40 by 40 Update

It's been 2 years since I first sat down to come up with this list of 'must-dos' before I turn 40 and as I did last year, I'm doing another update on that list today. With only 5 years left and some health changes, it's time for a big overhaul of the list in general. My priorities haven't changed, and in a perfect world, there are many of these things I'd still like to do, but it's better to be realistic and have more attainable goals. 

See my original list here > 40 Before 40 and last year's update here > 40 by 40 Update

Key
Previously Complete
Completed in the Past Year
In Progress
Removing from List 

Finally have our Honeymoon
Go Nessie Spotting at Loch Ness
Stay in a Hobbit Hole
Visit the Fairies in Cottingley Woods
Go on a Scandinavian Cruise
Do Disneyland Paris with Mr H
Ski Again
Travel on some Steam Trains
Take Baker Camping
Go to Monkey World again

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See the Northern Lights
Go Bowling and Play Mini Golf with Mr H
See the Dolphins in Berwick
Do a big Zip Line (Over a river maybe)
Swim in the Sea During Winter
Do another Long Hike (min 10 miles)
Climb the 3 Peaks
Sleep at a Haunted Location
Go Ice Skating
Fully Wild Camp in a National Park



Buy a House
Get my Health, Weight etc Under Control
Renew our Vows at Gretna
Write a Children's Book
Put together my will
Start Paid Photography Work Again
Continue Studying BSL
Keep Getting Tattooed
Get Rescue Chickens
Volunteer as Much as Possible

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Be the Best Pet Mam I Can Be
Plant Lots of Trees
Knit Us Jumpers
Grow More Food
Be a Member of Nature Trusts Each Year
Do Regular Litter Picks
Sew More
Read 50 Books a Year
Photograph all the Birds on my List*
Just Make a Difference



* My Bird Photography Wishlist - to be updated!

So! At this point, I have completed 7 of the 40, 3 of which were in the past year, and there are 9 that are marked as 'In Progress', equalling 16 of 40 potentially ticked off. As you'll see from the key and list there are also 7 I am saying goodbye to, which leaves 17 I can hopefully work towards before October of 2030. That wouldn't be a proper 40 before 40, though, so I want to add some new, more practical things reachable with my mobility and health. 

The new additions are as follows...

- Visit our friends in Belgium

- Explore Dreamery Gardens Fairy Sanctuary

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- Go bowling with Mr H 

- Play mini golf with Mr H

(These were one point, but I am separating them as it is highly likely they will happen at separate times)

- Keep up with my monthly 10ks as long as my mobility allows.

- Climb a peak in the Cheviots.

(I may not ever be able to do any of the three peaks in my life, but I want to stand at the top of somewhere beautiful.)

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- Do some photos for other people.

(I've changed this from paid photography work, because really my dream has been to take senior pet portraits for people who do not have professional photos of their pet. It is a huge part of my own healing to take special photos of my pets near the end of their life, and I know many people cannot afford such services.)

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- At least try to learn knitting or crochet.

(I've tried multiple times before, but I do not have the patience and have so far failed to put in the time and effort. It was a special part of childhood having a Nana who knitted me beautiful things, and I at least want to give it a proper try again.)

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See you next year with the next update, I guess!

40 by 40 Update

About this time last year, I sat down and thought about all the things I had and hadn't done in my 32 years of life to put together my  40 Before 40 blog post.
40 is my next milestone birthday and frankly, it's terrifying, especially when I have important life events I still haven't been able to achieve. At 33 I do not have a career, though nor do I desire one. Success to me is not equal to money, a particular job or whatever, but rather just being safe and content in daily life. The main thing for us to feel successful is to buy our own home in a place where we feel comfortable. Not only that but I want to make sure to spend quality time with Mr H, do things that make me happy and just generally live life as well as I can. 

Below is the original list I compiled last year. In green are the things I've been lucky enough to tick off, in yellow the things that can't always be completed right away but are being constantly worked on. At the end, I also want to mention a few things that weren't exactly on the list but that I feel contribute to this goal of living life too. 

Finally have our Honeymoon

Go Nessie Spotting at Loch Ness

Stay in a Hobbit Hole

Visit the Fairies in Cottingley Woods

Go on a Scandinavian Cruise

Do Disneyland Paris with Mr H

Ski Again

Travel on some Steam Trains

Take Baker Camping

Go to Monkey World again

Staying in a Hobbit Hole and Taking Baker Camping had been checked off already in last year's post, but we managed to take Baker away again last year and plan to do it again this year. He loved being away on his own little holiday and it was great getting to spend that one one-on-one time with just him, especially as he ages (he will turn 12 this August!).

