tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45301900920341931122024-02-08T01:14:23.217+00:00Just MeJust, you know...me.The Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550480429586819194noreply@blogger.comBlogger541125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4530190092034193112.post-7118620772890258052015-05-09T23:16:00.000+01:002015-05-09T23:16:01.898+01:00April in InstagramSo what have I been doing lately apart from being over-emotional, as testified by my <a href="http://randomdaydreaming.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/the-highs-and-lows.html" target="_blank"><b>last blog post</b></a>?<br />
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<b>Office playtime</b> My office is kind of cool. We have a meeting room with lots of cool stuff to play with including some Play Doh. Now I can make stuff in the middle of meetings. I am concentrating I swear, Making caterpillars helps me focus.<br />
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<b>Tequila time</b> The beginning of the Easter weekend kicked off with a trip round to a colleague's house. I came in from work on Thursday, slapped some lippy on and...got so so drunk. Horrifyingly drunk. This is what happens when you drink at home and you're in control of pouring your own drinks and in charge of several bottles of tequila.<br />
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<b>Birthday time </b>Two days after Tequila Night it was my birthday. 32. Ugh. No thanks. I travelled back to Hull for the weekend, <i>still </i>suffering from the Tequila Night Hangover. A quick nap on the sofa at Mum's when I arrived and I woke up to this little Fred face looking at me. Pretty sure he was judging me.<br />
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<b>Fred and Lily time </b>I ended up penned in by these guys on the sofa one night. Best night of my life.</div>
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<b>Chandelier time </b>I had a meeting for work at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole. It has some amazing chandeliers in the meeting rooms and my favourite thing is taking photographs of them.</div>
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<b>Rowan time </b>I love this dog. She is my best friend. I can't get enough of taking photos of her face, although why she looks so sad all the time I'll never know.</div>
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<b>Gerbil time</b> Gerbil playtime has been happening. I <i>still </i>can't take my eyes off it for more than a second. If I do then when I look back I will see a scene similar to this. Tyrion Lannister is always on a mission to escape.</div>
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<b>Crochet time </b>I've been undertaking some major crochet time recently for a pretty hefty commission for a child's nursery with a bird theme.</div>
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<b>London time </b>I was down at the <a href="http://www.businessdesigncentre.co.uk/" target="_blank"><b>Business Design Centre</b></a> down in London for a meeting for work which has lots of cool artwork on the walls like the one pictured.</div>
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<b>Picnic time </b>A few of us got over excited at the sight of the sunshine and headed down to a local park for a picnic. It was a really brilliant afternoon, looking forward to lots more as the weather improves</div>
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<b>Bradgate Park time</b> Following on from the <a href="http://randomdaydreaming.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/bradgate-park-winter-edition.html" target="_blank"><b>Bradgate Park - Winter Edition</b></a>, <a href="http://wordsthatcanonlybeyourown.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank"><b>Janet</b></a> and I ventured to Bradgate Park for the Spring Edition. Blog post to come eventually. </div>
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<b>Lille time </b>Blog post also incoming on this one. I had just over 24 hours in Lille on a trip with work. I declared Lille a thoroughly Instagrammable city. Hopefully a blog post will be incoming on this one too. </div>
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Now just to write blog posts about it instead of putting photos on Instagram...</div>
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<i>Follow me on Instagram <a href="https://instagram.com/shippers1983/" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a></i><br />
<br />The Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550480429586819194noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4530190092034193112.post-53013338322805749832015-05-05T22:30:00.004+01:002015-05-05T22:30:50.583+01:00The highs and the lowsWell. This has been a pretty blank space for some time now. I nearly died when I logged on and discovered that I posted once in April. <i>Once</i>?! I knew it had been a while but had no idea how long.<br />
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There are two versions of this blog post I could write. I could explain away my absence by telling you that I've been out living life instead of blogging about it. That I am now the world expert on dating. That I have been so busy with weekends away and spending time with friends that I haven't had a minute to breathe, let alone blog about it.<br />
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Or I could tell the truth.<br />
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The truth is that whilst most of the above is true, I haven't been out living a fabulous life but have instead been making attempts to prove to myself that I do have fabulous life. My emotions can barely be kept in check on an hourly basis at some times and I swing from being insanely happy and positive, with some terribly life affirming song playing in the soundtrack of my mind, to being unable to scrape myself off the sofa with nothing but the sound of the ticking clock that is my life booming in my brain.<br />
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I haven't blogged because every time I've got something straight in my head that I want to talk about, I swing the other way and am rendered dumb. When the bad times come I can't face doing anything, when the good times come I know to enjoy them whilst they last which doesn't leave time for anything else.<br />
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I would like to say that I've learned the signs by now and know when a crash is coming, but the highs are so high and I'm so busy enjoying the view that I fail to see the ground coming hurtling towards me until I've faceplanted in the mud. The good news is that even when I am face-down in the mud, I know that I was once floating up in the sky so a time must come when I'll be back up there again. It's not great, but I'll take it - I'd rather be feeling the lowest of the low and know that it will get better than be soaring in the sky and waiting for myself to plummet.<br />
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Always a silver lining girl as it turns out. Who knew?<br />
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I have learned what some of the triggers are and to be completely honest with you, they don't make me feel too good about myself.<br />
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Other people's extreme happiness really sets me off which makes me feel like the worst person alive - "<i>Get over yourself you massively selfish cow and stop making everything about you</i>", or a similar refrain, ricochets around my mind at these times - but it isn't really any help. It's a simple magnifying effect. People's happiness strikes into the heart of me and is sucked into the blackness within. It makes me feel as if I'll never reach those levels of happiness again. It doesn't help that most people's happiness revolves around something they have done or shared with their partner. Clearly I don't know enough people having a cracking time whilst single.<br />
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Sundays are another trigger. Saturdays are fine. Saturdays are grander than grand. Everything is good, everything is dandy. Sundays are complete and utter misery. I have my own little theory about why they're so bad for me and the reasoning is simple. Weekends are the longest period that I'm on my own for and I really struggle with it. Nights during the week are fine, I've been around people all day, I've done all my chatting and laughing and sharing, coming home to an empty flat genuinely doesn't bother me any more. But come Friday evening my interactions with people virtually come to a standstill. People do stuff with partners on a weekend, the number of texts from friends almost falls to zero on a weekend. I'm an Extrovert. I can only spend so much time on my own and it turns out that amount of time amounts to about two nights. Pathetic I know.<br />
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I realised something the other day. I spend huge amounts of time, if not every day then certainly every other day having a go at myself mentally. Telling myself I'm stupid for over-reacting to something, stupid for still getting upset about being on my own almost eight months later, stupid for still having hope that I might find someone when all the signs point to that never happening<span style="font-size: x-small;"> (a post about dating needs to be saved for another time)</span>, stupid for thinking that I need a man to make me happy in this age of feminism. It's no wonder I feel bad all the time, I'm telling <i>myself </i>I'm a terrible human being, pretty much on a constant repeat.<br />
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I don't know what the answer is. It frustrates me that I don't know how to just. get. happy. It annoys me that every time I try and write about it, the words fly away from me like dust motes. It irritates me that I'm still not over it after this long. I've been told that these are good signs, that it's when you don't feel anything at all that you need to start to worry, but the relentless nature of my emotions is draining and incredibly self destructive.<br />
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I don't have a cure. I don't even feel as if I'm close to a cure. So the best I can do is book in as much in the diary as possible, enjoy the highs when they come and hope that when the crashes come I remain able to peel myself off the floor and carry on trucking.The Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550480429586819194noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4530190092034193112.post-27249846692433552822015-04-21T21:16:00.001+01:002015-04-21T21:16:41.100+01:00Photo an Hour l 19th April<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">09.40</span> Late start to Photo an Hour, mostly because I'd forgotten what day it was. One of the annoying things about living on your own is that there's no-one to try and bug to make you a cup of tea. It annoys me endlessly, especially on weekend mornings.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">10.30</span> Ironing a shirt. Because just wearing something ready to wear from my wardrobe is simply too difficult<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">11.25</span> In the car and ready to have an adventure, I was off to meet up with <a href="http://wordsthatcanonlybeyourown.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank"><b>Janet</b></a> for another stomp around Bradgate Park<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">12.20</span> Whilst stomping around we discovered the most amazing tree which was completely hollow. Standing inside and looking I spied a Janet!<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">13.30</span> Stomping over it was time for tea drinking and toastie eating. And a <i>lot </i>of gossiping.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">14.45</span> Back home to this gorgeous little face. Just <i>look </i>at him.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">15.30</span> Time to dig out the yarn and get going on a project I've been working on for the past few weeks. These colours make me happy to my very core.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">16.35</span> Deep in amigurumi-ing</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">17.30</span> Still crocheting and the shape is beginning to take form. Can you tell what it is yet?</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">18.47</span> In the middle of Skypeing with American Girl. I. Love. Technology.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">19.30</span> Still Skypeing and enjoying how sunny and light it was outside at 7,30pm</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">20.40</span> Skype session over and food time. No I did not really make this dinner myself, this was a leftover lamb shank my sister had saved for me the week before. All this girl needed to do was microwave a bag of new potatoes and mixed vegetables. Cooking for the lazy.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">21.40</span> My favourites Sunday night activity. Watching Keeping up with the Kardashians. I don't even care. I love it.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">22.30</span> Retired to bed but there is still crocheting to do. And catching up of The Archers to do.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">23.30</span> Finished for the day! And a finished article. One fat bird who is part of a bird army I have been crocheting<span style="font-size: x-small;"> (blog post to follow when I eventually get around to blogging again.)</span></div>
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Thank you to Jane and Louise for hosting. Check in with them to find out the date for May's Photo an Hour post and don't forget to join in on Twitter and/or Instagram using #PhotoAnHour<br />
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<i>2015 Photo an Hour posts</i><br />
<i><a href="http://randomdaydreaming.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/photo-hour-l-17th-january.html" target="_blank"><b>January</b></a></i><br />
<i><a href="http://randomdaydreaming.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/photo-hour-l-21st-february.html" target="_blank"><b>February</b></a> </i><br />
<i><a href="http://randomdaydreaming.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/photo-hour-l-21st-march.html" target="_blank"><b>March</b></a></i><br />
