August ~ Round-Up. 🧡

Ahaaaah, it’s been a while! August has been a good one though. I’ve been spending most of it either holidaying at home, holidaying in Scotland or holidaying in the caravan. Back to reality tommorrow ( Oh No! ) , with a 7 hour cleaning shift at school. Can’t say I’m looking forward to it. Need to get my ‘ Back To Work Head’ on folks! Before I get back into blogging proper, here’s a quick look at my month…

Reading ~ Wils Mum passed this book onto me, I’m reading Pachinko slowly and I am enjoying this epic historical tale by writer Min Jin Lee. The novel is a sweeping family saga about a Korean girl who moves with her new husband to Japan , a country that is hostile towards the displaced Korean people. Family love and sacrifice are big themes in Pachinko. I believe it may have been turned into a TV series for Apple 🍏 TV.

Reading in a Hammock. 🙂

Watching~ As usual I’m incredibly late to the party ~ Wil and I have just started watching the brilliant Boardwalk Empire. Has anybody out there watched this series? It’s an American Crime Drama set during Prohibition, full of Mobsters and Molls. There are several characters that the show centres around, I suppose the main one is dodgy city treasurer ‘ Nucky Thompson ‘ played by Steve Buscemi, who seemingly has the whole of Atlantic City at his feet. I found the first season on dvd at a charity shop and we are watching it at the Caravan, Old School, we don’t have wifi there. We are hooked, so I will have to look out for the other seasons, there are 5 altogether. At home I am just catching up on Shetland and seriously wishing poor old DCI Jimmy Perez finds some happiness in this series. 🙏

Late to the party.

Eating ~ I’ve definitely been eating far too much lately! Hopefully being back at work will hurl me into a routine again and a New Start/ New healthy eating regime. Maybe…. Meanwhile here’s a photo of the most delicious cake I’ve ever tried. A friend’s sister baked her this amazing creation for her birthday. It’s a super sumptuous ‘ Ferrero Rocher Cake’ and wow, a slice of this was pure heaven. Soo good.

Best Ever Birthday Cake!

Holidaying ~ My family survived a weeks holiday together. We stayed in the most lovely fairytale castle called Knock Old Castle in Ayrshire, Scotland and hopefully I will be blogging about it very soon. Check out those turrets……

Holiday Makers.

Birthdaying ~ A couple of lovely friends celebrated Birthdays in August. And also a certain Labrador Gentleman is now 8 Years Old. Which seems crazy, wasn’t he a wee puppy, only yesterday?? Yes Hugo is now in his early fifties, if you compare dog years to human years. 😲 Below Hugo poses with his Birthday Moose, only a few days after licking a jellyfish in Wemys Bay and costing us £90 in vets fees. Love you Hugo!

Birthday Boy!

Walking and Geo Caching ~ Whilst in Scotland we got into Geo Caching , as something to do with the family. Wil and I have gotten quite addicted it seems , and have recently been wandering the Eden Valley looking for treasures ourselves. Have you ever tried it? It’s a good way of discovering new places. 🙂

Geo Caching.

Thanks for dropping by. I’ve got some blog reading to catch up on myself , so see you soon. 🧡

In The Summertime. ☀️

We are having some amazingly hot weather currently here in the UK. Too hot sometimes! With possible thunderstorms forecasted today though, it’s going to feel a little more refreshing for my upcoming holiday to Scotland. Whoo hoo !

Meanwhile I have been enjoying my days off with mostly early morning walks and meet ups with friends and family. After seeing a lovely Wildflower Meadow at Stonyhurst College on Facebook , I met my sister, niece and nephew for a walk nearby. After viewing the flowers and seeing lots of butterflies we headed for the river. Lots of splashing was done! Our walk included a little of The Tolkien Trail . The Lord Of The Rings author often stayed at Stonyhurst and the surrounding countryside inspired his writing.

