Last Saturday morning, we made the six hour car journey down to Somerset - where we had booked to stay in a cottage for a week. Whilst the car journey was long and tiresome, we finally made it to our destination. Situated in a small village named Wheddon Cross, our cottage was small and comfortable, and there was a massive window in the living room which allowed us to look out across the hills, and gave us a beautiful view of the sunset.

Our time in Somerset was very relaxing, we spent most days wandering around different villages, reading and watching The Big Bang Theory on TV (which I am attempting to learn the theme tune to). On Sunday, we even whipped out Monopoly which we hadn't done for a long time.

One of my favourite things about Somerset is the houses. The cottages that were scattered around the quaint little villages were like something you would expect to see from a story book, painted a sweet pastel shade and often had ivy growing up them.

The villages all had something in common ; each held at least two antique shops. I loved this, as you could peer into the window and would always see something new that would catch your eye. One of my favourite villages that we visited was Watchet - as this had a lovely harbour, and a large selection of antique/vintage stores.

Two other towns that we visited were Lynton and Lynmouth, and we got the cliff railway which helped us get from one to the other. Even though the railway track looks terrifying (it goes uphill and looks more like the track of a rollercoaster) it was absolutely fine, and not in the least bit scary.

My all time favourite thing that we did in Somerset was when we went kayaking. This was such a fun experience, and weather was glorious which made it so much better. We spent about an hour in the water, which was just enough time as my arm was beginning to ache from all the paddling.

All in all, although there wasn't an awful lot to do around there, I feel so much more relaxed and ready to start the new school year.

Here are some photographs from the trip;



The lake that we kayaked on.

The sunset



To get me through the long car journey... a peach ice tea.

A doll museum that we went to in Dunster.

Over the past few months, I have been lucky enough to visit many different places, all across England. A few days ago, I returned from the lovely seaside town of Llandudno. Due to the fact that I had never been here before, I was unsure about what to expect. I pictured a quiet resort by the seaside which was vastly occupied by the older generation. How wrong was I?!?

Although a wide range of the residents there were old people, it was also swarming with families. The beach and pier were buzzing with people of all different ages - especially in the arcade bit. (the two- penny slots are surprisingly addictive).

One of my favourite things about Llandudno was the promenade that led you right along the sea front. This was absolutely beautiful at the night time, when it was all lit up by pretty fairy lights which were strung from the lampposts.

On Tuesday, we walked up the Great Orme. Even though it was absolutely FREEZING at the top (I turned into a whingey baby...but I got a hot chocolate out of it;) ) the views that surrounded us were spectacular, and the sea went all the way round the hills. We walked down a different route than we had walked up, and we were led to 'The Happy Valley' which was a lovely park, that was filled with beautiful flowers and Alice in Wonderland statues.

That evening, we went to see 'The Carpentears' who were a Carpenters tribute act. I had only listened to segments of The Carpenters songs before, so I was not familiar with the lyrics or the tune. Again, my expectations were proved wrong as we all ended up having a fantastic night, and the tribute act were surprisingly great. The Carpenters may just have gained a new fan.

On Wednesday we drove up to Conwy, where we spent the day looking round the quirky shops, walking around the village and soaking up the sun in the park. Me and Luke even went and walked around the town walls, which gave us a great view of the town - seeing as we were very high up.

Thursday was our last day, so we decided to visit Betwsy-Y-Coed before we set off on our drive home. We weren't really in the mood to look round the shops, so instead we visited the waterfall (Swallow Falls). This was probably my favourite place we visited, as it was so picturesque and
tranquil - a lovely environment to be in.

As usual, I will insert a few pictures from my trip below. A majority of these were taken by my brother, Luke.

The lovely village of Conwy.

 

 I loved this building, and how they had attached a bike to the top of it!

 

 

 

    A few pictures of Swallow Falls, Betwsy-Y-Coed.

 
 

 

 

 


Climbing up and down the town wall ruins.

 

 
 


                       

                 Llandudno Pier.



The lit up promenade.

The smallest house in Great Britain.




 

 
 

 

 
 





For as long as I can remember, Art has always been an interest of mine. As a child, I was always drawing and colouring in - at that stage, my thoughts towards art were that the prettier the picture was, the better it must be. I believe that as you get older, it is no longer about the pretty picture on the canvas - it is more about how the picture makes you feel. (That's my opinion anyway)

My absolute favourite 'genre' of art is abstract art. Abstract art is like marmite - you either love it or hate it. Personally, I love it. It has a way of looking so simple and effortless, yet so detailed. The detail comes when you look closely, and let your mind wander. You think about certain things, such as why the artist painted that line or used that particular colour. My favourite abstract art piece is called A Remark You Made and is by the wonderful Elín Jakobsdóttir.

Today I was lucky enough to go to the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester and look at the incredible art work that they display there. One of my favourite pieces was a series of photographs by Luke Fowler called Your days are numbered. Both my brother and I had different interpretations of this series of photographs - but isn't that the point? With art, there is never one true meaning or answer.

Another favourite piece of mine was the 'Multi Story House' by Mary Kelly (pictured below). Using stencils and light, she cut out words from women whose experiences in life had made them become active feminists / realise the importance of feminism. One of my favourite quotes from the women was one that read 'I didn't know I was a girl until I studied architecture and a professor said my work was "cute" '.

The Whitworth were showcasing a beautiful Chinese Art exhibition, which had many different pieces, from many different artists, using many different materials. Whether they created their masterpiece in the form of a painting, photography, a video, a sculpture - or even a large array of pebbles on the floor, each piece was wildly intriguing and different from the next one.

Pictured below are some pictures of the wonderful artwork I saw today - which my brother kindly took for me. His instagram is www.instagram.com/___luke.f

 

(Please ignore the kink in my hair, it's driving me insane)

 (left - the portrait section) (right - Lisa Oppenheim)

 (Geng Jianyi - The Second Situation)










(Left - Zhang Huan - family tree)  (Right - Weng Peijun (Weng Fen) - On the Wall Shenzhen)


<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/14302407/?claim=k3q6dhau43j">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>