Films of the Month - April

I watched fifteen films in April which is an average of one every cople of days, which seems like a lot!



X Men Apocalypse: Lee and I were away in the caravan and took this to watch in the evening. It's not my favourite of the prequels but I do very much enjoy Oscar Isaac
Hot Fuzz: We also watched this, having not seen it in ages. I like it, but not as much as Shaun of the Dead
Jackie: I wanted to see this and thought it was really good, a very interesting look at the events immediately surrounding JFK's death.



Mrs Doubtfire: I loved this film as a kid and wanted to nostalgically watch it. It's still quite sweet I guess.
Jinnah: After I saw Viceroy's House at the cinema in March I wanted to see this. It's good, but why Christopher Lee is playing Jinnah I'll never know.
The Virgin Suicides: Again, a film I like that I haven't seen in forever. I really like the book too.



500 Days of Summer: I have only seen this once before and I was in the mood for Zooey Deschanel so.
Hidden Figures: Sam and I went to the cinema to see this and it was fantastic. So interesting and so amazing. I loved all the three leads equally. See this if you haven't already
The History Boys: One of my favourite films and one I can quote practically the whole way through. I wanted something comforting



Yentl: I've heard of this but never seen it, but someone mentioned it at my book club when we were talking about The Tempest. It's quite good.
Room: I loved this. I read the book about five years ago and thought it was so interesting and chilling. The film is really faithful to the book (which makes sense as the author wrote the screenplay) and the child playing Jack is just fabulous.
The Lady in the Van: I missed this at Christmas but was reminded of it when I watched the History Boys. It's about a woman who ended up living on Alan Bennett's drive for 15 years, it's a true story. I liked it, plus all the cast of the history boys are in it which was lovely to see.



Janis, Little Girl Blue: Someone recommended this on Twitter. It's on Netflix and I really recommend it. It's a really interesting look at her life. I share my birthday with Janis Joplin which I'm proud of! She had such a voice
Paddington: Someone said this was really cute and they weren't wrong, haha
Never Let Me Go: I read the book so then I watched the film. I liked Carey Mulligan a lot but felt the film fell a bit flat.

So that's my round up - will May have as many films?!

Books of the Month - April

I read five books in April and my favourite was Becoming Betty by Eleanor Wood. She's a great YA author who writes about music in a way that makes me happy. As usual, all book reviews can be found over on my book blog.

Bank Holiday 1st May

On the first bank holiday in May Lee and I had the day in together. In the morning we cleaned the bedroom and then went to Fox Valley in Stocksbridge. It's a newish shopping complex and I kept seeing the sign and fancied going. We arrived about 1pm and it was really busy. We went into Paperchase first and I picked up a few bits - my favourites are the flamingo stickers!

Then we went to the New York Bar & Grill for lunch. It wasn't really busy, but the service was really slow. They did apologise, but I wasn't too impressed. The food wasn't great, it was okay but overpriced. I did enjoy the cream soda I had, though.

Then we wandered round the other shops. I'd been after a pair of Karrimor sandals for a while and Sports Direct had them for just £15! They were in the kids section, but they had up to size 6 so they were perfect for me. I also picked up a pair of Dunlop low tops in this gorgeous burgundy colour. They were in the kids section too and were just £12! Bargain.

It was quite a fun place to go, really close to our house. We went to Tesco on the way home because we had my mum and stepdad coming for tea and we needed to pick up a few bits.

I was wearing this Lovedrobe dress which I've worn before but not often. I love the pattern on it but it feels really short on me so I feel a bit uncomfortable in it. I should probably wear it more until I feel better in it!

Lovedrobe, years ago. Standing in the front garden just as we were leaving.

What I bought in Paperchase. I have one of their Treat Me cards which I think is so worth it/

Dunlop trainers, size 6.5 as I find this style come up small on me.

Karrimor sandals, perfect for upcoming camping trips!

What I Did 29th April

Now, truth be told, I wasn't feeling very well in April. Usually if I feel bad it's because I'm very anxious about something. I've had anxiety since I was very little, and when I was at 6th form I had some counselling for the first time where the counsellor said she thought I had anxiety which then led to depression, rather than depression itself. I've been treated for this ever since I was 14, on and off. I'm sometimes better and I'm sometimes worse. I had a year of counselling which ended in September 2016, and my anxiety has been mostly okay for ages.