A hot day is always better at the beach! Last Thursday St Anne’s summoned us and a happy few hours were spent lying on blankets on the sand and paddling in the sea. A wonderful cooling breeze was very welcome. I am really excited to be heading up to North Ayrshire in Scotland soon and spending lots more time on the coast. 🤗

Thanks to everyone who wished me a Happy 10 Years Blogversary recently! As promised the winner of my little giveaway is revealed. Judy from http://walmermeadows.co.uk it’s you. 😊 I will be in touch ! Judy blogs about her beautiful woodland in Kent and the wildlife that visits is nothing short of amazing. All thanks to Judy and her husband’s conservation and woodland management skills. Pop by for a read.

I may be a little quiet on the blogging front in the next two weeks as I intend to enjoy that sea air in Scotland before a lovely long weekend break at the van. X

July Round-Up. 💛

Well July has bound by! So hopefully now I can relax a bit , I’m one of those lucky people that get a whole month off work in the Summer. Here is my July in a nutshell.

Reading ~ an actual book! It happened, I picked up a book and persevered. Maybe my reading mojo has returned. ‘The Tsarina’s Daughter’ gripped me from the beginning. Its a tale of indulgence, trechory, lavish luxury, dastardly plots and deadly revenge. Who is friend and who is foe in the Russian Royal Family? The young Tsarevna Elizabeth Romanov has to keep her wits ( and her head! ) in order to survive and gain what is rightfully hers. A sweeping piece of historical fiction that I thoroughly enjoyed.

The Tsarina’s Daughter.

Watching ~ another Channing Tatum film. Yep , he seems to be everywhere at the moment. Not that I’m complaining! Also Sandra Bullock ( who looks amazing) and Brad Pitt ( still got it) star in The Lost City . Definitely taking inspiration from ‘ Romancing The Stone’ and ‘Indiana Jones’, except with Sandy B in a figure hugging purple sequinned number, this is an amusing and rip roaring watch. Buy in the popcorn!

Sandra in a sequin catsuit ~ The Lost City.

Sipping ~ a Candyfloss Cocktail 💓. Yep this was definitely my favourite tipple of the month, and you can read all about my experience at Cloud 23 Here! The Cocktail is called a Metropolis if you fancy trying it yourself.

Metropolis in the Metropolis.

Touristing ~ and generally wandering in the general direction of Hadrian’s Wall which is about 45 minutes drive from our caravan in Melmerby. The most iconic site on the wall is probably Sycamore Gap , where a lonely Sycamore Tree sits majestically in a dramatic dip. Not sure if there is a more photographed tree in the country! We spotted The Sill Visitor Centre and walked up from there. I recommend The Sill for a mooch around the lovely gift shop and a walk up and around their wildflower meadow roof.

We also discovered Talkin Tarn near Carlisle. I wondered if this body of water was man-made, but actually it is a natural glacial lake. It was a bit damp and drizzley on our visit, but still very popular with sailing boats, paddle boards and other watersports. There’s a footpath around the tarn and a small cafe, gift shop and gallery in the boat house. ⛵

Sycamore Gap.

Talkin Tarn.

Celebrating ~ lots in July! Of course there is the fact that England won the Euros ..at last! I am not a sporty person ,but it is brilliant that such an amazing win will inspire all the young girls out there who love to play football. That includes both my god daughters who are eleven and twelve, they play for their local teams in Clitheroe. My niece too had a wonderful moment in July, she played Matilda in her drama group play. And smashed it! Proud family moment. ❤️

Lionesses Bring It Home!

10 Years !

And I can’t go on without mentioning this little blogs 10th Birthday! Can’t quite believe that in July I had been blogging on WordPress for ten whole years. I have loved documenting the good things in my life, sharing places I’ve enjoyed visiting and of course reading all your lovely blogs. The blogging community are such a supportive and interesting bunch!

To celebrate my 10 Year Blogversary, I am hosting a little giveaway. To be in with a chance of winning the above box of Extra Long Matches ( they are certainly super size! )in a beautiful box adorned with swallows, just leave me a comment below. I will put all names in a hat/teacup and pick one out at random , when I write my next post.

Thanks for reading. 🙏