June Life Update; From My Bed

Hi Readers,

I'm ill in bed. I'm having a flare up of my IBS and it's making me feel like I've got a bad stomach bug. I'm not sure what's set it off but I've not been that careful about what I've been eating over the last few days. It's been hard because I've been working every day since Thursday - covering for the second receptionist it, my normal shifted then an extra one on Sunday I got asked to do. Also, I didn't have a date with my boyfriend and that's made me feel a bit lonely too.

I've not done much today though things seemed to be improving this evening, so I've just written two short stories for my blog and now I'm here writing this for a bit. Then I'll have to try and got to sleep but it's so hard when you need the loo all the time! I keep thinking I should write a separate blog about all of this but I've just not got around to it.

Anyway, I ordered three new books of Amazon two weeks ago now and they've been added to my reading pile, though I'm currently reading Red Queen right now. I only ended up getting them because Montenegro had been reduced to £3, odd from £14.99 and it's been on my to buy list for over a year now. It's the second book of a strange vampire series and I liked the first so getting the second was needed. But it's so expensive, so I had wait for a reductions and who could argue with that one? Then I ended up with the other two books because I didn't want to pay shipping!

I really wanted to read Red Queen as the first book Alice was so good. I so needed to do a review about it on here! Might do a combined one now though. Reading had helped me though much of the day and watching TV too.

I've also been flipping through this; my dad's guide to Cornwall as it were. We go away in about 4 weeks and my dad has put together this file of places to go, eat and shop etc. We all got to pick what we wanted to do and not wanted to do before hand and this is the print out with his notes. There's lots of cool places to visit like castles, manor house, museums, towns and beaches. Really can't wait for that as I love Cornwall a lot. Plus, my boyfriend is coming and I get to share the adventure with him. 

You can expect a blog post all about that real soon. Might have to divided into two parts as I know it's going to be a long one!

My dog has been really sleepy and wanted to snug into everything lately. Her favorite place is on the sofa in all the blankets. She also likes to bury her bones behind the cushions were my dad normally sits. We joke she is giving him presents as the pack leader! It's really funny when he sits on one though! 

It's days like today that make me super glad of my dog though, because I know I can pet her and she'll make me feel calm and I can tell her anything and she won't judge me for being ill. She's helped keep me going today. 

I wanted to share this last time I wrote but I couldn't fit it in that blog post. I've been busy making some baby things for my best friend who's going to have a little girl soon. I'm mostly done with knitting the things I wanted to make for her now and with some wool left over I wanted to start knitting my own stuff for that hopeful one day. 

I made this blanket but I wasn't happy with the shape. I'd asked my mum how many stitches and she said 50 but really I wanted 60. I was half temped to just unravel it and start again. The wool is chunky and soft and takes no time to knit but then I decided to keep it as maybe I could give it to one of my sister- in- laws or another friend some day. 

Now, I've got some more wool of the same kind but in a different shade; purple, blue and yellow mix which I really like and have made a teddy bear pillow out of in the past. I'm going to make a larger blanket and mum is going to make a hood to go with it. That should be really nice. 

I like knitting as it's nice to do whilst watching TV, I find sometimes, I can't just sit there, I wanted to do something and this is perfect for that. It keeps me busy when I'm ill and chilled too but I've not been able to focus to do any today. Might try tomorrow though. 

I've gotten into adult coloring big style and this is my current favorite magazine. How fitting that it's filled this month with two of my favorite animals - wolves and bears who are also my spirit animals. It made me really happy to see it on the super market shelf! 

This is another thing I like to do when I'm ill, bored or need to calm down. Though as much as I wanted too, I've not started on this one yet. Like knitting I need more focus then I've had today but soon I'll start and maybe I'll post some photos on here. 

In a slight connect to that, I've hung a dream catcher above my bed again. There was a prompt for a short story that had the imagine of one and I wrote a story that can be read on my other blog with it. I got reminded about how dream catchers are meant to capture the nightmares and since I've been having a few bad dreams/ nightmares lately including one were I was chocking to death and then woke up with asthma attack. 

