This day I love.......

This post contains items from Murals Wallpaper which were gifted to include in this post.

My youngest daughters bedroom was one of the first to be decorated when we moved into our house. At the time she was a baby and her room was decorated as a nursery not really knowing her personality or likes at this point and whilst it was nicely decorated it wasn't really 'her'. She's now older with a mind of her own and very strong opinions of what she likes. Her favourite colour is rainbow and sparkles, in other words she likes them all and that to some extent is her, she's loving, caring and if you could stereotype a young girl then she would fit that mould perfectly.

Her room therefore now needs to reflect her and last her until the very least her teenage years. I have spent hours on pinterest looking at ideas for her room. Coming up with plans and then changing them at the last second. Murals Wallpaper contacted me and offered to work with me, perfect timing. The hard part was still to follow, picking a design.

My youngest daughter scrolled through the site looking at all the different designs. She kept swapping and changing her mind as there are lots to choose from, that is until she saw a pink paper with stars on. She didn't change her mind again after seeing this paper and so I could now plan the rest of her room around it.

Ordering is really easy, measure the wall you are wanting the paper for and place an order with those dimensions. The print is made to fit exactly in those dimensions, so I measured several times before submitting the order. The paper arrives rolled in a cardboard tube and contains very clear instructions about what tools you need and how to hang the paper.

The whole mural is printed on to one sheet of paper, but to make things easy you are clearly shown where to cut each piece. No need to measure out each piece and no need for a pasting table.

In addition each drop is clearly labelled so if you do want to cut all the pieces in advance you also know which piece is next. Making the whole process a lot easier than using standard wallpaper.

In fact the whole process was really simple. It took approximately 30 minutes to paper the whole wall. That also includes having to find another pasting brush as one snapped. The paper feels really good quality and thick, so you can move and re position it without worrying too much about it tearing. The paste used is paste the wall so this removes the need for a pasting table. I bought ready mixed paste to make it even easier.

My daughter saw her bedroom for the first time this morning and her reaction was 'wow, I love it'. The mural design was exactly what she had seen online and had chosen. I used a grey glitter paint for the remaining walls to add extra sparkle. Her whole room has been transformed and suits her so much better.

Muralswallpaper has really made a difference to the room, giving it a an amazing feature wall that my daughter adores. The blind is on order and once it arrives I shall be putting up a YouTube video with the decorating and a room tour.

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This is a featured post for mental health awareness month

Last week in the UK was mental health awareness week, whilst the whole of May in the USA is mental Health awareness month. Mental health can affect anyone at anytime. Mental health knows no bounds on race, religion, beliefs, gender or age. It can strike without warning and for the majority of long term sufferers we can become very good at hiding it.

Mental health can span across a wide variety of topics. Things such as stress, alcohol, relationships and sleep can all impact our mental health well being. The way we live and the way we interact as humans has changed, our children are now growing up in an 'instant' world with access to the entire world at their fingertips and this in turn presents its own mental health issues.

Teenagers can now access their favourite TV show, album or film instantly on a smart device. There is no longer the waiting a week before the next episode is played or having to sit with fingers eagerly poised over a record button to record your favourite song onto a tape from the radio. Enter into the job market and the expectation that the promotion should be instant is there, even if not consciously aware of it because everything else in life has been instant and therefore so should this.

From an early age children in school are now introduced to ways in which they can communicate their mental health problems. This open communication from a young age are great positive steps to help overcome many of the social anxiety and pressure they feel later in life. It is a valuable life skill to learn and by introducing early on it should hopefully become a normal part of their life.

One in five people in the UK suffer with depression and this in turn has a big impact on the relationship with family and friends. According to research those in troubled relationships are three times more likely to suffer with depression, and this in turn can lead the person with depression to feel a burden or often guilty towards the other party. In these situations relationship advice or counselling are the most positive step forward.

There are many great charities and resources available today to help those who suffer with mental health issues. Let's help to change the stigma around mental health and encourage open communication, we never truly know what someone is going through.

