Dog Walks: Colliford Lake and Dozmary Pool

Colliford Lake and Dozmary Pool - 31/07/18

Welcome to my latest post detailing my adventures with Evie! 

Colliford Lake boasts some nice beaches

 Colliford Lake has been on my 'to visit' list for a very long time. As the largest (I think) lake in Cornwall, I have always wanted to go there and see just how big it is in person.

Evie found herself a nice large stick

 Although I've driven past it a few times, and even been to one of the car parks there, I've never actually wandered down to see it!

Surprisingly nice sand for a lake!

 My aim was to actually walk all the way around it but, in hindsight, I'm glad I didn't! The lake is huge, and I even discovered an extra part of it as I drove around to Dozmary Pool.

Found some wild horses

They were very relaxed when faced with Evie and I

Evie loved walking around the lake and was surprisingly well-behaved off the lead.

The lake certainly offered some beautiful photo opportunities

Evie loved it!

Look who found another stick...

The horses even came down for a drink

I only walked for about 45 minutes along the lake, and then back again, but since I've looked on maps how far I went, I'm quite surprised!












Maybe one day I will pack a bag for us and spend the day walking the entire edge.

After visiting Colliford Lake, I drove around the lake to a little one called Dozmary Pool.

Just from the path down you could see why
this lake is one of legends

 You might remember from some of my previous posts that I am a huge fan of Arthurian legend, and so Dozmary Pool was another legendary place to tick off my list.

Although smaller than Colliford, Dozmary is just as
breathtaking

 Dozmary Pool is the rumoured home of the Lady of the Lake, and the resting place of Excalibur, where it was returned after Arthur's death.

I'm quite jealous of the houses on the edge of the pool!

 At the pool, we found these two dogs that were collar-less and wandering around without an owner... After asking at the nearby houses, I eventually found out that they belonged to the farm up the road.

They were very friendly and Evie adored them! 

 You can certainly see why Dozmary Pool is a place of legends! There was certainly a mystical feel as I walked around the lake.

Thanks for reading! I hope you are enjoying Evie and my adventures!

| Golitha Falls | Lifton Recreational Field |

Complete Anatomy Colouring Book Part 1

Although it has been a while since I did an adult colouring update, hopefully you can remember that it became one of my new obsessions a couple Christmas' ago! I've since added a couple more colouring books to my collection, although I have struggled to find time to do one.

For a secret santa Christmas present at university this year, I was gifted the Complete Anatomy Colouring Book and I love it - I can enjoy colouring, whilst classing it as revision!

This is the first page of that book, covering the organisation of the autonomic nervous system. As you can see, I used my bright Crayola pencils to colour it in with a colour schematic to help me remember which functions are controlled by which nerves. 

Dog Walks: Lifton Recreation Field

Lifton Recreation Field - 28/07/18

Hi guys! So last Saturday I decided to take Evie to a local dog show in Lifton after work. Although she didn't do too well, she did win 5th in Best Short Coat, Fancy Dress and Waggiest Tail and 6th in Best Movement.

Evie looking proud with her rosettes

Evie's first prize would have been Fastest Bonio Eater but the show forgot the biscuits.. The class was then replaced with Most Like The Owner, which is terrible as Evie and I are complete opposites!

The river in the park was pretty

As the weather held off a little longer, and to reward Evie, we had a run around the park and found this gorgeous river running along the bottom of the field.

It was nice and quiet with just Evie and I

If you read my last post, you would know that Evie loves the water! It was so hard to get her out of here in the end because she kept swimming around and finding more sticks to play with.

The bridge was really picturesque

Thanks for reading, catch you later!

| Golitha Falls |

Dog Walks: Golitha Falls

Golitha Falls - 20/07/2018

Hi guys! So I thought I would do a new series of posts on my blog featuring some of my favourite dog walks. In case you didn't know, there are three dogs in my household: the family dog Merlin, a black labrador, my brother's dog Ringo, a black Jack Russell, and my dog Evie, also a black labrador.

