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Dorset photography trip - sunset

A photography trip to Dorset – Shaftesbury, Portland Bill & Lyme Regis

The problem with working from home in a small village in central Somerset, is that we are in danger of going a bit stir crazy! Over the last couple of years Chris and I have made more of an effort to use our weekends to go exploring nearby. So far this year, we’ve cranked it up a notch and have gone further afield to Dartmoor in Devon a couple of times, and our last day-trip was to Dorset…

Joulesredcoat

A photography trip to Wistman’s Wood, Dartmoor, Devon

February 5, 2019

Chris bought himself a new lens recently, and his place of choice to try it out for the first time was a photography trip to Wistman’s Wood in Dartmoor. Full of myth and legend and being the place of many a fairy sighting, I was pretty keen to go as well…

summer solstice sunrise at stonehenge

Summer Solstice at Stonehenge + 7 things you need to know for next time

Summer Solstice at Stonehenge is something I’ve been wanting to do for years and years. There’s one fundamental problem though: Glastonbury Festival comes right afterwards! And you’re tired enough at Glastonbury without the added exhaustion of being awake through the night before. I’ve never been one of those people (no matter what age) who could just stay up all night and not feel it for the following week! However, this was a fallow year for Glastonbury Festival so we decided to finally do it!…..

british blogger sitting on the grass under a blossom tree

3 reasons to be glad of a wet bum

Something dawned on me at Glastonbury Festival on the Thursday night last year and this is the story behind it: Rain and I were sitting in a field on our little fold-up seats, surrounded by all sorts of weird and wonderful vehicle creations waiting for Johnny Depp to appear (in actual real life, right in front of us) to introduce The Libertine, soon to be shown on the massive screen in front of the ever-growing crowd. All of a sudden, a woman amongst the group of friends sitting near us jumped up, saying something along the lines of, ‘I think someone’s spilt their drink here – I’ve got a wet bum.’…..

Milsom Place festival of flowers

Festival of Flowers; visit Milsom Place this weekend!

I was so happy to be invited to visit Milsom Place in Bath yesterday and see the preparations taking place for the Festival of Flowers. I love watching the annual Chelsea Flower Show on the telly, so to be shown around Milsom Place by multi award winning landscape gardener, Jon Wheatley, it was a real treat!….

how to road trip with kids

7 ways to survive a family road trip – holidays with kids advice!

Are you going on a road trip with your kids? Does the thought of going on holiday with children fill you slightly with dread? Well, worry no more – I’m here to help you out! Our first family road trip was back in 2002 when our daughters were seven and four years old and we did the classic California route that’s become very popular recently: Los Angeles then travel along the coast to San Francisco; to Yosemite national park; through Death Valley to Las Vegas; to the Grand Canyon; to San Diego for Seaworld then back to LA for Disney Land. And that was pre Sat Nav – I can still hardly believe we did all that with paper maps! Anyway, since then we’ve done a variation of that loop three more times and several camper van holidays in the UK from long weekends to a three-week tour of iron-age sites. Last year we drove from Washington DC to Orlando via Nashville, Memphis and New Orleans. I feel that we’ve got pretty good at road-tripping by now……

Basildon Park national trust house

A visit to Basildon Park near Reading. Places to visit near the M4

Last week we actually had a taster of a social life and drove all the way to London for a friend’s birthday barbecue. I was a lovely weekend, and it was so nice to go to a party and chat to old friends and meet new people. If you know me, then you’ll know this is a bit out of my comfort zone, but I think I managed not to panic and say anything stupid! Anyway, instead of the usual A303 route back to Somerset, we decided to take a slower route beginning with the M4 and then detouring through the English countryside. We stopped for a while at the National Trust property near Reading; Basildon Park…..

Glastonbury Frost Fayre

How to shop at Craft Fairs – Advice and 10 Dos and Don’ts

December 8, 2017

Christmas is on its way! You may start to see more posters going up at the school/church/town hall/community centre etc for craft fairs. It’s the perfect chance to support local people, businesses and the event, which is usually for charity or raising funds for a community group, but before you go, please read this…..

Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury

Glastonbury Festival 2017 – Review & photos

Yes, I know it’s a bit late in the day, but I think I’ve written a review of every Glastonbury Festival since this blog began, so I can’t break with tradition can I? This was the first year I vlogged the whole event, so I’ve been intensely editing all the hours of footage I came home with, so please click the link if you’d like to watch the video. Anyway, Glastonbury 2017 will definitely go down as one of my favourites and I have to be honest, that’s mainly due to the perfect weather! I don’t go for the bands – if you’ve been to Glastonbury Festival, you’ll know it’s about so much more than the music, and it’s almost impossible to explain why……

Glastonbury Festival advice

Advice, packing lists and tricks to survive Glastonbury Festival

Oh my goodness, it is practically upon us already and I’m not in the least bit prepared. So I’m going to be very busy getting ready over the next couple of days, and if you are off to Glastonbury Festival, then please read on as I think all of this advice will be useful for you. This is a compilation of the posts and videos I’ve made and altogether they contain everything you need to know!…..

The Glastonbury Festival sign

A sneak peek at Glastonbury Festival 2017 a week before the fun starts!

This is mainly a photography post as there isn’t a great deal to say about it really! I had the opportunity to have a walk around the Glastonbury Festival site last night, so of course I took my camera with me! I also vlogged it, so when I’ve had chance to edit the footage, I’ll add that too. I’m pleased to report that the ground underfoot is very firm and the grass very green. It amazes me how much there is still to do in the next six days, but so much has happened in the last week, I’m sure they’ll manage it!….

Walking round Glastonbury Festival site

A walk around the Glastonbury Festival site – the story of the photographs

Considering Glastonbury Festival is a hop skip and a jump away from us in Pilton, I’m surprised we don’t go for a wander around the site more often. I’m guessing it’s the long uphill walk back to the villagers’ gate that puts us off! Anyway, on Mothering Sunday the rest of the family didn’t really have a choice in the matter, and as it was a bright sunshiny day, I thought I’d drag them off on a walk….