Diary Entry #7 | Keep Calm & Pedal On

Learning to ride a bike at 24 is not something I thought I would be doing. My parents had tried to teach me when I was a kid but I never quite got the hang of it.

Self Care September

If you read yesterdays post, you'll know I've been struggling mentally lately. So for September, I'm making a point of looking after myself, and will be using my self care journal daily, as well as partaking in a self care challenge.

September Goals

August seemed to go by so slowly for me! I don't think I really did a lot this month, although I have posted a couple of lovely photo diaries. Plus I got to see my Mum and Stepdad which was a perfect day out!

Josh and I also got to have a date day yesterday. We went clothes shopping - I didn't get anything but Josh has kitted out his wardrobe with some incredibly sexy shirts - and then we went for a wander down to the beach. It was such a perfect day and it always feels so good to spend some time just us two.

Five Feet Apart | Book Review

I have to say, Queenie absolutely got me back into reading. The same day I finished Queenie, I got Josh to pick me out a new book to read from my shelf. He picked Five Feet Apart.

Wow. What a book.

Queenie | Book Review

I finally did it! After two months of not reading anything other than kids books to Charlie at bedtime, I finally read a book. Plus my final book for my 2020 reading goal!

Bedgebury Pineton | Photo Diary

Another day, another adventure with the in-laws! This time Josh was able to come along as it was the weekend - thank God! Feels totally wrong going anywhere woodsy without my explorer! Although I didn't get to take my mini explorer this time - Charlie was at his Dad's for the weekend!

This time we headed to Bedgebury Pineton, and even just the drive there was gorgeous! The village Marden is so beautiful and quaint, would love to visit there properly one day.

Cromer Woods, Sittingbourne | Photo Diary

As my mother in law (to be, technically. One day.) is now off work for another six weeks, we decided to spend a day out together! She took us to Cromer Woods in Sittingbourne. Charlie and I absolutely love woodland walks, and although it was a little odd to be doing one without Josh, it was lovely to be out!

My Beauty Kit Haul

Hello all! As you probably know, I am now a consultant for The Body Shop! When we sign up, we get sent a huge kit of Body Shop goodies to use and review! Here you get to see what I received.

Hello August 2020!

July was a bit of a flop to be honest. Blogging was a no-go, I only published a handful of posts and I definitely didn't double my pageviews! I did however, get more pageviews in July than I did June so I am very pleased about that!

A Weekend Away

If you follow me on Twitter or read my latest post, you'll know that myself and Josh have been struggling lately. I especially, have been struggling. I've been stressed and exhausted and desperately needed to get away. So, on a complete whim, I booked myself, Josh and Charlie into a hotel room for the weekend. 

A Much Needed Date | Photo Diary

Things have been tough between me and Josh lately. We've been stressy with each other and snapping/arguing more. So it was time for date. We haven't really had much alone time together for a while, and no I don't count laying in bed watching films or a couple of episodes of one series or another, as alone time.

Three weeks or so after I suggested a date, we finally got to have it. I dressed up, we packed a picnic and we went off to the Oare Gunpowder Works Country Park. We spent a good hour trying to find the perfect place to have our picnic, and it really was perfect.

The Body Shop Haul & First Impressions

I honestly can't remember the last time I used a product from The Body Shop. I remember going to my local store with a friend for my birthday one year, but once that shut down I rarely thought about The Body Shop again. I've seen more people talking about it lately, so I decided to treat myself and ordered some bits!

Mid Year Freak Out Book Tag

Well I am probably well behind with this blog post - oops! I was tagged by the lovely Anne from Rooting Branches. 

July Goals

Goodbye June you weird combination of happiness and despair! Hello July, you wonderful bout of hope and new motivation. 

Diary Entry #6

Been a while since I last wrote one of these! Now Josh is back at work, I feel like I've got less to write about, but here goes nothing!

Litha & Ways to Celebrate

It's the Summer solstice baby! A.k.a midsummer. Litha is the celebration of the longest day and shortest night of the year. The Sun god is at his peak and it's time to celebrate all of our achievements from the last six months and even focus in on some goals. This year Litha will be celebrated Saturday 20th June.

Healing Takes Time, Coralle Skye | Book Review

I was gifted this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have only gotten into poetry over the last year or two, I hated studying it at school! But lately, more and more of the people I follow on social media have been sharing amazing poetry that I can actually understand and relate to. So when the chance came up to read and review Healing Takes Time, I jumped at it.

