Rhodes: In Pictures

I took most of my holiday snaps with the camera on my phone as I nearly always have that with me. I did that my Canon with me as well and took it out with us a few days (my family would have soon got fed up with me if I took out with us all the time). Although, the island was very quiet, I am unsure whether this is due to the time of year or the economic climate, or both, but I also found it quite beautiful. The different towns and sides of the island varied considerably, I loved the contrast.

Here are a few of my favourite photos from our holiday, some have been taken with my phone and others the Canon.

I would love to hear your thoughts, have you ever been to Rhodes or a Greek Island?

Please do not copy any of my photos without asking first

My Bank Holiday Weekend

Why does time off always seem to go by so fast? My five days off have sadly come to an end so I thought I would spend some time reflecting and sharing what I got up to. Thursday morning I dedicated to being kind to myself, relaxing in front of the tv catching up with some of the programmes I had recorded and having cuddles with my two cats. A few hours of the afternoon was spent looking at a job application I had promised myself I'd complete the week before. When school was finished I went bowling and stuffed myself with Pizza with a friend and his niece. Not a bad start to a little break from work!

Friday I spent the day with one of my closest friends, we did a little bit of shopping, me for my holiday and her for her baby who is due in May. We spent the afternoon taking some photographs of my friend, bump and her boyfriend. I know I'm a little biased but I think there are loads of really cute photos and am really pleased that I managed to capture some beautiful moments. I took most of them using the manual settings as I like to take them in black and white but I also tried to change different settings, wanting to get the light right and a blurred background in some (which didn't quite work). I have made the decision that after July when I hopefully, will know where I am going to be based for work, I am going to look into starting a photography course so I can learn more and improve my knowledge and skills.

 

Saturday was another day dedicated to relaxing. I didn't leave the house all day, I don't think I really left the sofa for very long.

Sunday was spent with family. My Sister, her boyfriend and I went to my parents for a roast dinner. Dinner was served around 2.30, I arrived just before two having left mine a bit earlier to pick up a few extra bits for my Sister and her boyfriend. My Sister arrived almost at the same time as the plates were being placed onto the table. It was lovely to have everyone sat together around the table, to spend time talking and laughing together. We swapped Easter Eggs and moved into the lounge to watch a film and some Gogglebox before heading home.

I'm not too sure why but I have not been in the best mood since Thursday. I find this odd and annoying because it has dampened my time off and things I enjoy like spending time with my friends and family. I wonder if it's stress and anxiety around the change that will quite possibly come in July when my contract ends at work. Although, I am feeling positive about the application I mentioned, I am still sad about changing teams as I have worked hard making friends and getting to know the colleagues in the team I am in and also there is a big cloud of uncertainty hanging over my head.

To try and shake this negative feeling off I knew I could not spend today inside so as soon as there was a break in the rain I grabbed my coat and walking boots and headed out. I drove to Brandon Country Park which is about an hour from where I live. I paid to park for over 2 hours which only cost me £2.50 and headed off into the forest. It was beautiful and peaceful. Even when the wind got up and blew hard through the trees it sounded like waves crashing on a shoreline which is always a comforting sound to me. I love the opportunity to be outside in the fresh air, the slight smells from the mud underfoot and the trees brought a smile to my face. A few patches of squelchy mud made me feel childlike and I wished I had my wellington boots on instead and could jump and wriggle around in it. I chose to do the 3.5 mile route and felt comfortable completing it alone as unlike some other places I have visited, this route is really well signposted so I had no fear or anxieties about getting lost. It took me just over an hour to get back to the visitor centre and café where I started, good timing as I was starting to get hungry. I popped in for an egg and cress bap and a latte which again only cost me about £5.50. I really should make more of an effort to visit more often, I felt really positive during my walk and on my way home. It felt good to have gotten out of the house, to get some fresh air, to be outside in open spaces, to feel productive and for the sun to show its face.

Hope you had a good bank holiday weekend, how did you spend it?

A Day in the Life Of...Me

I don't function very well until I have had at least one cup of coffee

Pancakes, fruit and honey for brunch

Spent some time with my two boys

Decided to walk into town, needed to get a birthday card for a friend and a thank you card for my Grandad's carer who's last day is tomorrow. I want to thank her for everything she has done for Grandad and my family.

Also made a trip to the library. Still love spending time browsing the shelves. I pick up books based on their titles, then what the covers look like and then I read the blurb. So some may say don't judge a book by it's cover but that is the second thing I judge it by after the title.

I stopped by to see an elderly neighbour on my way home who lives on the top floor of this block of flats (there is no lift).

Following this I went to watch Spotlight at the cinema but didn't take my camera with me

I attempted a homemade pesto and mozzarella pizza. It was tasty but not very photogenic

I try and write in my journal every night

Snuggled in my pj's I needed to choose which library book to start first

How has your weekend been?

Road Trip: Struggles and Successes

Although I have titled the post Struggles and Successes I want to start with 5 of my favourite things from the road trip. Diving straight back into my every day life after coming home means that sometimes it feels as if I didn't really go away. For this reason it was really nice to go through the photos I took while I was away this afternoon. I borrowed my Dad's laptop to connect my camera and saved a few to include today.

Dartmoor National Park

My Favourite Things

1. Wide, open spaces and a sense of space and freedom
2. My horse ride on Dartmoor
3. Bizzare Bath
4. The coastal path walk from Lands End to Sennen Cove
5. An evening relaxing in the Thermae Bath Spa
6. The Lost Gardens
7. Cute local art galleries
8. Eating a proper Cornish Pasty and cream teas
9. Walking along Newquay beach with my toes in the sea
10. Overcoming challenges

Usually if a challenge arises my first action is to quite possibly panic, closely followed by a phone call to my Dad. On the third day of the trip I had a difficult time locating my B&B in Dartmoor, when I finally arrived, following directions from a pub around the corner, and checked in I decided to head back to the pub to relax with a nice cold drink and catch the remainder of the sun. Soon after sitting down at one of the tables outside a huge gust of wind blew over my large glass of Coke and cracked the corner of my phone screen. I was not best pleased and went inside to ask for another one, choosing to remain seated inside this time. I then went to use my mobile to realise that the screen wouldn't work. I can't do anything on my phone if the screen doesn't work. I tried to keep calm and take the battery out and re-start it but nothing improved. Then I really started to panic, to a point where I nearly cried, I certainly felt like crying being away from home alone and having lost my way to contact my family and friends and to navigate. In a sense I had lost my safety net. This time I couldn't call my Dad to fix it, I had to do it myself. Luckily, I had taken my laptop and the B&B I was staying at had free wifi so I was able to contact people through that as well as Google the nearest EE store to by any type of phone as long as I could call my parents. It may sound silly that that was such a challenging time for me but I have become very reliant on my mobile and all the things it can do now, perhaps more than I realised and I'm sure I am not alone.

There were times when I felt vulnerable being alone, luckily this was not often. The one thing that made me feel particularly vulnerable was removing my glasses and not being able to see clearly. This is why I chose not to try kayaking or surfing. I feel more comfortable doing new things, in new places without my glasses with friends. I ended up keeping my glasses on when I went to the spa in Bath. Although I felt a little self conscious about it, I felt better than not wearing them. Also, in the rooftop outdoor pool other people were wearing glasses and sunglasses. I thought, why visit the spa with lovely views and not really be able to see them! Gazing out over the city and the rolling hills was a great way to end my trip.

Bath

Roman Baths

SS Great Britain, Bristol

Lands End

Lands End

St Michael's Mount

Falmouth

Bournemouth