I'm back - Where have I been?

Wow it’s been several months since I’ve posted on my Touring Tales blog! I can’t believe it’s been so long and I’ve missed being here. So where have I been? Well to be honest there’s several reasons why life has got in the way of my lovely little book blog including:

In May 2022 we opened our home to a young, brave Ukrainian couple to live with us until they can safely return to their home
In June 2022 we helped set up the Swindon Welcomes Ukraine community group. We are now supporting over 300 Ukrainians in our town. It has been a busy but rewarding experience helping local hosts and guests settle in. We have provided over 160 bikes, run fundraising events, created an information website and worked with some amazing local businesses and charities. This work will continue throughout 2023. If you are able to support us that would be amazing, you can find out more here Swindon Welcomes Ukraine
In September 2022 my father-in-law died after several months of illness. During the summer we helped as much as we could until the very end, we are heart broken and miss him every day.
I went back to work – I stopped working full time during the pandemic. Sadly the finances have run low, and my book blog doesn’t provide any income so it was time to go back to work. Not wanting to return to corporate finance or full-time for that matter, I’ve set up my own local cleaning business Naturally Tidy. I’m working 2-3 days a week, I’m doing something I actually love to do, I’m in control of when and how I do it. I love the instant results and the feedback I receive from my customers. It’s hard work but rewarding and it fits in quite well with our vanlife travel. Ok so we’re not away months at a time in our van (not yet anyway) but working mid-week means we can still travel around the UK for regular long weekends and take holidays in our motorhome. Win win. And our house is being lovingly looked after by our Urainian family when we are away.

But I’ve missed my books, my reading time and my book reviewing. So it’s time to get back to doing what I love. I’ve had a good declutter of my bookcases and donated lots of lovely books to my local community library and charity shop. I now have lots of space for new books this year. Now the challenge is to decide what I should be reading in 2023. It’s exciting to be back in the world of books, I’m looking forward to discovering awesome new books and new authors that will transport me around the world with their stories.

Happy reading everyone.

Miche xxx