Flashback To February Life Update; Snow and Valentine's Day!

Hi readers,

I started writing this blog post before I got really sick, so I'm not doing any editing and posting as I wrote it back in early February.

I want to say I'm glad January is over but winter is still here! It does snow in the Manchester, England area where I live but as I am in-between areas of higher grounds those towns normally get it first and I don't get to see that much snow.

These last few weeks, there has been two separate bouts of snowfall during day and night time. The first of these, the snow fell then soon melted, the second time the snow got iced over during the night and there small piles for two or three days. The rest of the week is looking clear, so I'm not sure if we'll get anymore now.

I'm sort of torn over my feels about snow; I love the way it makes everything look but I hate the issues it causes. Now I drive a car - almost my 3rd year now- I find that snow, ice and freezing fog are high on the danger list for weather conditions to drive in. I've been lucky so far that I've been okay driving in those and all kinds of other weather. It's something you get use to and more experience with. I am also getting to know when not to risk driving as of it the snow hasn't been that deep or icy but it's something to watch out for.

Luckily, most of the snow is staying away and it's not lasting that long when it does fall and freeze. 

I do think snow has this thing about it that makes everything more pretty and magical, I guess all those snowy Christmas imagines that have set this in my mind. The garden looks transformed into something different at the minute which is interesting to look out at. It's not so good for the animals - especially the birds, so we've been putting out extra food.

Also, my dog Patch isn't a fan of the snow. I'm not sure if because it's cold and damp/wet and reminds her of rain which she hates or if she's just not use to it. She'll play in a little dusting but anything deeper and she doesn't like even sticking her nose outside! 

To be honest though, I think she does have the right idea! I'm not a fan of the freezing cold myself and snow days are really just perfect for curling up inside on the sofa or bed with a huge book to read and supply of hot drinks and snacks.

Valentine's Day!

This Valentine's Day, my boyfriend and I didn't make any plans, partly because he was at work and I've not been feeling well these last few weeks. I just want over to his and he made us dinner which was a chicken tray bake. He's not good at cooking as I really appreciate him making the effort. It tasted really nice. We did go out to a garden centre which I really like going too and he brought me a cactus! It's so cute and looks like it's heart shaped.  

For anybody who knows me, I love cacti, I have a collection and bit of an obsession! I like each one I own to be different, so this one fits right in as I don't have one like this! And it's extra special as it was a present from my boyfriend. 

He also got me this unicorn kitty and amethyst bracelet which has a tree of life charm on it - below. I got him a t-shirt, a wall sign about Star Wars heroes, and key ring jigsaw pieces which had two fitting halves with matching sayings on. I let him pick which one he wanted and I kept the other. On my house keys now, so I don't forget. 

So, a quiet Valentine's this year but it's been just as special.    

Lastly and this doesn't connect with Valentine's as we have been planning this for awhile now, in June we are off to London to visit the Harry Potter Studio Tour! 

I'm really excited, even more so now I've seen the tickets! We meant to go from my 30th Birthday last July but we went to Cornwall instead. This year we are going for our 3rd anniversary and it's going to be so good! We have planned other things to do in London as well as it's going to be a full half a week of exploring places.    

You can bet I'll be writing all about that in June. For now though, here's to the end of winter and the being of Spring. See you next time.  

(All photos belong to me)

   

December Life update Part 1: Christmas Is Nearly Here!

Hi readers! 

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and all that to everyone! Christmas is now only six days away and I, like everyone else in the world, have been super busy. So, today's blog is very photo heavy, but I've so much to share. Actually, this Monday I'm pressed for time as I've to go to work later and I still have today's story to write and it's half past two all ready! Let's make a start then.

The Christmas decorations have gone up and the above is a photo of my tree. It's not great because it's stuck in a dark corner of the living room like it normally is, but there's no other space to put it. We had to move my dog's bed and she was totally not happy about that. The house looks okay, but it doesn't seem we've put up many decorations this year. Still though, it feels Christmas-y enough. 

Secondly, back in November though I've waited till now to write about it, I adopted a polar bear with the WWF. I've always said that as soon as I get a good income I'd give back to a charity and since I all ready give back to one that works with children (I work, volunteer and donate items to the youth center) I decided to pick an animal. I guess I went with the WWF because its one of the most well known ones and in return for adopting an animal you receive good things. Below is the welcome pack I got. It had stickers, bookmarks, a soft toy and books covering all kinds of things.  

