Monthly Archives

June 2016

Weekly Wardrobe – Summer Dresses (Glastonbury Festival edition!)

The day of the week for these posts have been a little random lately – sorry about that! Glastonbury Festival just messes with my schedule, and I’m not sure it will get much better as I’m quite busy over the next few weeks. However, I’m going to do my best to get these back on track and uploaded on Mondays. The misty drizzle that’s more-or-less settled itself over Pilton was not ideal for NotDressedAsLamb‘s theme of summer dresses this week. I did manage to wear a couple though, but with a cardigan over the top!

Full Review of Glastonbury Festival 2016

This year will be known for two things: the referendum and the mud. I hardly saw an act that didn’t mention both of those things. I’m sure you will have heard about both from plenty of other people, so I’m not going to dwell on either. This is going to be one long post about the entire five days, so fetch yourself a mug of hot chocolate and if you don’t quite make it all the way through, just leave the tab open and come back again later! ….

Weekly Wardrobe – A pop of colour

This week’s theme at NotDressedAsLamb for #IwillWearWhatILike was a little easier for me to follow, as I do have a few items of brightly coloured clothing, though when it came to looking at my wardrobe(s), not as many as I thought. Last week was pretty uneventful for me, as I’ve still been sewing away at the Bottle Bags and Cup Carriers for Glastonbury Festival – it was quite a relief when I handed them all in a couple of days ago. So the clothing I’ve included in this post is not for any particular occasion….

Glastonbury Festival – the calm before the storm

Strictly speaking, it was after the storm as there literally was thunder and quite a lot of rain a couple of hours before we went into the Glastonbury Festival site yesterday evening, but luckily it stayed dry for the time we were there. (addendum: The day after this, there was a massive storm on Friday as well, so even though I meant the title metaphorically, referring to the festival, it actually turned out to be true to life!) I’ve been running Pilton Youth Club for a few years now, and the festival office kindly let us have a look around. I hope you don’t mind my blog being fairly Glastonbury Festival heavy at the moment! This is mainly a photography post….

The Glastonbury Festival Packing List

The tipis are all up and the crew camping fields are nearly full already, so it’s time to be thinking about packing for Glastonbury Festival if you haven’t done so yet. The old adage is still true: Don’t bring anything you wouldn’t mind leaving behind. Tent burglaries are much fewer than they used to be, but they still happen and always sleep with any valuables at the bottom of your sleeping bag. Never leave any valuables in your tent – make use of the property lock-ups. They are run by local primary school PTAs mostly, so small donations are appreciated. It’s now been twenty years since I first stayed at Glastonbury Festival, and even though I now live in Pilton, I still remember what’s it’s like to carry (or pull in a cart) all your stuff miles and miles from your car to your favourite camping field. So try and pack as light as you can! This is an updated list from the one I did a few years ago….

Ideas for handmade Fathers’ Day gifts

It’s the time of year when we celebrate everything wonderful about our Dads and show them our appreciation with a cup of tea, a card and maybe a present. Or if you’re a mother, it’s time to make sure your kids are getting their act together! Avoid rushing to the supermarket on Sunday to buy whatever they have left, and order something today that’s a little bit different. Of course, as usual I’m encouraging you to support small handmade businesses….

Weekly Wardrobe

With a rare forecast of three days in a row without rain, I decided to set myself up with my sewing machine outside, where I can look up and see Glastonbury Festival being put together in the fields nearby. In a couple of weeks time, the cup carriers and bottle bags I’m making will be for sale there at Water Aid stalls. Anyway, my outfits this week were mainly based around comfort! The link-up with NotDressedAsLamb involved tote bags this week. Well, the only time I actually went out and needed a bag, was to choir, as I needed something that day to carry my folder of music….

Things you should be doing to get ready for Glastonbury Festival

Here in Pilton, the village is getting ready for Glastonbury Festival, and if you were lucky enough to get tickets; you should be too! Here’s a list of some of the things to be getting on with….

The Oxford Thames Four Pillars Hotel

I’ve come to the conclusion that I have too much stuff (“At last!” my Mum will be saying!) so when Chris asked what I wanted for Christmas and birthday, I suggested a day out somewhere instead of a present. He went a step further and suggested a break in a nice hotel. “Sounds lovely,” I said. “I’d like to go back to Oxford.” This particular hotel was ideal because I like old buildings, and the main entrance and lounge bit is medieval. I also needed somewhere to park (you’d be surprised how many in the city centre don’t have parking), and a swimming pool. This one is about three miles from Oxford, but it’s also on the river with the Thames Path running along-side (albeit the other side, so you need to back track a bit to the bridge) so you can walk in if you wish….

Weekly Wardrobe – pastels

Hello folks! Hope you’re having a lovely weekend. I’m starting a new regular thingumajig on here, which, as you can see, I’m calling ‘Weekly Wardrobe.’ In view of style and fashion being a frequent theme to my posts, I thought Why not share what I’m wearing? I was unsure at first, feeling it’s a little, well, self-important of me to think people will be interested, but let’s face it, in this day in age when tonnes of people are sharing their outfits on the internet, I think I’d like to join in! My fashion taste is a little random; sometimes hippy, ’50s, steampunk or lagenlook, but I like to think a little bit quirky. I’m a hoarder and rarely buy items brand new, so I’m afraid I’m not much good for ideas for you to exactly copy, but maybe offer style inspiration. I’m also going to be linking up with the fabulous Catherine Summers at NotDressedAsLamb and following her weekly themes for #iwillwearwhatIlike in rallying against the list some questionable journalist thinks people over thirty should stop wearing….

The story of an entrepreneur – Vikki Herbert from baby sling company, Wrapamore

In the 1970s my Mum bought a baby carrier from Mothercare that was so good, she kept it in the loft until I had my own children. Everywhere I went with my babies strapped to my front, people asked me where I got it from because there was nothing like it on the market at the time. It was large enough to offer head support and keep their legs warm, when the only alternative in shops were tiny strappy things that did neither those things. The down-side was I did feel like a blue and white striped kangaroo with this big pouch in front of me. Occasionally at Glastonbury Festival I’d spot an Earth Mother with their baby in a sling and was envious of the style, but had no clue how to go about making or buying one. Thankfully for parents nowadays, you have websites like Wrapamore, who offer the perfect solution to carrying your babies with you. I asked Vikki more about her company….

Monthly Memoir – May

Family photo These monthly memoirs slightly scare me because they really bring home how fast the months are flying by. May began with another trip to Kent to see family; some of whom I haven’t seen in far too long. This time the occasion was my sister’s 40th birthday party – even though it was really in January. She decided to be like the queen and have a ‘summer birthday’ as well. Actually, when we were little, my sister and I used to have a joint summer birthday when my uncle, aunt and cousins and grandparents would come over and we’d have a big roast dinner if the weather wasn’t good, or eat a picnic in the garden. We’d even get small presents, usually something to play outside with. Until I was about eleven years old I thought this was perfectly normal and everyone got a summer birthday as well as a real birthday! Jane made some tasty quiches and my Mum made delicious deserts. The weather was beautiful – positively hot even – and overall it was an absolutely lovely day…..