An update for June 2021

It’s been hot up north lately which is lovely for England because we don’t squander our days in the sun. Most of the time we’ve been playing with Jack in the garden or taking him on walks with his trike.

Steve’s birthday was on the 1st and we had our first date (breakfast by the river) since 2019. The rest of that weekend we spent as a family hanging out then Jack got sick had to stay home from nursery (and get a Covid test — negative).

I really need to start back up with the podcast because I have lots of stuff to talk about with taking a toddler out and about how that lockdown has eased. We’ve done two restaurants outside and lots of kid-friendly events like the farm, a sensory room, swim lessons, and walks. We even got him a new trike but quickly discovered those are not for long trips when the child gets tired because the one we have doesn’t recline. (It was also the only one decent-rated online that was available: a Kingerkraft Aston.)

Other than that, we’re getting on as we do. Steve is still working from home and I’m doing my management course at work so hopefully, I can get that done by the autumn of this year.

Still no official word about our trip to Florida, but we still plan on seeing the Picks next month for Jack’s christening. It will be two years since we’ve seen our families.

 

An April visit to Fountains Abbey, Chirk Castle, and Lyme Park

This is, hand's down, my favourite photograph. I took it last week at Lyme Park, AKA Pemberley. The pond should look familiar to any of you who have swooned when Mr. Darcy emerged from it in the BBC mini series version of Pride and Prejudice.

We spent the last couple of days travelling to The Wirral (or, Liverpool if it's easier although the Picks aren't from Liverpool, proper). On our way, we had to leave Daisy at the kennels, which I hated to do because she didn't know the place or the other dogs. However, it was a chance to have some together time that didn't include avoiding cafes, museums, or other such establishments because of a giant dog in tow.

On our way from Newcastle, we stopped in Ripon because A. I believe I live at Downtown Abbey and B. There was a cool place to visit through our National Trust membership.

Fountains Abbey was the biggest abbey we had seen that was still intact. As an American, I just cannot get over how old things are and are still sitting about for people to see, touch, experience, etc. There were Water Gardens on the property too, but we only had time for a walk, a quick look at the abbey, lunch, then back on the road. However, this just means that I plan on us going back sometime soon because there was plenty to see there, especially if you have a dog to walk.

We caught up with the Picks later that day, and spent our second day down there travelling to Wales -- a place I had never been and a place where Mister Pick went to school and worked for a collective of about 8 years. (Before I graced him with my presence, obviously.) Wales is beautiful and the only equivalent I can give it would be a kind of wandering Virginia countryside drive. It's very green, the air is fresh, and it was suitably rainy that day. We took our time exploring Chirk Castle which is really impressive. The place has a dungeon, so now I know what that feels like. (Hint: it's dark and they don't even have proper windows, so it's as dyer as you'd imagine.) The other parts of the castle were renovated into a proper estate house, so the rooms were lush and impressive -- some of the ceilings had Greek gods and goddesses depicted in the plasterwork. There were portraits of royals and noblemen and women. There was huge fireplaces, and even big, comfy couches that, looked modern in a 1940s, post-war way. I loved the gardens though because you could walk through there and not even realize there was a giant castle behind the trees. It was so relaxing and nice to wander around there, listening to the birds, and looking at all of the flowers and trees that were planted there.

I absolutely loved it.

After our visit with The Picks, we took a little detour to Lyme Park as posted above. Unfortunately, the house was closed the day that we got there and instead of going to the less cool tea rooms. (The brochure showed women in Austen-esque dresses with bonnets, sipping tea. Of course, if that wasn't an option, I wasn't as interested.) I did also look through the house's book sale books, and chose a 1933 edition of Dicken's Our Mutual Friend.

Upon our return, in order to avoid traffic, we took a long drive through the countryside, which Mister Pick did because I detest driving in unknown places that include roundabouts, mountains, empty fields, steep declines, and anything remotely tricky. However, it was worth it, because we rescued poor Daisy Doodle from her confinement before 6PM. The lad who worked at the kennels was very nice, but he said Daisy was timid with him because she didn't know any of the staff. Daisy is not timid, so I don't know if she'll settle in better on a longer stay. The place is highly recommended and people reuse them often, so it's not like it's a bad place to take her -- I just hated her being in a cage.

But everyone is back home now and although I worked yesterday, I'm still enjoying the last bits of my holiday today with Mister Pick, Daisy, and the cats who keep staring at me as I type this.

