*Ad-gifted

For those of you that don’t know, Trixie is mine and Andy’s Jack Russell X Patterdale dog who has recently turned six. She is very much our baby and we love going on adventures with her. A couple of months ago, we decided to set Trixie up with her own Instagram page to share what she has been up to which can be found HERE . Its been doing so well that she in catching me up in terms of followers and so I was very pleased when we were asked if Trixie would like to try some dog treats from Top Collar.

So who are Top Collar?

They are bakers of fresh dog treats which are sent through the post in terms of a twice a month subscription box. On their website, you enter in details about your dog so that they can customise the treats for your dogs needs and you can even add a photo of your dog which arrives on the box itself. The company states that it uses natural ingredients and is also gluten free so they can be a lot healthier than other treats that are available in pet stores.

All of the treats Trixie has received have been in cute heart shapes and the flavours sound yummy even to me. So far, she has received fish cakes, Easter roast, pork burgers and peanut butter and coconut. We know she finds them yummy because as soon as we give her one of the treats, she eats it straight away and is then looking for a second one.

The best thing about Top Collar for us is that they are hassle free. We no longer run out of treats for Trixie and she has more of a variety of flavours than she used to. The boxes cost £5.99 a pack and come out of our account automatically unless we pause or stop it. They are also sent in letterbox friendly packs which mean that even if we are out, we’ll still receive the treats. At Easter, she also received a cute Easter biscuit as an added extra.

*The first packet from Top Collar was very kindly gifted to Trixie to try but I’ve since been a full paying customer. All opinions about the products are my own and whilst they are natural treats, they are to be given in moderation and always with water nearby.

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog!

Recently, well quite while ago I was kindly tagged by a couple of bloggers to do the A to Z tag and I’ve finally got round to doing it, so here’s my A to Z.

I hope you enjoy it and find some things out about my interests, hobbies, general life or shall we say me!

A – Aviation. This plays a huge part in my life, going to my first air show when I was just six weeks old. As I’ve got older, its become more of a hobby for me and I try to plan the summer months around the airshow season. I’m lucky that my other half Andy also likes aviation too.

B – Books. I love reading and try to read a little everyday. My favourites range from romance to saga, although I’ve also been loving the Sarah Knight books too.

C – Cleaning. I wouldn’t say I’m OCD about it but I absolutely love cleaning and find it so therapeutic. If I’m annoyed or upset, I’ll take it out on the cleaning and of course, I’m obsessed with Mrs Hinch.

D – Dungarees. I absolutely love them, jean versions, skirt/dress versions and shorts! you can wear certain type and brands pretty much for all occasions, i even have a pair of trouser style ones that to me look posh, i feel i could wear them to a wedding, although it would be unlikely, you never know.

E – Embroidery. I have a huge obsession with embroidered clothing. Big cosy sweatshirts or slouchy jeans with embroidered detail look so simple yet pretty.

F – Food. I love my food and I’m always thinking about what meals each day to have with Andy, although i do try and get him to suggest. His typical reply is grass, bread and butter!

G – Grumpy. I am the first too admit that I am so not a morning person and be so grumpy if I haven’t had my cup of tea and I’m sure Andy would agree with me.

H – Hearing. Over the last few years I’ve noticed my hearing has got worse and a lot of the time, I don’t realise people are talking to me. I finally plucked up the courage with Andy’s nagging to speak to somebody about it, and, after a long process, I now wear hearing aids. It doesn’t bother me in the slightest because I’m no longer missing out on what people are saying.

I – Italy. I really want to go to Italy so bad, its top of my current travel bucket list. I just want to go there, eat all of the food and see all of the sights. Although in typical Andy fashion he said he’d take me to an Italian restaurant with a back projection of Rome on the walls!

J – Jellyfish. I love how pretty they look and could spend hours in an aquarium just watching them float around.

K – Kindness. I’m a big believer of being kind. It doesn’t cost anything and yet random acts of kindness can make someones day. If everybody was kind, the world would certainly be a much better place.

L – Liquid Lunch by Caro Emerald is one of my all time favourite songs.

M – Malta. I absolutely love the island of Malta. It has always been my favourite holiday destination and I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve been back there. It was also the destination of my very first holiday abroad which was many years ago now.

N – Northern Lights. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been obsessed with the Northern Lights. I love how pretty they are and can’t wait to book a trip to go see them. I did think about going to Finland to see them but I need to save a lot of money because the place I want to stay is expensive.

O – Organisation. I love being organised and have lists everywhere of things that I need to do and want to achieve. If I didn’t have those lists, I just don’t know how I would cope and I’d probably be in a right panic.

P – Pets. I love animals and currently i have a dog. I’ve mentioned her before my six year old Jack Russell cross Patadale named Trixie. She brightens up my day and is always there for a cuddle.

Q – Quiz. I love quizes whether its watching them on the tv or going on a quiz night, I love them. I might not be very good at them and might not get many answers right but I still find them a great way to pass the time and always learn something new too.

R – Ribblehead viaduct. If you don’t already know, Andy is a train driver (you can read all about him here). Over the last year he has been introducing me too all things train related and recently took me to see the famous Ribblehead viaduct which was such a pretty place.

S – Shopping. I’m definitely a shopaholic. I love shopping and will admit I do it every single week, despite not actually needing anything. My weaknesses are definitely shoes and anything from Primark.

