Bath in Bloom

The weather is gorgeous and sunny, the flowers are out in the garden and it is getting towards the end of the year, wahoo! I only have one more assignment and two exams to go until I am finished for my second year in a row. It's tough work but I am loving every second and that is what counts :)

Walking out into the garden at the moment you're surrounded by lots of pretty tulips and flower bushes. The colours are amazing and I love this time of year when all the plants are in bloom. The whole of Bath seems to have woken up overnight and now all the trees are blossoming and getting buds on their branches ready for the Summertime! There are also lots of adorable calves and lambs back on campus which has got me smiling every time I walk down to my lectures. 

This was the view from the computer room in Corston, where all the geographers go to, yesterday. It's lovely to be able to look outside and see the sun shining.

This was the sunset on the walk home in the evening on Thursday. Gorgeous rays of sunlight and a lovely, balmy evening. Bath is a lovely place to study, I do love it. 

I hope everyone has a lovely Bank Holiday Weekend and to all my penpals I have to apologise because I have been really rusty with replying and sending letters out but I promise that I will rectify this. 

Tasha

xxx

Happiness and Sunshine

 This week I am looking for the sun in everything I say and do. 

Here's hoping the sun does stay! 

I hope everyone's having a good week, it's Friday tomorrow guys, the weekend is in sight!

Tasha

xxx

And the sun - go on

My title is taken from the Emily Dickinson poem, Rest at Night because I love the cosy nights in and the frosty afternoon walks of Autumn and Winter as much as anyone else but I have to be frank with you weather  -I cannot wait a moment longer until I can wear my sunglasses without worrying if it's acceptably sunny enough, to revise in the back garden and most of all for the Summer holiday feeling we all get when the sun is out! And finally it is here! 

I think I speak for most people when I say I'm glad with the warmer weather we've been having recently - gone are my lounge socks and my comforter and welcome open windows and bare feet in the morning. Ah, I'm so glad it's getting warm again. It won't be long before it's barbecue's in the garden and Pimm's in the afternoon, especially when my five assignments and two exams are all done and dusted come the end of May. 

I'm also back in Bath now for my final term and have finished my placement with The Park's Trust which was brilliant fun and I got to see so much more of Milton Keynes than I thought there was. It's such a nice town and I don't understand why it gets such a bad reputation when there are some truly lovely places there.

These pretty flowers are blooming in our back garden here in Bath which is a welcome change to the frost. 

The lovely  and sparkly River Ouse at Waterhall Park.

Me enjoying the sun on the way back to Bath.

My last morning in Milton Keynes before the Summer term began.

And me enjoying the Peace Pagoda in the rain - it was sunny only as I was coming back to university - pfft!

I hope everyone's enjoying the warmer weather and here's hoping it'll stay this way now.

Tasha 

xxx

Time and Ducks

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you've all spent today doing lots of eggciting things (haha!) and enjoyed yourselves.

Tomorrow my brother turns 20 - the thought of this makes me feel a little weird as it only feels like yesterday we were getting up at 7am to play games in his bedroom for hours before Mum and Dad got up. Now he's an adult, heading off to university and doing all this cool stuff and I'm freaking out because next year is dissertation year, and not only do I still have to decide on which modules I'll be taking but I'm now thinking about my future career prospects, as well as thinking about data collection and heading out into the big, bad world...eek.

My problem is that I want to do everything - from aquarium assistant, zoo keeper, librarian, doctor, veterinary nurse, counsellor and beyond I have wanted about 10 different careers at one point or another. So I was wondering,  how on Earth did you fall into your current job? Is it your dream job and if so how did you go about getting it? 

I'm still on my work placement and loving ever second - these two came over to say hello while I was at the bird feeding station. 

This was the view from our bathroom window just before I came home to MK - I am longing for the sun to come back out and play! 

The seagulls out and about during my placement last week.

Daffodils - Spring must be close!

Two more ducks who followed me around for a while while doing my data collection.

