October Life; Manchester Bee Trail (Part 3) Saying Goodbye To The Bees!

Hi readers,

Yesterday, I was lucky enough to go to the Goodbye Bees event which was a chance to see all 101 bee statues in the same place and for the last time.

Many of the bee statues are being auctioned off next weekend and who knows where they'll end up and if they'll be on public display again. Some of the bees though are being given back to the charities who sponsored them or are represented by them. For example, Harpurbee will be going back to The Manchester Youth Zone. (I believe it'll be placed in the closed car park/allotment garden back area which isn't accessible to the public).

The event was held at the Manchester National Cycling Centre with some of the bees being inside and most of the being outside. It was really busy - lots of people eager to see the bees they had missed during the trail and the weather was bad too - the tail end of a storm that has flooded part of the UK this weekend.

To add to this my boyfriend had started with a cold and wasn't feeling well. We also had a nightmare parking! We ended up in the wrong place but then got told to go back there as there was nowhere to park around the cycling centre! Walking through the rain to get there then having to walk around the bees in the rain didn't help improve our moods but I tried to enjoy it as best I could.

It was really nice to see all the bees together and look at the ones we'd missed. I think we got to see around 50 on the trail and I realised whilst planning the second trip to see them that there was going to a few that I'd never get to see. So, it was good that the event was held and I could get tickets for it as I didn't feel like I'd missed out!

Of all the bees my favourite is still the one in the opening photo, Bee-You-ti-ful. I love the washed out colours and the inspirational imagines and quotes. A lot of the other bees are also inspiring and carry positive messages but there's just something about this one bee that really speaks to me!

If I had to pick a second favourite it would be this one below; Sundae. I love the ice cream look created on this bee and it feels so summer-y. For me this bee was also very different from all the others, I guess because it didn't have a 'bee' theme as such like some of the other ones do. Also, I love ice cream!

Due to how they had set the bees up it was hard to get a 'group photo', I tried my best but there was also trees and people in the way too! 

  

Now, here's a selection of bees from the event that I liked best and all of these are ones we didn't get to see during the trail.

I love this bee above! It had this really old stone look and reminded me of a headstone! 

I like this one below too. It's simple and pretty with the butterflies on it. 

The bee above is themed around the 80 Days Around The World novel and the bee, I believe, was at Manchester Airport to celebrate the airport's 80th birthday! 

I also liked this Egyptian themed one too.  

I think this bee was called something like The Sky Isn't The Limit and it has this star consolation theme. I liked the Galaxy painting on this bee.

The below bee really sums up Manchester for me; Cottonopolis. Manchester in the past has long been the centre for the cotton industry and the worker bee is the symbol of the hardworking people. 

This is Rainbow bee, who I also liked and seemed fitting in all the wet weather!

And this last Bee, I mistook as a bee with a cold as he was called sneezebee and I joked that my boyfriend was feeling like the bee was! Actually, this bee is theme around allergies, especially pollen which makes sense in the summer!  

So, that's it! The bee trail is officially over. I am super sad to see the bees go and it's a shame they can't be left on display around Manchester. It was a good way to bring people together but I guess there'd be too much up keep. 

I did buy the book of the bees though which lists them all and the small bees too. It's a great reminder of all the bees and fun that we've had finding them. I got a set of postcards too which had some nice photos of 9 different bees and the 10th postcard says something like we completed the bee trail. 

So, it's goodbye from the bees and goodbye from me. Until next time readers. 

(All photos belong to me.)

October Life Update Part 2: Happy Halloween!

Hi readers and happy Halloween to everyone! 

So, it's fallen on a Monday this year, which is pretty cool cause I get to share Halloween on the actual night! Also, though it does mean that I've had to get ahead writing this because I've plans and I'm just so busy right now. Which is good, but also not so good. Anyway, in to this post. So the Jack O'Lantern above is my tester one. I wanted something real simple and quick, which this tree was, but I know it's a bit messing because I had to hurry making it. 

