Exploring Scotland: The Japanese Gardens

I love finding out about a beautiful place and the Japanese Garden at Cowden is no exception. I’m not sure how I found out about it, which annoys me but I’m really happy I found out about it. Residing in Dollar, Clackmannanshire, The Japanese Garden has a really simple history behind it, in the 20th century inspired by a recent trip she had taken, Scottish adventurer Ella Christie decided to build a Japanese Garden. She enlisted the help of a female design, Taki Handa, and the result was a seven-acre site on the grounds of Cowden Castle. As a result, the garden is the first and only garden of its size to be designed by a woman. You can find out so much about the history and more recent happenings of the garden by visiting the website. 

5 recipes I've tried and loved 2021

I know I use this blog infrequently, but I can’t believe it’s been 5 years since my last ‘5 recipes I’ve tried and loved’ post. I really thought this had been posted in the last 3 years! It was fun to look back at that post because I was able to see if I still used any of those recipes, the short answer is no. But really, it’s ‘kind of’. I hadn’t made the Roasted Red Pepper & Goats Cheese Alfredo in years, but at some point, in 2020 I did make it after years of not doing so. I’m not sure why I stopped making (probably due to my laziness of peeling the red peppers) but when I made it this time around I didn’t *love* it. Maybe I was just out of the practice of making it so didn’t adjust things according to my taste but it didn’t blow me away. I’m willing to give it another go this year though.

The other recipe that I’ve made now and then is the RicottaMeatball Sandwich, but again just the meatballs, I never bother putting it in a sandwich! I did make it recently because I was typing up this blog post and fancied them. They are truly delicious and NOT DRY, something I think a lot of meatballs suffer from. The recipe also makes so many that there's some for the fridge and the freezer, this will definitely be showing up again for my meals in 2021. As for the other recipes Mexican Beef Fajita Salad, Turkey Meatballs with a Tomato Sauce and Chicken,Broccoli and Mushroom Stir Fry, I all but forgot they existed. Well maybe not the Turkey Meatballs, I just know my boyfriend isn’t a huge fan of turkey so I don’t lean towards wanting to make it but I will try and add it into our meals at least once this year. As for the other two recipes they have fallen off my radar completely and I have to say – I don’t mind that. I have plenty of other yummy recipes that I use now and I am sharing details of them below! 

Exploring Scotland: Isle of Arran

I genuinely cannot believe it's been so long since I've written a blog post, I definitely got caught up in my BookTube channel and studying. I've completed my Master's degree now and at the moment I am on a break from YouTube (I took time off to write my dissertation) and I really wanted to share these photos I took when I visited Arran back in July. 

We drove from Glasgow (I actually managed to drive us partway there) to the Ardrossan Ferry Terminal and got the ferry to Arran for about 11am. We had no real plans other than to just wander around and sometimes have no plans is just my favourite way to explore places. We ended up driving to Blackwaterfoot which is a village in Arran. It was so lovely to be so close to the sea, I know the last time I was near a sea before that was in Italy when I was visiting my friend in Latina. It was a pretty mild day when we went, it was raining in the morning but tapered off to a drizzle and then nothing in the afternoon. 

Exploring Scotland: The Kelpies

I mentioned in my Edinburgh post that between moving and everything else I felt like I had abandoned my blog. I have quickly realised that this is very much true (blame, my BookTube channel) but also that I never officially mentioned that I was moving on the blog. I moved from London to Scotland in September to study for my masters and it’s been a whirlwind! I live in a quiet old town in a flat beside a beautiful river and I get to study the one industry I’m totally passionate about – publishing!

Best books of 2018 (to read in 2019)

It’s been a long time since I talked about books on this blog, in fact, the last time was about 11 months ago, sharing my Man Booker Prize 2016 video. With 2018 done, I thought I would share some of my favourite books of the year. I have done full videos on all my books, so I’ve just handpicked a couple from the video, you can check out the videos at the end for more books and full details about why I love them.

Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge

This is should be mandatory reading for everyone, not only is it about Britain’s history with racism and slavery (very few books are) but it explains to white people the frustrations black women face when it comes to talking (let alone dealing) with racism. This non-fiction read is short, to the point and informative. I want to read more like it.