My cute little polar bear doesn't have a name yet, but she's been living on my desk and keeping me company. I've been sticking with the polar bear theme now and been buying a few different things, including this huge and awesome mug from Asda! It's great for hot chocolate and the spice teas I've been drinking. It's too big to use at work though, but that's okay. I'll have to find another mug for that. 

Over the last few Decembers, I've taken to hand making presents for friends and family. It's great as it saves money, everyone gets something that is more special and it gives me something to do with my spare time. This year, I decided to makes some awesome Christmas soaps for everyone. Sadly, the photos I took have gone missing. I thought I saved them to my computer, but it doesn't look like I did and I deleted everything off my camera's memory card because it was almost full. They were very pretty and didn't take long to make. 

I used all ready made soap that you melted in a microwave and poured into moulds. I added some scent oil and food dye before I did that and then I also added glitter. I made snowflakes, snowmen, pine trees and Santa. I've all ready decided to make them again next year and try some different things with them. So, hopefully photos then! 

I also made lip scrubs which are so easy as they are just honey and brown sugar. I've been knitting scarfs too. I didn't want to spoil it for people I've given them too who might read my blog, so the below photo is of the scarf I made for myself. It's totally different from the ones I made for my friends and mum because I wanted mine chunky. It was really cheap to make as it was buy 2 get 3rd ball of wool free. It took 6 balls to make this and the balls were only £1 each, so it cost me £4 and a few hours to make this scarf.  

I also made these cute felt trees. The pattern came from a craft mag and I also made them with the kids at the youth center. They are not hard to make, but it took me awhile to get the pattern size right. I've got like two still to make, but I don't think I'll have time now. 

For about three or four years now, my mum has switched out the chocolate advent calendars we always had as kids to these present advent bags. You get a small present every day and I'm sure I've written about these before. I do think they are a good idea. I made mum one again this year. This photo is of the things I've gotten so far. I know there's two things missing; a little purple bear and another candle, but I think there's more. I got a lot of usable items this time; like socks, lip balms, snacks and the note book at the back. 

Another thing that is now happening as that my mum gives up wrapping some of my presents and just leaves them on my desk for me. On Sunday, I came down to these four coloring books, packet of Twizzlers and fragrance oil. I've given the spiced apple one ago and it's really nice, but I put too much in and I've had move my burner to the other side of the room! The house now smells like sweet apples, which isn't that bad. 

Before I move on to the main part of this post, I wanted to share this plant with everyone. It's a Christmas cacti and anyone who's been a reader of this blog for awhile knows I love cacti and have a collection of them. This has to be my second favorite because it really goes to town on flowering! Plus, it only flowers this time of year which is great when every other plant is looking bleak. I have two of these plants, as the offspring of this one ended up in my jasmine plant pot. It doesn't actually live on my bookcase like that, but in the kitchen on a vase beside the sink. The other one is on the opposite side. I had to take the photo here though because it was a lot better.  

This December life update wouldn't be complete without talking about my trip to the Manchester Christmas Markets. I go every year twice- ish; the first with friends and the second with family. This year though, I had a meet up with my old uni housemates and friends. It was great because I'd not since some people since we left uni 6 years ago! I don't know why we waited so long, because we are awesome together. I hope we can all meet again next year now. 

I always enjoy the market and it makes me feel like Christmas is nearly here. It's always a highlight, even if I don't buy anything. I took a lot of photos, but I picked only the best ones to put here; 

This fudge stall is one of my favorites. Look at all those different kinds of fudge!

This huge Santa always sits above the doorway to the town hall. 

This Christmas tree looked really cool. 

A row of stalls at the town hall square. 

Cool Father Christmas figures. 

These wicker like things are cute. 

If you buy enough of these wooden houses you could make a village scene!

Nativity wind mill.

I really like these beech trees. 

Really cool big Merry Go Round. I didn't get to go on it though. 

My new boyfriend and I with a giant polar bear statue.