<i><br /></i>The Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550480429586819194noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4530190092034193112.post-88748818728044727732015-03-24T21:44:00.001+00:002015-03-24T21:44:48.980+00:00Photo an Hour l 21st March<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">06.35</span> : Up frightfully early for a weekend because I was about to embark on a huge journey. Not before fuelling up with Marmite on toast & a cup of tea though.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">07.20</span> : In the car and ready to drive down the M5 to Somerset to visit my Dad. The prospect of a 3.5 hour trip down there was not making me feel excited.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">09.25</span> : No photo for 8am as driving (safety first everyone!) But I did have a stop off at the Services after hitting a stressful diversion on the M5 which was closed for 4 junctions due to a lorry overturning and spilling about 600 litres of fuel all over the place.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">11.10</span> : Destination reached! Hurrah! Cup of tea for the weary traveller.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUPGOOhtCP1sJ9KNBrPfxdhUE8rnLag-cNWQkcJF1cIgEkwZ5AGRC8gJtAja9xoHfMLJvpkTnNZMr49yT_yt0xNQhOiELOQXrs3HSaWNYe07rf_MEosP0FqHA58Q8KDhVL6YJpn2ZhdPD5/s1600/Photo+an+Hour+210315+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUPGOOhtCP1sJ9KNBrPfxdhUE8rnLag-cNWQkcJF1cIgEkwZ5AGRC8gJtAja9xoHfMLJvpkTnNZMr49yT_yt0xNQhOiELOQXrs3HSaWNYe07rf_MEosP0FqHA58Q8KDhVL6YJpn2ZhdPD5/s1600/Photo+an+Hour+210315+2.png" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">12.30</span> : Oh no I'm back in a car again! But luckily not driving this time. Instead we were headed for an adventure...<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">13.30 </span>: To the sea!! I <i>love </i>the sea! Technically not the sea, but the English Channel. And a stroll along the beach at Burton Bradstock. It was beautiful and there will obviously be a separate blog post devoted to it where I will spam your face with pictures of it.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">14.30 </span>: Some people go to the beach and have fish & chips - I do it in <i>style </i>baby. Messy style, but style nonetheless.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">15.40</span> : Back at home and Shadow is not a happy girl. She did <i>not </i>enjoy the water and did <i>not </i>enjoy the sand. It's safe to say she's not a beach fan.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">16.30</span> : Sat down to do a spot of crocheting, obviously there's something new on my hook...</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">17.30</span> : Dedication people. I <i>will </i>get back into running, I <i>will. </i>And so determined was I that I brought my stuff with me to go for a run at my Dad's. Not one of my best decisions, Crewkerne is absolutely littered with hills. They are everywhere. And because I was just aimlessly running I didn't know where I was going and I swear at one point I thought I had devised a route which only contained uphill streets and I was never going to make it back down again. Still. Felt smug at the end of it though.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">18.30</span> : Back crocheting and admiring my awesome stitch markers.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">19.40</span> : It's starting to take shape - but can you tell what it is yet?!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRkTA8R6kEF847SnL74ZKwKr-5iEti-FqGejKkCDcuc1WUu4Loi__tbWkczNsVKjNum-D06iidtSR0bVFUky6uDOw0Aj-QzX9jlRIaGyukrsKmmNtpHvgcOf5c-A2iAq1xGzHcr0L_D9P_/s1600/Photo+an+Hour+210315+4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRkTA8R6kEF847SnL74ZKwKr-5iEti-FqGejKkCDcuc1WUu4Loi__tbWkczNsVKjNum-D06iidtSR0bVFUky6uDOw0Aj-QzX9jlRIaGyukrsKmmNtpHvgcOf5c-A2iAq1xGzHcr0L_D9P_/s1600/Photo+an+Hour+210315+4.png" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">20.15 </span>: Late dinner of breakfast. Obviously.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">21.20</span> : What? More crochet? Oh go on then.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">22.30 </span>: BED. Too much adventuring for one girl to take.</div>
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Thanks as always to <a href="http://isthatyoudarling.co.uk/" target="_blank"><b>Jane</b></a> and <a href="http://www.duck-in-a-dress.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank"><b>Louisa</b></a> for hosting. Check in with them to find out the date for April's Photo an Hour post and don't forget to join in on Twitter and/or Instagram using #PhotoAnHour</div>
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<i>2015 Photo an Hour posts</i></div>
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<i><a href="http://randomdaydreaming.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/photo-hour-l-17th-january.html" target="_blank"><b>January</b></a></i></div>
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<i><a href="http://randomdaydreaming.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/photo-hour-l-21st-february.html" target="_blank"><b>February</b></a></i></div>
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<br />The Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550480429586819194noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4530190092034193112.post-87985286812114086332015-03-20T09:30:00.000+00:002015-03-20T09:30:01.201+00:00Edward's Menagerie - Rufus the LionNever one to leave my hook idle for long, and hot on the heels of <b><a href="http://randomdaydreaming.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/edwards-menagerie-caitlin-giraffe.html" target="_blank">Caitlin the Giraffe</a> </b>came this fellow...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsq1JFsXVuuBQatYq-rDJ2B7JFfg5CiRcWt0o6BuieGcuT3DOAZMlq2hC9pPdSs_do92F5SPh9h5JQ7TSagDEgsulFYWLSexztWw3IfMtKOga90DupmuyRgBKfAi3XpDovWW_CiG70oYup/s1600/Eds+Animals+Lion+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsq1JFsXVuuBQatYq-rDJ2B7JFfg5CiRcWt0o6BuieGcuT3DOAZMlq2hC9pPdSs_do92F5SPh9h5JQ7TSagDEgsulFYWLSexztWw3IfMtKOga90DupmuyRgBKfAi3XpDovWW_CiG70oYup/s1600/Eds+Animals+Lion+1.jpg" height="358" width="400" /></a></div>
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I know. I could die too. </div>
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That <i>face</i>.</div>
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Rufus worked up incredibly quickly, especially compared to Caitlin the Giraffe as there were a lot less colour changes happening and it was almost before I knew it that I was on to his head and that amazing mane of his.</div>
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The mane definitely requires a closer look...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTURShyphenhyphenWvm9wL95hLAogmrcNuSFHRoWtOkixsto7vXAEwpp0664C4vLTt0Id5jYvGCni4O4SmuPbxidbkY_UWP8OCfZsfyn4IduO6x4pTf7FyMMPvkrasg6zOafKnMR4onvxHYUsLu9KT_/s1600/Eds+Animals+Lion+4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTURShyphenhyphenWvm9wL95hLAogmrcNuSFHRoWtOkixsto7vXAEwpp0664C4vLTt0Id5jYvGCni4O4SmuPbxidbkY_UWP8OCfZsfyn4IduO6x4pTf7FyMMPvkrasg6zOafKnMR4onvxHYUsLu9KT_/s1600/Eds+Animals+Lion+4.png" height="200" width="400" /></a></div>
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It's so clever (and simple) although time consuming and a bit of a yarn guzzler. You just make a simple chain and then slip stitch the end of it back into the head, make another chain, slip stitch it back into the head further along, and so on and so on until you have lots of chain loops which look rather marvellous once you're all done.</div>
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At the beginning it does look strange and doesn't look as if it's going to come together and look right, but carry on with it and trust me it all starts to fall into place. But definitely leave time to do it - I spent a couple of evenings working on this fabulous mane of his.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin_g9lS33e22CAx-EVtpPPpFUy41MOY58axfHiXsDeUH4Pic9WpFNccF3XlFa9FWeRlkAdZyewmOPmK_ObPsDbIbF_jU9EWGLYDB8_ps11IGXgUdyqwRpokCPyjmW4IIb1ZIkuBeJ_0G6_/s1600/Eds+Animals+Lion+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin_g9lS33e22CAx-EVtpPPpFUy41MOY58axfHiXsDeUH4Pic9WpFNccF3XlFa9FWeRlkAdZyewmOPmK_ObPsDbIbF_jU9EWGLYDB8_ps11IGXgUdyqwRpokCPyjmW4IIb1ZIkuBeJ_0G6_/s1600/Eds+Animals+Lion+2.jpg" height="400" width="263" /></a></div>
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I'm annoyed I didn't take a closer picture of his tail which is also worked in a similar fashion to the mane, with chain loops stitched back into the base of the tail.</div>
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He does have a very long snout which I've gone back and forth about whether I love it or not. It looks completely right when you see him in real life but I don't think that profile shots are his best angles. But then I could say the same about myself.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY-BZQnbsYqnpYSICmsARrRNqklGK0pyIlTf-ZZ2CXch697i61kEu3DTVdtf8aTL0rQ0NopRcK5R0cSfj2_2TAxY8yYgab_I6O3Kc-S62ErEHoc9iiu7PoqoID-NzW4fhvcvRJ27RJyFJr/s1600/Eds+Animals+Lion+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY-BZQnbsYqnpYSICmsARrRNqklGK0pyIlTf-ZZ2CXch697i61kEu3DTVdtf8aTL0rQ0NopRcK5R0cSfj2_2TAxY8yYgab_I6O3Kc-S62ErEHoc9iiu7PoqoID-NzW4fhvcvRJ27RJyFJr/s1600/Eds+Animals+Lion+3.jpg" height="400" width="240" /></a></div>
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My love for all things from this book continues unabated, so much so that I have already completed my next item from it and hopefully by the time you are reading this, it is with its new owner and ready for a reveal on the blog.</div>
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Now if only I could make something from this book for myself...</div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Pattern from <b><a href="http://www.thetoftalpacashop.co.uk/PD.aspx?product=KITS/edwards_menagerie/-Edwards_Menagerie_Book_by_Kerry_Lord" target="_blank">Edward's Menagerie</a>. </b>My review of the book can be found <b><a href="http://randomdaydreaming.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/edwards-menagerie-review.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</b></span></i></div>
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<br />The Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550480429586819194noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4530190092034193112.post-31767491803676793802015-03-18T09:30:00.000+00:002015-03-18T09:30:01.956+00:00Discovering Instagram...I do enjoy being extraordinarily late to a party you know.<br />
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For years and years I have resisted the lure of the iPhone. Mainly because I'm the only person on the planet who doesn't find Apple technology intuitive to use at all, and also because there was a little bit of the twat in me who wanted to be a bit different.<br />
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I caved.<br />
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When it came to upgrading I didn't like any of the Android offerings so I decided to take the plunge. I still don't find the technology intuitive but the good thing is that in this day and age you're never more than 2 foot away from someone who can show you how to use an iPhone.<br />
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One of the first things downloaded on to my phone?<br />
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Instagram.<br />
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I've had a Windows Phone for 2 years and I have been one of their biggest supporters for a really long time. Or I've tried to be. But the total lack of access to Apps was just slowly killing me. And especially killing me was the fact that I couldn't get on Instagram - I was stood with my nose pressed up against the glass watching everyone else have fun with their selfies and their filters whilst I stood out in the cold.<br />
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The forward facing camera is also a new revelation in my life. My old phone didn't have one, selfies were either an impossibility or an extreme pain in the backside involving a lot of guess work and a steady hand. I always thought I wasn't really a selfie person but the sheer number of photos of my face in the below collage seems to indicate that I was just looking for the right means...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihTovUgmGNkzXfNT1sHI758faUT5D1cVYC87jzoYllxwKVdUHMlB9pwHRVQlJwDBKXdAKOwmS3gS94tho2XI6H8vHhZ61zNw4YFA9DTb42Wjm-cIpL5xVzDaeDdh_Y7y0LKCTBNJDt-vsp/s1600/Discovering+Instagram.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihTovUgmGNkzXfNT1sHI758faUT5D1cVYC87jzoYllxwKVdUHMlB9pwHRVQlJwDBKXdAKOwmS3gS94tho2XI6H8vHhZ61zNw4YFA9DTb42Wjm-cIpL5xVzDaeDdh_Y7y0LKCTBNJDt-vsp/s1600/Discovering+Instagram.png" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">1:</span></b> My first Instagram photo. A family portrait of me and the gerbils. Thank goodness for the forward facing camera or this photo would have been too difficult to capture.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">2:</span> Telecons that go on for 2 hours should be banned</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">3:</span> But tea and knock-off jelly beans can make everything feel better</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">4:</span> Me and my bestie, Rowan. I love that face so much, I can't believe she is 9 already</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">5:</span> Some people are culture vultures, I just have culture gerbils. Here is Tyrion Lannister catching up on some reading. (Yes he did later start to eat the book)</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">6:</span> My first food photo on Instagram. A killer bacon sandwich with spare sausage to help chase away a Saturday hangover.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">7: </span>I've been crocheting - what's it going to be, and more importantly, who is it for? All will be revealed.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">8:</span> I got my paintbrushes out and started making over a pretty boring side table. And nearly killed myself with paint fumes in the meantime. Why is DIY never straightforward for me?</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">9: </span>I am determined to get myself back into running. I am. It has been a bit faltering this year but I took myself out after work for a little 3km stumble and it wasn't all bad. Did I run the whole thing? No I didn't. Do I care? No, for the first time ever I genuinely don't. This revelation needed to be recorded.</div>
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<i>Do you like photos and vidoes of gerbils? If so do feel free to give me a follow @Shippers1983</i>The Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550480429586819194noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4530190092034193112.post-69150402183482708242015-03-16T23:29:00.002+00:002015-03-16T23:29:09.946+00:00Tinder 101The funny thing about being single is that everyone wants to live their lives vicariously through you. People are desperate for me to go out and get dating - I'm not entirely sure if they are more interested in seeing me meet a nice man or in me having some terrible dating experience which they can dine out on when sat around with their other coupled up friends.<br />
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I don't think I am quite 'there' when it comes to having a relationship but I am willing to try and dip my toes in the water. The modern internet dating world is a complete unknown to me and I feel bewildered at the prospect of it.<br />
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But on a night out with a couple of the girls I was persuaded to download the most ubiquitous of dating apps....Tinder.<br />
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So for the uninitiated here is a quick run down of what it's all about:<br />