I'm over the moon to say that in October we finally got to have our Honeymoon, in Disneyland Paris which also coincided with my 33rd Birthday and our 4th wedding anniversary, ticking off two more of the above list! 

I still haven't posted the photos from our Hobbit adventure and I am yet to even look through our photos from Disneyland, but I need to carve out the time and make an effort to do so as soon as possible. Maybe next year's update will feature links to those blog posts...



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See the Northern Lights

Go Bowling and Play Mini Golf with Mr H

See the Dolphins in Berwick

Do a big Zip Line (Over a river maybe)

Swim in the Sea During Winter

Do another Long Hike (min 10 miles)

Climb the 3 Peaks

Sleep at a Haunted Location

Go Ice Skating

Fully Wild Camp in a National Park


Ah, this little section makes me sad! I have not ticked off even one of the above points. I had the opportunity to wild camp last year but my anxiety stopped that and we instead stayed in the same quiet campsite as the year before. I also truly had planned on a good winter swim, but with everything going on, including my health, Mr H's work and other events, it wasn't able to be squeezed into the schedule and before I knew it Spring was upon us. There are only 4 more days until Spring and it is sadly impossible to swim before then. I may have no been able to swim, but I have at least paddled multiple times which is a very special thing to me.
I am prioritising getting some of these done in 2024!

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Buy a House

Get my Health, Weight etc Under Control

Renew our Vows at Gretna

Write a Children's Book

Put together my will

Start Paid Photography Work Again

Continue Studying BSL

Keep Getting Tattooed

Get Rescue Chickens

Volunteer as Much as Possible

Volunteering is something that I place high importance on, especially as I don't work a paid job. At the time I wrote my original post I was doing two volunteer jobs however due to my health, with a heavy heart, I had to leave my position at Cats Protection. I have however now been a Pet Loss Support volunteer for Blue Cross for 1 and a half years and I adore it. 

I'm still getting tattooed semi-regularly to get caught up before my body can't take the pain anymore and can't thank my artist Alex enough. She is an absolute legend and I'm so lucky to have such beautiful artwork of the things I love decorating my body and making me feel more me.

When it comes to my photography I feel at a standstill. It's unlikely I'll ever make money from my hobby ever again, especially as I am not interested in doing people portraiture/weddings anymore. 
I've tried and failed to garner any interest in pet portraiture a few times over the past year or two but I understand it's difficult when I have my autism and anxiety to contend with and I can't just approach or advertise to complete strangers in the place we currently live.
Something I would love to be able to do is provide free pet photoshoots for people with elderly or poorly pets of any species so that the family can have professional images of their loved family members to cherish forever no matter their financial situation. Hopefully one day someone will take me up on my offer.



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Be the Best Pet Mam I Can Be

Plant Lots of Trees

Knit Us Jumpers

Grow More Food

Be a Member of Nature Trusts Each Year

Do Regular Litter Picks

Sew More

Read 50 Books a Year

Photograph all the Birds on my List

Just Make a Difference

54 books were read in 2023, and I'm ahead of schedule for this year however of course it's an ongoing goal and can't be fully ticked off. The same goes for litter picks which I have been doing every few weeks and will continue to do as long as I am able. 

I will do a separate update on My Bird Photography Wishlist but I'm over the moon at how well that one is going...it should be said though that at least two of the birds on the list are incredibly unlikely to happen for me but it wouldn't be a wishlist if there wasn't something super difficult on it!

Planting trees, growing more food and other things of that nature are all things that need to wait until we move house and hopefully then, I'll be able to tick a whole load off at once!

There were also a couple of things not on the original list but have been important, pivotal or exciting moments that I think contribute to the ultimate goal of living life. They include:
Getting my Autism diagnosis 
Mr H and I's first music gig together - Bowling for Soup
...and probably something else I'm forgetting.

One year down and as I turn 34 in October, I have another 6 years to really give this list a good go. As an eternal pessimist, I actually feel quite good about what I can try and achieve in that time.

40 Before 40

Life moves fast! So fast. This year I'll be turning 33 but inside I still feel like a child. 33 means another step toward 40 and that makes me feel sick. I'm petrified of mortality, of dying at any time but especially young and without having lived life. 

