A Pembrokeshire Easter- part 2

Easter Sunday was a very windy and rainy one! We started the morning with breakfast and colouring eggs in the kitchen area of the campground. 

We then went off to explore the nearby small towns. This is the cathedral at St. David's- the smallest city in the UK! It was an interesting small town with non-commercial shops. The cathedral was beautiful even on this gray day! 

We then drove around trying to find a hostel to stay at as the weather was not too condusive to camping. As it was a bank holiday weekend we didn't have any luck but did get to see some beautiful sights! We then visited the village of Portgain and had a pub lunch at the Sloop Inn. It was a tiny little village on the coast and you could walk from one end to the other in just a couple of minutes. Since it started raining harder we sheltered in a little cave to take some selfies :) 

And of course Lina wanted to prove she could fit in the smelly fish box...

After our wandering we returned to the campsite, we asked the owner of the site if he had any indoors accommodation and we were in luck! He let us stay in the bunkhouse for no extra charge, it was a big relief after a difficult, cold night's sleep the night before. Then Lina and Huw created an Easter treasure hunt and we got on with decorating the eggs. 

The rest of the evening I stayed in the bunkhouse reading and listening to music and had a really cozy nights sleep! :) 

XBecky 

A Pembrokeshire Easter- part 1

For the Easter bank holiday weekend Lina And I headed to Wales to see our friends, Huw and Vaida. We took a little road trip to Pembrokeshire to see the beautiful coasts. We got to be part of the first road trip in their new car! :)

We camped at Celtic camping and bunkhouse near St David's and we were camped with a beautiful view! The owner was super nice and kept checking in with  us whenever we ran into him. 

Once we got the tents put up we went for a hike along the coast and went to see a blue lagoon. We had a snack on the beach when to sun peeked out. 

Then we came back and made dinner over the fire. (The best view from a tent yet!) 

Lina fell in love with the farmer's dog :)

Lina did her usual fire dance and we had a nice campfire. Unfortunately I was really tired after the journey and waking up at 6am so retired to the tent early. The others were star gazing for awhile longer, I'm jealous! 

More to come! It was pretty great to get away from normal life and catch up friends. 

XBecky 

The run up to Easter

Last week was another busy one but shorter due to the bank holiday weekend! (I'm the uk Good Friday and Easter Monday are paid days off!)

Last weekend I had a bit of time to work on some doodle postcards for a doodle fest in Brighton they are asking everyone to help out with. There will be a doodle-a-thon in early May that I hope to be able to stop by at some point as well. 

On Thursday I went out for a couple of drinks with my work colleagues, which was sorely needed and is not done often enough. We went to a newly opened bar on London road, the Lounge which I quickly fell in love with. It is a wide open space with loads of quirky pictures and paintings. 

After I met up with Lina, Asta, and Tautvydas to see a dance show, Boxe Boxe. It was a contemporary dance show with a boxing theme. It was an hour long and we liked it very much. It was set to classical orchestra music with musicians part of the show as well. I would definitely recommend! 

We then went to a pub to hear some live music by a football friend of Lina's. Not all if they musicians were our cup of tea but we did really like Lisha, who we came to see. 

Lastly, I finally put up a few new drawings on etsy! Check out my berry and bee site www.berryandbee.blogspot.com for more info! 

We're currently in Wales and will have loads of pics for you soon! 

Hope you has a great Easter weekend!! 

XBecky 

Springtime is here!

The rain has mostly held off around here lately and it's lovely to see flowers in bloom! The week has been another one full of work but it included some interesting challenges and other bright moments as well. 

Last Sunday spent a bit of time watching the Brighton marathon. The pictures below are pretty low quality but gives you a bit of the feel of the day. Marathons and other races tend to make me quite emotional so I have to admit I was  bit tearful. I'm sure there are some deep-seated psychological reasoning behind this... but mostly it's the atmosphere of cheering and so many different people taking on this huge challenge. 

Work-wise, it was a pretty interesting week as I had a meeting to further expand the young person's project that I'm working on and I helped to facilitate a workshop on Health and Wellbeing. Both things made me nervous but I felt they went well and it's definitely helping me to grow! I've been out of the office doing outreach in the community and I have to admit I'm liking it a lot, but am also pretty behind on the paperwork side of things. 

Other perks of the week were having a movie night with some friends to watch Blue in the Warmest Color
It's a film we've been looking forward to seeing for ages and it didn't disappoint. It was full of a complicated and many-layered relationship that still has me thinking. It was a perhaps a bit too long and not as happy as I'd like but I did enjoy it. I'd definitely recommend!

Lina and I also went to a boxing class that pretty much killed me, but I'm glad we went. We've also been doing a lot of dreaming and planning around our upcoming trips! We're going to Wales for Easter weekend to do some camping and hiking, and to see some puffins! Hopefully my cousin, Joelle, will be visiting at the start of May. And next month we're off to the US to go to Katie's wedding, the Bermuda cruise, and a bit of a road trip in NY state. 

Today, I'm working a few hours then we're heading to the park to celebrate our friend, Sarah's birthday.. and the rest of the weekend is going to be a bit of playing catch up, resting, and hopefully finally finishing some art pieces I've been working on! 

I'll leave you with some more great Brighton street art :) 

xBecky

Already April?

