My Home, My Poetry, My Photography
Hello folks, remember me?! Well if not I have a new vlog (see link above) that will hopefully remind you what I look like! and a few pics below from a recent dog walk at Clumber Park, I just love the pic of Mollie. I have been so bad at this blogging milarky but I actually have a few ideas for new blogs and new vlogs that I am hoping to share with you very soon so please bare with me and thank you so much for all your continued support xxx
It has been a couple of weeks since I last spoke to you, I feel January was a very long month!
We are back on the DIY after a few months off due to wedding related things and Christmas. I do prefer doing home revamps this time of year so that in summer we are not stuck inside at weekends and evenings painting walls but are out enjoying the (hopefully) warm weather.
This week we have been sorting my inbuilt wardrobe, see vlog for what we have done and where we got various items from. It’s such a small space it was quite a challenge as we wanted to get as much storage in there as we possibly could.
We also had a dusting of snow that then froze so made everywhere look so clean and beautiful but luckily wasn’t thick enough to turn into that slippery slush that stays for weeks/months on end!
Also we got a couple of different dog walks in one in which included a doggie assault course that I can’t say Mollie particularly excelled in! and we celebrated my mum’s Birthday, as you will tell in the vlog it was a good job me and Jon remembered a cake!
Hope you lovely lot are well and enjoy my vlog, if you do please could you like and subscribe and I will speak to you again soon xxx
Hello, just a quick one from me this week. Above is this weeks vlog which is showing a bit about the lead up and then the actual wedding of two of my friends where I got to be Bridesmaid for the first time ever, I cannot even express in words how flipping excited I was (and nervous waiting to walk down the aisle in front of everyone!).
But as you can see in the vlog I managed not to fall, trip or have any other catastrophe that might ruin the wedding befall me at any point. I have also added a couple of shots below that Jon took while we were having the official photo’s taken. The scarfs and gloves the bride got for us were so soft and comfy.
I had the best time and loved every second and most importantly so did the bride and groom xxx
(This weeks vlog)
(Last week’s vlog)
I really quite like January, I know, I know literally no one else does apart from me. But I like it because my most hated time of year (Christmas) is finally over, us retail workers are allowed holiday again which we make the most of after the Christmas madness, we are a couple of months closer to Spring/Summer and a new year means a fresh slate which tends to give me a good kick up the ass to get on track with what I want to achieve or carry on achieving.
I’m not exactly a New Years resolution person, I may need to lose a few pounds (or a stone) but it being New Year isn’t going to motivate me enough to live on lettuce leaves for the foreseeable future and I absolutely loathe the gym. Instead I like to have a life review, below is what this years is looking like;
So how has my first week gone in regards to the above. Well I have gone for two runs already and have another one planned for tomorrow, I am so close to running the 5k in half an hour now.
We have got the paint brushes out and have finally got around to painting the last door upstairs and touching up some other paint work before we start in the bedroom.
On the reading front I have read one book so far and are part of the way through the second which I think is pretty good.
We have been looking into going to Paris, whether Euro star or a plane is the best option cost and time wise as well as looking into a couple of other trips closer to home.
Number six is off to a flying start as two of our closest friends are getting married this month and I am a Bridesmaid so we have already got a lot planned on the lead up to the big day and of course the day itself which I am so excited for!
I know things will happen this year, like last year, that you can’t possibly plan for, such as my Grandma dying on Boxing day, which means some things that were not a priority become so and some plans have to be put back, that’s just life. But this is why I like doing a review every six months, to check I have plenty of good in my life and things to look forward to to keep me sane through the bad things.
I think it is also important not to put too much pressure on yourself to keep those resolutions if you have made any. As I said above life throws things at you unexpectedly so some of your goals/perspective changes because of this but it doesn’t mean it’s never going to happen.
Whatever you choose to change or not change with your nice clean new year slate I hope you enjoy it and are happy because you all deserve it xxx
(This weeks vlog above)
(Last weeks vlog above)
Its no secret (especially if you follow me on Instagram) that I don’t like Christmas, I know, I know its very controversial but it’s still true. Every year I think to myself (in sort of October time) I am going to embrace Christmas and really enjoy it but without fail every year (sort of about November 1st kinda time when the Christmas music comes on at work) I slowly turn more and more into the Grinch until about this time (mid December) when I am at full “if I hear one more Christmas song I’m going to SCREAM! (IF YOUR LUCKY)” capacity.