Now that I'm married (something I'd never actually wanted to do) more than ever I want to live the life I've dreamt of. To help motivate me to go to the places I long to visit, to experience the things I'd love to experience, and to get closer to that unattainable 'happiness', I've put together a 40 Before 40 list.
Hopefully, in the next 7 and a half years I can tick as many of these items off the list as possible, I've actually already managed a couple!

In no particular order, I hope to...

Finally have our Honeymoon

We married on October 31st 2019 and in January of 2020 we booked our Halloween Honeymoon at Disneyland Paris to coincide
with my 30th Birthday and our first anniversary. Of course, 2020 was the deleted year and it didn't go ahead.
We are yet to rebook a Honeymoon.

Go Nessie Spotting at Loch Ness 

Stay in a Hobbit Hole

We did it!
Some photos and a video can be found here, with lots more blog posts still to come.

Visit the Fairies in Cottingley Woods

Go on a Scandinavian Cruise 

Do Disneyland Paris with Mr H

I visited in 1990, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2018, however, Mr H hasn't been to DLP and most importantly we haven't had the joy of being there together.
Maybe this will be our Honeymoon, maybe it won't.

Ski Again

I last skied as a pre-teen on a school trip at Courmayeur, Northern Italy which was over half my life ago now.
I'd love to do it again in Aviemore, Scotland.

Travel on some Steam Trains

(From Goathland Station, The Jacobite - Fort William To Mallaig Return, from Oakworth Station)

Take Baker Camping

Done! See some photos here. We hope to take him again this year.

Go to Monkey World again

Another place I visited as a teen but I'd love to revisit it now.
It being at the opposite end of the country to us does make it quite the journey though so more effort and cost than just a day out. 

See the Northern Lights

Go Bowling and Play Mini Golf with Mr H

See the Dolphins in Berwick

Born and raised in Berwick I have been lucky enough to see many species of bird, seals and even otters in and around the river and sea.
However, although they are regular visitors, I am still yet to catch a glimpse of the wonderful Dolphins in the wild. 

Do a big Zip Line (Over a river maybe)

Swim in the Sea During Winter

Do another Long Hike (min 10 miles)

My Dad and I did an approximately 35-mile hike around Kielder a few years back to raise money for Alzheimer's Society and Parkinson's UK.
I'd love to do something like this again. 

Climb the 3 Peaks

Sleep at a Haunted Location

Go Ice Skating 

As with bowling and mini golf, these are things I have done before but I just want to do with Mr H.
 Everything on this list will be with him technically I guess haha.

Fully Wild Camp in a National Park

Buy a House

Probably not our forever home, but somewhere we can feel happier, safer and more fulfilled than where we are now.
We need to live more rurally with no attached neighbours and surrounded by walkable natural areas.

Get my Health, Weight etc Under Control

Renew our Vows at Gretna

The 6th wedding anniversary is the Iron anniversary and so we'd like to follow in my parent's footsteps (who renewed on their 10th anniversary)
and renew our vows at the famous Smithy for that, hopefully being able to get a nice wedding photo too. 

Write a Children's Book

Put together my Will

There's nothing for me to leave anyone, but I have very specific wishes for when I am gone and need to make sure they are followed.
Alongside this, I'd like to have a concrete plan for our animals' futures if anything was to happen to us. 

Start Paid Photography Work Again

Continue Studying BSL 

I'd love to eventually be completely fluent as I think it's such an important language to be able to communicate in.

Keep Getting Tattooed

Get Rescue Chickens

Volunteer as Much as Possible

As of this month I have currently been volunteering with Cats Protection for 17 months
and with Blue Cross as a Pet Bereavement Support volunteer for 7 months.
I want to keep doing them for as long as possible and helping pets and owners as much as I can. 

Be the Best Pet Mam I Can Be

Plant Lots of Trees

Knit Us Jumpers

I started to learn knitting during my first ever job working in an interior design store but didn't keep it up.
My Nana was a big knitter when I was little so it'd be lovely to replicate the beautiful jumpers and cardigans she gave me.
It will help us to be even more eco-conscious and closer to self-sufficiency. 

Grow More Food

Be a Member of Nature Trusts Each Year 

This year we became WWT members and have been enjoying visits to our local Washington Wetlands Centre.
I support RSPB, Wildlife Trusts and more as much as I can but hope to become members in the following years.

Do Regular Litter Picks

Sew More

Read 50 Books a Year

55, 54, 62 were my totals for the last 3 years.
I aim to continue this way and read at least 50 books every year.

