Back to school tomorrow...

Well the summer is over... it's back to school tomorrow - I'm not gonna lie and say that it sucks because I'm mega excited about starting work tomorrow :)  I'm weird I know, but I'd be boring if I was normal!  I don't think we can complain anyway - the summer seems to have crawled by at a nice pace, I seem to have done loads (and seriously neglected this blog - I could have posted every week!) Now I have to fit it all into one blog to sum up August :)  I hope you're sitting comfortably!

I think the beginning is a good place to start - and I believe it started with some random road trips... what a way to live life in the sun!  

While Tara was getting in some last minute practice fr her driving test, we ended up out in the middle of the Peak District without a clue where we were... we did come across this place though.  At the time we assumed it was somewhere around Hope Valley, though after some debating, some attempts at googling, and my keen eye for the sign in the car park that told us exactly where we were - it tuned out to be Burbage Valley!  Whilst there we battled Tara's fear of heights and I went to play on the rocks while she sat at the top!  After we were done rock climbing we drove a while longer and ended up at Ladybower Reservoir!  We made wishes into the massive well area and hiked up and down the hill on the other side to find out there was nothing at the bottom!   

All that and home in time for tea!!







A few days later (and one passed driving test - Congrats to my girl!)our randomness found us laid in the sun in Clifton Park with Maxie, Jamie and Jenna.  We had a laugh, caught some rays and took some pictures... 

I love this photo!

Now I'm uploading photos I'm realising just how much time I have spent with Tara this summer!  She must be sick of the sight of me :p 

 Our next adventure started out as a trip to Cleethorpes to go play at the beach - however, when the road was closed and we followed the diversion  miles out of our way, we found ourselves closer to Bridlington.  So, in my wisdom, I decided to show her my favourite place in the world - Thornwick Bay.  I'm not gonna lie, I don't think she appreciated it quite as much as I do, after I'd made her scramble down the cliffs and then over them when she doesn't like being up high - but she still couldn't deny the beauty once she was down there.  We paddled in the sea and everything!  
And of course, Vernon was there too.  

If you follow Vernon's adventures on Instagram at #vernonsadventure then you will know that he has been most places with me this summer ad has had lots of fun and adventures in the sun!  

My next adventure was when my girl got all cute, and having heard how disappointed I was about not getting to go on the school trip to Alton Towers, decided that she'd take me instead!  We got some good photos and rode some of the big roller coasters.  We even found the castle and got some photos in the afternoon sunshine!

All that and spent most of the time lost! 

As well as spending lots of time with Tara, I have caught up with some friends too.  I went to the cinema with Adam to see Guardians of the Galaxy - awesome film; highly recommended! I met Claudia in Meadowhall for Starbucks, and I went to Nando's with Jemma to hear all about her Vegas wedding - she even bought me a lucky chip back for luck in my new job :)  Sammy, Vicky and I did a movie day too, aimed for three movies in a day, only managed two and pizza... Was a laugh though, with some random photo opportunities in the middle of the day!

It was around here that I updated you with my last post... I had said goodbye to my little pile of scrap metal, and had a new car sat waiting on the drive for me.  Well, she is now all fixed and running!  I had to seriously clean her, inside and out, as she was absolutely filthy.  But now she is all sparkly and clean and mine!  She's a tad noisy and I have a bad habit of over revving to compensate for her being petrol when I'm used to driving diesel cars, but she's mine and she is going to get me to work and back every day! :)

Anyway, back to summer antics - Lincoln!  Tara and I decided to go back to Lincoln and go for a trip down Memory Lane and go visiting some of the places we'd been years ago!  We took a trip down Steep Hill and remembered why we avoided it, went to Goodies for sweeties, visited the Castle and took lots of pictures, and went to see the Cathedral before we left!  Talk about bring back lots of memories!  This is our then and now picture!!  <<<

We had a great day, took lots of photos, had fun messing around in the sunshine, made some wishes in the well and even played on the cannon.  We even  managed to luck out with some decent weather!!  

 Friday night - night out?  Why not?!  After this strange selfie attempt before we left, we headed to Twist and Fuel in town and got drunk!  Strangely, I did not take many photos that night - unheard of I know... I'm not sure what happened if I'm honest!  I did get a nice one of me, Sammy and Fiona.  Managed to get none of me and Tara, and only a few blurry dance shots!

More randomness - I got invited out on the yard ride.  Eight of us and our horses set out riding across the countryside of Rotherham!  Oh my days!!  I have never been so sore from riding, ever!  We were out hours, at a decent pace, and covered some serious mileage.  I'm not even kidding when I say my ass was sore when we gt back!  I did have an awesome time though.  It's the first time I've ever ridden out in a group and done that kind of ride, with lots of different surfaces and speeds!  Safe to say though, that both me and Rosie were knackered by the time we got back!