T – Tattoo. I currently have one tattoo which I got a year ago. Its a heart with a Spitfire attached. Not only is the Spitfire my favourite plane, it was a fighter in its day and it always reminds me to fight for what you want, but more importantly if it wasn’t for Spitfire’s and other types around that time, we wouldn’t likely have the freedom we have today! its disheartening when you hear young girls walking past a airfield when we wait for a take off and hear them say “whats all the fuss about, its only a plane” for me, keeping my mouth shut wants to say that plane is probably why your here today and show some respect!

U – Unpacking. If I’m staying in a hotel, I have to unpack everything so that it feels like home. I definitely can’t just live out of a suitcase.

V – Vintage. I love vintage looking things as well as attending vintage inspired events. My favourite era has always been the 1940s and I love the glamour of the hair and make up of that era.

W – Wales. I’d love to explore some more of Wales. It’s part of my history because it’s where my dad’s family are from.

X – Xray. Whilst I’ve had quite a few xrays in my lifetime, I have thankfully never broken a bone.

Y – YouTube. I’ve always loved watching YouTube videos and always have them on in the background. There’s so many channels that I love but my current favourites are It’s Em, Laura Byrne, Miss Budget Beauty, Fleur De Force, Lydia Elise Millen, Nikki Ryan and The Elle Next Door.

Z – Zoo. I love nothing more than visiting a zoo for a day out and usually end up going to a zoo for my birthday. They are perfect for any age and I love that you never know what to expect. I’ve had many a good laugh when at a zoo and an animal is behaving badly!

Hello everyone, just a quick little post to say that once again Andy played a joke on me and I fell for it hook, line and sinker. If you haven’t read about the last one, you can read about it here

So I will set the scene – I’m upstairs sorting a couple of things out when I suddenly hear Andy start cussing and sounded pissed off. So I shout down to him to ask what the matter is and get no response other than hearing more cussing. I try shouting down again and he says to me “you won’t believe whats happened, I just hope my phone insurance is still valid”. So evidently something had happened to his phone and to add context, Andy had received a letter through a couple of days beforehand to say that the phone insurance had been cancelled as requested. 

Once he has reached the top of the stairs, he shows me his phone screen which is completely cracked. I didn’t know what to say apart from ohh no, followed by me asking him what had happened. Andy replied that he had dropped it and it had landed face down on the corner of the table and that despite it having a screen protector on, had smashed the screen. He then went downstairs still cussing all the way and I have to admit that as soon as he was out of sight, I was trying my best not to laugh. I know really it isn’t a laughing matter but that is just how my sense of humour works. Without realising it, he had started to come back upstairs and must have noticed I was secretly laughing, however, instead of getting mad at me for laughing, he couldn’t look me in the eye. That was the moment I realised something wasn’t quite right and so I asked him to bring the phone closer for me to see. He held it about arms length away from me but yet wouldn’t let me touch the screen. I then looked him in the eye and he started laughing, stating how he had conned me again. The cracked screen was in fact an app he had downloaded called Broken Screen Prank and yet again I fell for it.

I hope you enjoyed reading about Andy’s latest prank. I’m so far behind on getting my own back but I have a few ideas, I’m just waiting for the right timing. If you have any suggestions on pranks I could play, please let me know in the comments below.

I wasn’t going to write one of these posts but I’ve read so many great ideas that I thought I could refer back to them over the coming months to keep me on track to achieving my goals.

2018 taught me a lot about not only myself, but those around me, I opened my eyes to those who were really there for me and cared about my well being. And then there were those that were just there for me for what they could gain.

A lot of the hopes and goals I’ve thought about have had this in mind.

My goals for 2019:

• Stop saying yes to everything – politely say no if I don’t want to do something
• Stop spending so much money and save a bit more than I have done previously
• Learn to cook more of a varity
• Try and read more books when I have a quiet five minutes
• If the weather improves, I’d like to take Trixie for more walks
• I’d like to learn to drive and would like to set myself the goal of passing my test by the end of the year if I can
• Play a few pranks on Andy to get my own back on what prank he played on me – You can read all about it HERE
• Sort my clothes out to see if there is anything I’d like to donate to charity

Hopes for 2019:

• Myself and Andy to continue to travel around the UK and find new places to explore
• Hopefully by the end of the year, I’ll be even more enthusiastic about aviation
• As Andy is a train driver and instructor, I’ve been learning lots about trains and railways, that I knew nothing previously about. I hope that no one reading this thinks its strange, but I’m actually quite liking trains almost as much as aviation.
• Good health and lots of happiness for myself, Andy, family, friends and Trixie
• To continue writing blog posts from this site and hopefully you will read lots of interesting things over the coming months and also seeing pictures that will progressively be added to the site. I’m also thinking of asking Andy if he’s prepared to take photos accordingly, as I’m contemplating doing outfits of the day style posts. As I now also enjoy wearing jumpsuits and dungarees and more colourful clothing that I have previously worn and hopefully my readers will give me positive feedback. I’m also the author to the following site A Wartime Life , and joint author to Kelly & Andys Travel Journals

So hopefully 2019 will be full of travelling, airshows, shopping and walks in the countryside. What I do know is the plans that i decide to make will hopefully bring health and happiness to those close to me, which will make me very happy.