March: Mum’s 60th, Open Artist’s House and lockdown

Well…that escalated, didn’t it!

One minute we’re happily skipping along going about our lives as usual, and then suddenly we’re in the midst of a global pandemic and confined to our houses.

It feels a bit like we left the world behind in March and we’ve been living in an alternate reality for the last couple of months (I started writing this in May and now at the time of publishing it’s the 1st of July.) It’s very strange to look back at what a mixed bag month this was.

February: Texas two-stepping, Reykjavik and New York trip and let’s talk contraception

As I’m writing this, we’re in the midst of a global pandemic.

However as this is a blog about the events of three months ago, which I really should have written it at the beginning of March, I’m going to pretend that I don’t know this has happened yet. You can read all about how I’m dealing with the pandemic in next month’s instalment! Let’s pretend for a little bit longer…

February is always welcome when it comes around – it’s a short month that follows a long January and paves the way to Spring.

January was great, and I’ve had an equally enjoyable February. Our holiday that’s been in the works for almost a year finally came around and I saw lots of the people in my life that I love so there was plenty to be happy about!

A trip to Reykjavik

You won’t believe for how many years I’ve been drafting up travel recommendation/trip review blogs and haven’t published them. I’m hoping this will be my first people can actually read.

The reason this one is first is that I quickly put together some recommendations for a friend who was visiting so I handily have them all written up. I don’t know about you, but I love receiving personal recommendations for travelling, especially when it comes to food as I cannot compromise on food and always want to be eating at the tastiest places.

I first visited Reykjavik back in November 2015 with my Dad, Brother-in-law and just fallen pregnant Sister. I think we stayed for two or three nights and did a mix of exploring the small city and some tours. I fell in love with Iceland from the moment I set foot in it and have been super keen to return since – and this year I did.

Last month I went back with two friends and stayed for three nights before flying onto New York.

This blog is a culmination of recommendations from the two trips to the best of my knowledge and memory. I hope it proves useful for your own trip, but of course I hope you make your own fabulous discoveries too.

January: mystery trip, a 10k and 2020 plans

Happy New Year! I think it’s far too late to say that now – but I’m behind on my blog posts so you’ll just have to deal with it.

January has been a pretty great month actually – a memorable one. Usually it’s that month at the beginning of the year that by summer you’ll have forgotten what the hell happened. But I’ve done some fun stuff this month and been thinking about what this year holds for me.

The world outside my window

As I gaze out of my bedroom window, cup of tea in hand and taking a moment to pause before my day starts, I can see the garden is full of activity.

A robin lands on the fence, his unmistakable red breast catching my eye. He pauses for the longest time, surveying his surroundings and pondering his next move.

A blackbird lands on the top of the tree that is usually ruled by the infamous ring-necked parakeets. They often flock in the tree to rest or to groom and I know when they’re coming and going thanks to their signature squawking.

A dunnock hides in the foliage of the tree in front, and another lands on the fence following the departure of the robin.

As I leave the house and head to work, a grey squirrel makes a dash for it across the road, heading for the park which is just a few doors down from where I live.

Returning home at the end of the day, later than most, I spot a fox trotting along the path who then dives over a low brick wall. I catch him making his way into the next door house’s drive, and he lingers for just a moment to express his shock at seeing me before squeezing through the gate into their garden, no doubt to search for scraps of food.

Even in the heart of South London, nature thrives and fills every corner. Look carefully, and you’ll see it’s there.

It’s #TimeToTalk about my health and death anxiety

*Long read*

I have added to this blog several times over the last year and a half, but haven’t finished it. Either something on social media prompts me, or a conversation with someone about it.

Today is #TimetoTalk – a campaign to get people talking about mental health and this is a story about me and me mental health, so it seems pretty fitting to finally publish it today.

I feel that I should put a disclaimer to say that this might be triggering to some people, or you may just find it comforting that someone else has experienced something similar to you.

This blog you’re about to read is a final mash together of two drafts I put together – the first in July 2017 in the midst of my anxiety – which if I had published that as it was would read very differently than it does now. When I worked on a second draft, in May last year during Mental Health Awareness Week, when I was very much planning to publish it, I almost forgot how bad it had got. I’m in a much better place now, thanks to therapy – which I’ll go into later.

Now before I dive in to telling my story, I must point out that this is only my experience. Everyone experiences varying levels of mental health issues. Mine is about my struggle with anxiety, but even under that broad umbrella there are so many different variations. Mine is particularly related to health and death, which isn’t uncommon, but again is experienced in varying ways by different people. That was basically a really long way of saying everyone has a unique experience with their mental health.

I’m not sharing my story for sympathy, nor to care for trolls who might tout how it’s nothing compared to what other people experience. It’s just me, sharing my experience to hopefully help people who have or are experiencing it themselves, and to help those who are lucky enough not to have suffered with poor mental health to try and understand it.

A basket, 6500 miles and a whole load of coincidences

Earlier this year, I spent a wonderful 10 weeks in the county of Taita Taveta, Kenya volunteering with Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) through International Citizens Service (ICS) – a UK government funded programme allowing 18-25 year olds the opportunity to volunteer abroad in one of twenty developing countries on a three month placement.

Several reasons had led me to the ICS programme: my contract at my job was coming to an end and applications for another had fallen on deaf ears; I wanted to gain the skills I needed for a job in campaigning; and I was hankering to travel but didn’t have the money to do so.

How #30DaysWild saved June

June – what a month. A snap general election which produced unexpected results (and I’m still not sure what’s going on tbh), a tragic incident at Grenfell tower and devestating terror attacks in London.

On a personal level, it started with the prospect and hope of having a job by the end of the month, something I started to come pretty confident about around halfway through. Five job interviews later however, and I sit here at the start of July still unemployed.

So thank god for 30 Days Wild as I fear I would be sitting at the bottom of a deep, dark pit by this point. It forced me to make at least a little bit of effort every day, and on other days make plans with friends and do something on a bit of a bigger scale. It’s for that reason I’m quite sad it’s over, but there’s nothing to stop me continuing to keep that daily connection with nature, after all that’s what this challenge encourages.

Reconnecting with nature – #30DaysWild

I can hardly believe that a year has passed since I first took part in 30 Days Wild!

Last year I wrote a post about what I was planning to do that June, and although I successfully took part in the challenge, I didn’t quite manage everything I wanted to do. So this year, I want to do some of those things I didn’t accomplish, as well as some new ideas I’ve thought up.

For last year’s 30 Days Wild I was in the midst of my discovery of just how great Britain’s nature and wildlife could be and was definitely taking advantage of it – hiking, visiting some of my local nature reserves for the first time and really noticing those little details in nature. I was however in a very different situation than I am now. I was working full time in London, commuting from my home in Hampshire whereas I am currently unemployed, spending my days applying for jobs.

The secret life of bins

Image: Scott Cawley via Flickr CC

For the last two months, I have been working in the county of Berkshire on a project designed to encourage residents living in communal properties to recycle more effectively. This has involved engaging with residents in conversations about the barriers to recycling, and the monitoring of communal bins to check for contamination – this is where people are disposing of items in their recycling bins which cannot be recycled, which has been a big problem in this particular area.