When We Climbed That Hill Again

Now that the snow has finally disappeared around these parts we decided to visit the Peak District again (and now I really want a dog to do these walks, with!). I'll never tire of the views you get up there, or of the satisfying feeling you get when you've accomplished what you set out to do. I think I may have popped paragliding onto the list of things I want to do within the next couple of years, I'm going to be looking up how I go about giving it a whirl myself! I won't go on too much about this area seeing as though I covered it in my previous post. I'll leave you to look at the pictures, instead.

I'm travelling down to Warwickshire with work tomorrow morning and I have yet to pack a single thing. Unorganised much!? I've never done anything like this before and I haven't been away from Jack since we moved in together so I'm a little nervous about going away for two nights. Not sure how I'll sleep without a George cat laying next to me, either! I'm sure I'll be fine, though. I'm hoping that these last minute nerves will work in my favour when I get down there. Wish me luck! x

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Derbyshire

Last Saturday, we made an impromptu trip up to Castleton with some friends. I've been desperate to go back up there ever since my first visit sometime last year so it was nice to just pack up the car and go on a whim like we did. We didn't visit the caves because it was rather late when we arrived but that's definitely something on our list for when we visit again!

We were determined to make it to the top of Mam Tor, a 1.7k ft high peak! It wasn't the most difficult of 'hikes' that I've been on but reaching the top of Lose Hill (to make it to the path that leads to the top of Mam Tor) took us some going! Especially considering that the snow had yet to completely melt away.

The views were absolutely incredible throughout the entire walk but there was no beating the one that awaited us at the top! 360 degrees of sheer brilliance surrounded us, I couldn't quite take it all in. It's not a picture that I'm going to forget anytime soon.

We somehow ended up at Odin Mine on our way back down the other side. I'm not completely sure that we should have gone that way, lots of falling over and getting covered in mud. Woops! Jack thought it'd be a good idea to try and explore the mines to which the mother in me protested against because I was scared for his safety, ha. We finally made it onto the road that leads into the village and decided to stop off at a pub before setting off home (the best glass of coke and bowl of chips ever).

I love little adventures like the one we had, I think the whole thing took us a good three or four hours altogether but things like that are well worth spending time on. Getting out into the country and away from the hustle and bustle of a busy town/work was good for me. I can't wait until our next trip! x

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Bits & Bats

1: Another chocolate fudge cake that I baked this week 2: A reclaimed mirror that I am slowly beginning to restore! 3: George and I having a moment ♥ Love that little guy 4: Jack's horses! Romany and Mary 5: Niamh being her beautiful self 6: Tulips and candles
My holiday is almost finished, how fast does the time fly when you're not working!? I do and don't want to go back. I feel as though even though I have managed to fit quite a bit into these last five days; I haven't quite managed to finish everything that I wanted to get finished, let alone start some of the jobs on my holiday to-do list! Then again, I'm really missing actually going to work and getting stuck into my job there! I'm never satisfied ;)

Jack took some time off too (he starts a new job in a couple of weeks, yay!) so we could actually spend some quality time together and he could help get some of the things we definitely needed to do finished (i.e the massive rearrange and deep clean of every cupboard in the kitchen, ugh... Glad that's out of the way for another month or so!) It hasn't all been cleaning and tidying, though. We recently bought our first car so we've been out playing in it almost everyday. We went for a drive in the Peak District on Wednesday and on Thursday we went to the seaside. I brought my camera with me but it was way too cold and windy to take snaps, I was more interested in my fish and chips anyway!

I've also started to pay attention to my garden now that the weather finally seems to be improving! If you told me I was going to be buying plants and enjoying getting dirty in a garden of my own a couple of years ago then I probably would have keeled over from shock. But alas! Mum and I went along to the garden centre and she helped me choose some pretty plants that'll last all year (or at least grow back when they're in season) and I enjoyed (yes, enjoyed!) getting out the trowel and planting them! I won't get too excited just yet, though. I'll probably forget to water them and this gardening victory will be short-lived and shameful!

Now that I have overloaded you all with useless information, I think I'm going to go and get ready for bed. Hope you're all well and lovely! x

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The Happy List: Chapter 3

Do you ever feel the need to blog, open a create post tab and then become completely frustrated because the words just won't come to you? Even when you know what you want to write about? I hate writer's block, especially when I really want to create content online. I guess it's funny. I'll have all of these little explosions of creativity where ideas and words come freely but then they'll just disappear for a while and I feel as though I'll never be satisfied with what I write or take pictures of. It really is the most frustrating thing, ever. Enough of my rambling, have a happy list to make up for it!

1: Baking on a Sunday when there's no one else in the house. I've always seemed more at ease in my own company than that of others so it's nice to have some time to myself. It's therapeutic. That, and it's nice to get creative in the kitchen. I don't really have the energy to cook something substantial when I get home from work so I usually end up cooking something really quick and simple like steamed fish or a stir-fry.

2: Lighter nights. It's nice to come out of work when it's still light outside. It can only mean that Summer is well on it's way along with the warmer weather, woo! I'm tiring of this cold, wet, dreary weather now. It'll be nice to not have to wear a hundred layers when I go outside, it'll be even nicer to ditch the tights for a couple of months!

3: Fresh flowers. For a few pounds each week in the supermarket, you can't really go wrong. I love that tulips are in season as they're my favourite flower (turn them upside down and they look like little fairy skirts!). I have them dotted about in little vases across the house.

4: George being all cuddly and lovable. It's usually Niamh to dish out the affection first so it's always a nice surprise when he actually wants to interact with us. He likes to keep himself to himself, usually. Odd little cat.

5: The Barbour jacket that I got for my birthday! I try not to add in anything too 'material' in my happy lists (the material things that I appreciate may not be appreciated as much in a few months' time) but this jacket will last me for years and the print inside is undeniably gorgeous. I love anything William Morris, so when I heard that Barbour had released jackets with William Morris linings many months ago, I knew that I had to save and just go for it. Jack ended up putting the rest towards (as my birthday gift) and when it arrived I was overjoyed! It's lovely and I've had it on everyday since.

6: Reveling in the knowledge that I have an entire week off of work during the beginning of April. An entire week! I'm not doing anything fancy, I need that time to deep clean the house and catch up on missed sleep... The thought of an entire week of being able to sleep without worrying about knocking my body clock out of sync will be amazing. Here's to booking time off of work just to catch some z's! Maybe in my spare time we'll visit the Peak District or the seaside, we'll see!

7: Giving this place some attention and having a bit of a Spring clean. I've brightened up my blog design and I'm much happier with how it looks, it's bright and airy. Maybe I'll actually stick with this one ;) x

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