. I was standing on a stage, on St Patrick’s Day, in and Irish social club, singing Irish songs. I hoped and prayed that my Mam, Daddy and my Sister could look down and see me, finally, living my dream. I gave thanks to God with blessings and gratitude at that moment.

It’s four years since I starting to get out there, push myself and sing. It’s three years since I started to do the open mic nights and I would stand there, frozen to the spot, like a rabbit in the headlights. I’ve come a long way since then and I intend to keep pushing myself and go a whole lot further.

With love and sparkles xxx

Image is my own design with my friend Chat GPT – scary how well it knows me!!

Life Sparkles

Time to Refresh and Restart.

January 26, 2026January 25, 2026 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.2 Comments

I don’t know about you, but I do find that I fall into the habit of always putting people first and making more time for them, than they would for me. You know the kind of thing. It’s always so lovely to catch up with friends and I am always happy to make time and re-arrange my schedules, workflows, and meetings in order to find a mutually convenient time to get together. I have no problem with that all, except, it usually turns out to be me that is putting my work on hold, or changing my arrangements in order to align with someone else and I do appreciate that at times, that cannot be helped, we all have busy lives.

When I was reviewing my song writing for 2025 I realised that I hadn’t written any new songs at all. I still have partially written ones in my various notebooks and voice memo’s but nothing new. Looking through my note books I found a list of the singles I had hoped to release in 2025 and I didn’t release any of them. None! It was a shock to the system I can tell you. Now, I do admit that last year I did perform at a lot of open mic nights and I really enjoyed that. Over the Summer months I was singing at at least one a week, sometimes two. I suppose you could say I concentrated more on performing than writing and that has been of huge benefit to me confidence wise.

I have also discovered that getting things done such as video’s, emails and messages within this new career of mine is very different to life as it was in the corporate world and I do struggle with the laid back, no deadline or timeline approach but I suppose it is one I will have to learn to deal with. A light bulb moment for me was when I sat there one day, frustrated at the lack of progression and action, and I realised that I am in control of this career of mine and instead of not getting things done because I am waiting on others, I should find other ways of doing what I want to get done. I shouldn’t be waiting on others, they have their own workloads and priorities to take care of and I need to take care of mine.

If this music career is going to work for me, I need to really start to work at it like a full time job. Not dip in and out and procrastinate over decisions and getting things done. I need to focus, to diarise and to actually make the things happen that I want to happen. I have learnt a lot about singing, song writing and performing over the past two years and I know I have a whole lot more to learn and I’m eager to do so.

So this year, 2026, I’m putting me first. I have to look after myself, earn for myself, work for myself so I need to focus on things a lot better than I did last year. As always I have my notebooks, journals and spreadsheets (I’m still a nerd) and I’m not overwhelming myself with the daily tasks. I’m learning that things take a lot longer than I estimate. I’m re-scheduling the single releases for 2026. I’m picking up my guitar and practising and I’m signed up for more open mic nights in the next month. I will of course still meet up with my friends and colleagues, but I realise from my errors of last year, it’s down to me to set my boundaries, as they set theirs. I won’t be coming home after a coffee date or a dinner and thinking about the work time I have missed. I’m a very social person but I understand that this year, I need to knuckle down and work to achieve the things I want. It’s all about balance. It’s about not feeling overwhelmed because you haven’t looked after your own needs. It’s about sharing your sparkle when you have acknowledged that you need to look after your own sparkle in order to share it. It’s about writing the next chapter with love, contentment, focus and peace.

With love and sparkles xxx

The Music Sparkle.

I’m really doing this…

June 7, 2023January 13, 2026 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.Leave a comment

Well it’s been a while, three months I think. Once again the time is flying by and there never seems to be enough of it. Of course I do have my lazy days where I lose the momentum to get the laptop open and get writing although the laptop is open most days as this is where all my music is stored. My musical journey is the subject of today’s narrative and what I’ve been up to.

