Lake District – Day Two

February 24, 2015February 24, 2015 ~ Natalie Cotterill ~ Leave a comment

Today was a lot busier than yesterday – we were up at seven and out at nine (after having a pretty good breakfast, I have to say) off walking in an area just south of Keswick. We were out for quite a while and walked up into a corrie (a glacial feature in the tops of mountains). I’m going to be honest and say that the weather most definitely was not on our side, with hail, rain and snow falling upon us… There will be a later blog post contains photos – one which shows a hail storm coming in (which really hurt)!

The walk was difficult – a poor night’s sleep, slippery footpaths and foul weather all attributed to this. However the views were incredible – as we got higher up it just improved and we could see a ribbon lake in the distance (Derwent water).

After we’d eaten lunch in the corrie, we headed back down, crossing a river in our path. That was eventful; my balance isn’t great at the best of time, let alone on wet rocks!

We then went to a glacial feature alongside Derwent water which was extremely steep and muddy, but also had some breathtaking views at the top as it was elevated above the area. After that, we headed back to Blencathra Field Centre to go over some notes that we’d made, have dinner, prep for tomorrow’s fieldwork and socialise with friends.

Lake District – Day One

February 23, 2015February 24, 2015 ~ Natalie Cotterill ~ 4 Comments

As I said, this blog is for me to also talk about any geography fieldwork I’m doing or whatever and this week I’m in the Lake District…
Today we didn’t do much to be honest, it was lunchtime before we got here and then we had to sort everything out! Just leaving the school the coach driver managed to break the wing mirror – so that was a great start!
Anyway, this afternoon, we went for a walk into Keswick. It was alright, but the weather was awful. Rain, hail, wind. I hate the cold – I know hate is a strong word, but I really do. So that ruined that for me…
Aside from the trip into Keswick, we didn’t really do much, other than a bit of prepping for tomorrow’s walk and revision of glacial landscapes – which was not really that helpful to tell the truth.
The centre is nice enough, if a little secluded, and the scenery is beautiful (when it can be seen through the snow). I think that the main issue is that most of us would rather be at home in the warm!

Things That I’ve Been Loving Recently!

February 8, 2015February 8, 2015 ~ Natalie Cotterill ~ Leave a comment

So I thought that this week I’d do a post talking about some of the things that everyone else is fed up of listening to me rave about… I’m not talking about books or anything in this post, apart from one, which is in a different way! So here are the things that I have been loving recently:

Apps

Poem Hunter
If you love poetry then I can guarantee that you will love this app. I found it when I was looking up Maya Angelou poems on the website (she is amazing. I can’t re-read her poems enough) and it suggested the app. I thought “why not?” as you do, and it is the best decision that I’ve made recently. It suggests a new poem and poet every day and there is a “random poem” when you open the app so that you can discover new people. This app is just brilliant and I would recommend it to anyone – whether you like to read one poem a year or several every day.

Quiz Up
This is a quiz app with a difference. You choose from one of the seemingly endless topic lists and then it’ll partner you with someone across the world. The games are really quick which makes it a great game if you don’t have long or you have hours to kill. I play it a lot with my boyfriend, as you can play a round and they can play their turn later. It’ll add the points when both people have played. This one of my most played games recently because it is just so addictive!

Trusper Tips
This I think is a similar platform to Pinterest (which I don’t use – so I could be completely wrong) where anyone can share tips that they’ve used and found to work. There is such a variety on this app: recipes, workouts, makeup tutorials, hair care. I have discovered so many useful things as a result of this app. I would definitely recommend this – my friend downloaded it the other day as well and I’ve passed some of the tips on.

Films
I don’t actually watch many films, but I have rediscovered my childish side and my love of Disney has returned. Frozen, Tangled and Brave are some of the more recent ones that I’ve watched, as well as Bolt (the dog is adorable). Just the other day ‘The Jungle Book’, ‘Bambi’ and ‘Aristocats’ arrived, because I wanted to watch them. I really want to see Aladdin as well… For anyone reading this thinking “she’s seventeen, she should have grown out of Disney”. That is not possible, my friend. I will never grow out of Disney. *Mental four-year-old self stamps foot and crosses arms sulkily*.

Stationary

Sticky Notes
Since I have discovered these revision has been so much easier and more interesting too. I used to either read over my notes or write everything out in long bullet points. Now I just summarise points on sticky notes. The ones in the picture are from Paperchase, which has to be one of my favourite shops. If not my favourite. They’re so gorgeous and make revision so much more interesting. I also use them to put notes in my planner from time to time. For christmas I was given some “sticky note bookmarks” (also from Paperchase). I’m trying to use them more often (I usually try to remember my page – and fail) and also they have a white space so on every one I try to write a poem.

