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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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A couple of weeks ago Mark & I, mumma bear, Willow, Zenobia, Kayleigh and Indigo all went to the seaside (Ingoldmells) for the day. The twins (Phoebe & Phoenix) were on holiday at the seaside with our lovely friend Bronwen, so we all met up and spent a wonderful day together. It involved sunshine, rollercoasters, dodgems, slushies, hot cafe food, buying rock, the market, arcade machines, sand in our shoes, walking along the sea, building sandcastles and seeing the amazingly beautiful moon on the journey home. Oh, and of course a delightfully tacky seaside portrait where we didn't realise the photo was being taken!
All photos were taken with my 36mm film lomography camera & some are double exposed.
Where is your local seaside? I always miss the sea when I get home!
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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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Hello there! First of all, I'd like to wish you all a belated Happy Easter. I hope you were all spoilt with chocolate gifts and days off work! Since the move, I've managed to get myself a little job in a local shop where my sister works, and I was working yesterday afternoon before a delicious roast dinner with all my family, cooked by mumma bear of course. I'm still adjusting and trying to find a new routine with blogging, studying, my new job and being in a new place, but I'm getting there. Today I'd like to share with you photos from our adventure to Knowsley Safari Park earlier this month. We were lucky with a warm sunny day and near empty Park!
There were so, so many animals! Lots that we didn't expect to see, a lot more variety than we'd imagined. It's totally up to you which way you decide to do your visit, we chose to do the drive round safari part first and the walk around part second. The animals were so much closer than you'd think, in the lion enclosure we must have sat a bit too long taking photos as they started coming over - at which point we moved on! The baboon enclosure is optional - you can drive round it or through it at your own risk. We chose to drive through it and noticed that the car in front had a baboon on their bonnet who didn't want to get off! But we kept moving at a slow and steady pace, so the baboons didn't bother us. Our highlight of the day was definitely feeding the giraffes! We happened to be in the right place at the right time and after being given a bit of lettuce, felt a big sloppy giraffe tongue licking it from our hands! It was amazing! We couldn't leave without a quick trip to the gift shop for a new keyring, and we can't wait to go again! Have you ever been to Knowsley Safari Park? What was your favourite bit?
You can get 25% off admission until Sunday 27th when you book online!
P.S. I tried my best to label the animals but sorry if I got any wrong!
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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.