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1. You connect through your Facebook account <span style="font-size: x-small;">(it doesn't post to Facebook, but if you don't have a Facebook account, no Tinder for you)</span><br />
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2. You say what aged men you're looking for and you set the radius that you're interested in looking in.<br />
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3. You get swiping!<br />
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4. A picture of a boy comes up - you like it you swipe right, you don't like it you swipe left<br />
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5. If you're not so sure you can tap on their picture and look at some other pictures they have uploaded (max. of 6) and also see if they have written a description (500 characters max.)<br />
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6. If you swipe left and reject them you'll never see them again<br />
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7. If you swipe right and it turns out that they've also swiped right on your picture then you get this message...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh85lvZYWVqMyhU5sDRNH0Rf250-1pa75YUDkFkhAE-8NADjdWehFFPeqZhiTQt9u17XVWZELwZRWq94bOX7cNaFvC4HcNL28Img0bGIK1ut4ShyphenhyphenvJi6IYzsSiLarocn3KgbTaY7RsNhh5g/s1600/Tinder+Match.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh85lvZYWVqMyhU5sDRNH0Rf250-1pa75YUDkFkhAE-8NADjdWehFFPeqZhiTQt9u17XVWZELwZRWq94bOX7cNaFvC4HcNL28Img0bGIK1ut4ShyphenhyphenvJi6IYzsSiLarocn3KgbTaY7RsNhh5g/s1600/Tinder+Match.jpg" height="400" width="225" /></a></div>
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8. And you're free to start messaging that person.</div>
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9. You decide you don't like them after all, you can un-match from them and can also block people who you feel have been inappropriate.</div>
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Let's all face it. This is not the app were you are <i>likely </i>to meet your future husband. But there's no pretence about it - it is based on looks only, that's why your picture comes up first and you are not required to put any information about yourself. And like the picture above says - it's a game. </div>
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And it really is a game. And it's also oddly addictive. It became something that I was just doing when I was bored and watching TV. Swipe, swipe, swipe, judge, judge, judge.</div>
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As a first step into internet dating it's actually great. The rejection aspect of it is minimal/non-existent - if people aren't interested in you, you'll never know about it because they just won't appear in your feed. You probably swipe right to loads of people that don't ever swipe right to you but you can't remember them because you have been swiping so. many. people. that they all blur into one.</div>
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And when you match with someone it's the best ego boost ever ("I <i>am </i>fanciable! Someone <i>does </i>like me!") and it is like winning. I described it as similar to winning on a slot machine, but without coins falling everywhere.</div>
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Even better than all of this though and the potential of finding a nice guy there is the chance to find some absolute gems from the guys out there.</div>
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For instance...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijBEwAhHzdeK8aHUmE1yvLfy_E0z5YeFMJK2-oXS24jdVBw82BIk9EWQM_CaN2gn9-8LChjSdhidfKRaeWCHOVewqb_19vZCg1MftxeV10GGiLowOEvzE-jDNMEKpFqIIl4raYuAiJN_PB/s1600/Grammar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijBEwAhHzdeK8aHUmE1yvLfy_E0z5YeFMJK2-oXS24jdVBw82BIk9EWQM_CaN2gn9-8LChjSdhidfKRaeWCHOVewqb_19vZCg1MftxeV10GGiLowOEvzE-jDNMEKpFqIIl4raYuAiJN_PB/s1600/Grammar.jpg" height="400" width="225" /></a></div>
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Check it out. This guy dislikes "Inappropriate use of grammar " and likes "Tattoo's"</div>
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*sigh*</div>
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Or this little gem...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtO1aCG3pw5OImud4igkDG-yCU7nOJMm3NzahQnBzADrMtFUV54omkY28VRiW5TifYVsPDzHOq0W3zg2f84TEUvz-ojwJsutKERJ3WjNiaBPnDwlBoessXwzf2RcB0hnreAi6xDjei0O5j/s1600/Nick.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtO1aCG3pw5OImud4igkDG-yCU7nOJMm3NzahQnBzADrMtFUV54omkY28VRiW5TifYVsPDzHOq0W3zg2f84TEUvz-ojwJsutKERJ3WjNiaBPnDwlBoessXwzf2RcB0hnreAi6xDjei0O5j/s1600/Nick.jpg" height="400" width="225" /></a></div>
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Excuse me whilst I heave.</div>
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It also important to go back to your profile after you've set it up and check the photos that it has pulled through from Facebook. It will automatically pull through your first few profile pictures. Which is great, as long as you remember what your profile pictures have been in the past. </div>
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For instance...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaYF36M2-gNatLxWeV3QEZ2qwKQ-qM4dCHvGXOAc1LtK5j8IGouO-YNIkhmVocIEuvI199AYfxO8wNoMMKAUGqZm_ioS0_bROan1isFvS1-fFcEKcZ6o4uyh8WmAZ-84GYOlJKmO51aA8S/s1600/Married.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaYF36M2-gNatLxWeV3QEZ2qwKQ-qM4dCHvGXOAc1LtK5j8IGouO-YNIkhmVocIEuvI199AYfxO8wNoMMKAUGqZm_ioS0_bROan1isFvS1-fFcEKcZ6o4uyh8WmAZ-84GYOlJKmO51aA8S/s1600/Married.jpg" height="400" width="225" /></a></div>
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You on your wedding day. Lovely.</div>
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People will use their 500 characters in a myriad of ways. Some guys will be pretty open about the fact that they are looking for love. Some will be pretty open that they're looking for fun. Some will come laden with their own baggage, like this guy...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdWkOkoiTB_GWqbjZ2xrEdYnU-DPqwENBmtovjDL1yS9daElNLyVPw8I_nKMgXdUoExUGj327Lu1n94fAyeMytNgGCHAZ4ylZjhj0PyOvTDIVvWhC2qTF1ANix7llmnR-7YHUfbwRKMvdE/s1600/Ralph+33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdWkOkoiTB_GWqbjZ2xrEdYnU-DPqwENBmtovjDL1yS9daElNLyVPw8I_nKMgXdUoExUGj327Lu1n94fAyeMytNgGCHAZ4ylZjhj0PyOvTDIVvWhC2qTF1ANix7llmnR-7YHUfbwRKMvdE/s1600/Ralph+33.jpg" height="400" width="225" /></a></div>
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Nice.</div>
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The best thing about Tinder?</div>
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I think it's going to provide me with a lot more blog fodder in the future...</div>
<br />The Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550480429586819194noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4530190092034193112.post-74386337732160068542015-03-08T16:32:00.002+00:002015-03-08T16:32:50.081+00:00Can't blog, readingI seem incapable of focusing on more than one thing at the moment. Once life starts happening, blogging stops happening, which shouldn't really come as a surprise to me.<br />
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Anyway, I've been reading and then talking about said reading for <a href="http://oddsocksandprettyfrocks.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank"><b>Alex</b></a>'s March Blogging Good Read and you can go and read about what I read by clicking right <a href="http://oddsocksandprettyfrocks.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/a-blogging-good-read-march.html" target="_blank"><b>HERE</b></a>.<br />
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Go get some book recommendations.The Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550480429586819194noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4530190092034193112.post-56426914673455403482015-03-02T10:00:00.000+00:002015-03-02T10:00:07.891+00:00The Weekend in (not real) Verbs<b><span style="font-size: large;">Debating</span></b><br />
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Lots of debating happened over #TheDress - pretty much anyone I've come across since Friday has asked me this question. I am well in the gold and white camp. It doesn't change colour for me like it seems to for others, my jaw actually dropped open when I saw a picture of the actual dress. A friend who sees blue and black said to me that she wished she could take out her eyes so that I could see what she sees. As a less violent offering I can show you this photo - these are the colours that I see the dress...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipLe85rHuDRRRwDh-CDxmzvZuI4Tl6Fot4b4MDv8ZMw6J6P6eMa3uWbQMiLVggBSvoeTFTOWSS1eChIAediKYh-Pa5U9uLWhYDwAFH_xhC6XbyIBT2J7VwF8xzTki7zLZRDUNM6FyDacLJ/s1600/WP_20150227_007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipLe85rHuDRRRwDh-CDxmzvZuI4Tl6Fot4b4MDv8ZMw6J6P6eMa3uWbQMiLVggBSvoeTFTOWSS1eChIAediKYh-Pa5U9uLWhYDwAFH_xhC6XbyIBT2J7VwF8xzTki7zLZRDUNM6FyDacLJ/s1600/WP_20150227_007.jpg" height="400" width="240" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Dog Petting</span></b></div>
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I went to visit Mum's friend to help her learn how to use her Smartphone. It was every bit as painful as it sounds. But the upside is that I got to see Ozzie with his floppy ear, whom I love very much.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3mh_abdGFbsKwOLzKytkLb5QO9GlhsbTRFqigsJduZoPGWYTe3Ef-lcC1sFX-G4w0vhwkoG_bKlASH3w24ZEkCxVpeDMXPYKLvSNmuwqzBj6t_l8i4orsLmpMBRuKRwNWGVInpffjbf_l/s1600/WP_20150228_019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3mh_abdGFbsKwOLzKytkLb5QO9GlhsbTRFqigsJduZoPGWYTe3Ef-lcC1sFX-G4w0vhwkoG_bKlASH3w24ZEkCxVpeDMXPYKLvSNmuwqzBj6t_l8i4orsLmpMBRuKRwNWGVInpffjbf_l/s1600/WP_20150228_019.jpg" height="240" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Shopping</span></b></div>
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Not just any kind of shopping but my particularly favourite kind of shopping. The kind that involves you not actually spending any money. I have some vouchers from Christmas and I ran round Matalan like a whirling dervish trying to pick up as many things as possible. Including this bedding which I came home and put on my bed immediately; a testament to how much I love it because I <i>really </i>hate making the bed.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNMLKo9MpgIePJQMNftI1O0ukmMAYE0Bl0YWsmgTf7-_IBJBFLs0f_DD0kiiIvftMifBErLK74s_KjOYhFWab2DxVDWgOeN3NKewby24smHY8QIvykJyCmndgpf_P3FpbsdfZktpqwcjlO/s1600/WP_20150301_003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNMLKo9MpgIePJQMNftI1O0ukmMAYE0Bl0YWsmgTf7-_IBJBFLs0f_DD0kiiIvftMifBErLK74s_KjOYhFWab2DxVDWgOeN3NKewby24smHY8QIvykJyCmndgpf_P3FpbsdfZktpqwcjlO/s1600/WP_20150301_003.jpg" height="400" width="240" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Seaside-ing</span></b><br />
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I had an urge to go to the sea whilst I was vaguely near it. Living in the Midlands is nice for access reasons, lots of things aren't too far away, unless you want to get to the sea. Then the sea is <i>far. </i>Very very very very far.<br />
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So Mum and I headed to Hornsea for the most typical English visit to the seaside ever in that we ate fish & chips, bundled up against the howling wind and looking at very ominous grey skies.<br />
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In other words, it was brilliant.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoDwzRQ1AX4b_4eNTiGJBo46Uzw5j6m59SFEndVCi7eG8OjXoz8NVuIGpi0cQQANMwKFlIDu68-aVBLwQa-AixD3vriBiBIqsWbt4ko1ZQ2OMC2bYK5VVZ4XbYDhj5EKwjFeZC-9Z_KMix/s1600/WP_20150228_007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoDwzRQ1AX4b_4eNTiGJBo46Uzw5j6m59SFEndVCi7eG8OjXoz8NVuIGpi0cQQANMwKFlIDu68-aVBLwQa-AixD3vriBiBIqsWbt4ko1ZQ2OMC2bYK5VVZ4XbYDhj5EKwjFeZC-9Z_KMix/s1600/WP_20150228_007.jpg" height="400" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvNw8-WEHeMaStAfjTkwjKaiXbOVuk3sjiMd5BYV_Tr0gRna_RLiCdedXRwyrusv2yDaSV-agjeNxNO2V4V1DqwltECzENkY0i3vBS9TiII7vNLP09EbKgOt6FVexC43VGxYNA0o3i9kQT/s1600/WP_20150228_011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvNw8-WEHeMaStAfjTkwjKaiXbOVuk3sjiMd5BYV_Tr0gRna_RLiCdedXRwyrusv2yDaSV-agjeNxNO2V4V1DqwltECzENkY0i3vBS9TiII7vNLP09EbKgOt6FVexC43VGxYNA0o3i9kQT/s1600/WP_20150228_011.jpg" height="240" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0lCwZeva101H1ZMFoa1d59kl6p5HmxfOI_syf3mWyTtyXgcT2mJC5pymUHA7PkMaqqGQaajBzNrRTPsy4yXmLiA3dfBVawzmohBMUOD7Q53ZPzsrtwHDwa1YKpSXQd29J7FWB-jHwU32C/s1600/WP_20150228_008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0lCwZeva101H1ZMFoa1d59kl6p5HmxfOI_syf3mWyTtyXgcT2mJC5pymUHA7PkMaqqGQaajBzNrRTPsy4yXmLiA3dfBVawzmohBMUOD7Q53ZPzsrtwHDwa1YKpSXQd29J7FWB-jHwU32C/s1600/WP_20150228_008.jpg" height="240" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Fred and Lily-ing</span></b><br />
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You didn't think I'd forgotten about them did you? Obviously not. Fred and Lily were in true crazy Fred and Lily mode. Just look at the photo of Lily's completely manic face at the prospect of being in the vicinity of crisps and dip. And Fred has a fun new trick - jumping on top of the door and then trying to get you as you walk past into the kitchen.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0i6bZy0X37Op1Lrjjj9tAcqrkr6RE4nGsrzyYn0eFIG3BQsGCDQXOdYf0a15xj2fJ_jpP2aQdqWzrOH7lhSgy9t5F3AFSVEcZWRuSaiXKeSo1I2gcCV8-bdDzXu2F7RfK3mvOdKOS3EIL/s1600/Feb+(5).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0i6bZy0X37Op1Lrjjj9tAcqrkr6RE4nGsrzyYn0eFIG3BQsGCDQXOdYf0a15xj2fJ_jpP2aQdqWzrOH7lhSgy9t5F3AFSVEcZWRuSaiXKeSo1I2gcCV8-bdDzXu2F7RfK3mvOdKOS3EIL/s1600/Feb+(5).jpg" height="400" width="240" /></a></div>
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When they are not being totally mad, they are still mostly fond of relaxing, something which Lily is particularly good at doing...</div>
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<br />The Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550480429586819194noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4530190092034193112.post-51013564607734013922015-02-27T10:00:00.000+00:002015-03-17T16:36:06.138+00:00Edward's Menagerie - Caitlin the GiraffeHot on the heels of Benedict the Chimpanzee who featured in my <a href="http://randomdaydreaming.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/edwards-menagerie-review.html" target="_blank"><b>review of Edward's Menagerie</b></a> last week I had another project on my hook.<br />
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Much as I am a lover of colour I've been really enjoying working in more muted shades for these guys. They just look more friendly somehow which is a statement I am well aware makes no sense.<br />
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Anyway, this guy's face is just a little bit too much for me. It's off the cute-scale by about a hundred degrees. And I also really love his ossicones. I also love that I now know the word ossicones. Let's all try and get it into a sentence tomorrow, although I'm pretty sure the only sentence you can get it into is one that's something along the lines of <i>"Oh look, that giraffe has a lovely set of ossicones."</i> You never know, it might crop up at some point.<br />
