When I Grow Up
est. 2004
A Creative kind of Life. A blog by Helen Hobden
I still haven’t worked out what to do when I grow up! I’m mainly a writer, an artist, and a fairytale dressmaker with various crafty hobbies! Here (and on YouTube) I share bits of my life, thoughts, and what I’m learning along the way. Let’s find magic and inspiration; join me for this creative living adventure!

 

Blog Archives

Welcome to Blogtober!
October 2, 2016
What is Blogtober?I have set myself a blogging challenge to upload a post every single day in October. I noticed several people doing Vlogtober on You Tube, but as I already have Vlogmas planned for December, I decided to stick to writing and photographs for this month. Yes, I know I’m starting a day late. That’s because Friday’s post was delayed by a day, so that’s pushed everything up a bit. This is also quite a brief one because this weekend has been all about my eldest daughter’s twenty-first birthday, which has kept me rather busy. So, the reasons I’m doing Blogtober are to see if I can keep it up because maybe I’ll try writing shorter posts, but add them daily even after October if it goes down well. Also, I love blogging, but it is encroaching on my Oshun business time because I am a slow writer. At the moment I spend about an hour and half writing a post; an hour taking, editing and adding photos and half an hour to three-quarters adding links into the it. My goal in daily blogging is to make the process much faster without compromising on the quality. I’m hoping the daily practice will help a lot, but if it doesn’t, at the end of the month I’ll probably go back to three times a week. We’ll just have to see how it goes! The last reason is that I have a notebook where I write all my ideas for blog posts, and I have so many, at the rate I’ve previously been going, I’ll never catch up with all of them, so I’m looking forward to writing all the things I’ve had in my head for a while. Wish me luck!
Monthly Memoir – June
July 1, 2016
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….
Monthly Memoir – May
June 1, 2016
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…..
Vintage shopping at the Cheese & Grain in Frome, Somerset
May 24, 2016
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….
Birthday dinner at The Kingsdon Inn, nr Somerton, Somerset
May 9, 2016
It was my birthday! And what better way to celebrate than going out and have someone else cook for you. And clear away. Yeeees! I absolutely love eating out. It’s just such a pity that one meal out for the four of us costs about the same as our weekly shop from Tescos. But you see, (as I sometimes remember to remind myself) if you did it every day, it wouldn’t be special, would it? My lovely daughter, Rain did the research, and hunted out all restaurants within a reasonable distance that served Duck, being that duck is my favourite meal. The Kingsdon Inn came up as one of the top twenty restaurants in Somerset, and when my husband phoned to check food serving hours, it turned out you need to book well in advance if you want a table. We were lucky and got the second-to-last one; which is not what you’d expect for somewhere truly out in the sticks….
Where to go in the South-west for May Day weekend
April 29, 2016
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…
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Linking with #iwillwearwhatilike at Not Dressed As Lamb.

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