June Wishlist

Hi Guys! Wow, as if it's already the last day of June! It's gone by so quickly, it's ridiculous! I've really enjoyed taking part in the Wildlife Trust's 30 Days Wild Challenge, although it's been very hard to keep up over the last few days. If you follow me on social media, you may have seen my posts explaining how crappy I was feeling; my pelvis and back have been causing me a lot of pain and it's probably all down to my fibromyalgia, ugh. It's been really difficult to get anything done, as I was in agony if I sat or stood for a long period of time. This especially affected my ability to blog so I'm sorry for the lack of posts! Since I'm feeling a slight decrease in pain today, I'm trying my best to power through and check as much off my blog to-do-list as I can. So here's my June Wishlist :) I hope you all enjoy reading! 

1. Set of Three Pastel Skull Candles I've been lusting over these absolutely gorgeous candles for the last few months, ever since I followed the Ember Candle Co. facebook page. They just look so very pretty and eye-catching, very well designed and come in so many lovely colours! As a lover of pastel shades and all things macabre, these candles are perfect for me! 

2. Sarah's Scribbles Collection: Adulthood is a Myth Sarah Andersen is one of my favourite artists; I really love her cute and very relatable comics and illustrations. They always make me giggle :) I would really like to own any of the books from the Sarah's Scribbles Collection to look through whenever I'm feeling gloomy to cheer me up! Who else loves Sarah Andersen's work?

3. Urban Decay 'All Nighter' Setting Spray I've been meaning to try out setting spray for a while now, versus the translucent powder I currently use to try to keep my make-up on during the humid weather or a night out partying. I keep seeing the Urban Decay 'All Nighter' spray popping up all over social media with good reviews, so I'd love to try this one out as soon as I can, which claims an impressive 16 hours of make-up kept perfect. I need to test this out for myself! 

4. Paperchase Flyaway Neon Gel Pens There are so many wonderful stationery items available at Paperchase right now; I want so many of them! However, most of them would be more suited for my monthly Kawaii & Geeky wishlist so I'll let you know what else I'm after soon. When browsing through the Paperchase website, this super vibrant gel pen set caught my eye and I remember that I actually wanted to build up a collection of gel pens after I spotted that my mom has been using gel pens for her colouring books, and the illustrations always look great when they are completed. I'd love to start up my collection with these, because just look how bright they are! Colours make me happy :) 

5. Whittard's Alice In Wonderland Teapot How gorgeous is this teapot!? Oh my gosh, I'm so sad that I can't buy it like right now. It's so pretty and perfect for tea parties and the original illustrations covering it are just perfect. I love the shape of it, too. It's expensive but would be great to have if you're a fan of tea parties or just to have on display in your kitchen :) I'm just slightly obsessed with afternoon tea crockery. I love the book quote from the Mad Hatter's tea part scene a long the bottom of the pot. I think it's a cute little detail. 

6. Whittard's Alice In Wonderland Mini Caddy This item was in fact what brought my attention to the entire Alice In Wonderland Tea Party collection at Whittard's. I instantly fell in love with the design of this caddy and was curious about how about the price, and then I was greeted with an selection of other Alice In Wonderland themed items. I was over the moon! English Breakfast is my preferred type of tea so although there's a set of three mini caddy with a different tea in each, I would only purchase this one. Blue is one of my favourite colours so I'm glad that the English Breakfast caddy comes in this colour. Did you guys know that today is National Cream Tea Day too?

7. Lush 'Yellow Submarine' Bath Bomb It's very rare for me not to have Lush products make it to my wishlist each month, because I'm just a really big fan of their bathbombs and I want to try almost every kind that they produce. Is it strange that I am more likely to buy an item if it comes in a specific colour? There's just something about yellow that instantly makes the item more appealing to me! So of course, my attention was captured by this Yellow Submarine bath bomb. I then discovered that the ingredients include some of my favourite fragrence, circus fruit and lemongrass. I now have a mighty need to get my hands on one (or ten!) of these. 

8. Lush 'Green Party' Bath Bomb I have to admit that my original reasoning for wanting this bath bomb was purely based on the fact it was named after the Green political party and although I recently voted the Labour Party in the election, it was a tactical decision to try to get the horrid Tories out! My policital party of choice is however the Green Party. It's a bonus that the oils added to this bath bomb are citrus and ylang ylang, both of which I really like. 