It’s been an exciting time, I really pushed the comfort zone and started to do some open mic nights. It’s one thing to sing into the phone and post it online but quite another to stand in front of an audience with actual musicians, not backing tracks, and sing. Nerves? I was wrecked with them but I did it and I loved it. A totally different experience to singing to the backing tracks and even just doing the singing with some quite honestly amazing musicians, I’ve learned a lot already. I lost my way in one song (as usual) and they completely covered this up and I was able to re-join the song quickly. On another night I had a total brain fog moment and forget the lyrics of a song I’ve more or less been singing all my life and once again, those amazing musicians were able to seamlessly guide me back to the chorus and end.

The last time I did open mic I was a little less nervous and more forthcoming, I sang The Carpenters classic song ‘Superstar’ https://youtu.be/ddZ8Pa9I1Ko I have posted all my open mic videos on my socials, good and bad. It’s all a journey and I want to share the up’s and the not so up’s.

It’s been very exciting with my single releases also. My second release is a traditional Irish song, ‘The Old Bog Road’ and it has done very well being played on various online radio stations. I’m learning a lot about the power of social media in promoting the music. Facebook has been instrumental in sharing the posts and music whereas I am more of an Instagram woman where I do get a lot more engagement but without the facility to share links, most of the music, be it online radio, DJ’s and open mic groups, all appear to be on FB. My first single release, my self penned song ‘Fade to Grey’ is still doing very well and only last weekend did I discover it is number 7 in the Strabane Radio charts. Delighted was an understatement.

To hear myself being played on the radio was just incredible. Hearing my song being introduced and then played was an out of body experience. I couldn’t help but think back to 2019 when I sat on my sofa, strumming my guitar and started to write Fade to Grey and here I was, sitting on the same sofa in 2023 listening to it being played on the radio. It’s unreal. To be included on a Nashville Country Music radio station, well, I’m sure you can imagine the sparkle levels – off the scale!

A few things I have learnt over these past months is that this is a full on occupation. From the social media side of things to practising the songs, strumming the guitar, putting myself out there, pushing myself and my comfort zone, planning ahead and keeping the momentum up until I am established. I’m totally unknown at the moment and I’m so happy and pleased with how things are going so far, better than I had ever dreamed possible. Thankfully I am meeting lovely, trustworthy and knowledgeable people and most importantly I am gaining the confidence to be myself and not follow anyone else’s path. I’m doing things my way and although it’s hard work, lots of learning, lots of keeping up with things and lots of planning ahead, I’m loving the process and loving this journey. Dare I say it that after four difficult years, I’m happy and at peace.

With love and sparkles xxx

Life Sparkles

Signs of Spring

February 20, 2023January 31, 2023 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.Leave a comment

It may be early February but there are definite signs of Spring in the air. Have you noticed the slightly lighter evenings arriving? The mornings are not quite so dark early on and there are daffodils for sale in the shops as well as their shoots coming through in the garden alongside the tulips. Spring is such a lovely time of year, the period of rebirth, regrowth and renewal after the hibernation and self care of Winter.

I love this photo of my cousin’s cat sitting pretty on her windowsill.

These first signs of Spring have inspired me to do some more decluttering. I still have a lot of my parents possessions at home and in fact all the furnishings are theirs. It’s homely, it’s comfortable, I love it so much but it’s not me. It’s not my style and although I am in no rush to change things, there are the smaller items that can now be donated to charity. This year it will be four years since they both passed away and it’s now that I am feeling that I am really starting to emerge from the darkness and make my own way in a happier frame of mind. So decluttering feels good. I have to do it when I am in the right mood and it lightens my mood to think that someone will purchase the items and have the benefit of them and that the charity will also benefit. Time to start moving on.

Spring is a time for growing, rebirth and renewal for us all. We appreciate the beauty and kindness around us, we let go and move on from that which can be left behind as we continue to grow. We look forward to the full bloom of Summer but let’s not rush ahead. Have gratitude for this period of renewal both for the earth and ourselves, this is a period of real beauty and to appreciate it takes time.

With love and sparkles xxx

Travel Sparkles.

