Thursday 31 December 2015

2015 best nine


Over the past few days 3x3 collages have been popping up all over instagram, and I decided to play along. Creating using a new website (aptly named!), it allows you to instantly collage your most liked photos of the year up to that point. Here's an overview of my year, in instagram likes. 

Wishing I was at camp // This summer saw the first time in four years, that I didn't work as a summer camp counsellor. Cue emotional throwback post, whilst sat in a laboratory working on my final university dissertation. 

Graduation // My masters graduation happened to be on a gloriously sunny day in December. 

Cheshire Ice Cream Farm Tree // A local tourist/kid-friendly hotspot near me is an ice cream farm. Complete with a tree made of ice cream, which 'snows' every thirty minutes.

Graduation 2.0 // I was fortunate enough to snag an extra ticket to my graduation, which meant my brother was able to tag along, making the whole shebang even more special. 

Cambridge explorings // Gondola rides on the River Cam with one of my uni BFFs.

Spring blossom // The hidden delights of the backstreets of Bath

North Wales // Being home for the autumn meant many walking trips, one of which resulted in said photo. 

Pontycysyllte Aqueduct // Autumn wanderings

Rowing on the Dee // New, post uni hobby


#2015best nine // what a fantastic reminder of the moments that make up a year.

Thursday 5 February 2015

What I've Been Reading: The Maze Runner series

Imaged sourced: www.mvhsnews.com/
I first purchased The Maze Runner series, by James Dashner, it it's entirety (minus the prequel) a little over a year ago. Never one to pass up on a good deal on books in the discount book shop, especially where Young Adult books are concerned. I was also intending to read it immediately, having heard many raving reviews. However things didn't work out like that, and following a move back home for the summer and to a new university city in the autumn I still hadn't read it.

Image: ok.com

AND THEN the film came out. My brother raved about it, and urged me to watch it immediately, yet I refused. Stating that I had to read the book first. I owned it after all. Alas, my copies of the books were some 150 miles away at home.

So over Christmas I set myself to pick up the first book again. You see, I had tried to read it when I first bought it, but couldn't settle into it (yes I gave up after 30 pages), and tried again one other time. So this time I took another stance, and skipped the first few chapters in their entirety.

I am sure that it is a cardinal sin! But it worked, so I can't complain. I read the first book quickly and immediately watched the film, which was pretty darn brilliant. If not incredibly different to the book.

I really enjoyed the series. They were a relaxing (i.e. easy reading!) read, and were just what I needed during exam season. The series was well thought out, and I appreciated having the world slowly revealed as I went on. However, I often found myself thinking that it really didn't need to be a series, and in actual fact if it hadn't of been written for a 'younger' audience I am pretty sure it would have been one longer book. There was a certain amount of padding going on!

In terms of characterisation, I found Thomas the main character to be likeable, but I would have appreciated if there had of been to more to his character, which I suppose is difficult when he couldn't remember most of his past. I did find myself worrying more about Newt though, which probably wasn't helped by the crush I have had on Thomas Sangster, who plays in the movie, since he was in Feather boy a BBC children's show back in 2004, when I was twelve.

I have still got to read the prequel Kill Order, and am looking forward to having some more setting around the Flare, and what happened before Thomas woke up in the maze as the series definitely left me with some questions. I have also just bought the first book in James Dashner's series, The Eye of Minds, which I will hopefully get to soon.

But first I need a change of author for a little while.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Tuesday 3 February 2015

A weekend catch-up

There is nothing better than a semi-impromptu visit from your best friend. Especially when that visit coincides with a weekend when you really need a few days off from normal life, which was definitely the case this past weekend. Meg lives a good train ride away, in our home town which means our visits are intermittent, making this weekend even more special.
coffee, student, blogger, bath, Cafe W, Blog, lifestyle


So how did we fill our time? Chatting, chatting and more chatting! Despite having big plans to go out in the evenings life interfered and we were both exhausted by 9pm, resulting in Netflix watching and snack eating, whilst catching up. What could be better right?

On Saturday morning I had to work for an hour in Bristol, so we caught a early train, and walked through the city to Park Street, meandering through the knick-knack shops on the way, and drinking our first of many cups of coffee. The rest of the day was spent shopping in Cabot Circus. Which is always incredibly busy on a Saturday, and slightly overwhelming!

Sunday was spent exploring Bath. Consuming a huge breakfast (Pancakes and Maple syrup for me!), at Cafe Retro and again leafing away through as many independent stores as we could find.

We are both big readers, so a lot of this time was spent in bookshops. We first explored Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights, with it's book bath, reading nooks, and three stories of books to peruse.
Bath, Bookshop, Mr B's, reading, Booktube, YA


On the way to the second shop, we stumbled across the set for BBC's Sherlock, where they were filming the next day. The street was in the process of being dressed like a Victorian Christmas, and it was fascinating to see them change the window dressings, and shops signs.
filming bath, sherlock, BBC

We finally managed to squeeze in one last book shop, Topping and Company Booksellers, which had one of the best selections of Young Adult books that I have ever seen in a store. I will definitely be returning to both in the near future.
Bath, Books, Booktube, YA, reading



Overall it was a wonderfully busy weekend!


