Halloween, Fireworks, & Time To Relax A Little!

 Here we are again, another seven weeks have past since I last blogged and Autumn is now well and truly here! The clocks have gone back, Halloween and Bonfire night have past, and we are now starting to get into the Christmas run up!

I always love this time of year from Halloween onwards the best with all of the Autumn colours, bright days with chills in the air, wrapping up warm against the elements, and hibernating with hot chocolates and comfort food! Which there has been plenty of as you can see below!

So lets recap over these last seven weeks starting with the frames that I mentioned that I'd been working on for my brothers and sisters in laws in my last post.

 Below you can see the frame that I did firstly for one of the weddings, and secondly for the 10th Anniversary present.

It's the first time that I've done anything like this and they were inspired by Pinterest, but I enjoyed making them and was happy with how they turned out. My brothers and sisters in laws also liked them too, which was the main thing!

The third frame seen below was then for the other of my brother and sister in laws weddings, but this time featured penguins in love as my sister in law loves penguins!

Again I enjoyed doing it, and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out too! It was nice to draw something other than bunnies for a change, and to do a purely water colour piece as well, as it's been a while since I have done either. 

I am also happy to report that my sister in law loved it too! 

Also on the illustration front, back in mid October just after I finished these pieces, I was asked if I could create a bespoke Bobby Bunny & Friends Graduation/birthday card for a friends girlfriend who was graduating the day after her birthday. Below you can see what I came up with, and this card is now on general sale and available to purchase from my Etsy shop!

 

 My graduation design at sketch stage

 My Finished Graduation design

My Graduation design in card form

On the social front things have still been busy both with me being needed for overtime at my little gift shop job, as well as out of work, but nowhere near on the scale that it was over the few months covered in my last post!

Firstly back in the middle of October after a sat spent working overtime I got the chance to meet up with a few of my old work colleagues for an evening filled with a lovely meal, drinks, and good old girly chat! All of which was well overdue as I hadn't seen one of the girls for nearly two years, and that was also the last time that we had all met up together too!

Sunday was then a beautiful day filled with lots of Autumnal sunshine, so I went for a walk with my friend, her hubby, and two boys for their 7th birthday. We had a lovely time having lunch in the park, and my friend and I also got the chance to have a bit of a catch-up, whilst her boys and hubby hunted for horse chestnuts to take home and cook!

Monday was then the day that bought us the phenomenon of the blood moon! For any of you that it didn't hit, it was a very surreal experience especially since we didn't know what was happening at the time. It hit here around 3ish in the afternoon on what was already a very cloudy, dull, and windy day. I was working away on my illustrations in the kitchen when I noticed that it was just getting darker and darker, to the point that I had to put the light on, and then to the point that the street lights started to come on outside. Initially the sky looked yellowish like it was about to snow, but then it ended up turning a very odd sepia colour. At that point I re-checked the weather report as I didn't think that they had forecast a storm hitting us that day or any rainfall, which they hadn't, making it all even more of a mystery at the time. It also felt very eerie, not only because of the unusual colour of the sky, but also because as it happened all of the birds disappeared and everything outside fell deadly silent. The whole thing only took place for half an hour to an hour, but it was very odd! It was then at this point that it came out that it was due to remnants of Hurricane Ophelia dragging in tropical air and dust from the Sahara, and debris from forest fires in Portugal and Spain that had caused it.

Below you can see a pic that I took from my window as it was taking place. The photo doesn't really do it justice but it really was an incredible sight.

The following day was then when the tale end of storm Ophelia hit us bringing strong winds and heavy rain, but thankfully the full force of the storm didn't hit us like it did in other part of the country and across the world. I hope that the same can be said for you too, and that you all stayed safe!

The rest of that week then bought me a few days holiday from work, which gave me some time to catch-up on things and to sort out my studio room in order to make way for the arrival of my new storage unit, which I was to be received from my friend with the twins that I mentioned earlier. Unfortunately they could only fit half of it in their car though so I had to wait a few weeks for my hubby's dad to be able to come around and deliver the top half in his van, but it was worth the wait and it is now sitting in pride of place ready to be filled as you can see below.

Aside from collecting the half of the unit that we could, the rest of that weekend was generally a pretty quiet one, with me being needed to work overtime again on the sat, then us having a chilled one on sat evening, after briefly meeting with some of the hubby's friends and their son after work.  Plus the weather was also pretty awful so even more reason to hibernate!