9. New Look Wild and Free Chalk Board I will soon be getting my own bedroom and so something that is on my mind a lot lately is how I'm going to decorate. I am quite into the idea of putting up a mini chalk board by my desk or on the back of my bedroom door, somewhere were I am not going to be able to miss it, to write important to-do notes on. The design of this chalk board from New Look is great, and I'm also lovin' that it's circular.   

10. Yellow & Grey Floral Cold Shoulder Cami Top Since it's now Summer, it's about time I added a very little amount of non-black clothing to my wardrobe, haha! I'm very much liking tops at the moment that hang off the shoulders, probably motivated by the boiling weather we had earlier in the month. I love the pale pastel shade of yellow of this shirt and that it's nice and long. I'm not sure how I'd feel about the thin straps since I haven't worn a cami style top since I was a kid and they annoyed me back then. Hopefully, the nice design will make up for any annoyance it may cause. I'm curious, what's everyones go-to colour for Summertime? 

Thankyou for reading!

♥

 What's on your wishlist this month?

Also, I'd love to know what the highlight of June was for you! 

Let me know in the comments. Have a wonderful July everyone :)

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#30DaysWild | Week 3

Happy Thursday! I hope you've all had wonderful days. Although still very warm, the weather has been a lot easier to cope with in Lancashire today. I'm hoping tonight is the same, because it has been so so difficult for me to get to sleep lately. I'd love a decent night's rest tonight! Yesterday, I went out for my first day trip in a long while, to Blackpool with my mom. I planned the journey around going to the Build A Bear Workshop, to get the 4th Pokemon plushie that the store have released. My new Squirtle plushie is really awesome! I had a very nice, albeit very tiring, day; it was great fun relaxing by the beach and browsing in some of the seaside touristy shops. It was also cool to spend the first day of Summer on the coast! There's no Disney store in my hometown either, so of course I went in there too! I'd love to go back again soon :) Today's post is another about the Wildlife Trust's 30 Days Wild Challenge, which hit the three week marker yesterday! I cannot believe how fast this month has flown by. I hope you enjoy looking at the photographs that document what wild things I've been doing for the last seven days! 

 Aww, I love how the Day 15 logo has starfish on it... that's so cute! After struggling to sleep on Wednesday night, I spent most of Day 15 sleeping or lounging around. It was Nature Photography Day so I was a little gutted that I wasn't able to go out anywhere teeming with wildlife to get some photographs. I did however enjoy browsing through photographs I've taken in the past :) I decided to go out into the garden after dark to see which creatures were out and about. There were lots of insects! 

I absolutely love snails!

It looks like I caught this slug and woodlouse having a conversation, haha :)

Last Friday, I planted some wild flower seeds in two different locations in my garden. I am so looking forward to them growing, because I think wild flower species are so beautiful and remind me of meadows. They also attract more bees and butterflies so I can't wait for that :) I didn't use the whole box of seeds, since I'm going to also plant some when I'm out and about. Talking of flowers, what's everyones favourite? Mine are bluebells and sweet peas!

Since the weather was wonderful on Saturday, I spent quite a few hours outside relaxing on the grass and watching my nephews playing with Aurora the puppy :) I decided to do some colouring in one of my pretty animal colouring books by Millie Marotta and ended up just daydreaming and colouring away for hours! haha I made up some sugar water solution and put it out for the bees and butterflies, so that they could stay hydrated whilst exploring our flowers, many of which are starting to bloom now. I'm really looking forward to our lilies opening! 

Here's the little plate I made up for the insects. The sugar water is poured onto the kitchen roll so that the butterflies and bees won't drown whilst they are trying to drink. I was saving an over-ripe banana to put on the plate too since I know butterflies are a huge fan, but my mom didn't know and so threw it out. Oops. I had a nectarine for breakfast so I decided to share it :)

Sunday was another gorgeous day weather-wise, although I am definitely not a huge fan of the heat so I hid in the shade for most of the day. I decided to search the 30 Days Wild app for an ideas on how to spend my day and I ended up choosing to read about nature in the garden. I have quite a few wildlife books but unfortunately they are all packed away in boxes with the rest of my things from when I came home from university and I won't be getting them out until I have my own bedroom, which looks like it's going to happening within the next few months. Yay! Instead, I decided to read about moths and butterflies on my phone whilst relaxing out of the sun under our Apple Blossom tree. I found out a lot of interesting techniques for attracting moths that I'm definitely going to have a go at myself very soon.

