Landlocked Mermaid

 Final Friday Top Five! Areas to Visit in the UK It's that time of the month again, where I lament the passing of time and seem surprised it has occurred. You know, how is already the end of September? Yet will 2020 ever end? Who knows! That's the answer to both of those. So it is time for a distraction in the form on a top five list. This month I am fantasising about all my favourite places to visit around the UK. What with lockdown and the weather starting to turn, it's unlikely I will see them before the year is out. But a girl can dream! 5. Abersoch/Porth Ysgaden Abersoch and the Porth Ysgaden area one of the regularly visited spots for the Shrewsbury Sub Aqua Club. Meaning, this is where we go diving. I have explored more of the sea's depths than I have of the land! Still, it is a beautiful area - above and below the sea. With dramatic hills forming the coastline and plenty of diving spots, Porth Ysgaden has something for everyone. On drive throughs of Abersoch, it...

So, you know how one day can create a massive shift in your routine and you spend three weeks+ trying to get it all back to how it was? Yeah. That. That is what I have been dealing with since the end of August. Between the funeral, family being around a lot, taking the foster dog in to go to her new home and getting two in place of her, and all the usual reasons (lazy, procrastinating, etc) I have been wrestling with my weekly routine. So far, I am not winning! Today's post was supposed to be about me wrestling with jam making, not my own disorganisation! Still, it hasn't all been me flapping about in circles these last few weeks. Sure, that has been a large portion of it, but do you expect any less? I've been applying for jobs, jobs, and more jobs, playing all the board games, and just generally adoring our new foster dogs. They are cuddle monsters and they like me best! I have even been attempting to use my new sewing machine. Although, that has largely been a lot of swea...

 Marine Creature of the Month Famous Fish: Spongebob Squarepants For our last Famous Fish we are going out in style. You voted for everyone's favourite yellow sponge, the man himself: Spongebob Squarepants. Come with me to Bikini Bottom as we learn all about him! Kingdom: Animalia Class: Calcarea, Hexactinellida, Demospongiae, Homoscleromorpha, Stromatoporoidea Conservation Status: Not assessed WHAT IS SPONGEBOB? He is a sea sponge. Not surprising really, his name is Sponge bob after all. What is surprising is that natural sea sponges look less like the things you use to clean the dishes and more like something you'd find on an alien planet! They come in all shapes and sizes. While they look more like plants they are definitely classed as animals. In fact, they were the first species to branch off from the common ancestor to all animals. They may lack true tissues and organs, but they function enough like an animal to be classified as one. Such as, they produce sperm cells a...

The school term started this week. Even though I have no children myself, it was still a bit of a shock to the system. Thanks to COVID, "real life" has been on pause for so long that now some sense of normality is returning it is all a little boggling to the brain. With autumn on its way and the end of the year drawing closer, I cannot help but reflect on the goals I set for myself this year.  How naive to assume that the world wasn't going to crumble before us. My goals for 2020 looked a little like this: Remove more plastic from my weekly shop; Replace my plastic razor with a more environmental alternative; Try more new recipes; Go on lots of adventures; Try new things; Be happy and healthy.   Obviously, I cannot blame my lack of achievement entirely on COVID. Some of these goals were made with the assumption a new job would be following sooner rather than later. Alas, nearly a year after my last day at Costa and I am still without employment. Not for lack of trying, t...