It seems like 2014 is just flying by! I really can't believe that it's already April and that another rainy Brighton winter has come to a close. I'm sure there will be more rain but it's great to wear spring jackets and not have to wear boots every day. Here's a couple pics that are very arty Brighton. There is an art gallery around the corner from our place and there were these huge boxes waiting outside marked 'works of art' when I was on my way to work the other day. Also some vegan graffiti :)

Last weekend we saw our friends, Alex and Sarah, for the first time in a couple of months even though we all live in Brighton! They have adorable twin boys who are already six months old. We met up in Queens Park to enjoy the sunny day away from the crowds at the beach. 

A few weeks ago I found out I won a giveway of handmade earrings on www.metamorphocity.com ! I received my beautiful earrings from Moonlight for Violett in the mail this week all the way from Canada (and with cute Canadian stamps!) I love the colors and I was in the need for some new ear art :) 

The past week or two has been a bit quieter for us. I'm settling more into my new work routine of longer days in the middle of the week and am hoping that going to the gym is becoming a routine (though I still have to convince myself to go each time!) I'm feeling more comfortable in my work with young people and am learning a lot from the group I'm observing/facilitating. I've fallen a bit behind on making the artwork and prints for etsy but that's the plan for tomorrow! 

Enjoy your weekend! xBecky 

A hike and a competition

Last Saturday we got to venture into the country side of West Sussex. We went to the award's ceremony of a photo competition put on by the RSPB because I won my category with a picture of Lina jumping (as usual!). It was supposed to be a rainy day but we lucked out and it was blue skies all around. We decide to hike the 2.5 miles from the train station to the visitors' centre where the event was being held. It was a bit cold but we got to take some nice pictures and I only had one small melt down when my feet sunk into the muddy puddles and I got my leggings muddy. After the awards ceremony it was pretty cold.. and I wasn't wearing socks as they got wet in the muddy puddle incident... so we opted for a taxi ride back to the train station. 

overlooking Arundel from the train

Venturing into the wild

a grainy phone pic of my wining canvas :)

          

A cold couply picture while doing the pond dipping

And another while waiting half and hour for the train :) 

These pics are all from my phone but I'll have to put up more of mine and Lina's when I get a bit of down-time at home. 

So all-in-all a pretty great Saturday. It's always good to get away for a few hours and to be able to spend some quality time with Lina as well. We've both been working a lot so don't get a lot of days off together lately. 

In other news.. we're planning an Easter in Wales with our friends, Huw and Vaida, and I, for one, am incredibly excited about the prospect of seeing puffins! I'm preparing a few new drawings with the hopes of creating prints and I hope to put them up on Etsy soon. We're seeing our friends, Sarah and Alex, tomorrow with their adorable little twin boys after way to long so I'm definitely looking forward to that! :) 

All in all there is a lot of busy-ness in our lives but also lots of good! 

xBecky 

St Patty's Day weekend

I'm a bit late with this post as a whole

week has already gone by! Last weekend, St Patricks day weekend, was adventurous as we live next door to an Irish pub who put on a street party. We are really liking living in the center of town and having interesting things going on just outside our door! 

I started with having to go to work for a few hours In a nearby town and was able

to capture a bit of my picturesque bus journey :) 

Then came home to a street party already in full swing. 

We took a break with a walk down to the beach and got some ice cream. 

The street party had live music and many enthusiastic Irish people :) these three clapping guys are feeling the music just outside our front door. 

We had an interesting night with one of Lina's football mates and a bunch of her friends over at ours. We were able to hear the live music and have some drinks without paying the pub prices. It was definitely good fun to spend time with new people and have plenty of laughs. Also here's a little glimpse of our living room (Bree!) :) 

And Sunday was a recovery day both mentally and physically after a pretty busy week. I went back to the gym for the first time in many months and had lunch with Lina on her break from the cafe. I also had a walk on the beach and saw this interesting gentleman performing some good music. 

Another update is coming soon :) 

xBecky

Women's day weekend

I was looking forward to this past weekend for ages as some friends from London (who we haven't seen in way too long!) were coming down for Saturday night. Also it was international women's day and I of course love celebrating how amazing women are :) 

I volunteered for the lgbt youth project and for my work at a women's day fair here in Brighton. It was nice to get to know some of the people I volunteer with better as well as spend a bit of time with my colleagues. And who doesn't love stickers! There was also some great music and feminist speakers to spread love and awareness.

Two of our friends decided to come to Brighton unexpectedly because the sun was shining. We were happy we got to catch up with them for some bubbly on the beach and huge ice cream sundaes at Lina's cafe. 

Then it was on to the night-time festivities. There was a women's day queer club night complete with fire dancers, a yurt bar, and some funny performers. We wished the music was a bit better but loved to catch up with these great girls and for our Brighton friends to meet our  London friends :) 

Sunday brought more sunshine and cloudy heads. We headed to the beach for a bit before the girls headed back to London. Then Lina and I went for a Sunday roast at the Irish pub downstairs and then watched greys anatomy and had a nap :) 

This weekend was definitely a well needed break and I was surrounded by so many good people. The sunshine makes me excited for another summer in Brighton and many more beautiful weekends like this. 

Xbecky