Also, it’s Sunday, which means I’m keeping off social media as best I can. Old habits die hard and I have to stop myself from just picking up my phone and checking Twitter throughout the day. It’s just one of the little things I’m making a habit of just to clear my head, give my eyes a rest, and focus a little more about being at home.

And with that said, I hope everyone has had a nice Easter and a great April, so let's get on to May 2019.

Easter bank holiday wind down and catch up

Good afternoon and Happy Easter Sunday!

It’s been a nice break from the daily grind these past few days and we’ve actually taken next week off as well to enjoy some traveling to go along with our rest and relaxation.

On Friday we were going to go to Sunderland Museum and Gardens (and library!) for the da Vinci drawings exhibit. However, once we got onto the highway, we realized that everyone and their mother was out cruising, so we headed to IKEA (why not) and bought patio furniture instead.

Afterwards, we hung out on the back patio and enjoyed the warm weather. It was in the 70s this weekend, and was actually very warm for people like us who are used to wearing quilted coats and woolly hats every day.

On Saturday, we headed to our favorite place – Beamish (as seen in the main photo above). Now, I was all gung-ho about the fish and chips and the walking and the sunshine … until I got overheated and sick. Being overheated is just weird. You’re not physically too hot. I wasn’t sweating to death or feeling hot, I just realized how dizzy and nauseous as we trekked around, so I had to cut the exploration short. I mean, we enjoyed the time we spent out, but I was really happy to be back in the car with the air conditioning.

Today is Easter Sunday! We started off with pancakes and a cuppa at our new patio set. Daisy has a pool that she’s still not completely sure about, but it feels nice to paddle around in when you’re wanting to cool down. Right now, Mister Pick is working on mounting our old TV up in the bedroom (we’re still technically moving in). We have the windows open and the cats are hanging out upstairs in the windowsills. All and all, it’s a perfect day.

I’ve been making my list of goals because I’m still working on the question of what I want to do with myself and where I see myself in ten years. (Anyone else who has the Rachel Hollis Start Today Journal knows what I’m talking about.) So, I’m looking up authors I admire and writing down places I’d like to go and really trying to wind down and focus on how I want to propel myself forward into the rest of the year.

Tomorrow is still up in the air, but we’ll make the most of it. After that, it’ll be traveling time and we’ll head to see The Pick family down in The Wirral for a bit.

In the meantime, I hope everyone has a fantastic Easter break!    

Bullet journals, Wallington, and not being discouraged

Well, this blog certainly isn't getting updated very often, even if I really want to post something, I never get around to it.

Since last time, I've started an apprenticeship for Team Leading and Management at work. That means I have a manager who mentors me and whom I shadow at one of the libraries along with my coursework that I need to do. I really like it so far and I'm happy that I decided to apply for it because I feel mentally challenged and satisfied doing this kind of work. Not that I'm not pleased at how much I help people with my regular IT teaching job in the libraries, I'm just happy that I have something else to add to my list of things I can do.

There were Team Leader jobs as secondments available this year but I do like where I am and I wanted to spend my extra energy in focusing on my apprenticeship. I’m sure the job would have helped me gather evidence for my course, but, again, I’d rather stay doing what I do because I think I help people.

Helping myself is another story. I’ve been trying to do the diet and exercise thing but, man, am I so tired these days. I was okay for a bit when I got my bicycle because I was ready for sun and summertime, but now I’m not doing as well as I hoped.

I’ve been writing a book, I guess, about how these things have caught up with me. I’ve never been so stinking frustrated with trying to write, blog, work, exercise, lose weight, spend time with Mister Pick, enjoy my time at home, and do things outside of the house so I don’t end up being a hermit. (Although, being a hermit isn’t looking so bad these days.) I listened to a podcast yesterday that said if we keep stepping over the crap that’s flung onto us, we’ll eventually get out of the pit. Good advice and I have to take that all to heart when I’m feeling like the me I’m trying to build just isn’t showing up.

I mean, surely everyone feels like there’s just too much we should be doing, don’t they? I had to make Sundays be my non-social media days because I was getting overwhelmed with the comparisons. I should be writing my book. I should be traveling. I should be making a business. I should be starting a podcast. I should be engaging on social media.

The funny thing is, once I stopped using social media as much, I realized how much I don’t need it. It’s a useful tool, don’t get me wrong, but because I’m kind of a special creature – American, in England, still don’t know what I’m doing, the usual stuff – I get really down when I see people appearing to know what they want and doing it.

