LIFE: Photo an Hour March 2016

If you didn't think the year was flying by already, well it's rolled around to another Photo an Hour Link up, to remind you just how quickly the months are passing us by. Sundays are typically our lazy days, we may pretend to be adults and get dressed, poke some DIY, do the weekly shop. This week we were enchanted by the blue skies and headed to the zoo for a wander and then flopped back on the sofa and went back to being lazy.

Sunday began with a late start to the day (10am) the usual coffee, cereals and catching up on a couple of pages of my new read - The Witches, which as you probably might have guessed is all about the Salem Witch Trails of 1692. Then I finally got around to opening up the Easter package from the homeland - some yummy looking Harry Hopalot chocolate figures from Thorntons.

I lost track of time when we were actually at the Detroit Zoo when it came to live updating, but hey I was having too much fun. With blue skies and warm temp, it was a perfect day to visit, loads of animals were up and playing around, especially fun to watch the young Chimpanzee's climbing and jumping off rocks and rolling down hills.

Fun for hobby time - cross stitching a Michael Powell design titled Garden Shed that will eventually end up upon a birthday card, and of course coloring in one of my favorite books - Unicorns Are Jerks. Because Unicorns fart in elevators, on purpose, if you didn't know.

5pm was time for tea! Some yummy homemade egg fried rice with lots of veg and crab. Then watching Windows decide it wanted to update. Had I know this earlier, this would probably have been achieved hours earlier. Yawn.

Then we ended the day, well more like 7pm (because my phone was dying) at failing to do our workout. Failing because we were still too knackered and achy from doing two cardio/core workouts on Saturday. We tried. That's the important thing right?!

So that was pretty much our Sunday. If you like random stuff like this, tag along on Instagram, where I try and post more of the same, random shit! 

How was your Sunday?

Rachael

LIFE: Small Things #9

This last week or so has been all about adulting (whether you love or loath that term). From fixing a slump pump to trying to fix a wobbly toilet it's all been a bit challenging of late. So while little things can caused the biggest frustrations but then on the flip of a coin, they can be the happiest.

• This clip of the new arrival at the Toledo Zoo - the cutest little polar bear cub. Hopefully we'll make a trip down to see it once spring arrives.
• Working on my "Start where you are" journal.
• Starting and being hooked into a new (to me) anime show - Inuyasha. It's one of those anime with hundreds and hundreds of episodes so I've got something to entertain me for a long while.
• Getting my Stress-Less Workbook, stress being an odd thing to be happy about but hopefully working through this workbook might help me deal with this thing that is taking over too much of my life.
• Smashing up 1950's stubborn bathroom mosaic floor tile is very theraputic, even if it turns my arms into jelly and you only make slow progress. It's actually kinda sad to be turning it up but it's seen better days. 
• Which has all meant learning some more DIY, kinda looking forward to laying some new tiles I will be honest even though I have no clue about tile laying.
• Agent Carter being back on the screen - one of my favorite shows.
• Making two awesome new recipes this week - a chicken chili in the slow cooker (so handy this winter) and a mushroom tofu curry, equally delicious. 
• Cross stitching some more of "Flossie" (the lady cross stitcher) for the first time since before Christmas and longing for lighter days to cram more stitching in.
• Coming home from the library with a pile of books. 
• Lots of kitty cuddles and purrs.
• Having beautiful handwritten recipes falling out between the pages of vintage cookbooks (always a winner). 
• Finishing my first cross stitch project of 2016 - another bookmark - you can't have too many.
• Watching our cats being excited by empty boxes and new paper bags to play with and in. 

How is everything with you?

Rachael

SNAPSHOTS: The Cincinnati Zoo

After our first visit in July, the Cincinnati Zoo fast became my favorite. It's wonderfully laid out, the exhibits are huge and they do a great deal of work behind the scenes at helping reintroducing species back into the wild - to the point it's often considered the sexist zoo for all the breeding programs that help repopulate wild populations. So when we had a long weekend just after my birthday, I couldn't really turn down a road trip back there. 

