Books of the Month - September

I read six books in September, I was trying hard to read more so put a bit more effort in. I particularly liked Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu and The Rental Heart and Other Fairy Tales by Kirsty Logan, I would recommend both!

Lee and I have been going through all my books in order to tidy up in the back bedroom. We've got all the books on a spreadsheet which has shown that I've only read about a third of the paper books I own. We've still got a bit of work to do but once it's done I'll share some pictures!

Films of the Month - September

I watched tons of films in September. I watched seven films with Lee, and a further seven by myself. Lee and I watched four films while away in the motorhome, because that's how we liked to unwind. I liked all the films I watched!

A Matter of Life and Death - I watched this for my online film club and I liked it a lot more than I thought I might! It's about a WWII pilot who escapes death, only heaven then comes after him to die, but he's fallen in love. It's good, watch it 

Rogue One - We hadn't seen this in ages. While I prefer The Force Awakens, I really like this one too. I can't wait for The Last Jedi. Star Wars forever. 

The Addams Family - We watched this while in the motorhome, I've not seen it in years. I actually prefer the other one

Finding Dory - We'd never seen this, even though we like Finding Nemo a lot. I liked it, I felt like it dragged in parts but it is a lot like the original 

Toy Story - We also hadn't seen this in forever. It's a classic isn't it, I can't believe it's so old now.

Center Stage - someone recommend this since I like films about dancing. I didn't love it and I'm not sure I'd watch it again, but I liked it enough.

Bedknobs and Broomsticks - One of my favourite films ever, I watched this as a comfort one afternoon

Toy Story 2 - Since we watched the first one we moved on to this. It's probably my favourite one.

Men in Black - also one of my favourite films ever, I just love Will Smith too much

Pariah - someone recommend this to me too, thanks if it was you! It's about a black girl coming to terms with her sexuality. I liked it. 

Far From the Madding Crowd - someone on Twitter said this had been on BBC so I watched it. I think it's a pretty faithful adaptation of the book.

Thelma and Louise - I last saw this film when I was way too young for it and was reminded of its existence so thought I'd watch it. I really liked it, it stands up to the test of time too 

Finding Nemo - again since we'd watched Dory we watched the first one. It is one of my favourite films ever. 

It Happened One Night - I don't know why I had this in my watch queue, but I did. I quite liked it - Clark Gable is a dish and Claudette Colbert is stunning. Fun film. 

Meeting up with Friends - September 28th

At the end of Spemteber I met up with a few people at Meadowhall so I thought I'd share some photos. Laura had organised it. Rebecca is someone that I met through clothes swaps in Leeds, but she emmigrated to Canada four years ago, so when Laura knew she was back, she organised a meet up at Meadowhall.

Laura and Becks and I met up at 5pm and went to Simply Be, where I tried a few things only but only bought a top. Then they went to Yours but I wasn't feeling 100% so I decided to go to Las Iguanas where we had a table booked. I was seated early and had a drink and some tortilla chips. I didn't have a book with me which was a rookier error!

However the others soon arrived and then Georgina and Alfie arrived too. Cocktails at Las Iguanas are on 2for1 all day every day and they have some good non-alcoholic ones too, so we all got some. They seem to have revamped the menu recently which is really good. I had Brazilian chicken and coconut curry which came on a bed of rice with spring onions in. It was really nice! Georgina and I shared churros for dessert which were really hot and yummy. I'll definitely have to go back soon and taste a bunch of the cocktails!

We chatted for ages which was really nice, and only broke up the party at 8.30pm when I needed to get home. I bought some cake from Coffika for Lee on my way out of Meadowhall - their cakes are amazing and I highly recommend them!

Here's a few photos:

In the Simply Be changing room, I was wearing this Scarlett & Jo dress.

Showing off my necklace, it says "Strange and Unusual" haha

Lolly and me - this is Rebecca's phot

Sneaky photo by Rebecca

And finally a selfie of all of us, also by Rebecca. I had a lot of fun!

Weekend in Cheshire

As I said previously, Lee and I were away in Cheshire in September. At the beginning of the year we scheduled in a few weekends to go camping. We managed one - back in May, in Derbyshire. We had to cancel another date in July, and then this weekend in September was the last one. It was fine, we were both free to go wherever. Except, I had some dental surgery at the very end of August and still wasn't feeling 100%. I was basically fine, but easily tired and in need of comfort. I wasn't relishing the idea of sleeping in a cold tent and I said so to Lee the weekend before.

We had been planning to go to Cheshire to meet up with a friend of mine and her partner and kids, so we started looking at hotels and Airbnb to see if we could find something. Obviously, camping for 2 nights would've been really cheap, but we knew we'd have to spend a little bit more in all likelihood. Then I happened to see this listing for a motorhome in Cheshire, about halfway between Knutsford and Holmes Chapel. It seemed like the perfect compromise - a bit like camping, in a gorgeous quiet place, but with the extra comfort I needed. Lee booked it and talked to Karen via message quite a lot. Karen and her husband's motorhome is only just over a year old, so they are obviously quite protective of it!

