Wonderful holiday cottages across England, Wales and Northern Ireland are available. When you choose your next holiday cottage, the following may strike your eyes.

We have over 30 cottages for eight or more people. These are great for celebrations with friends and family. You could head to Devon and stay in one of the county’s most important houses, Shute Barton, where we can even provide details of the local cook that can come to the cottage and cook a delicious meal to make your stay even more special. One of our newest cottages is Thorington Hall in Suffolk, and it’s the largest in our collection. If you fancy something a little bit different, you can visit the Lighthouse Keeper’s Cottage.

Cornwall is a great place for dog walking with miles of coastline and beaches waiting to be explored and our dog friendly holiday cottages are on the doorstep on some of these places. We share just a selection of our dog friendly cottages across Cornwall. Click here    to see the full range of dog friendly cottages in Cornwall.

We have cottages perfect for a gathering with family or friends if you’re looking for some peaceful time away. You could spend the Easter bank holiday weekend in a holiday cottage on the beautiful coast around Cornwall or Pembrokeshire.

This cosy heart-warming cottage is the perfect romantic retreat, situated near the hamlet of Penrhos and close to the town of Pwllheli, featuring appealing views towards Cardigan Bay. Couples can escape the busyness of their everyday lifestyle and enjoy the delights of this compact yet beautifully presented accommodation.

We may be only three weeks into December, but artist Jonnie Hartman has been in the holiday spirit for months, designing and building the Grand America Holiday Window Stroll.

The goal with each window stroll is to create playful and uplifting displays (展示), according to Hartman. “I really try to do something lighthearted, something whimsical, that is, something everyone can connect with and maybe not see every day in the real world,” Hartman said.

She designs all of the window displays by hand, starting with pencil sketches, then illustrating the designs on her computer and sending parts of the drawings to be printed. From there, Hartman works with a team of five people to build the displays, creating, sewing and embellishing (润色) many elements by hand.

However, a challenge Hartman has faced over the years as she has designed the displays is making sure all of the measurements are right for elements to fit inside the windows.

“When I was in college, I was an art major, and I thought, ‘I don’t need math. I will never use it. I’m an artist,’ and guess what, it’s the most important thing that I use, ‘‘Hartman said. “If I don’t get that right, then the windows don’t fit, the pieces don’t come together and it just doesn’t work out.”

The holiday window stroll gives Hartman a unique opportunity to hear feedback from those who observe her creations, which is something she doesn’t always get to experience with her other artworks. She said it’s fun to hear people’s reactions as they go through the holiday window stroll.

“It just makes me happy that I can kind of set the tone for people’s holiday season and just maybe bring a smile to their face,” Hartman said.

During the holiday season, many of us feel pressure to find our loved ones the “perfect” gift. Why? Because gift-giving has long been considered a prime way to express love. However, recent research suggests that small acts of kindness, like a kind word, hugging a child or receiving sympathy, make people feel most loved and supported.

In the study, 495 men and women between the ages of 18 and 93 completed a questionnaire evaluating 60 possible ways that people can feel love. The storyboards included situations like spending time with friends, receiving gifts, and spending time in nature. The survey also included negative interactions, like being controlled and criticized (批评) by others.

The findings highlight the psychological benefits that close relationships can offer. In fact, study participants ranked human interaction as a more significant expression of love than receiving material items, like presents. Connecting with others was also rated more highly than getting positive feedback on the Internet, indicating that people get the most support from personal human contact.

“During the holidays，anxiety rises, making it harder to remain present with ourselves and others. However, the power of spending time with another person is a gift we can give at any moment,” says Dr. Carla Naumburg, a mindfulness coach and social worker in Newton, Mass. He suggests balancing party planning and online shopping with moments of human connection. Activities like reading to a child, meeting a friend for a walk, or taking a moment to call a family member, are ways to express love and care and can keep us emotionally grounded.

While the idea of offering loved ones the gift of our time may pale in comparison to giving them a generous present, recent research shows shared human experiences can tighten social bonds. Despite personality differences，most people agree on what makes us feel loved—the presence of our loved ones.

Think twice the next time you decide to copy your boss in an email. That simple little “CC” box (抄送框) could send a message that ruins your relationship with the other receivers.

A study in Harvard Business Review asked working adults to imagine that their coworker always, sometimes, or rarely CC’ed their boss in emails. The study results show that employees felt less trusted when their coworker “always’’ copied the boss than when they ‘‘sometimes” or “almost never” did. The results of the survey aren’t surprising, says career expert Bruce Tulgan. Sometimes the boss really does need to stay in the loop (在圈内) with an email chain. But most times, employees are purposely sending the message that they don’t think the receiver follow through with what they’re asking unless the boss gets involved, says Tulgan. “That is an expression of lack of trust,’’ he says.

Breaking down that trust level in your office can have serious consequences. Like in any relationship, coworkers need trust to keep things running smoothly. “When people have trust, there is a much higher level of wanting to deliver for each other,” says Tulgan. “When people have enthusiasm, they try harder.” That means more willingness to take risks and make decisions, he says. Even if you don’t trust your coworker to follow through for you, copying the boss in an email is not the best strategy, says career expert Todd Dewett, PhD. “CC’ing is the adult version of being a tattletale (告密者),” he says. “It tells your colleague you didn’t agree without telling it to their face, and you want your boss to know without talking about it.”

As a rule of thumb, only about 20 percent of what you do in the office is truly urgent, and those are the only times you should consider getting your boss involved in, says Tulgan. “The most important people, the most important project, key relationship,” she says. “That’s when you might consider the occasional use of CC.”