I made this on Thursday because my brother who's just moved out wanted pumpkin pie, which he would have missed out on as he moved on Friday. I'm super going to miss him as we get on great and he's moving far away. Well, about 5-6 hours drive away to Southampton which is past London and we live in Manchester. So, he wanted pumpkin pie and then it seemed a waste to let the outside go to waste, so I used it for practice.

Also, I've been having a go at taking some better photos. So hopefully that'll be useful. So this year I've three pumpkins, which I think is like the max I've every had. I've not carved all three though. I've only every done two. The third one was craved by the new man in my life. We've still just dating at the moment, but things are progressing. This was the first time he's carved a pumpkin! It was actually great fun doing it together. 

Here's the pumpkins before carving.       

This one's mine and I decided to go with a Count Dracula face, but I didn't get it right. So it kind of looks like a weird face. 

This one is my date's. He went with a really scary face. We also switched out a candle for this light up balloon which made his even more creepy.

I think it all went well and they turned out pretty good. I just love shopping in October and all the Halloween stuff really attracts me. I've tried hard not to spend as much money as I normally do, but I think I've not been able to stick to that! The first thing I brought for Halloween was actually this baby werewolf plush soft toy. He's from Build-A-Bear and I just fell in love with him so much! He's so fluffy and I find holding him real calming. Which has been great for my anxiety problem. I could have brought this little ripped up blue denim jacket for him, but then he'd also need pants. I do kind of like him the way he is, but maybe I might make him clothes at some point - be a lot cheaper! 

I treated myself to another bear from Spiral.com this year too. Last year, I got the vampire Vlad and this year I got the grim reaper teddy. They also have a cat with bat wings which I might get next year. These two look so cute together though! Also, they match what my date and I dressed up as, which was a little strange! 

  

I always love all the different cups, mugs, goblets, jars etc that the shops sell and you can get. I don't actually have many myself as I don't use them, surprisingly! However, that changed when I got the purple plastic bat sippy cup! I totally love it and I don't think there's a day gone by since I got it about three weeks ago now that I've not used it! The bats have googly eyes on and it's actually a really big almost a pint I'd say in size. Now, the mason jars. They are huge in America and seem to be growing in popularity here in the UK. I got the white one which has like Witch's drink on it first and then brought the orange for my date to have. So we'd be kinda matching, which I thought was cute. The fourth glass was actually the first I brought and I was thinking of using it more of a tea light holder or maybe a little vase. 

I am a massive fan of candles as most of you know. But we don't get many autumn/pumpkin scented candles here. So when I see one I always end up getting it. I found this abandoned on a side shelf of Halloween masks and though I tried to find some more, I couldn't. I smells great though. I also got the new Yankee Candles scent which was called Forbidden Apple. Which smells awesome, but I do feel let down by it because apple is one of my favorite smells and I have a big Granny Smith scented Yankee candle which smells almost the same to me. I've got a caramel/candied apple too.

Okay, so this year for the trick or treaters I just got a big bag of 'monster' sweets/candy. I made goodie bags last year and ran out, so this year I'm just going with this. I've a sweet tooth but Halloween sweets just appeal to me even more. My favorites are the Chewits fangs, but I can only get them from one shop for some reason! But they are so good. 

My mum actually brought me the Twinkies - we don't have them in the UK and only certain shops - American themed sweet shops have them. But we found these in the world food aisle in a supermarket and I just knew I had to give them a try! They are brought out for the new ghost buster movie, but I guess the supermarket was like they are Halloween-y. They are key lime flavor which is like one of my favourite things, but you can't actually buy a key lime pie or anything else that flavor here. No idea why, I'd love that to change! 

Then there's a packet of witch's fingers which are peanut butter and strawberry jam centered- so tasty. And a big box of fancy chocolates. These are so good and just I could eat them all. My mum originally thought I'd give them out to the kids, but they are too good for that and too cute! 

Halloween fancy chocolates.

