I've Been Thinking... - Snapshots of Winter.

Hi!!!

Hello everyone. As February draws to a close, and everyone begins looking forward to Spring, I wanted to share some photos I've taken this Winter. Winter is my favourite seasons, for so many reasons, and this winter has been a wonderful one. So, without further ado, I present Snapshots of Winter, a mini photo essay of works taken from November last year, to the present day.

The first photo was taken in December on my way home on a particularly drizzly day. The second was also from a journey home, but one earlier this month - views of canals are as staple of life in Birmingham. The third is from January, when I woke up to flurries of snow, which sadly soon melted, but that kept my half asleep self entertained for a good half an hour or so.  The fourth was taken at about quater to nine one morning in January. The fifth and sixth were taken in November, on the day we went to Chatsworth to see the Christmas decorations - the sixth is the view from the passenger seat as the car heaters and an ice scraper worked their magic on the windscreen. The seventh was taken on Thursday, while I was staying at my Auntie's house. I was watching the TV and then looked out of the window, saw the view and abandoned my TV show for my camera. Storm Doris might have caused a bit of trouble but it enhanced the view ten fold. I chose the blue sky for the final photograph because I think it is rather symbolic of where we are seasonally, and was taken last week.

 I hope you enjoyed these snapshots of winter. I've taken approximately seven billion photos since Winter began (OK, maybe not quite seven billion... but close), but I chose these ones because I think they go nicely together as a little collection.

What are your favourite things about Winter? Do you have any other comments or suggestions for future posts? Let me know in the comments.

Thanks for reading.

I hope you have an incredible day!

GingerSnaps xxx

I've Been Thinking... - I Love Spring!

Hi!!!

Good afternoon, everyone. I hope you've all been having a lovely week so far and that you're making the most of your weekend. Today's post features some musings on Spring, because what would the seasons be without me rambling to you about the things that make them special?

I love seeing the blossom on the trees, the flowers on the Magnolia trees, the vivid purple crocus buds appearing in the grass, the blue skies and sunshine and fluffy clouds. And the daffodils. I love daffodils - they are such sunny and happy flowers. Everything seems fresh and new and I love that about Spring.

We went to Hay-on-Wye the other day and our drive was rather scenic - lots of pretty country lanes and the like. The flowers, the lambs in the fields, the fact that I could eat an ice-cream outside without being freezing cold - it was just wonderful.

So make the most of Spring. Drive on the more 'scenic routes', even if it's just to the garden centre or the shops, and look at all the beautiful things. Go for a walk in your local park in the April sunshine and soak in all the loveliness. Spend time out in the garden, prepare it for the arrival of all the flowers and leaves. Eat the Easter chocolate that is still kicking around the house (if you have any left that is!). Enjoy it.

I hope you enjoyed hearing my thoughts about Spring, and also that you've been making the most of it all. 

What is your favourite thing about Spring? What are your plans for the next few weeks? Do you have any comments or suggestions for future posts? Let me know in the comments! 

Thanks for reading.

Have the most beautiful sunshine filled day!

GingerSnaps xxx

Spookly Dookly - Happy Halloween 2015!

Hi!!!

Somehow, we've already ended up at October 31st, and we all know what that means! Yes, that's right, it's Halloween! I for one am very excited as I do really enjoy Halloween and all the fun that goes along with it.
 

I for one love Halloween. I think that getting dressed up in costumes, carving pumpkins, seeing fireworks, watching Halloween-y films (I'm more your Addams Family kind of gal, than your horror and terror), catching up with friends and family and a whole host of other things, well, its just brilliant.

Whatever you are doing (if you celebrate Halloween) and whether or not you are more Team Spooky (with me) or Team Scary, I'd like to wish you a very Happy Halloween! and I hope you stay safe and have fun.

I hope that you liked this post and that you've got lots of lovely plans for a great Halloween.

Are you doing anything for Halloween? What are you going to dress up as? What is your favourite part of Halloween? Do you have any comments or suggestions for future posts? Be sure to let me know in the comments!

See you all soon! 

Have a scarily good day!

GingerSnaps xxx

I've Been Thinking... - Hey There, Autumn!

Hi!!!

Well, its well and truly autumn now and I couldn't be happier. I love autumn and so I thought I'd share some seasonal musings with you guys. I hope you like this post.

While sat on the bus by myself the other day, I was looking out of the window at all of the lovely things outside. I saw just how many leaves have turned to show shades of red, yellow, orange and purple and how many berries there are on shrubs everywhere. Everything looked so beautiful and I felt very lucky to be able to experience a time like autumn.

