End of January...

So its the end of january already... what a month its been! I've joined the JQNF, had a say in a housing development, had an epic snowey saturdate with my lovely parter, been a pirate, bagged 2 DJ gigs for the next few months... *takes a breath*... Done some of the Harbourne mile, learned about the big bang at Stargazing live, applied for a new job, had my arsed kicked at Monopoly (several times), have had brunch with new friends, bagged tickets to see one of my favourite bands in the world and arranged an epic birthday - to name a few things!

We've got a whole action packed year ahead of us too! February is bringing us the promise of a visit from our London friends, sci-fi con, deejaying, reanimator and return of the living dead at Custard Factory - and tonnes more! Our calender is solid :)

I'm certainly not complaining, but am already exhausted and its not even month two quite yet! I try not to turn down adventures and fun things, but it does take its toll!

I'm a firm believer in resting when I need too (and lately I've been knackered!) I love naps, but am notoriously bad with lay ins as I always think about what I'm missing whilst I'm vegging out in bed... this brings me to todays quote, "Learn from yesterday, Live for today, Look to tomorrow, rest this afternoon."

I’ve not been very inspired this morning.. just shattered! I have taken this imposing picture of the tree at the side of the church today. I think it looks a bit menacing! The worst thing was, I had to lean against a crypt to get a steady pic, and got to work not realising I had mud all over my trousers! The things we do for art, ay? ;)

So I promised a bit more of a detailed blog today, as I just had to quickly get up my photo yesterday. I have been SHATTERED this week. I think the pirate and art gallery fun has caught up with me… luckily I work flexi hours at work, so got to leave at 3:45 yesterday. I desperately needed a nap when I got in before undertaking all of the chores… after my nap me and dan changed the bed, took out the recycling, did the washing up, dyed my hair (an epic task as it involves dying, bleaching, dying) and organising birthday fun.

I normally try and arrange some fun activities for my birthday celebration. It’s always good fun… previously we have been to Monkey forest, London for the day, Alton Towers and all sorts… it’s nice, as it makes everyone else as excited as I am.

This year I am hoping to do a tour of Two Towers Brewery. I think they are technically within the JQ (I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong), but they sell their wares at the farmers markets and at the Brown Lion pub (def. within JQ). I am a big fan of dark ales and love the “Jewellery Porter” (which is an acquired taste). I am also (finally) arranging to do the limestone caverns canal boat tour. It’s not very rock and roll, but I think it looks wonderful!

Right… well… As I have said before – I write this at work and it’s finance week! Fun fun fun!

As a thought for the day, I often get a lot of people ridicule me for my excitement about my birthday. I am going to turn the tender age of 28 this year, but still get as excited as I did when I was very young. I don’t do the jelly and the party bags anymore, but love to have my friends and family around me at this time…. So with this in mind, this is what I have for you today. “I've heard that it's possible to grow up -- I've just never met anyone who's actually done it."

Quick Post...

I wasn't quite as inspired this morning, but the sky is lovely and blue - so here is todays pic! Meanwhile, I've got a birthday to arrange, so not a long post today! Promise I will be more interesting tomorrow!

Roundup! 28/01/2013

So the weekend has gone in what feels like a split second and Monday is here again. It’s great to wake up to a clean world without the ice and snow making the walk to work feel like an epic artic trek…

I was quite quiet last week, mainly because I was so busy. On Thursday night, I went out for a colleagues birthday and Friday I was at Alton Towers Pirate weekend (hence the icy picture of the fountain outside of the hotel). I do like my job, but it’s so great to have a break from the norm and do something different!

Thursday was a brilliant evening… not crazy, but lovely to spend time with a couple of girls from work. I have a few girlfriends now, but the majority of my friend group are men! It’s not a bad thing, but it’s nice to speak to someone of the same sex once in a while…

The weekend on the other hand was crazy! Friday we set off from the JQ at around 10:00 and had to take it nice and slow down the icy country roads that surround Alton Towers. We got there at about middayish and the crowd descended at 1/2ish. After much waterpark fun, we donned our ridiculous pirate outfits and had a mad adventure around the hotel quaffing Rum and eating picnic foods. The snow started falling in the late afternoon and apart from “snowballgate” (ask me about it if you ever see me around, it’s a funny story) that made the time even more magical. Ridiculous snowball fights with children and adults and spontaneous fun was abound. We were able to get away (after the digging the car out with a Sanrio branded Squirrel picture – another ridiculous story) and were nice and toasty back in the flat by around midday Saturday.