But then, April. It was the 9th anniverdary of my dad's death which seemed to hit me really hard, and I just couldn't climb out of it. I was really, utterly sad. I was managing to keep a bright face on things, because I'm very good at masking things. But underneath, I was quiet and sad and Lee was worried about me.

On the 29th of April he had a gig in Scunthorpe and before that he was going to record with his new band, so he'd be gone most of the day. I was dreading being left by myself. I'm used to being alone but for once I was feeling lonely. I tried to make arrangements with people but everyone was busy. I thought about going to the cinema and decided I'd head to Wakefield to get a few bits I needed.

It turned out Lee had time to get lunch with me, so we went to the pub just up the street from us which does really good chips. I had a burger and he had a chicken burger and then I went off to Wakefield and he went off to Sheffield.

I called in on my grandma to see if she wanted to come out with me. She didn't - she was tired - but I talked to her for a bit anyway. She gave me some bluebells from her garden which I put into a little vase when I got home. I went to Sainsbury's first, and treated myself to some new jewellery and a new handbag while I was there. I was cross because I couldn't buy my mum's birthday present there, which was annoying. I went to Halford's to get a new brake light and to get them to fit it - something which I'm really glad they do as Lee and I are pretty rubbish at cars!

While I was there I was checking Instagram and my friend Holly had been to Starbucks which reminded me I could stop at the one near my mum's house on the way home. I went to Office World or whatever it's called to get stuff Sainsbury's didn't have, and went to Argos for my mum's birthday present. Then I set off home and went through the Starbucks drive thru which is much less anxiety inducing for me. I got an iced drink and a hot latte, and a muffin. Near my house I stopped at the shop to buy some stuff for tea for me and some alcohol.

When I got home I sorted out the washing, took the cat outside in the garden for a bit, fed her, and then got into my pyjamas. I came upstairs to my attic room and emailed with my BFF while we watched a TV show at the same time. It's one of my favourite ways to spend time with someone while not actually being in the same place as them! By this time I was feeling okay. I felt like I'd achieved a lot and was happy to be by myself again.

I'd bought passionfruit and apple Old Mout Cider which I'd never had before, but I really liked it! I'm looking forward to trying their other flavours. I went to bed around 11 whihc Ivy was happy about, and then Lee got home around midnight.

I was very gentle with myself and practiced some self care (like the pyjamas) while also treating myself (Starbucks/cider/whatever else). These are the best ways I know of dealing with depression. I know I will be okay, in time. I know too that days like this really help.

Mango and passonfruit iced thingummy. It was delicious and really refreshing.

New handbag. It was just £14! I thought it would be ideal for my holiday because it is very roomy and has zip closures.

The rings I bought. I was impressed with Sainsbury's jewellery actually

The bluebells my grandma gave me :)

Lunch trip to Yummy Yorkshire

The weekend after Easter was a pretty chilled one for Lee and I. On the Friday night we had a takeaway curry, on Saturday we did some jobs and I stuck some zine flats together. I went to see Tez Ilyas in Bradford on the Saturday night with Sam. We saw him support Josie Long in February and liked him so thought we'd see him on his own. He was really good, I'd really recommend checking him out.

Anyway on the Sunday Lee and I had a run out to Yummy Yorkshire. It isn't far from our house and I drive past it all the time, but I've only ever been a couple of times before. Lee had never been but he's a big fan of ice cream so I knew he'd like it.

Now last time I went, around this time last year, it was just a cafe, with around ten tables, and a counter selling ice creams. They've refurbished since then and it's huge, with a proper restaurant. We arrived about 11.20 as we'd been into town, and got a table straight away in the window. The breakfast menu is on until 11.30am so we ordered before that. Lee chose a veggie breakfast and I chose Eggs Royale - Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon, on potato rostis. They also had Fentiman's drinks which I love so I had the dandelion and burdock one.

The lunch food menu looked really good too, so I'd like to go back and test out a burger or a fish fingers sandwich. The prices are pretty ordinary pub prices; my breakfast was around £7. Everything is homemade and cooked to order so we waited around half an hour, but it was worth it.