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The week leading up to any ultra or marathon I like to rest as much as possible, but for some reason the week before Dukeries had not gone according to plan. I had been for a steady run on the Tuesday and this just seemed to zap me completely. I woke up on Wednesday not feeling at all well. No energy and very achy, I did wonder if I would be able to complete the race on Saturday. In fact I wondered if it would be a good idea at all.

I spent Friday thinking about what to do and decided to just go and have a steady plod round. I made the decision to take it check point by check point and if I felt really bad I would stop and finish there and then. Plan made it was time for a good night sleep, which didn't happen as Little Man has decided he doesn't want to wear nappies at night so kept calling me every hour for a wee.

4.40 am Saturday and my alarm went off. I had to run across the house to turn it off before it woke anyone else up, I had spent the night getting in and out of my bed to see to Little Man and at one point fell asleep sat up in his bed. I quickly got dressed, grabbed my breakfast and headed to the race start.

An hours car journey, the weather looked grim and I felt shocking. With no compulsory kit number collection was quick and straight forward. I had 45 minutes to spare until race start so I sat in the car and ate my breakfast.

I watched all the other runners getting ready around me, and slowly make their way to the start line. I figured I should do the same and headed the short walk to the village hall for the race brief. A quick but thorough brief and we were ready on the start line. My headphones were refusing to connect to my phone and whilst I faffed around with that the runners around me started moving. I walked and messed around with the Bluetooth connection and finally got it to work. I could focus on the race.

The first 3 miles are winding country track through beautiful carpets of bluebells. The vast majority of this is done in single file with no opportunity to overtake. It did get frustrating at times as you were running slower than you would like, and then at other points it sped up rather quick. I remember the next part from the brief, cross at the crossing please. The traffic lights had just changed as I got there and so I watched the pack of runners on the other side and waited for my turn to cross the busy road.

After a short stretch on the road the trail opened up and it was rather fun running through the woods. The trails at times felt congested as groups of runners ran down single file paths but it didn't last for two long and before I realised it checkpoint 1 was ahead. The 40 mile runners would turn off here for their 10 mile loop and the 30 miles would continue.

I made a quick stop at the checkpoint and then continued. I felt really good leaving the checkpoint, the path had widened and I felt easy and comfortable. I had five miles to go until the next checkpoint. The sun was now out and I was beginning to feel the heat. I passed a few dog walkers and stopped to chat. Feeling thankful at several points that I had downloaded the gpx file as there were a few points I couldn't find the way to go. After a rather fantastic descent I had arrived at Creswell Crags and I knew that the checkpoint would be soon.

I wasn't wrong either the checkpoint was ahead and I stopped for some melon and a chance to cool down in the shade. I was 12 miles in now and so far apart from feeling hot my achy symptoms hadn't got any worse. I left the checkpoint eating melon and feeling a little cooler continued. I wasn't sure how far it would be until the next checkpoint, I had in my head there was one around mile 17, so I decided to check. Mile 24 would be the next checkpoint 11 miles to go.

My luck seemed to be out. Every road crossing I had to stand and wait for ages for a chance to cross the road. Other runners would then catch me up and because they had not stood as long as me they didn't seize up as much. I was getting frustrated. I would run and find a person walking their dog and stop for a cuddle with the dog to cheer myself up. Run a bit more and another road to cross. The scenery was beautiful though. Woodlands and bluebell carpets. I hardly saw any other runners, except when a road crossing approached. Once again I was thankful for the gpx file as I almost got lost a few times in some farmers fields.

At mile 19 we turned the corner to run back through Clumber Park and a lovely lady was sat with her dog cheering us all on. I spent a good 10 minutes with her and her dog, she was so lovely and when I got up to leave the dog wanted to come with me. Running down the drive through Clumber Park was lovely. The trees providing much needed shade, although the heat was still there. I bumped into some Runners from Clowne Running club, they also had dogs, so I stopped again to have a chat and a dog cuddle.

Only a parkrun to go now until the next checkpoint so after a quick Instagram chat, I got on with it. I had hit 20 miles at 3:36, had I not stopped for the long dog chats I would have been 3:15ish I know because I kept telling myself to slow down as I was on for a 20 mile PB by quite some way.