Sunday we went to “The Public” in West Bromwich. There are so many great places to visit around the Midlands which are free, there is no excuse to stay in on a weekend. It was a fantastic gallery. Me and the other half spent 3 hours playing with the interactive exhibits and really enjoying our time. If you haven’t been – please visit!

Today has been great! I ended up going out with some of the “boys on the ground” at Amey. Honestly, laying a new lighting column is more complicated than you would think! Despite coming back freezing cold (my fingers were numb), I learned a lot and will give our boys on the road a bit more respect when I see them working hard – despite the conditions.

I have got 3 pictures today. One from Alton Towers (a group shot of Piratey fun), one from The Public (taken in their kaleidoscope exhibit) and one of the view down Caroline Street today. It’s getting lighter again and my camera gave the lights a lovely starburst affect.

I have been debating the theme of adventure. I have a small adventure every day. Whether it’s doing something new, scary or visiting somewhere I have never been – it’s exhilarating and exciting. Todays quote is thus, “Life is either a great adventure or nothing.”

A friday not in the JQ

Alton towers hotel. complete with icicles!

Not much to say today! So i simply give you this picture ^_^

Wednesday

I am always pleased to see Wednesday roll around again as it’s the one day when I always have something planned. It’s snowing again in Birmingham, but not the rate we saw over the weekend… it’s still nice and quiet in town (partially because of the school closures and maybe because people are choosing to work from home again).


I have chosen some lovely views of St Paul’s again today. The snow affected the visibility, so took multiple photos (well, actually – 15 – but most of them were awful) and have to choose which one to use... I write the blog when I get to work so the thoughts are fresh and then upload in the evening. I’ve only got one more work get up this week, so that’s put a smile on my face.

Smiles are a curious thing. I smile pretty much all the time... Sometimes I get a smile back, sometimes a weird look from a stranger. with this in mind, I have dug this up today. "sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, Sometimes your smile is the source of your joy."

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So, no snow today! Just lots of lovely black sheet ice covering the footpaths (making it near impossible to walk normally!). Saying that, it’s impossible to feel blue this morning… the morning is lighter, there’s not so many clouds in the sky and the birds are singing. I’ve taken a photo from my favourite spot for the view over St Pauls (outside the Braderie). You can really see that the spring is coming… I’m pleased to see that despite someone kicking the heads off the snowmen sitting on the bench, the Snow lion is still in-situ looking resplendent. I don’t think he’ll be around for much longer as the snow won’t last forever, so I am enjoying seeing him on my trips around the JQ at the moment. We went to a great exhibition regarding possible town housing in the JQ last night. It’s the one thing we’re really missing… the flats are lovely – but there is a need for people who don’t want to leave the Quarter, but want to purchase their own property. I recommend you head down to MADE on Newhall Hill this week (the exhibition is on between 5 – 7) and have a gander if you’re interested. The team who put the plans together were lovely and we’re very patient whilst we chewed their ear off with our thoughts and ideas about what we would like… We’re having a nice quiet week. Our water is now fixed (YES!), and I’m enjoying chilling out. It’s giving us a moment to catch our breaths before going to Pirate Weekend at Alton Towers on Friday. I should really get cracking on planning our wedding, but I keep putting it off as I know how much work its going take… I’m terrible at the moment. There’s lots of things I should be doing and keep putting off. I’ve started sorting many things out for our wedding festival (I’m sure you’ll get more of an idea of what we’re doing as the blog progresses), but I’m dreading sorting out the big stuff. I found this quote online and it’s giving me hope to get cracking. Quite simply, "If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting off doing it."

Blue Monday..

