Day Out at Beamish!

Hi Everyone!

Well I have just come back from a lovely day at Beamish and thought that I would write a post asap so I can document this fab day! For any of you who don't know what beamish is, it is an outdoor museum in the North East of England and shows the history of Britain, its called a living museum because visiting it is like visiting an actual place, if that makes sense! I hadn't been to Beamish in about 10 years as the last time I went was in year 2 on a school trip so thought I was due a visit! I love learning about history and going to museums and watching documentaries so I was pretty excited.

As we arrived and paid it turns out that our tickets are valid for a year and we can come as many times as we want which is pretty good as we are already planning to go the Dig For Victory Event next week which is exciting! Entering the museum took me back about 10 years, it was exactly as I remembered. The trams and everything was so fascinating and I couldn't wait to see what was new and what was the same. We headed down to the Pit Village and Colliery as this was the first thing on the map where we wanted to visit. It was so fascinating and interesting to learn about how the pit village ran and what all the different roles were. It was literally like walking into a proper village with animals and veg and all the different buildings. The mine/colliery section was massive and like borderline breath taking.

After visiting the pit village we headed to the 1940's farm which was so adorable and picturesque. There were so many animals and vegetable patches. Also going into the farm houses it showed us how small and basic they were back in World War 2. 

 Next stop on the visit was the Railway and Town. I was like a kid in a sweet shop going to the railway section. I am a bit of a secret train nerd and I find it all so interesting. Especially learning about trains in the past. As we headed towards the train platform the queue was massive to get on the train so we decided to go on the train another time. It was a proper old fashioned steam train. We stood on the bridge and watched it go by and it had a Railway Children vibe about it all. 

 After the train passed by we headed on over to the town and it was exactly how I remembered. The dentist and the sweet shop and the bank, it was kind of spooky how much I remembered of it. We visited the dentist and the singing teachers house which was really cool but also a tad busy then we hopped on over to look at the stables and the carriages used for transport. Afterwards we joined the queue for the sweet shop and as we were just chatting I spotted Becca from college coming out and it was so lovely to have a quick catch up and see each other again! Going into the shop caused me to hyperventilate as they do these sweets called blacks and rasps which are chewy sweet versions of blackberries and raspberries, I had waited 10 years to get them again and was overjoyed to see they still did them! We also got a bag of cinder toffee which is a staple from Beamish. Its basically a honeycomb slab of goodness. We then visited all the different shops and then hopped on a tram to the manor style house.

The tram ride was rather not relaxing as it was so busy but we got off at the entrance stop then walked to the Pockerley Old Hall which was so beautiful and looked like it could be a house someone would be living in today! The garden and Vegetable patch was just so beautiful and the whole setting was very picturesque. 

Overall the day was so lovely and we had beautiful weather! Maybe it wasn't the best weather to wear a thick knit jumper but I ploughed through and I can't wait to go back to the Dig for Victory section next week! Would recommend to anyone no matter your age to take a visit to Beamish!

Charlotte x

Dear Rosie

Dear Rosie,

Nearly a month has passed since you left me and I feel like now is the time to write this letter to you, words cannot describe how lonely I am without you and how much I miss you. You were by my side for 7 years and I would say you were my silky dramatic sidekick.

When I first saw you in the section of pets that had been abandoned or were up for separate adoption I instantly fell in love with you, your massive ears were just so perfect and your beautiful face made my heart melt. Bringing you home was one of my favourite memories of all time, we put your box on the table while we set up your hutch and I can remember so distinctively your ears just poking out the box. You were so tiny, I couldn't get over how small you were even though you were already a year old! It felt like we were instantly best friends and you seemed to have accepted me as your owner straight away. I have so many amazing memories of you that will never leave me: summer days of me lying on a blanket while you were sunbathing in your run, your silky black coat shining in the sunlight. Giving you a present every Christmas because you were a member of the family and deserved so many treats. When you were a bit older we bought you a lead and I was obsessed with walking you around the house!