We arrived about 3pm and met Karen and she showed us round. Most of the park is lodges and static caravans, but there was a small area for tourer caravans, handily really close to the toilet block. We were parked under an oak tree, meaning that conkers kept falling off and hitting the roof! We relaxed for a bit, and then as I said previously, tried to go out to eat, but were scuppered by the traffic. We cooked our barbecue stuff on the grill instead, watched a film, and got cosy in the motorhome. The lounge at the back pulls out into a huge bed and they had provided a mattress topper which made it really comfortable. I slept really well!

On Saturday morning we woke up to a lot of Weather which soon cleared, had cereal to eat and then set off to meet Helen and her family. I've met the kids before but never her husband, so that was nice. We went to Tatton Park which is huge. We had lunch all together and then they went down to the farm while Lee and I pottered around the shops and then had a nice hot chocolate in the Gardener's Cottage. We said bye to Helen and co and then headed to Alderley Edge, because I've just always wanted to see it. It's footballer land and you can tell, it's quite posh! We went into the Alchemist for a drink - I had a really yummy espresso cocktail called a Melbuccino, I'd recommend it! Then we headed back to the motorhome, where we relaxed by watching a film.

We went into Knutsford to eat in the evening, to the place we hadn't been able to get to the night before. We went to Jack Rabbits American Diner and we both liked it. As soon as we arrived we were greeted pleasantly and seated. We ordered some drinks and then were warned food was taking a little longer as there was a big birthday party in, which is really nice to be told. I ordered a Long Island Iced Tea which was different to others I've had but was really nice, almost bitter.

We ordered a starter to share, then Lee had a chicken burger and I had macaroni cheese. My dental surgery means I'm having to eat fairly soft stuff, and it's taking me a long time to eat anything. The food arrived quickly though, despite the warning. I also asked for a cocktail recommendation and the really nice waiter suggested a Pornstar Martini, which I've not had before although I've tasted Sam's. I said yes and I wasn't sorry - it was delicious!

We decided to not have any dessert as we had cake back at the motorhome. We headed back there to watch another film and relax. We both really like doing that. It was a bit colder in the motorhome so we put the heating on - it's really fancy, it comes out of the edges of the walls so it's like central heating! Really cosy.

On Sunday morning we packed everything up and said bye to Karen, who told us to tell all our friends about it. I definitely will - the motorhome had everything you could need and it was a lovely place to stay. I would definitely go back! If you've never used Airbnb before, you can get £25 off your first trip by using my referral link here.

We stopepd by the Trafford Centre on the way home to go to Wagamama for lunch. Lee had never been so I wanted to take him. We both had teriyake donburi and a bunch of sides to share. It was delicious and a really lovely way to end our weekend! Here's to more camping next year than we managed this year - but the motorhome was lovely.

Here's some photos:

My view from the lounge in the motorhome. The kitchen had everything you'd need

The lounge - really comfortable and cosy

Tatton Park on Saturday - I spotted this gorgeous truck for pulling a fairground ride

This coach was used in the coronation of George V!

I liked this sign in the shop

The mansion house. I can't believe how blue the sky was when it had been such awful weather earlier in the day

You can't see very well but there were deer all over the park, there are two under the tree

The Tudor Old Hall

I'm glad we went down to look at it

My Melbuccino in Alderley Edge. 

My Long Island Iced Tea. I really should learn how to make these

And finally my Pornstar Martini, with its little shot of prosecco on the side. 

What I Wore September 8th

Near the beginning of September Lee and I were away in Cheshire. I'll write more about that later, but here's what I wore. I bought the skirt and top off Lolly and, like her, think they look perfect together. The skirt is from Interrobang Art and I love the patterns they have. I had one skirt from them but I sold it as it was a bit short for me. This one is longer, though.

The sweater is from Hell Bunny I think, it's maybe more cream than it looks in photos? It's really soft and stretchy and I love the retro pattern. I also love the glasses pattern on the skirt.

I wore this all day, including to go out. We wanted to go out to eat but when we set off we ended up getting caught up in the traffic from this accident, where thankfully no one was hurt, it just meant that the M6 was shut and there were people everywhere. We ended up going back to the motorhome we were staying in and cooking there instead. It was fine, though.

Books of the Month - August

I really didn't read much in August either. I tried to get into two books and discarded them, and the others took me a while to get through. I will struggle to meet my goal of 80 books this year, but that's okay. 70 would be fine so I'll aim for that! Here's what I did read:

Jess, Chunk, and the Road Trip to Infinity. I liked this except for the fatphobia. I wrote more about this here. 

Under the Udala Trees is a very sweet novel set in Nigeria against the backdrop of the Biafran War, about a girl who isn't straight, and the relationships she has. I liked it a LOT.