Sunday was another chilled one where we spent the evening at my parents catching-up and eating a lovely chilli that my mum had prepared, as well as watching the "Strictly" results, whilst my dad and hubby watched the Grand Prix!

On the following Tuesday I then met up with my mum and sister for lunch and we chose our advent calenders! (Yes mum still buys us one despite the fact that my sister is in her mid 20's and I'm nearly 30!) Before my mum and I then went for a little swimming date, after which we chilled in the pool's cafe which has a lovely view! The weather was pretty dull, but as you can see below it still looked beautiful!

Later that week bought me a few more holiday days from work, which not only gave me time to catch-up on more of the things that I have been needing to get done. But it also gave me the chance to get out, clear a few cobwebs, and get inspired by having a lovely Autumn walk on the beautifully crisp and bright Friday that we had that week. Below you can see some of the pics from my walk.

That weekend bought Halloween weekend. But since the girls were busy this year and we didn't dress up and go out like we usually do, we decided to do fireworks a week early by attending the firework display that was being held at our local cricket club along with my hubby, parents, sister, and her boyfriend. 

We all had a lovely time and it was a beautiful day for it, so we made the most of it by meeting up for a few drinks before hand and having a go on a few fairground rides that were cricket club too, including the carousel and coconut shy. The display itself was just as good as I mentioned in last years post, and once again it was all co-ordinated to music. I also enjoyed a very yummy hog roast bab from one of the food stands and took lots of photos of the fireworks as usual, before we then headed back to my sisters and spent the rest of the evening playing games of Uno with her friends and eating toffee apple cake!

Below you can see just a few of pics that I took that evening, including the gorgeous sunset that greeted us on the way to, and once we had arrived at the cricket ground, as well as the fireworks and the yummy toffee apple cake!

  

After the fireworks on sat, sunday was then a pretty drab and wet day, so we spent the day hibernating in our pj's and catching up on TV!

Tuesday then bought Halloween itself, and even though as I said we didn't do much for Halloween this year I did have a little Florrie photo shoot of course! This time with her sporting a little witches hat! Below you can see a couple of the pics! 

The following weekend was then another chilled affair, with my hubby and I going to the cafe at our local garden center to have breakfast with my mum and aunt on the sat. Before we then had a look around at their Christmas decoration display and head home to chill out, hibernate, and catch-up on on some TV box sets. 

Most of Sunday was then spent pretty much the same way, but I did also head back to the garden center that we had been to the day before to buy a few decorations and a snowy Christmas tree that I had seen! 

I didn't think that I would ever break my childhood family tradition of not having a real Christmas tree, but I really liked this one and just fancied something a bit different for a change! Then in the evening we had our neighbors around for a few drinks and a catch-up!

 

The weekend after that I then spent a lovely day with the girls on the sat, which involved us meeting for lunch, before we then went bowling complete with cocktails, played on the 2p machines in the amusements, and then returned home to get changed and go out on the town! It was a lovely day and so nice to catch-up and do something different for a change! I can't remember the last time that I went bowling prior to to that, and I'm not sure that we have ever all spent both the day and evening together!

The weekend before last was then another chilled affair on sat, with me meeting up with my mum, nan, and sister in town for a lovely light lunch of a homemade sausage roll and a very yummy white hot chocolate, followed by a spot of shopping! 

Then the Sunday marked the 6th Wedding Anniversary of both my hubby and I, and as it was such a beautiful crisp day we decided to celebrate by heading down to Brighton. Where once there we ended walking over 13 miles around the city, including up to the marina and back. Whilst there we also enjoyed a lovely lunch, before we then sat on the beach and watched the sunset whilst drinking champagne. It was such a beautiful sight and just the perfect day for it. Below you can see just some of the many photos that I took that day!

This weekend just gone was then spent taking two of our nephews to the cinema on sat to see Frozen complete with the Olaf's Christmas short movie, which was quite apt as we had our first heavy frost of the year the night before! We all enjoyed the film, and my hubby and I were probably the only people within the cinema who hadn't seen it before! Then after we took the boys to Mc Donald's to end their treat day, before returning home for a chilled evening.

Yesterday was then another cold and bright day with another heavy frost that was spent with our nephews again, but this time we were at their house along with the hubby's family to celebrate their older brothers birthday. It was lovely to catch-up with everyone, see our little niece, and the hubby's sister with her growing bump! As usual we all ended up eating way too much of the yummy food that they had put on! 