It's always great returning to the zoo after a couple of months (one of the reasons why I love my Detroit Zoo membership) those lion clubs were getting so much larger and daddy Lion was back in the exhibit, Tofu the baby Red Panda was out and about, those baby Flamingo's were just as big as their parents. Plus we managed to catch a glimpse of those animals we missed the first time around - like the crazy cute Sloth to those calling the Gibbon island home. Plus the zoo is home to my favorite penguins - those baby blue ones and with the cooler weather overhead they were being adorably active - splashing, swimming around in their pool. 

LIFE: Small Things

Once October rolls around I feel like one of the few people that doesn't go for the whole pumpkin thing, so forgive me while nothing pumpkiny fills up today's small things post. While everyone might be stocking up and drinking gallons of the pumpkin spice whatevers, I've been feeling more at home with my huge box of Yorkshire tea that landed on my doorstep (along with packets of instant custard and angels delight) in a birthday care package from the homeland for my birthday. Now that's more my kinda thing!

Otherwise other happy things include;

• Joe brought me a brand spanking new laptop for my birthday. Yey I finally have a working laptop that actually came with Windows 10 so I didn't get to kill another laptop in the upgrading process.
• Said laptop coming with the kindle app and a local library that offers downloadable books for free to borrow - I'm far too excited. 
• Dear Ms Leigh is the expat blog of the month over on Expat Blog - for which I rambled on about myself. 
• Stitched a Halloween Kitty although I forgot to take a photograph of it completed before passing it to my friend ... oops 
• That birthday of mine.
• I finally got around to ordering my spring bulbs. Over 200 of them. Far too excited for them to arrive - lots of daffodils, iris's, glads, crocuses to name but a couple.
• Doing lots of reading - Night Circus, Friends with Boys and Ocean At The End of the Lane being particular highlights of the last two week.
• Binge watching How To Get Away With Murder - love that show and season two is looking to be just as good.
• Lots of tasty new food places and cocktails drinked. 
• Hungry Howie's chocolate brownies with raspberry topping mmmm
• Taking a birthday road trip to Cincinnati - enjoyed the night in a hotel and got to visit the zoo again (couple of blog posts upcoming ... eventually) but think baby red panda and blue penguins! 
• Oh and feeding a giraffe - much fun! 
• Seeing some of the Ohio countryside/farmland while trusting google maps diversion around accidents and roadworks. 
• Starting a Scandinavian advent calendar cross stitch kit - a birthday gift my parents picked u[p in Norway which is far too cute and I'm loving every stitch. Fingers crossed I get it finished in time for December 1st. 

So tell me, what's been rocking your world lately?!

LIFE: Eight Photos Of Happiness

Sometimes you see a tag post come across your blog reading and you actually think, wow that isn't half bad. Then you tag yourself and away you go. Which is what I actually did when I spied Kerri's version of eight photographs of happiness. 

It's one of those nice tags where there's no silly pointless questions, it's not got that feeling of being done to death and you can just ramble to your hearts content. 

I'm easily pleased like that. 

So here goes, eight things that not only bring me happiness but are pretty important things in my life.

 

Cross Stitching

Not only is it my oldest hobby - I've been cross stitching since I was about five, but it's the one thing that's sure to take my mind off of things. So having stitched on and off for 24 years, it's a big part of who I am. It was actually something I was bullied for being able to do growing up so I abandoned it for a good couple of years, but i'm having a second wind these days. It's relaxing, I love creating, I love still how it all comes together. Plus now I've taken a hand to designing some pieces too, the fun just keeps adding up.

Cats

Picking out my first kitty Bertie is one of my earliest memories. Being an only child I guess Bertie became my closest companion growing up. I'm a self titled cat lady and share our house with Ed (pictured) and Smokey, I love hearing their purrs, getting kitty snuggles, having them walk all over me even if I'm trying to stitch ... 

