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)

   

March Life Update: White Scar Cave.

Hi readers,

I've been meaning to write for the past few weeks and then just not getting around to it! I've like three books I want to review on here too, so I really need to start that. Plus, I'm still job hunting and getting no where, though I'm sure you are all tried of hearing about that! Today, I thought I'd share with you my trip to a cave that I took with my boyfriend. He's really into them but it's been awhile since either of us visited any!

White Scar Cave is in the Yorkshire Dales next to a village called Ingleton. It was just over an hour's drive from my boyfriend's house in the Preston area. I was the driver for the day as he's not had any motorway experience yet but it was mostly countryside roads anyway which I've had nearly any experience off, whilst he - because he actually lives in the countryside, is kinda use to it. I was little scared but I did okay! Even when the SatNav took us along this single track, farmer's road and I almost ran over a dog that was sat on top of a hill on a blind bend!

We made it fine to the caves and back again though! And I got some more driving experience though, I really could do with some more countryside driving now! Sounds like some more trips to Yorkshire might be in the planning for the months ahead then. 

White Scar Cave has guided tours every hour, so you can't access the caves by yourself. I don't think you'd want to anyway, not because it's easy to get lost - it's a one track trail, but because the ceiling is really low and the sections of the cave do flood. You follow a natural fast flowing small river though the caves which was how it was first discovered. Walking above the river, you first go down then up into a really large area. You have to wear a helmet at all times due to the low and pointy ceiling. Here's my boyfriend and I modeling these nice red ones!

The tour is an hour and 20 minutes with the walk a mile and bit. There are a few different chambers to enter and lots of things to see. They had labeled some of the most interesting stalagmites and stalactites as well as other features. Here's a photo of the information map.    

The first thing we saw in the cave was this really loud waterfall! I've always liked waterfalls and this one was really cool. 

The Witch's Fingers and the Judge's Head below were pretty interesting to look at. It's weird to think there's are naturally created over time. 

This was the second free flowing waterfall further inside the caves. There was only a small spot at the side to walk passed if you didn't want to get wet! All the other waterfalls were going down the sides of the cave and not over like this one and the first one. 

This feature is called the Devil's Tongue. Water was dripping off it and there was little choice but to try and walk under without getting wet! The guide said if you did get dripped on it was seven years bad luck! We just about avoided it, I think.

After almost crawling though a really low section and going up almost 100 steps we made it the Battlefield cavern. Here there were a lot of stalactites, an ice age rockfall and a prehistoric mud floor. 

Just past that was this huge and really tall area. There were changing lights along the walls which made it so pretty. The guide said that cave explores had been in this area looking for another way into the cave as there's only one so far and it would be good to have another. It's also one of the deepest points underground too. At Christmas time, they have a Santa sitting here who gives out presents to the kids. - Sounds a really strange way to see Santa to me!

This is one of the upper tunnels which has been explored. People say they can see the outline of a woman's face on the left side of the image. The guide said she was know as The Witch. Below her at the bottom is the shape of her cat. 

We had a great time exploring White Scar caves and there was a lot to wow over. Afterwards we visited the cafe and had lunch. Then we went to the shop which was packed full of cool things. I brought some postcards, crystal animals, a piece of amethyst and an eraser for my collection. My boyfriend surprised me with a cute wooden bat keyring he'd brought whilst I wasn't looking! I'd not even seen those key rings, so it made it even more of a surprise!

If you are in the are then these caves are with the visit!


Since I've not blogged in awhile, I wanted to share two more things today. Firstly, there's been a lot of snowy weather in England recently. It does snow here, but it's been awhile since it's been this bad! I've not been enjoying it that much due to ill health. But I do love that magic feel snow can create. This is a photo of my back gardening, showing how much snow we had over one night. 

Then these are awesome icicles hanging off the kitchen window. Been an age since I last saw anything like this! They were really big too. 

And this is my dog, Patch. It's taken her sometime to get use to the snow but now she loves running and playing in it. 

Best though, she loves coming home and getting all warm and snuggled in her jumper and bed! I totally agree with her there.

I'm glad it spring has finally arrived now and I was hoping we'd seen an end to the snow. But it looks like we might get some more over Easter now! so maybe winter isn't just finished yet.

