Busy, busy, busy!!

The last few weeks working in a school is always a busy time, but these last weeks have flown and I've been so busy.
I have had three more swaps to do

A family bbq,

Matthew's birthday,

A bouldering class at the climbing hanger, Liverpool

joined a knitting group,

celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary at the Oast House, Manchester

watched Andy Murray win wimbledon! 

Finished the school term in fantastic style with cocktails in Manchester and singing in a kareoke pod in Tiger Tiger.

Spent alot of time bragging about my youngest sister is one of the winners of BAFTA Rocliffe Comedy writers competition which will see part of her comedy script performed with real actors at the Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival and judged by a panel that includes John Bishop, and she could win a script commision with the BBC!!!
so naturally I've not had as much time to do my blog!

Now I'm off for weeks for the summer holidays so I'm hoping I'll have plenty of time to do more crafts especially some decorations for my home, I've been so busy making things for other people it'll be nice to make some things for myself.
But for now I'm off for a week to Cornwall!!
Bye for now!
Abigail x

St Ives 2013

This holiday to St Ives was going to be different than previous years, this year we were camping, we were only there for a week and we had our beloved Maxi with us!

Here are some of the highlights:

Pasties on the beach,

 

Blas burgers from the Halsetown Inn

 I spent my 33rd birthday at Crantock Bay, were Max had his first trip in a boat and I had a little trip down memory lane when we went to Newquay where I used to go for a holiday when I was little.

.

We spent some days on the dog beach in St.Ives and on the Island, we went on Porthkidney beach, max played lots of ball games, we had a paddle and a swim and Max did some digging!

We went on a walk from our campsite to the knill,

 on to Trencrom Hill

 then on to Mount's Bay, Marazion the walk was 12 miles in total

 

then we went on a open top bus back to st ives

We went to Godrevy point, where we saw a kestrel (I think)

 We saw a couple of seals in the harbour

 we went on a 5 mile coastal walk from Lamorna cove..

 ..to Mousehole and back again.

And after all that we were quite sleepy!

It went way too quickly!

Thanks for reading!

Abigail x

My Instagram life

I sometimes joke with my husband and friends that I'd quite like to live my Instagram life. Its a world were life is pretty, i go to lots of nice places, i craft, i make delicious meals and cakes! It's idyllic!

I am not saying I don't do these thing, I do go to lots of nice places and walks and take pictures of amazing views and pretty things I see, I do like making things and even though I do say so myself I do make delicious meals and cakes!!

But I do make a conscious effort not to put anything that on that would sully my lovely photo feed.

 If I take a picture of somewhere in my house, its sometimes staged, I keep out any clutter, only taking photos of the parts of the house (which is very few) that I am happy with.

When I post pictures of crafts that I do you don't see the constant turmoil of balancing the things I have to do e.g. housework and the things I want to do, how do people do it??  

 It looks to the Instagram follower looking at my photo feed that our house is nice, it seems we live in a lovely area because of the photos that I take of taking the dog for a walk to the country park that's just down at the bottom of our street...sounds beautiful doesn't it....looks beautiful from the photographs, meadows, woods, a stream running through, a wooden bridge, wildlife and birds aplenty.

In real life it is beautiful, but its right next to a council estate (on the other side of the river I might add!!) and the residents who think its a dumping ground and a place to come and enjoy the sun - by all means but then they leave cans and litter lying around and thrown into the stream. It annoys me obviously they like it there because as soon as the sun is out they are there in droves, but they leave their mess as if its not their responsibility to pick it up! It makes me sound like a snob I am a bit I suppose but only because I feel so strongly about it, its a beautiful place which should be enjoyed by all but there are people who just want to spoil that. Anyway rant over.. needless to say I don't have any photos of shopping trolleys or sofas that are dumped in the stream from time to time!

          Not a shopping trolley in sight!!

When I was joking with a friend about this she said " yeah but why would you take a picture of that??, you're not going to show the parts of your life that you hate".

And shes right when I post a picture on Instagram I want people to see me and my life in a good light I don't want them to see the messy, lazy, emotional side of me I want them to see the creative, happy, motivated side of me and that's OK, isn't it?

It is.

And here's why.