Fineliners
I use these with the sticky notes to revise and make notes. Colour coding makes everything so much clearer and more interesting, I find. They’re so useful in the editing of my english coursework and also when noting down homework and deadlines (I can colour code subjects etc). I’ve always loved fineliners, but I’m using them more than ever now. I use the Staedtler triplus fineliners, but there are so many brands. These are quite expensive! I really want to get the large set, though it’s quite pricey so I’m waiting for a sale in WHSmith. I have to admit that these are lifesavers when marking and making corrections etc in lessons.

Music

Lucy Spraggan
Singer-songwriter music is probably my favourite (though I’m pretty open with music) because usually the lyrics tell a story and have meaning. Ed Sheeran, Lucy Spraggan and Amy Macdonald are all examples I really enjoy. The thing about Lucy Spraggan’s lyrics is that they are so honest and apply to everyone. I go through phases with albums – I listen to them for a while then move on – but this is one I come back to, which is unusual. Bastille is another one I do this with. She can sound quite blunt with her lyrics, but I like that, because she says everything in a way that makes you go “yes, I know what she means”.

There are a lot of artists I love listening to; Bastille, Collabro, Amy Macdonald and Taylor Swift are just some – I’m not going to go on because that’ll take me ages!

News

This is something that I simply had to include. If you’ve read my “Let’s Talk About Books” post then you’ll know just how much I love “To Kill a Mockingbird”. You probably already know what I’m talking about… There is a sequel! *Squeals with excitement*. I went completely hyper when I read about it on twitter (after that feeling of questioning whether it was a Twitter prank or not). I cannot wait. July 14th cannot come soon enough. ‘Go Set a Watchman’ will be immediately preordered when it is available. Calm down Natalie. Calm….

Those are just a few of the things that I have been really enjoying recently. I could go on about so many apps or music artists, but I won’t. Thank you for reading!

My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece – Annabel Pitcher

January 31, 2015February 21, 2015 ~ Natalie Cotterill ~ Leave a comment

Genre: Young adult (but the type of book anyone can read and enjoy).

Target age: I would say anyone.

Summary: ‘My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece’ is about a young boy, Jamie, who is learning a lesson about grief from his parents who are mourning their daughter’s (his sister) death. He is trying to understand what is going on in his family and why his parents act in certain ways.

My opinion: This is one of those heart-warming books which can bring out all sorts of emotions. Jamie is such a loveable character and he’s so innocent. I absolutely adore books that are written from a young child’s perspective, hence I loved this book. I read it a while ago – last summer – but it’s one of those books that I will definitely go back to and read again as it made such a big impression on me. Annabel Pitcher is an author who I’d heard so many good reviews about, but I’d never read anything she’d written, so last summer I saw this book and bought it… Now her other book “Ketchup clouds” is sitting on my bookshelf, waiting to be read. I love the narration of this novel; it perfectly captures the ten-year-old innocence, the confusion, the anger and all of the other emotions. It’s not a long book – I read it in a day – but I was on holiday, with nothing else to do other than sit back and read, so that’s probably why. It was a good holiday read though; I guess if you want something mindless and not at all heavy then this isn’t the best choice, but it’s not a bad one either. If you don’t want to read it on holiday, I would definitely say read it when you get home! I think there are some books that are aimed at a target audience, such as young adult, like this one, however they can be read and enjoyed by anyone of any age. This is one of those books for sure. Whoever you are, if you want a book to read, then give this a go. I really did enjoy it.

Rating: 4/5.

New Year’s Resolutions!

January 2, 2015January 2, 2015 ~ Natalie Cotterill ~ Leave a comment

I always tried to make resolutions for myself until I just gave up a couple of years ago… I figured that I wouldn’t see them through anyway, so why try to set myself goals I’d never reach? But this year I was watching a YouTube video in which he set himself some resolutions, but limited himself to three, and that’s what I’m going to do. Maybe I can then fulfil them! So here they are:

To write more
I adore writing and I always feel so much better when I actually sit down to write, but I rarely seem to do so. This year I’m going to try really hard to post on here every weekend, even if it’s a short post, or a review, or something random, providing I post. I’ve got a lot of books this christmas and birthday and when I have read them I am going to post reviews for as many as possible! They are mostly young adult, but I’ll try and review other types of books, such as the smoothie book I was given for my birthday! (I just need to try some recipes first!) Also, if there is a film or product I have particularly liked or disliked, I may review that… I don’t really know! Also, once I’ve actually got a collection of pieces, I’m going to try an upload a piece of creative writing onto here midweek, although I want to have a backlog first as I don’t want to do it once and then not have anything after that! Again, these may be poems, very short stories, or even longer stories! They may be descriptive or more narrative, I’m one of those people who randomly starts to write something and then goes along with it! I’m also going to try to make more youtube videos of poems and maybe try to upload one a month; they take a lot longer because I need to get my friends together to film them! Thankfully this christmas I was given some books containing small writing exercises and things like that, so I’m going to try and fill those as well. I really do need to write more, I find that I actually get more ideas the more I write, and I improve!