Oare Gunpowder Works Country Park | Photo Diary

Oake Gunpowder Works in Faversham is absolutely stunning. A little bit of history, and a lot of woodland. Not to mention the absolutely gorgeous lake! I'm already dying to go back.

What I Read in May

Goodness me I got so much reading done last month! I honestly don't know how I managed it.

Diary Entry #5 | Black Lives Matter

Well June started pretty horribly, didn't it? There has been - virtually - nothing but coverage of the protests on social media for days now. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining at all, but it's just so awful that even now, people are being wrongfully killed because of their skin colour. 

Image credit to Beevine Art.

June Goals

How typical is it that as soon as I set myself goals to go along with stuff I'd already been doing consecutively, that I immediately stop doing those things?! The main thing I wanted to do; go for a walk every day, I stopped doing. Mainly because it was so damn hot, but even so. The only goal I actually managed to stick with was read one more book. In fact, I actually read two more books. Go me. 

Daily Tasks for 14 Days

I haven't set myself some goals for a while, and it's been weird. #lockdownproblems. I had a flash of inspiration last night, and decided to set myself some daily tasks for the next fourteen days of May. I nearly waited and set them for June but...I need stuff to do now.

Diary Entry #4

In my last post I said I'd be back to posting regularly again but oops, that didn't happen. I started writing posts but I just completely lost interest in them, and wasn't happy to finish up. Now I'm just taking it a day at a time, hoping inspiration comes. I think that's partly why I'm enjoying the diary entries lately, it doesn't take too much thought to write them but they're still "me."

Diary Entry #3

I've been absolutely addicted to playing Homescapes lately, so I'm really behind on blog posts, YouTube, reading...pretty much everything I enjoy really! I have been feeling pretty down in the dumps again so I haven't really been interested in doing anything other than playing a game, but I seem to have got past that stage again now, thankfully! I'm slowly but surely getting back into other things again, and having a good blogging session so I should be back to regular posting again soon.

Beltane & Ways to Celebrate

It's nearly time for my second Sabbat celebration! Beltane - otherwise known as May Day - is typically celebrated from the evening of April 30th to the day of May 1st.

Beltane is celebrated because we're now at the peak of Spring, and will soon be welcoming Summer. Beltane represents sexuality, fertility and birth and the "eternal cycle of sacrifice and rebirth needed for the continuation of life."

Why I Started a Bookstagram

I've always had a love-hate relationship with Instagram. When I first started it, I would post everything and anything, and it was fine. Then I started blogging and it became a competition to see who could post the best photo and get the most likes. I never won.

Diary Entry #2

5 Things I'm Loving in Isolation

I saw this post 10 Things I've Loved During Isolation by Kayleigh Zara earlier in the week, and I thought it was so nice to think about the positives of the situation, that I wanted to share mine as well! I didn't quite manage ten mind you, but some is better than none! Plus, I could always write another list if more comes to mind. 

Diary Entry #1

Hello all, I have completely run out of blog post ideas for the time being, so I figured I would just sit and write whatever comes to mind first. So, welcome to my first diary entry (in a while.)

What I Read in March

I got so much reading done in March! I was expecting my usual two books, so I'm really happy I got through three books.

April TBR

Another month, another three books to read! I'm loving having a set amount of books to read each month, if I can keep it up, I should smash my 2020 reading goal in no time at all! 

March Review & April Goals

Is 2020 going to be the longest year of my life? It certainly seems to be going that way. March is finally over, quarantine is going surprisingly well and I'm ready for April. But first, let's see how I did with my March goals...

How I Celebrated Ostara | Day Three

*Note that this post is written in present tense, as I was writing this on the day of Ostara. I found it easier to keep it in present tense rather than try to reword it into past tense!*

It's officially Ostara! Now is the time to start on any plans or goals that you want to complete this year. Goddess knows I have plenty!

How I Celebrated Ostara | Day Two

Day one of my Ostara celebrations started off really well. I was happy, I felt peaceful, it felt right. But towards the end of the day, I was at a bit of a loss of what to do. I don't know how other people "do" Sabbats but I feel like my mistake may have been trying to make it last all day. I think from day two, I'll be concentrating on just one half of the day being Ostara-specific. I also spent some time on YouTube looking for other ways to celebrate, but I didn't really find anything different to what I already had planned. I did find a cool witch called Hearth Witch though! I would recommend giving her videos a watch. 

