Back In Bath and Tag Round 2!

So I'm finally back in Bath and really enjoying seeing everyone again. It's always strange going away for the holidays or for a break as I miss my house-mates a lot but I'm always looking forward to coming back and the round of Welcome-Back-Hugs are always lovely! Sadly I didn't have any pancakes last night as I had a fairly substantial cheese pizza fairly late and for me, no pancakes are as good as my Mum's, sorry guys...

The drive back to Bath is something I always enjoy, and at the weekend it was lovely and sunny so I got my sunglasses out and basked in the sunshine shining through the car window!

As much as I love each season I can't wait for lighter evenings and warm days. Something about the summer always cheers me up.

Lovely blue skies and sunshine for my trip back to university :)

The lovely Kezzie from KezzieAG tagged me again, so without further ado I am going to answer her brilliant questions. Make sure you check out her blog, she's lovely. 

1.  Which confectionary or product that is no longer available do you miss and would like to bring back?

I would have said Rainbow Drops until I discovered they were selling them again in the SU shop and in most supermarkets, Popping Candy is also still being sold so...I guess I miss the old Onken desserts which were chocolate UFO's with raspberry yoghurt in the centre. They were good!

2.  What was your favourite cartoon or kids programme as a child? Tell me what it was about!

Spider! It was a funny little animated kid's TV show about a spider that usually got up to no good. It was mostly musical. I also loved Stoppit and Tidy-Up if anyone remembers. Now I feel old :P

3.  What is your favourite word and why? (sorry, I liked that question!)

I really like Illuminated so I'm going to go with that one :)

4.  Which place do you really have no desire to go to on holiday and why?

I can't answer this properly as I am one of those people that wants to go everywhere at least once! 

5.  Likewise, where would you MOST like to go and why?

Top of my list at the moment is Italy. Something about it has always attracted me and I really want to go to the Alps in Austria. My dream destination is Machu Picchu!

6.  How many _________ does it change to change a lightbulb.  Give me your best q and answer to this joke!

How many pirates does it take to change a lightbulb?

None, they don't like arrr-tificial light.

That was terrible I know...I apologise.

7.   What do other people say is your best personality attitribute?  What do you think of this?

They always say I'm too sweet and nice. I think it's a good thing. I like to think of myself as a bubbly, nice person.

8.  Who is your favourite author and why?

I really like Sarah Dessen as a lot of her books have reached me on an emotional level. 

9.  Kindle, paperback or hardback- choose which and why?

I do like paperbacks. They're easier to carry around compared with a hardback, but hardbacks always seem to smell good. I think the Kindles are really cool but I haven't had a proper chance to use one so I'd like to.

10.  If you could obtain tickets for any Olympic event this year, which sport would it be and why??

Probably something to do with horses like show-jumping or dressage as I'm not very sporty and I don't know enough about the other Olympic sports to follow them properly unfortunately.

11.  If you could play a musical instrument, which would you play and why? (and no choosing one you can already play!)

I've always wanted to play the piano because I think it sounds beautiful, and I've only ever played recorder at school and I wasn't very good so it would be fun to pick another instrument up.

Thanks for the questions Kezzie and I hope everyone's having a good week! Nearly at the weekend now!

xxx

Get Out in the World

Coming back to a place you've not been to for a few months is always a nice feeling, especially when said place changes beautifully with each season. I recently walked down to my local park, Leon Recreation Ground, or as it was always known at school, The Rec this week and instantly felt calm as I rounded the corner. During the summer the park comes alive with bursts of wild-flowers, kids playing on the swings and people using the exercise equipment which was installed a few years ago as part of a government initiative to get people fit.

On this particular day the sky was the thing in question which was alive with colour!

I even decided to be a big kid and swing on the swings! Though twice I gently swung to a stop when a dog-walker and a walker went past...

I love just going for a walk around The Rec; there are always plenty of people using the ramps with their skateboards and scooters, plenty of dog-walkers, lots of squirrels and birds and a nice patch of green in amongst the town walls.