The same couple of ducks that followed me - I'd like to think I made two new friends last week :)

Hopefully the sun will come out soon! It did look promising this morning when I woke up. Here's hoping *crosses fingers*

Hope everyone has had a lovely day!

Tasha

xxx

Work Placements and Snow!

I can't believe how fast the time is going but I'm back over Easter and currently finishing my work placement which is really good fun. It's brilliant to be working on a project with an organisation. My work placement lasts for 4 weeks and I'm lucky to be working with The Park's Trust who manage all the green spaces in Milton Keynes - a much larger variety of parks and woodlands than I had anticipated!

Also has anyone else had their fair share of snow? Everytime I come home at the moment it's snowed again! 

^

Looking out over all this green you wouldn't think this was in the centre of the city, would you? 

 ^

There was a lovely little pond with lots of birdlife hovering around it. 

 ^

The Light Pyramid I mentioned earlier. There is a lot of street art in Milton Keynes. 

 ^

The water feature at the entrance to Campbell Park. It had been raining so much that there was more water on the pathways than the in the fountain!

 ^

The pond was beautiful.

Over Easter I will be out and about with a GPS getting the coordinates for street furniture e.g. benches, signposts, kissing gates, cattle grids and more and then plotting those points on a big mapping database that the Trust uses for management of all it's owned property. It snowed the first day back here in MK so hopefully the sun will come out soon and it'll be nicer to walk around outside for long periods!  

Hope everyone is enjoying their Monday.

Tasha

xxx

Pirates and Aliens

A lot is going on in my life right now but rather than sinking like a ship I've decided to face it head on like a heroine in a fantasy novel. Hence why I've had a week away, slightly off-grid and therefore seriously neglecting the blog. I'm really sorry I haven't updated again for so long because this is one of my favourite hobbies and I feel like I haven't been making enough time for it so...

...this week I've been;

• Taking advice and feeling positive.

• Looking for the light in all things.

• Loving Smudge

• Enjoying the brief bit of sun on the drive to Bath after Reading Week.

• Making silly faces.

• Easter Treats. Say no more!

• Anddd...McVitie's Pirate Crew. Helping me with my work, one bite at a time. 

Hope you're all enjoying this warmer weather and looking forwards to Easter! Not long now.

Tasha

xxx

Lovely Lyme Regis

Last week our Environmental Hazards class travelled to Lyme Regis to look at the current coastal defences there, as well as the landslide at Black Ven and the beach supports along Monmouth Beach. It was a really sunny, dry day and despite falling over every 3 seconds in the muddy fields along The Spittles, it was great fun.

This was the view from the top of Charmouth, looking out over the sea. I love how the sun reflects off the surface of the sea. 

This was the landslide at Black Ven - I didn't realise how big it would be. There's a golf course behind it and around the corner, there was another landslide with lots of houses below it! 

Lovely view from the top of the hill we'd walked up in Charmouth. The area was really pretty. 

Looking out over the hill towards the town below. Scary how close these things happen to the towns. 

This was taken down on Monmouth Beach on my phone. I loved all the little beach huts along the walkway. 

Another view on Monmouth Beach - in the distance you can see the other cliffs where the second landslide had happened. 

This was the harbour next The Cobb - I love harbours, seeing all the little boats tied down. Reminds me of holidays in Devon and Cornwall. 

It's always really nice to be outside and see what we've been studying up close in the real world and I don't know how we've managed it but every time we've had a field-trip the weather has always been really nice. So despite getting absolutely covered in mud with the amount of times I fell over in the muddy fields along The Spittles (hence no photos at that point - everything was in my rucksack away from the mud!) it was great fun and I managed to make everyone laugh with my consistent slipping and sliding!

This week I'm starting my work experience with The Parks Trust, mapping street furniture such as benches, street art, signposts and information panels so that they can better manage what they have in their parks. It's nice to be outside collecting data and knowing that I'm helping with a project is a nice feeling. I can't believe how fast this year is going! Over half-way through now!

Hope everyone's having a great week!

xxx