After all I have heard Band Aids (in it’s many, many versions) Do They Know Its Christmas three times everyday I have been at work for almost two months and don’t even get me started on Micheal flipping Buble and I was a fan of his once!
If Christmas was in the middle of summer I might like it more because at least I wouldn’t always associate it with the cold, wet and dark but then it would still be all about presents, which it is even if people say it’s about family, they are not strictly telling the complete truth because they don’t see all this family any other time of the year just this one day where you try and get on but usually fail. Basically its all a lot of bother and expense for people you won’t see until the same time next year but spend an extortionate amount of money on things that nobody needs as if they did they have plenty of money to go and buy it themselves anyway!
I could rant about this forever, Ill try and stop moaning now I promise.
With working in retail I don’t get much time off over Christmas and New Year which to be fair even if I could have time off I probably wouldn’t unless I could go somewhere hot preferably where they don’t celebrate Christmas or at least celebrate it on a beach where its hot.
Anyway I digress, because neither me or hubby are at home much over the festive period and have no children but do own a small dog that likes to eat the berries off our fake tree we don’t really do decorations.
Instead I prefer to change the decor a bit like I do most seasons. Doing this also helps with the no storage to put what you had to move to fit the six foot tree in problem to.
To fit my seasonal decor in I take bits of my usual decor down and pop them in the Christmas decoration box in their absence then just swap it all back around again when it’s time to take them down again.
I tend to change themes each year to, this year I have gone for a rustic woodland theme with a lot of snow covered foliage and natural wood. I went through my decorations from previous years and pulled out bits that fit this years theme and then added to them. I do like shopping for new pieces for the home and garden centers have the best Christmas displays although sometimes they can be really expensive. I also love Tkmaxx and Homesense especially for pieces that you won’t find anywhere else.
I like doing little displays, one of my favourite things about my job is making the tables and features in the shop look pretty and visually encourage people to buy the products so I try and use that experience and enjoyment for the displays in my house.
I have also put fairy lights literally everywhere! the star wreath above has them wound round and the photo at the bottom of my white all year around tree is pre lit with fairy lights. I just think they make the house look so warm and cosy especially when you also get the candles burning.
Last year I wound some lights up the the banister, the only problem with that was that I only got to see them when going to the toilet!
I may not have had a big tree but I did find this little snow covered tree that is perfect for our hallway although I do wish I had got more than just the one as they are so cute and surprisingly sturdy for £4.99.
I have noticed that there does seem quite a lot of competition on social media regarding Christmas decorations especially trees with people posting captions like “I know my tree isn’t insta worthy” but having perfectly coordinated baulbauls and the most mahoosive mantle garland etc.
Please don’t feel like whatever you have isn’t enough or feel like you have to spend money you don’t have because one day in a year is not worth being in debt for and also remember just because their tree looks like that or their kids have more toys than Smyths doesn’t mean they are actually happy!
But I do hope you all enjoy Christmas though whatever it is you are doing and most of all I hope it’s a happy and healthy one for you, your family and your friends and I will try to keep my Grinchness to a minimum from now on xxx
and for all those who feel like I do about Christmas don’t worry, we haven’t got long to grit our teeth at all the nonsense its almost over!!! BAR HUMBUG!! lol
(This weeks vlog right at the top and last weeks vlog)
Going to Chatsworth House and Christmas market has become a bit of a tradition in recent years. We live in Nottinghamshire and Chatsworth is the county next door in Derbyshire, only an hour or so drive away. The first time I went here was a primary school trip but we only discovered it at Christmas about three years ago.
The first time we went at Christmas we were completely unprepared and went at a weekend, trust me this is a mistake at this time of year! so now we book a day off work in the week and also booking the tickets before hand is a must as there are half an hour slots and they get full up rather quickly.
Another reason a weekday is better other than the general business being reduced is that the parking is half price at £10.00 per car rather than £20.00. The tickets themselves are £24.00 each for the house and gardens which is double the price it is the rest of the year. Taking into account any food you might have and bits you might buy from the market or shops at Chatsworth it isn’t the cheapest day out but for me I think it is worth it.