Sometimes life can be rubbish, I mean really, really crap, sometimes I  feel so sad and bitter if  I'm being honest of not being 'normal', not having that what others take for granted, the fact we can't have children, the fact that money is a big issue in not carrying on with IVF, the fact that in order to have the last IVF we had unfunded we had to do an egg share which meant that my half my eggs went to someone else and that was because we couldn't afford to pay more.The fact that bad, really horrible people (see Jeremy Kyle.. the show not him although thinking about it maybe him too!) can have not one but bucket loads of children but me and Matthew who would have been A-ma-zing parents can't. The fact that we don't socialise with other people because most people we know, our age, have kids and are busy with them.
 I don't talk about it because people don't talk about things like that and you try to be strong because whats the alternative? You let it consume your life and spoil the things that are good.
I have to remind myself daily to focus on the good in my life and things that I am thankful for Matthew, Max, my family, my house, my job, the time we spend together the things we do and see, so in some way  my  I suppose that's just what I do on Instagram - focus on the good because it makes me feel better.

And its cheaper than therapy.

Thank you for reading xxx

Late May Bank Holiday - Llanberis and Snowdon

It's a bit late but I thought I'd tell you about my bank holiday weekend just gone. We ventured back to Snowdonia but this time we were going to make it up Snowdon at long last! 

Matthew found us a campsite in Llanberis that we could walk to Snowdon from, it was called Mountain  Farm Campsite.

Upsides : big campsite ,it wasn't crowded, beautiful views of the mountains and lakes from the campsite, a few minutes walk from town, walks from campsite up to Snowdon and to Llanberis waterfall, you can look at the farm animals and ducks and chickens wander freely around the campsite.

Downsides: not many flat pitches and ground a bit rocky.

Saturday

We arrived at the campsite and set up camp, we then followed some quite hazy directions to the waterfall off the campsite's website. We eventually found it and it was very impressive.

This is the top of the waterfall

And this is the bottom of it! It was beautiful and we visited late afternoon and the light was fantastic. 

We then walked on to Llanberis and straight to the nearest beer garden for a nice cold cider.

Then back to the campsite for a barbeque!

Sunday

Sunday was another beautiful sunny day for our walk up to Snowdon, this was my first proper hike up a mountain so we decided to go up the Llanberis path, which is longer than some routes but is the easiest path and the most popular. It is 9 miles from the summit and back and there are some quite steep sections, this bit was the hardest, the final push before seeing the summit on the other side. The train runs up alongside it and the views are amazing looking back the way we came and further towards the sea.

The summit is not surprisingly the busiest summit in the UK, down to the fact that you can reach it by train as well as hiking up. Throw into the mix that it was a bank holiday and a lovely day and what you get is a very busy summit! We had to queue up to get to the top, as Snowdon came into view you could see people gathering up at the summit looking like ants on an ant hill. I didn't like it very much up at the summit because it was too busy and the clouds came across for a little bit so you couldn't see the view very well. 

We moved down the mountain a little bit and sat and had a well deserved picnic.

Love this picture, I look like a proper adventurer, Snowdon summit is behind me. I was very pleased with my achievement my first mountain, the highest in England and Wales, 1085 metres above sea level!

Our picnic spot, Max was just checking we didn't drop anything! You may also notice Max's backpack, Max carried his own water and folding bowls the backpack has a handle so that he can be lifted safely over stiles. Max was quite the celebrity known as 'the rucksack dog' 

Walking back was quite hard especially the bit that was hard coming up because it was shingley underfoot and I slipped because it was loose, luckily I fell slowly and didn't hurt myself. 

Back in Llanberis we went to a lovely pub and had a nice big burger and chips in the pub garden and a few ciders. 

We had such a lovely day!

Bank holiday Monday 

Woke up to wind and torrential rain that showed no sign of stopping unfortunately so we had to just pack up in the rain. We looked like drowned rats by the end of it and it sort of put a dampener on things after such a lovely weekend. Oh well! such is life! 

Hope you enjoyed your bank holiday too!

Thank you for reading, 

Abigail x

Craft swap part 2

I could hardly contain my excitement on the swap day, the #colourmeprettyswap had me worried for a bit I had got to the swap day and I still hadn't received my parcel, but it came later on in the day so I was able to open it.

