AUGUST SUMMARY

I know this is said a LOT, but where has the year gone?

August. 

A strange month. All of the change. Really long and difficult at times.

The end of July, I quit my long-term job. I wasn't earning enough money and was bored. I've started a 40 hour a week job - my last go at a summer job? - and I'm getting ready to pick up all the bills again, graduation, life, friends, family, it's all happening in September for me. 

Looking back on August, all I can remember was having a week off between jobs and starting my new job. So that's where we will start...

01. NEW JOB! 

Honestly, I was so happy to start my new job and branch into a new area of customer service. However, I do not enjoy not knowing my job. I feel useless at times, because for 80% of the day I can be left to do the job, and the last 20% I'm constantly asking for help and finding someone to help me. Considering I went from being the top of my area, and now I'm the bottom - it's a change, and a difficult one.

02. TIME OFF.

It was amazing. It was my little stint of summer. We had some family days out (here, and here), I was invited to a Photography Workshop (here), and did a fair bit of shopping!

03. PHOTOGRAPHY.

I think I'm starting to get back into a pattern with my photography. Remembering to take my camera out with me. Documenting outside of my bubble. And, hopefully, I'm starting to pull together a starting point for a new project(!?). 

04. INSTAGRAM.

Admittedly my personal Instagram is slacking right now, and I'm not loving it. BUT, I am loving my photography Instagram. I've found a way to mix the different styles of photography that I love to create. I'm interacting with people, they're interacting with me. I'm just loving it. P.S. Follow me here!

05. SELF WORTH.

This is a strange one. But I've been REALLY proud of myself recently. I have two degrees. I can drive a car. I have a long-term relationship. Every job I have had an interview for (in recent months) I've got - even if I haven't accepted them or wanted them all. I'm becoming more confident in my work-life, I can walk up to new colleagues and just talk to them - which I never would've done a year, two years ago. Also, throwback, but I had a show in London.

Because September is going to be crazy, the whole blogging schedule 'thing' is going to be put on hold. I've got a lot of life changes happening, and I want a more relaxed involvement. There will be posts, just not as strict, but in October we will reevaluate the blog and decide how to go forward with it all. But follow me on Instagram (here) and I will give you updates when I have posted new work.

What are your achievements from August?

xx

REVIEW: Wilde About the Girl by Louise Pentland

If you haven't read it already, here is my review of Louise Pentland's debut novel and the first book in the Wilde series.

To say I enjoyed Wilde About the Girl would be an understatement. I started this book on a rainy Saturday night, in a room of candles and fairy lights (it was honestly a dream). And I had finished it before 7pm the following day! It was such an easy read. 

If you haven't read Wilde Like Me or Wilde About the Girl before, there is going to be some slight spoilers. Nothing major. This isn't like in secondary school when someone would tell everyone that Lennie died before they got past chapter 4. Is it too late to say Spoiler for that one?

Firstly, the Wilde books are laid out over a year. Every few chapters look over an event(s) that happened in those months. Which is both good and bad. You do miss out details, but you don't feel like you're missing out on enough to be annoyed. 

Secondly, if you have read this can you tell me what THE THING is? Which event in the book is THE THING? Every time I would get to a new moment, I would think that's THE THING. Anyway, enough of THE THING.

Wilde touches on some delicate subjects, in both books, however, it's not too much. I'm awful at reading books with distressing or troubling events, I feel too much compassion, but I could handle this and still appreciate the event itself through Robin's eyes. 

Every time I read a YouTuber or Internet Famous Person's book, I'm always hesitant. I judge their ease of getting a book deal. And even though I had Wilde Like Me, I was still nervous about this book. But I regret that I do believe that if Louise Pentland wasn't a Youtuber, this would still be a brilliant book and sit nicely alongside Sophie Kinsella, Paige Toon, and co. 

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think?

Also, this book is only FIVE POUNDS in Tesco & ASDA. Save your pennies, and buy it in store!

xx

NETFLIX WATCH(ED) LIST

If you're like me, you'll understand the struggle of finding something to watch. And it's only in recent years that I've become a fan of Netflix, I used to spend hours searching for something to watch and then settling for a trashy teen movie. That was until I started looking into TV programmes.