 

On top of this, I recently went blackberry and apple picking with my younger cousins and I had a great time. I still find it so fun and almost novel to carefully select apples and pluck them from their branches and to pick so many blackberries that the juice ends up all over my hands. Seeing everyone having such a lovely time - from the littlest being lifted up to reach the nicest looking apples to the grown ups sneaking a few berries from the tubs when they thought no one was looking - was wonderful.

 

Autumn is a brilliant season and I am so pleased its finally here - I'm sure it'll be loads of fun!

 

That's it for today then, you guys. Thank you for reading.

What are you most looking forward to about Autumn? What is your favourite season? Do you have any ideas or suggestions for future posts? Let me know in the comments below.

See you guys very soon.

 

I hope you have a fantastic day!

 

GingerSnaps xxx

Holidays Are Comin', Holidays Are Comin'... - The Excitment for Christmas!!!

Hi!!!


Hello everybody! How are we all doing? Now, hopefully, you're in a festive mood today because I want to talk about *Noddy Holder voice* CHRISTMAAS!!!!

You might, if you've been here for a long time, remember (THIS) post from last year which showed my excitement for Christmas for the first time that year. If you want double festivity head on over and read that (or many of my archived posts from last December).

Anyone who knows me well will know how much I love Christmas (I'll give you a hint - I love it more than Buddy from Elf loves sugary foods and Santa...). The dawn of Christmas adverts on the old tellybox and the Sky Movies Christmas Channel (other Christmas movie channels are available) have sparked this within me, and my festive feelings are increasing by the second as more and more festive things happen/start.

And, to really kick my Christmas off, I am heading to London to see White Christmas with my wonderful Mom today and hopefully there will be red lippy, festive Costas and shopping involved... the excitement is real.

I am looking forward to gift giving, decorating the whole house (we'll have a new house to dress up this year), going to Panto, being Nigella and cooking my first full blown Christmas dinner, Christmas films and music and lots more!

The excitement, for me, has well and truly arrived and I couldn't be more happy! I am so excited!

I hope that you are looking forward to lots of festive posts over the next few weeks and that you are as excited as me.

Are you feeling the excitement yet? What are you most looking forward to? What's put you in a Christmassy mood? Do you have any comments or suggestions for future posts? Let me know in the comments.

I will see you all soon for some (hopefully) exciting and fun posts.

I hope you have a fabulously fun day.

GingerSnaps xxx

All You Need Is Love... - Valentines Day 2014

Hi!!!


Today is Valentines Day. Its a funny one, is Valentines Day. You either love it or loathe it. I feel like most people just need perspective on Valentines Day, because no matter what your situation, you can enjoy it.

As I mentioned in (THIS) post, Valentines Day is not just about couples. Valentines Day is a day for showing the people/things/animals you care about love and providing a little bit o happiness for them.

Another thing which I think bugs people is that it can be "too cheesy". I do agree that some people go so overboard it can make you feel nauseous, but whether it is a big showy display of affection or a candle on the dinner table, it can be incredibly sweet.

For me, personally, it is about doing something extra special to *remind* people you love them. It shouldn't be a day where you *prove it* to someone.

I like Valentines Day because I am happy in the knowledge that I love a lot of things in this world, and I can reflect on them as I chose. Its also a pretty sweet day to be a rom com, which we all know I love (side note, Happy Valentines Day Mr Richard Curtis, creator of the films which I love the most! and also being a bloomin good egg all round.)

To all you beautiful people reading this, Happy Valentines Day. I hope you have/have had a wonderful day and that you have enjoyed yourself. I love you all very, very much and you do not understand how much every page view, comment and follow means to me - whether I know you personally or not.

Friends, family, blog readers and everything else in between, I love you and thanks for your support. xxx

I hope you have enjoyed this blog post, and that it has brought some happiness into your day. I love you all.

Have you had a good day? What do you think of Valentines Day? Do you have anything else you would like to say? Let me know in the comments.

Have a LOVE-ly day,

GingerSnaps xxx

Holidays Are Comin, Holidays Are Comin... - The Excitment for Christmas!!!

Hi!!!

To be perfectly honest, I wasn't actually going to post anything about Christmas until December, for your sanity, but anyone who knows me will tell you that would have been utterly impossible for me. I then considered late November, but I just cannot help it.