For dessert, Lee had a chocolate fudge sundae and I had a salted caramel sundae. We were surprised they were served on plates but they looked spectacular and tasted just as good! We paid £33 for two courses and three drinks, which seemed fair for such a nice place and homecooked food.

There were plenty of people there so it's not hard to see why they needed to make the place bigger. You can still just buy ice creams, and they also sell raw milk. There's a shed where you can look at the cows and other stuff for children. It's a really fun day out in this part of Yorkshire!

Eggs Royale is one of my favourites, and this didn't have too much hollandaise sauce

Vanilla ice cream in the middle and salted caramel on the outsides. It was really nice and salty!

Easter Weekend

The Easter weekend always feels like a nice long break to me. We were looking forward to a break and we planned to clear out the cellar. It's about 12' by 12', and we've used it for storage but it's been flooded. It had a load of kitchen units in it which had rotted, and tons of other rubbish including old paint and an old clothes drier, all kinds of things. We asked my mum and stepdad to come and help us which they very nicely did, and I ordered some disposable coveralls so we didn't all get incredibly mucky.

We started about 11am. I had hired a skip so me and my stepdad put everything in it while my mum and Lee were down in the cellar moving things. It was pretty damp down there so everything was wet when we brought it up. We broke for lunch - a traditional Easter favourite of fish and chips - and got back to it. We found 19 bottles of wine that I didn't know were down there! They're about ten years old (we moved here in 2004) but seem to be okay. I'm drinking one as I write this!

We finally finished the whole thing about 4pm, when we had managed to remove most of the water from the cellar floor. We were all really disgusting at this point so I got straight in the shower and then got into my pyjamas to feel a bit better!

I took some funny photos of Lee and my mum in their coveralls.

On Saturday Lee and I went into town to run a few errands, we did a few of those niggling little jobs that you need to save up and do all at once. I had a nice relaxing afternoon and then we went back into town to pick up Bettie and Jen. We had a pleasant evening watching Daria and drinking wine and chatting. 

Then on Sunday morning we set off to Bridlington! We really like to go to the seaside and none of us had ever been to Brid so we went. It was raining on and off and it was really cold, but we still had a lot of fun!

Car selfie on the way. It took us about an hour and a half to get there. 

The sea! Yay

Looking over the other direction. 

The first thing we did was to go to the crazy golf course. It was pretty fun - lots of windmills and ramps and stuff. I came join third with Bettie, oh well.

Jen is just behind me, I was trying to get us all in but failed!

This boat kept going up and down the bay, I'm not sure why but I would've liked to be on it! I like a boat trip.

Aww, this was a cute hole. 

Some of them were pretty easy to get holes in one in.

We went to The Beach Hut for lunch. The food was nice enough, but it took ages to come and they didn't take card which was a pain, it was a fairly big place too. 

Then afterwards we had an ice cream, because even if it's freezing you have to have an ice cream at the seaside. 

Then we walked to the land train stop and got on the train. It was really cute! I like a land train.

We got off it near the leisure centre and went into all the amusement arcades. I only really like to play the 2p machines, but I played Mario Kart with Lee, too - and I won! Yay

Then we played another adventure golf inside a pirate ship! It was a lot of fun and had a lot of fun ways to make the ball go in the hole. I came last, pfft! 

By this time it was raining pretty heavily and we were all cold and getting towards miserable so we set off back, but it was a really lovely day!

Sun's out....

As the weather gets warmer people wear fewer clothes because, you know, it's warm. I know a lot of plus size people don't feel comfortable showing certain parts of their body and I wanted to just post a little bit about that. I took this photo on the same day as I took the gardening ones posted recently and I posted it to Instagram with the caption "Sun's out, got my hairy chubby tattooed eczema ridden legs out".

People might give you funny looks, and I'm sorry that society is really crap, but you have the right to wear whatever you like when it's hot. Whether that's shorts or no leggings or no sleeves or a crop top or whatever, you can wear it. I promise you. If you're fatter than average or if your skin doesn't meet some bullshit beauty standard, or whatever, you have permission to just let your body be in the sunshine. I promise.