Any time with you was the highlight of any day. When you were in your tent and just fell asleep which was the cutest thing ever! Even though you wee'd on me and pooped all over the place, including my bed, and you bit me badly only the once you were still my little pickle. When we first found the lump on you 2 years ago the bottom of my world fell out, the thought of you in pain and not in my life broke my heart. After your surgery and stay in the rabbit caravan I thought you would hate me after the struggle of giving you antibiotics but nevertheless you still showed your love and affection. I thought you would be fine and that would be it but then the second lump came which we got removed again and then the third lump came. We were told that this was the end of the road and we should make you comfortable. I couldn't bare the thought of you in my life and spoilt you even more. I stopped caring if you wee'd on me and my bed and I didn't care that I was allergic to you and not taking an anti histamine would mean sneezing all day. Watching you get slower and slower and quieter worried me so much but you kept powering through until the 18th July 2017, Kathy was picking me up from work and told me how unwell you were and that the third lump had started bleeding badly. The drive up to the vets was the worst 30 minutes of my life. When we were told you were in a lot of pain and it was kinder to put you to sleep, words cannot describe the pain and heartbreak of watching you go to sleep but I was going to be with you in the end, I would never leave you ever. For the past few weeks I have constantly missed you and when I first walked past your empty hutch it really sank in that I would never see you again.

But I am a firm believer in reincarnation and believe that once you passed away you started your life again as a new born bunny who is going to go on to make someone else as happy as I was. I consider myself one of the luckiest people to have known you and my life won't be the same without you. You impacted my life so much and I want to thank you for all the love and snuggles you gave me over the years. I hope your new life is just as lovely as this one was!

I love you so much Rosie.

Charlotte xx

Rosie Fairbairn - October 2010 - 18th July 2017

Happiness

Hi Everyone!

This is what I'd like to call a spur of the moment blog post and something that wasn't planned but I felt the need to write! I know its quite hypocritical for a miserable bitch like me to be writing about happiness but even miserable bitches like me have happy/positive days and recently these happy days have become more frequent.

For the past 2 years I had been very unhappy, generally low and always had the negative thrown at me from others. Constantly being put down and having your patience tested can be very challenging on a person, especially when it was everyday. There were days were I wouldn't smile and have many depression sessions with my closest friends. In the past 2 years any amazing and positive experiences I had were very few and far between, I was either with a friend or on holiday and these were the moments that kept me going. I would try to grasp at these amazing moments but there were times when even the happiest days of my life couldn't make my day slightly better. There would be days where I would rant for England or cry until I gave myself a headache. I was also really stressed and this amounted to me being snappy with my closest friends which I feel very guilty about now because it obviously wasn't their fault and I should have taken it out on the people causing the stress and misery.  I also had a constant headache and sleep deprivation as my head wouldn't stop whirring from the days 'events' which made me even sadder because I was running on no energy and trying to not spontaneously combust with tiredness and a painful head. It didn't ever truly pick up and I was constantly counting down the days.

But those 2 years are over and now I can say that I am a completely different person. I have so much to look forward and have had some of the most memorable days recently. I have some amazing friends who I will always treasure that are either keeping me company day drinking in Spoons, giving me much needed advice or just general providing cuddles and side splitting hilarious days. Friends are so important to me and I count many of my friends to be like my family, a crazy, psychologically imbalanced, alcoholic, kind, caring, slightly gay and talented family. They know who they are and have always been there for me (love you guys)! Since starting my job at Diggerland I have made some extremely close friends who have shown me such kindness and the best of humanity. I don't think I've ever met a more accepting bunch of huns that provide excellent banter and accept my weirdness without any real judgement. These are the guys who watched me drink my weird alcoholic mix of vodka, cherry sourz, blue curaçao and a dash of diet coke out of a glass Pyrex Jug then kind of collapse as a blonde mess on the floor at a house party! (Sorry family if you're reading this!) 

But yes I needed to get that off my chest and sorry its been a while since blogging but hopefully once the Summer Season at work finishes I will have more time to blog.

Charlotte x