Photograph all the Birds on my List 

(List to follow in another blog post)

Just Make a Difference

It may have taken me longer than I thought to put this together, but this is the final list and I'm happy with it. I wanted most of the points to be fairly achievable but still give me a kick up the bum to make things happen sooner rather than later. I'm a realist (or many people would say a pessimist) so I'm well aware there will be many things on this list that won't happen ever, especially before 40, but it will be fun to try! 

Fingers crossed time slows down and the next 7 years are full of good health and happy adventures.

Until next time...

Our October Bucket List

 

The hallowed month has arrived again, and the Hallows are excited! 
This year will be the first time we will have been away from home for Halloween (apart from our wedding night in 2019 when we went to Edinburgh) as we have booked a couple of nights in a special little type of cottage - the pets will have a sleepover with Granny and Granda.
Anyway, as we aren't going to be home for the actual day of Halloween, our whole month of celebrations will be slightly different to the usual. Still, here is a little bucket list for the month.

Things to Watch

Hocus Pocus 2 

The Witches of Eastwick

Practical Magic

The Craft

The Worst Witch Series 1998

Things to Read

The Girl and the Ghost by Hanna Alkaf

Hocus Pocus & the All-New Sequel

The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker by Lauren James

Llewellyn's Little Book of Halloween

Activities to Do

Samhain Dinner

Halloween-themed Lino Printing
Birthday Tattoo
Carve Our Jack O Lanterns

Places to Go

The Pet Cemetery

Saltwell Park

Beamish

Special Halloween Getaway

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I have so many posts to get up in the next few weeks, I still have one from our June 30 Days Wild as well as our little camping trip from August. Therefore I won't be posting as much dedicated Halloween content as usual but here is a little clickable list of posts from the past you might like to check out!:
Our October Bucket List 2021
31 Movies for Halloween Month
What to Read in October + My TBR
My Paranormal Life - The Teen Years
Exploring Duddo Stone Circle
Photo An Hour - A Day in My Life [October 2021]
Our Samhain & Halloween [Bucket List Update]

Our Samhain & Halloween [Bucket List Update]

 

It may be almost a month since the most wonderful time of the year passed, however, I still want to round up our Halloween month and check in on my bucket list for the month to see how we did. 
Originally, this post was scheduled for last Wednesday but I had other stuff going on so decided to miss a week. It's never a bad thing to string out Halloween for as long as possible though haha.
So here is the run down...

Ticking off the Bucket List:

Carve Pumpkins ✔️

Make Vegan Halloween Treats

Camp Inside ✔️

Visit Whitby

Do DIYs ✔️

Watch the 31 Movies ✔️

Try Candy Corn ✔️

Decorate ✔️

Read my Oct TBR ✔️

Sabrina Halloween Marathon ✔️

Do Tattoos

Have a Woodland Walk ✔️

Samhain Rituals ✔️

To check off 10 out of 13 things from my 'bucket list' is rather satisfying, especially considering I feel like I do nothing at all these days! 
I'll include a video above of our Jack 'O Lanterns for this year, we did set up the tent and have a camping-in-the-living room night earlier in the month when Mr H was off work, DIY wise I made some clay ghosts, painted a ceramic pumpkin and cleaned/arranged a bird skull we'd found months prior.
We may not have watched the exact 31 movies I listed in the previous post but we did watch 28 movies and 6 TV shows (including a Sabrina Halloween episode marathon!) which I will accept to tick two off! I got to finally try candy corn and I enjoyed it, I decorated, read 4 books and we had an awesome walk to Duddo Stone Circle as well as a rare trip to the beach with Baker - see his photos here.
Finally, we had a wonderful Samhain where we laid the table and had a filling, seasonal, comfort food dinner including a pumpkin soup Mr H made from the inners of our carved pumpkins! 

What We Watched:
Edward Scissorhands
R.L. Stine's Monsterville: Cabinet of Souls
Hocus Pocus
9
The Reaping
Twitches
Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters 2016
Twitches Too
The Others
The Witches
The Witches 2020
The Woman in Black
Behind the Attraction: Haunted Mansion
Toy Story of Terror
The Haunting
Disney's Lonesome Ghosts
Disney's Trick or Treat
Mom's Got a Date with a Vampire
The Haunted Mansion
The Ghosts of Buxley Hall
The Addams Family
Blackbeard's Ghost
Crimson Peak
The Watcher in the Woods
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Casper
Coco
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Sabrina the Teenage Witch Halloween Episodes x7
The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror  Episodes x7
Most Haunted Misc Episodes x 4
Goosebumps S1
The Worst Witch S1
Broadmoor: A History of the Criminally Insane


What I Read:
Ghost Squad by Claribel A. Ortega
The House in the Woods by Yvette Fielding
The Company of Ghosts by Berlie Doherty
Ghostly Tales: Spine-Chilling Stories of the Victorian Age

To see a closer look at our actual day on Halloween aka our wedding anniversary, you can check out this post Photo An Hour - A Day in My Life [October 2021]. It was one of my best ever Halloweens and I look forward very much for next years celebration!