To get to the next checkpoint I had to go down the main road to the crossing and then run back up the road on the other side. I would rather be safe I agree, but the traffic gods certainly were not with me and it felt like an eternity before I could cross the road.

Over 24 miles in now or 38km it was time for a refill of the water bottles, grab something to eat and get moving again. Just over 10km left. The volunteers at all the check points were all really lovely and welcoming and I was surprised there was so much food, normally one of the back runners I don't normally have so much choice. I left the checkpoint knowing there wasn't much further to go and I could do this.

Once again I left the checkpoint eating, and continued through the woods to the farmers field. I felt really hot in the open sunshine and slowed down to conserve energy for the last part of the race. I was beginning to feel rather ill but tried my best to ignore it. I hadn't the energy to run across the farmers field, the spongy mud was energy zapping and that perhaps was my mistake.

The next five miles were really hard work and I was grateful for the lost horse rider at mile 25/26. I stopped to chat to her and help her back on her way. A farmer, who I get the feeling was annoyed by runners, decided to make me wait at the side of his track and each time I started to move he would drive the tractor back towards me, I would stop and so he would stop. Eventually I managed to get past him and was on my way again.

By mile 27 the leaders of the 40 mile race started appearing. They were incredibly quick and I was in awe of them. The leading lady was storming past, I couldn't believe her speed and not far behind her the second lady came through. She was incredibly lovely and seemed to be really enjoying herself.

More dogs and I sat down on the mud next to them as I chatted to the owner about canicross and ultra running. Lots more runners ran past me and I realised I had been sat there for 15 minutes. I thought I had around 2km left as I thought we finished around 48km. So continued running along the edge of the field towards the housing estate in front.

I saw the sign at the bottom of the field which turned us back to run along the edge, and thought it strange we were running on the inside of the hedge and the field rather than on the road. Turns out that the finish is actually on the other side of the hedge but you have to run a small loop to make up the miles. Down a footpath and along the side of the chicken farms. The chickens all seemed to be enjoying themselves in the grass and dirt. I was laughing at the patches in the fence where the farmer had clearly been round to fix the holes. My watch beeped 48.8km and I thought this was how far we had to run and I was now hoping it would not be much further.

A sharp left turn to run along the other side of the chicken pens, and a slight uphill. I had three lady runners behind me who had overtaken me when I was playing with the dogs and I now wanted to keep them behind me. I pushed on, down the side of the chicken pens before making another left turn.

I begin to recognise where I was. I could see the cars parked in the farm yard. The trees lined the sides of the road and in front a group of people. That must be the finish, it had to be. Sure enough it was, I had finished. Official time 6 hours and 17 minutes. I was outside my target time of 6 hours but I had spent rather a lot of my time playing with dogs and chatting at aid stations. I was the 18th female out of a field of 55 and 1 hour 29 minutes behind the winning female.

I made my way to the village hall to collect my medal and t shirt. As always with Hobo races the medals are personalised which is a nice touch. A warm mug of soup waiting for me and I chatted to the lady from the 40 miler for a little bit. I checked to see if it was ok to move the car and once safe to do so I made my way back to the car. My legs ached, my ribs bruised from having my phone in the wrong pocket and I still felt ill but I had done it.

Dukeries 30 is a really beautiful route and the whole time I was thinking this would be a perfect ultra for those wanting to run their first ultra. Checkpoints are well stocked, volunteers really friendly and there is no required kit, well apart from a phone. The route was well marked, but I am glad I downloaded the gpx file as a few points I almost got lost and the hills are minimal. I know I could do the route a lot faster, but I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it anywhere near as much. I loved stopping and chatting and cuddling all the dogs on the route and to be honest I wouldn't have done it any different.

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I was provided with 4 complimentary tickets to visit the National Forest Adventure farm. All words in this post are my own personal opinion

My youngest daughter absolutely loves unicorns, although I don't think she is alone in this. Imagine her surprise that for her birthday we would be visiting the National Forest Adventure Farm and their special Unicorn Daze event. It was our first visit to the National Forest Adventure Farm and so we had no idea what to expect.