01. Gossip Girl. Classic. Cult favourite?

02. Jane the Virgin. When is the next season being released?

03. Ru Pauls Drag Race. Again, classic.

04. Call the Midwife. I'm currently watching Season 3 - but I end up blubbering in every episode!

05. Awkward. I LOVED this.

06. The Big Bang Theory. I used to watch TBBF on E4, but was missing the overall storyline - sitting down and watching the whole thing has made me love it even more.

07. Queer Eye. I'm a sucker for a makeover show. I think Tan might be my favourite!

08. Suits. Although I'm not sure how I feel about watching it without Meghan Markle in it.

09. Pretty Little Liars. I was watching this while learning my driving theory last summer, and although I haven't finished it (someone told me all the spoilers and I've lost interest), I did enjoy what I watched.

10.  The Crown. A real favourite of mine. Although, I heard that next season is going to be an all new cast?

11. GLOW. I didn't love this. But I did enjoy it. I'm yet to watch season 2, is it better?

12. Outnumbered. Perhaps not politically correct now, but it does sum up a British household well.

13. Grace and Frankie. I heard that next season will have Ru Paul in?

14. Don't Trust the B- in Apartment 23.

15. Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Mostly for Terry Crews. But I adore them all.

16. Girlboss. I didn't love this show, but I did enjoy seeing into Sophie's life more (creator of Nasty Gal)

17. Atypical. I liked how this ended. However, I hated the mother.

18. Cable Girls. Clearly, my Spanish is better then I thought because I ended up watching a Spanish show. Once I worked out why I couldn't understand every. single. word. I put on the captions. But they do offer it in english, just prepare for some out of sync words/lips!

19. Miranda. CLASSIC.

20. Him & Her. I'm sure I started watching this years & years ago. And the series doesn't end perfectly, but I did enjoy the overall show.

21. The End of the F****** World. Perhaps overhyped.

Some of these were rewatched for me, others were first times. Does anyone know of a site similar to Goodreads but for Films/TV programmes? I need a better way to keep track of what I've watched!

xx

light & shade

why throw shade when you can shed light?

The lovely Kinga and Maciej invited me to their Still Life workshop, aptly named: Light & Shade. I didn't know what to expect from their workshop, but I had a feeling that it would be a well-spent evening. 

I travelled into Plymouth, into an area of Plymouth I never visit. (University life kept me firmly in the centre of Plymouth.) Got lost a couple of times with the one systems. But I made it, only 20 minutes late. 

It was a small and intimate workshop, in the Fotonow CIC studio space at Ocean Studios (perhaps the dream studio location?). After introducing ourselves, we set to work creating still lifes and using the props provided by Kinga and Maciej. The light was beautiful coming through the large windows. 

If you've been following my photographic work, I'm primarily a still life photographer. And I love it. However, I work almost exclusively from my corner of the studio. Going somewhere different had such an effect on me, that I changed the way I edit - where are all these blue tones coming from?

Unfortunately, Ocean Studios isn't the most practical and quickest place for me to get to, but the location was so perfect and wonderful to work in.

Have you ever visited Ocean Studios? Or Royal William Yard? It was a whole new area of Plymouth for me, and perhaps my favourite area now. 

xx

Pretty Little Treats | Walks with my Dog

If you read last week Walks with my Dog, you would've seen a mention of a small treat for Keira from Lost Gardens of Heligan's gift shop. She only got one gift, but I think it was rather special for The Cornish Staffy (Instagram). 

We picked up this gorgeous little bandana from Pretty Little Treats (here). Naturally, The Cornish Staffy needed something with the Cornish tartan on, and this bandana was just perfect. We picked her up a Large and it fits her perfectly! 

In the past, the bandanas she's worn have been from clothing stores, and are meant to be for humans. But the girl deserves the best, and we think she looks rather adorable in it. 

Today's walk was a little wander around a family friends orchard. Keira LOVES apples. If she had her way she would eat the rotten ones off the ground. But she'll play catch with one, and then settle down in a shady patch (on her own) and eat her prize. 

