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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….

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….

Vintage shopping at the Cheese & Grain in Frome, Somerset

Yes, I know I have already written about this fair last year, but it’s such a good one, that I think it deserves another! There were several new stalls this time, and as is the nature of vintage items, the stock on the Frome Vintage Bazaar regular stalls is always changing anyway so you’re guaranteed a plethora of different stuff to rummage in. In fact I was even more impressed this time around with the the quality of items on offer here and really would recommend this vintage fair if you’re in the area. I also took some lovely photos of some of the stalls, which I’m dying to share with you….

The story of the photographs – a walk along the Thames path to Oxford

Duck family I was recently lucky enough to have a little break at the Oxford Thames Hotel at Sandford-on-Thames. You’ve probably guessed by now which river I might be walking next to! With no path on the hotel side of the river, I had to back-track a little to cross the bridge at the lock at the Kings Arms where I saw the cutest tiniest little fluffy duckling with a Mummy and two Daddies looking after it! This really started off my walk in a good mood, and I stayed that way all the way to Oxford, even though it felt a lot longer than the three miles it was supposed to be….

A day in out in Bath during Fashion Week

I don’t need much persuading to go to Bath – it’s a beautiful city and considering how close we are, I really should go more often. It’s the annoyingly slow and windy drive that puts me off I think. Anyway, considering clothing is one of my favourite things, I thought I’d go during Bath in Fashion Week. I chose one paid-for event, which was the talk with Livia Firth on sustainable fashion, and was pleased to see on the website that there were plenty of free things going on that day as well….

Where to go in the South-west for May Day weekend

I love the May day bank holiday. Ever since I read The Secret World of Polly Flint by Helen Cresswell when I was nine or something, I’ve had a magical feeling in my bones when May the first comes around. “A maypole in the month of May, is magical, or so they say!” And it’s a good time to go faerie spotting, though I’ve had no luck yet. I’ve also washed myself in the early morning dew (how very pagan of me) but whether or not it’s made me beautiful, well, I’m not really one to say! Here are a few ideas for events happening this weekend in the south-west of England. Some are quite famous, but hopefully there’s some you haven’t heard of before and would like to visit…

Sustainable Fashion – a talk with Livia Firth

If money weren’t an issue, I would have been up and down to Bath all through its Fashion Week, and despite entering every competition I could find, I did not win any tickets to the fashion shows. I did however buy a ticket to see this event with Livia Firth in conversation with fashion writer, Avril Groom. As you probably know, I make and sell clothes by recycling/repurposing/reclaiming/upcycling (insert favourite buzz-word here) unwanted fabrics with my clothing label Oshun, so sustainable fashion is something I am very interested in….

Vintage clothing kilo sale in Bristol

Both my daughters and I are interested in vintage fashion, so whenever an event related to it comes up, I take the opportunity for a Mother/Daughter bonding day out! This was an event Rain had heard about, and when we approached the Paintworks building, we knew we must be in the right place due to the hoards of students with their clear bags of clothing. It’s basically a vintage clothing sale where you pay £15 per kilogram…

A visit to Bristol and BIMM

The other week it was an open day at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute (BIMM) in Bristol. Our youngest daughter, Jude is thinking about taking a music management degree there soon, so we went along to see what it was like. We left so early in the morning and the traffic was surprisingly good for a Saturday, we actually arrived in Bristol with an hour to spare. All was fine, and we killed time browsing a few shops, but somehow we ended up walking the wrong way up the road, had to backtrack and ended up getting there ten minutes late!…

Avalon Fairy Fair, Glastonbury, Spring 2016

I couldn’t believe it was time for one of these fairs again. They’re only twice a year, but they seem to rock around far more often than that! They’re in Glastonbury town hall and I usually go to every one if I can because it’s so full of such interesting stalls…