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The part I really enjoyed about making Caitlin though was the body. Again, as with everything I love about this book, it's so simple and yet looks absolutely amazing. The patches of darker colour are just worked randomly as you're working the body, not cutting the colour off each time you change but keeping it at the back until you need to pick it up again.<br />
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Working anything randomly is a huge struggle for me and I had to resist all my natural urges to basically have a very long necked zebra. Stripes are neat, I can handle that.<br />
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It also meant that a stitch counter and stitch marker were absolutely essential as it would be very tricky to work random numbers of stitches and still keep count of what you were doing over all.<br />
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But totally worth it, am I right?!<br />
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Caitlin is a new firm favourite for me and I'm looking for an excuse to make another one as soon as possible.<br />
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She's also a good old size once she's finished. She's sat next to a 6x4in photo frame so you can see how tall she is. As she should be, she's a bloody giraffe!<br />
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The only thing I would do differently next time around is makes sure I stuffed the neck more so that she's able to keep her head up. I followed the general rules to not overstuff and keep everything floppy but I just don't think it really works for Caitlin. These photos involved an awful lot of balancing to keep her head up and I felt a bit rubbishy at how floppy her head was.<br />
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I'm still in love with this book and I've got to tell you right now, that I've already finished my next item from it.<br />
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And now <i>that </i>one might be my favourite...<br />
<br />The Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550480429586819194noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4530190092034193112.post-50922755655157748252015-02-25T10:00:00.000+00:002015-02-25T10:00:01.235+00:00A little bit of internet love: Part VII know I should do these more often and then these posts wouldn't be showing you links to posts that were written about three weeks ago which I always worry makes me look ever so slightly creepy. <i>"Oh hai, I've been saving this blog post of yours to share with people....along with the cutting of your hair that I took when I crept into your room last night..."</i><br />
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Anyway. Enough of being creepy. Time to share the love...<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">1.</span> You may have noticed that I talk a lot about the fact that I'm from Hull - I'm a fan of anyone who talks about their love for Hull, and although our experiences of living in Hull are vastly different, Ryan's post, <a href="http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/in-defence-of-hull-023" target="_blank"><b>In Defence of Hull</b></a> and his love for our city resonates with me.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">2.</span> Elise has been crocheting from a book that I've had for ages but have yet to dip into - check out this little <a href="http://www.eliseandlife.com/2015/02/finished-crochet-grim-reaper.html" target="_blank"><b>Grim Reaper</b></a>...<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">3.</span> I'm going to sneakily move into Janet's house and set up camp at her <a href="http://wordsthatcanonlybeyourown.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/at-home-office-makeover.html" target="_blank"><b>new home office</b></a>. Don't tell her I'm going to do it though...<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">4</span>. Chloe talked about <a href="http://www.chloelikestotalk.co.uk/2015/02/lifestyle-on-feeling-attractive.html" target="_blank"><b>feeling attractive</b></a> and I wholeheartedly agree with what she said. Especially about getting a shower/washing your hair - whenever I feel crappy I always force myself into the shower and it never fails to make me feel a little bit better.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">5.</span> Rachael wrote a post called <a href="http://twenty-something-sherbet.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/blogging-dont-assume-your-blog-followers.html" target="_blank"><b>Don't Assume Your Blog Followers...</b></a> which really resonated with me in a couple of places. <i>Especially</i> the bit about assuming people use Bloglovin'.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">6.</span> Hayles went to a <a href="http://www.ceriselle.org/blog/2015/02/black-heart-creatives-jewellery-making-workshop/" target="_blank"><b>Black Heart Creatives jewellery workshop</b></a> and I am outrageously jealous about it.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">7</span>. Christa over at A Voluptuous Mind posted <a href="http://avoluptuousmind.com/2015/02/21/still-i-rise/comment-page-1/#comment-1023" target="_blank"><b>Shall I Rise</b></a>, a poem by Maya Angelou. It came at an incredibly appropriate time for me and I cried big, fat, blobby tears when I read it. It is beautiful.<br />
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<br />The Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550480429586819194noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4530190092034193112.post-29056424789184921692015-02-23T10:30:00.000+00:002015-02-23T10:30:01.870+00:00Photo an Hour l 21st FebruaryI should have been in Manchester this weekend, after my last weekend was cancelled. This weekend got cancelled as well. Need to cut these flaky people out of my life really don't I?<br />
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Anyway. No plans. Nothing happening. Yet another Photo an Hour date came round and I had a day of nothingness ahead of me. These Photo an Hour posts that I'm taking part in seem to serve the purpose of highlighting how crap my life is...<br />
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This was Saturday 21st February...<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">9am </span>Slow start to the day as it was a late night the day before. Got up and made myself a cup of tea and retreated back to my lair to watch Goldfrapp videos on You Tube. For absolutely no reason.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">10am </span>It's not a weekend unless bacon is involved somewhere, at some point. This might be the finest bacon sandwich I've ever made myself, I got the perfect crispiness.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">11am </span>Decided to get up and get dressed but was faced with the everlasting problem of a wardrobe full of clothes and nothing to wear. My plan was to head straight out but got waylaid by a lengthy phone call with my Mum and the weather going absolutely batshit crazy - hailing with blue skies? What?</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">12pm </span>Suddenly remembered that I needed to send off a package to a friend. I finally managed to crochet <b><a href="http://randomdaydreaming.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/crochet-love.html" target="_blank">one hundred hearts</a> </b>for my friend's wedding and needed to send them off to her. Made use of my washi tape stash - everyone loves pretty post, right?</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">1pm </span>Finally made it into town and to the Farmer's Market which takes place just beside the ruins of the <a href="http://randomdaydreaming.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/i-capture-castle.html" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">castle</a>. Thankfully the weather seemed to have calmed down and I did a big race around, ticking off everything that I wanted to get done in record time.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">2pm </span>Back home and noticed the rather lovely shadow being cast in my bedroom<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">3pm </span>Turns out one of my headlights has gone out so I ventured out to Halfords to buy a bulb and get it fitted. Yeah you can fit them yourself but for the stress of it I'd rather just pay £7 and get it sorted thanks. Also, trying to take a surreptitious photo of someone fitting your new headlight is <i>really</i> hard.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">4pm</span> Time for a cup of tea and crochet time. Already got another couple of things waiting on my order book so time to get knuckled down. Care to venture a guess as to what it's going to be?<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">5pm </span>More tea needed. This time accompanied by a beast of a doughnut that I bought earlier in the day at the Farmer's Market.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">6pm </span>Went to my sister's for dinner which means lots of time with my favourites - Rosie was in the middle of taking all her toys out of her toybox and sitting down surrounded by them.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">7pm </span>Whenever Blinky behaves like a normal cat it freaks us all out a little bit. Nobody really knew what to do when she jumped up on my sister's chair at the dining table - and certainly nobody wanted to risk moving her, you can never be sure when she will strike...</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">8pm </span>TV watching with my bestie, Rowan. I actually think that if I could take Rowan home with me all the time then I wouldn't miss having a man in the house at all - I'd just hug her all night and it would be <i>brilliant</i>.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">9pm </span>On the way back home I figured it was essential to go to the 24 hour Tesco and stock up on crisps and booze for the rest of the evening. Late night shopping is my all time favourite - it's so empty you feel like you're doing something you shouldn't be doing.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">10pm </span>30 Rock time. It arrived this week and I've been dying to watch it, perfect Saturday night TV.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">11pm </span>Still there, watching 30 Rock. Where I remained until much much later on. I think I watched eight episodes in a row which may be considered overkill by some people.<br />
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So I don't know, I'm torn between thinking "Hey I did do <i>some </i>stuff, even though I had nothing really planned" and thinking "Well. This highlights how empty my life is doesn't it?"<br />
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Only time will tell...<br />
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Thanks as always to <a href="http://isthatyoudarling.co.uk/" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Jane</a><b> </b>and <b><a href="http://www.duck-in-a-dress.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Louisa</a> </b>for hosting. Check in with them for March's Photo an Hour date and don't forget to join in on Twitter and Instagram using #PhotoAnHour<br />
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<i>2015 Photo an Hour Posts</i><br />
<b><a href="http://randomdaydreaming.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/photo-hour-l-17th-january.html" target="_blank">January</a></b><br />
<br />The Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550480429586819194noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4530190092034193112.post-65166535278902774612015-02-22T10:00:00.000+00:002015-02-22T10:00:00.713+00:00How Shrove Tuesday 2015 Went Down I nearly forgot about Shrove Tuesday this year. And when I did remember I found it hard to summon up the energy to actually make some.<br />
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I always remember pancake day as being a hugely social activity. We'd all be gathered in the kitchen, fighting over what we were going to put in our pancakes, I'd be begging to be allowed to try and flip one, then most likely crying when it didn't work.<br />
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Hanging out on your own, giving yourself a little cheer when you managed to toss the pancake in one swift, professional movement, just felt a little tragic.<br />
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But who was I kidding? I'm a pretty tragic individual anyway, why try and hide from it? Just embrace it and get on with it.<br />
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And I was absolutely <i>gutted </i>when my <i>first </i>pancake, you know, the one that always turns out horribly for some reason, was absolutely perfect and I had no fucker to share my triumph with. I did however take a picture for posterity so I could share it all with you guys almost a week later...<br />
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Then I remembered that of course I'm not alone. I'm never alone whilst I can walk into the lounge and see this little face looking at me...<br />
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Ser Jorah Mormont is no fool. He remembered <b><a href="http://randomdaydreaming.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/shrove-gerbil-tuesday.html" target="_blank">last year</a> </b>when they got pancakes made for them on this special day.</div>
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Not really, they just appears whenever he smells food or hears the rustling of something that sounds like it might be a good packet. </div>
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Like last year I decided to make both the boys a little tiny pancake each, garnished with half a slice of banana, a gerbil chocolate drop and a pumpkin seed. Last year these were whipped away and gobbled so furiously that I didn't get the chance to take a decent picture so this time I was prepared. I put them on a plate and held it outside the cage, meaning if they wanted a pancake they were going to have to come pretty far out, thus maximising the photographic opportunity.</div>
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Seriously. This is my life.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAO4yWui0t4NmUHa1xZXYH_QOoisZaa-V1kDixtFXEpVcXisHhmiaaniJSLWzimAmCHD6Dke_dmPXVMpZmOMQ034yT2h2VWTd1RTHkQScuTCMAZYQV-ebT3hnLhQfFpn0iIBQaF-BGPm7P/s1600/17th+feb+gerbils+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAO4yWui0t4NmUHa1xZXYH_QOoisZaa-V1kDixtFXEpVcXisHhmiaaniJSLWzimAmCHD6Dke_dmPXVMpZmOMQ034yT2h2VWTd1RTHkQScuTCMAZYQV-ebT3hnLhQfFpn0iIBQaF-BGPm7P/s1600/17th+feb+gerbils+.jpg" height="283" width="400" /></a></div>
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Sure enough Ser Jorah Mormont took the bait and came out to have a little investigation. Tyrion Lannister had unfortunately just taken a bit of museli out of the food bowl and was furiously trying to eat it as fast as possible so he didn't miss out. It's hard to eat quickly when you only have a little gerbil mouth though, I bet they wish they had pouches like hamsters.</div>