On the Flo front aside from her little Halloween shoot we have discovered in the last seven weeks or so that our little one is not keen on fireworks, which knowing her temperament and what an easily spooked little bun she is was no surprise really. My Mill & Moll were never scared of fireworks despite being outdoor bunnies, and if anything I was more worried about them than they were about the fireworks! 

But the problem that didn't help with Flo was that when the first fireworks came it was a good couple of weeks before Halloween, so we weren't really prepared for it at that point! It turned out that they were to celebrate the anniversary of a school that is just down the road from us, so it also didn't help that they were also quite close either! 

I was on my way home from my parents at the time that they started going off and my hubby was thank fully at home with her, but as soon as I got closer to home and realised that they were going off I knew that she would have freaked! Which according to my hubby she did and ended up pelting it down her ladder, stamping her feet, and showing the whites of her eyes. 

Thankfully she chilled out pretty much instantly as soon as they had stopped, but we made sure that we were better prepared for when the cricket club fireworks went off as they are still pretty close to us too! So we left the light on for her, turned up the rock channel which she is used to listening to and doesn't bother her anyway, and made sure that all of the window were shut. All of which thankfully seemed to do the trick! 

In fact by the time that bonfire night was over she had got so aclimatised to hearing firework coming from peoples gardens that she wouldn't even bother getting up from her chilled lying position on hearing them, let alone pelt it!     

Aside from learning that Flo doesn't like fireworks we also learnt that she doesn't like the singing Halloween pumpkins either! As I bought one for Halloween that sings "The Monster Mash" but it had to be banished to the spare room, as even though she is used to music it petrified her more that the fireworks bless her! She is a funny one and hates the sound of rustling shopping bags too, but the sound her of the food bags or her treat bags is just fine!     

We also had an incident towards the beginning of this month with her too, where she decided to sit and pull out a load of fur from her tummy. I didn't see her do it, but saw her sitting on it and it all underneath her. At first I though that she may have been going through the start of a phantom pregnancy, but she didn't seem in distress at all, if anything she just sat there looking rather impressed with herself. She wasn't too keen on me taking it out however and just sat there looking at me like "mummy you have just ruined my nest," but I had to as she was trying to eat it! 

We don't appear to have had any more incidents since though, and like I say she has been fine in herself. I wonder if she was just over grooming like she does, as we have had quite a few incidents of her pooping out fur again recently! Aside from that I'm not sure what else it could have been, I have checked for parasites and can't find anything, and she is also well stimulated so I don't think that she's bored, so who knows! She's just a funny bun!

Below you can see her looking rather proud along side her fur! Plus a selection of photos of her chilling over the past couple of months and doing the funny things that she does, including one of her watching the BBC drama Gunpowder with us!

 Florrie giving her best "Look what I did Mumma, I pulled out my furries and no you're not having it" face!

The fur that was underneath Florrie, and Florrie deciding that Nutbrown needs to face-plant the food bowl! This seems to be a recurring thing with our little Flo! She will play with a toy until it annoys her and gets in her way, and she then puts it in her food bowl! Usually it's her bell, ball or cardboard tube, but this time it was Nutbrown! 

 

I think that Flow enjoyed watching Kit Harrington in Gunpowder as much as I did! Followed by Flo chilling, and then giving us her best "I demand to know why you and Daddy are still up at this time of night face" after we had had our neighbors around. 

Yesterday then marked a year to the day since our little Flo came into out lives! Like I've said before she wasn't exactly a fully intended purchase, but we wouldn't be without her now! She's a nutty little thing, but then so are we so she fits in well here! Below you can see a little collage that I put together of our first year!

  So that rounds up another couple of months, and another long blog post! Thank you for bearing with me once again if you are still reading, and I'm hoping to go back to blogging a little more often as things are quietening down a bit now!

I also hope that you've all been well over the past few months too, that you had a good weekend, and that you are easing gently into the week! I'm finally hoping to get some new Christmas designs done this week, as it's the first week in the last few months that I haven't had any overtime at my little gift shop job, which I am still really enjoying but that has put me a little behind with my designs lately! x

  

A Very Busy Couple Of Months!

So here we are at the beginning of October already! Autumn is gradually creeping in, the evenings are  getting cooler, days are getting shorter, and the weather quite frankly seems to think that it's April with sunshine one minute and heavy downpours the next. I'm not sure how we got here so quickly or what happened to September, but one thing I do know is that the eight weeks since I last blogged have been very busy, both with my Bobby Bunny & Friends work and socially.