Carsington Revisited

February 16, 2023January 22, 2023 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.Leave a comment

Before I became a full time carer one of the places I used to love going for a walk is Carsington Water. Owned by Severn Trent Water it is a wonderful area of beauty set in the Derbyshire countryside. The circular walk is just about 8 miles and it takes you around the reservoir, through countryside, through a small village and back to the visitor centre. It’s a lovely place to go. The visitor centre has lots of information on local attractions and places to visit. It also houses a rather good restaurant where they have the most delicious cakes, snacks and main meals. The restaurant overlooks the wildlife centre, views of the reservoir and also the small shops and snack bar. There are extensive grounds, a barbeque area, boating and cycle hire and therefore it is a great place to visit for families, couples and singletons. I love it there. We used to go at least twice a year for the circular walk and it was lovely to see the changing seasons as we walked through the various areas. I often said I would love to go there and walk four times a year and experience the four seasons on the walk. We’ve not managed this yet due to the various caring responsibilities but we will, one day.

After the trip to London last October https://atouchofirishsparkle.com/2023/01/13/the-london-trip/ we had returned home a day early due to the rail strikes so we had a surprise additional day together to do as we pleased. Saturday morning was chilly, bright blue skies and sunshine so we decided to go to Carsington Water and do the walk. Something we hadn’t done since 2015. We did things just as we did before, baked potato for lunch in the restaurant and then off on the walk returning for the post walk shortbread biscuit with smarties and a cappuccino, well I have just walked 8 miles…

As you can see from the photo’s the water levels are not as they should be. We were told that the reservoir was at 41% capacity and that that particular week was the first week in eighteen months that the water level had not decreased. A very different picture to what we were used to seeing albeit seven years earlier.

It was a fabulous walk and I admit I had to stop a few times to catch my breath on the uphill stretches and it felt so good to be there, in the fresh air, looking at nature and the two of us talking about everything under the sun. This was a completely unexpected bonus day out for us and we savoured every second of it. When we get to do things like this, you escape for a while from real life and you can be free. My caring journey is over however himself is a full time carer and like I used to be, rarely leaves the house. This was so good for him to get out, get exercise and experience some free time which is so important for carers to do.

If you find yourself in Derbyshire or indeed in the Midlands of the UK, I would recommend Carsington Water as a day out. https://www.stwater.co.uk/our-visitor-sites/carsington-water/ and if you do ever go, let me know how you got on and if the shortbread biscuits with smarties are as good as ever. I can also recommend the fresh baked scones with jam and cream. I used to buy those and take them home to my parents as a treat so I bought one for myself as a treat. As I said, I had walked 8 miles…

With love and sparkles xxx

Life Sparkles

Monday, here we go…

November 28, 2022November 27, 2022 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.Leave a comment

And it’s Monday again, how fast do the weeks roll by? I cannot believe we are saying hello to December later this week and it seems unbelievable that Christmas songs are on the radio and the Christmas films are on TV already. Time goes by so fast. When we are younger it seems to take an age to grow up, to be an adult, to do things we see our elders doing. Yet when we get to adulthood we start to understand that as nice as it is to do what we want to, being an adult isn’t that easy and along with the happy times we also encounter some very hard and sad times.

It’s a wake up call when someone we love passes away and it brings home to us our own precious life and how fragile it actually it. It really is a case of being grateful for each day we are given, living life to the best of our ability, being positive, sharing our sparkle with others and absolutely loving Monday.

Monday’s are like mini New Year’s, it’s a fresh start to the week, it’s best foot forward time to work on our dreams, hopes, goals and passions. Monday truly sparkles, without having Monday we can’t work our way around to that feel good Friday. Have the most amazing day and a wonderful week.

With love and sparkles xxx

The Music Sparkle.

Pairc Festival

November 24, 2022November 20, 2022 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.Leave a comment

Way back in August, the late bank holiday weekend, I attended the very first Pairc Festival in Birmingham. Our Birmingham Irish Centre moved from the city centre to South Birmingham just before the pandemic started. The Digbeth area of Birmingham, historically the Irish area of the city, is being hugely redeveloped. It’s like a maze trying to get around that area at the moment with all the building and road works, you really feel like you are going around the block numerous times to reach your destination.