The birds have made such a mess under the fat ball feeder!

I was inspired by the prompt from the Wildlife Trust's app to go in search for an insect to observe it's behaviour and try to ID the species. I found a lot of insects that I was already very familar with but then I started lifting up rocks and other things in my garden to see what creatures inhabited the space underneath. Another of the prompts on the app is 'lift a log' and since there's no logs laying around my garden, I improvised and lifted up a small chunk of wood at the bottom of my garden. I came across some really really tiny lice/beetles, some woodlice and then a baby millipede! It was too small for me to ID but it was cool to hold it and watch it crawling across my hands with all those legs! I of course put the little guy back where I found him afterwards. These are the only photos I managed to take...

This Tuesday was another 'lazy' day for me. Being the introverted ball of anxiety that I am, Sunday always zaps all of my energy because of all of the social interaction that I have to do when my family are over. My insomnia combined with the sauna that is my bedroom at night made it so that sleep was almost impossible. I was up watching Netflix until ridiculous o'clock! In the evening, I sat outside with a nice cup of tea enjoying the sun with my parents and some of my bunnies a good cuddle :) I had a blog post to write notes for so I decided to put my little lionhead X rex rabbit out in the run and lay on the grass nearby dotting down ideas and watching him 'binking' around in excitement. I almost fell asleep on the grass though! Something that I really like about this season is that my grey rabbits fur lightens and they get patches of browny beige throughout their coats. It think it looks lovely.

My beautiful boy, Jacob :)

'Oi, why are you taking photos of me?'

I spent the final day of Week 3 over in Blackpool on the North West coast. It was a fabulous day out and I thoroughly enjoyed walking along the beach, although I didn't spend as much time on it as I would have liked. I saw lots of young and old Herring Gulls, who wouldn't leave me alone when I sat down to eat my lunch on the seafront. The place were we ended up sitting was next to a patch of glass and I soon discovered that it was home to ALL OF THE LADYBIRDS! I've never seen so many ladybirds in one place at the same time. It was amazing! I embraced my inner weird bug lady and had a great time handling the beetles, letting them crawl up to the tips of my fingers and watching them open their wings to fly off. What a great way to end the week :) Just a few more days to go now!

 

Can't go to Blackpool and not take a photograph of the Tower :)

It was a challenge in itself to take a photo of the ladybird since they didn't stay still for long!

I had a great week, even though other than my trip to Blackpool, it was a very relaxed and uneventful seven days. The heat made it very difficult to get much done, especially since it makes my fibromyalgia flare up! I really appreciate all of the little wild moments I experienced and I can't wait to document the final week of the challenge :) Check back next Thursday for the next #30DaysWild post. 

Thankyou for reading!

♥

Have you spotted any wildlife this week or done anything in an area surrounded by nature? I'd love to hear all about it in the comments.

Check out my two previous 30 Days Wild posts:

| Week 1 & Week 2 |  

 

7 Reasons Why It's Great To Be an Introvert

Hey everyone!I hope you are all coping with the ridiculous heat in the UK right now, and that you all had a lovely day, whether you braved the sun or not :) Please look after yourselves guys! Wear suncream, drink lots of water to stay hydrated, make sure you have something ice-cold to hand - whether it's a frozen 'hot' water bottle, ice cubes in your drinks or some delicious ice lollies! Alternatively, you can hide in the shade and complain about the heat like me, haha. If you have pets, also make sure that you keep them cool. Freeze bottles of water for them to snuggle up to, or make them a shaded area to relax in. Always have water available close by, too. We can get through this guys! 

So on with today's post... lately, I've been pondering a lot onn what it means to be an introvert and how that impacts how I interact with people. Over the last two months, I've been giving online dating another go. I'd used Plenty of Fish (POF) in the past and absolutely hated it, but that's another topic for another post maybe! I've been using OKCupid (OKC) at the moment instead since I'd heard it was full of lots of fellow nerds and introverted types and that it was also more kink-friendly than other dating sites. It's been going good so far, already it still has it's share of misogynistic fuckboy types... oh, the joys of being a girl on the internet. I wish we could escape them! >.<

When writing up my profile, I wanted to include all of the key characteristics that make me who I am. One of these traits was my introverted personality. Noting this on my profile has meant that it has sometimes been a conversation starter, and it's been interesting to focus on the positive parts of my introversion. It is a fundamental aspect of what makes me, me plus it has an influence on how I behave and respond to things as well as how I am as a friend and a partner. 