It was lovely to actually have an action packed summer this year though that I have been able to enjoy for the first time in a good twelve years, rather than dread as I did with how busy and stressful my old retail job would be over the summer holidays! I do warn you though that I have a lot to cover so I do apologize as this will be a rather long post!

So I will start where I left off back towards the beginning of August when I finally got to have a coffee and a catch-up with an old work colleague and meet her gorgeous little boy William for the first time, who was already four months old at this point and just gorgeous. He was such a happy little chap and was more than content amusing himself in his buggy whilst we had our first proper catch-up in a good few years!

That week I was also really chuffed to have the 4Ocean bracelet that I had ordered turn up all the way from America in super fast time, less that a week after I first ordered it.

I first came across 4Ocean a few months back through a friend on Instagram and just loved the organisation and what they, so I just had to buy one of their bracelets. Basically for each bracelet sold a 1lb of rubbish gets removed from our oceans, and all of the bracelets are also made fully from recycled materials. The organisation was only set up in Florida at the beginning of this year, but already they have removed 126,025lbs rubbish from eight different locations across the world. Below you can see my limited edition shark conservation bracelet, for which 10% of the profits alo went to shark conservation as well as removing 1lb of rubbish from the ocean. If you would like to know more about this worthwhile movement please go to: https://4ocean.com/

Talking of conservation and such like I also came across an Elephant Hawk moth larvae on the grass outside our home that week. I don't think that they are that rare in this country, but I have only ever come across one once before and that was years ago in my parents back garden. I find them quite fascinating creatures to look and watch though, and then once I had finished I moved him out of harms way to a nearby bush so that he didn't get trodden on.

You can see him below!

The following Saturday I then headed down to Chichester with both mum and sister to visit our Nan, do a spot of shopping in Chichester, and stop off for brunch in our favorite cafe.

Sunday was then the Christening of my uncles, stepdaughters son, which was held at at their local church. It was a lovely service and he was so good! We then headed off to their local village hall after to celebrate, where there was a beautiful spread of food and a bouncy castle laid on for the kids, which they loved. The weather was also gorgeous, which was pretty lucky considering that it had been pretty unsettled and unpredictable in the lead up to the day.

Everyone had an enjoyable time and the little boy in question loved crawling around on the grass, it was also good to catch-up with the family most of which we hadn't seen since Christmas.

Below you can see a few pics from the day.

The following week I then had another bit of lovely post turn up in the form of a personalised "Merci Maman" bunny bracelet, which I had ordered with a voucher that I still had left from Christmas. I had saved the voucher as I wasn't sure what to spend it on at the time, but as soon as I saw this bunny bracelet of course I just had it get it, and below you can see just how lovely it is!

That weekend then involved a night out on the town with the girls! But being that it was the first time that we had been out together in a while I decided to have a little gathering at ours first, for which I made a selection of alcoholic jelly's including; prosecco and peach jelly, vodka jelly and rum jelly! All of which went down pretty well, and below you can see my efforts!

The weekend that followed was that of the August Bank Holiday, which as I have mentioned before is usually a weekend that I dread as it's the busiest weekend within my retail job. But being that I am not there anymore meant that I had the whole of the Bank Holiday break off for the first time in over 12 years! Which it turned out was a pretty good thing as not only was house sitting for my parents, but we had the wedding of my hubby's brother that weekend.

Talking of house sitting for my parents, whilst I was out watering their plants one evening I came across a little toad that had clearly taken up residence in their pond, and who was chilling out quite happily on the rocks. It had been years since I had last seen a toad so I watched him for a bit, but he was so still that he looked like a little ornament as you can see below!



The Sunday then bought my hubby's brother's wedding!

The day itself was held at a beautifully restored National Trust Hall just outside of Wimbledon on a boiling hot day, which again was pretty lucky since the weather had been pretty rubbish for most of the week before!

Both the day and the venue were just stunning, their daughter (our little Niece) made the most gorgeous flower girl and we all had a wonderful time. Below you can see a few pics of their day.

On the night of the wedding we then stayed in a beautiful hotel in Wimbledon along with the bridal party, which you can see below.

The day after the wedding we woke up to another gloriously sunny day and over breakfast we had the most beautiful view of the park that backed onto the hotel as you can see below.