One of the many falls at Golitha

Evie's standard walks are usually in the lanes where I live in Cornwall, or down to the river for a swim, or into some fields for a run. However, when I have free time I like to visit a variety of places. Living in the South West means that there are so many gorgeous walks, and I think it's about time I share them with you! 

Although we haven't had much rain lately, there was certainly
enough water to keep Golitha looking very pretty

As I'm on summer at the moment, I've made a list of places I would love to go and take Evie to. The first one we ticked off our list was Golitha Falls, a very pretty river/woodland walk on the edge of Bodmin Moor, near Liskaerd.

As you can see, the many falls made a beautiful walk

It's a place that I keep meaning to visit, especially as it is only half an hour from where I live, but I never got around to going!

Along with the falls, there were many parts of the
river that Evie could swim in

Like a typical labrador, Evie loves swimming and it's very difficult to get her out of the water.

Evie enjoyed the walk

It was very cool in Golitha

It was a lovely little walk where you follow the river and admire the falls, then come back through the woods at the end. I was gone for most of the afternoon as I spent a lot of time sat on the rocks and just enjoying the day while Evie swam. Although parts of the walk were fairly flat and accessible, parts did involve climbing over rocks so it's not for the less adventurous of us!

Evie's new favourite place

I hope you enjoyed this post! Do you have any recommendations for walks down in the South West? If so, comment them below!

Book Review: A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

A Court Of Wings and Ruin – Sarah J. Maas

*Warning – may contain spoilers*

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

First published: 2017

Edition: Paperback

Pages: 699

Blurb:    Feyre will bring vengeance.

She has left the Night Court – and her High Lord – and is playing a deadly game of deceit. In the Spring Court, Tamlin is making deals with the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees and Feyre is determined to uncover his plans. But to do so she must weave a web of lies, and one slop may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well.

As mighty armies grapple for power, Feyre must decide who to trust among the dazzling and lethal High Lords – and hunt for allies in unexpected places.

But while war rages, it is her heart that will face the greatest battle.

History of my copy: I picked up ACOWAR whilst shopping in Waterstones as I had enjoyed the first two books, A Court of Thorns and Roses and A Court of Mist and Fury.

I was quite impressed by how quickly I read this book; 2 months isn’t bad during university term time!

Plot: The third instalment in the Court of Thorns and Roses series follows Feyre as she plays a treacherous game of spying in the Spring Court whilst she pretends to return to her initial captor turn love interest, Tamlin. As Hybern finally brings the wall down with the cauldron, a battle ensues (which is actually quite cool to be honest.) However, my main gripe with the plot is that it was too cliché and the ending too happy. It felt like something bad should have happened just to get some form of emotion out of the story.

Setting: I will, however, praise the setting of A Court of Wings and Ruin. As I’ve mentioned in previous reviews of this series, Maas is a master at setting the scene, and describes every location so vividly that you truly believe that you are there. I cannot wait to explore more of this world in future books!

Characters: The character development in A Court of Wings and Ruin was probably the most frustrating part of this book. Over the first two books in the series, the characters have really interested me and, as you can see from my past two reviews, my opinions of certain ones have changed. However, ACOWAR felt like a step back. Feyre’s great twist of becoming immortal has now just turned her really two-dimensional, and her whole relationship with Rhys has become nothing but sex and ‘vulgar hand-gestures’. Even Lucien, who I adore, started to get a bit boring once he left the Spring Court, although he did pick up again towards the end of the book. And, the more bored I got of Rhys, Feyre and the rest of the Night Court, the angrier I got about the injustice Maas has given Tamlin – she has completely twisted his character to make the reader favour Rhys. Sure, Rhys is the better partner for Feyre, but Tamlin is once again becoming my favourite character.

                The only enjoyable character development belonged to Nesta, who has become a brilliant character. But even she has her flaw – why are all the characters getting paired up? Yawn.