 It was from @_katiekookaburra and here it is :

I got a very large and pretty bag, a cute bird candle and another candle, some lovely nail polish and a nail file, cupcake cases and a very pretty card. I love everything especially the bag which I have filled with my wool stash. The only thing that I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't anything hand made in it. 

And this is what I made/bought for my swap recipient @donna_marie74 : 

I made a pin cushion jar filled with pink, yellow and green buttons and a crochet hook holder, I bought ribbons, fabric tape, 2 note pads and a little pad of stickers, a bag of rosy apples and a sewing kit. I really enjoyed doing it and I was so glad that Donna loved it too, part of the excitement was seeing what she thought of the gifts. 

Today was the birds and flowers swap and I was up at the crack of dawn to open my swap stuff! 

It was off a lovely lady called Beth @crossstitch_gal but she's just changed her Instagram name to @bethslc and here's what I got:

A really nice handmade card, a beautiful photo frame, 3x Cath kidston tissues and washi tape, some lovely pegs and a hanging bird and 2 fantastic cross stitches made by Beth herself, I think we are very alike because all the things that she's got for me are things that I would get for myself. I was so pleased I felt like it was Christmas! 

This is what I sent to my swap recipient Isobel  @isobelcupcakes79: 

I was quite worried about this because my handmade items don't look like much, I made a cross stitch and 4 granny square hearts, I bought a personalised notepad from funkypigeon.com, a little hanging heart and a lovely bird mug and Cadbury's bubble bar. 

Isobel posted the picture saying "what fabulous, thoughtful gifts!" So I was absolutely made up that she liked them.

I am definitely hooked on doing these swaps, its really nice to meet new people and make things with a focus, its such a brilliant atmosphere on the swap days seeing if your gifts have gone down well and seeing what everyone else got.

I have signed up to two more both summer related and hopefully I will get on another swap ran by @kellysmellysharpe who organised the birds and hearts swap when she posts details about it soon, I also maybe organising one with Kate @the_happy_hooker who lives in America so she will coordinate swaps for US swappers and I will do the UK swappers side which will be good if we can sort that out but a bit nerve wracking because neither of us have done it before! 

Thanks for reading! 

Abigail x

My very first craft swap -Part 1

As you probably all know I'm quite obsessed with Instagram I especially like to follow other people who enjoy crafts, quite often they will give me inspiration for new crafts or patterns to try. 

They are a very friendly bunch who share patterns and ideas, recipes and pass on books which have been read, there is a great community feel. At Easter I noticed that a few of the people I followed were involved in a craft swap and I was intrigued to find out more, it is set up by one person who coordinates it all, there is a theme and you must sign up to it agreeing to send a parcel of goodies based on the theme, some of which must be handmade by yourself, a card should be sent with the parcels and everything prettily wrapped, the parcels are then opened on the reveal day and everyone shares the photos of their goodies on Instagram. It works in a sort of circle where one person sends to you and you send to another person- its a huge amount of coordination needed these women who organise it deserve a medal! There is a great atmosphere leading up to it as everyone posts pictures of the swaps they send,it's such a lovely way of getting to know new people, it's great and I was eager to be part of it. 

I have really jumped in at the deep end signing up to two swaps, one by @kellysmellysharpe were the theme is hearts and birds and one by @hunnypothouse which is colour me pretty, where I had to state 3 colours that were my favourites and things I liked eg, birds flowers etc to help with ideas to make/buy. I chose duck egg blue, pastel pink and pastel green, and said i liked hearts, birds, flowers, Cath Kidston style. Likewise my swap recipient @donna_marie74 favourite colours were light pink,light yellow and light green and she liked flowers ( another thing to remember is not to tell you swap recipient that you have them so its a surprise - I can say Donna's name because she got my parcel this morning! ) this swap reveal day is this Friday, although I have not received my parcel yet I know that there are lots currently in the post so hopefully I'll get mine soon. The birds and hearts swap reveal day is 1st June so there is a bit longer to wait for that one. We have had about 3 weeks to make things and for me who always has good intentions to do crafts but never get around to it, it has really given me the incentive to do them the only problem is its been absolute torture not being able to post pictures yet of the pretties I have made! The worry I have is if the things I've made and bought are good enough and liked, having not done it before I have nothing to base it on, but I think they are pretty and I would like to receive them so hopefully they will too! *fingers tightly crossed!* 

Look out for part 2 where I open my swap package to see what goodies i receive and at last get to show what I have made for my swap recipient...ohhhh excited!!!!