But, alas, that’s still one to work on this year. 42 is definitely an interesting one, I tell you.

Also, I’m still watching videos about bullet journaling and although I have my Passion Planner (one for daily agendas and one more for academic tasks), I was curious about all the binder planners that people were posting on Instagram. I was going to get one online but I happened to see an A5 agenda binder at Wilko’s after work this week, so I’m going to print some free planner sheets to add to it. I even bought a small 6 ring hole punch to get working on these. I’m wanting habit trackers and while it takes all the artistic design out of making my own for my bullet journal, having ready-made pages may really help me in the long run.

The photo above was from our recent trip to Wallington. We’d been before, years ago, before we had Daisy, so we took her to explore the vast farmland. Of course the sheep weren’t interested in a giant barking goldendoodle but, hey, who can blame them?

I have another week of work before Easter and our break to Liverpool and Hoylake so I’ll be sure to update on that trip to see the Pick family. Until then, grab your eggs and your bunnies and enjoy the upcoming holiday.

Visiting a lighthouse, using planners, and staying motivated

Well, it's the middle of February so that means I'm still plugging away at my goal-oriented planning.

From the photo above you can see that I have been outside and getting fresh air. Last weekend Mister Pick and I took Daisy to Souter Lighthouse which was interesting even though Daisy acted up and tried to jump on every dog and human that came close to her. (Goldendoodles are insane, I tell you.)

I went in the lighthouse on my own while Steve took her for a walk and the gal at reception told me that it was 75 or so stairs and the last bit was very steep. Now, me being me, I heard that and thought immediately, "Well, I won't be climbing that then, will I?"

But I did.

It was freaky though because on the way back down you have to go backward like on a ladder and my life flashed before my eyes a bit because I could see myself falling straight back and them having to find Steve on the beach to tell him that his wife had broken both of her legs in a freak lighthouse incident.

But I didn't, and I was proud of myself.

I'm such a wuss, I swear.

Anyway, so I was pleased with myself after that and looked at the little lighthouse cottage before going outside and hanging out with Daisy while Steve took a look inside.

Having a National Trust membership is nice when the weather permits you to explore things nearby.

We also took a walk down the coast, hence where this photo was taken, and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.

I was off on Wednesday and that was the first time that Daisy went to doggy daycare when I was home so I felt like a free woman who didn't have to check on the baby every five minutes. I went to the dentist, the gym (hooray!), Weight Watchers (lost 3 pounds -- more hooray), and bought myself a bike because I want one. (I totally need a wicker basket for the front of it!)

Valentine's Day was good. We had M&S Dine in for Two (tradition) and I got my super cool Cath Kidston Bambi bag!

Today we took a walk along the river and I found lots of nice paths where I can ride my new bike, so I'm super excited. This bike is by no means the fancy cool Trek that I have left in Florida, but it's cute and comfortable from what I could tell from the showroom, so I'm ready to take up casual cycling again.

We also had a chance to look around our new neighborhood and was pleasantly surprised at all that was going on. We even had a couple of people stop to chat with us and we get the idea that we're notorious (in a good way) because the couple who owned our house before us were well-liked around here, and I'm sure they let everyone know that we'd be turning up with this mad dog.

Now, I've focused on my good things because all of this is part of my planning for achievement and working on spending family time as well as my fitness which really, really needs for me to keep myself accountable for each week.

Again, I'm really stoked about my Passion Planner, and my This is My Era planner. I still find it so easy to be lazy and procrastinate but this has helped me put things in perspective, even if it's small personal objectives. Not that health and creativity are small topics.

Like, one of my objectives is to amp up bookblogarama.com but it's going to be so much work and it's so much easier to just not start getting involved. However, I really want to have more book reviews and interact with more book bloggers so I'm going to have to just dig in and get that started.

I'm also listening to podcasts which I never did before but it seems to put me in a better frame of mind for the rest of the day, as opposed to music where my mind can wander.

The writing is okay too. I at least work on something most days, so that's a huge accomplishment considering how little writing I was doing for the last few years, honestly.

And with that said, here's hoping everyone had a fab Valentine's Day and enjoys the rest of their February!

September is for holidays

Well, it’s finally September which means we’ll be going to Florida this month. I can be home for my birthday and our anniversary and I can see my parents. I can go to Wal-Mart and drink Frappuccino’s while I stroll through Target. I can walk through Disney and eat all the food in Epcot. I can go on a cruise ship and swim along the beach in The Bahamas. I can sit by the pool in Cocoa Beach like I did when we lived there in 1989.

