Mrs Lighty’s Liked and Loved: September 2017

Well hello there September! Officially autumn, or so it seems. However, it hasn’t stopped us getting out and about this month. With our childminder off on holiday, we’ve had quite a few family days out to cover childcare, as well as our normal days out and fun in general. Indeed, as I hit publish on this month’s Liked and Loved, I’m currently out enjoying my first blog conference, BritMums Live, eeeekkk! To say I’m a little nervous as I type and schedule this post is an understatement, but I’m also super excited about meeting so many of the lovely bloggers that I speak to on an almost daily basis! I should probably warn you now that next month’s Liked and Loved is likely to have a little cheat included and I’ll no doubt be writing about #BML17 in next month’s round up!

Anyway, before I get too excited by the prospect of blogging and Prosecco combined, here’s what we’ve liked and loved in September:

A Hidden Gem in Hackney

Since we took out National Trust membership in the summer, we’ve been keen to make the most of it. At the start of this month, we therefore took a little trip to Sutton House, in Hackney. It really was a hidden gem amidst the chaos of East London! The house itself definitely had a more trendy vibe than we’re used to at National Trust properties (one room was left as a ‘squatter room’ following their squatting residents in the 1980s, for example!) but it was definitely worth a visit.

Baby Lighty loved the old fashioned bus and double storey caravan in the garden, as well as the play time in a local park afterwards, and I think he loved the fact that we had to go on a train to get there almost as much as the day out itself!!

Fun on the Farm

One of the days out we enjoyed this month was to White Elm Garden Centre petting farm. We’ve been there once before, when Baby Lighty was tiny (and once since, on Baby Lighty’s second birthday, but, erm, it was shut), and we’ve been excited to go back as they’ve added new animal attractions and a soft play barn, too. Baby Lighty loved it, and was in his element feeding the animals. Mr Lighty and I had to have a little laugh however at how funny it was seeing Baby Lighty learn to walk in wellies for the first time after we hired a pair from the farm!

Mrs Lighty's Liked and Loved: September 2017

How cute are the wellies?!!

A Fifteenth Anniversary

This month also saw Mr Lighty and I celebrate our fifteenth anniversary of our first date. We had thought about going out for dinner to celebrate, but as we’d used up a lot of our babysitting credits recently and we were already off the day before our anniversary, we decided to go out for a daytrip as a family on the Friday instead. As such, we went to the National Trust Wimpole Estate in Cambridgeshire.

It was our first visit to this property, and to be honest the half day we had there didn’t do it justice. Luckily the weather was beautiful, so we managed lunch outside and a leisurely trip around the working farm, as well as a play in the gardens for Baby Lighty, before visiting the house itself. It’s definitely on our list to go back!

Getting Brave

This month, after having a certain post sat in my drafts for months, I finally got up the courage to publish this post on my recent experience of horrific migraines, and my brush with PND. If I’m honest, I feel like a bit of a fraud, as I haven’t really done much more about this recent dip in mental health, and I don’t really know what to make of it all.

But having said that, something I’ve liked and loved this month are all of the wonderful comments I’ve had from you lovely lot. I’ve had advice on feeling low, advice on what may or may not help in terms of my migraines, and just some really supportive and also heart warming comments from ladies telling me that they two have felt like this, and thanking me for being so honest about how I’ve been feeling. It’s nice to know that I’m not alone, and I hope that that post will help others. When it’s picked up by Mumsnet, you know you’ve written something pretty special, and although I’d like not to be feeling like this, I do feel more in control nowadays.

Grown Up Outings!

September and October are traditionally birthday season in the Lighty circle of friends, and as such, we’ve had a few grown up outings this month as well as family days out. At the start of the month, I headed out with my university friends, not for a birthday celebration, but just for one of our regular meet ups (which may or may not have inspired this post after half a bottle of Prosecco, oops!!). We were long overdue this meet, so it was lovely to catch up with my geography pals, especially as it was the first time seeing them since one of them has become a Mummy herself…I think the three of us pretty much spoke babies all evening!

Mrs Lighty's Liked and Loved: September 2017

Prosecco buddies!


On top of this, we’ve also had drinks with Baby Lighty’s Godparents on two separate occasions, as we’ve had the birthdays of two of his Godfathers this month. Not too shabby a month for grown up outings then, September!

So that’s what we’ve liked and loved in September! The year is whizzing by, and October will see birthdays for both Mr and Mrs Lighty! So have great month, and I’ll see you here this time next month, with more of what we’ve liked and loved this year!

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62 thoughts on “Mrs Lighty’s Liked and Loved: September 2017”

  1. Your September certainly sounds like it was more fun than mine! I got to stay in a hotel, with my parents, and with my sister (because we were evacuated due to forest fire proximity). I got 2.5 weeks off work (fire, again). And that’s about it!

  2. We’ve been thinking of buying National Trust passes for ages, there are so many stunning places to explore. These ones sound fabulous, I’d never heard of Sutton House and I used to live down the road! A hidden gem indeed! Thanks for sharing! #DreamTeam

  3. Loving all your family days out, they are the best aren’t they. I hadn’t realised there was a National Trust place in Hackney. *Looks for National trust card at bottom of bag. Huge congratulations for your 15 years Nic! That’s definitely a day trip kinda moment. Thanks so much for hosting the #DreamTeam with us! xxx

    1. Oh the one in Hackney is so trendy Annette! You’d love it I think! Thank you for the anniversary wishes and thank you for letting me be part of #DreamTeam! xxx

    1. Haha, well as he’s never had wellies before… 😉 A playdate would be wonderful though! Thanks so much for stopping by! #DreamTeam

  4. Really enjoyed reading this Nicola, looks like you’ve had a lovely month! We have NT memberships too and I always love to hear about great new places to visit! I think they’re such great value and the children learn so much from our little outings. I read your post about PND when it was published and thought it was so brave and inspiring to share this, I really struggled after the birth of my daughter particularly and its always so comforting to know you’re not alone-so thank you. #DreamTeam

  5. This year really is whizzing by! We don’t have National Trust membership as there aren’t many places near where we live, but my parents have it and we visit some lovely places with them! Also, congratulations on your 15yr anniversary 🙂 #dreamteam

  6. You’ve just reminded me that we still haven’t got our National Trust memberships. It’s been on the to do list for ages and this is the kick up the ass I needed. Congrats on 15 years! #DreamTeam

    1. The BritMums event is now up and running on the blog if you fancy a read! Hope to see you at one of the events soon! #DreamTeam

  7. Time surely does not stand still and it seems as if this year is just flying by. Hope you have a wonderful birthday and congrats on your fifteenth anniversary of your first day.#dreamteam

  8. Hope you had a fab time at BritMums, look forward to hearing all about it. Ooh can’t beat a few boozy nights out can you? We had a couple this month too (although that’s probably about all I can handle these days!) 🙂 #DreamTeam

  9. Your September has definitely been a sparkling one Mrs L and it was such a privilege to clink glasses with you at long last as this post was published. I’m still loving those wellies hehe xx

  10. Your September has definitely been a sparkling one Mrs L and it was such a privilege to clink glasses with you at long last as this post was published. I’m still loving those wellies hehe xxx

  11. We can’t believe how quickly the months are whizzing by! Hope you enjoyed #BML17 and congratulations on 15yrs date anniversary x sorry for our super late #DreamTeam comment x

  12. It’s lovely to recap on what we’ve done over the months. We didn’t do much in September except for being in France for one of those weeks. #DreamTeam

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