Wednesday 31 December 2014

2014: A Wrap-up

2014 has been a very good year, as far as year goes. So to wrap it up here a few photos to sum it all up.

1 - Leaving Portsmouth behind as I graduated in the Summer.



2 - Returning to Camp for my third summer, and meeting up with old friends.


3 - My third summer at camp was completed by with a winning Color War
4 - Moved to Bath to start my Masters degree.


5 - Friends trip to Spain, end of summer 2014. Photo taken outside the Grand Palace in Madrid.


6 - Sophie came to Bath in November.


7 - The last sunset of 2014

Happy New Year - hope you have a great 2015!

Monday 10 November 2014

Yes, I joined the National Trust!

I love Sundays. They are the one day in an otherwise busy week that I always try my hardest to set aside and explore somewhere new, or somewhere old.

As I have only lived in Bath for a couple of months, I am still in the new phase of visiting places, which I absolutely love. I am fortunate enough to live in the prettiest city in England (in my opinion!) and there is no shortage of things to do.

This past Sunday, after a strained morning of studying in the library, I made my way back down the hill to meet up with my friend Harriet. Our aim, to make it to Prior Park, located just over a mile from the city centre.

Prior Park is a National Trust owned landscape garden originally cinstructed in the 18th century. It boasts some amazing views of the surrounding area, thanks to Bath's hilly location. As well as a Palladian Bridge.

We decided to bookend our visit with lunch at a local garden centre on the walk up the hill, and a cup of coffee and cake in Bath city centre afterwards. Which were both well received, even if the sandwiches we ordered did take half an hour to arrive! 

Overall it was a lovely autumnal Sunday and a welcome break from the reality of university life.


Tuesday 21 October 2014

Hike to Brown's Folly

This past Sunday I donned my rather worn hiking boots, took an early bus up Bathwick Hill to meet some fellow crazy students intent on completing an 8 mile hike to Brown's Folly and back into town again. Tempted by the lure of pie and mash at The Raven as a reward at the end. 

It was a beautiful day, and a great group of new people. It is always amazing to be out in nature on a bright autumnal day. 

Despite a major detour due to a missing footbridge we made it to the Folly (basically a large tower, built for no purist) and were rewarded with some fantastic views from the top of the hill. 

What followed was a quick walk down the hill to the nearest village. Followed by a. Unexpectedly long wait for the bus back into town. 

But all in all a fantastic day.

Hoping for some more Somerset hikes before the year is out.

And yes the pie at the end was brilliant!

Thursday 27 February 2014

Our Generation

So earlier a guy who I am friends with on Facebook as the poignant question 'What do you think our generation will be remembered for?', to which people immediately replied in a typically negative manner. Answers included the Hashtag, Social Media, lack of social awareness and the like.

To preface we are in are in our early twenties. The crew born in the early nineties, just finishing up university. We are, without a doubt at a strange point in our lives. We are not old enough to have yet made any historical impact on the world. Yet we have lost the naivety of childhood.

We have the spent the better half of a decade, our adolescence in a seemingly negative world. Post 9/11, through the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and having witnessed the uprising of the Middle East. We have spent years living through economic recession, being repeatedly told that it will be obscenely hard for us to find good jobs. But we have survived.

Every generation feels the same sense of entitlement, that we, as a race, are getting worse as time goes on. That we had a tougher up bringing.

But this isn't true.

Ultimately, a generation is rarely remembered for what it didn't do right. It instead is remembered for what it did well. The people saved.

So to answer his question, how will we be remembered? It is almost impossible to say, after all we still have approximately 70 years to go.

Moreover, the question should be how should young people in 2014, be remembered.

We are the generation with a voice. We have taken social media as our own. Commandeered the Hashtag. Mastered the blog. Used YouTube to speak out. Where other generations have said nothing, we have chosen to tell the world how we feel. And as such we are changing the world.

We are the generation with a heart. Raised on the back of successful celebrity endorsed philanthropy, such as Band Aid and Children in Need. Charity is always at the forefront of our minds. We do crazy things to collect pennies to help those less in need. Or we quietly fill out a subscription form to sponsor a child. You may even find we drop our lose change in the charity bucket. We don't forget.

We are the generation who is equal. We stand up for the marginalised. Try our best to not group people. Because to us, everyone is the same. We don't care what colour your skin is, or which team you bat for. We can't fathom why the world would mind.

We are the generation who keeps in touch. We don't forget our friends from High School, they appear on our news feeds every time we check our favourite social media site. We can reconnect at the push of a button, and are not afraid to say hi. We are the generation who can't lose touch with people. We are the generation that sticks together.

We are the generation that is independent. We may care about fashion but we won't all be dressed the same. Vintage is cool, and so is the latest garment. We dye our hair, and paint our nails; or maybe we don't. We get tattoos that we may regret, and pierce more than just our ears. We all listen to different music, the internet has made accessing more than the top 40 so much easier. We are the painted generation.

We are the gap year generation. Full of travellers and world explorers. Volunteers, Scuba Divers and Beach Bar Workers. We have seen the world, and want to see more. But don't worry, we will come home for a good roast.

We are the 2K generation.

We are us.

And we are here to stay.