Life in Cookieland Blog
Health | Mental Health | Adventure | Rants
The lure of Glen Coe in winter
The Scottish Highlands. It’s the only place on Earth that pulls me like a magnet…
Pop-up? Pop off!
Don’t get me wrong, I know it’s marketing, I know it’s a 'keep their attention'…
Feeling like a nuisance around other people
One thing I've learned during the recovery from my nervous breakdown is that it all…
Sunrise over The Quiraing, Isle of Skye
The name Quiraing comes from the Old Norse phrase Kví Rand, which means Round Fold.
A strange(r) connection
Whilst trespassing on farmland (training to walk 1000 miles solo round Iceland) I had an…
I hate hot weather, don’t I?
Anyone who knows me knows that for over half a century I've cheered as winter’s…
My breakdown; my best friend
My breakdown is being a tough-talking best friend; it's not trying to hurt me in…
No kids? What’s wrong with you?
I don't want children, which makes me a selfish, child-hating woman, who's no idea what…
Not all that glitters is gold
After a couple of hours and a couple of gins, my companion decided that I…
I’m a woman and I hate shopping!
I read an article this morning about how women are programmed to love shopping, as…
Beginner’s guide to different types of fasting
Fasting refers to the practice of going without food for a period of time. How…
The mesmerising beauty of Antarctic Icebergs
Nothing could have prepared us for the variety of icebergs that we were to see…
No, it’s not perimenopause!
Your nerves are raw and you’re aware that you’re hypersensitive at the best of times…
The symptoms of a nervous breakdown
It takes a long time to spiral all the way down to rock bottom. And…
Winter wildlife on the Antarctic Peninsula
Most newborn life had already headed north for the winter so only a few of…
You’re offended – well, so bloody what?
How fabulous it is to have grown up in a time where people could enjoy…
Photos from the Scottish Highlands
These photographs of the south-western Highlands were taken on my way to a regular winter…
Cookie The Slapdash Adventurer
I've always wanted to be an epic adventurer. Imagine my disappointment, then, to find out…
Just how awkward is this going to be?
Yep, people tend to avoid talking about mental breakdowns. It’s all they can do to…
The idea: walking the scottish highlands
It was 5am when I sat bolt upright in bed, prodded Dave’s cheek and declared,…
Feeling fragile after a mental breakdown
Being fragile is part of being human, a moment of relative dysfunction in an otherwise…
Mind over matter
My world fell apart when I had my breakdown but I remember seeing it as…
Tristan da Cunha, the remotest inhabited island
It took me five years to find a ship bound for the remotest inhabited island…
Such is the stigma of mental illness
Did I really have a breakdown? Noooooo, I just decided to stop functioning for a…