Well, Monday is here again... here a selection of excellent Snowmanimals and a bloke on a bench (with my friend Jo) which have appeared in St Paul's over the weekend. Today  hasn't been too snowy (just small flurries) and life has been slowly returning to normal.

Today was supposedly "Blue Monday," but people seemed to be quite chipper! Our water still wasn't working this morning (Grrr) but we sorted a compromise and (after a bit of slipping and sliding) got to work at a reasonable hour.

It was still quiet on the streets and in the businesses - but as the roads get clearer, more people will be taking their cars back on the road and travelling back to their places of work...

As a thought for Blue Monday, here is today's quote "Don't hate Mondays, they stand for new beginnings."

Snow time like the weekend!

I wasn’t going to write the blog at the weekends, but I ended up having a bit of a weird and wonderful one (as the pictures may show). The first photo is the cemetery gatehouse… it looks so lovely being covered by a glorious white blanket…. The second photo is an example of the weirdness of my weekend. Saturday could have been a terrible day, but ended up being excellent! We woke up in the morning without and running water in the flat. I’m not surprised, it’s not the first time it’s happened – but it’s always a total ballache… the day started with a trip to my excellent friend and neighbours house to have a wash and get some water. Her lovely mum was there, so it was wonderful to have a chat and a cup of coffee to start the day. We normally go to market on a Saturday morning, but as the weather was so bad – we weren’t sure any of our plans were going to come to fruition! After sorting out what we could at home (Saturday is chore day), we trudged through the Quarter on our way to town… on the way, we bumped in George, Zippy and Bungle…

I have NO idea why this three thought it would be a good idea to don onesies and walk around the JQ, but it certainly brightened up my day! We then had a good giggle at some people falling off a child’s sledge – before realising it was Mike and Millie of the JQNF! We stopped for a quick chat before heading into a blissfully quiet City Centre for a lovely pot of Chai (and free cake!) at the Boston Tea Party. After defrosting for a little while, we had a wander round the nearly empty Birmingham markets to get our fruit and veg.

Even though we only spent a couple of hours mooching round, we were both parched and knackered after hitting the shops – so that called for more coffee (with accompanying cake) at the 6/8 café. We really lived it up on Saturday and completed our day with a visit to the Electric cinema and then Las iguanas.

On Sunday, we went round our friends house for a “swap shop.” In these tough economic times, its great to go through all of the things that we hoard and distribute them to people who will use and enjoy them… I got a lovely coat, a skirt, a posh dress and some accessories!

It really was quite the wonderful, busy and mad weekend…

For a summarising quote, I have been pondering Snow. I love the snow (not the disruption, but the feeling of being out in it and it’s effect on the landscape), but I understand people who dislike it… with this in mind (and the spirit of positivity), I bring you this quote, “Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.”

Snow business like show business...

So I’ve woken up this morning expecting “pandesnownium” but instead have been treated to an overnight light dusting. It made for a cold and damp walk to work, but wasn’t a bother. It’s always nice and quiet walking to work when it’s snowing. Mind you, the noise of the world never seems to be too intrusive between 7:15 and 7:30 on my walk to work. It’s just early enough that most of the flats I walk past have the lights on with people slowly getting up for another day in the Corporate machine. It’s quite lucky that theres not many people about as I tend to look quite mad in the mornings… I listen to podcasts rather than music when walking to and from work and quite often find myself laughing out loud to Radio 4, 5 or BBC 6.

The cheerful chattering on the downloads I listen to tend to help me clear my mind and mentally prepare for the day ahead. I actually quite enjoy my walks in the morning as I get a chance to catch up with the latest music news or film reviews (which give me decent fodder for conversations at work)!

I am quite looking forward to my weekend. I’ve actually got hardly anything on the calendar for once… so obviously, rather than taking this as a sign to chill out (after feeling a little rough) I have strived to plan a weekend of small adventures. Tomorrow we’ve got our normal market shopping (which I sadly quite enjoy), followed by coffee and cake at the wonderful 6/8 Kafe in Birmingham City Centre. Then a visit to the fabulous Electric Cinema to see “Django Unchained” (if you haven’t been to the Electric, GO. JUST GO!) followed by a meal in the Gay/Chinese Quarter. Sunday we’re having a “Swap Shop” with some friends to clear out some of the things we no longer need and hopefully get something we can use…

I hope you’ve all got something nice planned. It’s always worth having something to look forward on the cards. With this in mind, I bring you todays quote. Again, simple but effective… “We all need three things in life. Someone to Love, Something to Do, and Something to Look Forward to.”

