October.

October has been filled with plenty of ups but a lot of downs that have hit me really hard. At times it has been hard to handle my conflicting feelings and I feel like the stress of it has taken it out on me. Thankfully I have had plenty of nice things happen as well and I think it has helped that I have had plenty of adventures to think about.

Visiting HollyRobiin:

One of this months biggest adventures was definitely getting on the train to visit Holly. I am glad I did it because I had an amazing time seeing my old friend and I enjoyed being away from the flat and just relaxing. I wrote about this little adventure Holly here and in my Blogtober post. 

Cross Stitch: 

This month I finally finished my Gravity falls cross stitch I started last month. I am really proud of it and I am hoping to get it a frame that I can hang probably above my desk. I was actually proud of how neat the back was as well, which is important in the cross stitch world. I am planning my next cross stitch as we speak but I have been too busy to really start it.

Blogtober:

A big part of my October month was doing Blogtober, thanks again to Hunida for suggesting I try it this year. I have enjoyed every moment of it and writing about things that I wouldn’t normally write about has been really fun and challenging at times. I know I didn’t keep on top of it every day like I wanted but I am glad I did catch up when I needed to! Hope you enjoyed reading it too.

TV Shows:

I have really enjoyed watching my TV stuffs this month because it has been a very nice escape from my very busy brain. I have been very happy as Crazy Ex Girlfriend has returned – I watch it as it comes on on a Saturday and it hasn’t disappointed me yet! I f you haven’t watched this series I heavily suggest you give it a try as it is so funny and rather heartwarming at times.

I watched the whole series of Trust on BBC iplayer at the start of the month whilst finishing my cross stitch and it was so so good! Inspired by the Getty kidnapping from 1973. This drama was truly unbelievable. The acting was brilliant and it was directed perfectly. A unbelievable story told in a very interesting way.

I have also been watching the TV series of The Purge, I am not certain if I love it or not. Its not bad to put in the background but some of it is very over-dramatic and the acting can be pretty corny at times. I am mainly watching now because I am invested in the characters but I am not a massive fan. Maybe it will get better as it goes on?

Me and Stu have mainly been watching Task Master with dinner. James Acaster is one of our favourite comedians so this series has been really, really good.

My biggest guilty pleasure this month has been the new series of The Apprentice. I love hate watching this series as it is really cringy at times and some of the tasks they are set can be really ridiculous but I just can’t look away, I am hooked!

The last thing I have to mention is the live Halloween episode of Inside No 9. I have previously watched all series of Inside No 9 so I was very excited for the Halloween episode and it really delivered. No spoilers but; It was so good!!

Green Mile:

This month I have been reading Green Mile by Stephen King. I wanted to read something by a horror writer as it was October and I have been wanting to read this for so long!! So this was perfect. In all honesty I haven’t had the best mind for reading this month so I haven’t read a great deal of it but I am hoping to have a day of reading soon so I can really try to get through it. I am really enjoying it so far though. 🙂

New Candle:

Stu treated my to a new WoodWick candle recently. I really wanted one since Holly shown me at her house. Autumn Apple Basket is so nice! It also crackles like a fire which is really comforting. The only downfall with it is that I can’t have it on all the time! 😛

New Job:

After having a rough time filling in stupid amounts of applications. Going to interviews and receiving rejections (and sometimes not even getting any answers) I finally got a job offer. I am really happy and excited for it to start and for me and Stu to be able to treat ourselves and family members more! 😀

I feel like this October post has been shorter than some of the previous month posts. Even so I feel like this month has been very eventful hopefully November will resolve some of the bad things happening in my life.

I hope everyone’s October was good! Thanks for reading 😀

 

September.

September feels like it has been a weird one for me. Certain decisions and ideas have popped up in life that I have had to make. So certain things that I want to give more attention to generally such as blogging have taken the back burner a bit. but I am here now! so lets do a September run down! 🙂

Cross Stitching:

I have done tons of cross stitching this past month. I made a lovely cross stitch of some roses for Stu’s grandmas birthday present which we put in a little frame for her. I was really happy with it. We just recently got a printer so I have also been searching for patterns and as I mentioned in a previous Post I have been following a pattern made by Cross Stitch Quest. I love stitching because it is so relaxing and I think it has really helped with this months anxieties.

 

TV Shows: 

I watched loads of great TV series whilst cross stitching. The first I completed was Bates Motel. At first I was worried that it would be terrible as I remember how bad the lead actor – Freddie Highmore was in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (That didn’t stop it from being one of my favourite films when I was younger) but it turned out to be fantastic. The acting was brilliant, the setting fantastic and the story great. Norman was creepy but not to a point it wasn’t believable and at points you do feel sorry for him. I loved every moment of this show and I was very sad when it ended 😛 I am hoping to watch psycho soon and I would also love to read the book now as well.

I also completed watching American Horror Story Cult which I had very mixed feelings about. I have loved pretty much every season of AHS but this one to me seemed to be very um try hard? I know AHS is very over the top by nature and I really liked the premise for this season but I don’t know through out watching I couldn’t help but cringe at certain moments and sometimes the story just didn’t add up. Like I said I loved the premise and the characters all in all were very well fleshed out but I just don’t feel it was up to standard with some of the greatest series of AHS. To be fair though I might just be hating because it starred Lena Dunham and I can’t stand her.

The third thing I completed watching is the second series of American Vandal – this is a mockumentry show that makes fun of the normal documentary you would usually get on Netflix. It is hilarious – very childish at times but hilarious and so well executed. I don’t really want to spoil anything here so that is all I am going to say.