 
<<< our view in front


Ingrid, Vicky and Sarah behind :) >>>

My next adventure with Tara found us out in the middle of nowhere again.  We were heading for the English Heritage site of Hob Hurst's House... and after following the satnav and ending up on an unmarked road out in the middle of nothing, we gave it up as a bad job and started to head back.  On the way back we found something better anyway!  Tara saw the signs for a country park, and assuming it was something like Ulley or Rother Valley, we headed in for a nosey round.  How wrong we we - this place was like a little woodland paradise!  Turned out to be a holiday village with cute little wooden cabins and forest walks and a bar and restaurant and fitness suite with a swimming pool!  Talk about the perfect place for a weekend away!  

We went for a walk on the woodland trail and I took lots of photos.  I love this one with us and Vernon ^^^  And of course Tara had a go on all the trail challenges... wore her little self out hehe!

To round off the holiday, Sammy and I went to the cinema, and when we were at my Grandad's on Sunday, we totally stole my little cousin's masks and sat on the sofa in our dragon masks!!  'Cos we're that cool!!  

In other news, I completely and utterly failed in my month of giving up take away!  I blame Jude for the pizza, that's where it started, and after that I clearly thought 'What the heck?' because I have had several since!  
Vernon has been out and about loads, and thanks to Tara we even found a road name with his name on!
It doesn't take much to keep him happy :)  He has been most places with me and has had photos uploaded to Instagram (which you can find a link to in my bio, or search #vernonsadventure)
Other than that, I am till happy, incredibly happy in fact, living life for the moment as well as being able to make more long term plans now that I have my job secure... and I am still enjoying living life spontaneously and having fun at every opportuity!  

And to leave you with - as had to happen - I did the ALS Ice bucket challenge!  My dear mother and Jude nominated me (thanks for that by the way!) and Tara took great pleasure in throwing cold water all over me and my phone!!  
So enjoy this!!
Louby xx

Cars; past and present!

Well, after several weeks of trying to fix my car we finally had to admit defeat and give it up as a bad job.  After deciding that it was scrap and that it could not be fixed, we set about selling it so that we could focus on finding a new one ready for going back to school on the 1st of September.  

So... on Sunday morning I cleared out my little trusty box of scrap metal of all my crap that I'd accumulated over the years and got her ready to sell.  By Sunday afternoon she was gone!  Picked up by some bloke who has the money to splash on her to fix her up.  As much as I was sad to see her go, I think I'm happier knowing that she will hopefully end up back on the road rather than pulled apart for parts and then cubed as scrap metal.  
I watched her leave with a little tear in my eye... lol, and then Daddy and I started looking for a new one!  Talk about fickle - soon forgot about her for a new one.

Moving to the present - I was rudely awoken this morning by a phone call that scared the crap out of me... Mum phoned to tell me that Daddy wanted to talk to me - she made it sound proper serious, and my sleep addled mind couldn't comprehend at first...  Anyway, it was to tell me about a car, explain the details and ask if I wanted it!  

Long story short - I now have a new car sat on the front!  I am not putting pictures up yet, as no joke; it is absolutely loppy - inside and out!!  So I have to get to it with a hoover, some soap and some air fresheners!!  When I have it all spruced up and looking more respectable I will get her photo up on here!  

What I can tell you, is that she has a name!!  The people I bought her from had named her Toni!  I think they intended on her being a boy, but there is something about Fiesta's that I feel is girly - so she is girl!

Let ya know when she's all spruced up :)
Louby x

Facing the warmest Summer in a Century?!

Really I hear you ask?  Yes, that't what the newspapers are saying - we are on track for this summer to be the warmest on record in over a century!  Well, it's been warm enough in July, I was only saying today that if that was our Summer then we probably shouldn't be complaining as it has been absolutely beautiful, but if August wants to try and top it then it is more than welcome to try - I won't turn down the tan!

Anyway, down to business - July!  July has been an amazing month for one reason or another - with only a few down sides.  The biggest down side has to be my car...  If you're a follower of my blog then you know about my argument with a tree back at the beginning of the month.  Well, my car is still poorly.  It was stripped down by my Daddy and handy neighbor, and parts sent off to be fixed.  I did my cleaning and then helped Daddy flush the system to clean out all the oil.  This all went according to plan, as did the reassembly, but after many attempts from my Dad, he cannot get it to start up properly.  In the end we have had to give up and admit defeat!  We are now waiting on a mechanic friend to get back from his very inconveniently planned holiday!  Let's see whether he can fix my baby - if not I'm gonna need new wheels!!