 

I stepped out of my house last Friday afternoon, after getting some work done and I just felt Christmas. Unless you are someone who gets this, I understand, you think I'm blooming mental. But those who do will understand. I closed the door behind me, and the cold air nipped my ankles and I just... filled up with this... Christmas Cheer.

 

Then, we went to the shops down the way from me and went into Wilkinson's, and they began playing All I Want for Christmas is You and I began dancing and dramatically singing along and doing massive gestures... Good job I'm not easily embarrassed.

 

And ttthhheeeennnn, Radio One asked the listeners if they wanted to hear the same song... And then played it. (Cheers for that, Scott Mills).

I had my first mince pie of the year on Sunday and it was so good, I love mince pies. I also bought all my Christmas cards and my wrapping paper, ribbons and tags, all of which are things I usually end up doing last minute and so I'm doing well on my checklist this year.

 

 Christmas has begun officially. I went to a bonfire on Saturday and I see fireworks as a send off for Autumn and a celebration of the start of winter and thus Christmas, so for me Christmas has started.

 

If you think it's still too early, I'm sorry, but you can just avoid my Christmas posts until you are ready to embrace Christmas... But I suggest you do so soon.

 

I hope you have enjoyed this post and are as festive as me and we can all be festive in the comments! And, if you have any ideas for Christmassy posts you want to see, let me know in the comments, and I'll do my best. Also, if you have any suggestions of really nice Christmas candles, let me know, I'm currently on the hunt...

 

Have a magical day!

 

GingerSnaps xxx

The Night of The Sparkler - Bonfire Night

Hi!!!

Today is Bonfire Night, as you may not know depending on where you are from. If you aren't sure what it is, you can find out more (HERE).

Bonfire Night is one of my favourite times of year, as I adore fireworks. We go to an arranged display, which was on Saturday last week and it was brilliant, the fireworks were exceptional and I had a lovely time.

We didn't always go to an arranged display; my parents used to buy fireworks from the supermarket and light them in the back garden on the 5th of November. I remember many a year of spinning sparklers round and writing my name, watching beautiful fireworks and going inside for a drink and rushing back out again. I also remember a mild burn on my Dad's thumb from, not the firework, but the lighter - daft old so and so...
That was also the year my Dad first read poetry with me.

So, I hope you have a lovely time, whether you are having fireworks at your house or going to an organised display or just watching them out of your window (*ahem* Loz)

Stay safe, have fun, and enjoy your evening!

 

GingerSnaps xxx

Spookly Dookly - HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Hi!!!

As I am sure you all know today is Halloween.

To me, Halloween doesn't mean scary, horrible things but rather fun, friends and fancy dress. If you're interested to know what I'm dressed as today click HERE. I don't do scary stuff - I'm a wimp, I didn't watch Scooby Doo till I was around 10... - but I do enjoy dressing up and mucking about looking cool/weird, depending on how my costume pans out. I think that at Halloween people should dress up as unicorns and pixies but you know, what does my opinion count for?

If you are someone who does get involved in Halloween, I hope you have a lovely time, that your costume goes to plan, that you get adorable trick-or-treaters and that you stay safe. Also, I hope that those tricky little pumpkins are nice to you.

 

If you are someone who really struggles with pumpkin carving, try painting your pumpkins, or using other craft materials like THIS, or THIS. Alternatively, you could just use oranges and do something like THIS. All original links are on the pages linked here.

If you are not someone who tends to get involved, have a nice day anyway.

I hope your day is spook-tacular!

GingerSnaps xxx

I've Been Thinking... - Autumn Love...

Hi!!!

With any luck, you'll have picked up on the fact that it's now Autumn and that means that it's time for this blog to show off how much I love this season. I, being the odd creature I am, have separated this post into lists... that's just how I roll... Did I really just say that? (this list is more September to October, because I don't tend to count the whole November as Autumn, once Bonfire Night is over, it's Christmas and Christmas is in Winter, OK?)

 

Natural Things I Love About Autumn: 

 

• I know this one is a bit obvious, but I love the way the leaves change colour from bright greens to rich plums, vibrant oranges, deep reds and mellow yellows.
• Another thing I love is the way that there are berries (especially blackberries) everywhere, waiting to be picked. The best are just when your walking round your neighbourhood and you see loads of blackberries and you just pick them and eat them and life is all "tumblr-fied" and "pintrest"-y and good.
• I love the drop in temperatures. Stepping out the door in the mornings, being wrapped in a cool breeze, then running back into the house to try and find a jacket.
• The afore mentioned breezes.
• Apple trees with loads of fruit and colour. Also, spontaneous apple picking is always fun. (Gosh, I sound like such a stereotypical blogger these days...).
• Big, long walks in pretty forests/parks/and so on. Those walks just seem endless, and they don't have to be planned. I'm actually going for sometime this weekend.