Then as it was such a gorgeous day and because we had never been there before, once we had checked out we decided to go exploring in the park! I'm glad that we did too as apart from the beautiful views and gardens, we also came across a mummy duck and her ducklings who I could have watched all day.

We loved Wimbledon, but was odd to think that we were so close to central London with so much countryside around! I definitely think that we will be returning both to Wimbledon and the hotel at some point though! Below you can see pics from our little adventure, and plenty of the ducks!

 

After our little exploration we returned home later that afternoon, and then after a bit of a chill out I headed up to our neighbors that evening to celebrate his birthday with him and his girlfriend, where we ended up catching-up until the early hours!

So needless to say after an action packed Bank Holiday weekend I was pretty knackered the following week! But the action didn't stop there as come Thursday I was back out again with the girls at a pottery painting and cocktail evening held at our local ceramics shop. 

I had never been before but it was good fun, and great to catch-up with the girls too! I wanted to paint something that I would use so I painted a flowerpot for Florrie's basil plant, which I wrote "Florrie's Basil" on. It didn't turn out too bad considering, and you can see my efforts below. 

The next Saturday bought the first weekend of September and our little Florrie's 1st birthday! I still can't believe that it came around so quickly and that she has been in our lives for ten months now already, but equally it seems like she has been a part of the family forever too. As I mentioned at the time of getting her I didn't think that I would have another bunny again until we had children that would be old enough to have them, or that I could love another bunny again as much as I did with my Mill & Moll! But she stole my heart and now neither I or my hubby would be without her. 

As you can imagine she was thoroughly spoilt and had a birthday breakfast of hay, pellets, basil, dandelion mix, and food stick, all in a little birthday bowl. I also made her a little party hat, which she was more that willing to show off in, and she got presents of a new sea grass tunnel and chewy mat, a play stick tunnel, and some food sticks! All of which she loved and got quite hyper playing with! Especially the sea grass tube, which she has enjoyed hiding in, but that she has already eaten nearly all of a month on, and her playstick tunnel which again she has enjoyed hiding in, stripping the bark from, moving, and has now discovered how to stand on too!

Obviously I couldn't let her 1st birthday pass without a little photoshoot so below you can see her enjoying her day, and quite happily posing in her party hat!

Below you can also see Flo flo enjoying hiding in her playstick tube!

On the same day as our little Flo's birthday there was also the annual food festival taking place in town so we went along to check it out, as again due to my past working commitments I haven't really had the chance to in the past! 

Thankfully the weather was beautiful and warm once again, having been pretty unsettled, chilly and wet in the lead up to it! 

The hubby and I enjoyed moseying around all of the different food stalls and came away with some locally made cider and some chilli and chocolate sausages, which is a combination that I really didn't think would work but after sampling I realized really did! My hubby was also in is element as not only were there food stalls and live music there, but there was also a visit from Optimums Prime and Bumblebee! So being the Transformers fan that my hubby was and still is he was like a little child in a sweet shop!

Below you can see a few pics from the day.  

After having had quite a few busy weekends and knowing that we had more coming up the Sunday after the food festival was a day of chilling in pj's and shutting the world away, especially since the weather was pretty awful. 

The following Thursday the hubby and I then headed up to Islington for the gig of one of my hubby's favorite artists, which was held in the most gorgeous chapel as you can see below! 

It was a lovely night, if not a rather late and tiring one by the time that we had got the train back.

  

Saturday then bought another rather busy day! Firstly a pub lunch with a group of my school friends, for the first of one of their 30th birthday's. Which was lovely, as being that many of us live apart from each other now it's only at such events like this that we all really get to meet up! But being that we are all going to be turning 30th within the next year these meetings could be getting a little more frequent!

Then that evening we then rushed to get to the 10th Wedding Anniversary party of one of my hubby's brothers, which was being held at their house. 

Unfortunately the weather hadn't been the best that day and most of the party was being held outside,  but it had at least stopped raining by the time that we got there, even though it was a little chilly! We all had a good time though, and the children made little speeches and even got their parents to make additional vows such as: "I promise to pick up daddy's dirty socks" etc which was so cute, and very funny! 

Below you can see a few pics from the evening. 

 

The following weekend I then worked the first Saturday in my new job, in order to cover holiday. Which was just some of a rather lot of overtime that I have been needed for recently, and another reason aside from being busy socially as to why I have been a bit behind with my illustrating and social media presence lately!