On another note, I'm currently reading the Harry Potter books again! It's been ages since I last read them. Probably, when the last book came out 2007 but then I might have read the third on again a few years later - that's always been my favorite! From my memory though, I've only read the last three books once. The other 4 I've read at least 3 or 4 times. It'll also be interesting to read them one after the other too.

Last night, I finished the first and started the second! I'm not sure if I'll do a review of them yet. Perhaps, I'll do one of the all together when I'm done.   

Thanks for much reading. Here's hoping I can get those book reviews up soon!

Please check out my other blog; https://thestoryfiles.wordpress.com/ I'm taking part in the A-Z Challenge next week!

(Please note; all photos belong to me. Please don't use them.)

January 2016 Update: January Blues

Hi readers and welcoming to my first post of 2016! 

It's taken me a couple of weeks to get around to writing this, but I've had my reasons, which I'll go into later. Firstly though, I was reading a magazine the other day that January is the worst time of year because we don't have anything to look forward to unlike the other months. Plus, its the deflate after Christmas and New Year because you've eaten and drunk so much, spent lots of money and had a ton of fun. Now, it's back to work or education with little money and feeling like you over did everything. Also, your New Year resolution has probably gone completely out of the window.

January and February always feel the hardest months to get through for me. It's cold and snowy- though I seemed to have missed nearly all the bad weather so far- and it's getting dark so early. Getting out of bed is super hard for me and I do tend to hibernate like a bear during winter. I'm not big on going out either- unless its snowed and it looks nice-because everywhere is muddy, wet or icy. And its so cold and though I do like walking, the weather has to be decent. 

My health, which hasn't been good in years, also doesn't like the winter weather. I've been a bit bad recently with things and something keeps triggering my asthma. I've no idea what it is, but my chest has been giving me lot of grieve. I've had to take strong painkillers for my other health condition and the side effect of that is that I want to sleep all the time. Also, my iron level has been down again, making me tried and grumpy. I've been trying to start eating better to help all this issues and to loss some weight, but my other side effect is that I don't feel like eating and I become sick and nausea, making things harder.       

Thankfully, I'm feeling better today though there is another event which has triggered these problems and I'm still struggling to deal with. I broke up with my boyfriend last Monday. He sent me a message about it then when we spoke I officially ended things. I was really mad at him because we'd just been to my brother's birthday meal on Saturday and spent Christmas and New Year together. I felt he'd just thrown that all way and it was like it didn't mean anything. I know that's not true, but I couldn't help but feel that way. We weren't meeting each other's needs and what I now want is different to what he wants because we are both at different stages really.     

It's real difficult because we were together 3 and bit years and I thought 'd found the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. We never argued and were very close, we had enough in common and everything seemed to be good. I think though he kept this doubt about things between us and he let it grow and come out again. Will we get back together? Not anytime soon. He remembered what I had stated the last time we broke up and got back together, that if we broke again then a good amount of time, in which we dated other people and progressed more with our lives needed to happen before we decided if we should get back together. I think that's the best thing to do really. 

A lot of people give me the classic advice of 'if one door closes another opens,' and 'if it's meant to be it'll find away,' I told my dog- who I've been talking to a lot and been seeking comfort from- 'there were plenty more fish in the sea' and 'it really wasn't the end of the world.'  Sometimes though the classics catchphrases are just what you need to reassure yourself with. I'm going to miss him, no doubt about that, though he won't completely be out of my life. There's still Dungeons and Dragons and he did say he wanted to stay friends. I don't know how I really feel about that at the moment, but what I do want is for there to be a neutral line between us. I want to be mature and calm about it. I know that's going to be so hard to do, but I've got to come out of this stronger now, I don't have any choice. 

I was watching the birds in the garden this morning and I was thinking how that the blue tits, the robin and the sparrows have to live in the current moment. So much of their time and energy is spent finding and eating food. Winter is the hardest month for them and yet they find the will to carry on. They don't seem to have that many worries but for getting the basic needs sorted and it made me think about everything I had to appreciate. My basic needs have been met and exceeded, I've had a good life, been luckier then other people and yeah, even though I'm not rich and famous - which is probably over rated anyway, I'm doing okay. 