Other then that me and Stu have been obsessed with watching old Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares UK and Jelle’s Marble runs on YouTube. Oh also RT Gaming streams on Twitch, hes such an upbeat and funny person.

Visiting Stu’s Grandmas:

This September was Grandma Brown’s birthday so we went up towards Yorkshire to see her and Grandma Mayhew. Other members including Stu’s auntie and cousins were there as well so we had a little party at her house on the Saturday. Grandma Brown is very into crafting so I had plenty to talk to her about. I can’t help but feel a little anxious about family meet ups but as the evening went on I did find myself relaxing more.

On the Sunday we went to see Grandma Mayhew, she is very old now so she stays at home a lot of the time and has to have carers visit her regularly unfortunately her mind is not very good and she forgets things very easily. I know this was going to be a hard visit for Stu but she was actually a lot better then I first expected and although she would get confused easily by different things she seemed in good spirits and to be cracking jokes so that was nice to see. Below is a cute picture of Stu and his Grandma Brown.

Comfort Food:

This month has been all about comfort food. Near the start of the month we made a massive pot of stew – the recipe I got from my step mum and is one of my favourites growing up – it has been the perfect meal to warm us up in the colder evenings. As we made a big pot as well we still have one portion left for this week!  For breakfast in September I have been mainly having porridge with banana and honey again this is a lovely warming comfort food.  I have also been loving Ice gems – We had a big bumper pack of them so they have been a great daily snack.

Video Games:

I haven’t actually been playing a lot of different video games on my own this month. Of course I have still been playing The Sims 4 but that is it really it. I have been playing plenty of games with Stu though such as the very relaxing Stardew Valley – what is so great about owning your own little farm together? I don’t know but I love it. Two player A Hat In Time a 3D platformer with some great levels and characters – we have had some problems with this crashing but I have enjoyed what we have played. We have also picked Sea of Thieves back up and we are really enjoying playing pirates and fighting skeletons.

Mindfulness Plain and Simple: 

I haven’t completely finished this book yet but I have been enjoying learning a bit more in-depth about Mindfulness. This book by Oli Doyle I picked up for cheap from The Works has been sitting on my shelf for a while and I just kept putting it off because to be honest I didn’t have many expectations for it. I have really enjoyed it so far and it has plenty of mindfulness exercises included inside to practise. The book focuses on how living in the now and not thinking too much about the future or getting lost in the past is good for us and I have really been trying to put more of these exercises into my life as I know I am very easily lost in thoughts. My problems with this book is that sometimes it does have moments where I want to roll my eyes – but I think this is down to the practise rather then the author and it can be a bit repetitive. But so far it has been very interesting and something I do want to apply to my life.

Walks Outside:

Much like last month I have took loads of walks across the park nearby my flat this September and I have loved doing it even though sometimes it has rained on me!! It has become more of a regular thing for me to do and I do think it improves my mind to get out of the flat even if I am not doing anything and even if I am not walking by the most beautiful sights!

Alexa:

Stu got a new phone and they gave him a free Amazon Echo Dot. We were both funny about keeping it because we were kinda worried about it listening to us at all times but to be honest we both love it now. Its great! Especially when I want to listen to music whilst say washing up so I don’t have to manually skip a track. I have to admit Alexa is still a little creepy but I don’t mind her being round now 😛

Decisions:

Like I said at the start of this post I have had many decisions to make this month mostly to do with the future and the near future. I have decided that I will most probably start a college course next year. As that is my decision I think it is best I find myself a part time job to help out with the bills and make sure we have a little bit of extra money to spend on ourselves and on upcoming Christmas. This has been a hard decision for me as I assumed that when I left the Co-op I would have a more solid and secure idea that I would be putting into practise now and the thought of interviews make me very scared but I think it is for the best.

So that was my September, I hope everyone had a brilliant month!! Here’s hoping for a great October. 😀

 

I’ve dreamt about you nearly every night this week.

Song of the day: Arctic Monkeys – Do I wanna know? 

I have to really be in a certain mood to listen to this song and album as it reminds me of a time I was a very different version of my self. That sounds really weird when read out but I know what I mean. That being said I still adore this song and that guitar riff is just brilliant.

Today’s Thoughts: 

So I took a bit of a break from writing in fact the last time I wrote on this page was the 17th, oops!! I don’t really know why that is. I kept thinking about sitting down and writing and then would just get distracted by something else. I am back now though and I am hoping to create/write some different things along with my usual journal style blogs. I am hoping I can come with a schedule for myself at the end of the month so watch out for that!

So what have I been doing whilst not writing? Well Cross Stitching mainly. I am currently trying to complete the Gravity Falls gnome puking a beautiful rainbow following this pattern by Cross Stitch Quest. I have always loved cross stitching from when I was first learning to sew, if I could I would just cross stitch the rest of my days away 😛

We went up to Yarm, near Yorkshire last weekend to go see Stu’s grandmas and family. It was nice for Stu to see his grandmas because he lives so far away he barely gets to interact with them. I impressed Grandma Brown with my needle felting skills and it was nice to stay somewhere different to home to be honest especially because I know we aren’t likely to get a holiday this year.

Other then that I have been looking after Stu the last two days as he has had to have time off work with migraines. Continuing with my driving lessons – which is actually going rather well and thinking up ideas for my current Etsy but also new ideas based around my love of cross stitching and making stuff. I am really set on working for myself now and I really want to work hard and push for something to stick. Wish me luck!

What can make tomorrow better: 

• Do some more market research into Etsy.
• Set out plans for different blog posts.
• Clean my messy flat.

Today’s Positive Photo: 

Wheatley in his favourite place … a box.