Happy Weekend everyone!
I go back to Bath tomorrow so expect more university related news :)
xxx

Back In Time

A few weeks after Christmas my house-mates and I decided to take full advantage of being citizens in Bath and visit the Roman Baths for the first time for free! You can pick up a Discovery Card when you visit and you only need proof of your living arrangements to access this. I'd only ever been once before when I was a child so it was like rediscovering them all over again. Whenever I go to museums or things like this I always feel like I'm going back in time in my own personal time machine. Who needs the Doctor anyway?! 

I've always been interested in the Romans and the Roman Empire growing up and going to the Baths is both fun and interesting, and I geeked out several times. Walking in at about 3pm, when we all went, meant you could see the steam rising from the water. It was all very mystical, and the heat rising up was very welcome against the cold January evening. 

I loved the fact that you could see the gorgeous Abbey from the Baths, which is stunning and well worth a visit if you ever come to Bath. I snapped several photos, and I loved seeing a different side to Bath.

This is the overflow which you can see at the end of the Baths, after most of the tour is done. The colour is a result of the minerals staining the stone, and was designed to allow surplus water to drain out into the Roman drains. I loved the russet colour the stone had turned and the noise of the running water was lovely. Am I the only one who finds that sound relaxing?

Old Roman jewellery, which I completely fell in love with. I love how the repeating colours are greens and blues;  my favourite colours to wear and how chunky the jewellery is. The rings were stunning. 

I believe this is the frigidarium, a cold pool which was entered after the steaming baths to close the pores in the skin. There were lots of coins at the bottom of the pool, for wish making. Sadly I didn't have any coins on me to chuck in...The lighting in this photo isn't great as my flash just reflected off the water and didn't capture much. 

Another view of the Baths. I really do love this place.

Have any of you guys ever visited the Roman Baths? What's your favourite historical era? I have a big thing for the Egyptians myself.

I hope you're all having a great start to the week!

xxx

Tag Me - Tag You

I was tagged by the lovely Sophie over Country Girl Does Norfolk in the Tag Me- Tag You post, which I love because these tag posts are always interesting!

So here are the rules for those lovely people I tag - 

1. You must post 11 random things about yourself

2. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post

3. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer

4. Go to their blog and tell them you've tagged them

5. No stuff about "you're tagged if you're reading this" - legitimately tag people

So here are my 11 random facts, and I'm sorry if I've repeated any I've listed before, you can all finally see how unexciting my life is :P 

1. My favourite place in the entire world is St Bees in Cumbria.
2. I have a thing for retro sweets and kids' sweets such as liquid candy, so good!
3. Band t-shirts used to be all I'd ever wear
4. I have a serious penchant for animals on clothing be it belts, shoes or tops!
5. I want to go to Cinque Terre in Italy before I die.
6. I love nerdy things like Star Wars
7. I love puns and punny jokes.
8. I've always loved people who dye their hair an elaborate colour like green or blue.
9. Glastonbury is my favourite city in the whole of the UK, some serious characters there.
10. When I was a child my preferred career was palaeontologist after seeing Jurassic Park and becoming fascinated by dinosaurs. 


And here are my answers to the new questions Sophie posed to us who were tagged
-

1) What happened on your favourite/most memorable day?

My favourite day was probably the day I moved into Halls at University. I had a brilliant time moving in and meeting all of my house-mates who have fast become some of the greatest people I've met. It'll always be a huge day to the beginning of the most important chapter of my life.

2) What is your least favourite colour and why?

Probably pink but that is only because I have bad memories of some very ill-fitting pink tracksuits and neon-pink wellies which I should never have even tried to wear. In retrospect I was only 5 or 6 at the time so I think I can be forgiven for my faux-pas! 

3) What don’t you like eating and why?

I've never liked eating courgettes as they've always left a funny taste in my mouth, but when they were mixed into a tomato sauce which my Mum made they were fine, so maybe it's just them on their own?

4) Who is your celebrity twin?

I don't really feel like there's any celebrity who I can really relate to, so I don't know.

5) Do you have a surprising skill, what is it?

I'm fairly good at singing, or so I've been told! I'm also fairly good at making bracelets :)

6) What place in the world would you most like to visit?