Each year they deck the house out in a specific theme. Last year it was Charles Dickens and this year it is Fairy-tales. They give you a booklet telling you about the story in each room and also if you have kids they give you something for them to find which in this case was cuddly dragons (some of which you might see in my pics!).
All the trees are real and grown on the estate and decorated in that rooms theme, for instance the dining room was dressed for Aladdin so the trees had magic carpets and lamps etc on.
All the staff that are in each room are dressed up and can tell you about the room and the story of the room if you, unlike us, haven’t been before. They also have an actor (or when it was The Nutcracker, a dancer) in one or two of the rooms and as in the photo below they usually have a video of part of the story and music.
I love seeing all the Christmas decorations in such a beautiful setting with all the paintings and statues that have been there for centuries still in their proper places it makes it so magical.
We went to the market after going around the house. A lot of the stalls make a huge effort and go to town on their decorations for the stall. There are also loads of take away food and drink places as well as plenty of craft stalls selling Christmas decorations, food, candles, ribbons and even a Harry Potter stall!
As usual I could have spent a small fortune on bits from the market but managed to pull myself in and not have to remortgage the house lol but there really was so much lovely stuff.
It was raining when we first got to the estate so we took the opportunity to have lunch then go into the house which turned out to be a good decision as the rain had stopped by the time we got out and could look around the market, shops and garden without getting soaked through! because of the rain is wasn’t as busy as it had been previous years so made it so much easier to get around and see all the stalls properly.
Despite the weather we both had a really lovely time although I will say the theme this year wasn’t as good as it has been previous years. If you want to see videos of our day then you can see them by looking at my vlog right at the top of the page and I have added a few more pics in a slideshow below as well as the link to Chatsworth House website if you fancy a visit.
The link to Charsworth Houses website is below:
I have also done a slideshow below of some more pics from our day:
(This weeks vlog, please feel free to like, subscribe and share)
I recently read an article shared by one of Instagram’s larger accounts and written by one of her fellow big blogger’s all about accounts advertising for businesses and the rise of companies using smaller or “nano” bloggers to advertise their products and her negative opinion on this new phenomenon.
According to the article a nano blogger is categorized as someone who has between 1,000 and 5,000 followers on Instagram which includes myself and most people I follow plus the majority of Instagram accounts.
As you can imagine this isn’t something that the big bloggers are happy with after all it is how they make their money using affiliate links and flogging free stuff from big companies. As you also can probably imagine I don’t agree!
Now the reason for this shift from the big bloggers with thousands of followers to the small nano ones is (according to the article) because companies feel that the bloggers with less followers have more of a genuine following (they haven’t brought their followers) meaning they are potentially actually reaching more buyers for their products (because their followers are all real people!). That nano bloggers are more connected to their followers and have a better relationship with them so they have more trust between each other and also that they are not motivated by money as are not paid but are given items for free in exchange for a couple of stories and a post.
For my part I have never brought followers or got a robot to like peoples posts for me or to follow random accounts. I personally engage with the accounts myself which means my following obviously grows slower as I am not everywhere all at once and also have a job and life outside Instagram as of course most of us do.
They argue that big bloggers are asking for far too much money to post one photo and a lot are not full filling their agreement while the posts they do post are not getting as much actual customers buying the products as nano bloggers are.
As an Instagram obsessive I find that some accounts are just one big advert now and you don’t get to see the real people behind the accounts anymore which for me is one of the things I love about Instagram. Its getting near Christmas and every blogger over 40,000 followers appears to be getting their tree decorated by some company or other, Very is out in force clothing them all and if I see one more post about Hampton Towels I may scream!
Of course everyone likes free stuff but I’m not willing to sell my soul to get it. I’ll be the first to admit I have been given free items to post on Instagram and have done blog posts previously about these items. I know plenty of other nano bloggers that do to. The lack of money we receive for this also means we support a lot more small businesses that are just people trying to pay their bills.
What do the big bloggers do with all the free stuff? I’ve seen someone get a free light then a few months later the same picture is up but with a different light also free. The lights I got free are still in the same place they were in my blog post, I’ve not ousted them because I genuinely like them.
