Marriage Lvl.4 Complete

 

26th October 2023 - Washington Wetlands

Tomorrow, the 31st of October, marks 4 years married and 5 years together. It's difficult to remember life without this incredible man in it and 5 years feels like nothing at the same time. 
The past year in particular, with many different health issues and diagnoses for myself, has only made me appreciate and look at Mr H in awe even more. I don't want these posts to be broken records of ' I love my husband so much, he is so amazing' (because why are you married if you don't adore your other half) but I think it's important to document exactly how lucky I am.
Personally, I think that our relationship is only getting better as time goes by and I often wonder what I've done to deserve someone who treats me the way he does...it makes me suspicious of what is actually wrong with him haha. In honesty, he does far too much for me and I often feel useless and that I barely contribute to our family because he doesn't just work hard at his day job but he also cares for me and does lots at home too. I didn't expect to be 33 and struggling to do daily self-care tasks like washing and dressing but to have a husband who takes it all in his stride on top of taking on my Autistic meltdowns etc is more than a godsend.

It's been a great year for us, with many fantastic adventures that we are so privileged to have been able to experience including staying at Bagend, joining WWT as members, volunteering for the Ringed Plover breeding project, taking Baker camping again, getting matching tattoos and going on our very belated Honeymoon! Some of which can be seen in our monthly couples portraits below.

1st November 2022 - Bagend, Craighead Howf


29th December 2022 -St Paul's Monastery, Jarrow

24th January 2023 - Primrose Nature Reserve, Jarrow

14th February 2023 - Jackie's Beach, Whitburn

22nd March 2023 - Washington Wetlands Centre

26th April 2023 - Our Front Garden, Home

24th May 2023 - Jackie's Beach, Whitburn

20th & 21st June 2023 - Portpatrick & Port Logan, Stranraer

19th July 2023 - Washington Wetlands Centre

20th August 2023 - Jackie's Beach, Whitburn

28th September 2023 - Washington Wetlands Centre

11th October 2023 - Disneyland Paris 

We've had other cool days out walking, visiting museums and quality time at home doing jigsaws and playing games, however, I want to be more intentional with those types of days in the year ahead. We do spend more time than we'd like aimlessly watching shows and when about a third of life is wasted asleep - and we're over a third into our lives already - I don't want to regret how we've spent our time in the future. 

Things that we do in our marriage that I love and recommend are:

- Only 1 TV in the house, located in the living room.

- No phones in the bedroom at night (we take one up with us on aeroplane/silent mode for emergencies)

- We go to bed at the same time and sit and read until sleep time.

- Always kiss and tell each other 'I love you' at each hello, goodbye and goodnight.

- Share our interests and enjoy them together.

I am aware that I'm very lucky to have found someone so like me. We have all of the same morals, ethics, beliefs and political opinions. Many of our interests are completely shared from nature to the fandoms we like. And overall we just really like spending time with each other. 

Here's to another awesome year of life as The Hallows.



Check out our previous anniversary blog posts below -
Marriage Lvl.1 Complete
Marriage Lvl.2 Complete
Marriage Lvl.3 Complete

What I Read Last Quarter // July - September

I don't know what happened with this post, but I apparently just completely forgot about it! So, evidently, the third quarter of 2023 is well past and this is that reading round-up.

In the second quarter, I read 4,433 pages across 15 books.
Of those ten were 5-star reads (!), four were 4-stars and the remaining one was 3-stars.
At the start of the year, I decided to work on the 10 BIG Books I Want to Read in 2023 and so far of those, I have now read three, unhauled one and fingers crossed I can cross off at least one more in the following quarter. I'll include an overall update on that in the new year.

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July

Sky (The Huntress Trilogy #2) by Sarah Driver     ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Wishing Spell (The Land of Stories #1) by Chris Colfer     ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

When the Sky Falls by Phil Earle     ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

- 1,142 pages

This was a heavier reading month, which sounds laughable considering the books are all still children's books but two of the three definitely have a more serious tone. The Huntress Trilogy is something I feel needs more acknowledgement, although I've only read the first two books I cannot wait to get around to the third and think they could make a fantastic movie series!

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August

A Clock of Stars: The Shadow Moth by Francesca Gibbons     ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi     ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Nura and the Immortal Palace by M.T. Khan    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

- 1,152 pages

Another book ticked off my '10 BIG Books...' list with A Clock of Stars this month!
I don't know what it is but bigger books end up meaning I read fewer total pages as they take me longer to read. Maybe it's because we primarily read in bed and due to the weight of the book I read a little less per night...?

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September

The Housetrap by Emma Read     ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Ash House by Angharad Walker     ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Fablehouse by E.L. Norry     ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Haunted Hills by Berlie Doherty     ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

- 1,273 pages

Rounding out the quarter with a whole host of houses! A living puzzle house, a mysterious, somewhat sinister house, a house surrounded in folklore and legend and a house in the hills with ghosts! Phew!

 
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Continuing on with the 'themed' TBR lists July was meant to be Land and Sky - I did have another book on the list for this month but didn't get around to it - August was Time, and September's theme was books with the word house in the title (The final book had a house on the cover, which I squeezed in at the end of the month!). I'm really enjoying this way of organizing my reading as it helps me get to some books that I really want to read but somehow tend to bypass. 

Looking back I also can't believe how highly rated the past three months ended up too! So many wonderful books that prove that the middle-grade/children's genre is incredibly diverse, interesting, fun and not just for kids!