On many of our walks, we keep Keira on the lead (either by a leather one or an extendable). But going onto friends land means she can roam around and do her own thing. I love to see what Keira does when she thinks no one is looking, and where she wants to explore without human interaction. 

If you have any doggy brand recommendations, send them my way! This girl will never have enough treats and accessories. 

xx

Lost Gardens of Heligan | Walks with my Dog

A Sunday well spent brings a week of content.

Supposedly, from what mother says, I've been to the Lost Gardens of Heligan before. I, however, cannot bring the memories together again.  We did the big walk around the whole gardens/woodland area. (This took us about 2 hours, so prepare. Bring water. It's a fairly shady walk though, and although it was 24 degrees, the shade was comfortable for Keira and we weren't fearful of her get too hot. We did bring two bottles of water around for her, just none for ourselves.)

Overall the walk is fairly rocky and comes with its fair share of loose stones. So if you aren't 90% stable, or feeling secure on your feet, perhaps stick to the main area of Heligan. However, I walked it with Keira attached to me the whole way and didn't fall once.

We gave the main gardens a miss today, so we could go off and find food elsewhere, however, we did visit the gift shop and a certain doggy got a gift. 

22 WAYS TO PRACTISE SELF-CARE

A list of self-care for you (and myself) for when we need a moment to breathe. 

1. Take a hot shower or bath. Wash your hair. Shave your legs. Exfoliate. Start the day over if you need to at 4pm. 
2. Apply a face mask. Or properly apply your 'skincare routine'.
3. Self-tan. Wake up tomorrow morning with moisturized and glowing limbs. 
4. Watch your favourite TV show or film. Something that always takes you to a soft, cosy place. 
5. Paint your nails. Hands, feet, or both. 
6. Listen to your favourite playlist or album for a dance and singalong. (Mine is currently Staying at Tamara's by George Ezra. I haven't stopped listening to it since it was released!)
7. Have a hot drink. Tea. Coffee. Hot Chocolate. Bonus points if you can enjoy it cuddled under a blanket on a rainy day.
8. Make your bed. Put the fancy throw and cute cushions back on the bed. Even if the rest of your life feels like a mess, at least your safe space will be tidy and be looking cute.
9. Have a big drink of water. Hydrate yourself from the inside out. 
10. Go outside. You might not feel capable of this. But if you can move, even just walking around the street, you'll get some fresh air into your lungs.
11. Open a window. If going outside is physically too much, open the window to let the fresh air come to you.
12. Eat something fresh. If you can have a bowl of fresh food, great! But if all you can manage is boiling some pasta, that's fine too. Nourish your body. Keep thinking of the basics we need to survive. Food, Water & Oxygen.
13. Read a book/magazine/blog. Something to help you escape in a safe silence. 
14. Message a friend or family member. This is something I never do when I'm in a low mood, but it's something I need to learn to do. And to remember that I can reach out to friends, in the same way, they reach out to me.
15. If you go out, buy yourself some fresh flowers or a new plant. 
16. If you don't go out, water the plants you already have and throw away and dead flowers.
17. Yoga and/or meditate. I've never come out of a yoga or meditation session and regretted it. 
18. Put on some clean clothes or pyjamas.
19. Take a long, deep breath.
20. Have a mini declutter. Maybe your desk needs a tidy, or your bookshelf is a little messy. Something small and achievable that you can easily tidy in 10 minutes or less. 
21. Is your room all tidy? Light your favourite candle, turn on your fairy lights, make it extra hygge.
22. The following day: Wake up at the right time, make yourself a proper breakfast, shower, get dressed, write your to-do list, and take on life again with both feet firmly on the ground and ready for what life throws at you!

What are your favourite self-care rituals to do?

xx

Davidstow Airfield | Walks with my Dog

Another one of our go-to walks.

Davidstow is about a 20/25minute drive from my house. Which makes it reasonable for a morning walk, but exciting enough to not be around the local lanes. Also, it's massive. You can explore abandoned buildings, you can walk around the woodland, run in the open spaces, explore the lake, it's got a lot of options. And it's so big, that you don't need to worry about bumping into anyone else. (although be aware that farmers graze their livestock on the land, so keep your dog on a lead near the animals and clear up after them!)

xx