Saturday evening I then ended up going straight from work up to Brighton to celebrate another of my best friends 30th birthday's, which was a fab night! 

We started off in a lovely bar that was all decorated to look like you were inside a cave, before heading off to a lovely rock bar where we partied the night away until the early hours. 

Sunday was then unsurprisingly spent chilling! 

Then come Monday I realized that I had somehow manage to bruise my wrist quite badly on our night out as you can see below! I have no idea how or why it took me so long to realize! But I have always bruised easily and can be pretty clumsy at times, so I probably bashed it whilst dancing the night away!

Then below you can see it looking rather colorful and like it was forming it's own galaxy come the following week! 

As well as realizing that I had bruised my wrist, that Monday also bought a rather sleepless night for us as our little Florrie wasn't at all well.

She was fine when I got home from work, but I could just tell when I went to feed her that evening that she wasn't quite right. She took her basil but wouldn't even touch her pellets which is very unlike her, especially in the evening. 

I then woke up around 2am to check on her and still no food or drink had been touched, and she was hiding in he log tube looking very uncomfortable flopping out one minute and getting up to get comfortable the next. She also let me pick her up no problem which is also very unlike her! So I had her out briefly to give her a little tummy rub to see if it would help, but by 2:30am she was back in her hutch still looking very uncomfortable and trying to hide away as far back as she could in her sea grass tube. She also seemed to be so much skinnier than she was even that morning, so much so that even my hubby could see that she wasn't right. I was very worried and thought that a trip to the vets was going to be in order, but amazingly by 4am I woke up again to hear her eating, and by the time that we woke again the next morning she was eating, drinking, crashing about in her hutch, and moving her stick house around as usual! It was such a relief and I have never been so happy to be woken up by her antics! 

Come playtime she was then full of beans as if nothing had happened and stuffed her face that day! I don't know what was wrong with her, but it was so worrying. Especially since bunnies can go down hill so quickly and you often don't know why. What made it even more worrying is that the first time that it happened with my first bunny Dusty, it was the last and we lost him. Then with Mill and Moll it would happen maybe twice a year, which we would refer to their off days when they would often be lethargic like Florrie was and off their food for upto twelve hours with no explanation, and then be fine again after. It was almost like they had tummy ache, and obviously with bunnies not being able to be sick or pass wind that can be fatal, hence the tummy rubs! With Flo I think it was probably a combination of the fact that she was a bit blocked up where she hadn't done many droppings that day, plus as I have mentioned before she is a bit of an over-groomer despite me brushing her and often passes pearly dropping full of fur, which is what she did the day after.

Thankfully she has been fine since though! 

Typically the day that she was ill I had booked her in for her nail clipping and six month health check with the vet earlier in the day, which she had on the Friday before last. 

My hubby came with us for the first time, and Florrie tried out her new pet carrier for the first time too rather than her box, which is getting a bit scrappy these days! 

I wasn't sure how she would react to it, but she was actually pretty chilled in it! I think that she liked being able to look out unlike in her box, and whilst we were in the waiting room she was chilled enough that she was munching hay and even started to make a bed in it! 

She was also the best that she has ever been with the nail clipping too, which makes a change as as I have mentioned in the past she is not usually great with it! Hence why we tend to leave her nails for as long as possible before clipping! 

She didn't jump over my shoulder this time either, but did lean her paws up on me to pick her up! But rather than jumping up stayed there and let the vet listen to her heart and breathing for a good while, all of which were good thankfully! It was also her first time of seeing a male vet, and she was nowhere near as stressed as she has been in the past when we got back either. All of which makes me a bit happier about the idea of getting her spayed, as due to her temperament I have been worried about the stress that it would put her under as I have mentioned in the past. I also discussed how they are kept before and after spays with the vet, and pain relief etc, so I am edging a step closer to letting it happen!

Below you can see Flo's new pet carrier as well as a few other pics of her from over the last seven weeks.

Flow chilling and crashed out! Because we all need a good afternoon nap every now and again!

 

I love this pic of Nutbrown Hare hitching a ride on Flo!

Because we all have days where we have crazy hair and feel the need to pull funny faces!

Florrie in destructive mode eating what's left of her sea grass tube! (The last one she had lasted for about four months before she fully demolished it!) This one has lasted less than a month! Then to the right Florrie barricading herself and making a little den, by knocking over her hay cart and using what's left of her sea grass tube! Plus giving her best "no mum you are not picking me up to go out to play" face! Little monkey that she is!