That's done and now I've got three things left to share. So really quick. I know I've said this before, but the Jingle Bugs book is my favorite Christmas book. It's always meant the Christmas tree is going up and it's almost time to celebrate. 

My favorite Christmas movie is The Grinch. It's great fun, but serious and for me it just holds the true meaning of Christmas within it. I do watch it every year, mostly on Christmas Eve.  

Lastly and I know it's more Halloween then Christmas. My mum and I got this pumpkin jumper for my dog. She's been cold lately and we thought it'd help. I'm not a fan of dressing her up, but she's really taken to this jumper. We've brought a Christmas one for her, but that's being kept for Christmas day! 

I hope everyone has a great time and I'll see you all next Monday for my final post of the year! Thanks for reading! 

June Life Update: Home Improvements.

Hi readers,

It feels like an age since I last did one of these posts and I've been so busy! But also, the Soulless books have been taking up the last few weeks. I actually got the idea for this post at the end of May/ beginning of June, but actually I'm glad I didn't post it up then because it's meant I've had more time to write it. However, it's now become a lot longer then I first planned, but I've got lots of photos to break things up with. So let's start! 

Last month my old desk chair broke. It had been on it's last legs/wheels for awhile but one night as I sat in it singing along to Five Finger Death Punch, the chair snapped in half and threw me against my bookcase and floor. My foot was trapped underneath the seat, but luckily, I got free and after a few minutes of laying on the floor I got up. My chair was announced totally broke by my dad and so began the search for a new one.

I had this idea that I wanted like a comfy plush armchair, but all the ones I looked at online, in charity shops and furniture shops were not desk height. My mum took me to IKEA for the first time as the last place to look. We arrived at the right floor and the first thing I saw was someone being told off by a member of staff for using the wrong trolley! Seems the long flatbed ones could only be used on the floor below and not in the home area.

Visiting IKEA for me felt like visiting a number of different houses. I love how you can just walk into a living room or kitchen etc and take a good nosy around. You so get a really taste of what you could make any room in your own place look like and I enjoyed that experience, even though it felt a bit weird and it took me awhile to actually step into one of the rooms.

I saw a number of chairs I liked, but none of them ticked all the boxes either because they were too small for me - I need a big chair because I like to curl up and I do move around a lot, plus I spend a lot of time at my desk- or they weren't the right height or they were too expensive. So, even though I saw lots of cool stuff, I didn't get anything. I think when I've a place of my own, then I shall go back to IKEA. The bookcases were awesome!

In the end, I went back to the internet and looked on Amazon. It really is my go to place when I want/need to buy things. Finally, after a lot of researching into desk/computer gaming chairs, I went with this one;

I know the photo isn't that great. The sunlight appeared at the wrong moment and I've just not get around to trying again. Plus it's really tall, so actually getting a full photo of it without showing the mess my front room is currently in is hard. So, its a computer gamer's chair with fake leather and plush panels that actually have an autumn leaves print on them and I do so love autumn and leaves! It's super comfy, really supportive and it was well within my budget. I'm happy with it and hope it lasts an age now.   

On to the second thing. For anyone who's been reading this blog awhile you'll remember my addiction to cacti. I have a huge one called Bob, who I took to uni with me and it was given to me by my now passed away uncle as a small baby. Well, I decided he needed re-potting again. This is like his fourth new pot now and he seems to suit it. Sadly, I think I choice the wrong time because he was flowering- as you can see below- and normally he gets large pink flowers on all his tops, but it's not happened and they have started dying. I hope he's going to be okay. 

The cacti in the photo at the start of this post are all my new ones. They were really cheap from a supermarket and I couldn't say no to that. I re-potted the one that looks like Bob in his old pot to encourage him to grow big. It's the same for the cactus next to Bob in the above photo. It looks big already, but I want it to grow more. They all look really good on the window sill which is next to my desk and computer. I added the bunnies from one of my old posts next to them as I've been sewing so much new stuff lately that I've run out of room.

The cacti below I've had for awhile and actually they are the only ones that I didn't re-pot. That's because I'm pretty happy with them as they are. They haven't grown much though, expect for the two tall ones at the back, they seem to be doing really good. The cactus in the middle is a special one I got from the Eden Project in Cornwall on my birthday. I did have another one that was orange which I got from my first trip but it sadly died. I've no idea why though! The other cacti came from a garden center and it's the same place I got the seashell stones from. I like them because they just add some color and decoration on top of the soil.