Exploring Scotland: Edinburgh

I know it feels like I’ve abandoned this blog but it’s just been the moving thing and the studying thing that has thrown me out of sync! I had a skincare blog post planned for such a long time (the photos have been ready for over two months) but I just haven’t managed to get myself to write anything about it! Anyway, today I wanted to share a couple of photos from a trip to Edinburgh at the end of October, my friend and I went there during our reading week to explore and see what the city had to say! I had never been to Edinburgh before that except to get off at the station and get a train or a tram. So it was time to see what all the sites were saying in the capital city.

Review: Antipodes Organic Resurrect Facial Toner and La Roche-Posay Anthelios XL Face Ultra-Light Fluid SPF50+.

Well, I haven’t posted for a while but I’m back with a skincare related post! How long has it been since one of these? I can’t even remember but all I know is you’ve seen loads of me prancing around London and other parts of the world, so today I thought I’d bring it back to one of my favourite things - skincare - and share my thoughts on some products I’ve been testing out.

In this post, I’ll be sharing my thoughts on the Antipodes Certified Organic Resurrect Facial Toner and La Roche-Posay Anthelios XL Face Ultra-Light Fluid SPF50+. I ordered both of these products 2 months ago and one day of me posting it. Last week I finished the Antipodes product but I'm still going strong with the La Roche-Posay sunscreen.

Antipodes Certified Organic Resurrect Facial Toner 

I’m not really sure why I bought this toner, I know I just wanted a change from using my Serozinc so I decided to get a bit fancy and this was discounted at the time.

Exploring London: Mayfields Lavender Farm

Last weekend I had the absolute joy of visiting the lavender fields in Surrey. We’ve been having such wonderful weather in the UK and it was perfect on this Sunday. I basically got to prance around in a sea of my favourite colour, in the sun and with great company. 

Exploring Italy: Monticchiello & Siena

Welcome to my final Italy post! This was actually the second and third day of our time in Tuscany but we’ll just ignore the fact that I haven’t done things in chronological order. Today I’ll be showing you around Monticchiello and Siena. 

[guest post] 5 Simple Ways to Treat Yourself with Absolutely No Guilt

This post is a guest post from the wonderful Amy Mia

After a long week at work and numerous errands you’ve had to do day after day, all you need is a little bit of you time to relax and indulge yourself. Don’t even doubt your decision for a second, because a little bit of pampering and some treats never killed anyone, and what’s more, it’ll be highly therapeutical for your mind and body. Therefore, if you’re in dire need of pampering yourself, we offer you five options that will never make you feel guilty for spending money on them.

Exploring Italy - Vitabella Toscana

So, I’m doing my Italy posts in a kind of backwards way (you’ll see what I mean next week). I didn’t want the last post to be too crammed with pictures and that means I can show you more of the place we stayed in this week. Really the last post should have had this title but oh well! Next week I will actually be showing you more of Tuscany as well as Sienna! If you’ve arrived here because you’ve searched for Vitabella Toscana then check out my previous post for pictures of the inside of La Ginestra.

So this post will be relatively short and sweet but I wanted to share our last day and one of the best features of the place - the pool!

Exploring Italy: Tuscany

I left off my last post talking about how I’d share the most beautiful place to stay ever and I mean it. When I go on holiday I’m not much of a going out clubbing type of girl, I much prefer an evening in with a lovely bottle of wine. As a result of this I get more cash to splash out in where I’m staying and because we were going to Tuscany and wanted to in the middle of nowhere we decided to stay in an apartment. Only we found the best apartment/villa type place and honestly it was perfect. The only thing missing is a bath, haha but that’s because I’m 100% a bath person and you’ll have seen from my time in Oxford and York. We drove from the airport to Tuscany and a wonderful double rainbow accompanied us for some of the journey. 

Exploring Italy: Rome

Can you believe my last holiday before this was in October? It feels like such a long time ago, but it really isn’t! I didn’t plan on going on any holidays until towards the end of the year but who can resist a good old holiday when a friend asks?

Exploring Bristol: Clifton Suspension Bridge

I'm so behind on my posting schedule for this blog, I wanted to get this post out before the May bank holiday but it turned out I had 100 things to do and not enough time! I have so much great photos coming up from my holiday in Italy, so I'm really excited to share those.