 

Fall Colours

One of the best best reasons (aside from being with the love of my life after all) is being in a state that offers some of the most incredible fall colours once September rolls around. There is nothing like those burnt reds, crisp oranges and vivid yellows. It takes your breath away .... (although having to rake up all said leaves is another matter). 

Being Mr & Mrs

Joe, well he's my best friend. I'm not sure how I came to deserving him but I'm so glad he's decided to spend the rest of his life with me. But our life together is the one thing I don't really share on my blog and I like it that way :)

Detroit

I sound like a broken record, but most people write Detroit off, even locals. Which annoys me to no end. But I love having the motor city on my doorstep, I love exploring it's areas, it's food culture and getting around to sharing them here on the blog. My fault is that I can get a little bitchy about it - like if you say you're going to get murdered, mugged, attacked, hijacked just because you went three meters south of 8 mile you'll feel my wrath. #SorryNotSorry 

Trains

My geeky love is certainly for trains - big trains, train tracks, incline trains (as above with the Monogahela Incline in Pittsburgh)  model trains. I love them all. In fact for my 21st birthday, aside from all the partying at university, my big highlight was taking another ride on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.

Travel

More often an not I love exploring what's on my doorstep. Growing up with staycations far before it was cool, I'm a fan of keeping my nose to the ground which the how and the where's about things to do. When time and money allows, I love getting to explore new places. Finding those fun local places off of the beaten track. 

Zoo Trips

One of the favorite things in my purse is my zoo membership card. I love being able to pop in as and when. Plus it helps having those discounts to reciprocal zoo's around the country - especially the Cincinnati Zoo which is my favorite I will be honest. Moreover the Detroit Zoo is often considered one of the greenest zoo's and it's making great strides in helping endangered creatures, building new exhibits and spreading the world about being green.


While I managed to pick of eight, I probably could have featured about 80 more (including say reading, Pittsburgh, photography itself, gardening, butterflies ... the list is endless). But I'm sure they give you a general impression!

What would be in your eight photographs of happiness?!

LIFE: The Butterfly House

One of the many advantages of having zoo membership is that we can pop in whenever we fancy and not have the pressure of having to see everything, every time. After hearing that the three newest penguins editions had been released into the penguin habit we thought we'd try and spy them. We couldn't, baby penguins kinda look too much like adult penguins. But anyway, on the same trip we took a walk though the butterfly house.

With bright sunshine, 90F heat outside the Labor Day weekend happened to be great time to visit and the butterflies were in their element. For whatever reason, even if my camera wasn't on it's last legs, it's always struggled a little in the butterfly house, but the photos didn't turn out too bad if you don't look too closely that is. 

The Detroit Zoo have a great balance between butterflies as an exhibit and helping the native butterflies. Not only do the zoo offer guides on identifying species found in Michigan but also on how to encourage butterflies into your garden. With the zoo landscaped in such a way that butterfly gardens and especially the Monarch Way Stations decorating the borders, it really does make it all seem to very possible to create in your own space.

LIFE: Among the Wetlands and Tigers

Perhaps it's because of how colourful the zoo is at the moment, or how the trees are just starting to turn that burnt orange on the tips of it's leaves against the deep blue skies. Maybe it's from seeing the animals a little more attractive as the days turn cooler, but popping to the zoo for a long walk, breathing some fresh air and hiding away from the suburban world - the freeways, the honking cars, the endless rows of houses, that surround it, the zoo has become a favorite place of mine of late. 

I guess going so often as we do, we have the time and the chances to explore and take in everything other than the animals - the flowers, the landscaping, the wetlands, the wild birds that make the zoo their home.

Without a [working] netbook it's hard to find the time aside from working to be on the [desk] computer and type away for blog posts, it's nice just to have photographs from wanders and adventures from life on my doorstep to just stop and share.

Where's your favorite place to escape?