I wish my life was as simple as that of a bird's though. Humans compared to all the other animals live complicated, stressful and worry filled lives. The idea of going back to basics does attracted me, but I guess that would mean going to a small island with nothing on it and trying to survive. A Robinson Crusoe situation, but I couldn't cope without my books!        

Whilst watching the birds I also noticed that the snowdrops and bluebells were coming up in the garden. Though it feels far to early for plants to become up, it seemed the mild winter is causing then to appear. The splash of green in the bare brown garden, made me feel happy. Everything moves on and keeps on turning, things happen for many reasons and the world is full of goodness. I guess I just feel like nature is reminding me that things have their time and place, life just carries on. 

I feel little bit better after writing all of this now. Having time to reflect is important and I know it's going to take awhile before I move on again. My lack of motivation and wanting to do things will fade and for now I'm just going to do the small things and take little steps. Hopefully, I'll meet someone else soon. It is a big world out there after all. 

I found this last image on another site and I just love it. It really fits in with what I've been writing about too. I thought it looked like a nice thing to finish on. Till next time. 

Images from: 

https://pixabay.com/

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/c3/fe/d0/c3fed0cd1cce09f81cf7a24cf5b48330.gif

Monthly Update January

Hi readers, 

This is my first end of the month update post! And yes, I know its a bit over due now, but for some reason I thought it was the 31st January on Sunday and thus had another day to write, when actually it was on a Saturday! So, I did gather my photos and half start writing and then I just got thrown into doing other tasks and have now only just be able to come back to try and finish/post this up. Anyway, I decided the easiest way to do this would be to divided things up into different sections and just write a paragraph or so about them. So, here it is.

Books

I'm currently reading all the above books; Little Women, Cloud Of Sparrows, The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror Volume 22 and The Kick-Ass Writer. Which I know is bad because I'd probably have more chance at finishing at finishing just one then all of them! However, I started reading Little Women on my Kindle and because I read mainly before I go to sleep, having to read off another screen when I've spent all day starting at one or more, is just getting to me. That's why I started on Cloud Of Sparrows, which has surprisingly turned out to be a very interesting book. I started the New Horror book some time last year and having been dipping in and out of the collection of short stories ever since. It's good way to get me in the mood for writing my own, when I need it. The last book was one I got for Christmas and I've been attempting to read it for further inspiration, it sits on my desk along the Horror one. I'll be reviewing all of these in the future, though I'm not stating any dates right now.    

Writing 

As well as writing a daily short story every day for my sister blog The Story Files on Wordpress, I've been working on my novella Church and chapter 3. I had some difficulty writing a fighting scene and have had to ask a number of different people for advice. Which is not like me, but I knew it wasn't right, but I didn't know what to change. They offered me just what I needed and I was able to go back and edit the chapter. It's now ready to be published in a few weeks time. For those of you that don't know about it, Church is the story of Blaze, a warrior angel who has become trapped on Earth, though he doesn't understand why. I've included the link below if you want to check it out. The image is one I used for chapter 2, by the way. I've not been doing anything else right now, though I am currently trying to get ahead in writing short stories to free up some more time for when I'm away and also for writing chapter 4. Feel free to check out my short stories. https://thestoryfiles.wordpress.com/category/church-novella/

Work

I've a paid job now! I work as an activity supporter at my local youth center, where I've been volunteering for the last two years. I only do one day a week right now, but hopefully that'll increase soon enough. So, I help to run and I run my own arts and crafts sessions and I work with 8-12 year olds. We make things like the pen holders below, felt toys and scent pouches. As well as drawings and other paper things. I'm currently leading a recycling project right now and plan to make other things out of cardboard boxes and tubes. I really am enjoying my job because its something that allows me to have a good level of freedom and to be myself. It also meets my creative needs and allows me time to write as well. I'm also mega happy to have finally found a job!   

Music of the month 

I've been listening to a lot of music this month, though most of it is the normal things I listen to whilst writing such as 12 Stones and Five Finger Death Punch. There's something about their music that just inspires me and helps to to write. I also like listening to a lot of different natural sounds like the fall of rain, burning fire and wind sounds. It helps to relax me and allows me to focus more on what I'm working on because it blocks everything else out and the noise is a constant thing. I've been listening to a lot of Bon Jovi too recently. Not sure why, but it's phrase I'm going though. I'm also branching out into some new music, so i might give this section a more closer look next month.  