A better day...

Well yesterday was a pretty bad day! One of those “if it can go wrong…,” but I have woken up this morning after a lovely night with my friends and a very light flurry of snow falling on my walk to work. I love it when the weather is like this! It’s not as cold as it was yesterday (only a paltry -1°C compared to yesterday evenings -7/8) and the snow is so pretty falling over the silhouetted buildings of the Quarter.

I have got to work and lots of the issues I had yesterday have been resolved and I am feeling a little less poorly than I have been recently (just a niggley cold). I had a plethora of pictures I could have taken this morning, but I have chosen the photo above. You can just see the little flecks of snow in the glare of the Streetlight and it shows the lovely old heritage Lighting Columns with a backdrop of the BT tower and the church.

This morning I have been pondering Positivity. As I said – yesterday was a crappy day… but I realised I was being grumpy and that was making me feel worse – so I got home, watched some cartoons (Adventuretime, thanks for asking) with my wonderful other (better) half and had a few drinks with some of my nearest and dearest friends. Eventually, the big cloud that was hanging over my head lifted and as a result I could laugh off the problems of the day and look forward to a better time today. For todays “Thought for the day,” I leave with this simple but effective quote…

“You can't have a good day with a bad attitude, and you can't have a bad day with a good attitude.” (or maybe more relevant) “Be an Optimist Prime, not a Negatron!”

Day 2 - a slippery second day...

Well, it’s day 2.

It’s very foggy and freezing this morning in Birmingham. The weather is not very inspiring, but I’ve woken up with a spring in my step as we’re half way through the week and (as always) I’m looking forward to a nice weekend. The fog was so thick, I couldn’t get a good picture around Caroline Street this morning – so I took a picture of the Church instead.

If you haven’t ever been to St Paul’s, it’s a gorgeous building. I’ve been lucky enough to go to 2 great events at the church and (not being a religious type) have found the place to be inspiring and a great venue to watch films in. The lovely Vicar (Dean?) who runs the church is hoping to get a foreign film club going monthly and I will the first to sign up. It’s not very comfortable to sit in the pews for a couple of hours but does naturally encourage quiet reverence – which is a perfect atmosphere to watch and contemplate great movies.

I’ve got lots to do at work at the moment an am really struggling to kick-start my day (with a touch of the cold and darks being prevaliant)… so as a thought for the day today – it’s worth concentrating Why we actually get up and to it. Here is something I have come across this morning… “You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it, however."

Not quite 365

Well, I’ve been wanting to do this for a while – but haven’t ever had the push to do it. I’ve woken up today and the world is not so dark as it has been, the birds are cheeping and it’s not lashing down with rain or snow so I’ve been inspired…

I’m very lucky to live in a beautiful place in the Midlands. A place I’ve recently heard dubbed “The village in the City,” the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham is an area of the city which combines the spirits of preservation and regeneration and is home to gorgeous buildings, outdoor spaces and some bloody good pubs. I get to walk through this area on my way to work (in the heart of the Colmore Buisness District) every morning. The area changes and morphs with the seasons and I wanted to preserve this through a series of photographs. As the title suggests, I was intending to do this as a 365 project – but obviously I don’t go to work 365 days a year, so I’m planning to do document as much as I can over this time. I want the focus of the photographs to be from Caroline Street (looking down on to the Church), but with the spirit of change I am going to try and take pictures which best encapsulate my mood and the beauty of the area.

This is my first photo. I am no professional photographer and am intending to take the majority of the pics on my phone (meaning the quality might not always be the best). Please feel free to share your own thoughts and notes on the project… I hope to make it as interactive as possible.

One more note… as a thought for the day… I heard this on a podcast this morning and it inspired me. I hope you take something from it too… “If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody."