live fast die fun #3: bee photographs the animal kingdom

'Live Fast Die Fun' is a weekly feature that sees me tackling a new skill/re-visiting old ones in order to broaden my horizons and experience lots of different things.This feature could take me anywhere, from culinary attempts to trying my hands at languages to just about anything! This week sees me at one with nature and the wildlife around me! I'll be rating my experience at the end of the post and discussing the ins and outs of this skill! If you've got any ideas for future posts then please feel free to comment. Let me know what you think!

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I am in no way claiming to be a photographer of any sort. In fact, I'm far from it. However, I've always been drawn to finishing off film with a few snaps of the local wildlife/my four legged furry feline friends. Hello 10 samey shots of the cat at the end of the disposable camera! The summer welcomes a whole new load of colourful characters coming out to play so I thought I'd take on the role of wildlife paparazzi and photograph them whilst they tried, and albeit failed, to go about their day in peace. I'm extremely lucky to live somewhere that is surrounded by vast amounts of countryside so I headed off with camera, keen eye and boyfriend in tow in search of some photogenic critters. Naturally, David Attenborough was narrating the journey in the depths of my mind. All the photographs you see in this post are mine and, therefore, I'd appreciate it if you notified me if you'd like to use them anywhere. 

(collection of some old wildlife photos I've taken!)

Like I said already, I'm no expert. I don't think that in order to learn a new skill you have to go in there knee deep in knowledge and equipped with expensive resources. With this in mind, my lowly point and shoot seemed to be all I needed, well, and some wildlife of course. There's that age old saying to 'never work with animals' and I can kind of understand why. The more awkward of the kingdom, hello Mr Butterfly, will make you work for your photograph. They watch you gleefully as you hop around the meadow in pursuit of them. Therefore, I'd remind any budding amateur wildlife photogs to attempt it with a shit load of patience. Whilst some wildlife like the limelight whilst you invade their dinner time, others don't. With this sentiment firmly in mind,  my second tip is to respect your subject. No one wants to come away with battle scars! If your subject starts grunting/mooing *etc* loudly...that's your time to run! You should also abuse that macro setting.

(I'm pretty taken by the Spotted Burnet Moths that I found)

It seems the insect world were the only ones inquisitive enough to brave the silly June weather and pose for some photographs. This was slightly disappointing because the spot we ventured to is renowned for its sightings of owls, otters, voles and birds. I guess that's the exciting thing about wildlife/nature photography; you never know what you'll stumble upon on a particular day! Since I first came across the Six Spot Burnet Moth the other week *pictured above* I've become pretty taken by them. I was gutted when my camera deleted all the photographs I had of them so I deliberately visited the flowers they frequent in order to capture a few new shots of them. They're extremely obedient when it comes to posing but I suppose that's only because I caught them during feeding time! I love their little curled tongues and gorgeous polka dots. They've definitely got some catwalk credentials! Luke and I have a habit of seeing things for the first time and believing they're rare creatures. We thought the exact same thing about these little buggers and now we see them everywhere.

(Some scary creature perched on a flower | Big juicy grasshoppers adorned the oversized daisies)

Luke was running around like a dog on heat trying to catch little grasshoppers in his hands; I didn't have the heart to tell him I'd caught a dozen on them hanging on these gorgeous large daisies. I think I might have to start reading up on the correlation between certain plants and animals in order to catch them. Oh god, what am I fast becoming?! I'm not entirely sure what the bug in the top photograph is but it looked like it could kick my ass so I didn't bother it for long! I've definitely fallen head over heels in love with photographing the critters of the animal kingdom so I definitely don't think this is the last you'll see of my wildlife paparazzi attempts. Don't worry though, little Viva won't be turning into some sort of Springwatch supplement! I don't own the anorak for that. I'm definitely going to make a habit of photographing the little things around me for the rest of my days. 

(Some sort of duck Mother's Union meeting | Pretty bug - think it might be Harlequin Ladybird larva?!)

There you have it! I'm off to go for an afternoon of shopping with my Mamabear. Have an awesome rest of the week and I'll see you on Friday. By the way, it was Little Viva's first birthday yesterday. She celebrated with a well earned rest! P.S I'm creating the ultimate holiday playlist at the moment and I need your music ideas. Please leave them in a comment ;)

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difficulty rating: 50% This depends on the particular animal and their behaviour on the day. Some will sit pretty for you - others will fly off into the distance laughing at your naivety.
laughter level: 70% Animals really do the funniest things sometimes.
encouraged a happy head?
recommended? Always! Just remember to respect the animal's private space. No one likes to have it invaded - especially cattle!

live fast die fun #2: learning a language

'Live Fast Die Fun' is a weekly feature that sees me tackling a new skill/re-visiting old ones in order to broaden my horizons and experience lots of different things.This feature could take me anywhere, from culinary attempts to trying my hands at languages to just about anything! This week sees me make a well-overdue return to the French language and the beauty it has to offer. I'll be rating my experience at the end of the post and discussing the ins and outs of this skill! There's also some pretty fetching photographs of me at the bottom. If you've got any ideas for future posts then please feel free to comment. Let me know what you think of my French attempts ;)

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Bonjour. See, I've started already! Yes, this week's challenge saw the return of my GCSE French skills and with it a new sense of pride. Those that know me will know that I bloody love my languages. I can speak English (sometimes), French, Spanish and I can give you 1-10 in Italian ;) Mieow, I love milking that! However, my dream of bagging myself a gorgeous French man was decidedly over when my GCSE teacher decided to make my life a living hell. He was 6ft 7 inches of complete and utter wanker. I'm sorry for my bad word there but there really isn't a nicer word to describe him. Instead of helping you with the language he'd *literally* look down on you and mock you for even asking questions about it. This saw me skip away with a lower grade than I wanted (C), tarnished pride and a dislike for the language itself. So, four years later, I've decided to re-visit the language teacher-free and remind myself of why I fell in love with  it in the first place! Albeit, this time it wasn't to woo a Frenchie into bed...just in case Luke is reading this! Haha.

Equipped with a teach yourself French guide that I spied amongst things heading off to the car boot, a French verb book and a CD, I re-started my quest to bag myself some kudos in France. Luke and I are doing this together and I cannot preach enough just how much easier languages are to tackle and to stay passionate about when you're doing it with someone else! As of yet, we have merely touched on the basic greetings, numbers, m/f and courteous phrases. I was amazed at the fact that, so far, I've remembered everything we have studied! At school, language classes were always confusing because they went at such a strange pace - vocab lessons would fly by whilst they'd spend about 40 years lecturing you on the past participle and other grammatical bores. That's the beauty of teaching yourself, you can go at your own pace and focus on the things that you're struggling with rather than rushing over them and accepting that they will always be your downfall. Although, I'm sure I'll do anything I can to skip quickly over some of the grammar bollocks. Bane of my life.

I think people that teach themselves languages are kind of looked down upon by some people in society. It's almost as if languages are resigned to the newly divorcee middle aged women who take on 400 night classes or is deemed pretentious. Yes, people abroad DO speak very good English but I don't think that's any reason to not learn theirs. If, like me, you have a family member that sort of speaks with over accentuatedness (it's now a word) and sort of starts playing a game of charades with foreign folk then I'm sure you'll understand. It's awkward and terribly embarrassing! At the moment, we are just following the guide as it goes along. 30 minutes each day gives you enough time to get a few tasks down and re-visited for spelling and pronunciation tests! Learning a language really doesn't have to be time consuming. Plus, once you've done it once you don't really forget it - kinda like riding a bike! A lifelong skill that'll really help when you're a jet-setting star/dodgy tourist with an even dodgier tan.

This is an on-going skill for the both of us. We are going to stick at it and, if we do well enough, we've decided as a reward we'll treat ourselves with a trip to Paris at some point. The perfect incentive! If I were to give any other aspiring French speakers advice I would say: go at your own pace, always re-visit things you've gone over and make sure you work on all aspects of learning the language. If you follow those tips I'm sure you'll be well on your way to croissants with Monsieur/Mademoiselle Hottie! Anyway, I'm off to go learn a little more...Au revoir! Any multi-lingual geniuses out there? What languages can you speak? Ever tried to teach yourself? Let's discuss ;) I'll be back on Friday with my much anticipated VLOG! Miracles do happen. P.S Here's a few photos of me rocking a Breton top and a moustache. You didn't think I'd resist did you?

