Liked & Loved {January 2026}
*Some of the items mentioned in this post were provided for us to feature however all opinions are my own.
I can’t believe that the last time I wrote one of these posts was just a couple of days after Christmas. It feels so recent and yet this also feels like the longest month we have ever had!
The weather has been pretty bad this month, with more grey days and rain than sunshine. So, it’s nice at a time like this to look at all the positive things, everything we have liked, loved and appreciated over the last few weeks.
National Trust Hatchlands Park
Between Christmas and the start of the new year we went to a couple of National Trust sites to stretch our legs, get some fresh air and do the festive trails they had on offer. Our first one was the Snowdogs at Hatchlands Park which was a gorgeous trail around the grounds, full of individually decorated Snow Dogs. We even got to see the house all decorated inside for the festive season too. It was lovely.
National Trust Winkworth Arboretum
Our next trip out was seeing the Nutcracker at Winkworth Arboretum. This was a much smaller trail, just around the upper areas of Winkworth, but we a really nice way to get out and break the day up. LP and Little Man are great company and they make even a simple mooch at a National Trust that much brighter.
A break in the Cotswolds
Last week I had a couple of nights away in the Cotswolds for Lauren‘s birthday. The hotel we stayed in wasn’t the best, and we had a few issues that the staff were quick to sort out, but the actual break away was lovely.
We explored so much of the Cotswolds – Bourton on the Water, Stow on the Wold, Gloucester, Cirencester and the Westonbirt Arboretum. It was so nice to have a decent chunk of time away with one of my closest friends and explore somewhere new too.
Books
I have read 9 books so far this year – which sounds ridiculous! But, I love to read and will always prioritise it over watching the TV or scrolling through my phone. A really good book I’ve read recently are The Tenant by Freida McFadden. Nice and easy to read, it sucks you in and makes you feel like you know exactly what’s going to happen and then BAM, there’s a huge twist that I really didn’t see coming. I really enjoyed it.
I also read another Chris Whitaker book and, considering I only read my first of his books in October, he has swiftly become one of my favourite authors. Tall Oaks was his debut novel – and it was fantastic! A real whodunnit mystery surrounding a missing child but with such well described locations and well developed characters, I felt like I was right there in the story with them.
Veganuary
We aren’t vegetarian or vegan but like to try meat alternatives when we can. This month we were sent a bundle of Squeaky Bean products to celebrate Veganuary and really enjoyed trying them.
We were sent a Spanish Chorizo Style Pie which is a fantastic vegetarian option with a shortcrust pastry base and full of butter beans, courgettes, a fermented vegetable filling and topped with puff pastry. There was also Pastrami Style Slices that taste just like classic deli pastrami, perfect for sandwiches!
Salmon Style Flakes and Tuna Style Flakes that were really similar to the fishy originals. The texture and even the smell was spot on and I really enjoyed having these with salads for my lunch.
Lastly, there were Chargrilled Mini Fillets and Crispy Bacon Style Strips which were great to add to salads, sandwiches or wraps and tasted very similar to chicken and bacon. I was really impressed with Squeaky Bean products and you can see the full range here.
And that’s everything we’ve been enjoying this month. There have been so negatives – a leaky roof and an accident with the car come to mind – but this is all about focusing on the positives and it’s been a nice, low key month overall and a good start to the year. I hope you’ve had a lovely January too.