One of the things I love about summer is all the outside decorations you can get. This year my mum and I decided to buy some new solar lights for the trees we have in the garden. I went with stars as I really like them and they do look good. Then I choice some twinkling fairy lights to make like an archway between the trees. That turned at really well. I love waiting for them to come on and though they've not been so bright recently due to lack of sun -feels like another washed out summer in England- they still look good.

At the same time, I also got this which is meant to be fireflies in a jar. I love the effect and I have it inside on my window sill, balanced on a cactus pot during the day then moving around my desk in the evening/night, so I can enjoy it. I really like it and also it could easily be made with a jar and some lights, but this was super cheap! 

To fit in with this I recently brought some new LED fairy lights for my seashell collection. I have always collected shells when I've been at the seaside. I try to get the ones that I think sea creatures won't want to use and then I only take a few. I've also brought some too. They use to live in a shoe box under my bed, but a few years back I decided to get a large glass vase to put them in. I then brought a string of 20 fairy lights to put in with them and it's stood on the end of my desk under my bed for ages. 

A few weeks back whilst tidying my room I decided that I'd love this on my PC desk where I could have the lights on more often and enjoy it more. So I brought it and my large lava lamp, which I felt the same about to my PC desk. It was there after having it on a few times I decided that it would Benefit from having more lights in as only the middle section was really lit up. So, I went on Amazon and got some. 

It's taken me four tries to get it right. The problem was I got 100 lights when before there was only 20 and the wire was really thick, so twice all the shells won't go back in and the third time I decided that I didn't like the arrangement of things. It took a lot of thinking, but I'm happy with how it turned out. Also, having just the blue and green lights on gives a really nice affect.   

My younger brother moved back from uni about two weekends ago now. He wanted to sort though the corner wardrobe that's in his bedroom. I ended up giving him and my mum a hand, we found a lot of interesting stuff and were able to get rid of most of it. I still have some books and a bathroom stuff to give to charity. Though what I really want to do is raise some money for arts and crafts supplies at the youth center. Going to have a look into doing that very soon.

Among the finds we discovered these two Charlie bears! Mum said she was sure one of them - the panda on the right had been a Christmas present for me she had lost a few years back. The other shares the name of my other brother and that's why she got him, but for reason he then got left in the cupboard. I'm glad to say that both bears have now joined all the others in my bedroom. 

The other thing I wanted to write about were these Dungeons and Dragons Role Playing books. I had for sometime kept three of them in my room on the top shelf and we found the fourth one in an old box of childhood books. I'm not sure how it got there! They date from 1992-1993 and were meant to be used with the 1990 D&D board game as additional adventures.

We don't have that board game and though it's easy enough to get one, I'm thinking I might sell them. Right now they are coming up as being somewhat expensive. Seems there's a surge in old D&D stuff.

But I feel kinda attached to them and I don't know why. Maybe it's got something to do with the geek in me and I keep thinking I could keep them, get the board game and find some people to play it with. On the other hand, that's unlikely to happen and maybe someone who wants them for memorabilia and knows about them better then me will want to buy them? 

I don't know, but I'm storing them inside my small bookcase next to my desk till I decided. Take a look at these maps though! I've got them for each different adventure and I love the detail in them.   

To tie in with this when I cleaned my bedroom last month I found these novels. I knew I had them as they were giving to me by a high school friend back in the early 2000's. I just about think I've read the vampire one, of course it's about a vampire so why wouldn't I? But I've never read the others. I got them before I knew what D&D was and I think I just thought they were fantasy books like the role playing ones I got at the same time, but now I know them for what they are and I like them a lot more.

They are on my to read list now. Strangely though the D&D adventure I'm playing right now is linked to the vampire novel as we are playing The Curse of Strahd and that novel is based on the original adventure. I think one of the reasons I've not started reading it is because I'm worried there might be information which could be seen as meta-gaming actually in the novel. So I'm going to wait until the adventure is finished and then read it. Also, I've a huge pile of books to get through right now! If you're interested in playing D&D here's the link to the website;  http://dnd.wizards.com/

And I'm sure I've wrote a lot about how playing D&D has changed my life in the past, so I won't go into that all again here. I've got three things left to write about now and then I'm finally finished. 