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difficulty rating: With linguistic talents under my belt, I have, so far, found re-visiting French an easy experience. The guides I'm using are also pretty helpful and simplify everything so I'd suggest that if you want to give a new language a go to invest in some good resources and reading materials.

laughter level:  10%.  Whilst the experience is enjoyable, I've been focusing properly on the task at hand and therefore haven't had time to mess about as per usual. 

encouraged a happy head? Definitely! A happy head thrives on pride.

recommended? I believe that learning a language is one of the best things you can do with regards to learning new skills and enriching your life. I'd suggest you all give it a go!

live fast die fun #1: bee attempts to paint...

'Live Fast Die Fun' is one of those mantras that I've admired cautiously from afar. Could I really live my life without giving a thought about the consequences of my actions? Could I actually just live without filling my mind with anxieties? Like everything remotely fun, it's not exactly 100% practical to withhold 24/7 because, well, I'd never get the boring stuff done. Therefore, I thought I'd indulge in this new found rebellion through a weekly feature over here at Little Viva. I really wanted to introduce a post with a nod towards healthy minds/happy hearts so I'm super excited to do it through this feature!

Basically, each week I'll be tackling a new skill/re-visiting old ones in order to broaden my horizons and experience lots of different things.This feature could take me anywhere, from culinary attempts to trying my hands at languages to just about anything! I've started out with a light hearted post and a skill that, by the looks of things, I'll never quite master...not to a standard that surpasses a 5 year old anyway! Each week I'll be rating my experience and rambling about how I've found the week's task. If you've got any ideas for future posts please leave them in a comment! Enjoy.

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As a child, I frequented many an art exhibition and was allowed to paint various unrecognisable scenes with my Grandmother's finest watercolours whilst tucking into my corner shop sweet haul. I was surrounded by art and calligraphy so I fell for the art world big time and felt so proud to have an artist for a Grandma. Of course, my childish paintings weren't exactly reminiscent of Monet but they were still vaguely aware of various different techniques. As you read this, you're probably thinking that the results of my painting attempts were glorious and quite grand. As you scroll down, you'll be wetting yourself. Unarmed of decent resources, I picked up a canvas and acrylic paints for a measly £1 at Poundland. Does anyone else love going round the store pointing at the products shouting, 'How much is that?' Cause I bloody love it! Despite the price, it was actually a really good set! I was incredibly apprehensive about putting paint to canvas. I don't like to spoil things and my shaky hand wasn't ever going to play ball but throwing caution to the wind I decided to begin...

I had to work with a limited amount of colours but, amazingly, I managed to remember my year 7 art basics and quickly turned into Sir Mix-alot. Yes, I like bold colours and I cannot lie. With regards to my state of mind, I found painting extremely therapeutic. I got lost in a world of primary colours and I bloody loved it! So, even though it looks as if its fallen straight out of a 5 year old's school book, I'm feeling pretty proud of myself. I think we are all born with a need for some level of perfection so we often find it difficult to just let go and make something all about fun and not take it seriously. With this in mind, I just completely embraced everything that went wrong with the painting and embraced the fact that I have no talent for this skill whatsoever. My best friend and I were in complete fits throughout! That's surely the best thing about it?! Onto the horror...

I decided to paint my best friends, 'the team', and I on a summer's day in a flower filled meadow. Conceptually, it was a work of art. In reality, it was the funniest thing I've ever seen. Kelly painted herself so I can't take credit for the fact that she seems to have turned herself into Mr Tumnus. I am, however, responsible for accidentally giving myself gangrene, kinda turning the sun into the Pringle man, giving Dana huuuuuuge boobies and my tree trunk legs. Haha! Here's a photo of us for reference...The likeness is uncanny isn't it?! By the way, our hair colours have respectively changed so the painting is a little better than this photograph suggests!

K, D, Me, C

To conclude, would anyone like to buy my artwork via Etsy? Hahahahaha! I'm already loving this new feature and I can't wait to embrace everything that comes with it. It's never too late to start living vicariously every so often. Again, if you've got any ideas for future posts please leave them in a comment! I hope you've enjoyed the new feature/not ran away in despair at my poor talent. Here's a toothy smile, my cheekbones and awkward pose to illustrate my pride!

Ugh, this photo is steadily reminding me of why I never smile with my teeth! Apologies for the glare - I took it in front of a window.

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difficulty rating: by the looks of things, very!

laughter level: 80% - it was pretty much wee inducing!

encouraged a happy head? brilliant therapy and really helped me to relax

recommended? definitely! you don't necessarily need to have an artistic flare either.