Machu Picchu! 

7) What is the best or worst bit of advice you have received?

The best advice I've ever been given is to allow myself to worry for 5 minutes a day, and then nothing more. Allowing myself to have a set "worry time" means I've started to let go of the tension throughout the day.  I would seriously recommend it to anyone struggling with anxiety. 

8) What is your favourite snack?

At the moment they're the Smoothie Bars from my university's refectory. Peach and strawberry is my current favourite.

9) What would you like to change about the world, if anything?

I wish people were happier for longer.

10) Dogs or cats? Or neither?

Both! 

11) If you were to change your first name, what would you call yourself?

Something a bit romantic like Emmaline. 

Here are my 11 questions for those lucky people I will be tagging

-

1. What is your favourite animal and why?

2. When you wake up in the morning what is the first thing that goes through your mind?

3. If you had to put a colour to your personality what would it be?

4. What's your favourite childhood memory?

5. Favourite sweet or candy?

6. Best holiday you've ever had?

7. Do you listen to one particular genre of music or several?

8. What was your dream career as a child?

9. Which book changed your life, if any did at all? 

10. What's your most treasured possession?

11. Where would you like to see yourself in 5 years' time?

And the 11 people I am tagging are - 

A Daisy Chain Dream

t*rexes and tiaras

Odd Socks and Pretty Frocks

Flying Deers and Whispering Owls

Tia_Cherie

What Sadie Did

Midnight Pie

Hello Naka

Have fun guys and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

xxx

An Afternoon Walk

^
The lovely Ashridge Common with lots of sunlight filtering through. 

Birds cheep playfully above you as the tree tops sway majestically in the late September breeze. Wind brushes coolly against your bare legs as you walk quietly along the dirt path, your thoughts slowly drifting away to another place as you drink in the beautiful scenery around you. Light filters down onto the path, the green leaves of the oak trees around you glistening emerald as the sun catches them. As you continue down the path you feel your shoulders relax and your breath slow to a gentle rest. 

Whenever I feel stressed or anxious, which has been many times recently, I've always found solace in going for a walk. With many people saying exercise is certainly better for you than any other treatment put forwards for depression and anxiety, I can safely say that a good walk in the morning or afternoon is amazing. Find somewhere you love, which is easy to access and take your camera. There is nothing more rewarding than a) finishing a long walk and b) giving yourself a break from city life and getting back to nature.

Snow Day!

Waking up to a blanket of snow always brings out the big kid in me, and last Saturday I spent the afternoon walking round the lake with my house-mates enjoying being outside in the lovely, Wintery weather. 

The lake had completely frozen over, and while today there was a partial covering on the ground when I woke up for my 9am lecture, as the day wore on it all, unfortunately (though probably good as most people are travelling home today for Reading Week) melted. 

Helen, Laura, Helen and I all had fun including the Helens and Laura climbing the fence to go and sit on a massive tree that had fallen over exposing a gigantic stump, which made all three of them look tiny once they decided to sit and pose for photos. We also bumped into Jamie, from Pope, who also joined the others over the fence. I was a bit more apprehensive and being about 5ft tall decided not to try and clamber over as I could just see myself getting embarrassingly stuck.

Main House looked gorgeous in the snow.

Suddenly when it snowed this little hidden area behind the main path revealed itself and it was like walking into Narnia! The stream and lake were all frozen and it was like walking through a Winter Wonderland. I do love the snow, I have to say.

It wasn't long before we bumped into fellow N Blockers, Laurence and Will, and Laurence even managed to find a snowball that resembled an owl. I enjoyed that quite a bit. 

The view in the snow from the Temple, a little open seating area where you can sit and look out at the lake.

Today I came home for Reading Week so I'll be relaxing and doing a little bit of work before heading back to university. I know I've been a bad blogger as of late but there are plenty of posts to come and I've found lots of new, and lovely bloggers recently, so make sure you check out the sidebar and have a scroll through if you're bored and looking for some new reads one afternoon - they are worth it.

I hope you all have a great weekend guys and enjoy the snow if you got any!

xxx