How I Celebrated Ostara | Day One

My first Sabbat! I have been wanting to celebrate a Sabbat for so long, but I never remembered when they were. I did my research, just in time for Ostara 2020. Going off of Harmony Nice's book Wicca, I decided to spread my Ostara celebrations over four days, 19th March-22nd March, with "official" celebrations on the 21st. Although after having a quick flick through one of my new books, it said the 20th-23rd. Bit confusing but nevermind.

Ostara & Ways to Celebrate

Ostara is a celebration of the start of spring. Winter is coming to an end and it's getting to the time where we need to shake off the winter, and move full force ahead. It's the time for throwing out the old and taking on the new, gaining a fresh perspective on things, and a good old fashioned spring clean. Ostara is also the time for celebrating fertility. 

A Self Care Day & Tips

I've been a bit unhappy lately. I haven't quite been able to put my finger on what the problem is. There's a lot going on at the moment so it's probably a mixture of all of that with a bonus of boredom added in. So, it's time for a self care day. I had one last Friday too. I had a bath, used a face mask, put on some comfy clothes, made the bed, added to my Wicca journal and started reading a new book. 

March Goals

Whew, February was long! Well, it was for me anyway. I've been seeing loads of people saying that February lasted 2 seconds but I swear it felt as long as January did! I certainly feel like I haven't blogged in forever; I don't know where my inspiration went?!

Dear The One | An Open Letter

Dear Josh

Happy Valentine's Day! We've now been together for nine months and two days, and what an amazing nine months they have been.

My 2020 Planner

A new year means a new planner! I used to be obsessed with bullet journaling - who wasn't? - but last year, I was gifted a planner that didn't quite "work" with the bullet journal system. And I loved it. It felt pretty refreshing to go back to basics. The only real problem I had with my planner is that she was thicc. Beautiful, but super chunky and heavy to carry around with me. So for 2020, I wanted a simple and light planner that I could pop into my bag and barely notice it was there. Good old Card Factory came to my rescue. I found a lovely grey, daily diary for £1. I even jazzed up the front cover a bit with a couple of Dorkface stickers. I'm planning to have it covered front and back by the end of the year! Especially as Charlie got hold of it and has made it a tad mucky *eye roll*.

Howletts Wild Animal Park | Photo Diary

Another weekend, another adventure! This time, we decided to take Charlie with us. We decided to go to Howletts. Unfortunately, it was kinda foggy and very cold, and Charlie was down with a cold. Had we not already paid online, we probably would have rescheduled! Nevertheless, it was a pretty good day!

What's Love Got To Do With It?! | Book Review

Ad/Gifted in return for an honest review.

You know me and how much I love reading. I'm always on the prowl for a new book to read - the creepier the better! So obviously I snapped up the chance to review a brand new book! What's Love Got To Do With It?! is a "collection of short love stories without the happy ending." Sounds like my kind of book.

January Recap & February Goals

January is finally over! I swear it lasted an eternity (why is January always the longest month?!) But the first month of 2020 is complete. It's been a pretty good start to the year for me. Josh and I have been on lots of adventures, including mine and Charlie's first trip to a trampoline park - which Charlie loved - and, just last weekend we all went to Howletts together.

I also made a good start on my years goals, and haven't done too badly on changing some of my worst habits.

Kearsney Abbey | Photo Diary

Another child-free Sunday, another walk! Josh and I decided to invest in some hiking boots (which we picked up on eBay) and headed over to Temple Ewell to test them out. Kearsney Abbey is one of my favourite places, and I would go there often growing up. 

Habits I Want To Change in 2020

I honestly have some terrible habits. I put everything off, I drink tea and spend money like it's going out of fashion, and spend most of my days (and nights) on my phone. I have been making some changes over the last few months already, but it never hurts to write a list.

Date Ideas for All Budgets

Josh and I live for our dates. There's nothing better than having a day or night free from Charlie, to reconnect, chill out or just enjoy each others company. Some times we don't even wait until we're without Charlie, as soon as he's in bed we're straight on to doing something fun! We have loads of different ways to date, some cost more than others, and some cost nothing! I thought I'd share our favourite ideas.

20 Books for 2020

Another year, another reading goal! I decided to take my goal down to 20 this year, as it seems rather fitting. I'm hoping to read more but sometimes reality gets in the way, so I think 20 is a pretty reasonable goal. Here's what I'm planning to read over the next 12 months: 

Goals for 2020

Hello, 2020! Goodness me, the years really are just flying by now aren't they? I had more goals than I could manage last year, so in 2020 I really want to dial it down a bit. But not too much!