Since we last spoke...

After a few weeks away from the keyboard I thought I would check back in with a bit of a look back over what I've been up to of late...and if truth be told I've attempted to start this post many times over.

It's not that I haven't had something to write but that I've simply gotten out of the habit of writing. Whilst doing my 'lockdown diary' (for want of a better description) I had a 'reason' for writing something every day. I had given myself a challenge of writing a record of what was happening to me and the world around me. But after completing 893 days worth of my diary I had begun to feel that all I was recording was the mundane, the every day happenings of my life and that if I was to write it needed to be less often and with more to write about.

I knew that recording my life as a 'diary' would have days where nothing much happened or nothing that I felt was worthy of being written down, and as the pandemic moved on and life became more 'normal' there was less for me to muse about and pass comment on. And on the odd occasion that I did venture out into the realm of opinions I was disappointed by the negativity levied my way in return. After all I was writing to document my life and my thoughts and not to please others. But I discovered that this did not sit well with my innate nature of wanting to please and not cause anyone upset...so I stopped writing. I didn't want any confrontation with anyone and I let that (and them) stop me doing what I wanted to do...so here we are and I am going to attempt to write more often than I have of late just because I want to.

So what have I been up to over the last six, or more, weeks?

Well, our usual routine has continued and we attempt to get out first thing most mornings for our daily walk. Weekdays we tend to be out and about around 8am and stick to a shorter route of a couple of miles while at the weekends we may stretch our legs a little further or simply venture into the likes of Nottingham for more of an urban stroll. Since getting a fitness tracker back in the middle of May I have now recorded just over 300 miles walked, which I think is pretty good going. Not only is it good for us physically to be out and about by simply moving and absorbing vitamin D, but there is something about being outside in the fresh air that is good for the sole. It also gives Simon and I the time together and the time to talk without the trappings of 'life' getting in the way.

Cold showers are still apart of my daily routine although I have drawn a line in the sand and am sticking to my limit of 3 minutes and 30 seconds! I understand the beneficial effects that cold showers can produce but it doesn't mean I have to like them! Simon is now persuading me to try the Wim Hof breathing method which I think I maybe taking him up on...I will report back at some point in the future and let you know how I fair!

Over the course of the last few months we have made a few tweaks to our diet and exercise routine. We are still following a keto/low carb way of eating but have reduced the saturated fat content to see if it can make any difference to our overall good health. We have also increased our strength training sessions from twice a week to three times a week with a further two workouts that concentrate on body-weight exercises aimed at core/abs and legs. We have found a doctor to work with who understands the keto way of eating and approach to a healthy well being and we are fine tuning what we do and how we do it. As part of that we are still using an intermittent fasting approach to our meals with our first meal of the day now being around lunchtime rather than first thing in the morning. All of these approaches seem to be working for us, both physically and mentally.

The beginning of September saw us take a little day trip over to Macclesfield to visit my tattooist Saint Heywood at Acadia Tattoo. It had been about thirteen months since my last tattoo and I still had a number of ideas for what I wanted and where. By the end of the day I came away with a new piece to my left leg, a small addition to my right wrist and Simon came away with some script to his right arm.

Left leg - Three Good Fairies from Sleeping Beauty; Fauna, Flora & Merryweather

My smaller tattoo was in remembrance of my dad who passed away in March. When my mum died in 2015 I had a small gold star inked on my wrist to remember her by, as we all inevitably become stardust when we pass, and so it was only fitting to have the same again in memory of my dad.

Gold star for my dad

Script for Simon...a quote from the book Slaughterhouse 5 'So it goes'

And I already have another date booked in the diary for the beginning of November as I still have more ideas for yet more Disney themed ink.

Around the middle of September we had another road trip and this time we headed over to Birmingham as we had a concert booked. We have been long time fans of an LA based band called She Wants Revenge who over their career have had moments where the band has no longer been together and so getting an opportunity to see them live in concert has been rare. We saw them for the first time in a very small nightclub in Sheffield back in 2012 and we thought that would be the only chance we ever got to see them. Fast forward to 2019 and an announcement that they were back together and touring which led to us seeing them in Islington in London; and again we thought that would be the last time we would see them live. And then lo and behold a new tour was announced which seemed initially to concentrate on the US but before long they announced dates for the UK and Europe and with a date announced for Birmingham it meant it was a no brainer for us as it was only an hour away. So the band we thought we would be extremely lucky to see once we have now seen three times, and each time we have seen them they have played small venues and each time they have been phenomenal.

A little later in September we were able to join our fellow Star Wars cosplayers at Huddersfield Comic Con as part of the East Midlands Garrison and spend a day making people smile, posing for photos and raising money for the charity PASIC. We opted for Stormtrooper for Simon and Governor Pryce for myself.