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What I hadn't counted on is the fact that after a year has gone by, the gerbils are cool as a cucumber when it comes to being around me. They're not frightened of being picked up and most importantly they know that if they stay still they are almost definitely going to be rewarded with food.</div>
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And so, rather than whip the pancake back into the gerbilarium to eat it, Ser Jorah Mormont just decided to hang out on the plate I had kindly provided.</div>
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LOOK AT HIS FACE.</div>
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Have you ever seen anything so ridiculously cute in your entire life?</div>
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Can you also see how even when you think you've given a gerbil a really small pancake, it actually turns out to be outrageously massive?*</div>
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Can you imagine how cute <i>two </i>gerbils eating pancakes are?</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*<i>After a minute or so and a lot of pictures I took the pancakes away as I really didn't think they should be eating so much. I know, I'm super mean.</i></span>The Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550480429586819194noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4530190092034193112.post-4704679693560235292015-02-17T19:57:00.003+00:002015-02-17T19:57:57.666+00:00How I won at Valentine's DayI saw a plethora of blog posts last week all revolving around the subject of Valentine's Day. All started with the same sentence <i>"Personally my boyfriend and I don't really bother with Valentine's Day..."</i> and then proceeded to either try and sell me something from a company that was loosely related to the day <i>or </i><span style="font-size: x-small;">(my personal favourite) </span>provide a list of "alternative" things to do on Valentine's Day.<br />
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I eventually had to move my laptop to another room to prevent myself from throwing it against a wall.<br />
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Smug fuckers.<br />
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And the thing was I used to be one of those smug fuckers. Kind of. I've never understood the whole hating on Valentine's Day thing. Sure I've never gone the whole hog, buying insane presents and going out and awkwardly sitting in a restaurant with every other couple in the vicinity, but I have appreciated the day for what it is; a nice opportunity to turn the person you love and go <i>"Hey, did you know I love you?"</i><br />
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No you shouldn't need just one day to tell someone you love them and yes it probably is a sad indictment of your relationship if you throw a tantrum because your other half didn't get you a big enough bunch of flowers, but why would you pass up the opportunity to be a bit romantic?<br />
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Which is probably why the lead up to Valentine's Day was rough <i>as </i>this year. Everywhere I went it was as if there were flashing red and pink neon signs up saying "YOU'RE ALONE!" something of which I'm already aware thaaaaaanks.<br />
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Luckily for me I had a hot date in the diary for Saturday with lovely bloggy people <b><a href="http://www.fatfrocks.com/" target="_blank">Gemma</a>, <a href="http://www.frillsnspills.com/" target="_blank">Maria</a>, <a href="http://www.amilliondresses.com/" target="_blank">Sarah</a>, <a href="http://misspond.com/" target="_blank">Emma</a></b> and <b><a href="http://www.littlewinter.net/" target="_blank">Katy</a>. </b>That means there were four of <a href="http://randomdaydreaming.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/12-go-mad-in-derbyshire.html" target="_blank"><b>Team Norbury</b></a> around a table which made me happy. (Really I just like an excuse to link to that blog post, it stills makes me laugh like a drain.)<br />
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At <b><a href="http://www.jamieoliver.com/italian/restaurants/birmingham" target="_blank">Jamie's</a> </b>we did the usual - ate food, drank some stuff and inwardly (and sometimes outwardly) cringed at the over-familiarity of the wait staff. It was my first time at a Jamie's and it was...you know....okay. I'm all down with the aesthetics they have going on but the food was only alright for the price you pay and the acoustics were <i>dreadful. </i>It was absolutely rammed and there were times when we could hardly hear each other speak.</div>
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I don't really know where the time went but before I knew it I was racing back to the train station and hopping on a train to go back home.</div>
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The bad feelings could have returned again, coming back home to an empty flat whilst everything on the internet and the TV was all about love, romance and the sexy stuff, but I knew how to keep those bad boys at bay.</div>
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All I needed was two simple ingredients.</div>
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A Chinese takeaway and Top Gun on TV.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx-wG7wKPqxtucvbIAYt2NVhzgvmFNwo948mz696BvVTnS_u4nlPTQ2g-gMmnlOSh__6ox7Li1F3KRMnUwPt9_o4tJYqYRV-1YamUiHIu1wvf9B3Lw9G7_ZQFkotCPlGY8Gno8sZN6hqCk/s1600/Top+Gun+watching.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx-wG7wKPqxtucvbIAYt2NVhzgvmFNwo948mz696BvVTnS_u4nlPTQ2g-gMmnlOSh__6ox7Li1F3KRMnUwPt9_o4tJYqYRV-1YamUiHIu1wvf9B3Lw9G7_ZQFkotCPlGY8Gno8sZN6hqCk/s1600/Top+Gun+watching.png" height="240" width="400" /></a></div>
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Oh and a third ingredient. </div>
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Twitter so I could just tweet quotes from the film ad finitum.</div>
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Suck it Valentine's Day. I win.</div>
<br />The Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550480429586819194noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4530190092034193112.post-56258099785365714682015-02-12T19:05:00.002+00:002015-03-17T16:36:23.287+00:00Edward's Menagerie - A ReviewI am starting to gather quite the collection of amigurumi crochet books. I hadn't realised how out of control it was getting until they all fell down on the bookshelf the other day and the resounding clash made me spill of cup of tea.<br />
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Anyway, one of the latest editions has become by far and away my favourite of all time and I want to rush up to people on the street and urge them to buy it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnOa-YxoydK50IBe7XpRXsekQhLTqhHYDgU1kQGglJCyZq_L7H9E9wHZkrqQIzH00FDsjPCeL6ZBaRJL5aTdJjgoCu8pVlq1pR7YUUN2hJO35Q5-wM0B0Kxmt3YQuSJT5Qx8_17gGj3QKp/s1600/eds+animals+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnOa-YxoydK50IBe7XpRXsekQhLTqhHYDgU1kQGglJCyZq_L7H9E9wHZkrqQIzH00FDsjPCeL6ZBaRJL5aTdJjgoCu8pVlq1pR7YUUN2hJO35Q5-wM0B0Kxmt3YQuSJT5Qx8_17gGj3QKp/s1600/eds+animals+1.png" height="400" width="240" /></a></div>
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I received Edward's Menagerie as a Christmas present, along with two balls of <a href="http://www.thetoftalpacashop.co.uk/home.aspx" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Toft Alpaca Yarn</a> and immediately started itching to get hooking. Christmas dinner be damned, I had crocheting for myself to be doing!<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Reason number one that I love this book</span>: Detail. Detail detail detail detail detail.<br />
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I love a bit of detail, I like rules, I like instructions, I like being lazy and having someone tell me exactly what to do and this book offers you that. Not in a super annoying patronizing way, but in a super informative brilliant way.<br />
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There is a section which shows you the different sizes of animals and what hook and yarn size you will need to create those. There's a section that talks to you about stuffing techniques and how the placement of ears, eyes and noses can really affect the facial expressions of your animal.<br />
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Aah yes, the animals. This book has it all. 40 of them. Forty! And they are not just bog standard boring animals - there isn't just a monkey, there's a monkey, a chimpanzee and a gorilla. There isn't just a cat, there's a flipping aardvark in there. From hippos to palomino ponies and foxes to raccoons, this book has it all.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijtHdn1UGVWy4PKT48kVisrRb-OJX_y_cP7iMiMZyHDdUTgzH37SfRt-rFFyChpuNXStRQ06hznBQGQJA0HJBpB0PCkYWGUFMFrFdlARguVRLlJHOxOZv0pyAGmC24i3M-mRZCV2-UzbaZ/s1600/eds+animals+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijtHdn1UGVWy4PKT48kVisrRb-OJX_y_cP7iMiMZyHDdUTgzH37SfRt-rFFyChpuNXStRQ06hznBQGQJA0HJBpB0PCkYWGUFMFrFdlARguVRLlJHOxOZv0pyAGmC24i3M-mRZCV2-UzbaZ/s1600/eds+animals+2.png" height="400" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Reason number two that I like this book</span>: The animal construction.</div>
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This is so outrageously clever and simple that it blew my mind. Every animal in the book is made up of a standard form, the instructions for which are located at the front of the book. All the arms, legs, bodies and heads start with this basic form and then start to vary once you get into more detail. It means that if you were to make a Highland Cow and a Cheetah - they would still look like they belonged to the same family and therefore would look flipping awesome sat on a shelf together.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Reason number three that I like this book</span>: The flippin' animals! Look look look look.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy76T5qaE5J5cmCReO2tD1A_QHOPjX1qfMa7ELFY6BwlkRrd-NnFlq9yWVupr5X4cyYo4KD6m1sqPDBNg9l7wJEVo0zDG37D4n651i9Sb31RbKOzMnpvBFd6zffRmWExhp_2XaoCUt6IHS/s1600/Eds+Animals+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy76T5qaE5J5cmCReO2tD1A_QHOPjX1qfMa7ELFY6BwlkRrd-NnFlq9yWVupr5X4cyYo4KD6m1sqPDBNg9l7wJEVo0zDG37D4n651i9Sb31RbKOzMnpvBFd6zffRmWExhp_2XaoCUt6IHS/s1600/Eds+Animals+1.png" height="400" width="273" /></a></div>
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This is Benedict the Chimpanzee and isn't he just the bloody best thing you've ever seen, ever?</div>
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Not only is he a decent size <span style="font-size: x-small;">(the photo frame next to him is a standard 6x4 frame)</span> but look how nicely he sits. Again, this is all down to the wonderful instructions given in the book. I am a bit of an over zealous stuffer when it comes to my amigurumi and when I read the suggestion in the book about less is more it totally made sense in my head. The animals in Edward's Menagerie are really lightly stuffed - the arms and legs are just stuffed at the bottom and the body isn't rammed full either, and it means that they sit really beautifully and are fun to hold as well.</div>
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Benedict hasn't stayed with me though, he has gone off to live down South as a present for a work colleague who is having her baby very soon. And no sooner was he off my hook than I have cracked on with the next one, a giraffe for another colleague. I'm hoping no-one else announces they are pregnant as I'm backing myself into a corner with this one...</div>
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<i>(Just one small note - Benedict was made using Stylecraft DK and a 4mm hook. I did start to make something with my Alpaca Wool from Toft and was making it using the 3mm hook as recommended in the book but my crochet stitches tend to be as uptight as I am and it was actually making this guy not very floppy and cuddly and also meant that the beautiful silky wool lost some of its softness.)</i></div>
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[Obviously not a sponsored post - I just like this stuff you guys!]</div>
<br />The Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550480429586819194noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4530190092034193112.post-2282043043385137022015-02-09T22:11:00.001+00:002015-02-09T22:11:16.787+00:00Return to RunningI really think I've got the hang of it this time guys. I know you must be bored of hearing it but this time, <i>this time, </i>I think I've cracked running.<br />
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I know that periodically posts appear on here where I say something along the lines of "<i>I know I stopped running but now I've started again and I'm really loving it again.</i>"<br />
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Well guess what?<br />
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I'm not going to buck the trend.<br />
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Last year was a bad year for me running-wise. A <i>really </i>bad year. Messed up knees, a messed up calf, sciatica - good lord it was dreadful. Nearly every time I went out running I felt bad after it - if not physically, then mentally. If I didn't run as fast or as far as I did the time before I berated myself for 'losing it', if I <i>did </i>run faster or further then I berated myself for not running <i>even </i>faster or further.<br />
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I came home from runs and cried. I came home from runs and sulked. I came home and swore I wouldn't go out running again. I didn't enjoy it, I made it as little fun as I possibly could.<br />
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Not this time. I have said that this year I would like to beat my 10k time as part of my Not Really Resolutions and to that end I've signed up for a couple of 10ks this year as some motivation. But the memories of last year were running deep and I was finding every excuse under the sun to not go out and run - it would be too hard, it was too cold, it was too dark etc etc.<br />
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Eventually I snapped. I came home from work one evening and decided enough was enough. I put on my stuff and just went out before I had time to think about it. I figured that of <i>course </i>it was going to be rubbish - the last time I'd run was the beginning of September and I was now at the end of January. But the important thing was to just get out, make the first move, go go go go.<br />
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And I went.<br />
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I went out and ran 3km. Without stopping. I couldn't really believe it. And I couldn't work out why it had happened.<br />