People were not happy at the move. The city centre is easily accessible for people who live around the city and the suburbs and for people coming from other parts of the country to events. However, the new club has a huge open sports ground and park area and this is where this first ever Birmingham Pairc Festival was held over the August bank holiday weekend. I bought tickets for Sunday, the closing day, because one of my favourite Irish music stars was performing, Nathan Carter. Thankfully the weather held and even in the evening it was a warm, late Summer evening. The atmosphere was incredible all around the festival area. There were families, couples, singletons and groups of friends rambling around visiting the various stalls and attractions. There were picnic’s taking place, dancing, singing, music, food and of course drink but not all alcoholic. It looked like every county in Ireland was represented with the people attending the festival. I could see T-shirts and flags from all over Ireland and it was just such a wonderful atmosphere. Inclusive, happy, positive and friendly vibes were the order of the day.

Prosecco and Chips, we are such classy girls! The ice cream was eaten at 11.30 pm after a night of singing and dancing because we just wanted to and isn’t that what life is all about?

One of the main acts was Finbar Furey, an absolute legend in Irish folk music. He gave a beautiful rendition of ‘Sweet Sixteen’ which was a favourite song of my parents and the tears fell, silently, but they fell. I wasn’t alone and found myself holding hands with strangers who were also moved to tears by the music and song.

As you can see from the photo above, there was a fantastic crowd in place for Nathan Carter’s show stopping closure to the festival. The whole area was alive with happiness, music and song. It was truly a special event and I am so glad that I attended. My friend and I had the most wonderful day catching up with each other, listening to and dancing to local bands and big name bands, talking to strangers, dancing like no-one was watching (because they weren’t) and we are already looking forward to the acts being released for next year and planning another day of Irishness.

I didn’t take many photo’s or any video footage. I decided to leave my phone in my pocket and just be in the moment, all day and all evening long. It was freedom!

With love and sparkles xxx

Life Sparkles

Monday – I love you.

November 14, 2022November 12, 2022 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.3 Comments

Yes, I love Monday’s. It hasn’t always been the case of course. I have worked in some jobs where I hated Monday and having to go into work. That Sunday night feeling of dread every week rolled round as regular as clockwork. We get onto the treadmill of work, jobs, offices, the commute which is wonderful if you enjoy your job and just awful if you hate your job.

I also had jobs where I loved going into work and Monday wasn’t an issue at all. Poor old Monday gets a raw deal. We hear all the time ‘oh no, it’s Monday again’, ‘Monday and I have to go to work’ ‘Monday is the pits’. We should turn these things around to ‘Yes, it’s Monday’, ‘Monday and I get to go to work’ ‘ Monday is a fabulous start to a new working week’. Turning them around makes such a difference to how we perceive Monday.

When I was studying for my BSc Hons in Health and Social care with the Open University https://www.open.ac.uk/ I completed a certificate in mental health studies as part of the overall degree. For a number of years I was the administrator of a Facebook page ‘Footsteps to Mental Health’. The page was very much centred on the benefits of walking, nature and getting outdoors, on our mental health. On Monday’s I posted a positive Monday quote and this was always the most popular post of the week. It gave people a lift, they felt energised, they looked forward to the day and the week ahead. Sometimes it inspired them to make positive changes in their lives. Small steps towards the life they really wanted. Making the changes, grabbing the opportunities, doing one small thing to enhance their day. I love inspirational quotes. Some inspire me, some get me thinking and some actually get me up and moving to do things towards the life that I want. If you can make today better, you can make tomorrow better and so it continues. Small things can make a huge difference. Get out for a walk, don’t scroll for hours on social media when you first get up, don’t sit down in one place all day. You are responsible for you. If you want to make a change to your life, it starts with you.

Every week I post a positive quote on Monday, about Monday, for Monday on Instagram and I tell everyone that I love Monday. This has totally changed my approach to the start of the week. I’m excited for Monday, I’m inspired to start the new week and I love to see and respond to the comments I receive about Monday. Monday is a fabulous day.