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Hello dear readers, how are you doing? Summer has well and truly begun and I've been enjoying the sunshine and hearing the birds chirping from the early hours. Rufus isn't enjoying either, but he's still his funny adorable self and makes me smile a lot. It's been a busy few weeks and we had a lovely surprise break when we spent almost two whole weeks on the Wirral, enjoying Mark's birthday and time out from work. We went to see Maleficent on Wednesday with my sister Willow and my niece Caitlin, it wasn't what I expected but I'd still recommend a watch! Here's a few of the little things I've been enjoying lately...

1. This jellyfish installation in Toxteth was overwhelmingly beautiful, it was
so soothing and calming, and slightly haunting. It was in total contrast with the
area of Toxteth, where we didn't feel safe at all. A full post with artist details
and where exactly the jellyfish are located is coming up in the week.


2. The 27th was Mark's birthday, hip hip hooray! We had the loveliest day after
a soggy start which ruined our Chester Zoo plans. We spent the day playing ten
pin bowling, air hockey, shooting basketballs and Mark trying to teach me how to
play pool. I won 2/3 games of bowling but lost miserably at pool!

3. I received my lovely package of stationery from The Idea Owl this week, a
full post including the lovely things I ordered will be up soon :)

4. I took part in Lauren's (The Emerald Dove) postcard swap! It was so nice
to receive a good old fashioned handwritten postcard this week, with a lovely
picture of Somerset on too. Such a fantastic idea!

5. Last but not least, today was the Summer Fayre at my little sister (Indigo) &
nephew McKenzie's school. Lots of fun was had, choosing plates of cakes, Kenzie
scoring goals in the shootout and winning lots on the tombola, (including a can
of corned beef, yes really!).
What have you been doing lately? Are you enjoying the Summer? :)
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Last Sunday, I finished work at 4pm and the sun was beautiful! Mark & I decided to head out to Thornton Reservoir and make the most of it. Thornton Reservoir is a 20 minute drive from where we live, and it's about 2.5 miles walk all the way around it. Being part of the National Forest, it's very pretty and there's a track through the woodland and all the way around the reservoir itself. We saw plenty of fishermen fishing, and a few other groups of people feeding the ducks, taking a stroll or enjoying an ice-cream.
Before setting off Mark chose a real (his words) ice-cream complete with sprinkles, strawberry sauce & flake and I chose a delicious cola lolly from the little ice-cream van parked outside. There are plenty of benches dotted around, including picnic benches - it's a lovely destination for a family picnic, and we'll definitely be returning sandwiches in hand!
There were lovely birds everywhere, including ducks, swans and many more. We saw a big fish leap out of the reservoir and horses in the adjoining fields. We decided to walk along the bike track for a little way, closer to the water and all the pretty wild flowers. I picked up as many pine cones as would fit in Mark's pockets (much to his dismay!) and enjoyed stopping at regular (perhaps too regular) intervals to point things out and take photos. Mark read out the information sign to me, just like our first date in the museum in Liverpool over four years ago, ahh!
When we were over halfway around the reservoir, and into the more wooded part of the walk, a lovely gentleman on a bicycle saw my camera and asked what I was taking photos of. Of course my reply was everything! He told us that there had been a swan nesting for a while now, and that she had not long had her little baby swans. He pointed out the route to us, which we ended up following him on anyway! When we reached the point where the swans were, we all stood and admired the swan and her 8 babies. The gentleman was very sweet and helpful, and we hope to spot him again on our next walk around as he's a regular!
We spent so much time cooing over the baby swans that we had to rush a bit around the last stretch as the car park closed at 7.30pm and we hadn't realised the time! We had a lot of fun, and saw baby cows on the way back too! We can't wait to explore more of the local villages and National Forest when the sun is shining.
Do you enjoy walking? Where is your favourite local walking spot?
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Hello dear readers, I have missed you and your blogs so much. As ever, life has gotten in the way of my blogging with my first assignment having been submitted last week, my first night out in over two years (and it didn't make me ill or give me vertigo!), and me being me - being ill again! I'm currently doing some tests to return to the doctors this week, and then my doctor said it will probably be another hospital referral. I'm having a cystoscopy in June, which I'm so not looking forward to but gladly will be under anesthetic for! One day I might have no hospital stuff going on right? Haha I hope so!
How cute is Rufy in the cup?! And the little drawing Indigo did of him - ahhh!

1. Mark & I recently celebrated four whole years together :) I can't believe
it's been so long, and I can't wait for many more adventures!

2. This no oil hair oil is supposed to give fine hair volume, I don't have fine hair
and I don't notice added volume - but it works wonders on smoothing out those
flyaways and generally my hair feels healthier and looks more shiny.