The big bloggers try and point out that you don’t pay your mortgage in shampoo and wax melts so why settle for payment for advertising with these? That you should know your worth. This is very true but Instagram is my hobby not my job, I have a job and that is what pays the bills including the mortgage. If someone wants to give me something free that I like and would buy happily myself then why wouldn’t I except it for about ten minutes of my time that it takes to take a photo and write a caption?
To be honest I don’t think either bloggers in writing or sharing the article did themselves many favours. It strengthened what companies are saying that big bloggers just want the free stuff whether they would normally spend £150 on an advent calendar in real life or not. Maybe if the rise of the nano bloggers are worrying them they should perhaps spend more time engaging with their followers and less time trying to bag as much free stuff as possible. I for one hope that no matter how many followers I may get I don’t lose sight on why I set this account up in the first place xxx
(This weeks vlog all about Bath)
Last Sunday eight ladies and one man got in a mini bus and headed to Bath for a couple of days all in aid of a lot of laughs and fun for my friends hen do. Most of us had never been to Bath before including myself so were very excited plus we had a very busy couple of days planned (I do love a full itinerary!) which created more excitement so the two and a half hour journey via Gloucester services (which we were told are the best services ever by the other bridesmaid, it does have a farm shop and grass on the roof) went past in a flash.
First off we checked in to our lodgings (all links at the bottom of the post) which was called Mr Darcy’s Abode (I do love Pride and Prejudice) there was no parking there other than a drop off point but they gave you a permit which meant you could park anywhere on the street.
From the outside the place looks tiny as it’s all built upwards. The place sleeps twenty with a mixture of double beds, bunk beds and single beds but all rooms were shared. The kitchen was three floors up but the lounge was in the basement and there were bedrooms on every floor.
Our first stop was Brigit’s Bakery, we had an hour extra than necessary to get from home to the bakery except we didn’t factor in the fact that despite the lodgings being pretty central and having a parking permit you still couldn’t find a parking space. We spent ages going up and down one way streets in a city none of us knew our way around trying to find a space. In the end Google came out and we found a car park (there are barely any signposts for these either) which meant the permit was useless!
Anyway it didn’t take us long to find Brigit’s bakery, we phoned to tell them we would be half an hour late, luckily they were really accommodating. It’s a tiny place on the bridge (down even more steps) with a beautiful view (see top pic) which I can imagine would be lovely in summer to sit on the seating outside.
We had afternoon tea which cost us £22.00 or £27.00 if you also wanted Prosecco. I’m vegetarian which we let them know when booking and they had plenty for me also to eat. We had four sandwiches each plus four little cakes then a mini warm scone with jam and cream, all of which tasted yummy plus you got your tea/coffee or soft drink with it in cute little tea pots and cups with saucers.
By the time we left, with it being a Sunday, we thought we would be able to get a parking space on the street. So after dropping most of us off to get changed for our next outing, two went on the search again and this time they were successful!
Then it was Cocktail masterclass time at Revolution which we walked to, it took about fifteen minutes from the lodgings. The package we got included a two course meal which probably should have been first as drinking cocktails on an empty stomach isn’t the best idea! The masterclass was in a private room upstairs with our very own bartender who I am going to call Tyrese because I am rubbish at names and I know it was something like that!
Two of us (including me) don’t drink which again we told them when booking but it wasn’t a problem. First up was the bride who made the first cocktail, each of us got a go (us non drinkers made mocktails) and of course with it being a hen party there was lots of embarrassing moves we had to do (mainly for the bride) which we all found absolutely hilarious!
We were all given nicknames by the bride and had to take a shot of chilly vodka (the non drinkers had to do a shot of lemon or lime) if we called each other by our real names, it got rather messy and very funny ridiculously quickly.
The food was good to and came quickly once we had been shown downstairs by Tyrese (?) to our table. It was a set menu that we all had already ordered from before we came and we didn’t need to order any drinks because we could take down all the ones from the masterclass we hadn’t yet drunk.
The fifteen minutes walk back suddenly felt rather long but we all made it back and collapsed in bed luckily our next day in Bath was starting off with a Spa trip.
You can’t take any photos in the spa but the link at the bottom of the post will show you photos if you want to have a nose.
We got to the Thermae Spa in the center of Bath pretty much opposite The Roman Baths (pic above) at 11:00 to be in the spa for 11:15. You are given a wrist band which you use to open and close your lockers and use as a tab for any food and drink you would like and of course a robe, towel and slippers.
