Adventures: Welsh Mountain Zoo

Way back in September, Mark & I went on a very special adventure. An adventure to the Welsh Mountain Zoo. The Welsh
Mountain Zoo with bears!!! This was one of my most favourite days ever, I had the best time and I saw bears in real life for
the first time. I'm already trying to figure out when we can go again! The prices are surprisingly affordable, at just £10.95
for an adult (including Gift Aid). You can also be a zoo keeper for the day... this is definitely going on my wishlist! I'm going
to share some (I took so many!) of my photos with you now and even a couple of videos too.


We set off early in the morning with blue skies above, and the promise of rain later in the day. I left my hair in it's natural state because I was well aware that being on a mountain, the zoo was likely to be windy. We got excited at each brown tourist sign we saw, and excited at seeing the sea! It was an interesting journey once we got into Wales, driving through tiny, narrow country lanes and finding the zoo nestled in the woods, perfect.


Hello handsome! The first thing we saw after parking the car were these lovely camels! They were friendly enough to come over and say hello. And oh my, it was windy and it was cold! If you're planning a visit, wrap up with plenty of layers.

25 by 25: The results

Hello lovelies, I'd like to start this post off by saying a very happy new year to you all! I hope it turns out to be a fabulous one, and that all of your hopes and dreams come true. Some of you might remember that last year my resolutions were made in the 25 by 25 format as can be found here. To start the year off I thought it'd be nice to reflect on those goals and how I got on, and whether or not there are any I want to carry over into 2014. I will do a separate blog post with my goals for this year :)

o1. Flying a kite was even more fun than I imagined! I can't wait to do it again on a blustery day.

o2. Illustrate things Indigo has said - this is one of the ones I didn't get round to but had plenty of good intentions for. I'd still like to do this, so I'm carrying it on into this year.

o3. Going back to the Lakes was wonderful! I highly recommend you go on an adventure there yourselves!

o4. Watch Perks on DVD - a great watch, not on a level with the book but pretty awesome nonetheless.

o5. See my friends more - I can never get enough of my friends, so I will always want to see them more. One of my beautiful best friends had a beautiful baby in 2013, Belle Hope. I can't wait to see more of all of my friends this year.

o6. Painting more made me feel really inspired. I'm determined to open my very own Etsy shop this year!

o7. Being more organised with studying really helped out when it came to my exam. I revised so hard, and my hard work paid off - I did really well! Back to studying in April, but I'm enjoying the break for now.

o8. Going on more adventures is something I want to do again this year. I loved every day trip and adventure, and have so many happy memories from this year - the Lakes, Harry Potter Studios, Welsh Mountain Zoo and more!

o9. Take more photos & have them printed - I ordered over 1000 photos this year, and made a good start into archiving some of my photos. I have another 500 credits to order this month, and will carry on until they're all printed out.

1o. Reading one book a month and many times more was something I really enjoyed. It was nice to pick up books again and not feel guilty for getting lost in another world for a few hours. This will definitely continue! Can you recommend any?

11. Baking cookies with the children at Lynn's house was messy but fun! We baked choc chip cookies, gingerbread shapes and even a Victoria sponge. Yum!

12. Going to the Welsh Mountain Zoo with bears was one of the best days of my life! I will do a full post on it soon because I never got round to it, but here is a sneaky peek..!

13. Date nights - we've definitely made more of a conscious effort to spend time together this last year. Lots of adventures and plenty of nights snuggled up after a takeaway watching a movie! Speaking of which..! Tonight involves visiting nana, an Indian takeaway and a Wes Anderson movie. Ahh, perfect!

14. Do something for charity - I did a couple of things but I'd like to do more. I tried to do a print in aid of charity, and I think this will be more successful when my Etsy page is up and running. I'd also love to do a skydive but not sure how I'd stand with my dodgy ears!

15. Visiting the Harry Potter studio tour was amazing!!!

16. Anonymous notes in random places - the second goal I didn't get round to, but would still love to do. I had an idea on this front, which I hope to put in place this year.

17. Keeping up my blog was hard at points this year, and I took little breaks here and there when I had too much on (like my exam!). I'd like to post more regularly this year, and start another new series or two like my Handmade Mondays of last year. I will continue HMM but more sporadically rather than every Monday. I love the blogging community and all of the lovely people whose blogs I read!

18. Getting a second tattoo is the third goal I didn't do! I do however know what my next one is going to be, so I'll be getting it soon hopefully.

19. Have a teddybear picnic - the fourth & last goal that I didn't complete. We did however put all of the bears in the back of the car one day and drove to Asda. We may have got some funny looks haha.

2o. Explore more - lots of exploring took place last year, and I look forward to much more both locally and far away.

21. Sitting in the park & watching the sunset was lovely! Mark and my mum, sister Willow, twins Phoebe & Phoenix and littlest sister Indigo went to the park to watch it.

22. Watching sunrise (& chasing the supermoon!) was a 4am adventure with my sister Willow.

23. Seeing more bands was awesome last year! We saw more than we expected to and a wider variety of music too.

24. Doing my hair more still proved tricky for me! I managed to do a few new things with it but last Tuesday I actually went and had it done..! More on that another day though!

25. Appreciating each person, moment & thing was definitely something I did in 2013 and will continue to do each and every year in the future. I try not to take anyone or anything for granted as every moment is fleeting and we have to make the most of it all.