3. I finished and submitted my first assignment on this module, and I passed!

4. Mark & I went for lunch at The Marina, and spotted this Rufus canal boat!

5. I've been loving taking film photos with my lomography camera lately, the
results are so varied (I'm still getting used to it) which makes it more fun
because we never know how they're going to turn out.

6. At some point during the big move, the majority of my earrings and my rings
went missing in my lovely new jewellery box. It made me so sad to lose all my
favourite jewellery, but I'm slowly trying to replace them with new ones.

7. My sister Phoebe gave me this pretty daisy chain bracelet she made for me
the other day when it was sunny (where have you gone sun?!).

8. I recently joined Twitter! I joined because someone recommended I'd get
through to a company with a complaint on there, but I wimped out! I'm still
not sure what I'm meant to do, but you can find me here on Twitter.

9. On Saturday I went on my first night out in over two years!! I couldn't have
had a more fabulous night with my besties & hope we can do it again soon :)

10. Sunday was spent in true hungover style, in comfy PJs watching rubbish TV
and eating toast and chicken noodles, as made by my lovely boyfriend!
I'll slowly but surely be catching up with you all over the next week - did you do anything special this bank holiday?
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Hello everyone! How are you all doing? Here I am trying to get a bit of normality and routine going on again with my little blog, with a Little Five Friday catching up with what's been happening the last few weeks. Aside from what's here, we also made a little trip back to the Wirral for Mark's mum, Sandra's birthday. It was so nice to see Sandra, Mark's brother Craig, and nana Mary again. We won't be going again until later this month, we're definitely missing the Wirral! I've been struck down with various illnesses (a change of location didn't help!) and my costochondritis has flared up again at the moment. I've done lots of studying whilst enjoying a PJ day today though, so there are upsides!

1. When we first arrived here I went to see my best friend Leah in Eloquent's
Rainbow dance show, the school she teaches at. She was amazing like every time
I see her dance! So proud, it's less than 6 months since she gave birth to Belle!

2. I had my very first Etsy sale! I finally set up my Etsy shop, shhboutique.
It's not finished, but I have a few things for sale and I can't wait to add
more once I'm all caught up with studying and assignments.

3. Need I say more? Seeing his furry little face looking up at me just makes
everything okay. He's playful and at the moment he loves banana and carrot.

4. Mark & I with a few of our family members went on a daytrip to the seaside!
We couldn't have asked for better weather, and it was lovely being by the sea.
Indigo definitely enjoyed it, I'll do a full post with some photos next week.

5. Easter Sunday I spent four hours in work, and did my first locking up of
the shop! I then had a delicious roast dinner with three different meats (mmm
gammon!) with all of my family, it was lovely to see them all in one place.

6. Did you see my Santoro London post? The lovely Rebekah sent me out some of
the prettiest stationery I've seen, I can't wait to add more to my collection!

7. This week Mark & I went to Drayton Manor, Mark's first time! We did end up
having quite a nice day, but there were downsides too. I'll write a full post
on this once I pick up my photos when they're developed.
Have you done anything exciting/different this Easter? One of my favourite things in the world is spending time with my family and friends. It's lovely being able to do that so easily now we've moved!
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Happy Friday lovelies! How was your week? I've been Spring cleaning my blogger reading list this week, going through and checking which blogs are no longer active/updated and catching up with my favourites. It's a long process, but I'm enjoying it! Mark & I are heading to my mum's tomorrow evening after work, taking some more of our furniture and spending Sunday with my family. Can't wait! Do you have plans for this weekend?

1. On March 26th my next OU course starts, so I've been getting prepared with
buying a pretty new pen (£2) and inspirational postcard (60p) from Paperchase.
I ordered these gorgeous bear page markers through Instagram, but I can't
remember who from, sorry!

2. When Mark & I went to visit his nana one evening, I was happily surprised
to see the pathway lined with these beautiful daffodils.

3. On Monday evening we went to FACT to see Fantastic Mr Fox on the big screen,
it was perfect! The lovely trendy venue is nestled away on a side street in the
middle of Liverpool. The seats were so comfy, and seeing it in a cinema allowed
me to notice things about the film I hadn't seen before. The perfect evening!

4. Let me introduce you to Mr Cloud! When we visited Ikea to buy sofa cushions
we spotted Mr Cloud and couldn't leave him behind. We both love everything
about the sky, and he brings a smile to both our faces!

5. This week's post of the week goes to Claire and her TMI tag video. I never
really 'got' vlogging until this post, Claire's video was so insightful and
personal that it made me understand why bloggers choose to use videos to get
their personality out there. I love it, and it inspired me to watch more by
other bloggers too. It was lovely getting to know more about Claire!
Have you ever made a video for your blog? Do you enjoy watching them?
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