You are given four hours in the spa including a fifty minute treatment (I had a shoulder/back massage and a facial, it was AMAZING!). If you want food it is not taken off the time you get in the spa, they give you half an hour for a drink and one hour for food so we stayed there until 4:15.
My favourite bit was the roof top pool which of course was heated and looked over the roofs of Bath. They also had an indoor pool with Jacuzzi in the basement and several different sauna and relaxation rooms.
We had food which wasn’t anything special but also not as expensive as a lot of spas, I had a sandwich which came with a bit of salad and crisps for £6.50.
After leaving the spa four of us decided to got to this little independent bookshop we had seen the day before called Topping and Company Booksellers. It had ladders to get to some of the books, all the books were in wooden bookshelves with the genre painted on the top and it went back for miles, I was in Heaven (video in vlog). Also they gave you complimentary tea and biscuits!
After we had purchased our book choices it was back to Darcy’s Abode for lots of very funny hen party games and Dominoes pizza, yummy.
The next morning was our final day in Bath so it was up and time to clean before checking out and trying to find a car park (the first one we were in was now full!). We ended up going to this park and ride which cost a whopping £16.00 per car, luckily there was nine of us so it cost us barely anything but how ridiculous if you just wanted to come in on a Saturday to do some shopping.
Apparently you can get treasure hunts from the internet to print off for various cities around the U.K where you have to find clues to stop something terrible from happening (in our case Sally Buns buns had had their raisins replaced with exploding ones!) so that is what we were doing Tuesday afternoon.
It started off at Bath Cathedral (picture above) and took us in a big circle around various places. As well as telling us where the clues were it also told us other things to look out for for example in the pic below is an example of a Penfold Hexagonal postbox!
It also led us to a maze next to the river which of course we had to complete.
At the back of this picture is one of only four bridges that have working shops/houses on it.
And of course our last port of call was Sally Buns shop itself, it is o.k we saved them!
Lastly before heading back to the mini bus we decided to track down the Royal Crescent which the treasure hunt had not taken us to. Luckily it wasn’t too far away to walk and we got there in the golden hour which made it look so atmospheric and pretty.
It is also really hard to take a picture of the whole thing so I did a video instead (it is in my vlog at the top of the page). There is a museum where you can see inside one of the houses (although apparently none of them are the same) but it was closed by the time we got there.
Then it was back into the center to get a bus to our ride home. This journey seemed to take forever probably because I was tired and I knew I was up for work the next morning at 5:30am but we did have a pub quiz which made us laugh a lot (also see vlog).
Me and the bride have already decided we are going to be coming back next year but this time with our other halves and not with a car! It is a lovely place and I would like to go in the Cathedral, The Roman Baths and that bookshop again! Also there were some lovely looking shops (including a Christmas one) that I would love to have a nosey around in.
Hope you enjoyed my little whistle stop tour of Bath xxx
Mr Darcy’s Abode
Brigit’s Bakery
Revolution
https://www.revolution-bars.co.uk/cocktail-masterclass/
The Thermae Spa
https://www.thermaebathspa.com/photos-videos/gallery/
Bookstore
(This weeks vlog above all about pumpkin picking and carving and gallery wall building)
Autumn is my second favourite season. I love how it’s cold but not yet too cold, I love the colour the leaves change and getting out all the candles. And with the new season comes the opportunity to faff and refresh my home decor. If you read my last blog post then you will know I have this year found out the joy of pumpkin picking which is another thing I am now loving about Autumn.
Like with Christmas decorations I pick bits up each year but also use pieces from previous years. Although this year I was a little disappointed with what the high street and Instagram businesses had on offer which was not a lot! (list of where everything is from is at the bottom of this post.)
Changing up my decor for the season basically means for me quite subtle touches and I like to add bits in more than one room so you get the feel of the season whichever room in the house you are in.
I usually do mini displays for example in the picture above or the picture below. I hate that feeling of clutter when you add even more stuff to what is already there the rest of the year so I tend to remove things temporarily then put them back once that seasons decor comes down. For instance normally there is a cactus where the flowers are below and just the lights in the trough.
Autumn is also a great excuse to get out for a walk and forage for decor such as conkers, acorns and fir cones. I used some of those in the trough above then added some Christmas fairy lights, see pic below.
