GeekFest 4.0 and First Time Cosplaying!

I've finally recovered from the awesome event that was Geekfest 4.0. This is Cornwalls very own answer to comicon and it is getting bigger and better every single year. I went last year with Mr K and we went as ourselves to really get a feel of the event, enjoy the stalls and cosplay on show. We were going to do the same again when Mr K suggested WE go in cosplay!

The Organic Coffee Shop ~ Redruth ~ Free From Friendly!

As any fellow free from foodie will know one thing that's really hard to adjust to is finding places that will competently serve you whatever allergy free food it is you require. It really is amazing the amount of chefs I've come across who don't know what a vegan is let alone what contains gluten and what doesn't!

I can't eat wheat, milk or gluten and avoid most meat as that makes me feel unwell too. I suffer with IBS and have done since I was 14 so this is nothing new. I've adjusted to shopping for groceries, reading labels (and do this regularly because supermarkets are always changing their ingredients!) I'm also sadly use to completely vetoing restaurants because they don't serve anything apart from a plate of chips.

I recently found a new place in the next town over from me, a lovely cafe and health food shop called The Organic Coffee Shop. This place was recommended to me by the ladies on reception at the chiropractor. The perfect opportunity to check out this new coffee shop arose when my aunt popped round my house (a vegan) and my mother came along too (my mum can't eat gluten or wheat and avoids dairy). We fancied a treat and some quality time together and I chose The Organic Coffee Shop in Redruth.

Geekfest 3:0 at Heartlands Cornwall

On July 1st myself, the mini cupcakes and Mr K headed to Heartlands for Geekfest 3.0, the third Geekfest to be held at Heartlands in Cornwall. This event celebrates everything geeky from Star Wars, Doctor Who, comics, merchandise, gaming, cosplay and so much more.

Next year I'm definitely going to go in cosplay because it looked so much fun and so natural. Little A dressed up as Captain America and Midge went with a Harlequin theme she put together herself. Sadly her bought outfit didn't fit her properly but ever the creative she tried her best with what she could find!

Captain America

Midge excited for Geekfest!

We explored the play area first which both the children loved and gave Mr K and I the chance to look at the map of all the events.

Burning rubber!

We saw some fantastic prosthetic  work from Gorton Studios. The characters below are all from Doctor Who, you will probably recognise them if you're a fan! We got to see some evil spirit make up being done by Morgan Kimber which was amazing. 

Little A loved the Ood and Midge loved the Madme Vestra mask.

Madam Vestra

Morgan Kimber from Gorton Studios doing an evil spirit make over

 We then went on to the Nerf area where Mr k, Midge and I watched A run wild with a Nerf gun for about 20 minutes diving behind hide outs and shooting random people with foam bullets. After this we walked to the main courtyard which had some large army vehicles  and a replica DeLorean time machine car from Back to the Future. Little A found a Creeper from Minecraft, a game he enjoys playing on his tablet.

Little A ready to do Nerf battle

Little A and a Creeper!

I bumped into an Edea cosplay which totally made my day. I adored Final Fantasy VIII as a kid and loved all the characters, Edea was a favourite sorceress of mine but I also loved Ultimacia and Adel but I'm thinking that as a cosplay wouldn't be easy to do!

The fabulous Edea from Final Fantasy VIII

There was plenty of Star Wars cosplay with Stormtroopers keeping things on check and a huge Chewbacca posing for photos with fellow geeks (much to Mr K's delight!)

Mr K with Chewbacca and a Stormtrooper

We ventured over to the tent which held some stalls but sadly it was this part that was a bit of a let down for me; the reason being that Mr K, who was using his wheelchair could only get around half the stalls (and with great difficulty given everyone was moving in a clockwise motion) so there were several stalls he missed out on not to mention in order to take the children to the face paints and comic stall I had to leave him alone near the entrance!

Other than that, there were some fabulous stalls. We bought key rings from Jimagination Creations, next time I'll be buying a Harry Potter bookmark which looked fantastic (photo below is from the facebook page where you can also purchase items!) We checked out Superhero Stash where I picked up badges (Captain America of course.) but they sold mugs, key rings, canvas prints and Funko Pops too. The children got some glitter tattoos while I browsed through the comics and graphic novels from Truro based comic store Bazbo Comics. I picked up 2 Wonder Woman comics and 2 Captain America ones for Mr K. I'm thinking of framing mine, I love the art work on the old comics. I want to go back and get some more plus there were plenty which my brother would like. 

One of my awesome Wonder Woman comic books

Harry Potter bookmark on my wishlist!

Before we left we had another quick wander around, saw some more cosplay and Midge took Little A to pose with the Stormtroopers. We all had an ace day!

Little A and Midge getting their photo taken by a Stormtrooper! Lucky little man got to wear his helmet!

Thanks Geekfest, we'll see you next year!

