Liverpool, UK: New Yard, New Me! Maybe...

Hello!

Here I am. Eight months after my last blog post which involved taking a small dog out for a looooong walk.

In July, 2017, the thing that is currently clearing my head is gardening (if planting flowers in tubs counts as gardening, that is... As it involves tiny, roasting hot gloves and a trowel, I'm going to say that yes, it does).

My tiny mum came up to visit me recently, and it was her idea to give our backyard a bit of a makeover. She is obsessed with gardens and demolition projects, and as our garden back in Wales is relatively under control, the sorting of mine was a project that both of us could get stuck into...

We didn't take any photos because we stupidly ploughed through it in the roasting hot sun, ripping out weeds, shoveling up sand and sweeping furiously for over an hour (we needed to work fast to avoid dying right there on the concrete floor. Seriously).

So here are a selection of photos of the finished results (which I literally cannot stop adding to. I think I have a flower-buying problem. And I keep sitting out here on my own, which is probably a weird thing for our neighbours on their trampoline to see every other second...)

Anyway, HERE IT IS. My new garden.

With a few little reminders on how to keep the whole thing alive...

'Helen. Water your plants.'

Me and my boyfriend had an argument in a garden centre car park over that blue one. It wouldn't fit in the car and he kept bending all of the flower faces to get them in...

'GET OFF MY FLOWER FACES', they shouted. But he kept on pushing...

I also had to put some slug pellets down, but I'm hoping they just read my message and move along. I don't want them to eat my flowers but I also don't want them to die...

Aren't they?

GOOD DAY TO YOU!

Every day is a good day when you eat out here (that is unless next door's cat has also popped in. More on that later...)

*** 1 day later ***

Life Lesson #1

It sounds so obvious (I mean, we'd be dead if we forgot to do this for ages) but it's amazing what a long walk and some time to focus on the super basic things in life can do for the brain...

My sister always says that running makes her feel like she can deal with anything. My walk led me to a quiet place where I could do some chalking... 

This final photo has nothing to do with walking or breathing... 

I bought the plant from the Bluecoat garden yesterday when I was feeling a bit grumpy, and I wanted to share it with you because I think it's cute. 

(I can't face growing anything in the bulldozed yard yet... *see dinosaur post*)

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New Tools!

 

Thanks to Hannah and Andrew for this amazing chalk pencil!

 

 

 

Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3...

 

 

It works! Hoorah!

 

 

(Someone got jealous)

 

 

 

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Tell your friends that you love them...

This blog post goes out to Charlie Mallard, the lady who inspired me to start this blog.

I hope you appreciate my puns...

I'm stickin' with you...

(It's not a stick, but my chalks are too chunky to write on twigs)

Hope it's not too log (sorry) before you feel better again x

 ...and that you begin to see things...

...in a better light...

xxx

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Sefton Park, Liverpool: Best Seat in the House!

So, summer has finally arrived!

And the park near my home is looking completely amazing...

x 100,000 (plus a million)

Best seat in the house!

I could sit in this park all day.

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(Sitting On) The Manchester Ship Canal (with some chalk)

It was sunny in Salford. I couldn't believe my eyes.

I made the most of it by using my lunch break to wander around the Manchester Ship Canal, aided with a piece of chalk...

There's something calming about water...

And when you've spent the last 20 minutes weeping with laughter after watching Kermit the frog singing 'Once in a Lifetime', you know it's time to go outside to calm yourself down...

Come on, though...

It is funny, innit...

***

'Group Therapy' and a little bit of chalk...

Today, I visited a new exhibition in Fact, Liverpool, which looks into the relationship between technology, society and mental health...

It was brilliant. 

There was a desk covered in chalk, in an unlit room, inviting people to write out or draw, whatever is on their mind.

I haven't chalked in so long!

And I haven't been to such a cool exhibition in a while either...

If you're in the area, you should check it out.

For info that will explain it way better than I ever could (I've already typed out 3 different versions of what I think happened), head here: 

'Group Therapy: Mental Distress in a Digital Age'

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Baltic Triangle, Liverpool: Hunting for bread...

It was a Monday. We had the day off again.

My original plan of taking a trip to the recycling plant to get rid of 300,000 boxes was a winner. But it was also a plan that only took about 15 minutes to complete...

So, we stayed in the car and went on a mini adventure. This one would have us spending an hour or more searching for a bakehouse (that was shut), and another inside a run-down skate park, dreaming big...

I took this photo of a dog 'open to business' after Adam told me off for asking someone how to find the bakehouse.

This dog didn't know how to get there either - I just liked how he sat beneath the sign on the window...

YOU, weird cat things, where is the freshly baked bread?

Spiky umbrella with no protection from the wind, SHOW US WHERE THE PASTRIES LIE...

oOOh.

What's this?

One day,  I'm going to open a skate park with a cafe.

The one above is a bit run-down, but I like that it was made by local skaters, and funded by them too.

I also like that it distracts me from the fact that the bread I have been hankering for, is behind a locked door.

BOO to closing on Mondays...

My cafe will always be open on Mondays.

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