Until next time...

Our October Bucket List

 

Happy Octoberween!! The best month of the year has arrived and I am both completely ready and not ready at all for it. I don't know why, but it seems the past two years have bypassed quicker than usual despite not doing anything or going anywhere. We have been preparing for weeks, though (minus the trees, flowers and plants) it still feels rather summery to me.*
It was a quiet Halloween last year, obviously, so although we did do the normal Jack'O'Lantern carving, watching movies and eating sweets, I want to make sure we get to celebrate a bit more for 2021.
We do indeed celebrate all month long because it's a special month for us. The 1st of October marks our first ever meeting in person or 'date' I guess. As of today, there are also 6 days until I turn 31, 25 days until our 2nd wedding anniversary and of course 25 days until Halloween. 

Here are 13 things we'd like to get around to this month:

Carve Pumpkins

A tradition that just has to be done! With only shopping online it makes getting a hold of pumpkins pretty difficult. Luckily last year a friend grabbed some in-store and dropped them off for us and my Mam has taken on the pumpkin deliverer role for this year haha. Thinking of ideas is going to be the hardest part...

Make Vegan Halloween Treats

Way back in 2015 I put together a blog post about Halloween Celebrations for Non-Party People including a handful of both savoury and sweet spooky treats. I hope to both re-make some of those ideas as well as try a few others. We also have plans for some creepy cocktails!

Camp Inside

When our Disneyland Honeymoon for October 2020 couldn't go ahead, we spent some of the refund on lots of camping gear. A year later, we still haven't even been able to go camping haha! However, we did have an indoor camping night back in February which was a lot of fun so it'll be a different experience for a movie night.

Visit Whitby

Scarborough and Whitby are places I love (and have ancestral links to). I've gone many times over the years, but with only been together since 2018 Mr H and I have never gotten to go together. Fingers crossed that if we head down very early in the morning, have our masks and go midweek, we will be able to have a somewhat medium to low-stress flying visit.

Do DIYs
There are a few decor DIYs, other than carving pumpkins, I've bought some bits to do. Of course, these are things that will have to get done early in the month so that we can enjoy them for longer...if they work out as expected that is...

Watch the 31 Movies
'The 31 movies' refers to the list of 31 movies we've written in preparation for Octoberween watching.
There are classics, old movies, newer movies, family-friendly flicks and some slightly more thrilling 

Try Candy Corn

This has been on my list for years but I haven't managed to cross it off yet. 
Hopefully this year!

Decorate
Surely this is a given? We decorate every year at the start of the month and it's something I look forward to very much!

Read my Oct TBR
Halfway through this year, we stopped posting on our joint book blog and also stopped reading via a pre-assigned TBR list. I do however have a little pile of specific books I'd like to get to this month.

Sabrina Halloween Marathon
I love Sabrina and have all of the series which I often watch on a loop right though. It's been a while a though, so I want to have a day where we watch all the Halloween episodes.

Do Tattoos
It's such a shame we haven't been able to get into a studio and be tattooed since way back in February 2019, but we do have the stuff to do it at home. I've done a few now and want a couple of new little ones to commemorate our second anniversary. 

Have a Woodland Walk
Self-explanatory really. It'll be our usual monthly walk.

Samhain Rituals
We'll have our alter, photos of ancestors, be having the traditional meal to share with our ancestors and maybe to get visit a couple of their graves too.

And that is hopefully what our Hallow-Ween will look like! If you didn't see my September Life Lately post I have decided to dub the whole of October 'Hallow - Ween' because our surname is Hallow and October is our celebratory month...I don't want to just have one day of Halloween! I'll try to check back in at the start of November to see how many things I've been able to tick off. Enjoy your Samhain and/or Halloween everyone!


*this was pre-written and on the day this is posted it definitely has felt more Autumnal with the past two days being torrential rain haha!