This is the best time of the year.

We have our new house so this will be the first post from the new office / spare room. {waves from the new office window}

The above photo is from the river which is across from our neighborhood. Obviously, we don’t live in the posh side of town, but it’s fun to hang out over there. Yesterday we went to the Food Market and had breakfast at the café along the river walk. We’re glad we moved and we really didn’t know how nice it was on this side of town, so here we are. All settled and enjoying life.

I’d given up on bullet journals. I really wanted to find lots of design ideas online but most of it is about sketching and doodling and I am not arty at all. I don’t want an art book, I want a planner. Oh well.

Having said that, I’ve lost my bullet journal. I put it in a big plastic zip folder and I left it out of my book bag for ages because I wasn’t even bothering to try and decorate it like arty people online are. (Follow bullet journals on Instagram — you’ll see what I mean.) But now we’ve moved and that folder has gone walkabout. I wanted to have a go again, but it’s in some not-so-obvious place.

When I’m in Florida, I totally plan on getting another Happy Planner and I’ll look for a new bullet journal to keep with it. It should help with my book reviews, blog posts, school work (I’ve re-enrolled for my computer science course) and anything creative that I try to write in the meantime.

Aside from the bullet journal, the house move, and the re-enrolment of school, we’ve just been carrying on. Work has been super busy and I get to the end of the week, ready to cry because I’ve been running to and from libraries, answering questions, trying to fix things and help customers and staff for days. Yes, it’s rewarding and yes it’s better than being bored stiff, it just gets exhausting. I didn’t have more than Sunday off during a 11 day stretch of being at work, so I think it just finally got to me.

Oh well, the holiday is coming and I’ll be doing fun in the sun type activities.

I still feel bad that I haven’t started or worked on a writing project during my time in Florida for years. The intent is always there, but my mind is so focused on other things that the writing just isn’t in the forefront of important tasks to complete.

Anyway, next week will be getting ready for the holiday time. I’ll work every day but Wednesday and Sunday so I have a hair appointment, my Weight Watchers meeting (I don’t even want to imagine how much I may have gained in the last three weeks), and we’re going to see Garbage at Northumbria University. I can finally see Shirley Manson and Butch Vig with my eyes. I was supposed to see them in Tampa when I saw Smashing Pumpkins, but I got to the show too late.

Fun fact: when I first came to the U.K., Mister Pick took me to Edinburgh and there we saw a genealogy exhibit about Shirley Manson.

Edinburgh fascinates me every time I go. The next time we’re supposed to be there will in October so we can see JACK WHITE. Finally! I’ve only waited, what, 18 years to finally see him live?

With that said, it’s time to watch Robocop with Mister Pick who did a poll on Twitter, asking everyone what old action movie I should see. (My parents were adamant that it was too violent for me in the 80s.) (Also, I voted to see Predator because of all the Aliens connections.)

Last book I read was My Best Friend’s Exorcism, which I can’t recommend enough. I read it in about three days. I’ve not been that into a book for a long, long time. I’ll be sure to write a review on bookblogarama soon. My holiday book of choice is already on my desk, ready to go: Crazy Rich Asians.

Seahman and the Great Exhibition of the North 2018

Getting back to things we’ve done lately and failing to keep up -- we travelled to Seaham, Durham about a month ago. Actually, Daisy had been here before we ever were because she attends doggy day care and they sometimes take her on little adventures when it’s warm out.

That dog has an awesome life.

At Seaham, there is a nice little town to walk around, plus big named shops like Asda and a Costa. We went to the marina (picture above) and went on a rocky section of beach before finding a nice, soft sand beach. Daisy was overjoyed because there were lots of little kids for her to try and play with, so we had to try and entertain her otherwise. Plenty of places to get an ice cream and plenty of places to relax on a warm, sunny day.

Aside from the beach trip, we went to the Hancock museum a couple of times for the Great Exhibition of the North event that they have on all through summer. We didn’t see the fireworks at the Quayside or anything on the first opening day, but what we did see was quite cool.

First the museum has all sorts of new exhibits, one of which was the first edition of a book that I read as a student at University of Central Florida way before I ever imagined being a British citizen. The Blazing World is one of the first sci-fi books and it was written by a woman so, take that old, dead white guys!