Seasonal Food & Drinks That I Love:

 

• As I mentioned before, I do love blackberries and apples (and although not mentioned above, I do also love pears). Yummy...
• Warm Crumble Cake with Berries on a Sunday after a massive roast dinner with my family -  pudding is always homemade by me, I love baking.
• Pie. Pie is a good thing, OK? I do love a good steak pie, or a chicken pie (but not chicken and mushroom, mushrooms = death).
• Bacon on hot crumpets in the morning (as long as someone else is making it and I can lie in!)

 

Activities I Love Doing In The Autumn:

 

• As I've said before, big long walks are always great.
• This is the last time I will mention fruit today, I swear, but picking seasonal fruit is always fun.
• Watching tellybox in my jammies with a huge brew (translated into: watching the television in my pyjamas with an oversized mug of tea).
• Trying to catch falling leaves - for those of you who don't do this, you have to try and catch a random falling leaf and if you catch it, you make a wish. Then, that wish will come true.
• Baking cakes and other sweet treats..
• Reading a good book.
• Singing my favourite Autumn related hymn from Primary school, Autumn Days, around the house, or while I get ready in the mornings. If it sounds familiar and you want to listen to it, then feel free to click HERE. You'll have to add the singing yourself though, sorry...

 

Makeup Styles I Love Wearing In The Autumn:

 

• When the Autumn rolls round, I like matching my makeup to the colours of the season. Because of my skintone, hair colour and eyes, browns, gold, plums and forest greens (not for everyone, but I like them) on the eyes, tend to suit me.
• I like wearing deep nail polishes. Deep, dark nail polishes look better on me than bright and nude or at least I think so, but in the summer some people see them as too much/draining/etc. But once this season draws in, I know that I can dig out my beautiful dramatic varnishes.
• Using cream blushers when it gets colder gives a really healthy glow to the skin, look more soft and pretty in comparison to the change in drama when it comes to eyes and lips.
• I'm a dark lipstick kind of girl and so I love wearing plums especially on the lips (I won't wear red now until everything gets festive) but I also like a rosy tint (step forward Vasline Rosy Lips).

 

Fashion and Clothes I Enjoy In The Autumn:

 

• Jumpers. Lots of jumpers. Jumpers for me are absolutely brilliant; they keep me warm, make me feel really comfortable and snuggly and also, I think they look really cute. I know some people like the more structured version but I just adore loose, oversized, soft, baggy jumpers. I do like the structured ones too, my favourite being a handmade cream fisherman's jumper: the family member who it was made for gave it to me recently. My friends and I are all obsessed with jumpers... We are very strange...
• Chucks. My Chucks. Known to many as Converse, however to me, they are my Chuck Taylors, cos I'm cool like that. My lovely red high-top Chucks are ideal on classic Autumn Days. I love those shoes so much!
•  I do love my Bull & Boxer boots (or Boxer & Bull Boots, I'm never quite sure which way round it is). They are ankle boots and so I wouldn't class them as boots as such. I love them eternally and you will see them very soon I promise.
• Wearing "full-on" boots, as I call them when it starts to get really chilly.
• My Jack Wills gilet; comfy, cosy, goes with everything and brilliant over all sorts of other clothes.
• I love wearing hats - beanies and berets in particular - and scarves. They are so lovely to wear and pull an outfit together I find.

 

Other Stuff I Couldn't Quite Categorize...

 

• Strictly Come Dancing. I love Strictly so much and Oh My Glitterballs, this years line up is looking sooo good.
• Officially starting my Christmas countdown - right now, it's only 88 days away!!!
• Going to Costa for hot drinks in takeaway cups.
• Wearing super fluffy slippers.
• The anticipation for Halloween (which I usually spend over at my best friend Elf Girl's (find her HERE) house, dressed up like something or other - more on that soon) and for Bonfire Night (I love fireworks so much, I think they are the one most beautiful things ever).

That's all for today then. I'd ramble on more, but I wouldn't want to bore you but if you would like to see more on my love of autumn, please do let me know. What are your favourite things about Autumn? Are any of them the same as mine? Do you think I sounded very blogger-y in this post? I think I probably did...

 

Have an excellent day today!

 

GingerSnaps xxx