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Monthly Memoir – January ’17

February 1, 2017

We’ve done it! We’ve successfully reached the end of January! I hope it hasn’t been too bad for you all, and you have managed to stay warm enough through that cold snap! We’ve been piling on the logs in the Rayburn, but have been topping up the heat in the evenings with electric heaters and layering on the jumpers and blankets! I actually like the beginning of January; I allow myself a little time to get over Christmas and make plans for the year ahead. Planning is fun. It’s when the actual work begins things start feeling a bit crap. Don’t get me wrong – I love my work – well, I love 50% of my work. Unfortunately the other 50% is admin, advertising and accounts, which I don’t love. So it’s more important than ever that I look back on my highlights, favourites and things I’m grateful for this month……

Monthly Memoir – August

August 31, 2016

The very sad truth of the matter is that if I am writing this at the end of August, that pretty much means that summer is over. The leaves on the willow are mostly yellow already and flowers are sparse in our garden. It’s been a lovely summer, but a very busy one so I’m making a note to be more prepared next year. It began at the beginning of June with frantic sewing of bottle bags for Glastonbury Festival; then I just had a week to get ready for the three week American road trip; then I had two weeks to fulfil two custom orders for Oshun and get ready for my stall at the New Forest Fairy Festival; then I had two days to catch up on housework before my parents came for a a few days; then I had four days to make a mermaid wedding dress ready for a photo shoot in Cornwall. Which brings me up to two days ago! I’ve still got a couple of Khaleesi costume orders to make, but once those are done I can calm down a little. Oh and then it’s my daughter’s eighteenth birthday party. I’m hoping I get one or two days to relax before Christmas! ….

Weekly Wardrobe – New Forest Fairy Festival

August 15, 2016

This the event of the year for my Oshun clothing brand. It is the day after the New Forest Fairy Festival and I am utterly exhausted! It was an amazing weekend; incredibly busy; the sun shone and it was a complete success. Unfortunately it was so busy, I couldn’t leave my stall at all so I only managed to briefly visit one of the people I interviewed before the event. It’s a real shame I didn’t see the others, and that it the only down side of the weekend – other than that, it really couldn’t have been better. Everyone is so friendly and the atmosphere is lovely, so what better place to bring you my weekly wardrobe pictures from! Only one outfit this week as I was too occupied with getting ready for the festival beforehand. I’ll tell you more about the festival in my Monthly Memoir post at the end of the month….

Monthly Memoir – July

The whole of July was pretty much about our holiday in America. The few days before we left were spent frantically researching where we were going, and the few days after were spent unpacking, washing, and trying to get over jet-lag. We had three weeks away and began in New York, getting the AmTrack train down to Washington DC, picking up a hire car and driving to New Orleans via Nashville and Memphis, and then following the coast East to Orlando to spend the last couple of days in Disney’s Magic Kingdom and Universal Studios. Wow! I’m exhausted just remembering it! We covered ten states of America (New York, New Jersey, District of Columbia, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida.) Phew! ….

Monthly Memoir – June

What a tricky month June has been in the world of politics. I think it is a real shame we left the EU, but just as I thought we might be ok, Michael Gove puts himself forward for the leadership. I think I would have to leave the country if that happens! Anyway, for me it’s been my busiest month of the year, as I was making cup carriers and bottle bags to be sold at Water Aid stands at Glastonbury Festival. I’m not entirely sure how my sewing machine coped, but in the end I delivered two hundred and seventy-five altogether….

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….

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….

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…..

Monthly Memoir – March

So the month kicked off with the Oscars. (Ok, strictly speaking that was February, but I’d already written February’s memoir by the time we watched them on the evening of the 29th. Despite our best efforts to avoid spoilers during the day, we were all unable to avoid the fact that Leonardo DiCaprio had won best actor. This is great news as we’re with the popular opinion that it was about time! It was difficult to judge the winning choices without having seen ninety-five percent of the films, but I still find the event enjoyable to watch. The fact that all the creative people in the film industry are being celebrated, I find really inspiring and convinces me that my next writing project should be a screenplay!….

Hastings Pier – The story of the photograph (and photographer!)

Welcome to the first of a new regular feature I’m starting on this blog! I began a keen interest in photography about twenty years ago, and when I was seventeen I spent a stupid amount of money in credit interest buying my first SLR from a catalogue! I practiced a lot and took five GNVQ courses in photography at college in the evenings when my babies were little. I thought I’d go over some of my favourite photographs from back then and more recently, and tell you a little about how, when and where they were taken. The first is this one of Hastings Pier, which was in my very first exhibition….

Monthly Memoir – February

February 29, 2016

January was such a crappy month, I was relieved when it became February and now I can’t believe it’s over already. That always happens. Those one or two days less than most months somehow make a huge difference. So anyway, this is my very first Monthly Memoir and I aim to do this every month (obviously). If my time is accountable to you guys, hopefully it will encourage me to stay busy…

sudden death at Thornbury manor

Review of Sudden Death at Thornbury Manor written by Chris Lewis & Carol Hutton. Performed by Pilton Players

I’ve been asked to write a review of the play, which I watched on Thursday. So here it is: What a wonderful evening out in Pilton! Walking into the hall it was a pleasant surprise to find we sat at beautifully laid tables rather than the usual rows of seats. It is true to say that nothing about this performance was particularly usual! …..