The other night, we went to a talk that Steve’s old company did about their work on the Marvel movies. I was a proud gal that night when I saw so many kids and students asking the guys their advice on how to get into concept art.

Then in town we came across an art project where people could rename streets on the map of Gateshead and Newcastle. Of course, I named on street after my parents, and Steve named one of the streets after the allotment that we finally got.

Now, as of today, I have not been as active in the allotment as I was when we first got it. It’s an absolute mess, which I’ve been told by a few people, is totally normal. We’ve spent a good month or so, pulling up weeds. Some of it is mare’s tail which our allotment manager told us is a right pain to get rid of. Still, we have some vegetable plants from the library (they do all sorts at my work!) so we’ll have some summer vegetation around the weeds. Yuck.

Also, we saw Elvis Costello at Newcastle City Hall on the 25th of June. That was very cool and since Steve loves his music so much, I was glad to give him the tickets as a late birthday present. Elvis had to cut his tour short due to health reasons and we wish him the very best of health. The librarians I work with are eager to go along next time to see him again in Newcastle.

Right now, Steve and Daisy are on a stroll while I have the flat to myself for a bit. Our house purchase is going at a slow pace, but as far as we know now, things are just carrying on as normal. I figure they’ll give us a date to move, and we’ll panic because we’ve been laying low for a while and just waiting for the official green light on everything.

Other than that, I’m trying to use my bullet journal for keeping up with my blog posts and my writing progress, so both of those things are scheduled for today. I have one post down, now I need some work on my book to keep me up to date.

Until next time!

Warkworth Castle and Hermitage

I was going to write an update for June because the last post I made was when we visited the Picks in Liverpool in March. However, life being as it is, and my trying to spend more time with my brain turned to de-stress, so I haven’t spent loads of time updating here. I started plenty of posts, but never got around to finishing them. But, alas, it’s Sunday, and Steve is getting lunch ready, and Daisy is hanging out with me in the computer room, listening to 6 Music, so it’s as good of a time as any.

We’ve travelled plenty since March, and I always post something on my Instagram which posts to my Twitter and my Tumblr. (I just realized that my book posts go to my Missus P Tumblr and the personal photos go to my bookblogarama Tumblr. Why did I do that?!)

Anyway, so for this post, I figured I’d work backwards a bit about what’s been going on. Yesterday we went to Warkworth Castle (seen above) and Hermitage. It was a glorious day and we took Daisy along who has now been on her first boat ride. (She was more interested in the ducks in the river than the actual boat.) The castle was really well-preserved and it was very cool to be able to take the stairs to the wine cellar and walk upstairs to see the awesome view of the coast at Amble. Unfortunately with the heat, we didn’t travel to the beach on the way home, but we did have a picnic on the castle grounds, and after the boat trip and a relaxing sit down by the River Coquet, we went for some ice cream at Morwick Dairy. There Daisy met some cows of all age ranges, which she wasn’t so sure about. Of course I fell in love with all of the calves and decided that I do want a farm when I retire.

A nice renovated farm house in Northumberland. Turn it into a B&B but still keep my chickens and occasional farm animals. Ahh. Bliss.

Anyway, if you’re heading to the dairy after the castle visit, make sure to check your Google Map because we entered in the post code that was given and ended up down the street at someone else’s farm. Oh well, we made it eventually.

Last week I started my bullet journal which I’ve been going on about via Twitter. I am so not artistic in any way, so trying to make graph paper with notes pretty is just not something that naturally comes to me. I started watching videos on how to set up a bullet journal, and this channel from Seventeen has been great. I have highlighters, stickers, fine line pens, and a ruler now with all the Rulers of England that I bought at the castle gift shop.

I may be a British citizen, but as an American, I feel it is my duty to appreciate my love of the English Heritage by purchasing souvenirs. Whenever I go somewhere I buy a magnet for our fridge at home, and the magnetic shelf in the office where we keep all of our ones from holidays. Since my “holidays” are weekend getaways and little adventures, I like spreading the British pride to my co-workers.

Aside from the bullet journal, I wrote one day for Camp NaNoWriMo, which is shameful because I always have the best intentions. Maybe the journal will keep me more on target.

I’m also going to use the journal for my blogging and today I can mark down that I actually wrote a post. Hooray for me!

