April in Pictures

Hey Owlets,

Be careful what you wish for! I haven't published a "Month in Pictures" in so long, mostly because the first part of the year is never very interesting then because everything came at once I was drowning in content. I'm still buried under photos to edit and to-do lists to tick off, but I'm a master procrastinator so let's ignore that and have a chat instead!

We start the month with something that's become one of my favourite past times at one of my "happy places" in Bristol. If you didn't see my post, we went to Ireland on Cruise and Maritime Voyages' Marco Polo in December. It's been sailing from Bristol for a while and since we hadn't had the chance to revisit her, we started taking trips to Portishead to wave her off. There's a tiny beach where she sails so close it feels like you could swim out and hop on board. CMV have sent her elsewhere for now, but despite the lack of cruise ship there's still nothing better than sitting on "Marco Polo Beach" in the sunshine, watching all the commercial vessels sail past.

In our family almost every birthday seems to happen between the months of March and May, and this month was Dad's turn. We had quite a chilled day - we went for a wander around town during the day then went for dinner with our family in the evening. Not very exciting but these days I relish the time I get to spend with my family because I'm so busy.

On 5th April I headed just down the road to one of the closest press trips to home I've ever done. The Village Hotel Club has just opened a short drive from the Mall at Cribbs Causeway, and they were kind enough to host us for the weekend while we attended Bristol Fashion Week Festival. The rooms are brightly coloured and full of every mod-con you could possibly imagine - it honestly felt like we were staying in a spaceship!

The next day we had some time to relax and explore the hotel facilities before heading out to the mall for Bristol Fashion Week Festival. In all honesty I'd stopped going a few years ago because I felt out of place being plus size, but the redesign of the festival came with a promise of equality to all so I had to go take a look. The review is already live, so if you fancy hearing what I thought make sure you go take a look.

After my Fashion Week press trip I stayed at home for a few days catching up on everything before heading off again. I don't know about you but I absolutely love errand-running days. Even if I sit down and get all my emails answered and write several blog posts I don't feel as productive as when I've been out checking errands off of a list. In an effort to sort out all my admin I popped into town with my Nan to have a bit of a girly/shopping/admin day in the sunshine.

Two days later I was back in town again, although this time it was to attend a meeting with Dad. We had to get there super early and we were finished by 12pm so we decided to make the most of the beautiful weather by going for a wander along the harbour. One of my favourite places to take photos of the view is on the roof of the MShed; it's one of those funny places because while it's not publicised on their website the roof is clearly displayed on their signs once you get there, yet almost no one realises that you can go out there. It feels like a sort of secret paradise, although I guess having told you it's now not so secret!

While I feel like I've been running here, there and everywhere, my parents have had a bit more free time and I've been loving it. Even though we live in the same house it's not uncommon for us to go for weeks barely seeing each other - if I'm off travelling, we all get up at different times and Mum and Dad have meetings in the evening then it wasn't uncommon for us to only see an hour of each other all day. We've really been trying to make the most of the free time by doing things as a family. This month we had a free weekend and the weather was beautiful so we jumped in the car and headed over to Porthcawl for the day. We sat sunning ourselves for a little while before taking shelter from the sandstorm in the arcade- we may have won some tickets.... If, like us, you fancy heading over to Wales for a wander then make sure you stop to read my Weekend Guide to South Wales for a bit of trip-spiration.

On 17th April we got to do something really cool! A few years ago they shut down Filton Airfield to use the land to build more houses - the site has decades of history and the company that bought the land have put a lot of effort in to developing the area with respect to what came before. The development is even called Brabazon, after the plane that was built in one of the largest hangars on the site. We were given a tour of the site including being some of the last people to drive up the runway which was amazing. This old hangar is going to be developed into an arena space which will be one of the largest in the country. I'm actually planning to do a whole blog post on this when I get a chance, but hopefully this whets your appetite for now.

For the next few days I was back to creating content and running errands - the weekend crept up on me so quickly. Once again we were blessed with a free weekend so we did a little retail therapy and soaked up some sunshine with the first barbecue of the year! Honestly summer seems to have come from nowhere and I'm loving it.

This weekend was actually Easter, and every year my family get together for Sunday lunch. Normally we'd have the traditional roast dinner but as the weather was so unseasonably sunny, we ditched the gravy in favour of salad on the patio. We ended up just sitting outside all afternoon chatting, but in my mind that's one of the best ways to spend a sunny day.

On 24th I packed a bag and headed off for a few days on another press trip, this time to explore the beautiful city of Bath. I know I live quite close to it, but there's so much to see that I never know where to go and end up missing things out. During this trip we got to spend some time exploring the independent shops and small traders that call Bath their home, and I would go back to any of them at the drop of a hat. My article from this trip is still in the works so while you wait for me to finish typing take a look at my article on some of the more unexpected things to do in Bath.

The next evening I came back from Bath, unpacked one suitcase and packed another. This time I was headed for Southampton for a family holiday aboard the beautiful P&O Azura. I'm so lucky to get to travel as often as I do, but there's always something so special about a cruise.

 For now I'm going to leave you with this beautiful photo of Rotterdam. Of course I took all the pictures and made a lot of content during my trip, but I have plans to write a lot more in detail about that so we'll save it for another day.

What have you been up to this month? Let me know in the comments below or on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Love and Feathers, 

 The Owlet 💜 

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