I enjoyed sitting in my garden in just a dress, letting my legs soak up the sun and some Vitamin D!

Gardening on April 9th

I think I've said before how we only got our garden finished last year despite the fact that we've lived in this house since 2004. The wall at the front was unsafe but once that was made right we had grass put down and we spent a lot of time out there with Ivy. I like the grass but wanted some plants too, so earlier this year I bought these planters from Argos.

April 9th was the ninth anniversary of my dad's death. In one way, it feels like forever ago, and in another it feels like just yesterday. I still miss him so much. I knew Lee was worried about me, so we decided to take it easy for the day. My car needed hoovering and washing so we went to the garage to do that, then we went down to the Range to buy garden stuff.

I bloody love the Range, it's full of crap that you never knew you needed. Their craft section is fabulous and much cheaper than Hobbycraft. Their home range is really funky and a lot of our cushions and things come from there. I'd really recommend going if you've never been. Their garden stuff is cheap too, so I knew they'd have the things I wanted.

We bought stones to put in the bottom of the planters to provide drainage and to weigh the planters down. We bought compost and some plants. I like the ivy style plant, for Ivy, obviously, and the bright yellow colours on the primula. The lavender smells lovely and I'm hoping the bush will be huge eventually.

We had lunch in Taco Bell which is one of my favourites, I know it's a bit rubbish but it's delicious. Lee really likes the Volcano Burrito which is indeed very spicy. They have a big vegetarian selection and I think most things can be made vegan without cheese or sour cream in them. I've no idea why we've one in Barnsley but I like it!

When we got back, the sun was shining so brightly so we went outside with Ivy and planted everything up. It felt really good to be doing something useful. I like plants but I'm never very good at keeping them alive. Hopefully this time though!

The stones that went in the bottom. I kept a few out of each that were nice to decorate the soil with.

Petunias

The lavender and another plant I got given a couple of weeks ago

The edge posts you can see are the fence, it's a bit complicated how it had to go, which is why I wanted to fill in the gaps with planters

And of course I had a little bit of help from Ivy. 

Books of the Month - March

I'm still reviewing all books read over on my book blog, so won't rewrite those posts here. I read six books in March and they all felt like slow going. We Come Apart by Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan was the stand out book. It's written in free verse and I'd recommend it if you haven't read anything like that before.

Films of the Month - March

I watched thirteen films in March which feels like loads! Partly this was because the weekend I was in Matlock with my friends, we watched six films! Here's my round up anyway.

Sam and I watched this together and both really enjoyed it. I usually can't stand Steve Coogan but he was good in this. Similar to the Magdalene Sisters film which is one of my favourites. Recommended.

The first of the films I watched with my friends in Matlock! As we threw Sarah a mini hen party, we decided to watch wedding themed films. This is one of my favourite films, I knoew it's daft but I just like it!

The second wedding themed film. I'd never seen this, I like Sandra Bullock a lot so I quite liked it.

On the Sunday of our weekend away, Sarah and Jacqui had to leave because they had to work the next day, so Steph and Sam and I got into our pyjamas by around 3pm and watched films for the rest of the day. This was the first one, it's terrible but quite amusing.

Singin' in the Rain is such a classic and I love it. Debbie Reynolds is amazing. 

I have this terrible love for One Direction that my friends tease me about mercilessly, so Sam bought me this from the pound shop. So I made her watch it with me. It is great, I don't even care. Harry is my fave.

The final film of our weekend, I'd never seen this but it was quite amusing.

The best Star Wars film because it's actually the best. 

Steph was telling us about this film while we were away so I was curious. It is TERRIBLE. It's set in Yorkshire and the accents are AWFUL. Please never again.

Sam and I went to the cinema to see this. It's good, but I have read about the problems with it since. Still I'm glad we saw it and it is extremely pretty.

Lee and I went to the cinema to see this, it's fantastic. It's not just an X-Men film, it's a really dark drama film. I loved it.

This is one of my favourite films too, because I love Sam Riley and I love Joy Division. It's so funny in places. A fantastic biopic.

Lastly I watched Brokeback Mountain because I haven't seen it in forever. It's so beautiful and I'm still sad Heath Ledger is dead.