Friday 30 September 2016

Huge Overhaul

Hey! I've been having a super deep think about my blog, it's direction, what I post about, and most of all if it's actually what I set out to do in the first place.

I've found that the more I look at other lifestyle blogs I keep thinking "why isn't my blog like that?" full of cool events and cute little cafes, reviews, hauls, marble backgrounds in the pictures, insanely gorgeous Instagram feeds, interesting and conversation starting tweets...And I've kind of come to a conclusion on that.


  • My blog isn't full of events, because I don't go to any other than Barn Dances, Vegetable Festivals, and farm festivals /celebrations. 
  • I don't do reviews and hauls in particular, because my monthly budget doesn't stretch that far to be able to try out new things that I'm not sure about.
  • I don't have any marble backgrounds in my instagram -or any - photos, because my house is an old semi-detached house in the middle of the fields on a farm and hasn't been majorly redecorated for years, and I don't feel like spending money on my blog just yet. 
  • I don't really get into huge conversations with people - even though I really want to - because when I do get into a conversation, after a few tweets I feel like I'm annoying that person.
My main goals of this blog were to help others and to document my life to look back on in years to come. Telling people about how this lifestyle changes you as a person, makes you appreciate the little things and the hard work that goes into it all. Giving my experiences / opinions on things that have happened to me and my family, hopefully to help others going through the same thing. 

This doesn't mean I'll only be posting about veg, ducks, chickens, and farming in general. I'm going to be writing about other things like family, cleaning, cooking, etc. much like I have been until now. I just feel the focus of my blog has shifted through nobody's fault and I've lost sight of why I started and where I am.

Having said all this, I'm sure you've gathered that The Life of a Farmer's Wife will be changing. For starters the name has changed too.

The Homesteading Life

This is what me and B do. We're not full time homesteaders, we don't spend our days in the veg garden and making home-made lavender soap - however much I want to! - but these factors are definitely big things in our life. 

As this is a lifestyle blog, it doesn't make sense to write it without including our major lifestyle choices and circumstances. I was at first embarrassed or worried about posting about vegetables and livestock, mainly because I've got one foot in the Homesteading community and one foot in the lifestyle blogging community.

I have also decided to move over to Wordpress. This gives me more opportunity to control the look and appearance of my blog, although I've had to read a few tutorials on it all. 

You can find the new blog here



I realize I will lose following, I will lose readers and I'll lose any ranking my blog had made up until now, however small or big that may be. I'm not too concerned with ranking and google searching, it's just numbers to me at the moment.

I do care about my followers, my readers, but I also don't want to build up a reputation while doing something I'm not entirely happy with. I can't write the best posts, or give the best advice if I'm not happy doing it. I'm sure many others can understand that.

I've been blogging for around three months now, and to be honest I think this is around the time most bloggers start to find what makes them happy, what makes them want to blog more and more, what their readers like & don't like... It's like the first three months of blogging you get swept away into the magic of the blogging community and meet all these wonderful people, and then you start to settle into a routine, start to know what you want to blog about for definite, find the right way to portray yourself as close to reality as possible.

I suppose this is the time for me to do that too. It's starting to sound a bit like I'm saying I'm leaving but I'm not. I'm changing for the better and making this stay something I enjoy doing instead of viewing it as a job.

If you stick around and come with me on my adventure, I would really like that. I do understand that homesteading and farming isn't what everyone wants to read about, so I know some won't want to continue reading if this becomes a main feature, but as it's the main feature in my life it's going to be a main feature on my lifestyle blog.

Thank you for reading, and I'd love it if you went over and had a look at the Introductory Post on The Homesteading Life.

Bella x

Friday 23 September 2016

6 Things to do This Winter

6 things I want to do this winter

If you haven't noticed it already on my social media, I live in Norfolk UK. I've only lived here for around a year and a half or a little less. I've not done much of the sight-seeing or adventuring in that time, I've only been to the Norwich Cathedral - which I have to say is pretty special.

As autumn is here and it's approaching my second winter here in the UK after 12 years in Spain, I thought it's about time I put together a bit of a list of things to do and see in Norfolk and Norwich.

Thursday 22 September 2016

30 blog post ideas a week



How to come up with 30 blog post ideas each week


For the last few weeks - probably months now - I have been coming up with 30 blog post ideas each week and adding them to a schedule. I've got blog posts all the way up to December planned, and then some waiting in the wings ready to be put on the calendar. 

My point is, thanks to this I don't panic about what to write or sit about for hours trying to come up with something fun, interesting or relevant for the next day, week or event. I have it all planned and most probably written up the week before. 


Today I'm going to be explaining how I do it, why I do it, and I'm going to also explain how I plan everything out too. 



Wednesday 21 September 2016

Fitness Journey Week 6


Hey everyone! So today -kinda- marks 6 weeks of getting fit and healthy. I'd done a lot more this week than I have any other week, but again I think that has more to do with having a more positive outlook  than I did before. If you're not motivated and ready for life in general and just a bit blah, the though of going for a run or walk or whatever instead of eating a chocolate bar doesn't really exist! Not for me, anyway.