What Sophie Said

We stumbled across Paradise Wildlife Park by accident. A brown sign at the side of the road en route to a weekend getaway said it was only a couple of hours away. Reviews online told us it was a great day out. We booked tickets online, and headed towards the park on a sunny Saturday morning. It's a trip to the zoo, but on a smaller scale. It has animals from big cats to wolves, zebras to snakes, and you feel so close to all of them. The way the enclosures were built meant many didn't seem like 'enclosures' at all, and the staff all over the park were clearly so passionate about the animals they looked after. The first thing we went to was a talk on red pandas, who were just beautiful and the keeper seemed almost giddy with excitement as he told us about the species, their lives in the wild, and what is being done to protect them. The big cats were so regal-looking, and high up walkways allowed you to walk around and look down into the enclosures...

You’ve come round quickly. January seemed to last for weeks on end, but February crept by without me really even noticing. I’ve had a fairly quiet month, mainly working then relaxing in good company. March is a busy one, this year. I’ve filled up my weekends with things I’m really looking forward to. There’s the day my mum is coming to London for food and museums and exhibitions. There are two shows in my diary. There’s an overnight stay in a place which looks beautiful and calm. We have a big event at work mid-month which I know will be a long day, but I’m interested to see how it all runs, as I hadn’t joined the company yet when it ran last year. I’ve started seeing a new counsellor. More to come on that soon, but those sessions will be another key feature of the month. We had our first appointment last week and I’m feeling good about it. Apart from that, there are catch-ups with friends lined up, and a couple of my favourite people have birthdays...