Growing up, the qualities attributed to my introverted personality were always viewed as negative by my teachers. My school reports stated that I was good student, however comments were forever made about how I 'was very quiet' or that I needed 'to participate more in class and answer questions'. I was made to believe that these traits were undesirable and something that the school system seemed intent on changing. I was annoyed by my inability to speak out in class, to put my hand up and answer questions or get more involved in group activities. I was far too hard on myself. I didn't know back then that alongside my introversion, I also had anxiety disorder, and I just felt like I was going to struggle to achieve my goals of going to university because of being a quiet person, easily overwhelmed by social situations. I was once even told by a teacher of mine that I basically (although I can't remember the exact wording) wouldn't amount to anything if I couldn't learn to speak in front of the class or complete a presentation. I laugh at her words noww, but at the time it really effected my depression. 

When I left the horror that is high school behind and experienced a more independent learning system, I found that there was a lot less pressure on me to try and force myself to keep up with the social aspects of class, and I could still achieve the grades I wanted in class without it depending on my ability to participate in things that made me feel uncomfortable and stressed. I could be myself and still feel like a valued student. My confidence in myself began to grow and I learnt to love my introverted qualities, even though they still made lots of things in life a challenge. 

I wanted to share with you all some of the reasons why I personally think being introverted is awesome. I hope you all enjoy reading! 

So, what actually is an introverted personality? 

You've probably all heard of introverts and extroverts before, but I thought I should explain what the difference between the two personality types are and what it really means to be an introverted person. Society has so many misconceptions about introverts, that they are shy, that they don't like people, that they are social recluses. These traits do not go hand-in-hand with being an introvert; just like there are shy extroverts, there are some introverts who are shy. However, what sets these two personality groups apart is how social interaction makes them feel. Extroverts are outgoing, they thrive in social environments, being around people maes them feel energised, invigorated. On the other hand, social interaction has the opposite effect on those with an introverted personality, for whom being surrounded by people makes them drained. They are deep  thinkers and need to consider a lot before conversing, and so social interaction takes it's toll on their energy levels. Introverts need time alone to recuperate after being around people. 

Extroverts and introverts process their surroundings in different ways. They react to sitations based on their personality traits; for example, extroverts can make decisions a lot more quickly as introverts need time to reflect and consider all opinions clearly before coming to a final decision. Extroverts tend to be more outspoken, in the sense that they will be comfortable with communicating with other and happy to talk through their ideas and opinions openly with a group setting. On the contrary, introverts will think about their ideas but only share them when prompted or when around small groups of familar people. Of course, traits can be shared between extroverts and introverts, and its not a 'one size fits all' set of traits, but the majority of each group share these specific characteristics. 

There are some attritubes that I love about being an introvert, things that are advantages and that I'm proud to possess. I've narrowed down my favourites characteristics and I hope that other introverts can relate and feel glad of their personalities. A post like this would have been great to read when I was in my teens. I really think that personality types need to be taught in teacher training so that children can stop being pressured to do things that make them feel anxious, and so different approaches can be considered so that all students have a fair chance to succeed :) 


1. Introverts have vivid imaginations

Something that seems to be a common trait amongst introverts is their imagination and creative abilities. I'm not saying at all that extroverts can't share this trait, but due to the fact that introverts are deep thinkers, who spend a lot of time in their own heads pondering and analysing things, they often have very vibrant imaginations. For me personally, I have always had a big imagination, and my parents used to say I was 'away with the fairies' a lot as a child, lost in my own thoughts. A lot of fantasy/fiction novelists are introverts, such as  J.K. Rowling, the writer of the Harry Potter novels. There's a mixture of characteristics that make introverted people able to focus all of their energy on writing, such as being content when they are alone with their thoughts and the fact that they reflect on everything, pulling it apart in their minds. Some of the most iconic scientists/invertors were introverts too, and their imaginations and deep thinking allowed them to contemplate on their theories and passions, which in turn helped them to make the fantastic discoveries that they did. Issac Newton and Albert Einstein had introverted personalities. 

