February in numbers

29th: I turned 29 in a year when there were 29 days in February. Which is nice :)

8mm (approx): Bee space, which is essentially the amount of space a bee needs to move about between the frames in a hive. (Sometimes that's the amount of room you get on London's public transport at rush hour.) The bee-keeping course we started last month continues, it's still incredibly fascinating but I was slightly put off by last week's lesson on disease, there are some really nasty things out there which are devastating to bees :(

2: pancakes eaten on pancake Tuesday (so good).

8 weeks & 1 day: the amount of time between ordering and having Bridget delivered. (Bridget is our new sofa and she was worth the wait.)

13 miles: the distance my friends ran at the Brighton half marathon on Sunday. So very proud of them!

100,000: the approximate number of Pangolins that are captured and killed every year. They are one of my favourite animals and Feb 20th was world pangolin day. It was an opportunity to raise awareness about the world's most trafficked mammal. They live across parts of Africa and Asia but sadly all 8 species are endangered thanks to illegal trade. Pangolins are hunted and sold for their meat and scales, the former is seen as a delicacy in China and the latter is used in "medicine" (although there's no evidence to prove that they cure anything). Thankfully there are charities and conservationists out there rescuing, rehabilitating and re-releasing pangolins back into the wild (you can read more here) but, as illegal trade continues, so much more can be done. I'll leave you with this little film about an orphan pangolin (spoiler: he's SUCH a cutie!)...

January in numbers

16th: the day we moved into our flat. January has v.much been about the flat - packing, moving, unpacking, settling in, (slowly) buying things we need.

½ pints: my preferred beverage of choice. Dry January was (and is) never an option. Half pints however, are the way forward - 4 on a week night is my limit these days. It probably works out more expensive than buying pints but I think my liver is happier with me!

10: the number of nights my friend from America came to stay. Four days after we moved in Alex arrived to a rather higgledy-piggledy mess of a flat but we made it work. He cooked for us, baked for us and even made us coasters!

5,000: the average number a worker bees you'll find in a hive in winter. Mitch and I have started a bee-keeping course this month. There's only been two sessions so far but we've learned A LOT about bees and I can tell you: they are amazing creatures.

10hrs: the entire series of Making A Murderer watched in 3 sittings in the space of 6 days (one evening we watched 6 in a row - gah, was I stressed and mad after that).

-2℃:the coldest it's been this month. It might sound weird but I quite enjoyed that spell of frosty mornings, what can I say, I like my Januarys sunny and cold.