Let me introduce you to…Made up of Little Things!

02.03

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I can’t think of a nicer way to kick off the new week (and March, no less!) than by introducing you to Rachael and her beautiful blog Made up of Little Things. It’s been a regular read of mine for almost the whole time I’ve been writing my own blog, and Rachael’s one of the wonderful women who I’ve had the pleasure of becoming ‘real-world’ friends with, albeit via the magic of WhatsApp seeing as we live at opposite ends of the country! Her blog is, as the title suggests, an exaltation of life’s little moments. It’s heart warming to the extreme- I never fail to leave Made up of Little Things without a smile on my face! This week, Rachael took time out from her daily routine corralling labradors and chickens and sweet baby Forrest to answer a few of my questions, so without further ado, let me introduce you to Made up of Little Things!

1. What made you want to start writing Made up of Little Things? Had you been an avid blog reader for a while beforehand, or did you just set it up on a whim one day? :)

‘I’m going to be completely honest here and admit that I didn’t even know lifestyle blogs existed! I had discovered vlogs on YouTube and really enjoyed them but I knew I wouldn’t ever be brave enough to make one myself so I had this totally unique and brilliant idea to document my life in a similar way in … wait for it … a blog! I do realise how naive I was now :) I googled ‘how to start a blog’ and took it from there.’

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2. What three words would you use to describe your blog? And what do you hope people take away from your blog, when they visit?

‘Hmmm, three words? Friendly, simple, honest. I hope that people enjoy reading about my dull day to day life and seeing photos of my half renovated house/untidy kitchen!’

3. I know it’s hard to play favourites, but have you got a favourite post?

‘Oh God this is so difficult. I do sometimes read back over past posts because I love reading about things that I’d otherwise have forgotten. In particular, a post called ‘A Day At Home’ which I wrote pre-Forrest reminds me of how crazy busy my life used to be and how I longed for it to be more like it is now. A post I wrote about my family tradition of visiting Lake Windermere gives me the warm fuzzies too and my first ‘Obligatory Snow Post’ makes me relive that near-miss in the car as though it were only yesterday! I’m a far more cautious driver these days!’

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4. What one piece of advice would you give to anyone considering starting writing a blog? And what’ve been the most positive changes Made up of Little Things has affected in your own life? :)

‘Don’t overthink it or try to make it perfect, just start writing. Blogging has made me see my life in a whole new way, I appreciate the little things even more than I ever have and I really wish I had more time to dedicate to it. I remember the frustration of starting out and having less than 10 followers but I realised that the best way to gain readers was to work on the content first and worry about the readership later.’ 

5. Tell us a little bit about life as a new Mama! What’ve been the highlights from the past year?

‘I’d like to share one of my partner’s pearls of wisdom here – ‘babies are a real game changer’! Having a baby isn’t without it’s challenges but I can honestly say it’s the best thing I’ve ever done. There are so many highlights – introducing Forrest to his first foods was great fun, watching him learn to crawl and, more recently walk, have all been so exciting. I’ve loved integrating Forrest into our lives, taking him to our favourite places and showing him things that will become important family traditions in years to come. Getting to know him, learning his little quirks and habits, his likes and dislikes. But the best thing is how it’s changed us … I never imagined it was possible to feel love like I feel for Forrest. All the cheesy cliched things people say about having children are true!’

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6. Okay- hands down, what’re the three best things about living in the countryside?

‘Definitely the fresh air and the open spaces, I feel really hemmed in when I go to town and visiting cities can be really overwhelming. The fantastic views too, I am lucky to live in the beautiful Lincolnshire Wolds and I like to make the most of the area by getting out with the dogs as much as I can. And finally, it’s got to be the people. People are so friendly in the countryside, everyone waves/smiles/says hello to you , whether you know them or not. I love the sense of community that you get from living in a village, there’s always something going on and you can be involved as much or as little as you like. There was a Victorian tea party in the village hall last summer and one evening there was morris dancing on the village green!’
 