As of today we have 63 days, 23 hours, and 39 minutes left until my Florida trip. This year we’re going on a cruise again but this time we’re going to Nassau instead of Freeport, so I’m glad we’re seeing something different. Also, my parents are coming with me, which I’m also super happy about. They aren’t convinced that they’ll like it, but since it’s a three day excursion, I think they can dip their toe into cruising with us and see how much fun it can really be.

We’ve been watching videos on YouTube about Toy Story Land, and ogling new merchandise to buy in the parks. Apparently there’s a new Disney Play app that I’ll be getting once I’m home. Plus, they have new MagicBands and I think I want the Mickey ice cream one, but I can’t find it online again, so I may have to go with All About the Bow Minnie.

Our flat sale is going well as far as we can tell. We finally got our sold sign out front, and the mortgage offer from the bank has gone to the solicitor, so hopefully we’ll be in our new place before we go on holiday.

I know I have way more travelling updates to post here because we’ve hit some great National Trust and English Heritage sites, including our trip to Whitby at the beginning of June for Steve’s birthday. However, it is now lunchtime and my fish and chips await me!

It's citizenship day!

I don't think anyone loves this photo as much as I do. I thought it was cool that I had all the things hip going on at once -- hip people, a guy with a hip hat, and even a coffee, all while at a hip movie theatre.

Anyway, I wanted to post something of an update today just because it's sort of a special day. Right now, I am an American citizen. By 4PM I will be an American citizen as well as a British citizen. How exciting?

Unfortunately, though, I'm ill. Like not a normal cold, ill. Been in bed for days, can't mentally function kind of ill. This is the price we pay to work in customer service, I suppose. All the germs travel to us, then we end up feeling guilty about being off sick and pass it on to all of our co-workers. Last time I was off, however, I had the stomach flu, so having a stuffy cold may be some sort of consolation prize. Not sure.

Aside from that, things at Pick Manor have been iffy. I had the brilliant idea of buying a house a while ago and now that we're finally in the process, we found that it's just a huge pain. First of all, you have to sell your property first before anyone will "take you seriously" about purchasing another. This means no matter how much your bank has approved you for in financing or how much you have saved, you can't make any kind of move unless it's sold. (Granted, yes, if you want to, you can have two properties and rent one out, but you end up paying a penalty for this and yay taxes!)

We came close to buying a new house near Steve's work, but that was just too expensive. We would have poured all of that savings he worked so hard for, just to have something that wasn't in the location we wanted and wasn't even big enough for a washer and a dryer. (It's not common to find these things in a British house, but if I'm going to move, I'd like the option, you know?)

So we're sitting here waiting. Poor Steve has had a hard time of it, because this is just so bloody stressful. When the surveyors came around to check our property in lieu of the new house purchase, an electrician told us that our flat needed a whole rewire because it was dangerous. We'd not done anything to the electrics since Steve moved in here in 2008 so that was freaking frustrating. The electrician told us what a nightmare it would be and how we couldn't even consider having it done ourselves because the electricians would turn it into a bomb site and it would be unliveable afterwards. He suggested we have the builders handle that, take the cut in the offer the builders gave us for our flat as part-exchange, and get on with it. The builders weren't having that, so we took Daisy to doggy day-care, and toted Jake to a hotel with us for three days while an electrician did the work. Mind you, this was the third electrician we had come around to do a quote because the first two were like, "What a mess! This is awful! How could you live here with this?! Why did you purchase it?" and on and on.

With the recent Beast from the East snowageddon, I learned that it's illegal to not clear the snow off the hood and roof of your car. It's too dangerous. However, a flat that has dodgy electrics that could potential kill everyone in the building -- that's okay? Makes no earthly sense whatsoever.

But no matter. Here I am in England, trying to hang out with a severe cold with my cat on the coffee table, my dog in "her" room which is the computer room that Steve's in currently working from home. I still have my lovely view from my big picture window in the living room and we still have money in the bank. All in all, it could be worse. It's just freaking frustrating.

Nonetheless, I will become a royal subject this afternoon and celebrate at a pub in the best British fashion this evening. Cheers!

What’s going on in April

It’s a nice, leisurely Sunday afternoon at Chez Pick. We’ve been fortunate enough to have some much needed time off, so we’re been trying to make the most of it.

Over Easter break we didn’t stay overnight anywhere like we usually do. This time we saw Ghost in the Shell and ate at Wagamamas on Easter Sunday, went to Cherryburn Farm on Easter Monday, and visited Cullercoats and Tynemouth on Saturday.