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It happened because I wasn't mean to myself. I just went out just to see what would happen. I didn't place any expectations on myself and the whole way round I didn't have a loop running in my head saying "<i>Oh my god you can't do this, you're definitely going to be too tired</i>". Instead I channelled my inner <b><a href="http://www.thisgirlcan.co.uk/" target="_blank">This Girl Can</a> </b>and said to myself "<i>Hey, at least you're not sat on the sofa like you would have been. You're already winning</i>."<br />
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I went out running a couple of days later and it was much harder - it was absolutely freezing and I've been battling a mega cough for about three weeks - the cold air hit my lungs and shrivelled them up and induced a couple of such major coughing fits that at one point I thought I was going to throw up in the street. But I finished off coughing, assured the old couple who thought I was about to keel over that I was fine and carried on running. And I came home and said "<i>Good work, you carried on running even though it was rubbish</i>."<br />
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I went again and it was all fine. My knee hurt a bit afterwards so I didn't go out running again until it was properly better. I didn't try and force the issue and run through it. And when I went out running tonight it was the best out of the four runs.<br />
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I haven't once said to myself "<i>You're </i><i><u>only</u> running 3km, you should be running further by now.</i>" When I feel like it, I'll run further and see how it goes. No more saying I have to run the whole thing. Eventually I'll be able to run the whole way. It might take absolutely ages, I might not beat my 10k time this year. But I'd rather not beat it and enjoy running than drive myself into a pit of despair and injury again by being constantly mean to myself the whole time.<br />
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So there are no training plans. There is no pressure. There is no more apologising that I haven't run that far or that fast.<br />
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Going out and doing any kind of running is better than sitting in on your arse.<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Remind me of this post when I'm having a freak out that I'm not "improving", yeah?</span></i>The Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550480429586819194noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4530190092034193112.post-52846628751675420472015-02-06T10:00:00.000+00:002015-02-06T10:00:07.909+00:00The Staves - Rescue Rooms, NottinghamBack in 2011 I went over to Belfast to see some family. Whilst over there we went to a gig in The Grand Opera House where I saw a band called <a href="http://www.thestaves.com/" target="_blank"><b>The Staves</b></a> who were the support act for James Vincent McMorrow.<br />
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This is why blogging is good you know - you can read about that trip and that gig right <a href="http://randomdaydreaming.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/belfast.html" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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We wandered in in the middle of their set and to say I was blown away was an enormous understatement. The first song I heard them sing was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvtT8i8rOJY" target="_blank"><b>Winter Trees</b></a> and it gave me shivers, it really did. That harmonising, the together-ness, the absolute silence of the audience whilst they were singing. I'm hesitant to use the word 'magical' because it sounds hugely wanky but instead let's just say that that moment stuck with me for a long time.<br />
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It stuck with me so much in fact that I have waited patiently for four long year before getting the chance to see them again. I have tried in the past but they either haven't played anywhere near me, or I haven't had anyone to go with.<br />
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My patience <span style="font-size: x-small;">(and complete stalking of Facebook, Twitter and signing up to newsletters)</span> paid off and when I saw that there was going to be a new tour taking place in 2015 to celebrate the release of their new album and that they were playing even a little bit vaguely near me at The <a href="http://www.rescuerooms.com/" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Rescue Rooms</a> in Nottingham I snapped those tickets up.<br />
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And I mean <i>snapped</i> as soon as they went on sale in a kind of unnecessary frenzy.<br />
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Unfortunately the new album, <i>If I Was</i>, is yet to be released, the victim of record company re-scheduling, meaning that The Staves are out there playing songs from an album that none of the audience have heard. </div>
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Actually a pretty daunting prospect when you think about it.</div>
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But it hasn't stopped fans like me and when I last checked their tour is all but sold out on two dates. </div>
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My friend and I packed into The Rescue Rooms on Wednesday and I have never heard a crowd so silent as these unbelievably talented ladies changed their guitars and re-tuned between songs. So silent that I felt bad for coughing. Such the level of respect that fans are willing to just stand and wait with baited breath until they are ready to sing again.</div>
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It is rare beyond words to have the pleasure of listening to a band that sound exactly the same as the album that you have been listening to through your headphones for years but standing in that room felt like being in my living room - just with a lot of extra middle-aged, bearded people as well.</div>
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No-one cared that the new songs were new, it's impossible to not get swept away on the rivers of harmonies that sweep over you, I was a fan of some of the newer songs that feature a lot more instrumentals on and the effect on the crowd was immediate when the bouncier numbers were played. </div>
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And that is how rare and special their talent is. To be able to write and perform songs which verge more into the 'pop-ier' scene at the same time as performing beautiful and simple unaccompanied harmonies which belong more on the folk side.</div>
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They performed some of the favourites from the last album, <i>Dead & Born & Grown</i>, including Winter Trees which was every bit as beautiful as I remembered it being four years ago.</div>
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It was worth the wait, but I hope I won't have to wait this long before seeing them again.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">(By the way - you can pre-order the upcoming album, If I Was, on that there iTunes. You should do it.)</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Only one week into February and I've officially ticked off this month's Not Really Resolution to go somewhere new. I'm on fire baby.</span></i>The Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550480429586819194noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4530190092034193112.post-2810659047454675542015-02-04T10:00:00.000+00:002015-02-04T10:00:08.680+00:00Bradgate Park - The Winter EditionI set myself a whole load of <a href="http://randomdaydreaming.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/the-not-really-resolutions-2015.html" target="_blank"><b>Not Really Resolutions</b></a> this year and have then been steadily not living up to them ever since. We're in February and I still haven't been to any Park Runs <span style="font-size: x-small;">(although I have cast iron excuses for not going, I swear)</span> and the end of January was looming and I <i>still </i>hadn't been somewhere I'd never been before.<br />
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Inspiration was close at hand though and not only would I get to tick something off my list, I'd also get to meet up with one of my favourites, <a href="http://wordsthatcanonlybeyourown.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank"><b>Janet</b></a>. After mentioning on Twitter that I fancied a stomp around <a href="http://bradgatepark.org/" target="_blank"><b>Bradgate Park</b></a> she said she would keep me company on my stomping, and more importantly, lead me to the tea shop on the way.<br />
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I haven't had a little adventure in my car in a really long time and this was the first time that I got to use one of my Christmas presents, I lovely shiny sat nav. Although hilarity ensued when I set off and realised that after I had been messing around with some free voice downloads I had forgotten to change it back and had a goulish, monster voice, complete with echo, telling me to take the third exit off the roundabout.</div>
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We picked the winteriest of wintery days to make our stomping happen. The previous day had seen Tiny Town completely grind to a halt because of the snow and although it had mostly disappeared amidst the snow and rain there was an accompanying biting wind, whipping around our faces.</div>
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We duly stomped all the way to the top of the hill to see <a href="http://bradgatepark.org/about-us-2/old-john/" target="_blank"><b>Old John Tower</b></a> and the views out over Leicestershire and then completed a much more ginger form of stomping back down the hill which made me want to categorise the walk as PG - containing scenes of mild peril.</div>
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Seriously. Walking down a steep hill when there's no paved path and it's been raining has given me free reign to describe myself as doing my own stunts.</div>
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I didn't fall though. Came close. But no falling.</div>
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It felt so very very British. The scenery was that odd sort of beautiful because it was so bleak and yet felt homely at the same time. Janet said that it reminded her of really Northern scenery and I have to agree, I don't know what it was about it, possibly the hills, but it felt homely to me.</div>
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We walked past the ruins of Bradgate House and even saw some deer which I thought would definitely remain unseen. I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to take photos of them armed only with my phone. Not going to happen. You'll just have to take my word for it - deer were there and they were pretty.</div>
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After refuelling at the tea shop we not so much stomped as trudged back to the car. The icy wind had been behind us on the way down and was very much in our faces on the way back up. The pain in my face was unreal and it definitely stopped being fun pretty soon into it and just became something to be endured and got through.</div>
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Back at our cars and marvelling at our terribly muddy boots and wellies <span style="font-size: x-small;">(nothing like a good bit of British muddy countryside to make you feel virtuous)</span> I had one of my most brilliant ideas. We should come back each season and stomp around and fully take in how the scenery changes. When I say "we" there's a strong possibility that it's just going to be me stomping about, I haven't worked out yet if I have persuaded Janet to come a-stomping through the seasons with me. But I can hope.</div>
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And yes. We are rubbish bloggers. We missed the opportunity to take photos of our scones in the tea shop, photos of our muddy boots and an excellent backdrop for some outfit photos. Damn.</div>
<br />The Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550480429586819194noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4530190092034193112.post-84147025025859560242015-02-02T20:03:00.000+00:002015-02-02T20:03:00.224+00:00Crochet LoveHands up if you love cool things to crochet that don't take long to make?<br />
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Oh my goodness me too!<br />
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What with this being the month that has the Day That Shall Not Be Mentioned in it I have been having a good old play with a couple of patterns that I've had lying around on Pinterest and in this month's Simply Crochet magazine.<br />
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You. Are welcome.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFtHN2FKHo9voKfH7Rvnm7UpMdz6XrIoRn0wHmC7UHOLRU4LjbIBjd4_JHkS2NDrOUAB-DiwtcRqIYzYTUN01OHJmmF_WbKP41oHLcgw-Ar81UxUYhePxryL3-eZ2xLITjn9rDewB65F8r/s1600/Mamachee+heart.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFtHN2FKHo9voKfH7Rvnm7UpMdz6XrIoRn0wHmC7UHOLRU4LjbIBjd4_JHkS2NDrOUAB-DiwtcRqIYzYTUN01OHJmmF_WbKP41oHLcgw-Ar81UxUYhePxryL3-eZ2xLITjn9rDewB65F8r/s1600/Mamachee+heart.png" height="400" width="342" /></a></div>
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<b><a href="http://mamachee.com/2011/01/16/crochet-pattern-little-heart-plushy/" target="_blank">These stuffed hearts</a></b> from Mamachee are surprisingly easy to make and there are a couple of photos which come in handy for some of the trickier parts. (Note the instructions are in American crochet terminology - you can go <a href="http://www.yarnfwd.com/main/crochet.html" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a> for a US to UK stitch conversion)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR_FcrjFG-j2Gb3A8AxMR4LDH3QrSxWU3G7HVmtlkeMbnxa-ktBFa2TNBJD38fGIgoRLtjA8uJNpFLgRDzlQW2pe5tQMq3c7Ohc_GQ0SXt8-DL7X4ZtIrpv5ZAt9q8XOzCxS2_MoEO8mew/s1600/The+Painted+Hinge+hearts.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR_FcrjFG-j2Gb3A8AxMR4LDH3QrSxWU3G7HVmtlkeMbnxa-ktBFa2TNBJD38fGIgoRLtjA8uJNpFLgRDzlQW2pe5tQMq3c7Ohc_GQ0SXt8-DL7X4ZtIrpv5ZAt9q8XOzCxS2_MoEO8mew/s1600/The+Painted+Hinge+hearts.png" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
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I am currently in the middle of making 100 of these one dimensional hearts from <b><a href="http://www.thepaintedhinge.com/2014/02/10/the-easiest-crochet-heart-pattern-ever/" target="_blank">The Painted Hinge</a> </b>for a friend who is getting married this year. The title of the blog post is the Easiest Crochet Heart Pattern Ever and I have to agree. Again, it is in US crochet terminology but once you have that cracked these babies come off your hook at a rate of knots.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWuonHNgCoJZip8syGjDJ7Hfzlj0UR8aHOPPk6601rnCqVXpzTwkWcT-P_XtUQE_VRoINeua6WE2eBi84Mg0aYsGbQ78VnDww9iyRHnaqr8o6PXky7nriLHD-yhnm_zk62-nYIknt9s3r_/s1600/Heart+Brooch+collage.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWuonHNgCoJZip8syGjDJ7Hfzlj0UR8aHOPPk6601rnCqVXpzTwkWcT-P_XtUQE_VRoINeua6WE2eBi84Mg0aYsGbQ78VnDww9iyRHnaqr8o6PXky7nriLHD-yhnm_zk62-nYIknt9s3r_/s1600/Heart+Brooch+collage.png" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