Cupcake Mumma

My Sunday Photo ~ Giant Jaffa Cake!

I had lunch with my Mum and Aunt at The Organic Coffee Shop. Managed to bring home this delicious giant Jaffa cake that is both vegan and wheat free. I myself bought a salted caramel cake which was free from everything: perfect! 

I would ask if you wanted to have some but this cupcake mumma doesn't share cake!

Visiting Duchy College Open Farm Day!

Last Sunday I had the urge to go out and do something. I wasn't 100% sure what but I needed to get the little ones out of the house for a change of scenery (not just them either!) I was browsing my social media during my morning social media catch up (we all do it right?) and came across Duchy Colleges open day. Rosewarne Duchy college is a local college a 15 minute walk from our house. I knew that the Mini Cupcakes would love the dog shows, the birds, horses and the different games that would be there. 

  We arrived (dog in tow) and set off exploring the flowers and stopping every few moments to allow Little A to pet the many dogs going through to the dog show. We found diggers and tractors which Midge loved and Little A spotted a mini steam train so hopped on that for a ride before posing with a Massey Ferguson tractor.

Midge played a couple of games on the picnic lawn with A before we headed to the first field and watched a bit of the dog show, said a quick hello to some school friends and having a tasty ice cream. We then explored some of the farm. We only saw turkeys (I'll never eat another one, they are rather beautiful creatures!) because all the cows, sheep and donkeys were out in another field. 

We ventured down to a large field where we met Peanut the rescue pony and got to see several beautiful horses galloping up and down the field with their riders dressed up and showing off their horseback archery. You can actually go to St. Ives and visit the Old Mill Stables horse riding school to learn to do horseback archery. I adored the horses and wished there were more horses to look at. There were several more with carriages but sadly we missed that event.

We all had a really good day out at Duchy college. I do like being slightly spontaneous and really enjoyed the horses.

  As usual I asked the little ones what they thought was the best part of the day:

Midge: "I really loved the horses, Peanut was my favourite because he was a pony. I liked the games because i had fun and won two times. The ice cream was really good too!"

Little A: "I LOVED the horse bow and arrow shooting, I want to do that!" 

Cupcake Mumma

My Sunday Photo - From Above

Time for Myself

On Thursday I ventured out with 2 of my close friends to Truro for time on my own, well time on my own with good company!

I'm not hugely fond of places with lots of people but equally I can cope and I always love coming to see the Cathedral. I usually go in whenever I'm visiting but I didn't on this occasion. I still made my friends wait while I took photos of bunting and the beautiful building.

We visited Pennyworths Sweet Shop which is next to the Cathedral and full of goodies. I didn't purchase anything because I only had my card on me but next time I know I can take the little ones there and bring some pennies with me! We went to collect a parcel and I picked up some awesome pink headphones.

We stopped at a place called Vanilla where we had a bite to eat. I enjoyed a strawberry and raspberry with cracked black pepper drink which was nice but not really my thing so next time I'll try something else. I had a huge Cornish smoked mackerel salad which was really, really delicious and very good. There isn't much option for free from eaters but I was happy with this. After paying the bill we headed home.

I ended up picking Little A up from the train station and we headed home to chill out together. He's really come a long way with his reading and I really love it when he gets excited about stories at bedtime.

So I've taken some time out, just a short space of time which was nice. This weekend I'm off to see family and my boyfriend which is really exciting and has been something to look forward to for ages. I'm hoping I come back with a clearer mind, a lighter soul, some positivity and a bit of healing.

Cupcake Mumma

The Simple Woman's Daybook ~ June

For Today

Looking out my window

I can see the rain slowly falling, the sun trying to come out a little, I have all my recycling and rubbish ready to go out and it's all very dump and a bit yuck out there! I also have a lot of knocked over things from the wind about my yard!

I am thinking

About lots of things. About the man I miss, about my holiday next week which will be my first one as a single parent. It'll be wonderful though because we are surrounded by family. I think lots of things all of the time, I couldn't possibly list it all!

I am thankful

For my families safety and that of my friends, myself and the people I love. For good health, good friends, for my faith and sillier things like free from toffee ice cream, snail mail and the fact I'll have Friday to myself (including the night!)

One of my favorite things
I bought myself Tulips last month and they are beautiful. This month I've gone for yellow carnations. I love flowers.

I am creating

I've been continuing to work on the scrap book I'm putting together for my pen pal in America. My one came last week and it's great to read about Colorado!

I am wearing

I'm getting ready for the school run so I'm wearing my big hoody, black jeans, walking trainers and some big, fluffy socks. I cannot believe I will also be adding a coat and woolly hat to this when I leave, it's supposed to be June!

I am reading
 (read) /watching (watched) / listening to

I am currently reading Watership Down which I am loving, listening to an audio book of Harry Potter and The Philosophers Stone and watching The Great British Menu which I've recorded. I know I don't need to give all of those but why not?