When using nature in decor I am always careful of cleaning them. When fir cones open up in the warmth of your house quite a lot of bugs can come out to so its best to hit the fir cone gently upside down on some kitchen roll then release what comes out back outside. I also never pick things off the trees, I only ever take cones etc from the floor and don’t take too many because that is some little creatures food.
I have an all round white tree (that lights up!) which gets dressed with the changing seasons, this is where more of the fir cones came in. I tied (I like to think artistically!) string around the top of the cone and then looped the other end around a branch, see pic below.
There were a couple of bits I did manage to find in the shops including this hydrangea stem and the fir cone wreath (I’m not artistic enough to make one myself!) which added a touch of autumn in our tiny hallway and in the kitchen.
The heart wreath was my especial favourite find this year, I wonder if I can get away with keeping it up all year round (mmmm).
I like to get out season specific candles and wax melts to. I love lighting a candle in the darker evenings, putting the lamps on and getting cosy under a blanket in front of the T.V. I can’t say I am the biggest fan of pumpkin as a smell (or as a taste for that matter) but the caramel pumpkin candle I found this year smells AMAZING.
I am not a cold weather fan but it cheers me up a bit while saying goodbye to summer being able to plan (Pinterest I love you!), shop and style up my house for the new season. You don’t have to spend a lot of money and can, as I do, reuse pieces that you got from previous years. Do you style your house depending on the seasons?
Happy Autumn and also happy Halloween ladies and gents xxx
Where to buy; none of these links are affiliate.
Fabric Pumpkins- Rebecca Harris Designs on Instagram
Green Vase- https://sostrenegrene.com/
Rustic Flowers, Hydrangea Stem and Candle- Homesense
Silver Pumpkins- https://www.tkmaxx.com/uk/en/
Small Vase with Flowers- https://www.matalan.co.uk/
Fairy Lights- https://www.bmstores.co.uk/
Pink and White Vase- https://www.aldi.co.uk/
(This weeks Vlog above, if you could also like my video and subscribe to my channel that would be amazing xxx)
I never knew until last year that pumpkin picking was an actual thing, this year I didn’t want to miss out. So after a bit of asking from local people on Instagram and then a tad bit of Googling we decided to try Maxeys Farm Shop which is about a thirty minute drive from us (website below).
https://www.maxeysfarmshop.co.uk/
Having never been before we didn’t know what to expect but their Facebook page said that taking into consideration the weather it was likely to be busy and sheesh they weren’t lying! They had people directing cars in and out and to parking spaces over two fields. Below is a pic of me in the queue to pay for our pumpkins, the till is the last orange tent you can just see the top of at the bottom (I am not the last person in the queue either!).
It was free to get in and as well as pumpkins there was a haunted wood you could walk through with ghosts, skeletons and spiders hanging from trees and bushes and out of the ground. They had two pumpkin shaped bouncy castles and several food tents all appropriately Halloween named like Creeping Crepes. You could also take a (very small) trip on a trailer attached to a tractor which I expect kids would love. And of course there was the actual farm shop which we didn’t go in down to how busy it was.
There was one massive field you could pick as many as you wanted from. Their were pumpkins and squashes of all shapes, sizes and colours. As you can see in the picture below we all had access to wheel barrows. I say this but I have no idea where you actually got them from as we were given ours in the car park by someone leaving.
Unlike the strawberry picking pastime of summer you are not going to pick loads of pumpkins unless you are planning on feeding the army of 5000 or have an American size porch to display them all. I don’t like the taste of pumpkin so we wanted ones to carve for the Trick o Treaters.
We found a couple then as we walked around they were replaced with “better” ones (for me a more aesthetically pleasing one and for hubby an uglier one!). Below are our three choices (after much discussion on the length of stems, the longer the better in my view) the little one I got purely because it is cute (I know, I know). They are individually priced depending on size, altogether they cost us £7.00.
Both of us really enjoyed ourselves, I didn’t think I would enjoy it as much as I did to be honest. Despite how busy it was there was a good atmosphere and no one was getting impatient standing in the mahoosive queue which did actually move quite quickly. We will go again next year although possibly in the week when not every Tom, Dick, Harry, Mable and their kids are out! xxx
Me and my lovely home 