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Finally I made this bad ass brooch, this month's free kit in <a href="http://www.simplycrochetmag.co.uk/" target="_blank"><b>Simply Crochet magazine</b></a> <span style="font-size: x-small;">(Issue 27 - on sale until 5th February) </span>I have worn it most days at work because I am <i>brilliant</i>. I was a little worried that this would be too complicated but it didn't take that long at all and even though you don't stuff it, it would still look great if you did, making it a great alternative to the Mamachee pattern.</div>
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What are you waiting for? Get on it.<br />
The Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550480429586819194noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4530190092034193112.post-16236458607379114202015-01-30T10:00:00.000+00:002015-01-30T10:00:04.671+00:00A little bit of of internet love: Part VI got into the habit towards the end of last year of spreading the internet love but it faded somewhat a while back, mostly because my To Be Read list on Feedly was a dreadfully terrifying number and I kept putting off catching up with blogs.<br />
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But I read <a href="http://www.bonjourblogger.com/resources/show-love/" target="_blank"><b>this post</b></a> on Bonjour Blogger the other day and it reminded me that it's important to keep the love going - talk about the posts you like, tell the <i>bloggers </i>that you liked it etc etc.<br />
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Plus, if I can fill a blog post with other people's blog posts then that's like blogging without actually blogging.<br />
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I've already said the words "blog" and "blogging" too much and now I feel a bit nauseous.<br />
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Anyway. On with the love...<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">1.</span> Have you read any of the Under the Paw books? You should, they are hilarious. But that's an aside. Tom Cox has a Facebook page you should follow, not just because his posts are funny, but because he seems to be followed by a genuinely enormous number of followers who just don't understand that he's joking when he posts. Case in point - <a href="http://littlecatdiaries.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/facebook-where-tongue-in-cheek-humour.html" target="_blank"><b>this little snippet</b></a>.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">2.</span> More love for the boys coming at you in the shape of a post by Mr X Stitch, the frickin' coolest guy cross stitching that I know. I had already heard wind of The Big Comic Relief Crafternoon and was <i>beyond </i>excited to discover that it's got a pattern in there from Mr X Stitch himself! You know what's missing from your walls? A cross-stitched picture of a <a href="http://www.mrxstitch.com/big-comic-relief-crafternoon/" target="_blank"><b>Wrestling Guinea Pig</b></a>, that's what.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">3.</span> Juliet has finally given me an excuse to buy Crayola pencil crayons. You can only bloody<b> <a href="http://www.eversojuliet.com/2015/01/how-to-crayon-lipstick.html" target="_blank">turn them into lipstick</a></b>!<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">4.</span> Oh and if you were feeling hungry, Sarah posted earlier in the month about some<b> <a href="http://www.essbeevee.co.uk/2015/01/10-good-for-you-recipes-to-cook-in.html" target="_blank">incredibly lip-smacking recipes</a></b>. I've made the blue cheese pasta before and it was so glorious it has stayed with me forever. Now I'm feeling an insatiable urge to make it again...<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">5.</span> It wouldn't be a little bit of internet love post without a post from Janet. To be fair, I sometimes just feel like linking to her entire blog because everything she writes I love and wish I could claim as my own. At the moment she and another lovely lady called Steph, are organising a <b><a href="http://wordsthatcanonlybeyourown.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/the-big-blog-clothes-swap.html" target="_blank">Big Blog Clothes Swap</a> </b>an online swap for all shapes and sizes, all you need to do is sign up and you'll be matched with someone else and you can get swapping!<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">6.</span> </b>Louisa posted an amazing tutorial for some absolutely brilliant looking <a href="http://duck-in-a-dress.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/tunnocks-teacakes-coasters.html" target="_blank"><b>Tunnocks Teacakes coasters</b></a>. They look so great and are easy peasy to do. Plus you get to eat for the sake of crafting.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">7</span>. Ben over at The Running Dad wrote a very interesting post entitled "<a href="http://therunningdad.co.uk/2015/01/26/really-need-run-like-hulk/" target="_blank"><b>Do we really need to run like The Hulk?</b></a>" a sentiment which I really need to keep in my brain when I go out running. It's not about "smashing it" and being the best there is, it's about just going out and enjoying yourself, something I definitely need to do more of.<br />
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So that's a little bit of internet love for you - how about you get sharing too - spread the love people, spread the love.<br />
<br />The Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550480429586819194noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4530190092034193112.post-36540894784632154492015-01-28T10:00:00.000+00:002015-01-28T10:00:02.301+00:00A space for meThere were many odd things that I did immediately post break-up.<br />
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One was completely emptying all the cupboards in the kitchen, cleaning them and throwing out things that were past their use by date / bit gross / for no reason whatsoever. Seriously I went to get a lot of things in the couple of months after that I swear I used to have in there and suddenly no longer did.<br />
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Second was a take-over of the space that was the spare bedroom. This had been His domain, where his computer was set up. Where, you know, he'd been sat planning his new life, buying furniture for his new flat whilst I sat oblivious in the next room. Maybe it was my subconscious taking control and wanting to clear the room from as many bad memories as possible, or maybe it just wanting to keep myself busy. Who knows. Either way I set to work carving out a space for myself.<br />
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My crocheted blankets have found a new home hanging out on the sofa-bed and in the days and weekends immediately following the break-up I found myself actually sitting in here quite a bit. It was where I sat when I was on the phone with family and friends as I recounted the story for the umpteenth time and tried to not cry. It was where I took to sitting in the mornings at the weekend, reading books and drinking tea - the sun streams in through the window first thing and it was actually a really nice habit to get into instead of the usual walking into the lounge and turning the TV on to watch something incredibly not good for my brain.</div>
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The desk became a place for me to finally set up my stall to do all my online 'stuff'. Sitting in front of the TV with the laptop burning a hole in my thighs meant that I was never terribly productive. I was too easily distracted from getting stuff done that really needed to be done, like blogging, and also found it too easy to get idly sucked into nonsense on the internet - not really concentrating on the laptop <i>or </i>the TV.</div>
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I have seen <i>many </i>an image of people's home offices and have been tainted with the green fingers of envy looking at their perfect shelves and inspirational washi-taped photos, postcards and platitudes taped to the walls. Somehow I'm just never able to pull it off myself though. I just don't possess the ability to create Pinterest-worthy interiors.</div>
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And so stuff is randomly stuck on the walls with absolutely no order going on whatsoever. I do mean to try and make these a bit more ordered but it's not going to happen. In fact, it's probably my intense need to make them ordered that is my downfall - as much as I love 'randomness' when I look at pictures I'm just not quite capable of creating it in real life.</div>
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Remember, if it's not a right angle it's a......<i>wrong angle</i>!</div>
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My favourite and best stuff is reserved for the corner of the desk. I bought this lamp for Ikea. I picked it up and put it down, and picked it up and put it down again. I knew that I didn't <i>really </i>have anywhere to put it but I just bloody loved it and so home it came with me. And I really didn't have anywhere to put it, until I had the chance to make this space my own and out it promptly came.</div>
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These two postcards are two of my favourites. I have a slight problem for buying postcards that I'm never going to send to people because I want to keep them for myself. I've never had anything to do with them....until <i>now</i>.</div>
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The pigeon postcard makes me smile every, single. day. How could it not? </div>
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The leaf is one that I picked up from the pavement when I was tramping around Leicester with <b><a href="http://wordsthatcanonlybeyourown.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Janet</a> </b>before Christmas. I'm a sucker for leaves in Autumn and it's only fear that people with think I'm a crazy person that I don't constantly stop as I'm walking along and pick them all up. Clearly I am unconcerned about Janet's thoughts about my sanity. </div>
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So this is where I sit when I'm typing up this stuff. Nice to be able to picture where someone is when you're reading the blatherings isn't it?<br />
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I'd ask you to show me pictures of your office but I really don't know I'd be able to keep my jealousy in check...<br />
<br />The Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550480429586819194noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4530190092034193112.post-976489066002216472015-01-26T10:00:00.000+00:002015-01-26T10:00:02.410+00:00Weekend Round UpI feel as if January has completely passed me by. The beginning of the year, followed by two straight weeks of working without a weekend in between, followed by a week of recovery....and now suddenly it's almost February. Hello?<br />
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I did have plans to travel to Manchester this weekend but they were cancelled at the last possible minute meaning that this weekend wasn't quite what I had planned but it was honestly pretty good. I was in need of a full weekend at home, I haven't actually had one yet this year.<br />
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So this weekend was full of;<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Sleeping</span></div>
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I was not cut out for the events industry let me tell you. My six days on-site in Barcelona absolutely trashed me. It's funny really because in the midst of it you just kind of get on with it and happily go troll about during your crazy long working hours, the second I touched down in the UK my body completely crashed. I was dog tired for days and days afterwards and my immune system packed up and I have a cough from hell which I am dragging about with me like a massive mucus-laden load.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Adventuring</span></div>
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Turns out I live pretty close to <a href="http://www.merciamarina.co.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><b>Europe's Largest Inland Marina</b></a> <span style="font-size: x-small;">(living the furthest away from the coast it's possible to in the UK finally pays off?)</span> so I took a little trip with my sister and recalcitrant nephews<span style="font-size: x-small;"> (it's just not worth crowbarring teenagers out of the house is it?)</span> to see what it has to offer. It turns out it has a lot of shops that I can't see being open this time in a year, a farmer's shop which sells a load of stuff from Fentimans and a fuck ton of houseboats. Good to know I say.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Crocheting</span></div>
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A while back I pinned a tutorial for crocheted hearts and a friend who is getting married made a comment joking that she would have 100 of them please. She text me over the weekend to say she was trying to make them but was having issues deciphering the pattern - I hauled out the computer to take a look and made one, and then another, and then another. Then I text her and said was her comment serious because I could almost definitely get 100 hearts crocheted in not too much time. I've managed 50 in about 24 hours. They are addictive...</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Treating</span></div>
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I could have stayed in the house all day on Sunday but at the last minute decided to take a quick trip into Tiny Town to have a cup of tea and a slice of flippin' carrot cake. Because I can.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Gerbil nursing</span><br />
Friday night saw me have a little freak out when I noticed that Ser Jorah Mormont had blood in his urine. After a dash to Pets at Home to get a box to put him in and a dash to the vets I have the teeniest vials of medicine and the teeniest syringe and the teeniest dosage instructions - a mere 2 drops twice a day. The vet thinks he has a kidney infection but wasn't too concerned about him as he is still his same old self - eating, drinking, eating, eating, digging, eating etc etc. He's taking his medicine like a dream because I put the 2 drops on a piece of nut. I've spent a lot of time this weekend watching gerbils wee. Tyrion has been a champ looking after Ser Jorah, giving him a good ol' groom and has been enjoying his favourite past-time - jumping in the box containing his museli when I'm filling up their food bowl.<br />
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<br />The Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550480429586819194noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4530190092034193112.post-22344494336820393062015-01-23T10:00:00.000+00:002015-01-23T10:00:04.347+00:00Things not to say to someone who has seen their relationship endIt's tough when one of your friends breaks up with someone. You know they're hurt and you have no idea what to say to them and you don't know if it's best if you should ask them about it all the time, or shouldn't ask them about it at all and you don't know how they're going to react to fairly innocuous questions about the demise of the their relationship.<br />