Anyway today I am going to be talking about Bristol, I went in March and I cannot believe I never shared any of the photos I took! I went for a friends birthday so I was only there for one night but managed to see the wonderful Clifton Suspension Bridge. Who knew bridges would be a thing I was in to? But this one is particularly stunning. See for yourself!

Exploring London: The Hill Garden and Pergola

After seeing a post in TimeOut London about parts of London that had pretty flowers blooming in Spring I decided to visit one of the recommended spots. There was no Wisteria blooming in the Pergola and Hill Garden but we still had a wonderful time and it was nice to explore North London some more.

Goal setting - revisiting yoga goals

Remember this post – 3 Yoga poses to master - when I talked about my yoga goals? Well, I’d like to revisit it because I like to hold myself accountable for the things I set out to do (well when I can remember them that is). Yoga is still very much part of my life but I go through phases but I’m just happy it remains in my life. I tried two different yoga studios last year and one them I absolutely love, however, it isn’t that close to me so sometimes laziness does settle in! I still do a lot of Sarah Beth’s yoga videos as I still adore her.

[guest post] How to Give Your Skin a Fabulous Spring Detox in 4 Simple Steps

Spring is just around the corner, and we’re almost 100% sure that you can’t wait for beautiful, sunny days and more pleasant weather. If that’s the case – welcome to the club! We can’t wait for it either, and we’re here to teach you how to give your skin a fabulous skin detox in just four simple steps. Just make sure to stay with us and keep on reading, because here are some useful tips and tricks on how to make that happen. Check them out and enjoy!

Exploring London: The Cheese Bar, Camden

During March I went along with a friend to The Cheese Bar in Camden. Despite living in Camden I'd never heard of this place but I really enjoyed it there. I still need to go back and get myself a toastie. But until I do I thought I'd share some photos from The Cheese Bar and my trip inside Camden's market. Living there means I barely ever go there because it's always rammed but it's so nice to wander around like I did when I was a teenager. The Cheese Bar was full when we dropped by, but we left our number with them and about 30mins later they gave us a text. The service was wonderful and I loved the atmosphere. They have a huge table that you can sit on or the bar. We sat at the bar next to the kitchen and it was the perfect spot in my opinion!

Man Booker Prize Shortlist 2016 - YouTube review

So I did it! I finally released my first YouTube video, I feel ancient considering I’ve been watching YouTubers for over 4 years and I’ve only just started mine up but that doesn't matter because the important thing is that I've started! Thankfully my aim isn’t to become famous just have a platform to talk about books and whatever I fancy, as well as share my thoughts with people.

I had to cut my first video in half because I talk way too much and I didn’t want to have a long video as my first video, and YouTube has restrictions on loading videos that are longer than 15 mins if you’re not verified or something like that. Regardless I finally have my first video up, even if it is in two parts.

I hope with time I can get the settings absolutely right as I know for sure my camera has the ability to produce a more high resolution video. Until then I’d love it if you could check out the videos, leave me a comment, like & subscribe. I have so many ideas for other videos and hopefully, once I get into the swing of things I'll be more concise and articulate in my videos.

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My to-be-read pile for 2018

Inspired by the wonderful Madeline and her must-read for 2018 post, I wanted to share the books I'm looking forward to reading this year. I always have books in mind to read but then get distracted by deals or hype and forget about the books I've been dying to read, so hopefully, this list will hold me accountable.

This is also the perfect time to post this because I'm starting a YouTube channel that's gonna be all about books! At least for the time being. I finally bit the bullet and did it and I'm slowly thinking up content to post on. The first video will be out on Sunday 4th February and it's about the Man Booker Prize Shortlist 2016 so make sure you subscribe to catch it and let me know what you think :)

Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
I've heard about this book for the longest time and saw the funniest thread about it last year when a girl was reading it on the train. The title itself is enough to make it intriguing but being a black woman in Britain I want to read it to find out what the author's experiences are because I've had lots! Learning some history would also be great, ever since I read Homegoing I've been wanting to delve deeper into Ghanaian/African/Black writing.