Back to the start of July now... literally, like a couple of days in... July was kicked off with a BBQ at Tara's :)  Which took us forever, we cooked burgers on a tiny disposable BBQ, which proved hilarious, and unfortunately I don't have any photos!!  Very unlike me I know, I'm not sure what happened.  The funniest part had to be the 'baby corn on the cobs' which turned out to be baby corns that you stir fry... Tara was convinced they were corn on the cob though - I feel I should have let her believe it just to see her eat them like corn on the cob :p

Swiftly moving on before she kills me :) 

The first adventure of July started with a trip to the Alpaca farm for Sammy, Vicky and me (and Vernon of course) which was an amazing morning strolling round the farm and meeting some very eccentric alpaca's!  It started like this - Sammy and me in shorts and wellies!!  And I'm afraid it didn't improve :p

Vernon had a lovely day, and even  managed to get a selfie with an alpaca, Sammy brought her little alpaca buddy along for the trip and we took random pictures with random alpacas all morning...  The only one we found out a name for was the first alpaca that the farm had ever owned, and he was very boringly called George...  I believe George is in my own 'selfie with an alpaca' photo if you fancy bombing on over to my Instagram for a nosey.  










The morning continued with Felix coming out play with Vernon and more selfies being taken!  And some feeding happening!  That look says everything!!
And the morning ended with this sign...  Which we found hilarious after spending a morning with them... clearly hysteria was setting in :)

On leaving the Alpaca farm, the general consensus was that we didn't want to have our day end there - the sun was shining and we were raring to go... So, the next thing we knew we were driving the Tour de France route through Yorkshire :)  Sammy and I had a competition to see how many yellow bicycles we could take pictures of out our respective sides of the car, and we saw some of the amazing features that the different villages had displayed for the event.  My favourite display of bicycles was the Bradfield in Bloom at the entrance to Bradfield, and the best display had to go to this wheel of bike bits out in a cute litte town out the back of Sheffield somewhere... it was entirely made from wheels, saddles and handle bars, it looked amazing!

By the end of the route we had gained a passenger :)  we picked Tara up by Meadowhall and continued our adventure, ending up at Ulley Res for a walk.  The sun was still shining, we admired the scenery, played a version of Pooh Sticks off the bridge, played by the water and sat soaking up the sun on the jetty!  And of course - Vicky and Sammy ended up in the water!!

Tara and me?  We settled for finding teeny tiny frogs and escorting them off the path... Tara tried to take a few home her, but after a conversation about water and their Mommy's, she agreed to leave them there...
I wasn't joking about the 'teeny tiny' part either!!  We thought they were crickets at first - then spent the next half hour carefully watching where we stepped!!

From there, and after some tea to refuel - we ended up in a park being kids!  Now unfortunately, this day landed squarely in the 'missing photo' blurry area, and I have very few photos other than the ones already posted, so there are none for the park :/  Again, I will state just how guttered I am about the missing photo pa lava!  I have been much more careful transferring them since that escapade I can tell you!!

Some family time occupied July a little later in the month... My Auntie Janie's annual BBQ!  And just like her luck, all the beautiful weather we had had, the BBQ was on the day of the torrential rain and thunder storms!!  Did that stop her?  Did it 'eck!  We had a blast!  Vernon came :)  And everyone had selfies with him :)  Even Dad!  I actually love this photo - if I ignore that he was in fact biting his ear at the time!!  
We even managed to keep dry - lucky escape I think!!  

More adventuring... Tara took me for a walk down Five Weir Walk with Rolo on a lovely sunny afternoon...  It was going great - ice cream, sunshine, a nice patch under a tree to sit and relax... until Rolo decided he was going to jump in where the water was a couple of foot down!!  Drenched didn't even cover it by the time we had half lifted, half dragged him out of the water!  Was a nice afternoon though - we soon dried out on the walk back!

The beginning of July was when I also gave up pretending like I wasn't already with her, and agreed to be Tara's girlfriend :)  Making two very happy girls, who really need to stop being so mushy and harden up a little bit :)  it really is sickening sometimes :p  She makes me happy though, and me her (I hope :p) and I don't intend on letting her go again!!

Did I also mention that I got a job for September?!  Life is starting to look up a little!!  Just need to get my car sorted and back on the road ready for the start of the new school year, and get some money back in my saving's account, and we should be good to go :)

To round off July, Vicky and I went to the pictures on the 31st to see the new Hercules film with Dwayne Johnson in it!!  Another new take on an old myth/legend!  Loved it!  :)  Well worth seeing to anyone who was wondering!

Anyways, I have rambled long enough for now... Check out the usual - #vernonsadventure on Instagram to keep up with Vernon - #mycrazyreadinghabits to keep up with my books!  I have whizzed through the last one in four days and have a new one ready and raring to go when I get in bed tonight!!  And follow me on Instagram for my general antics... :)
I kept up with my no crisps in July New Year's Resolution, and am now back onto no take-away for August - easy done I reckon as seen as most summer food is made up of salads, and I seem to be eating healthier since spending more time with Tara anyway :)

Luv ya, Louby x