I like to think of this dream catcher as being powerful because it has the wolf painting on it. Since I hung it up I've not had any nightmares and only one bad- ish dream. So maybe dream catches do work after all? Or maybe it's my belief that it will. Whatever it is, I hope it carries on and I can have more restful nights. 

That's it really for today or this night as it now is! I'm off to try and sleep a bit and hopefully feel better in the morning. Here's a cute photo of my snug teddies for tonight; Fifi fox and Astrid unicorn. They are so soft and comforting!  

Thanks for reading, see you next time. 

All photos used belong to me. 

June Life Update; A Visit To Hoghton Tower

Hi Readers,

So, today I wanted to share my trip to Hoghton Tower in Lancashire with you all.

Lately, my boyfriend and I have been struggling to find new places to go on dates too. In the last two years, we've been to a lot of places and done lots and though I like spending the weekends with him inside in front of the TV or playing games, I prefer to be out exploring places! 

We have many places we'd like to visit on our list but some of them are too far to travel to or too expensive right now. Plus, the next few weeks are set to be very busy what with my 30th birthday and a week in Cornwall with my family!

My boyfriend discovered this Tudor house wasn't a far drive from his house, so we decided to go and check it out. You can only visit the inside on a tour and you had to book on to a time slot. That cost includes the gardens too or you can pay just to walk in those. Sadly, we didn't get to do the gardens as we ran out of time. There was a large car show event on the day we went and so we timed our arrival for the ending of that which was lunchtime.

We missed the tour we were aiming for and had to wait an hour for the next one. We were able to go into the courtyard and see the outside of the house. Because you had to pay to be in this area it wasn't so busy. The car show was being held at the front and the fields either side of the driveway.

There was a really nice tea room just off the courtyard and it was thankfully empty when we arrived. We had lunch and cake before our tour. The tea room also sells afternoon teas there but they seemed expensive to me and I was happy with my ham sandwich and rainbow cake!

In the tour group there was only like eight of us and the tour took nearly and hour and a half. There was no photography or phones allowed in the house. The tour guard we had was really good. He was full of history about the house and got everyone involved by asking us questions. For example; why when King James 1 came to visit he decided not to stay in the room prepared for him? And who was depicted being crowned on a tapestry?

My favorite part was when he told us that Hoghton Tower is one of the most haunted places in England and though he hasn't seen or felt a ghost there has been times when he's come into the first bedroom and seen the cradle there moving by itself.

You can actually take ghost walks in the castle in the autumn/winter and I'm hoping my boyfriend books one of those for us to do later on in the year!

Hoghton Tower as well as being visited by kings and queens also had famous writers to visit, namely, Shakespeare and Dickens. The tour guide told us its rumored that Shakespeare was a friend of the family and taught the children. On the other hand, it is know that Dickens based on of his short stories at the Tower which he visited when it was in some disrepair.       

Close to the end of the tour and due to time, the group had to decided to visit the collection of dolls' houses or the priest hole and the well. We choice this last one which seemed more interesting. The house had many hidden holes and we got to see about three all together, though this last one you could really look inside it and get an idea of what it was like to have to hide inside.

The well was interesting because it was all inside and had a wooden mechanism to lower and rise the bucket. It was enclosed to protected from evading parties and insure the house had a supple of water. There was also a witch mark burned into the beam to keep evil away. The guide let some one drop a coin down and we heard after a good few seconds the splash of water.

The tour was really good and we learnt a lot! 

I did mange to snap the below photos which were in a room and corridor from the tearoom to the toilets. Though the actual rooms inside the house were far grander.   

This is a view looking into the gardens. I really wished we'd had time to visit them and the shop but we had only half an hour left after the tour and they had closed the shop early and my boyfriend was worried about traffic leaving the Tower. 

I told him we'd have to come back one day to see the gardens and I'm sure we will. 

So, if you are in the area of Hoghton Tower it's worth checking out! And that's it for today's post. I just want to leave you with a photo of my dog sunbathing. It's been really hot here for the last few days, surprisingly! And my dog is loving it. Me not so much though! I can't wait for it to get cooler again. 

All photos belong to me.

If you want to check out Hoghton Tower here's the link to their webside; http://www.hoghtontower.co.uk/