7. Many years ago you introduced me to the wonder that is the fish finger pie! (It’s total genius) Will you share with Cider with Rosie readers your most favourite dinnertime recipes? :)

‘Haha, you can’t beat a fish finger pie! Total comfort food! That’s typical of my kind of cooking I suppose, I love comfort food and good homely dinners. Cottage pie, steak and ale pie, chicken and leek pie … are you sensing a theme here?? Anything that comes with a large helping of buttery mash! Or maybe a good beef stew with chunky home made bread and a good bottle of Shiraz. But my absolute favourite has to be a roast dinner, you can’t beat a proper roast with all the trimmings. I am fully aware how very Northern I am :)’

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8. And lastly, let’s play a round of ‘desert island discs’! If you were stranded on a desert island, what would you bring with you? You can bring two albums/CDs, two books, ingredients to make two meals, and one luxury item! 

‘Goodness, this is an indecisive person’s worst nightmare! Well firstly I’d cheat and put all of Elbow’s albums on one CD and all of Muse’s albums on another. I couldn’t go aw week without listening to an Elbow song, they are the soundtrack to my life! For books, it would have to be ‘Polo’ by Jilly Cooper and ‘Flambards’ by KM Peyton. My two meals would be a roast dinner (of course) and fillet steak with creamy dauphinoise potatoes and green beans, maybe with stilton sauce on the side (I’m actually salivating now) I hope there are good cooking facilities on this desert island! My luxury item would have to be lip balm, I could not cope without lip balm. I’m obsessive about it.’

** Thanks to the lovely Rachael for kicking off this week with such a fun interview! Click through to Made up of Little Things for a read of Rachael’s beautiful posts, and don’t forget to follow along via Bloglovin‘ and Instagram (search ‘madeupof’ on Insta for photos of the cutest baby you ever did see!) too! **

p.s. If you’d like to see your own blog featured here on Cider with Rosie, click through to the Sponsor page and book up an advert!

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11 Comments
Posted in Let me introduce you to..., Sponsor spotlight
  • http://majamoliere.com Maja Molière

    Such a lovely sounding lady. Happy monday!

  • Ladies & croissants

    She’s now on my bloglovin list!

    http://ladiesandcroissants.blogspot.fr/

  • http://lv-inlovewith.blogspot.co.uk/ Louise Victoria

    such a lovely little interview, it makes me yearn for the countryside – and a puppy! LV x

  • emily couture

    lovely interview and beautiful photos :)

    emily xx

    emilycouture95.blogspot.co.uk

  • http://www.lifeoutsidelondon.co.uk Michelle

    Ach Rachael’s blog is just joyous.
    Every time a post of hers pops up in my feed I do a teeny tiny happy dance.
    M x

  • http://www.eatwell-livewell.tumblr.com/ Abby

    You have such a beautiful life :)

  • Pili G

    Seems like an amazing blog! Love the dogs haha

    Love

    Pili

    Records of my Troubles

  • http://www.màrriedtoachef.co.uk Nicky Nelson

    Beautiful countryside!!! I have added Rachel to my regular bloglovin’ feed so I can soak up that country living more often!

  • http://www.thelibrarian.co.uk/ Georgina

    Awww it makes me happy to see Made Up of Little Things here, it’s one of my faves, not least because we live in the same area. It is true our countryside is beautiful, and regularly makes me want to pick up blogging again. You should visit Rosie, it’s not as far as you think and there is loads going on in Lincoln this summer!

  • littlemidge83

    I’m loving this blog. Thanks Rosie, not I just have another one to take up all my time and distract me from work! :)

    Although, that’s quite welsome at the moment!

    Annie

    http://littlemidge.blogspot.co.uk

  • http://www.myblondereality.com/ My Blonde Reality

    What a really lovely way of working/connecting/networking with other bloggers. I don’t think I’ve seen anything of this kind done quite so stylishly.

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