Rose Gardens!

Kate, M and I have had a lovely day today! After a lie in (and a trip to the dentist), we had lunch at a farm shop café, then a couple of hours in the playbarn there. We then went off to choose a rose for H (who was at work), as she wanted one as a gift for someone.

We spent about forty minutes in the rose gardens! They were lovely, and Maia had a lovely time leading the way. It was the perfect place for such a sunny day.

I am trialling contact lenses at the moment. They are actually pretty useful, as I can wear non prescription sunglasses and don't have to keep switching glasses when the sun goes in. I think I'm going to stick with them!

Days

When I was writing my final 30 Day Snap post just now, I mentioned the fact that I looked like a pirate. I proceeded to Google "me hearties," just because. I discovered that the 19th of September is Talk Like a Pirate Day. I think I was already vaguely aware that this was a thing, but I was excited about in nonetheless.

I decided to go and find some more good 'days.' I found that yesterday (30th of June) was Log Cabin Day, while tomorrow (2nd of July) will be I Forgot Day. Let's hope that people remember what day it is! Today is Canada Day, but that didn't seem particularly entertaining. July is Ice Cream Month, a pretty decent piece of information if you ask me.

I actually once created an official day myself. Bully Anna Day was on the 8th of every month. There was an alarm on my phone and everything! I even made a Facebook page for it. Facebook says that if I create any more offensive/threatening content then my account will be suspended and I will be permanently banned (this wasn't my first offense, I admit. However, I would point out that I have never done anything malicious. Anna was and is one of my best friends... I would rip out my own teeth and use them as suppositories before I did anything that would cause her any upset/harm).

A few of my favourite 'Days' are:

1. 08/01 - Earth's Rotation Day. Umm, I'm pretty sure that this is EVERY day.
2. 11/01 - Step in a Puddle and Splash Your Friends Day. Will be celebrating this with enthusiasm next January!
3. 22/01 - Answer Your Cat's Questions Day. One of my cats only has three legs. I'm pretty sure if he could ask me a question it would be to do with that. My other cat would ask for her tummy to be rubbed. Kerry's cat would undoubtedly ask me if I would go away. Zippy isn't my biggest fan.
4. 17/02 - My Way Day. This could never work, but if it could... This would be my favourite by far!
5. 10/07 - Don't Step on a Bee Day. But go ahead with that the rest of the time!
6. 28/08 - Race Your Mouse Around the Icons Day.
7. 19/11 - Have a Bad Day Day. I won't be celebrating this one. I just liked the sound of "Day Day."

30 Day Snap - Photos that didn't make it!

Well, as I've finished the 30 Day Snap. I thought I'd post some of the pictures that very nearly made it in, but didn't quite!

This was from the one time I let someone else chose which photo to use. Maia picked one which is very, very similar but I must admit that I actually far prefer this!

Maia's core strength surprised me here! I'll be honest, this didn't make it for two reasons. One was that it is a portrait orientated photo which wouldn't have matched the others. The second is that I really wanted to use a photo of Maia 'doing jobs' in the pub so that I could use The Bitter End as a post title. I didn't even manage that in the end as I shoved the photo of Maia on the bar into a post with a couple of others.

This is a lovely photo, but it was beaten out by the one of Maia in a window of the Disney castle! I had a very hard time choosing!

The Disney photos were definitely the hardest to chose from. I went for one where I hadn't been making her pose in the end. I really wanted to get one like that on the merry-go-round, but she was insisting on posing for me so I went along with it as she had frequently refused to smile nicely for photos that day.

If only we hadn't taken the Poohsticks photos, this would have been a dead cert! However, the charm of Winnie the Pooh always wins as far as I'm concerned.

Kerry and Anna looking lovely. I should have used this one... But I didn't. Never mind. This photo was what made me do this whole post, because I love it and wanted to post it.

30 Day Snap #29 #30 - Challenge completed!

I have had fun doing this! I think I am going to get a photo book printed.

#29 - Arrrrrrr, Harry Potter, me hearties.

I look like a pirate in photos (yes, Kerry, I do), because when I smile one eye goes smaller than the other. This is definitely true of this one.

#30 - Happy Birthday Anna!

Anna is one of my school friends, and certainly one of my very best friends. To celebrate her having left her teenage years behind and become an old woman of twenty (while I am still a youthful nineteen), her parents had a BBQ. The cocktails were easier to come by than the meat most of the time! It was a good afternoon/evening.

30 Day Snap #20 #21 #22 #23 #24 #25 #26 #27 #28 - Massive catch up!

Well I'm an idiot! I left my laptop in Winchester last Saturday, so I haven't been able to upload any photos. I have been here there and everywhere, so I'm not actually sure that I would have had to chance to upload these even if I'd had my laptop!

#20 - Off on a boat!

#21 - Back to Blighty

Granted this isn't the best photo of Harriet that the world has ever seen, but it does do the job of summing up our journey back!

#22 - Helen's 21st

#23 - Granny and Grampa's golden wedding anniversary!

Not the best photo in the world! My camera was misbehaving for some reason, and everything came out blurry. I think this might have been the only time that Kate, Will, Owly, Mummy, Daddy and I have all been in a photo together!

#24 - Kerry! (Again).

#25 - Poohsticks

#26 - Near photo emergency!

Having spent the day celebrating the birthday of a school friend, I was kicking myself when I got back to Harriet's and realised I hadn't taken a photo! However, I reverted to type and got a picture of Maia. Phew.

#27 - Rain, rain, go away!

Okay... I had another photo emergency. I didn't think I could get away with two photos of Maia sleeping (especially in a row), so I went outside with her umbrella.

#28 - AARGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!

Today, Kate and William got the train to Wolves and we all drove down to Winchester for lunch so that I could get my laptop. The two and a half hour drive took three hours. We were there for about an hour before leaving again. I drove Kate and Will home to Cheshire, it took five hours. FIVE. I then drive over to Kerry's parent's house so I could lend her my sat nav before coming back down to Harriet's house. That was about 10 hours of driving in total! Argh.

30 Day Snap #17 #18 #19 - DISNEY!

I'll be honest, I had a moment today when I thought I'd let myself down by forgetting to take photos for three days. I then remembered that I've barely put the camera down and that the only problem is how to choose which photos to use from Disneyland! They are all pretty lovely. The second one was the hardest to pick, but I decided to go for one that wasn't posed, just to ring the changes! The last one finally has my face in it! It's about time I made an appearance.

#17 - Exploring Disneyland

#18 - Hardcore day at Disney!

I really struggled choosing this photo! There were a lot of them, and it was a bit of a toss up between this and a merry-go-round photo. In the end I decided that this was better as it is more natural!

#19 - It's A Small World!

Finally my face has made an appearance! It is about time really. This was taken on our second go on It's A Small World, which was one of Maia's favourite things.

30 Day Snap #14 #15 #16

I'm very behind with these posts, but I have been taking the photos... So here's a catching up post!

#14 Colouring with Auntie Gina!

#15 The Bitter End

Maia spent the morning "doing jobs" in our uncle's pub! To be honest, I was a little disappointed not to have ended up there on the last day of June as The Bitter End would have made a great post title for the last of these photos!

#16 Frozen frubes!