The journey was really easy and National Forest Adventure Farm is well signposted off the A38 making it easy to find our way. Car parking is free and we were directed were to park. A short walk to a very small queue and we were soon inside ready to begin our adventure. It was raining when we arrived and just a little before lunch so we decided to make the most of the restaurant and indoor soft play.

The selection of both hot and cold food was good and we had no issues finding a table, it was rather busy with the wet weather but we still managed to all get seated easy. After lunch it was time to tackle the soft play. There were three birthday parties happening at the same time as we were inside but that is nothing unusual to a soft play area. Little Man didn't want to go in the under 5 section instead he wanted to follow his sisters.

The main soft play has 2 drop slides, well three really but two are together and one rainbow slide. For one and half hours I spent walking up the stairs carrying a mat and repeatedly taking Little Man on this rainbow slide. He absolutely loved it. My girls got braver and eventually tried the drop slide. My eldest now hooked on adrenaline she wouldn't stop and kept going down the drop slides. Once was enough for my youngest who kept perching her bum on the edge and then changing her mind.

A break in the weather meant we could go outside and do some of the unicorn related activities. This was a special weekend event and whilst we were there we looked at some of the events coming up including a dinosaur one I am sure Little Man would love and the Christmas one looks magical. National Forest Adventure Farm also have pumpkin picking and potato picking and this week they shared a photo on their Facebook page of them sowing the seeds.

Our first unicorn related activity was to meet the unicorns. I was informed the unicorns get to wash their hair in a special horse chalk to help keep their colour.

The queue to meet the unicorns was only short, perhaps we timed it right, and we never felt rushed or pressured to move on. The girls gave the unicorn a stroke and then we we headed out to try the unicorn fortune trail. Our fortune seemed to be on the positive side, which is always good.

As the weather seemed to be holding we decided to stay outside and visit the animals in the field. You can feed the animals if you want to and all the animals seem to be aware of this, coming over the the gates for a closer look and to see if you had food.

All the animals had plenty of outdoor space to walk around in and they all seemed very friendly too.

We had wanted to watch the sheep racing but we couldn't figure out how to get to it, even though we could hear it so instead we played in the giant sand pit with the diggers and took on the climbing wall. It was nearly time for our tractor ride. Little Man was very excited and I can't quite believe I got a photo of all three of my children all looking and smiling at the camera!

The tractor ride lasted around 10 minutes and drove around the fields of the farm. We had to spot the scarecrows that were in the fields and when we did we had to shout very loud. Little Man seemed to really love this game and was smiling from ear to ear.

Included with admission was either a balloon or face painting. Little Man was too young for face painting and opted for a balloon, the girls however both had their faces done.

The weather seemed to finally be easing so it was time to venture outside and explore more of what National Forest Adventure Farm had to offer.

There was still so much of the farm to explore and I am glad the weather held so we could. The kitchen garden was really colourful and fun to explore, the Frisbee golf however drew all three kids straight over.

We've never played before and there was a slight wind. My eldest took to it straight away, my youngest daughter however seemed to develop a skill at throwing the Frisbee backwards. It was really good fun and even Little Man got involved.

The splash zone was closed due to the weather, and the girls decided to watch the football shoot out and not take part. After playing in the adventure playground we headed over to the bouncy pillows, everyone always loves those. In fact we spent so long on them we lost track of time and missed collecting the hens eggs and helping to groom the horses.

All three children were having lots of fun but we had one final activity to do before we went home, feed the newborn lambs. The girls were incredibly excited as we made our way over to the animal barn. After looking at the animals in the barn we watched the Jersey cows getting milked. It was then time to feed the lambs. Little Man was too shy to do so, at only three I can understand but the girls however absolutely loved it. The lambs loved their milk and what an amazing experience for the girls to take part in.

The weather was starting to turn again so rather than play adventure golf or ride the pedal cars again we decided to have half hour on the slides before heading home.

We stayed right until closing and no one wanted to leave, my youngest even said she had had the best day ever. Little Man fell asleep in the car before we had even left the car park. It really was such a fun day and we shall certainly be back to National Forest Adventure Farm.

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