2. Introverts make great friends

Obviously, there are dickheads all across the personality spectrum and not all introverts will be great friends. What I mean by this is that introverts can make some of the most fulfilling friends you've ever had. Introverts are naturally good listeners, mostly because of the fact that they prefer to observe the World around them and take everything in versus getting directly involved in the action. They would rather sit back and listen, instead of getting up and speaking and because of this they are more than happy to just listen to others. Being a good listener is something that is a great attribute for bonding with people and being there for your friends when they need someone to talk to. Another characteristic shared by introverts that helps them to form strong bonds with others is that they favour having a couple of close friends rather than having a huge number of friends. They can invest more time in these friendships and being averse to small talk, they want to have meaninful conversation which of course can make your connection with someone grow. Introverts are also just happy to hang out with you at home, chilled out as opposed to going out to a more social setting :) 

3. Introverts love to have deep conversations

Linking in with what I previously said, introverts hate small talk, like a lot. Introverts thrive on learning new things, on investing their energy into expanding their knowledge. Deep conversations offer them an opportunity to do this, to talk to others about interesting and intricate topics, to educate themselves through listening to the experiences and opinions of others. Small talk is often meaningless chit-chat and it can be very mentally-draining for introverts to partake in. They can often come across as rude for prefering to remain quiet or to avoid situations that might require small talk, however it's something that is a challenge for them and speaking from personal experience, I find situations where I'm made to exchange small talk with people, especially those I don't know, really stressful and daunting. Introverts like to form connections with people and have honest discussions that allow them to learn more about the person they are conversing with. Small talk doesn't let you do this. Introverts will happily discuss all sorts of deep topics with you and thoroughly enjoy it :) 

4. Introverts are very empathic

If someone is described as empathic, it means that they are very in tune with the feelings, thoughts and emotions of others. One of the characteristics shown by a massive number of those with an introverted personality is a strong awareness of self, as in they are very aware of their own emotions. This emotional intelligence may be attributed to the fact that introverts are deep thinkers and often keep their thoughts to themselves, dwelling on them and trying to figure out the best way forward. So, when it comes to expressing emotions, introverted people are more likely to spend a lot of time pondering over the situation and why they feel the way they do. It may be related to introverted people being introspective, also they spend a lot of time in the background watching the reactions and responses of those around them. Whatever it is, it is considered that introverts can be some of the most empathic people as they are more likely to pick up on little emotional cues and because of their own strong self understanding, they are able to use this understand the emotions of others. 

5. Introverts are well-prepared 

Introverts don't like bringing unwanted attention to themselves. They would rather stay in the background, listening to others and concentrating their energy on something they are good at. The majority of introverts do not like being caught off guard and asked to voice their thoughts and opinions in front of others, and so when they know that they may be put into certain situations, they like to be well-prepared. They will spend hours and hours contemplating the task ahead and how they can be best prepared to deal with the different possible scenarios. Additionally, being prepared allows them to plan how they can avoid potentially uncomfortable situations. They need time to consider before making decisions so you can be sure that they have thoroughly thought about any important things they have to get done. Not all introverts are great organisers and planners, but they definitely spend a lot of time considering how best to go about things and so they are mentally well-prepared. This is why I can be handy to be going somewhere with an introvert, especially an introvert with anxiety, just ask my best friend! 

6. Introverts are passionate & focused when it comes to their interests/hobbies

Introverts really value solitude, and they require alone time to recover after social activities. Spending time in their own company allows introverts the time and concentration to focus on their interests and hobbies, whatever they may be. Introverts are said to rarely get bored so long as they can give their attention to the things they find meaningful and important, and so its no wonder that there are lots of creative introverts out there! Extroverts can be just as passionate as introverts when it comes to their interests of course :) It's just that the majority of introverts would much rather stay home alone and do something that interests them than to go out, and this gives them the time to fully immerse themselves in their passions. Not all nerds are introverts, but there's a lot of us that are. Nerd is a word used to describe people who are 'obsessed' with a single or several hobbies or pursuits, and so it's no surprise that many nerdy types are introverted and as a result choose to focus their attention on the things that interest them to the point where judgemental society would see it as a obsession. There's nothing wrong at all with being really passionate or interested in something. Do whatever makes you happy and don't let people make you feel bad for investing a lot of energy and/or time into your interests :)

7. Lastly, Introverts are very observant 

I know that I've already mentioned that introverts are observers rather than participators, nevertheless I thought this trait deserved a section all to itself. One of my favourite things about being about my introverted personality is that it gives me the ability to notice so many little details that my friends/family/peers might have overlooked or not paid much attention to. The way I think makes me very perceptive of my surroundings, of the people around me, of the minor details. I always seem to remember the most random things about places or scenarios, that were not as important to others and so they didn't really pay whatever it was any thought. This probably explains why my friends back at college nicknamed me 'Google', haha! This characteristic of introversion contributes to so many other advantageous traits, such as an introverts ability to be very empathic. They notice everything! 