 

After Flo had had her visit to the vets we then headed up to London again that afternoon for the gig of another of my hubby's favorite artists, which this time was being held at the Albert Hall! A venue that I love!

We have been up there once before, which was last year and which you may remember me mentioning, but it's such a gorgeous building that you can't help but be overawed by it each time!

The gig was fab, and we managed to get a really good spot towards the front too! Once again it was a rather tiring journey back though, with us once again getting in the early hours. But as always it was worth it!

The weather had also been lovely that day, so by the time that we got there there was a gorgeous sunset over both Kensington and the Albert Hall, as you can see below along with a few pics of the gig!

The following sat then bought my dad's birthday. For which we headed into town for a lovely pub lunch, before going back to my sisters new flat to continue the celebrations! 

She laid on a lovely little spread for us with homemade brownies (which were delicious,) along with pimms, gold balloons, and a matching gold Happy Birthday banner for decoration. So all in all it was a lovely enjoyable family day.

That evening I then headed off to pick the hubby from his dad's where he had spent the day helping him and his brother lay a new patio in the back garden. Before we headed home to have another a much needed chill out! 

Below you can see the yummy starter and main that I had at the pub, which consisted of rarebit and fish and chips!

 

The Sunday was then a lovely day filled with warm early Autumn sunshine, so we made the most of the day by attending an American car and bike festival in town. Which was complete with American food stalls, as well as an Elvis impersonator!

It was the first time that it had been held in the town, but we both really enjoyed the event and there were so many beautiful cars and bikes to look at! I think that I fell in love with just a few of them, especially the classic ones so there are quite a lot of photos as you can see below! 

The weekend before last was then a relatively chilled one compared to recent ones! With us going out for lunch with Mark's sister last minute on sat, and meeting up with his brother and his nephews for a few drinks after. Before we then then had an early chilled out night watching TV and chilling on the sofa Flo. Plus the weather was pretty awful out! 

Then come Sunday we had another chilled out one, as not only did we need it but the weather was also pretty awful again so it was a pj kinda day!  

Below you can see our waffle breakfast the perfect start to a dull day!

Last Tuesday was then my hubby's birthday, so after he had finished work we celebrated by having our neighbours around for a few drinks. Unfortunately I typically came out with a head cold that day so didn't feel that great, and felt even worse the day after and for the rest of last week, but we still had a nice evening and a good catch-up.

This weekend was then another busy one packed with me making up a frame order and finishing a frame present during the day on sat, before I headed up to Clapaham in the evening for the 30th birthday meal of one of my school friends. It was all a bit of a rush to get up there with trains being cancelled and my hubby not being able to attend last minute, meaning that I ended up having to go up on my own with no idea of where I was meant to be going! But it all worked out in the end, I didn't end up being as late as I though that I would be, and we all had a fab time/catch-up!

Sunday then involved another train journey, this time up to Croydon to visit the hubby's mum for her birthday with the family. As always his mum had laid on a lovely spread of food so we all ended up eating way too much as usual, but it was lovely catching-up with everyone and seeing our Niece and Nephew's playing so well together now that our Nice is getting a little older. She's such a character and at just over one and a half knows her mind, and is turning into quite a little chatterbox!

So there we go, that brings you up to date with what like a said has been a very busy few months! 

On the illustration front, even though my sales are going well I feel like I am pretty behind with everything else regarding it! Having not had the time to produce any new work recently, or go on social media much. Which as I mentioned earlier is due both to me bring busy socially, but mainly due to the amount of overtime that I have being doing in my new job to cover end of year holidays. Which I don't mind as I love it there but I just need to get back on track, which I am hoping to do this week as I am now back to my normal hours for now.

I have however managed to get a few creative bits done in the form of a late wedding present for both Mark's sister, (who I mentioned got married in Las Vegas a few posts back,) his brother (who's wedding I mentioned in this post), and for his other brothers 10th Anniversary present, (which I also mentioned in this post. All of which I will share with you in my next post.

So there we are! Thank you so much for bearing with this very long post if you are still reading it, and thank you for all of your support over the years! September 4th marked my 5th year of blogging, and I'm so appreciative that all of you that still come here and read my ramblings! A lot has changed since I first started this blog, but my goals and focus have always remained the same, and slowly but surely I am getting to where I want to be as an Illustrator.

I hope that you are all well, that you had a good weekend, and that you all having good start to the week!  x