Murder on the Orient Express. I read this for my online book club and kind of liked it, I thought some bits of it were just really strange. Everyone in the book club felt the same. Poirot isn't as his best here, but I've been watching the David Suchet TV programmes which are much better.

The Sewing Machine by Natalie Fergie. I heard about this when Natalie attended Grrrl Con in June. It's really good, a really decent debut novel. 

Films of the Month - August

I had another slow month filmwise - there seemed to be tons of TV on that I wanted to watch instead. For instance, I watched Broken, with Sean Bean playing a Catholic priest in a Norther town, and Trust Me, a drama with new Dr Who Jodie Whittaker playing a nurse who steals her friend's medical certificates and poses as a doctor in Edinburgh. Both really good dramas, I'd recommend them!

I watched just four films in August, and all of them were when Lee and I were away in my mum's caravan. We thought beforehand about what we wanted to watch, and watched them on Lee's laptop. We watched:

Ghostbusters - the 2016 remake. It's great, I've only seen it a couple of times but I really like it. All the women are great but I think I like Abby the best. Melissa McCarthy can play me in the movie of my life. 

This is a ridiculous film but so funny too. I particularly like the joke about playing the "Isle of Lucy" festival. 

We'd been watching In The Thick of It, the TV show, so we decided to watch the film. I've not seen it before, Lee has though. I liked it. James Gandolfini was really good in it. I'll probably watch it again

We've not seen this in literally years. It's so depressing, but so good. Jack Nicholson is excellent in it. I want to watch Girl, Interrupted again now as it's sort of the women's version of this film isn't it. 

What I Wore 27th August

I bought this dress from everything5pounds last year and I've only worn it once, even though it's really lovely. So when I was packing for the day after Paul and Lianne's wedding, I knew we were going out for lunch with Lee's dad, stepmam, my mum and stepdad, and thought this would be perfect.

It's easy to wear, I love the chiffon sash, and I like wearing horizontal stripes since popular thought says fat people shouldn't do so! I'll have to wear this again soon. I took this photo after our drive home.

Wedding in the North East - end of August

We went to yet another wedding at the end of August - the fifth of six we'll be going to this year! They've all been different and it's been lovely to see so many happy couples. This time it was the turn of Lee's friend Paul, who Lee has known since they were 17/18. We don't get to see him very often but every Christmas he comes to Lee's mam's house beforehand to join in our family Christmas which is always hilarious and lovely. We've only met Lianne, his now wife, once, last Christmas, so we were really pleased to be invited to the wedding.

It was held in Gateshead, where Paul and Lianne live, at a really lovely country house. We set off from our house around 9am and made our way up the A1. We stopped for some breakfast and still managed to be in plenty of time. We spoke to Paul and then went outside for the ceremony. It was really lovely, they said some really lovely vows to each other. There was champagne and photos on the lawn and then we went inside for food. It was yummy - I had spiced cauliflower soup, roast chicken with dauphinois potatoes and red wine jus, and then treacle tart with lemon curd and marscapone. It was so good, I could eat it again right now!

A little while after that the evening guests turned up, which included two of Lee's brothers, his brother Andrew's girlfriend Sarah, Lee's mam and stepdad, and my mum and stepdad! They all sat with us in the conservatory which I'd chosen as it was cooler than in the house itself, and it turned out we were right next to the vegetarian buffet so got first dibs. That was delicious too. Afterwards there was dancing which included a lot of punk and ska and was a lot of fun.

It was Photo An Hour on Instagram, organised by Jane and Louisa, so I have quite a lot of photos. I didn't get one of my dress though - I was wearing Scarlett and Jo, though! Here are my photos:

8ish and I was up bright and early to get into the shower. I was thrilled about it, as you can tell

Setting off from our house just after 9am. There was some traffic around the exit for Leeds festival, but other than that it was okay

10am and we were somewhere on the A1. Lee was driving.

11am we stopped for breakfast - a vanilla latte and sausage sandwich for me

Noon and we were all ready for the wedding. I'm even wearing make up

Nearly 1pm and I was drinking Pimms just before the ceremony

2pm, I took this photo of Eslington villa. It was gorgeous!

3pm, stealth photo of the bride and groom and their parents

I also took this photo of the best wedding guest, the inflatable dinosaur

4pm ish, Lee at the wedding breakfast.

My dessert looked stunning! 5pm, I think, although times are a bit woolly after this.

I had my face painted! It looks lovely doesn't it?

This was the STUNNING cake. There was a Moomin theme running through the wedding

Lee and I around 8pm ish. I was a little bit drunk by this point.

Lee never dances so the fact that he was dancing was just so nice.

This was dancing to Bad Manners I think

I smudged my head when I wiped away some sweat and was cross about it. 

Finally, the last song we stayed for - the Toy Dolls' Nellie the Elephant. We had this at our wedding - twice! So we knew Paul would have it too. We were all dancing. 

We went back to Lee's dad's after the wedding, although he and Lee's stepmam were already in bed! They were nice enough to leave the door open for us - they live in the kind of place that you can do that!