Country living: 'Burley Lakes farm'

Waking up to the constant summer rain of England the day was already predicted to go badly. That was until my father invited me along with him and my step-mum to a farm shop that they had discoverer not long ago. I must admit I am far more of a city girl; not one for the dirt and bugs associated with the outskirts of farmland surrounding my beloved Gloucester. Never the less I put on my flats and leggings and began the short journey to the farm.The beautiful farm in question? 'Burley Lakes'just outside of Cheltenham. 

The swishing of the trees, long dirt track and of course the not so sweet smell of manure wafting into your nostrils. It could only be the quainte countryside of Gloucestershire. Though, in my 16 years of life here I have grown to love the smell as it is a constant reminder of our county roots of agriculture. On arrival to the farm you are welcomed by the beautiful lake inside the land. It was a fisherman's paradise with the hilly landscape hugging the land surrounding them. 

We soon discovered a variety of animals including some deer. Though confused at them being white my farther informed me that female deer are white and not the brown and cream as portrayed in Disney's 'Bambi' (Blonde moment). Of course they also had the classic animals: cows,sheep,horses and pigs /piglets!

New born piglets

The little farmshop on sight was the sweetest of all; looking as if it has come straight from a child's storybook. Selling fresh meat and free range eggs, home grown asparagus and local artwork. The service was a perfect with a certain 'service with a smile' vibe to it. They left you feeling nothing was too much trouble for them. The duo of the butcher and, from what I think was the farmers wife were impeccable, even if they did try and get me to try cows tongue (eww!) which lets face it was never going to happen. In the end deciding on some fresh apple and pork sausages, free range chicken, free range eggs, brisket and some pork belly.

I could not rate this place highly enough and would greatly encourage anyone in the area to drop by with the shop open: 

Thursday from 10.30am - 5.30pm
Friday from 10.30am - 5.30pm
Saturday from 10am till 4.30pm

-50 days of summer remaining

Perfect Prom?

In a weeks time it will be the moment that every secondary school girl dreams about, well all except me of course. Prom. The time when sickeningly sweet dresses and glitter overpowers the ability to think with a, not so secret desire to look the best, most expensive and the most fake. Of course "It takes a lot of money to look this cheap" when else would it ever be socially acceptable to pay over £500 on a dress that you will only ever where once? (well except on your wedding day of course! Duh!) 

I will be honest, although I could moan for hours about being forced through this ordeal of heels and big hair, I will of course love it. It will be one of the last times that I will get to see the friends that I have known for the last 5 years of my life  and some I have been to school with since I was a small child. One of the only times in life that I will ever be seen in heels or a dress. Not only dose this mark the end of a school year, but the end of an era. It will be filled with reminiscing with friends, tears and 'Dad dancing' by the slightly drunk teachers.

 Bring on Gangnam style. Bring on the Glitter. Bring on prom 2013!

My outfit: 

-52 days of summer remaining

Team Bingley

After deciding that my mind was to no longer be slowly destroyed by day time television, turning to the beloved past time of reading seemed the only way to gain back the many IQ points lost over the last week. The book of choice was the classic 'Pride and Prejudice' by Jane Austen. 

Granted, this could be seen as an odd choice for the advantage 16 year old. The choice came about through a previous project started by myself  of where I watched all the films that I was told that I must watch purely because "You just have to see them". These would include 'The lion king', 'Fight Club' and the classic 'Bridget Jones diary', which I must admit has become somewhat of a new favorite of mine. Jane Austen's books have always been that are seen as 'must reads' and so couldn't see any better book to help me regain my mind. 

The book itself is by no means perfect but I can honestly say it is one of the best I have had the joys of reading ; the book makes you change the way that you see the world and about the people themselves. 

"Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us." 

Darcy is seen in a far more favorable light in the book; his proposal to Eliza is not as random or half hearted then it is in the film but he is also shown as, In the words of a Miss Bridet Jones "An emotional fuckwitt", when he refuses to even look at Eliza through fear of giving her the wrong idea. Though one can't stay angry at Darcy for long as, although fictional, he is perfectly charming.

Some things I have gained from this read?

1. I'm most defiantly more of a Mr Bingley type of girl then a Mr Darcy.

2. I now no longer want to be a 21st Century girl; I pick a ball over a house party any day!

3. Even back then boys liked playing girls feelings (aka Mr Bingham)

-53 Days left of summer

An introduction

"You have both your youth and drive for life. Don't be stupid, use it well."

It seems that i'm at a cross roads in my life. Life before now was full of exams, stress and an "anythings possible" kind of attitude. Now? my monotonous days consist of waking up watching whatever drivel is on ITV at seven in the morning, constantly refreshing my twitter feed and counting down the hours until I can get back into bed and start the next day. Life is pointless with no meaning to it. Hence this has come about. If anything, the aim is to keep me sane this long summer.

This time next week I am to go and visit a potential school for September and for the most part I am both excited and wanting to cry with fear. It will be a huge change in many ways for me. Not only am I going from GCSE to A-level but also from a mixed comprehensive school to a boys grammar school (with mixed sixth form). My choice of school for September is one that still continues to play on my mind. Not only have I chosen one of the hardest school in the area to get into but also one that none of my close friends are going to. Why I do it to myself I will never know but I believe that sometimes in life you have to take the plunge into the water and  go for it, lets just hope that I swim not drown. I will forever ask myself why I cant go to the school with my friends like a normal person. Though this would of course be to easy and would not be enough of a challenge for me.
I was never much of an academic that is until about a year or two ago when I came to discoverer that I wanted to do more with my life then to go to collage and get a nine to five job in an office. This continues to be a shock for many because when people ask a 16 year old what they would like to do with their life they expect a cliche reply of hairdresser or nursery nurse. Although don't get me wrong, these are both respectable careers to go into and in fact have some great prospects, but just not for me. When people hear of me wanting to archive a doctorate in my life there is always a split second of both shock and the want to change the conversation as it seems people don't like speaking about  anything more then the 'norm' and anything above degree in alien to them. I should not get ahead of myself though, I'll get through my A levels first and then speak of degrees.
Before I left my history teacher spoke to the class, giving out the classic inspirational lines to us all and wishing us luck for our future. One thing that did stick with me though was that he said to us "This will be the longest summer or your life, the longest time that you will ever be off from work/school until retirement. You have both your youth and drive for life. Don't be stupid, use it well." I plan on living by this.

-53 days of summer remaining.