May Is here! I feel like we are well into spring now with the lovely weather we have had so far, (hope I don't jinx it) May is a very exciting month for us and we have loads in the diary, it is super busy for the blog.. Read on to find out what we have planned
April
April seems like it has been and gone in a flash, we did quite a few things in April including going to see Bedknobs and Broomsticks at the Sunderland Empire, which was fantastic! We also had an invite to The Alnwick Garden to see the Blossom Orchard in full bloom and it was super beautiful, I highly recommend going to see it if you can but you only have a week or so left to see it. We headed to Alton Towers to get some use out of our Merlin Passes, I wanted to have used the merlin passes more by now but we had to cancel our London trip earlier this year so I am really hoping I can squeeze that in before they run out. I'm not sure if we will get them again because we haven't used them that much and other than Sealife Scarborough everything else is miles away. Watch this space on this decision. We had a few beach visits in throughout April. We live right on the beach so it's one of our daily walks with the dogs but sometimes it's nice to come out without the dogs and just wander. First bit of sea glass hunting I have done this year so far. We visited WWT Washington for their fabulous Lego event for Half Term and the boys really enjoyed the Lego Challenges. We also tried some new places for food in April. We had Sunday lunch at The Albion in Ryhope, we had brunch at the gorgeous Love Lily and the pancakes were epic, and we also had lunch in The Rosedene for Easter Sunday, which was a lovely treat. We Also managed to pop along to the Vintage Car Show at Ryhope Pumping Station, the first one in over 2 years!
Me I have been doing Social media free days on a weekend and it has been so nice, however I think now that the weather is getting nicer and we are getting more work in through the blog, I feel like I might have to do just one day social media free, so I can keep up with posting. I could always schedule my posts I suppose.
The boys have been busy with clubs, Adam has completed his Bronze Duke Of Edinburgh Award and went away for a few nights with Police Cadets on his expedition and he loved it 12 hours of walking! He was so tired when he got back he went to bed at 8pm and stayed there until 9am! Adam has also been prepping for his exams as his GCSEs are coming up in May and June. Toby and Elliot have been enjoying long days of Basketball practise and Elliot has been loving scouts, he is so looking forward to going away for the jubilee weekend with them. Toby will be starting College in September on the Home Ed GCSE course. He's not looking forward to it as he is a bit of a hermit and prefers not to be around people (His chosen career is working with animals!) Who can blame him? Now that he is 14 he has also been enjoying getting involved with Durham Wildlife Trusts volunteering. Plus it means Craig, Elliot and I get to wander around Rainton Meadows on a Sunday
The Garden is coming along lovely, or should I say Yarden. It has gone from a plain boring large yard to a lovely pollinator haven. We have decided this year to dedicate our outdoor space to pollinators in the hope that we can do our bit to help. We do have a few pumpkins, some radish, spinach and a herb garden. Oh and Toby has a Rhubarb plant that he is looking after. Quite a few of the plants that we started out as seed have grown so well and we have so many beautiful flowers already.
My Food Journey has gone to pot during April, I had one beef Burger, A glass of Pepsi and I ate cheese which are the three main things I have spent this year so far avoiding. Safe to say I was ill after consuming it all. For those who don't follow my check ins, I stopped eating red meat months ago, mainly because you don't need it in your diet, it makes me feel like crap and bloated, and I adore cows. I haven't drank Pepsi in at least a year except the glass I had last month because I was unhealthily addicted to the rubbish and again made me bloated. So I am back to square one of cutting crap from my diet. I am determined to get to a place where I am happy with what I am eating. Will see how this goes at my next check in! I have however not drank cows milk in almost 4 months! (I only use Oat milk)
What have we been watching?
Craig and I started Timeless on Netflix, I am quite into my space/time travel shows at the minute. Timeless is a 2 season (booo) show, basically three people are chasing the bad guys who stole a second time machine to try and change history. It's actually pretty good but we really need to find something that will last longer than 2 seasons, so I am open to suggestions. ( Preferably suitable for kids because Toby and Adam usually jump on the bandwagon and hog whatever Craig and I are watching) We still haven't finished Lost In Space but the last season was so bad we just cant finish it.
We have been loving the new season of Resident Alien, it has now been upped from it's original 8 episode season to 16 episodes, which sadly means they are having a mid season break! Roll on July.
What's Happening in May
May is an exciting month for us
We are launching our mega Staycation guide. We so far have 2 short stays booked (potentially more still waiting for confirmation) . One in Scotland and one in Northumberland. We are kicking of a mega staycation guide, staying in a family friendly accommodation, showcasing not only that, but things to do in that area and places to eat. So many people are heading away from the UK this summer when in fact we have some amazing places right on our doorstep. We aim to showcase as many fab places as we can because we feel like the tourism sector still hasn't recovered from the Covid fallout. We of course have nothing against foreign holidays and hope everyone has a fabulous summer either way.
It is Adam's 16th Birthday this month, that is so weird to say. How he is 16 already I do not know. We have a meal booked in with family, he has a meal booked in just us at his favourite Asian restaurant and he is having a day out (He hasn't decided where yet) He is also going out for a bit of fun with some of his friends too.
We have loads of days out planned for May, I want to try and get some of the attractions that have been on my radar for a while and we are going to see Billionaire Boy at Sunderland Empire. I am hoping to get out to a few more places for Sunday Lunch as I have a mega Sunday Lunch Post in the works. I am hoping to visit Chester Zoo as it has been years since our last visit. It is of course Bank Holiday at the start of May, we don't have a second bank holiday in may this year due to the Queen's Jubilee at the start of June. We tend to just relax but I think we may head down to Preston Park for the Viking Weekend and take a picnic.
May's Night Sky
Full moon will be 16th Names for the Moon this month is Mothers Moon
Meteor Shower Eta Aquariids will be visible from the night of the 6th with 30 meteors falling each hour until the morning of the 7th.
Jupiter will be visible rising in the east around 3am.
Constellation of the month is Lyra. aka The Harp.
Tv & Movies in May
Stranger Things Season 4a. We can not wait for this to start, it's been so long.
The only family friendly movies I have spotted are: (Boring year for movies so far)
Around The World in 80s Days (animated)
Marmaduke (animated)
Family Camp
Dates for the diary
1st Beltane (Pagan Celebration) May Day
2nd May Bank Holiday
3rd Eid Al Fitr (End of Ramadan)
5th Local Election Day
14th Eurovision
26th Ascension Day
Social Media Calendar
3rd Asthma Awareness Day
6th Space Day
8th Gardening Day & Red Cross Day
16th Veggie week & Love a tree day
17th Baking Day
20th Bee Day & Endangered Species Day
23rd Turtle Day
24th Chelsea Flower Show
28th World Hunger Day (I think we should be tackling this issue every day)
29th Biscuit Day
30th Start of BBQ Week