I am hoping

I'm really hoping right now that my IBS stops playing up. I've taken more tablets for it than usual and I can't think of anything food related it could be *sigh*

I am learning

I'm learning how to cope with anxiety by attending weekly counselling and I'm learning to talk more but it's not easy.

In my kitchen

This weeks meal plan looked like this:

Mon- pizza night (always!)
Tues- spaghetti with vegetables in sauce/ cheesy pasta
Weds- jacket potatoes
Thursday- risotto
Friday- fish and chips (homemade)
Saturday- soup
Sunday- Roast

I've bought salted caramel extract and found caramel sauce in my local supermarket so I'm looking forward to baking and experimenting.

In the school room

A has been doing well at school, here are some snaps of his dazzling work book:

In my garden

My strawberry plants have flowered, my cucumber plant is growing and so are my tomato plants. I even have my blackberry plant showing signs of fruit! Oh and snail holes grr...

Post Script

I also want to share this Etsy store by Elle May. I love her work especially the beautiful whale print.

Shared Quote

"Distance means nothing when someone means everything"
unknown

A moment from my day

Closing Notes

I've had such a nice day with my Gran and my Aunt. We had a lovely lunch and some pudding before I headed back on the train in time for the school run. The sun has poked its head out every now and then but mostly its been a wellington boots day! 

Fancy joining in the Simple Woman's Daybook? Click the badge at the top of this post to find out more.

Cupcake Mumma

My Sunday Photo ~ Sports Day Star

Although not the official school sports day, Little A was chosen to participate in the sports event called The Trevictus Games. This sports event held at our school is mainly for children with minor to severe learning disabilities not just in our school but also from other local Cornish schools. It shows how inclusive sports can be no matter your physical or mental health. Little A had a wonderful day and I feel that this shot of him jumping into the sand pit was my favourite.

Mental Health Awareness Week: We are Talking. You're Just not Listening

This week marks Mental Health Awareness Week. Of course I love to share these weeks with everyone; there are some amazingly strong and inspirational people out there. There are also some people really struggling out there who stumble across posts and tweets and feel a little less alone. My issue isn't with the week. It's not with people sharing stories or asking people how they are or looking after themselves. It's that the people who are in 'power' aren't listening.

I've struggled with my mental health since I was a teenager. I suffered social anxiety, generalised anxiety, depression and after I had my daughter I suffered from post natal depression. At my most recent health care appointment we traced back where everything started and also came to the conclusion that I may even have been experiencing post traumatic stress from being bullied. 

April at The Cupcakes...

Finally it's the 1st of May. April wasn't awful but it wasn't exactly my idea of a good month either. It's taken me every ounce of strength, some wonderful friends and my children to get me through April and I'm keen to look ahead and put April behind me and keep moving forward.

As I said however, April wasn't all bad so here are a few things we got up to:

• Costa with the Mini Cupcakes
• Beach cleaning at Porthleven with the little ones, my Mum and Dad
• Beach fun in Porthleven. Paddling, sand art, running, picnics, sunbathing and photo taking!
• Dad helped with the beach cleaning!
• Little A spending time with his Dad at the park doing football practice
• On a bad day we went trampolining in town with friends, it was tough but the children had a lovely day out with their school friends and I had some distraction

• We spent Easter at my parents and had plenty of eggs, a roast dinner and  chilled weekend
• I read some books this month which was nice
• I did some crafting and put together my postcard frame, I like to swap my postcards around
• I went to Tehidy Woods twice. Once with my aunt for dog walking, which Peppa loved and once with the school for an all day trip
• We saw lots of animals, had an outdoors story, walked in mud and saved a few wanderers!
• I volunteered at school reading, doing phonics, handwriting and just generally being helpful. I'm gutted I have to step down soon thanks to the lovely job centre but I intend on sticking to it for as long as I can, I'm gaining more confidence every time I go in
• The pooch and I chilled out on my down days, I got a lovely photo of her smiling in her sleep
• My sister sent me a brand new toaster which is one of the best things I've ever had (I'm serious!)
• We celebrated Trevithick Day on Saturday 29th April and it was such a great day with the Mini Cupcakes, Mum and Dad. I took plenty of photos and will be doing a separate post so do look out for that!

So that was our April. The children enjoyed our little day trips, they've been doing school stuff and enjoying their outside school clubs too. They're pretty happy and that makes me really happy, I'm doing something right anyway!

May should be a nice month. I have to job search, and visit the dentist and doctors for all my reviews and I start some counselling which I really do need. I also plan on having more Costa mornings with my friends, reading more, Midge is off to London on Wednesday, A starts his football club next week and we have half term at the end of May too!

Hope you've all had a good April, here's to May.

Cupcake Mumma x