This was our first time out trooping since Simon had broken his wrist back in May and happily we have another date coming up towards the end of October with our good friends from Joker Squad.

And in other 'geek' news Simon was approached by the soon to be opening 'Derby Computer Museum' about his time working for Derby based computer games companies Gremlin Graphics and Core Design. Inside the museum there is a room dedicated to British computer games from their beginning up until around 1999 and Simon has been able to provide them with some artwork as well as a video interview. Core Design produced the game Rick Dangerous which Simon developed way back in 1988/89 and still to this day is the game he will get asked about more than any of the others he has worked on.

Simon was only too happy to get involved and donated a signed poster, scans of his original drawings and notes, as well as spending a couple of hours recording the interview. Although we did have a slight recording issue when memory cards became corrupted so he did have to sit for a second recording! But this did mean that on our second visit I was able to donate a working Nintendo Gameboy and games to add to their collection. The museum will be opening on Saturdays from the 3rd December and we have been invited to their launch party towards the end of November!

At the end of September we had a few days booked away to go and see Molly and Dan down in Bournemouth. The last time we'd seen them was in July when they had travelled to see us for a weekend so it was great to be able to take a few days off and spend a little longer with them. 

The visit also involved a trip to Ninja Warrior in Southampton! Molly and Dan had been there earlier in the year and were very keen to get Simon to have a go (they knew better than to ask me!!). Thankfully Simon had recovered from his broken wrist (with no help from the promised physiotherapy that never materialised!) and was more than happy to join in the fun. I took on the role of videographer and photographer for the day while they all threw themselves around from one obstacle to another. And whilst it was not something that I would do it was a great couple of hours of fun and sweat and was very well organised. There were two courses to complete as well as a very large inflatable course all of which you could complete as many times as you wanted within your booked session time. I think Simon was pretty pleased with his efforts and managed to 'keep up' with the 'young 'uns'!

Posing after two hours of warrior stuff!

Over the course of our time in Bournemouth we had some lovely meals out, walked lots of miles and encountered an arts festival that had taken over the whole of the town centre. There was even a 'Drum and Base on a Bike' event happening which took us slightly by surprise as we wandered through the town. It was a completely separate event to the arts festival and involved around 200 or more people cycling while drum and base music blasted out; it was a most peculiar, yet invigorating site to see.

On our way home from seeing Molly and Dan we took an extra night to stop over in Surrey so that we could catch up with Simon's work colleagues who are all based in that area. Simon had not seen his colleagues in person since February of 2020!!

Just before we embarked on our time away down South I decided to buy myself a camera; a proper DSLR camera! Photography is something I've fancied having a go at and have never really had the time or the inclination. With Molly having studied photography and subsequently set up her own business (Shutter Studios) I've always hand someone on hand should I need something 'proper'! My photography is normally limited to my phone...which to be fair does a really decent job but I wanted the challenge of learning a set of new skills, and proving to myself that I can rise to the challenge.

So over the course of our time away and the last few weeks I have started to use the camera and begun to figure out what all the buttons mean and even dip my toes into the proper lingo. Although I do feel the need to carve out sometime to watch videos and read up on the subject so that I can get the best out of it. The organised side of my personality wants to learn how to do this all 'properly' and in a logical orderly fashion and the challenge for me will be to 'just have a go' and figure it all out on the fly. So this will be a challenge not only from a technical stand point but also allowing myself the time and the creativity to simply try and not worry about conforming to any 'rules'!!

And before I waffle on anymore I think I will bring this post to an end and make a start on the next one!

See you soon.
xx

Day 491...Ink Day

Day 491...

...and day one of my summer break from work. Working in education I am extremely fortunate to get six weeks off over the summer months and thankfully Simon has been able to book a couple of those weeks off too.

But I couldn't have started my summer break any better as today was ink day! I was due to have a tattoo back in April 2020 and this became one of the first victims of the initial lockdown. When restrictions were lifted this time last year I debated whether to get re-booked but with all the uncertainty and subsequent lockdowns I never got the chance.

So this morning I drove the 48 miles to see my favourite tattoo artist Simon Saint Heywood at his studio Acadia Tattoo in Macclesfield. It took me about an hour and forty minutes to get there but it was another beautiful, sunny and warm day and it is a stunning route to drive across the Derbyshire Dales.

Simon has been responsible for the majority of my Disney sleeve along with my Star Wars Rebels tattoo and my Disney Carousel thigh piece and today it was time to add some more Disney...well what did you expect?!

