Introducing Marvin and Matilda!

Today's post brings a very important introduction to our gorgeous new editions to the family, Marvin and Matilda, our baby Russian tortoises! For years, Matthew and I have loved tortoises (and turtles) ... I just find them to be the coolest, cutest, most amazing little (or for some, not-so-little) creatures! So, after years of thinking of owning our own, Matthew decided to set about the project of creating the perfect home for them! We spent a few weeks researching and collecting all the things we'd need to give them a happy, healthy home and then a few days ago, Matthew gave me the most perfect birthday present... Marvin and Matilda! I still can't quite believe they're finally here, but they're just so special to us already, so I thought I'd introduce them to you here with a few details and photographs :)

So here are our buddies! Marvin is on the left, Matilda is on the right :) They are both Russian horsefield tortoises- and we chose this breed as they are relatively small, growing up to between 6 and 10 inches. To tell them apart, Matilda is slightly bigger than Marvin and her shell is much more bumpy... they also have pretty different personalities too! They're both just perfect though, and they seem to be settling in really well. 

PRETTY LITTLE TILDY!

Matilda is the more outgoing of the two, she will often climb onto my hand when I put it near her and she eats... ALOT! 

AWW, LITTLE MARVIN!

Marvin is a little quieter than Matilda, possibly because he's a little smaller... but he's so lovely!

This is their home! We were going to opt for a tortoise table but we figured, seeing as we were going to keep them in a bedroom it might not be the best option incase they didn't smell too nice... so we went for a 4ft vivarium. We also plan to keep them outdoors during the summer days but for now, this is where they live :) It's really spacious for them and they have been pretty active, exploring, digging and climbing on whatever they can haha. We have a UVA and a UVB bulb in there, making sure that we placed the heat bulb at one end of the viv to create a nice hot/cold side. We've been keeping the temperature between 25 and 32 degrees during the day time by using our thermostat and two thermometers. At night, it's always been above 19 degrees but during the winter, we plan to put in a concrete slab underneath the aspen bedding to make sure they stay warm and this will also help to trim their nails and beaks! As far as the decoration goes, we have a little house for them to hide in which we built a lolly-pop fence around for when we eventually have a little wooden ramp there for them to climb up onto the house as they are avid climbers/diggers! They seem to enjoy climbing over their little wooden log bridge and crawling underneath it, but for the most part they seem to be staying near the hot side, using the plant for shade when they need it :) We change their water everyday, but have decided we would like to get a bigger water bowl as they have been enjoying bathing in it as they drink. Another thing we intend to add, are some little pebbles for them to rest their heads on at night as they have been using the plant as a pillow haha. The most recent edition to their enclosure has been this little wooden tee-pee tent which they look ridiculously cute in when they sleep there! They seem really happy and have been doing really well here, but this is our first time keeping tortoises so, we're still learning and will continue to add things that they might need :)

They are little hungry munchkins haha... so we try to feed them separately just so that we can monitor that they are both eating enough. We have been feeding them on lettuce (not iceberg), watercress, red cabbage (Matilda seems to love this) and mint leaves so far, but we have a list of things they can eat so we will introduce a few other things as and when. I love to see them eating because they are pretty smart about it... holding the leaves with their feet to help them bite it properly... and you get to see their little tongue- Marvin sometimes does a little "licking his lips" motion haha :) Also, 4 times a week, we sprinkle calcium dust onto their food to ensure they are maintaining sufficient levels of calcium.

They love to be around one another and we have seen them sleep next to one another (or indeed like this haha) a few times :)

At night, they like to burrow under the aspen and sleep under it... spot the buddies? haha!

Marvin sometimes had a snooze in the bath haha

Matilda does the sweetest thing, when she eats or gets comfy she just splats here little legs out and lays there like a starfish haha!

LAPTOP TIME WITH MY LITTLE LADY

They've been so friendly, and seem to enjoy cuddling up on my tummy whilst I write blog posts! It must be my body heat that settles them because they sit really calmly there :)

BUDDIES WATCHING FRIENDS HAHA

HAVING A SNOOZE... IN MY ARMPIT HAHA

ENJOYING SOME TIME WITH THEM :)

They both seem to have settled into their new home really well, and we've loved having them! Such beautiful pets to have, and we almost feel like parents when we find ourselves thinking about them when we're out for the day haha. I've loved getting to know them both and I'm looking forward to all our adventures with them to come! :)

19th Birthday!

On Monday (August 18th) I celebrated my 19th birthday, which means two things... the first being the obvious, I turned 19 and the second, that my blog is 1 years old :) So... happy birthday candyflossflowers haha! Anyway, I thought I'd create a little post all about my birthday... which was a quiet one this year but I still had a really special day :D As you'll probably expect, this will be another picture-heavy post... I guess you could tell I'm a lover of this format haha!

On Saturday, I went out for a meal with my girls and had such a lovely night! We had tones of laughs, most of which evolved around Jade getting chillies in her eye ball hahah! PS... you all looked beautiful!

DRESS AND SHOES: NEW LOOK     BAG: TOPSHOP

This dress isn't really something I'd usually choose to wear, as I've always steered clear of the whole body-con fit but after a few confidence boosts from a best pal (thanks Lilly haha) I actually felt nice wearing it :) It was comfortable and the little sheer panel at the bottom made it a really pretty version of a classic LBD! I also wore my new two-coin necklace that Loucie bought me for my birthday- needless to say, I absolutely love it! It's right up my street because it's quite dainty and simple which means it just goes with everything!

For my make up I used all my favourites- when it's your birthday it's got to be done haha!

NARS SHEERGLOW FOUNDATION... MAC HARMONY BLUSH (USED AS A BRZONER) MIXED WITH MAC PEACHES BLUSH ON MY CHEEKS... MAC SOFT AND GENTLE HIGHLIGHTER... URBAN DECAY NAKED BASICS PALETTE FOR MY BROWS... ARDELL FALSE LASHES WITH A BIT OF MAXFACTOR FALSE LASH MASCARA... RIMMEL LIQUID LINER... MAC'S PLEASE ME LIPSTICK WITH TANYA BURR LIPGLOSS IN PICNIC IN THE PARK

The stand-out favourite little make up revelation that I came across, was Mac's Amber Lights eyeshadow. I'd heard good things about it for people with blue eyes- but it actually exceeded my expectations as it made my eyes stand out looking super blue (no filter in the photo)! 

The next day, I had a really nice Sunday lunch with my family at a new pub/bar across the road from me, followed by an afternoon with my gran who made the yummiest ginger flavoured birthday cake!

After work on the Sunday, Matthew and I brought home some Chinese food and we had some food with my family while trying to guess just about every present on the table haha! 

Now for my actual birthday haha! I just had a relaxing morning opening gifts and eating coco pops (my favourite) and for those who don't know... I have a reputation in my household for being a painfully slow present-unwrapper... I just like to take my time! The boys however, weren't able to justify the 10 minutes I spent looking at my new make up brush haha...

Me and my bin-man (wrapping-paper-collector) :)

I loved each and every one of my gifts and cards from all my beautiful family and friends! They're all currently set up on my desk so I can admire them before I put them all away! I'm so grateful for all of them I could just sit and look through/read them all day long :)

One of my favourite presents from my Mumsy :)

Post-make up transformation haha!

Now for the super exciting part! For years, Matthew and I have loved tortoises/turtles... they're just my favourite animals as I think they're so cool and cute as cute can be! So, a few weeks back Matthew finally set about the project of getting some of our own! He's had a terrapin turtle for about 5 years now, so we thought it would be nice to go for some tortoises! After a few days of research, we decided to go for Russian Horsefield tortoises as they're a relatively small breed... so we spent a few weeks collecting all that we'd need to take car of them, and on my birthday Matthew finally took me to pick up our little buddies!

We went for one each, both around 6 months old and they're just the most perfect creatures!

And here they are, on route to their new home... Marvin and Matilda :D

I think it's safe to say I felt well and truly spoiled! These were just the most perfect gifts and I don't know if I'll ever be able to find the right words to thank Matthew for all the things he did to make my 19th birthday extra special!