<br />
I get that. I really do.<br />
<br />
But in the interests of public health, here are some things which you <b>shouldn't </b>say to someone who is going through a break up<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">1. "You know where I am"</span><br />
<br />
I know what you're thinking. What's this girl's problem. Of <i>course </i>you would let your friend know you're there for them.<br />
<br />
The thing is, this phrase does not let your friend know you're there for them. This phrase says "<i>I'm not really going to to bother with you unless you come to me. So....good luck with everything you're going through.</i>"<br />
<br />
I have a string of texts from people who uttered those words in the days after the break up. That was the last I've heard of them and I couldn't tell you where they were. In the midst of it all I couldn't have told you where <i>I </i>was, let alone where they were.<br />
<br />
Don't tell someone "You know where I am" let them <i>know </i>where you are. It is <i>your </i>responsibility to keep in touch with them and ask them if they're doing ok, it is not their responsibility to ask for your help. Call, text, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter - there are a myriad of ways to get in touch with someone and <i>let </i>them know where you are. Ask them out to dinner, ask if you can come round - they may say no, they probably will say no, get over it and show them that you are there.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">2. "You're so strong, you're coping so well with it all, I'd be in pieces."</span><br />
<br />
Again. What's wrong with telling someone that they're doing well? Surely this gees them up and makes them feel good about themselves?<br />
<br />
No no. The trouble is this phrase is almost certainly paired with Number 1.<br />
<br />
You see I don't have any choice <i>but </i>to be strong, because I'm doing this on. my. own, Am I going to sit down and curl up in a ball and cry? Actually yes, yes I am, and I do, <i>all the time</i>, but I'm not going to do it at work or when I'm out with friends because that would be super awkward and creepy for everyone. Of <i>course </i>I'm going to go to work and laugh and joke and seem normal, what else is there to do?<br />
<br />
When someone says to you "<i>You're so strong</i>" it immediately puts a huge roadblock in the path to showing your true feelings. Now they've said that to you, you feel like you can't have a little breakdown and freak out. Sometimes I don't <i>want </i>to be strong, I want to feel like shit and not be happy go lucky.<br />
<br />
By saying "<i>You're coping so well with it all, I'd be in pieces</i>" there is an implicit judgement in there for the recipient of that phrase. Oh so you think I'm a heartless bitch who has got over her relationship in double quick time. That's nice. And so untrue. I still cry most weekends when I'm stuck in the house by myself and I cry and feel miserable on other days of the week too. Yes those days are lessening but they're there still. Just because I'm not sobbing over my keyboard or stabbing pins into a voodoo doll over the lunch table don't assume that I'm "<i>coping with it so well</i>."<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">3. "I envy you your space."</span><br />
<br />
This is one of my personal favourites and is only ever uttered by people who are in relationships.<br />
<br />
No. You don't envy my space. You don't envy that one day I came home to discover that my one ally in life was not only leaving but was a complete stranger to me. You don't envy that I went from splitting my bills with someone to being responsible for them on my own.<br />
<br />
What <i>you </i>want is an evening/weekend to yourself when your other half is out/away and you can have a bubble bath and watch crappy TV and paint your nails. You don't envy that I spend every weekend in on my own. You sit at home on a Saturday night, with your other half and your takeaway, watching Take Me Out and laughing at all the desperate single people - I'm sat on my own doing the same and trust me, you <i>don't </i>envy me.<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">4. "Have you heard from him at all?"</span><br />
<br />
This just acts as a reminder that no, no I have not heard from him. Yes he was the biggest part of my life for a huge period of time and yes he did indeed turn his back completely on it and sever all contact completely. Thanks for reminding me.<br />
<br />
Also trust me, if I hear from him, believe me I'll let you know.<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">5. "You'll meet someone else."</span><br />
<br />
Just....don't.<br />
<br />
-------------------------------------------------<br />
<br />
Arm yourself with these and you'll be able to be a fabulous friend to someone in need.<br />
<br />
Good luck.<br />
<br />
<br />The Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550480429586819194noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4530190092034193112.post-90574206488628683112015-01-21T10:00:00.000+00:002015-01-21T10:00:03.961+00:00On many a cactus l America 2014; Part 6We have reached the end.<br />
<br />
I know there was a point where you probably thought it was never going to end, but I said I was going to get this done within a year of me being in America and damnit if I set myself a goal I'm going to achieve it.<br />
<br />
So just a re-cap of what the hell was going on in America and why I was there:<br />
<br />
I was over there to see <a href="http://randomdaydreaming.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/on-watching-your-best-friend-getting.html" target="_blank"><b>American Girl and American Boy get married</b></a> which was, as you would expect, brilliant. But before that happened I got to do some good old traditional American stuff like watching a <b><a href="http://randomdaydreaming.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/of-planes-and-baseball-america-2014.html" target="_blank">Spring training baseball game</a> </b>and then embarked on a four day road trip which took in more sights than it should be possible to take in in that amount of time.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://randomdaydreaming.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/on-driving-and-monument-valley-america.html" target="_blank"><b>Day One</b></a> - Drive from Phoenix to Monument Valley<br />
<a href="http://randomdaydreaming.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/on-four-corners-and-mexican-hats-l.html" target="_blank"><b>Day Two</b></a> - Drive from Monument Valley to Four Corners and then to Page, Arizona<br />
<a href="http://randomdaydreaming.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/on-antelope-canyon-l-america-2014-part-4.html" target="_blank"><b>Day Three</b></a> - Visit to Antelope Canyon and then a drive to the Grand Canyon<br />
<a href="http://randomdaydreaming.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/on-grand-canyon-l-america-2014-part-5.html" target="_blank"><b>Day Four</b></a> - Visit to the Grand Canyon and then back to Phoenix<br />
<br />
Once I was back and weddinged out there was time for one more piece of adventuring in Phoenix - this time heading out to the <a href="http://www.dbg.org/" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Desert Botanical Garden</a>.<br />
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I'll be honest it wasn't my choice to go. There were a couple of other people over from England who were without a car and they had suggested going and if I had said "<i>Naaaaaah, don't fancy it</i>" then no-one would have been able to go. And nobody wants to be that girl do they?<br />
<br />
In my head botanical gardens are kind of boring. They tend to be something that you're dragged to on a wet weekend where you are trailed into a slightly damp and muggy over-sized greenhouse where you wander around looking at ferns on steroids.<br />
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But you see I forgot that a botanical garden in Phoenix is not going to be the same as a botanical garden in Belfast. For a start - it's in the flippin' desert innit? No need for the greenhouse! And no ferns on steroids here, instead, about 4 billion types of cactus. And we all know that cacti are hilarious to look at.<br />
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Not only were there cacti there but there was wildlife to spot - we saw an actual roadrunner <span style="font-size: x-small;">(it is not blue and it did not say "<i>meep meep</i>" which was a huge disappointment, but it <i>did </i>run almost horizontally so it pulled it back slightly for me.)</span> - and we were lucky enough to be there at the same time that there was an exhibition by <a href="http://www.chihuly.com/" target="_blank"><b>Chihuly</b></a>, a glass sculptor whose work can be seen over here in England in the form of the glass chandelier in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%26A_Rotunda_Chandelier" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">V&A Rotunda</a>.<br />
<br />
His pieces of work were dotted all over the gardens, popping up in unexpected places and I'm almost ashamed to admit that I <i>may </i>have once or twice mistaken a sculpture for a real cactus, only to be terribly disappointed that the very pretty thing was glass and not nature.<br />
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It was actually a really fun tramp around, you could walk for miles without realising and some of the views were absolutely beautiful. There are several trails that you can take around the gardens and there's a wildflower and butterfly garden. (Although I stayed away from the butterfly garden because let's all remember that they are the creatures of the devil and not to be trusted.)<br />
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If I hadn't have gone, I'd have probably spent the day recovering from the wedding and being hungover on the sofa, which I can't lie would have been pretty good fun but pretty much a waste of a day when this was the other option.</div>
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So the rules to remember. Botanical Gardens in deserts? Not boring.</div>
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You are welcome,</div>
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And we're done.<br />
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Now I need to plan what to do <i>next </i>time I go over there...<br />
<br />The Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550480429586819194noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4530190092034193112.post-16082680218279277292015-01-19T10:00:00.000+00:002015-01-19T21:47:50.590+00:00Photo an Hour l 17th January When I discovered that first Photo an Hour date was set for the 17th January I immediately thought to myself that I wouldn't bother. I knew that Saturday 17th January was going to be a fairly rubbish day for me. It would be the first day off I had had in thirteen days as I had gone straight from my first week back at work, straight through a week on-site in Barcelona, straight to another event in London.<br />
<br />
In other words I was going to be absolutely shattered.<br />
<br />
But I sucked it up and got on with it. After all, someone's day might be busy and someone's day might be lazy - what would mine have in store?<br />
<br />
This was Saturday 17th January...<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">09.30</span> Quite the luxurious lie in compared to the days I'd had in the previous weeks but I was still shattered as I had not been to bed until gone 4am the day before. Not because I was being a huge party animal, but because <i>other </i>people were being huge party animals and I ended up taking care of some people - taking them to bed when it was time for the party to end, returning them to bed when they decided their party wasn't over...I was incredibly unimpressed. I felt I deserved a fry up.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">10.30</span> In hindsight I should have just packed up and gone home. I left my house at 4.30am the previous Saturday and was keen to just get home, but being the nice person I am I was checking on people and making sure they were ok and helping them to get ready to check out, helping them pack their bags, ringing their rooms to make sure they were still alive etc etc. Oh I'm being serious. There were some real party people and I was rapidly losing my patience, wanting to be out of the hotel and on a train.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">11.30</span> Everyone rounded up, in a taxi and finally at St Pancras station ready to return home.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">12.20</span> Essential train snackagement.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">13.30</span> No photo as I was train sleeping after train snacking<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">14.20</span> The best photo of my day. Finally back at home and <i>finally </i>getting to see my two little gerbil bums. I had missed them so much whilst I was away and you know what? I think they missed me.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">15.30</span> Unpacking. A.k.a. chucking everything all over my bed and then sifting through the debris and putting a load of washing on.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">16.30</span> Washing finished and hung up. On-site uniform is where super boring ugly clothes come to die. Black dresses, white shirts, black tights - bleurgh.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">17.30</span> Time to catch up with The Archers after my week away. I could wait for the omnibus the next day but what would be the fun in that when the podcasts are downloaded and ready to go?<br />
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18.30 No food in the house. What better excuse than to order a takeaway...<br />
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19.45 ...which didn't arrive for over an hour. I was ridiculously hungry.<br />
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20.40 On the sofa beneath cushions, blanket and big wrap. I was not up for moving any time soon.<br />
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21.30 After a brief nap under my cushion/blanket/wrap pile I decided it was time to blow the candles out before I burned down the flat and take myself to bed where I promptly slept for over twelve hours.<br />
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.............................................<br />
<br />
Many thanks to <a href="http://duck-in-a-dress.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank"><b>Louisa</b></a> for hosting - check out her blog for February's Photo an Hour date and don't forget that you can join in on Twitter and Instagram using #photoanhour<br />
<br />The Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550480429586819194noreply@blogger.com8