Vision In Blue

It has been two and a half years since I moved to Bristol. It wasn't all smooth sailing, I lost some sanity somewhere near the beginning, but it's vaguely come back now. At first it was just a place I was living in, now it truly is a place I'm living in. (Same word I know, tricky, just think about it again... it took me a while and I wrote the damn thing!) Anywhere new is always a daunting challenge, there's so much that is different. After a while though, you realise that those differences are both good, and bad. It's never quite like the home you knew, but that isn't actually a bad thing. Bristol in my opinion is London-Lite. It's a bustling place with lots going on but without the hassle of London. Yes you still get the people in a rush, and the slow walking tourists, but everything is just a little bit more laid back than Londoners are used to. Part of me thinks that it's because you can't go anywhere in Bristol without hearing music, ...

Score one for being super organised. for months I've had a ticket stuck on my fridge door... and after all that time I nearly forgot about it. It's all very well being really organised but it does help if you remember when you're actually going! So Saturday saw me taking a trip to Colston Hall in Bristol to see Sarah Millican's show Outsider. It's a lovely venue and I'll definitely be booking tickets to see something else there. There's nothing quite like being serenaded by a three piece band when you walk in the door. The crowd was what you'd expect... I'm not being judgemental, after all I'm about to tar myself with this brush too... barely anyone under the age of 30, groups of women or couples and small clusters of gay men. My kind of people. We're not rowdy, we don't do raucous behaviour... we generally only do laughing until we're worried we might pee a little. Although there was an anecdote about one of her crowds getting...

Last night I went to the theatre with nine people I'd never met before. Possibly one of the most random things I've done in a while. Long story short I was pimped out by a friend for social events. But as it turns out I'd have missed something truly amazing had I not gone. Another first for me in Bristol, first trip the the Bristol Old Vic. It's a lovely quaint theatre with such wonderful little touches that I couldn't help but smile. Thread bare carpets as you walk through to your seats that make you wonder who has walked there before you. But possibly my favourite thing to do in a theatre... the complete opposite of the carpets... look up when you're in your seat. Why is the ceiling always so beautiful? I'm sure there's a reason for it but if I spend my time Googling it I'll never get this written. The last thing that I'll say about the décor in the Old Vic is the picture on the right... Original 18th century seating. There's not a chance...

After a few days in Cornwall with my family I've taken to the road on a Megabus. I figured that Penzance to Bristol at 9am on a Tuesday has to be one of the least stressful times to experience this for the first time! Kudos to whoever designed this route... the streets of Cornish villages were clearly designed for giant buses weaving through them!! But I can't quibble, £12.50 for a bus ticket home, for what equates to 6 hours of travel give or take the traffic... a bargain, and had I remembered to book it when I got paid it would have been even cheaper at £10.50. The one bug is no internet, she says as she writes her blog post on her iPad in preparation. I was going to write by hand but there are no tables and I could barely read a word of what I did write. I'm experiencing some of my worst nightmares right now. Strangers. They're loud eaters, they invade my personal space and they want to talk every second of the journey. No strange people, just no, leave me be! Ca...

It is a glorious day in Bristol today, too good. I set out to have another Shaun-y adventure but only got round to doing half of it. I actually had barely started and I already wanted to give up. I think the high was actually only 24, but it was a very challenging beginning. I'd intended to start at the Balloon Fiesta going via the Southbank Trail of Shauns, but had a last minute change. Never fear, there's always a bus nearby in Bristol... unless the driver is a git and tells you you're wrong, even when you're right. I really couldn't be bothered with having an argument with this guy who had instantly decided I was an idiot tourist. I ended up going back to my original plan of getting the Balloon Shuttle from the station. First time I've encountered a bad bus driver in Bristol. I queued up at the station and encountered some very friendly and efficient First staff. One guy was setting up the bus stand while another was selling the tickets. They were b...

Least sensible thing to do two days after twinging your back? Go on a two hour-ish walk? Nah it'll be fine! [Well, I am kind of regretting it now!] Today I managed to complete the Harbourside Trail. Unfortunately it wasn't entirely new scenery, as it was a significant amount of a walk S and I had done when he came down. I set off from the station and started with Shaun Bean... while the actual Sean is delightful, I thought the sheep of almost the same name was a little boring, he's essentially a giant mirror... maybe I'm just missing something design-wise!? Down to M-Shed for two more, The pirate was a little scary, maybe he was just angry he had somehow found himself next to a fenced off area for building works. I'd gone down to SS Great Britain before, but at that point we crossed the river and walked back down to town. The walk takes you round past Aardman Studios to see Lotus and then eventually you cross the river further down towards Clifton [I think, m...

I moved from one Ikea town to another, but until yesterday I hadn't visited the new home of pointless things I don't need... but secretly do. And after yesterday... I think I won't be visiting it again. The chaos of the Croydon branch is my type of chaos. You wander around aimlessly if you're not lucky enough to remember how to take the short cuts and end up picking up so many tea lights and random kitchen utensils that you can't carry the yellow bag without things falling out of each end. Bristol, Bristol, Bristol. What is your Ikea about? I have to order my flat pack, pay for it and then get in my car and drive round the block to get it?! Whaaaaaaaat?! The store is tiny in comparison to the Croydon branch [from what I can tell... there really aren't enough nerd facts on the internet about Ikea stores], I can't believe you couldn't find a space that was big enough for one complete store. While it was a novelty to have to take a second expedition to ...