Thanks for reading, 

Abigail xxx

                  

Our Adventures in the Peak District

This was our first camping trip of the year, we decided to go back to Castleton in the peak district when we visited in February. We had notice a sign for a campsite which seemed to be not too far from Castleton with lots of pubs and amazing walks we thought we'd try it out. The name of the campsite is Rowter Farm Campsite, a working farm with horses, cows, chickens and lots and lots of sheep in the surrounding fields.Its facilities were basic, the toilets where in a brick outhouse which were not heated at all unlike previous places we had been where it would usually be warmer to get changed in the toilets, saying that it was clean and what more do you expect for £10 a night for 2 people and a dog. 

As it turned out the campsite was not as close to castleton as we had first thought, it was a short drive but about 30 minutes walk downhill and longer uphill coming back, its a good job we enjoy a good walk especially when there is a promise of a nice drink in a pub beer garden when we got to there.The walk was lovely, we crossed fields of sheep and lambs unfortunately Max's inner sheepdog made it so that he was constantly pulling on his lead and barking, one day I'd love to let him off his lead and see what he does because he's a softy really he probably wouldn't know what to do! The weather was nice and sunny and the views across to Mam Tor and the great ridge where great we had a wander around the village then went to the pub for a nice cold cider. If you've ever been to Castleton you will know that to get there you pass through a place called Winnats Pass its a windy road with steep hills at each side winding down to Castleton, it didn't seem to bad driving down it so we decided to walk that way back to the campsite, it was so hard but finally we made it and settled down for the night having a barbeque and a fruit beer. Once the sun goes down it gets cold and it was quite windy so once the barbeque was done we closed the tent up and wearing baselayer top pyjamas, gloves and a hat I went to bed. I was awoken a few times through the night with the fear the tent would be picked up and blown away wizard of oz style, add to that the bed half deflating and it wasn't a great nights sleep.
We woke to drizzle on the tent we got up had a lovely breakfast of bacon butties and set off for Castleton to meet Matt our friend who would be accompanying us on our 15 mile (!!!!!) walk. The thing about this walk that worried me was not how far we were going but that Matthew had the map on his GPS and I didn't really have a clue where we were going or if we were going in the right way.

This cute little bridge near Edale reminded me of Hobbits for some reason!

The walk was actually great fun we walked up from Castleton over the great ridge at Hollins cross through fields down to Edale a really charming little village where we stopped for a beverage at the pub, we then headed up towards Kinder Scout and eventually got to a bit were there was a stream coming down the mountain or hill (it felt like a mountain!) and lots of boulders and stepping stones to traverse to get further along the path, i looked upward and there were people higher up still clambering over rocks to get to the top and I thought we mustn't be going that way but to my surprise we were, I would have never gone if I'd had known but I actually really enjoyed it. When we got to the top we had our picnic and then we continued on our walk we only really walked around the edge of Kinder Scout there are some really odd shaped rocks up there and I would have really like to explore more but we where on a very tight schedule it was 3 o clock already the time that the guys who had done the walk had got back having set off at the same time as us and we were only just over half way around, i was beginning to think we had over faced ourselves my feet were beginning to hurt and the next bit was walking over peat bogs which made you feel like you were walking on a bouncy castle. The last 4 miles were the hardest mainly because I couldn't work out how much further there was to go. When we got back to Castleton it was about 6.30 and the only antidote for our weary feet was a pub dinner and a nice drink. I was tired and sore but had a really good sense of achievement that was our highest and longest walk so far. If we were going to go to Kinder Scout again we would set off from Edale and do a shorter walk so we could take it in more.
That night I slept a bit better in the tent probably because I was shattered, we had planned spending some more time in Castleton before going home, but the weather, surprisingly for a bank holiday, was glorious so we leisurely got ready had a lovely breakfast of sausage butties and sat in the sun all morning reading my book...Bliss! We also got back home by 1.30pm so we had plenty of time to enjoy the sun in the garden too.
All in all I enjoyed our weekend, although cold at times, I will go back to this campsite its great value for money but only if the weather forecast is nice and hot!