To take better care of myself
Okay, so I am aware that sounds like I’m into all sorts of illegal things and that I live off fast food and alcohol… I don’t! For one thing, I don’t even like fast food! By taking better care of myself I mean that I have more “me” time. I seem to spend far too much time doing pieces of homework every evening, and then I get stressed, or I have a late night, and then I’m exhausted the next day – it’s a vicious circle (I think I may have mentioned this in a previous post). As I get stressed so easily and quickly I’m going to try and allocate an hour maybe, every evening, in which I can sit back and maybe have a relaxing bath and light some candles, or read a book or listen to music. Something like that! Hopefully I’ll have a longer and better night sleep, which is what I need. I would also like to lose a little bit of weight and become healthier. I don’t need to lose weight, it’s just that recently, in the last few months, I’ve put a bit on which I would like to lose again! I have a really unhealthy diet; the meals are okay, but all of the snacks I eat, well, aren’t! I may not eat fast food, but I do eat chocolate in large amounts! So my plan is to work through the smoothie book (mentioned above) for healthy snacks and I’m also looking for a cookery book with low fat meals (any suggestions?). My plan includes trying to do some more exercise, but that’s a matter of time, and I’d rather spend my time writing! My room is a complete mess as well, so part of this includes tidying it and keeping it tidy, as an ordered room means ordered thoughts, so that’s another thing I plan to try and do to improve myself and be more calm!

To make better use of my time
Possibly my worst habit is that I procrastinate. I don’t mean that I say “I’ll do it in a minute” and then do it after a minute, I’m the person who says “I’ll do it in a minute” and three days later it’s still not done. That pretty much sums up this holiday – I have three essays to get done (one in french) and so far I haven’t done any piece of homework… Oh dear. So my final resolution is to turn my phone off so that I don’t get distracted by minion rush (it is so addictive) or Facebook, refuse to allow myself to click on the youtube or twitter or Facebook pages when I open safari, and to focus my mind on the job at hand. This one is probably going to be the most difficult for me to fulfil, if I’m honest, because it is something that I don’t realise is happening until the time has gone, and I’ll have to be really forceful with myself. But I will try! I guess that if I manage to succeed with this then I’ll spend less time on each piece of homework and then I’ll have more time to properly relax – which can only be a good thing. It’s worth a try.

I don’t know whether I’ll fulfil these or not, but my main aim is to try my best to do so. This is my first year in a few to actually set any, so that’s a step in itself. I’m looking forward to 2015; 2014 had it’s good and bad moments but 2015 is the year which everything from 2014 can be improved, learnt from, and left behind. The only thing I have left to say, until next week, is Happy New Year!

Term one? Done.

