Joy in 2013 – A Photographic Review

Posted on December 27, 2013 by suzie81speaks

As this is the final Weekly Photo Challenge of 2013, the theme being ‘joy,’ I thought I would make it special. I already had written a review of the year and included some of these photographs, but I thought that it would be nice to do a photographic review of my blogging year too – these photographs have been taken throughout the year after starting my blog in April, with either the subject itself or the finished photograph that has brought me joy.

Wobbly surveying her territory, May

How The Bloke and I celebrated Eurovision, May

My sleepy little friends, May

The start of a beautiful meal with mum, June

The Bon Jovi stage at Villa Park, June

The London Eye and Houses of Parliament, July

Flats in London, July

A side street in Birmingham, August

A view of Birmingham from the new library, September

A bench in the park, November

The German Market, November

A day in the Spa, November

A stunning sunset, December

Moon, December

Wobbly is absolutely delighted with her Christmas present, December

I’d love to know what you think… Which one is your favourite?

You can also find me on Twitter @Suzie81blog

All photographs are copyrighted to Suzie81

Questions, Questions, Questions. Tell Me About You!

Posted on November 20, 2013 by suzie81speaks

During my blog overhaul I started to think about my layout. I have been lucky enough to have received lots of different awards from various people and I proudly display them down the side of my posts. It occurred to me that they all have one major thing in common: questions. The amount of questions asked can vary from five to fifteen, depending on the award and are set by the person that has nominated others.

I find that blogging can a very narcissistic venture. A blog allows the freedom to discuss what is personal to you – likes, dislikes, hopes, fears and thoughts seem to be the main focus for a large amount of (fabulous, I might add) posts that I read, and provides the opportunity for expression and creativity. I have many lovely conversations every single day, but it occurred to me that I know very little about some of you guys.

I thought that I’d try a little experiment. It may get no response at all, which is fine, but I’m going to give it a go anyway.

I want to know about you. I have written seven questions that I’d love you to answer. This can be done in two ways:

1. Answer them in the comment box below.

2. Create your own post with your answers, and link back to this post so that I can read them.

I’m going to leave it open all week, with the idea is that I want to be able to collate the answers into a different post that gives an overview of the WordPress blogging community that I now feel like I am a small part of. I will also reblog the most creative ones.

1. Why have you chosen your blog name?

2. When you have an hour of free-time, what do you do?

3. If you could choose to stay a certain age forever, what would it be?

4. If you could learn to do something, what would it be?

5. What would be the first thing you would buy if you won the lottery?

6. What is the thing that makes you absolutely unique?

7. What is your favourite blog?

I hope this works! Looking forward to seeing your responses!!

Happy Blogging!!

Picture credit: allthingsd.com

Monday Morning Musings and Thanks

Posted on September 16, 2013 by suzie81speaks

After The Bloke and I spent yesterday packing I find that I am spending the first part of Monday morning sitting in my front room surrounded by boxes, packing tape, newspapers and bubble wrap. In my very first post I commented on the amount of ‘stuff’ that I own, but it was only when I started to organise all my worldly possessions and box them up that I realised exactly how much I’ve collected over the years. Twelve years ago, when I moved to the city to start univeristy, everything I owned could fit into the back of a car. I remember the day that I got my unconditional offer acceptance letter – I went straight out and bought myself a frying pan, a plate, bowl and cutlery from Woolworths in Bolton Town Centre (I’m showing my age here) and all these years later I am going to have to spend the day finding a large hire van to transport everything across to our new home next week. Continue reading →

A Day In The Life

Posted on August 29, 2013 by suzie81speaks

I was feeling sluggish and bloated this morning and I woke up with horrible cramps and backache (not my favourite part of being a woman every month). However, it’s a gloriously sunny day and after doing a bit of housework I decided to try and cheer myself up by going into town. By town I mean Birmingham City Centre, and being the second biggest city in the UK it’s an enormous place to walk around.

I moved here in 2001, a few days after 9/11 so in a few weeks I’ll have lived here for twelve years. I still vividly remember the first day I arrived at my Halls Of Residence with all my worldly possessions being able to fit in the back of my parents car. Since then I’ve built a life for myself here and I’ve never regretted it…

Anyway, I digress. I finally got a much needed haircut, after I received my annual telling off from my hairdresser. I always go to the same Toni and Guy salon – it costs a little more but the staff are friendly and the cut is always exactly what I want. It makes me smile how horrified they are at the state of my split-ends… I’m sure there are more important things to be concerned about in life.

Afterwards I had a nice stroll around in an attempt to relieve the cramps. It was payday yesterday so I took the opportunity to get a few cards and presents for my friends upcoming birthdays. It’s the BM’s birthday in a week and the fact that he’s the world’s biggest Dr Who fan makes it really easy to get him something that I know he’ll love from the comic book store. I discovered the new Lone Ranger Lego too, so I got The Bloke a set (I love the fact that I’m surrounded by geeks – it certainly makes life more interesting!). I treated myself to some perfume too – my favourite, Stella McCartney, was half price so I got two bottles.

When I got home I took advantage of the energy I seemed to still have and I sorted out the little jobs that needed finishing – paid various bills, booked a few appointments to see some houses (quite excited about one in particular) put the clean washing away, ordered Daisy’s cat food (she needs special hypoallergenic stuff because she has a bad stomach – she wasn’t looked after very well in the first few weeks of her life and has suffered stomach problems ever since), put flea treatment on all three cats, changed the litter trays, vacuumed the bedroom, put the recycling and rubbish out, washed and changed the bedsheets, did a little bit of planning for next week (boo) and then cooked dinner.

I finished the day by having a pint of cranberry juice at the pub with the BM. I haven’t seen him in a while so we had a bit of a catch-up. I’m actually a little bit worried about him – he’s recently split with his girlfriend and even though he’s attempting to put a brave face on it, he’s a lot more upset about it than he’s letting on. Still, it’s his birthday next week and I’m really hoping that his present will cheer him up. I walked home with a beautiful sunset behind me.

Quite a productive day all round!

We Can Learn To Love Again – Why No Relationship Is A Waste Of Time

Posted on August 29, 2013 by suzie81speaks

The last song I listened to was ‘Just Give Me A Reason’ by Pink, featuring Nate Ruess. The third line from the end is ‘we can learn to love again’.

My longest relationship has been with The Bloke. I’ve not had a massive amount of relationships in my dating life – I would say that I’ve had five that I would consider to be significant (The Bloke included) and of those I have been in love with three of them (The Bloke included) and truly heartbroken twice. Continue reading →