I *heart* Blackpool.

I have never been to Blackpool before, so when my friends said they were going there for the weekend, Ed and I decided to go adventuring for a couple of days. I'd heard mixed reviews of Blackpool, some people said it was a dive and very tired around the edges, whilst others said that there was a lot of fun to be had there. 

Blackpool certainly lived up to the latter of those views! I love seaside towns that are a little shabby around the edges, you can't help but get enveloped in the English seaside nostalgia. There was so much to see and do here, one night there was nowhere near long enough to explore this place.  

I had always wanted to visit The Comedy Carpet in Blackpool, but I had completely forgotten about it. So as it loomed ahead of me, when I was walking along the front, I was incredibly happy. This is an amazing piece of art and I would recommend going to see this for yourself because it is so beautiful. The Comedy Carpet refers to work from over 1,000 different comedians and it squeezes over 160,000 granite letters in 2,200m2 of embedded concrete. If you are a lover of typography I don't think you will want to leave! I only managed to tear myself away when I started to get really chilly from the sea breeze.

I can't wait to visit Blackpool again.

Hope you have had a wonderful weekend <3

Much Love

xKirstx

Audio Book Review - Some Kind of Fairy Tale by Graham Joyce.

My first 5 star review! When my Audible credits came through this month I didn't have a clue what books I would buy. So I had a little wonder through Audible and stumbled upon this book. One part of the publishers summary really jumped out at me, it said "It is as if Neil Gaiman and Joanne Harris had written a fairy tale together." Now if you have been reading this blog for a while you will probably be aware that I LOVE Neil Gaiman. I also adore fairy tales and folklore, so I knew that I should give this book a chance and I am so happy that I did. 

This book is by the English author Graham Joyce and it is set only a little way from where I live, which made it even more atmospheric for me. I was totally blown away by how gritty and intelligent this book is. The premiss is that a young girl of 16 goes missing in the local woods without a trace and 20 years later she returns on Christmas day having not really aged at all. The story blooms like the buds of the bluebells in the book, it is heady and enticing whilst also threatening danger just to warn you not to get too carried away. The characters are all beautifully thought out and their relationships are scripted with the love and fragility that will leave you not wanting to let go of them.  This is a book for people who love fairy tales and yearn for that certain something, dare I say it... magical. It will also leave you wondering what the truth really is and it may make you think twice about wondering in that cherished bluebell wood near you.  

Plant Sale Adventure in the SUN

I woke up this morning... and it was sunny! If you are not from the UK you may not be aware of how much rain we have been having the past few month. So when I saw that delightful fiery ball in the sky I knew I had to go and see what adventures there were to be had. Ed and I meandered down the street from where we live and there was a plant sale. I don't have many vices in my life but books and plants (especially herbs) make me weak at the knees. 

 I love having a good fondle of the leaves. 

 I thought the pink and yellowy cream of these flowers were just beautiful, kind of pudding colours. 

I love this bloom so much, unfortunately I was so excited about the prettiness of it I forgot to see what it was called. The colours reminded me of poisonous mushrooms.

I couldn't believe how big these bulbs were! I think they were for some sort of lilly, probably that grew right up to the sky.

Lavender *sigh* one of my most favourite plants in the whole world. But I am a bit of a purist and my affection is plainly pointed towards English lavender, I just think it is prettier and smells nicer... but maybe I'm just biased.  

All the colours, all the beautiful knowledgable little labels peeking from behind the plants like a joyous paper headstone.

Daisies always remind me of my lovely mum, they are her all time favourite flower.  

I have to be a little restrained at plant sales or I would just buy everything. I was very good today and only bought one plant, its possibly one of the cutest herbs ever, it's a thyme called Rasta. The leaves are so tiny and it has miniature, lavender-pink flowers that open from crimson-red buds in summer.

 The colour of these make me think of tequila sunrises *yum*.

We ended up walking past the green grocers and I couldn't help but buy some local raspberries that Ed and I shared in the park in the sunshine. It was a very relaxed morning. Now I have to get ready for my hen do tonight *eek*.