December 26, 2014December 26, 2014 ~ Natalie Cotterill ~ Leave a comment

I started sixth form this september, meaning that I’m now in year twelve. I must admit, I expected the transition to be difficult, particularly in my subjects, but not quite as bad as I expected, especially french. It was quite a shock, to be honest, however I think I’m beginning to get used to the amount of work needed to achieve four AS levels!
Next year I can drop a subject, so that will mean I have more “frees” in which I can do my homework, such as my philosophy and ethics essays… which take forever! I am enjoying my subjects though, despite them being tough. French is probably my least favourite (although I still like it) purely because of the jump between GCSE and AS being the largest jump of all of my subjects. Also, we have so much homework for it that in order to get it all done I (and I know some of the others in my class) have to use google translate in order complete it, along with the rest of our homework. That’s really not a good thing – I think we all know how perfect google translate’s grammar is… quite a few mistakes result from its usage! I mean, it is a lifesaver when trying to complete a load of paragraphs and sheets on time though and also for a few short phrases and words – providing you can adapt what it is saying. I must confess though, I do wish they’d give us less to do so that we can spend longer on each piece and not use google translate (aka my saviour). I don’t know. I’m sure there’s a reason!
My other subjects include philosophy and ethics (which is one subject), Geography and English Literature.
English is the one which is a surprise for me. To say that I didn’t like english last year is an understatement. I loathed it – just not quite as much as physics and maths. However I have always been good at it and until year ten I wanted to do it at university! Then I had a teacher who was nice enough but ruined the subject for me and thus I was not looking forward to studying it this year. However, now that I’m a term into this year, my mind has changed. French was my main subject at the start of the year and now it looks like I will be dropping that after these exams and English will be continued, not because I need three A levels, but because I enjoy the subject! So that’s a relief.
I do really like sixth form. We have our own “common room” just for year twelve and thirteen (I think a lot of schools do) and even when it’s busy it’s not chaotic like the rest of the school is. It’s just so much better, especially in winter (there was nowhere to go when it rained or snowed in the younger years). We also get more freedom; we’re allowed out at lunch and also in our frees and also we are allowed to wear jeans if they’re black and we can choose our tops, so I prefer that.
However sixth form does have its downsides. I miss my tutor group from the last five years – the people (including my tutor) and the room itself were simply nicer than where I am and who I’m with now… There are some people I like, obviously, but I just miss my old tutor because I was with some very close friends. Also, my new tutor happens to be my year ten and eleven physics teacher (let’s remember that I loathed physics last year) who really doesn’t like me. So that’s fun. He has to write my UCAS reference next year… *gulp*. I don’t mind him so much as a tutor… I just feel a bit awkward!
Another downside of sixth form is the fact that despite the frees, I have little time to read, write and update my blog. Although I study english lit, I rarely read, which means that I have less reviews to write… I enjoyed writing the one about Fangirl! I only really have the time to read the set texts (The Great Gatsby, Kindertransport and my selected texts for coursework The Catcher in the Rye and To Kill a Mockingbird). At least To Kill a Mockingbird is my favourite – so I can read that!
I really struggle to manage my time… I try my best, but I frequently fee exhausted when I get home from school and I can’t focus – so I don’t get started on my homework until later after I’ve eaten dinner. That’s not a good thing on a monday night when I have french and RE on the same day and I could have done a huge amount of work over the weekend and the chances are that I usually have some left to do on the monday night. Really not fun. Any advice on how to gain more energy? It’s like a vicious circle. I have no energy when I get back from school so I try but don’t succeed in starting my homework until late, it always takes me longer than what I plan and then I end up getting to bed really late… Then I’m tired the next day. I wish I was a little kid again sometimes – purely because little kids have so much energy!
I know that it probably sounds like I’m moaning about sixth form on this post, and I do apologise. It does feel good to write about it though – and anyway, you don’t have to read it! Thank you if you’ve read my ramblings all the way through! This holiday I’m trying to read more, because I have some more time, I just don’t want to leave my homework too late! I’m sure I’ll stumble through it all eventually – I have so far and it’s working!

Musings: “Good Luck”

December 7, 2014December 7, 2014 ~ Natalie Cotterill ~ Leave a comment

Someone said to me today “Good luck with your writing!” Which, I have to say, was lovely of them, but it leads me to question, why do we tell writers “good luck”?
As far as I’m aware, writing is a lot of hard work, sleepless nights, wandering thoughts and cups of tea. Since when does luck come into it?
In essence, you are saying that you hope they get lucky and some fabulous, fully formed idea falls into their head. If that’s happened to anyone, please can they let me know? I’d like that to happen too. I took a break from writing because I had no ideas for ages, and I hated it. That was until I realised that writing anything should lead to something, after developing every aspect possible of a piece of work.
My current idea started with a word, some personal experience, and a lot of “just write the blasted thing!” I’ve only written six chapters and I’m already contemplating changing a major character from a rich male to a poor female…
So, maybe we should say something like “keep working with your writing” instead of “good luck with your writing”. It seems more realistic after all. But maybe not, as “good luck” does sound more friendly. I don’t know… Maybe it’s just me.

Fangirl – Rainbow Rowell

November 16, 2014 ~ Natalie Cotterill ~ Leave a comment

Genre: Young Adult – Chick Lit.

Target Age: About my age, 16 years old.

Summary: It’s about a girl going to college and having to find her own person as before she used to do everything with her twin. Cath, the main character, loves to write fan fiction and her roommate and friends help Cath to become herself.