An final reason why I think it's great to be an introvert is that we are unique. The majority of the population are extroverts, and it is estimated that only 25% percentage of society are introverted (although with new studies and such, they estimate that it's actually anywhere from 25% to 40%). You may feel like I have been made to feel before, undermined, overlooked, especially at school or work in a world full of extroverted personalities. However, it's important that you remember that you are awesome and there are so many fantastic qualities that you possess. It can be difficult to navigate when society seems to put so much emphasis on being super social and confident and outspoken. 

I just want to note that extroverts are awesome, too! I thought it would be fun to end this post by telling you all about the Myers-Briggs 16 personalities theory, for which psychologists developed a test to sort people into a specific personality category within the well-known extroverted and introverted types. I really like this theory and for me, I found that my results were very accurate. I'm a INFJ, with the 'I' standing for introvert. You should totally do the online test just for fun to see which personality you get. Let me know what you get in the comments, or if you already know yours, I'd love to know :) 

Thankyou for reading!

♥

Are you an introvert or an extrovert?

Tell me a characteristic of your personality type that you love! 

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#30DaysWild | Week 2

Wow, the last week has gone by so quickly! I had a rough start to the week as on Friday I went to the local woods, which is one of my favourite places in my hometown, to bury my beloved leopard gecko Grumpy. It was hard to say goodbye but I'm glad that he's been laid to rest in such beautiful surroundings. My trek through the woodland really took it's toll on my body and caused a fibromyalgia flare, which took several days to calm down. I was in so much pain and struggling to move much, meaning getting out and about anywhere other than my garden was not happening. I was still determined to stick to the Wildlife Trust's 30 Days Wild Challenge though that I started at the beginning of this month. Check out my Week One post to learn a little more about the challenge itself. If you're a fan of nature photography, then this is a post for you! Did you guys know that today is Nature Photography Day? I really love how taking part in this challenge is making it possible for me to do so much nature photography, something that in turn is helping with my mental health :) I encourage everyone to immerse themselves in nature every opportunity they get, because it really does help improve your mental wellbeing. Enjoy reading!

I didn't spend very long outside last Thursday as I was having a bad depression day. I was thinking a lot about the next day and my trip to the woods, and spent most of the day watching shows on Netflix to try and distract myself. I did however spend some time in the garden in the evening with my family, as my nephews were at my house and wanted to play outside. I put out some fat balls for the garden birds and spent some time sitting on the grass relaxing. I spotted some slugs near my little bug house too :) I forgot to take photographs of them though! 

How cool is my fat ball holder!? I bought it last year on a holiday to Wales. I love it!

I absolutely love woods! I always feel so at peace whenever I'm surrounded by trees and ferns and scrubs, hearing the birds tweeting and the wind whistling through the leaves. I also love the smell, of pine trees and earth. I love hearing twigs crunching under my shoes too, and how there's always something to see everywhere, so many little details. I've also adore moss :) It was a bittersweet trip... the reason for my journey was an emotional one, yet it was also nice to spend time in such a stunning place. The woods in my hometown is called Sunnyhurst Woods; I think it's a lovely name. Usually when I visit the woods, I walk through a different part than the one I went through on Friday so that was an interesting change. Me and my mom trekked up the steeper paths at the top of the woods. We got to see some sights that were nostalgic for me, as my dad used to take me walking along them when I was a kid. 

I was sad that I missed the bluebells, however I saw some pretty yellow Iris' and a variety of pink and white wild flowers. Lots of pine-cones too! I regret not bringing any home with me now to decorate around my bug house in the garden, as they are the perfect little hideouts for tiny insects. When I was in the woods, I spotted a couple of Red Admiral Butterflies (Vanessa atalanta) and I was over the moon! I hadn't seen any for what felt like ages and last year, I didn't manage to get a photo of the two I saw. I was very happy that I managed to photograph them this time! Prepare for lots of photos as I'm finding it impossible to narrow down a few favourites, haha

Obviously I took a ridiculous amount of photographs containing moss :D

Casually feeling the moss, haha!