Today's tattoo was inspired by a dream that my Simon had a while ago that involved Peter Pan & Wendy flying together. I wanted the design to represent Peter Pan flying slightly ahead encouraging and supporting Wendy to fly along with him. This very much represents Simon and I; Simon as the ever youthful Peter guiding, encouraging and supporting Wendy (aka me). Providing me with the confidence and self belief that I struggle to maintain but with Simon by my side and pulling me along to achieve what I may not always realise that I am capable of.

A few hours of lying down and keeping still and I was able to take this awesome creation home with me...

...and now I have the ink bug once more and need more ink!!

I arrived back home to a fresh pot of coffee and once refreshed I had to pop out to collect a prescription for my dad. The pharmacy is still adopting a policy of only one person in the shop at a time and so I joined the queue outside to wait my turn and prey that the storm clouds didn't deluge me with rain. Thankfully the rain held off until I was at my dad's house, although it didn't last for very long and the few rumbles of thunder didn't do much to clear the air.

By the time I got home again Simon and Molly were in our 'gym' lifting weights...I decided to give the weights a miss tonight using my freshly inked skin as an excuse.

And with all of that Thursday was done, now it's time to chill and watch this week's RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars!

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 17

Day 17 and welcome to the weekend!

This was supposed to be a busy weekend. Today I was booked in to have some new Disney ink with my favourite tattoist Saint Heywood at Acadia Tattoo and tomorrow I was to be out for lunch with some old work colleagues from my banking days.

So instead of being out and about and catching up with friends I will be staying home and staying safe.

Today has been quite a chilled out kind of day. I was able to jump onto my online shopping and add some extra bits ready to collect early next week. My supermarket of choice is now limiting its customers to only amend their shop in the 2 days prior to collection and with a strictly worded message telling shoppers we should only amend once and only if its urgent!! Really hoping over the coming weeks this all starts to calm down and the supermarkets come up with solutions to the obvious demand.

Managed to complete my jigsaw with relative ease, quite nice to do a simple straight forward puzzle as the next one I think may take a bit longer.

We took our usual walk out this afternoon which took us via my dad's house so that we could see him and chat through his living room window and then we had a little stop at his local corner shop where I was able to buy some wine, chocolate, HP sauce and finally some tinned tomatoes!! You know the important stuff!

Without wanting to repeat myself these are peculiar times that we are living through and we all need to be prepared for this going on for a fair while yet. Earlier today whilst outside a couple of my neighbours were talking over a garden wall, the next thing I see is them both stood next to each other chatting away as they would have done in normal circumstances - really?!! One then came over to me and started chatting, which was lovely, but I made sure I put myself the other side of my car on purpose so that she couldn't get any closer; why are people not taking this seriously? Just because I know you and see you most days doesn't mean we can get up close and personal, just keep your distance. I'm not being rude I'm just being safe and trying to do my bit to help all of us.

xx

And some more Disney ink!

Anyone who has visited this blog in the past knows that I love my Disney ink and this week saw the addition of some more...but not to me!

My daughter took her first step into the world of tattoos by getting herself a Disney themed tattoo - like mother, like daughter!

So we took a trip over to see my favourite tattooist Saint Heywood over at his new studio Acadia Tattoo. And there Molly sat like an absolute pro. She went for a decent sized tattoo after chatting through with Saint about placement and detail, deciding to 'go big or go home'!

I reckon the tattoo must have taken about 5 hours or so to complete with only one short break about half way through. Saint was his usual lovely self and made sure Molly knew what was happening and making sure she was involved in the whole process to get exactly what she wanted.

Initial outline complete

Sitting like a pro!

And in goes the colour

And the final result is this awesome piece of artwork

But of course I couldn't spend the day in a tattoo studio without getting a little something done on me! And while this one isn't strictly Disney it does have a nod to Disney in it.

Earlier this year as part of a routine mammogram I discovered that I had breast cancer. Thankfully it was found at a very early stage and was very small but I still needed to undergo a lumpectomy operation to remove the bad stuff and as I type I am waiting for a course of radiotherapy to make sure we've done as much as possible to get rid of it! It therefore felt right to get a pink ribbon tattoo to symbolise these last few months. When the cancer was discovered we kept referring to it as some 'naughty pixie dust'; it therefore seemed apt to get the words 'Faith, Trust, Pixie Dust' worked into the tattoo. After all having faith and trust in those around me has certainly helped me get through this whole experience; Simon, the kids and my friends have been amazing and I feel truly blessed to have them all in my life.

Thanks to Simon (Saint Heywood) at Acadia Tattoo for looking after us girls and doing an amazing job as always. The only problem now is what to have done next...