My opinion: I really, really enjoyed this book! It was a great book to pick up and read a chapter of when I came home from school or to take a break from homework as the chapters weren’t too long. Cath is relatable and I immediately liked her, which made the book so much nicer to read. I’d had my eye on this book for a while as it really appealed to me so when I finally got it and couldn’t read it as I had no free time I was gutted. Then half term came and I was so happy as I could read it (despite the fact that I was supposed to read a “proper book” for english lit… oh well!). If any young adult is looking for a relaxing book to curl up with then this is a must read as it’s lighthearted but not too shallow that it gets irritating (well I didn’t find it irritating anyway). There were plenty of twists and turns to keep me interested and wanting to know what happens next. The only thing that would have made it even better would have been a little more emotion, but that’s just me! Not that it was totally heartless, because it did make me laugh and feel sympathetic etc towards the characters. Just a little more emotion – because I love immersing myself emotionally in a novel. Now to read ‘Eleanor and park’ by Rainbow Rowell too! Plus, can I just add how much I love the colour of the cover? Green is my all time favourite – as you can see from the pillow and duvet cover – my room is green, white with a bit of pink! So I think one of the reasons I wanted this book so much was because of the cover – I know, “Don’t judge a book by its cover” but this was a good judgement, so it’s acceptable…!

Rating: 4/5

Procrastination…

November 16, 2014 ~ Natalie Cotterill ~ Leave a comment

I’m writing this quite late at night, having only just decided on the subject of this post. What a surprise – typical me. Ask any of my friends, and they’ll tell you I tend to put things off until the night before… Not good when I have essays and a lot of work for school!

The reason I’m writing this post is because I’m putting off planning chapter seven for my story, which I’m writing for NaNoWriMo… and I’m behind by so many words… and the rest.

What I’m trying to say is that procrastination is not that great, and recently I’ve been trying to make myself do things instead of just sitting playing on my phone and putting them off. It doesn’t always work, but sometimes it helps.

Well, I’m just going to finish some french homework (which I have put off finishing) and listen to some music now!

Autumn!

November 2, 2014 ~ Natalie Cotterill ~ Leave a comment

So autumn arrived a while ago and it has to be the most beautiful season. It’s not my favourite season, because it’s getting colder (and I don’t cope well with being cold) but I love it when I’m sitting at home or going on a walk. Not so much when I’m sitting in my English classrooms and both of my teachers like open windows and it’s freezing. But still. I went out with my boyfriend the other day to take some pictures of this season because it’s so lovely with all of the colours in the trees. Sadly, it’s nearly winter and every day there are less and less leaves on the trees and more making a gloomy, slippery mess on the pathways. I’m not a winter person, I’d happily hibernate, despite my birthday and christmas being in December!

Then comes Halloween / Samhain which is fun (apart from the constant ringing of the doorbell – I am the Scrooge of Halloween and never answer) but I do like the idea of dressing up and some of the decorations available are quite cute too. Not that I dressed up or decorated the house. I have such an exciting social life I stayed in planning NaNoWriMo.

And of course, November has arrived and NaNoWriMo has begun! I’ve decided to try and complete it. I didn’t hear about it that long ago, and I’ve never written anything longer than about 13,000 words, so 50,000 is going to be a huge challenge, especially seeing as I seem to have extended exam questions thrown at me for three of my four subjects, but hey. It’s worth a try. If I complete half then I’ll have written more words for one piece of work than I have before, so that’s something! But I was surprised the other day when I discovered that the book I am currently reading (Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell) was actually written (well, started – it’s really quite long) during NaNoWriMo. That’s inspiring, especially as I bought it ages ago to read because it looked good as opposed to reading it because of it being written during NaNoWriMo! I may do a little review type blog post for it when I finish it (if I ever get time to read). I know it’s a YA, but I like YA novels, the characters are relatable and they’re easier to read than other books, but a lot still have a depth to them which keeps them interesting.

I’ve just realised that I’ve completely gone off topic – this post is titled “Autumn!” so talk about autumn.

Another great thing about autumn is that chestnuts are back in the supermarket! I love them, I don’t know why, but I do! They’re ridiculously unhealthy because I put loads of salt on them and I always end up with sore fingers from peeling them but they’re so good!

Jumpers are another amazing thing about autumn! I can actually wear jumpers and be the perfect temperature. I love snuggling up in them. Maybe I’m weird, but it’s nice.

I’m loving scented candles too at the moment, and I think that my obsession came at just the right tine as there’s something about lighting a candle during a dark evening. They make the room seem so cosy and relaxed, which helps when doing homework! And they smell amazing. Which is obviously a bonus!

Anyway, next week won’t be so much rambling… I really should think of specific topics and not something I can veer away from so easily. Bye!

Natsbythesea

Books, dogs, and a new life by the sea.

Author: Natalie Cotterill