I was very relieved when we stumbled across this giant fallen tree to sit on and rest for a while :) There have recently been a few trees cut down and so we had the most gorgeous view over the woods and could even see Darwen Tower up on the moors in the distance!

Also known as the Jubilee Tower, Darwen Tower was built in 1898 for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. It sits on the moors overlooking my hometown. On the clear day, you can see for miles and miles from the top of the tower :)

Found a nice spot close to this tree to lay my lizard to rest with lots of garden flowers, some pretty seashells and a purple heart-shaped gemstone ♥

It was a challenge to finally get some decent photographs of this gorgeous Red Admiral, as it kept flying off everytime I got close or because it was being chased away by another Red Admiral :)

As I mentioned at the start of this post, Friday's hike through the woods really exacerbated my fibromyalgia; I was left feeling very drained and had painful joints and muscles all over my body as well as even more swollen ankle (I sprained it a few weeks go)! I crashed for most of Saturday, and found my knees and ankles so sore to walk around on. I only spent a little while in the garden checking up on my bunnies. The Wildlife Trust have created an app to go along with the 30 Days Wild challenge, which includes lots of prompts and ideas for how you can spend each day. One suggestion was making some nature-themed origami and with inspiration from my rabbits, I decided to make some origami bunnies :) Here's a link to the video I originally used to learn how to make them. 

Sunday was a busy and hectic day at my house as usual and so I spent quite a lot of the day out in the garden. The weather was lovely, and I had a lot of fun playing with Aurora and hugging my rabbits and watching my nephews and nieces play :) One of the cons of having an introverted personality is that social interaction can make you feel very drained, which is exactly how I felt after a couple of hours surrounded by my family. I found a prompt on the 30 Days Wild app that suggested taking a nap in the grass, which sounded perfect to me and so I relaxed on the lawn in the garden as soon as the kids went to play on the local park. It was so relaxing watching the clouds and the bees going from flower to flower, and it really didn't take long for me to fall asleep, haha! I also taught my one of my nieces how to make the origami bunnies today and she did great!

Snippet of the garden from my point of view :)

Today, I was inspired by another idea from the Wildlife Trust's app :) It suggests drawing a landscape, so I sat in the garden in the evening and drew the first natural scene that popped into my head. By the time I'd finished doodling and colouring, it was almost dark and the bats had woken up and come out to hunt. I watched them darting around and swooping into my neighbour's gardens for a while. My camera unfortunately is not good enough to capture super fast little Common Pipstrelle Bats (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) in flight! I had lots of fun listening to their high-pitched 'chirps' though and very nearly had a bat fly into my head, haha! 

As you can see, I'm not much of an artist but I enjoyed myself anyway :)

This Tuesday, I made a daisy chain and was pretty proud of myself to be honest. Doing intricate things, like threading daisy stems through one another, is something that I've always struggled with. Although I'm yet to have an official diagnosis, I've had symptoms of Dyspraxia all of my life and my parents thought I had it as a child so that could very well be the reason why I struggle with these things. After several failed attempts, I finished a daisy chain and I was so excitable about it! 

Daisies are so pretty!

I ended the two week marker of the challenge by completing the 'Take a Break in Nature' prompt :) With a cup of tea and a delicious Milka chocolate bar in hand, I went to sit out in the garden with my parents. I spotted lots of garden birds, even managed to snap a photo of a Great Tit (Parus major) feeding on one of my fat balls, yay! I also watched Aurora interacting with my neighbours cat, Amari, for the first time! It was adorable to see her so excited and eager to play. Amari was raised surrounded by lots of dogs so she just ignored her mostly. 

I absolutely adore this Hare mug that I bought from ASDA :) 

How cute! Look how excited Aurora is!

That's it for Week Two of the challenge. It's nice to see so much activity in nature now that the weather is improving :) I hope you all enjoyed all of my photographs. Let me know which was your favourite in the comments. Come back on Thursday for my next #30DaysWild post. 

Thankyou for reading!

 ♥

What's your favourite garden bird? How about your favourite insect?

Have you done anything in nature this week? Tell me about it :)  

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Also if you want to see more of Sunnyhurst Woods, check out this post :)