M for Matthew (and coincidentally, Marvin and Matilda) :)

The proud owners (parents haha) of two gorgeous little tortoises! 

The three of us having some lunch :) Excuse the blurry phone quality :( 

I always think we look so alike! Andrew must have enjoyed my birthday too as he got lots of cake and biscuits haha...

For the rest of the afternoon we just chilled out at Matthew's and settled Marvin and Matilda in their new house!

Watching friends with our buddies! 

In the evening, we went for a meal at Nandos (our favourite place haha) with our friends Zarril and Emma which was really nice! It also gave me chance to wear some of my new make up!

When we got back, we gave Marvin and Matilda a bath and turned them into little models to try and get some nice photos of them! We watched lots of friends episodes and ate lots of birthday nibbles! I had such a lovely birthday... and it seemed to last a whole weekend as I got to celebrate with all my family and friends! :) Thank you again to everyone for my lovely messages, cards and gifts :D 

I hope you enjoyed this post as a little update on what I've been up to this weekend!

:)

Whipsnade Zoo!

Last week, Matthew and I took a trip to Whipsnade Zoo! Having been to London Zoo a couple of years ago (and loved it!) we thought we'd visit it's partner over at Whipsnade. It was a two hour drive to get there, including a quick McDonald's breakfast stop haha... but the route was fairly easy so, fortunately, there were no wrong-turns! On arrival, we didn't do much queuing as we already had our tickets and it was free parking! Overall, we had such a lovely day so I thought I'd write a little review-style post with a few photos for anyone who's thinking of paying a visit to the zoo! :)

Quick OOTD... ASOS culotte shorts, M&S T-shirt (yup.. grandma Laura), Topshop black bag, Dorothy Perkins flats, Raybans, Urban Outfitters bangle, Topshop lipstick in Pillow Talk ... I felt pretty comfortable all day, although, I would probably advise to wear trainers or comfier shoes as there's a lot more walking than I was prepared for haha!

There were loads of little benches and places to sit which was really nice! You can actually take cars into the zoo and drive around, but it's not like a safari... there are stopping points where you have to get out of the car to look at the animals. I guess it would be nice to take the car in as the zoo is pretty big and spaced out but we enjoyed just strolling around in the sunshine :)

There were a few small animals roaming freely around the zoo- including wallabies which were pretty cool haha!

Giraffe selfieeee! Their enclosure was one of my favourites as you could see them up high- so I guess at eye-level for them!

Couldn't help but think of Shrek's swamp here...

Mummy and baby!

Can you touch your nose with your tongue? 

We weren't too impressed by the penguin enclosure, but the penguins were still lovely :) Edinburgh zoo definitely wins here on the penguin front... their enclosure was amazing!

About to get some food... we only got a few snacks but the food seemed pretty good :) It was almost the same as the food in London Zoo, both being quite expensive aswell!

Couldn't imagine a more gorgeous zebra photo than that! Matthew's photography I must add :)

Inside the discovery centre, there was an aquarium with lots of fishes and reptiles... including mine and Matthew's favourite... turtles!

One of our favourite bits was the Rhino enclosure, where there was a little indoor section where you could sit and watch the Rhinos bathing in their pool with no glass between you! We kept hearing them snore and blowing bubbles haha... in one of our videos Matthew said "this is the rarest thing, eating starbursts while watching a Rhino (named Herbert) sleep" haha :)

After such a good day, we headed to the gift shop and picked up some little souvenirs (including a little turtle plate and some keyrings haha) before heading home with sore feet! It was such a lovely day out together and all the animals were beautiful :)

I'll include a few of our ratings for some of the practical bits of Whipsnade Zoo itself... but I always feel that any place really is what you make of it :)

• Layout: 8/10 very spaced out, which meant LOTS of walking, but most of the enclosures were really nice!
• Food: 5/10 pretty standard and quite expensive... but not bad.
• Parking: 10/10 really good... close and free!
• Overall: 8/10 Really good place to visit for the day! 

:)