So, recently, I've become really big on products from The Body Shop. I have also loved their strawberry wash stuff and lotions and the orange one they have too. At Christmas I got into their apple scent and now with summer under way, they have brought out a range of pina colada - pineapple and coconut stuff and that's like my second favorite smell. I'm totally in love with it! Also they have some hand cleaners, which I love too and carry around with me wherever I go.

The other product I'm addicted to is the peppermint foot treatments. I love the smell of it but also my feet have so improved using the deep intense cream. When I was a ballerina I never kept on top of my foot care like I should have done and now I've become super aware of the pressure points on my feet, eg. the heel and base of my toes. With wanting to wear sandals - despite the rain now taking over the summer- I thought I should start giving my feet some TLC. So far it's really working and my feet look better then they have in years. 

Last week, during one of my first meet ups with a guy from an online dating website, ( I was going to write all about my 'first' dates and how my mentoring Sunday's are going, but this post is too big all ready so I'll carry those over to a second July post I think as the first July post is about all the sewing projects I've been doing) I had a shopping trip. I don't normally spend so much money at once, but I wanted get a few things anyway and then I found more. 

I needed some strips of fabric to make my new craze of hair scrunches. I learnt how do them from the fabric activity volunteer at the youth center and when I made my first one I become hooked. So now I've got all this awesome fabric to make some more!    

A few posts back I wrote about my happy book and how I fill it with positive quotes/Menes and things that make me happy. For awhile now I've been looking to get another notebook to continue the happy book in as it's almost full now. I spotted the small two notebooks on a top shelf in The Works and decided they were too cheap to pass up on even if they didn't become the next happy book. Also the inspirational quotes drew me in. 

The white book behind them is actually a design your own cover book and though it's too big really to be my new happy book I liked the idea behind making my own cover and also it's plain paper inside, unlike the others which were lined. So, maybe it's work as my new happy book? Have to see when I actually need to switch out.

I also got these books too as they were very cheap and I thought the two sewing books would be great inspiration for my job. Some of the projects in them look pretty good and I thought it'd save me sometime looking on the internet. The other book is about funny newspaper headlines and yeah I was drawn in by the custard shortage line. I thought this would be useful for writing prompts. One of the things they say to look at is news stories and I like the sound of some of these headlines. There was one about a dog being attacked by swans, a man being found dead in a graveyard and one about boiled egg exploding. I also thought if I need a giggle then it'd be good for that. 

I also brought the new J .R. Ward series book 1! It was on my birthday wish list, but with Waterstones giving it a buy one get one half price sticker I thought I'd get it then find another one. It took me awhile as the selection they had wasn't great for me, but I decided to get the home for peculiar children because I had seen the ad for the movie on tv and though I have actually looked at the book a few times I didn't know it was about children with supernatural powers. So I thought I'd give it ago. Two more books to add to my reading list!

I'm close to finishing now, there's only one more thing I want to write about and that's; 

Up and Coming Book Reviews. 

So, I just thought I'd share this list of some of the books I plan to read and review for the rest of the year. Of course, this list isn't set in stone and a few others will pop up. I've tried to do it by month too, but this no doubt will change. If you want to keep up with what I'm reading here's the link to my Goodreads page: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/7400715-hayley-hardman

End of June, but reviewing next week as one post; Soulless Manga Trilogy.

July; Gail Carriage The Custard Protocol book 1 and 2, J .R. Ward Blood Kiss.   

August; Darren Shan's The City Trilogy, Stephan King's Joyland and Cujo.     

September; Joseph Fink Welcome to Night Vale Volumes 1 and 2.  

November; The above writing books as it's write a novel in a month time. 

October; J .R. Ward The Beast.   

December; To Be Decided.

That's all for this update. Thanks so much for reading and if you have time please check out my other blog were I write a short story everyday https://thestoryfiles.wordpress.com/. Next month, I hope to launch a new blog which will also be on Wordpress and I want to get the first collection of short stories from my blog self published on Amazon too. 

See you next week. :) 

Images: all my own.