The movie was good and I’m glad we saw it, though I don’t remember a lot from the original that I saw ages ago. Wagamamas still doesn’t have breakfast like we saw in Gatwick Airport last December, so that was a mild bummer. And even though it was sunny in parts, the beach last Saturday was cold and it hailed on us. (We enjoyed our ice cream anyway.)

Yesterday we made another trip to our favorite place: Beamish Museum and saw their Horses at Work exhibition. I love that place, but having that many horses running around made it all the more enjoyable.

We’ve been watching Dave Grohl’s Sonic Highways, Dave Chappelle’s Netflix special (R.I.P. Charlie Murphy), and Fresh Prince of Bel-Air because, why not?

Work has been work. I can’t say much else than that. I go to a bunch of libraries, I help people with tablets and phones and computers, then I go home. Nothing too exciting about that.

Writing has still been sketchy at best. I get so frustrated because I want to delve into my Camp NaNoWriMo project, but I know I’ll never get much done because my whole day is focused on running around for work. I try my best to zone out and get back into the mind-set of “this has to be done because this is what I want to do with my free time” but I still can’t shake the high I have from being so dang social all day. (Is this an introvert thing, or what?)

I’ve thought about getting a Kickstarter going, donating the money to charity, and using that as a way to keep myself on task and motivated. I guess it couldn’t hurt if I tried, could it?

I do love all these authors who are still plugging away and keeping me motivated. I especially loved the Camp NaNoWriMo Virtual Write Ins on Youtube. They’re so fun and inspiring to watch.

On that note, this has been yet another “got to update before the time gets away from me again” type of post. Hope all of you are well and writing, traveling and publishing, and doing all the cool stuff that makes you who you are.

Tales from Dove Cottage

Well, I’ve seen it – Wordsworth’s Dove Cottage. This has been on my To Do list for only about 20 years, so I’m completely pleased to have finally visited. I was in a literature class in college and the professor shared around the photos of the England trip she and some of her students had gone on the year before. That’s when I first heard of The Lake District and Dove Cottage – I knew I had to get there one day.

Being the bank holiday and my rare opportunity to have all three days off (no work last Saturday – hooray) I booked us a nice excursion to the The Lake District. For those of us who aren’t British by birth, this is the done thing in England. You go to The Lakes over the last bank holiday of the year.

Of course I didn’t know this before I booked it – I just thought it would be nice to get away when we had the chance to spend more than one night not in town.

Anyway, so we stayed at Raise View House in Grasmere and spent time walking around Wordsworth’s grave at St. Oswald’s Church, the Gingerbread Shop, Allan Bank, Dove Cottage, The Wordsworth Trust Museum, and a few local bars and cafes.

The weather was incredible and it felt so, so nice to be away in the fresh air and the serenity of The Lakes. I’m so glad this area has been preserved and left in the natural beauty. Living in the city is nice and convenient and there is a ton of stuff at your fingertips there but, yeah, my natural disposition to enjoy being away from all of that.

Therefore, my new life goal – live in the The Lake District and write books.

How Bamburgh Castle and The Bowes Museum saved my weekend

A few weeks ago, Steve and I went on another little trip to explore England. Northern England to be exact because, hey, why not start the adventures in your own back yard? We took a trip an hour south from us into County Durham and into Barnard Castle. (A place I'm told is quite posh and from the pictures, I have to agree.)

We stayed at Jersey Farm Hotel which was right down the road from town. There we saw Shetland ponies (even newborn ponies), deer, and alpacas. We even had a nice view of the animals from our window, which made for a nice stay in the countryside.

After a lovely evening of relaxing with a whirlpool bath and the windows open so the fresh air could lull me to sleep as I drank Caribbean Twist and watched The Hollow Crown, I was ready for a Sunday of site seeing.

First we went to town to see the castle, which was super cool, especially with the views over the rolling hills (what you imagine England to look like all the time). Then we went to Bowes Museum for the Silver Swan and the art. The grounds there are so neat and that house is way impressive. I'm so glad we decided to scurry down there for a little weekend break.

I was disappointed that we didn't get to see the Shoes exhibit. There were tons of signs around town advertising it, but when we went, the exhibition was still being set up, which meant we couldn't see any of the Fashion displays.

Also, we did pass on Raby Castle. There is a deer park there, that we drove by on our way home. From the brochure, it seems like a canny way to spend the afternoon as well, so we'll definitely be back.