I've actually brought a lot of table clothes this year. I got three. Though one I'm actually using as a veil for my costume though! That was the first and it's actually the cloth I used for the table to take this photos with. The second cloth is the colorful plastic one. Even though I'm not having a party and don't need to cover a food table, I thought this would be great for actually going on the table/s outside were the pumpkins are to be displayed. The second cloth is the sliver bat one and that actually has a runner with it too. It was expensive but I love the fabric! Then I got so spider cobwebs as I really need some more that were not white or black.   

 Today, has been really crazy. Had to carve the pumpkins and decorate the house. Luckily, I'd got a few things out of the attic for that, but I think the big box of stuff is under my bed somewhere and I didn't have time to get that. Anyway, the front of the house looks pretty good. It's kinda the same how I had it last year I think. I wanted to get like some gravestones and them dotted around the front lawn bit, but I didn't have the money. I also saw some more skeleton creatures - rats, ravens, spiders, but I couldn't find any when I went back for them. It looks the part anyway.

We put up the decorations up first thing and then we carved the pumpkins. This is how the display looked this year. 

Then finally there's us in our costumes. I went as a vampire bride and he was a grim reaper.

And I just have to show you my dad's costume! This was the one he made last year, but it's still so awesome. My mum and I helped him make it.

We decided to go to a local ghost walk tonight and though we didn't see any ghosts it was fun, and I learnt a little about the town I live in. We walked though the graveyard too and I took some creepy photos.

On Saturday evening, My date and I went into Manchester for a meal to celebrate my new job! I'm now a causal receptionist at the youth center. I've been volunteering on reception for the last 8 months and then this job came up and I totally aced the interview. So we went out to celebrate that. Also, Manchester was dressed for Halloween and there were a few different events on, but I think we must have missed them. Still though, I love the paper pumpkin lanterns in the trees and the gate was pretty cool. The town hall was lit up green, but you couldn't get there because they are busy putting up Christmas stuff and yes that is a big inflated Santa in the background!

Lastly, and I know it's not really got anything to do with Halloween, but I wanted to share this awesome wool I found. It was really cheap and I'm going to knit a nice woolly scarf with it!

Thanks for reading and I hope everyone has had a fun night! See you all next week!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN !

Hi readers and happy Halloween,

I've spent all day being busy sorting stuff out, carving pumpkins and decorating. I'm now finishing writing this and editing it as I wait for the Trick or Treaters. So, firstly my pumpkins. I decided to go with Sparky from Frankenweenie and Jack Skellington from Nightmare Before Christmas. They turned out pretty good and I've already had some neighbors and parents really liking them.

I can't believe how long it took me to make them, even though they were simple designs. I watched nearly all of the second season of American Horror Story and I was glad of the distraction because asylums, torture and hospitals are the worse things for me and I can't really watch stuff with those things in them. I've got the last two episodes to watch now, but the setting has mostly moved out of the asylum now. I'm looking forward to watching the third season a lot more now and that's about witches which I'll be fine with. Anyway, here's my pumpkins close up;  

I'm hoping they'll keep the evil spirits away night! I've had 22 trick or treaters so far and I'm out of sweets. I made 20 party bags up and believed I'd have some to left to eat afterwards and now I'm having to give away my person Halloween sweets. I've never had so many kids before, but it's getting a bit later now, so I might have said goodbye to the last of them. 

I also manged to do the lantern from my last post and I'm really happy with it. I decided to not use the black marker to color in the outline as instructed, because it just wasn't working. So, I used my black glitter paint again and I added some purple glitter paint into the inside to give it more sparkle. I've still got another two to do, though they are going to have to wait till another time now. But I'm not too bothered because I'd love it to be Halloween all the time anyway! I'll be posting them up in November now and showing how I got on with them. Then In December, I'm going to do Christmas scene ones. 

In the kitchen yesterday, I made gingerbread ghosts, pumpkins and bats. I used a different recipe to the one I normally use and though they turned out okay, they are far from perfect. I think the problems from my Halloween Count Down part 2 post also effect me and again. They do taste fine, but I wish they looked better. I was tempted to put them in the goodie bags for the kids, but then decided against it due to not being sure if the kids were going to be okay with them and if the gingerbread icing would survive. My last biscuits went down so well and I can only hope these do to. I think next year, I'm so going to stick with the recipes I know work and do turn out really good. Who knows what I'll be up to next year, though?