Have you got a similar kind of list? I'd love to see it :)

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Adventures: Back to the Lakes part 2

One of my absolute favourite things about our time in the Lakes was the jam lady. I'm assuming the jam lady is in fact a lady, but for all I know she could indeed be a he; who am I to say men don't make jam?! As you can see in the photos, there's a little trolley outside the house with little pots of yummy homemade jams and marmalade for sale. There's also locally made honey for sale, and this visit there was even honey fudge and homegrown runner beans too. We always used to take jams home for our families, this time was no exception and I took my mum some marmalade (her favourite). I once painted a picture for the jam lady, of a bear holding a jar of jam. I left it on the trolley, I wanted to show my appreciation for such a lovely thing.

The views in Arnside are breathtaking. On a clear day you can see for miles. The particular route we take down to the village from the hostel is down a very steep hill with trees all down one side, running down was very fun but less so in the Winter when the leaves are slippy after the rain! There are benches all along the path running alongside the beach. We sat for a while and did some reminiscing. It was very blustery though, and very cold!

As I mentioned in my last post, one of our favourite things was sitting on the end of the pier at night. It's just as wonderful in the daytime too, and in true Suzy Bishop style we enjoyed putting twenty pence each in the telescope and looking out to sea.

This trip wouldn't have been complete if I hadn't brought Matisse (my lovely bear) along to the place where my painted bears were born. We had the most wonderful day, and I'm so happy we finally made it back to visit this lovely little village. I can't recommend it enough, and it's not too far from Lancaster town center either so it's perfect for a day out.

I'm in Leicester for a couple of nights now so I'll catch up with everyone in a few days. My Literature exam is on Monday, and I cannot wait for it to be over!!

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Adventures: Back to the Lakes part 1

Last month, Mark & I ticked off another of my 25 by 25s and went back to the Lakes. This is Arnside, the quaint little village where Mark & I spent a lot of time together when he was working at the Youth Hostel in the last photos above. We'd spend our days wandering around the little village, eating cakes from the bakery, buying ice creams from the shop on the front and sending postcards to my family. When Mark was working I would sit painting, feeling inspired by how beautiful it is in Arnside (Arnside is where I first painted bears).

It was so wonderful to visit again, we loved spending time digging through the treasure in Past & Present, though sadly now it seems to have upped it's prices and become more of an actual antiques shop. It's still worth a visit, there are many curiosities to be seen. The binoculars had me at first sight, when I imagined myself as Suzy Bishop with them hanging round my neck. I resisted, just about!

The village itself is very picturesque, with the gorgeous houses and window fronted shops right on the front by the sea and the beach. We spent many hot (and very cold) days walking down on the beach, walking along the water's edge when the tide is out. One of our favourite things to do in Arnside was to go for midnight walks and sit on the end of the pier (windy as it was!), there's just something about being out at night in such a peaceful place (unless it's kicking out time at one of the two pubs!).

There's a lot of nature, and a lot of walking to be done if you're into that kind of thing. As our time was limited, we didn't venture out of the village but instead headed up to the Youth Hostel to relive the days we spent watching Coach Trip on a computer screen sitting on the single bed. Sadly, the Youth Hostel is up for sale and it may not be a Youth Hostel for too much longer. It's a beautiful building, with all the ivy growing over it and the old brickwork. It's certainly old fashioned inside too!

More photos & stories to come in part 2 :)

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Monthly: July pt 1

1. A rose from the flowers Mark bought me 2. Drinking hot chocolate from Rubens & playing Crash Team Racing on the Xbox 3. Vanilla coke & vanilla wafers - yum! 4. Chasing the supermoon & watching sunrise (post here) 5. Gingerbread cupcakes that Joanne bought Mark for his birthday 6. A cheeky lunchtime selfie at work 7. Wearing Summery accessories! 8 & 9. A very nautical themed OOTD (post here) 10. The sign for Wirral Country Park 11. Pink houses along Parkgate 12. Nicholls ice-cream shop - so delicious! 13. My birthday present for December!!! 14. A pretty floral pink playsuit from George at Asda (sadly my long body made this too short for me, boo!) 15. Foxy slippers 16. A questions & answers post

17 & 18. Ticking off one of my 25 by 25s - flying a kite! 19. Phoebe, Phoenix, Indigo & the bears on the bouncy castle 20. Our makeshift bedroom in mum's conservatory - so cosy! 21. Waking up to the sunshine (except today!!!) 22 & 23. Mark & I took Phoebe, Phoenix & Indigo to see Despicable Me 2 24, 25 & 26. Remembering my dad on the four year anniversary of his passing away (post here & more posts to come on what we did on the day) 27. Dad's blue and white china 28. Mark & I bought Fluffy the house rabbit a new bed... today it is a collapsed heap (I don't know if he likes it!) 29. Fluffy hiding behind the curtains 30. Indigo wearing my sunnies on the bouncy castle 31. Thinking up ideas a lot lately, but lacking the motivation to carry them out at the moment 32. A vintage black & white photobooth strip of my mum & dad, one of the treasures we found when clearing out the loft.

Hello lovelies, sorry I've not been around as much this week! Thank you for all your sweet comments & thoughts on my last post. Mark & I are on our 'holiday' at my mum's house, we've been here since Tuesday and will be here until Friday. I will catch up with all of you better when we are home, but for now here are some of the things I've been upto lately. Today we are off to Cadbury World, can't wait! Has anyone else been having the massive thunder storms all through the night and today? A little bit glad for a bit of rain :)

You can find me on Instagram here.