General/home

I'm currently doing a teaching course, which is the PTLLS one. It'll mean I can teach choice subjects in anywhere but a school/college. I'm not sure what I'm going to use it for right now, but its a good step on the teaching ladder, plus some of the skills I'm getting are useful in my job right now as some aspects of that does involve teaching. I've got some essays to get writing though and they are proving hard to do. Sure I'll get there soon enough though.

I've been making a teddy bear out of an old pair of denim jeans, but he so didn't turn out like the pattern and I've not finished him yet. I'm not too keen on him actually and I've made better things. Though it seems I'm good with felt but not much else! I guess I'm still a novice at all this sewing and creating though and its going to take more time to learn the skills and remember what I've to do. I'll try and carry on, but finding any spare time at the minute is getting harder.   

Lastly, I've been looking forward to it snowing, but so far we've not had a lot and its not stuck around! I do love the snow, but I don't like going out in it because of all the difficulties. I'm still hoping it'll snow more soon though. Maybe next time I write, it will have snowed some more? Anyway that's the end of this month's update. Here's one of my dogs, Sindy, enjoying the snow in my back garden to end things on.  

Images from: 

January poster, http://www.dreamstime.com/illustration/january.html

Book covers, author's own

Abandoned St Etienne Church, France, http://imgur.com/owSErIU

Tin can pen holders, http://diyandcraftsideas.com/diy-crafts/how-to-design-and-make-diy-pen-holder/

Album covers, author's own

Jean Bear,  author's own 

Sindy dog in the snow, author's own 

Let sleeping dogs lay

This is my dog Sandy. She is a German Shep cross boarder collie, I've had her for 9 years now and I rescued her from Manchester dogs home in 1999. She was my 12th birthday present! I'd be lost with out her in my life now, she's just become such a huge part of who I am. She's my best friend and though I'm away at uni now-sometimes for 3 weeks without coming home-she is never far from my thoughts.






Being an old dog now, Sandy does a lot of sleeping! In fact most of the pics I now take of her are of her sleeping because she spends so much time napping. She likes to wear her bandanna when I come home and have her tummy tickled. Sunday is her favourite day because she gets a 2 hour walk in our local woods and then left over Sunday chicken bits for her tea.






Sandy enjoys most of the same things I enjoy too; like swimming! Its difficult to keep her away from any open water. She is fond of the seaside and spends hours in the sea, bugging people to play with her. She also has a skill of feeling with her paws for her toy and then putting her whole head under water to retrieve it. She likes digging holes on the beach too.






She also likes snow and with all the snowfall we've had recently its been very easy to get her to go on a walk. Here she is enjoying the snow....

So my title does relate to Sandy, but it also has to do with the things that have been going on in my life over the last 2 or so weeks. I've had to join the Edge Hill students crazy house hunting season once more and the struggle to find a place has been the bane of my life for the past week. The housemates are not the problem, I'll be living with two of the people I'm with now and another guy, who is doing my creative writing course and is a close friend of one of my best friends there.

The location of the house has been the issue! Like most students we decided to be lazy and pick an area closer to uni then we are now. Of course everyone else decided to do just that as well! So when we phoned to book views for the houses, they had already gone! We did see three in the area but 2 we just missed out on and the 3rd was available but you had to appeal online and compete with other students to get it.

A week, this Thursday just go we saw a really nice house which was most suitable to our needs but it was on the next street and only a few houses down to where we are now. Having no luck last Wednesday, we decided to see if it was still for rent and to take another look around. We've now gone for this house and shall be signing the papers and paying the summer holding money on Monday night. :) So me and friends are now out of that hunt!

I've no pics of house to put up, but I'll put this one of last weeks snowfall instead.

I'm at home this weekend, chilling out and de-stressing after that mad week! Also my brother is 18 and we are celebrating that. I'm also thinking about getting some of my short stories and poems prepared to send off to first editing publishing, which I've seen a poster of on my course notice board. Looks like a good place to start submitting things too.....

My new Target is also to write on here more! My problem is I'm just so buy reading, writing and of course I have to do my blog of edge every week now. but still, I'm sure I can start to find the time.