One thing I always think about at Halloween is how many pumpkins are wasted. I know that sounds like an odd thought, but none of of the pumpkin goes to waste in my house and so tonight I made roasted pumpkin seeds. These are really easy to make! I washed and dried the seeds then added in some brown sugar and cinnamon. I cooked in them in the oven for an hour and half on a low setting. They are a tasty and health snack! Plus they can be added to lots of different dishes too.  

With the rest of the pumpkin the plans are to make my mum's pumpkin pie and a pumpkin soup. With her being away at a party, I've not been able to make those tonight and I've frozen the pumpkin so we can use it when she returns. I'll write about that next week because pumpkin pie is something no one should miss out on!

Here's a photo of all the stuff I got to go in the goodie bags. I was hoping to get some toys and maybe theme stationary too, but none of the shops I went to had anything like that. I just liked the idea better then mixing everything in a bowl and the kids really like them. I think I'll have to look at getting some more next year though because this time has been really busy. That's if I do decided to do it again though. 

I've fond memories of trick or treating with my family and friends or else going to parties and I just like the idea of those memories starting in other people. A part of me does wish I was hosting or going to a party tonight though. Oh, well, maybe next year.... 

I think that decorating the house has to be my second favorite part of Halloween. (Pumpkins come first!) Being home alone and not actually having any plans isn't a great feeling and so to cheer myself up, I took a trip into the attic to find my Halloween decorates, yesterday. I found one box that had some stuff in, but nothing worth getting it and the second box had only my large pot lit up pumpkins, Spider chase lights and a box of parrot lights from my 21st birthday party. I'm really not sure where the rest of my stuff has gone to. There must be another box in the attic or else it's stored under my bed. Anyway, I decided to do what I could, but in handing the pot pumpkins to my mum their cardboard box completely split and she got whacked on the head by them. 

I was a little upset that they both smashed but then more so about my mum. She got a concussion and went into shock. I was really thinking my dad would have to drive her to the hospital or a walk in center. But once she had sat down and didn't feel sick and dizzy any more, she seemed okay. That though led to a small argument with my dad as my parents at that moment were getting ready to go away for the weekend and to a Halloween party with my dad's diving club. I felt pretty bad about the whole thing and my dad moaning about my 'wrong time'. I should be use to that over the years, but once again I had been going through the whole debate about not going into the attic and not decorating the house, but deciding that I really needed to. (This enters into another long story, which I'm hoping to write about at some point in November / December) I was hoping to find some super glue and get them repaired, but I can't find any and I've so not had the time today.

Anyway, here's a photo of the front of my house; 

I was hoping to do a little more decorating, but it rained heavily in the night and everything was soaking wet still. It's not meant to rain tonight, but it's been looking like it might do. I wanted to put my skeleton dog out tied up on the grass with an bowl and a bone, but I got scared someone might steal him. Which I know is a bit of a silly thought to have, but yeah.....issues. Don't think most of the kids would have seen him anyway because the front wall is high. Also, I never found the rest of my decorations.

Lastly, I'm about to burn my favorite candle; Happy Halloween from Yankee Candles. I know I've wrote about this one before, but I just love it so much. I got luckily too because I found it at a really good price on Amazon and after deciding there was a high chance I'd never find one at that price in the future due to them now retiring it and the fact they only released a limited number around Halloween anyway. I've got three of them now and one of which I'll never burn because I'm hoarding it away! Also, the photo isn't mine because my camera has run out of battery.  

Thanks for reading! Please remember to follow and share. Also check out my other blog: https://thestoryfiles.wordpress.com/ and get ready for a new month of stories starting tomorrow. 

Preview for next month;

The Little Paris Bookshop Review 

Welcome To Night Vale, A Novel Review

November Update 

Possible posts:

My long term health problem

Youth Centre work 

Preparing for Christmas