See what I read earlier this year:
What I Read Last Quarter // January - March
What I Read Last Quarter // April - June

Cats I Loved in May

 

This is my last ever 'Cats I Loved in...' post! That makes me very sad indeed but I am always over the moon to have these photos to look back on.

As I mentioned in the previous 'Cats I Loved in...' post I sadly had to step back from my role at our local adoption centre due to health reasons and increased stress and anxiety. I miss all of the cats terribly and it actually hurts to look back at all these beautiful faces and know I won't be helping any more cats firsthand.

I felt so privileged to meet and spend time with every single cat that I got to and I made sure to get at least one photo of each cat so I could remember them and how they helped me, forever.

My main role at Cats Protection was as a Desensitization Volunteer and I also took photos, videos and did some other website and social media work. I started in October 2021 and officially left on June 19th 2023 meaning I was with my adoption centre for 19 and a half months.

These photos are from the cats I had the pleasure of meeting and loving in May 2023. I publish these posts on a six-month delay, meaning the vast majority of the cats will have been rehomed and many renamed. 

Taz
Alvin
Seth
Mim
Lady Madeira

George
Bunny & Chick (Mother and Daughter!)
Izzie
Ladybug
Tulip
Margarita

Lord Byron aka Puggle
Dahlia
Celine
Alicent & Rye
Camila

Cosette & Monsieur Lemur
Tulip
Ladybug
Izzie
Georgie Boy 

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When leaving their pens I told each and every cat ' I love you' and my heart always broke to close the door behind me, whether they were sitting cosy in their hide or clawing and meowing at the glass. This volunteer placement was a huge part of my life and my weekly routine. I am gutted that I will not be continuing my journey with Cats Protection but I still support them via fundraising events and urge you to check out your local centre!

Pop on over to Cats Protection | UK’s Largest Cat Welfare Charity to find the centre closest to you. Donate, shop online, buy from the centres' Amazon wishlist and most importantly ADOPT DON'T SHOP!!! Oh, and spay and neuter you're bloomin' pets. Rescue centres all over the country are really struggling right now and they all need your support. Thanks!

Check out lots more cute cats in the previous post in this series here >

Cats I Loved in January

Cats I Loved in February

Cats I Loved in March

Cats I Loved in April

Cats I Loved in May

Cats I Loved in June

Cats I Loved in July

Cats I Loved in August

Cats I Loved in September
Cats I Loved in October
Cats I Loved in November
Cats I Loved in December

Cats I Loved in January 2023
Cats I Loved in February 2023
Cats I Loved in March 2023
Cats I Loved in April

The Birds of 2022! // October

 

It's year 3 of birds!! 
At the end of 2021 I decided that 2022 was going to be my first real attempt at a 'Big Year', or at least the biggest big year I could really practically do.
A Big Year in simple terms is where bird watchers/enthusiasts spend the year attempting to see and identify as many different species of birds in the wild as possible. There are leader tables that include the US & Canada and Worldwide birders but the traditional Big Year can end up being terrible for the environment, of which is home to the beautiful birds being spotted, due to the amount of travel undertaken, including numerous flights throughout the year.

That being said, my Big Year will probably seem like a very Little Year to many as I only stuck to my home counties as well as a couple of places we drove to on small holidays. I have neither the time nor money to dedicate a full 365 to doing nothing but travelling the width and breadth of the UK (or world!) in search of birds but I can still compete with myself and previous years haha!
Some people also count birds they have physically seen, however, I am only counting those who I have photographed. There were a few awesome bird encounters had in 2022 that were sadly not caught on camera, but that's just tough ha.

In 2020 my annual total was 34, with 4 more at 38 in 2021. See the birds I photographed in both 2020 and 2021 in the posts below. 

The Birds of 2020:

January - March

April - June

July - September

October - December

The Birds of 2021:

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

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Birds Photographed in October!

Common Pigeon

Coal Tit
Dunnock
Jackdaw
Pink Footed Goose
Pied Wagtail
Carrion Crow
Mute Swan

Total - 8 
Yearly Total - 59

Species of the Year so far:

Ancona Duck

Bantam Chicken

Blackbird

Black Headed Gull

Blue Tit

Bullfinch

Buzzard

Canary

Carrion Crow

Chaffinch

Coal Tit

Collared Dove

Coot

Common Starling

Common Pigeon

Cormorant

Curlew

Dunnock

Eider Duck

Emden Goose

European Robin

Fulmar

Gannet

Goldfinch

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Great Tit

Grey Heron

Grey Wagtail

Guillemot

Herring Gull

House Sparrow

Jackdaw

Kittiwake

Magpie

Mallard

Moorhen

Mute Swan

Oystercatcher

Partridge

Pheasant

Pied Wagtail

Pink Footed Goose

Puffin

Raven

Razorbill

Red Kite 

Redshank

Release Dove (White Rock Dove/Common Pigeon)

Rock Pipit

Sand Martins

Sandpiper

Saxony Duck

Song Thrush

Spotted Flycatcher

Stonechat

Swallow

Turkey

Wood Pigeon

Wren

Sooo it would seem that I accidentally had 2 species of bird listed twice and so my grand total for the year is now 2 less than it was in last month's post haha! Hopefully, in the next two months, we can bump that number up past 60 again!