Shaun the Sheep has come to Bristol. Shaun is in my city. My friend came to visit and I made the exclamation that he'd chosen badly as he was just going to miss them... but no... the good old Bristolians started putting them up early. In total we saw 21 Shauns last weekend, and completed the Temple Trail above. But those sneaky buggers didn't have the decency to put them out in the dead of night so they were all out in the morning! No, they kept tiptoeing out of the shadows and putting them out after we'd walked past the spot. It's a fantastic community thing... well, it didn't seem that way when they were in London, but we were having fun here! Everyone was being friendly around them and asking for help getting pictures, we were using the app and all trying to work out where the next closest one was. So on Saturday we'd gone into town with the idea of just taking in some of the city, hitting the bits that I hadn't seen and enjoying the sun. We wa...

Although the main bedroom is done with decorating-wise it doesn't really feel like it. I think that's only because I haven't finished putting the doors back on my unit... mainly because they're a pain in the proverbial. I've also got a pile of random junk from when I was sleeping in the guest room before my furniture arrived... I now know the perils of leaving stuff until the last minute as I basically picked stuff up and moved it all to my room. Before All the rooms upstairs were lined with paper, and unfortunately a lot had to be replaced in this room. When Bristol had a lot of flooding years back lots of the homes had bad roof damage which obviously led to some damage on the walls, luckily that was generally cosmetic. As you can see in the picture we had the paste table up and... I wont use the royal "we" here, Dad replaced the bad paper. He's no Granddad when it comes to decorating but it is all still vaguely on the walls... and now it...

Sorry for my absence, but I have at least been productive. I'm currently two rooms finished... it's amazing what you can botch together when you don't have anything better to do! So here's a little introductory guide to my guest bedroom... photos aren't amazing I'm afraid but you'll get the idea... or... get the picture... hahaha, I crack me up! *stony silence* Fine, less rubbish humour. So luckily there wasn't a great deal that needed to be done in this one. I have yet to decide about any carpets, there's nothing particularly wrong with any of them upstairs that a good clean wouldn't fix but with the bizarre weather in Bristol at the moment using my steam cleaner isn't an option. Before The before picture doesn't really do it justice... it looked much worse, in fact I think all the before pictures were taken after some cleaning had happened. We [any time I refer to "we" that's me, Dad and Mum, who came down...

So, I've been AWOL for a bit, my apologies, but I do have a good excuse. Last Saturday I moved to my very own home. Does this mean I have truly become a grown-up? I think I'll leave the growing up part for a little while at least. I still don't really feel excited about it... probably because I'm currently sitting on a sofa that's covered in a sheet surrounded by bags and boxes. There are many things about moving that I don't understand: How anyone manages to afford to buy a home, of any description, on their own. I have an average income but every month two thirds of that money goes on rent and bills and what's left is enough for food and transport. There was no wiggle room for saving, and if there was it would take an eternity to save up enough for a deposit. I'm truly lucky to have wonderful parents who a] didn't want to see me suffering in the pit of a flat I had to rent and b] had the forethought to actually have money saved. I am also l...

I was out chatting with a friend yesterday and we were contemplating our year in focus. 2014 kind of went past in a blur. I had to go through my social media to work out what had happened through most of the year. So here it is... my 2014. I went to see La Boheme at the Royal Albert Hall in March. We were up in the nose bleed seats but when we got there we got upgraded to fantastic ones down on the floor. I hadn't seen an opera before, I'm so glad we went. It was the most fantastic performance I'd seen in ages, we cried, and I'm not embarrassed. In June I whizzed off with a friend to Geneva. It was boiling, but beautiful. If I wasn't so old and decrepit then I probably would have enjoyed it more! We were trying to come up with a day trip somewhere and had been thinking Paris, but it was actually cheaper to go to Geneva. It was lovely strolling down the river, it was definitely something random to throw in to the year. Also in June there was a family trip...

I've always been a bus girl, a train will never be my top public transport option. I can't really put a finger on it specifically but I think it's mainly because I like being able to see what's going past outside the window. Getting used to a new bus system is surprisingly confusing when you've been so used to another one for ages. I have to say, as much as I'm a London lass at heart, so far I really do love the buses here. Everyone coming to Bristol should download the UK Bus Checker. I came across it before I moved and I use it everyday. I'm still working out all its features but it's very handy. Easy to use map, it even shows you in which direction the buses from the stop will be going. The buses in London have become very silent affairs now. All non-cash payments mean you don't actually have to interact with the driver at all. Here it's still very much a communing activity, they sell daily and weekly tickets [although I haven't quit...

I've been a bit absent... I do have a legitimate reason... I have just moved across the country to Bristol. It has been a trying time but everything is mainly resolved. How people move all the time I don't know, I felt rather smug after my first move went fantastically well and I think this time it might have been the world balancing it out. To sum up... arranged flat ages ago, woman pulled out at last minute, I turned into a gibbering wreck, get an alternative flat a week before I need to move, flat is tiny, flat is filthy. I will admit that that is just the bad bits summed up there. I haven't seen much of Bristol yet but from car and bus windows it looks nice. We've driven round a few areas and I've been taking note of places to go online and from books. Going through Clifton was lovely, a comic book store and some good looking restaurants, there's definitely a trip up there on the cards. I'll have to go and find some of the street art too. Of course t...

...but in this instance they're going to drive me to Bristol. All my life I've lived in the same area. It may not be a perfect but it's a good place to live. I have never had the desire to live anywhere else. But life changes, situations change and at some point you have to move on. I have never been this "bold" with my life, putting myself first isn't something I've ever done before... and at this moment I'm still not sure how I'm going to cope with it. I stepped out of my comfort zone when I moved out of home but since then it's been fairly confined. I'm happy where I've been with everything, but recently with things changing at work and issues running through my head it has given me the opportunity to widen my horizons. I'll be making Bristol my new home. I will be starting a new job that I have always wanted to do... and that's all really scary. But I'm trying to think of things to do when I get there... things t...