To read or not to read: Read, but only to continue the series. I was fairly disappointed with the third instalment of this series, and I really hope that the next book is much more interesting.

| A Court of Thorns and Roses | A Court of Mist and Fury |

Illumicrate Number 7 Unboxing (May 2017)

Following on from my February 2017 Illumicrate unboxing, here is my unboxing of the 7th box, from May 2017.

Check Illumicrate out here.

This box was jam-packed with goodies, as you can see! See the packing list below:

Truth Or Dare by Non Pratt was the included book this month. It was signed, with little additions, by the author and came with a letter too. I haven't gotten around to reading it yet, but I am excited to!

The Feyre mug included is really cute! It currently sits on my shelves by the A Court of Thorns and Roses series.












I am a huge fan of candles and, as you can imagine, I was so happy when I found this gorgeous Mermaid Lagoon candle included! It smells amazing!

This Harry Potter inspired keyring in an exclusive colour was a great addition. I love the colour blue, and it's all sparkly and looks so good when the sun catches it. 











In case you didn't know, I am a humongous fan of Beauty and the Beast. The original animated Disney film is one of my all time favourites! Because of that, this print and door hanger are 2 of my favourite Illumicrate additions as they are so pretty!








I loved this little page-corner bookmark that was included.

Now onto the little extras included in the box.

A large poster promoting Windfall was included.












This cute Gender Games badge was also there.

I adore these little cards promoting Taste of Blue Light and I'm sure they will be featured on bookstagram at some point. My favourite is definitely the one in the bottom right.















The final item in this month's Illumicrate was a letter, bookmark and ARC of The Waking Land by Callie Bates, which I can't wait to read!










And that's it for the May 2017 unboxing of the Illumicrate box! Hopefully I will catch up with these soon so that I can post up-to-date ones.


I'm now on summer holidays after my second year of uni. And guess what? I've made it into third year! Hopefully I will catch up on all my delayed blog posts over the summer and set up a plan to keep posting regularly next year.

Illumicrate Number 6 Unboxing (February 2017)

Following on from my November 2016 unboxing, here is my unboxing for the 6th Illumicrate box from February 2017.

Check Illumicrate out here.

I do love the initial feeling when the unique Illumicrate box arrives through the post!

 Here is the full contents of the box. This box had a less items compared with the last box, but there was an ARC instead!

As always, I hid the packing list as I unboxed so that I didn't ruin the surprise for myself, but I did have a quick read afterwards to confirm everything was there (I'm a little paranoid!)

The main book this month was Wintersong by S. Jae Jones. Although the review isn't up yet, I absolutely adored this book! Probably not something I would've bought for myself, which makes the Illumicrate box even better as it encourages me to read books I wouldn't necessarily go for. The book came with a letter from the author, a bookmark and a signed bookplate.

My favourite item from the box has to be this gorgeous Bare Necessities pouch! Although I'm not a fan of The Jungle Book, the pouch is gorgeous and I use it as a pencil case for uni (hence the little mark on it).

This magic and mischief lip balm tastes amazing and is a lovely little extra to the box.

These magnets from A Darker Shade of Magic are cool, although I haven't read the book or have anywhere to put them. Maybe when I get my own place they will go on my fridge!

I love Newt Scamander so much, and so this bookmark quickly became one of my favourites! The drawing is gorgeous and the quote always makes me laugh.

Now onto the additional extras included in the box!

This little bookmark is from Following Ophelia, which I haven't read, but is on my to read list!

An exclusive sample of Flame in the Mist was included, and I can't wait to give it a read!

I love the postcard from Gilded Cage and I imagine it will make a feature on my bookstagram, but never be used as a postcard.

The best extra included in Illumicrate this month was the exclusive ARC of Red Sister. I really can't wait to read it!










And that's it for the February 2017 unboxing of the Illumicrate box! Hopefully I will catch up with these soon so that I can post up-to-date ones.