Project 366 2016 #34

Week 34 of Project 366 for 2016 saw Soul Circus coming to an end and a bit of a lazy recovery week!

Day 234
Today I met Professor Wrinkles! If you have no clue what I'm on about, take a look here.
Day 235
Back home tired but happy from my weekend. I wore my t-shirt and pretended I was still away.
Day 236
A lazy Tuesday - I have a feeling this may be a lazy week! I unpacked my lovely bracelet that I treated myself to on the weekend.
Day 237
We decided to have a fish and chip supper at the top of one of our favourite local hills. The husband drove us up in the van and we sat in the back under the canopy of the boot as the rain came down. It didn't spoil the lovely view though.
Day 238
The kiddos had a friend over to play today to keep them busy then I had a cuppa and catch up with a friend. In the evening it was back to yoga but too dark when I left to capture the yoga sky. Instead, this is the sky in the distance beneath the glow of the street lamp.
Day 239
A gorgeous sunny day today and we headed over to Devizes for some fabric and popped into the library. Back home I cut the last of the sweet peas plus a couple of small sunflower heads that are about to turn.
Day 240
A rare day out with the husband today - minus the kiddos! We took the train into Bath, had chai latte, coffee and croissants, browsed in the most lovely bookshop - just like something out of a movie - drank cider and ate badly. It was a lovely day.

x x x

Soul Circus ~ Yoga & Wellness Festival {Review}

This weekend the time had finally come for me to attend the inaugural yoga and wellness festival that is Soul Circus. I left home on Friday morning with some apprehension about what was to come; I was leaving my family behind and going it alone to a festival. The date had been marked on the calendar for months; I was organised, I was packed for a weekend of yoga, I had made my plans, I had practised putting my tent up solo yet I was still worried.
I was stepping into the unknown!
The weather certainly wasn't helping my nerves with the forecast predicting heavy rain and high winds but I told myself the weather is beyond my control, worrying about it will not change it, so I took a deep breath and moved on.
I said my goodbyes with a bug hug for the husband and kiddos and I was on my way to a field in Elmore, Gloucestershire.
Leaving the M5 at Junction 12 the festival site was easily found with clear signage on the local roads.

Getting onto the site was quick and easy with a chatty steward telling me everything I needed to know. The size of the site meant parking up and getting my tent and gear into the camping field by myself was pretty stress free - although why I didn't just drive across and tip everything out of my car before parking up I don't know! Neighbouring campers were all friendly with a mix of solo attendees, friends and families and I was told to shout should I need any help with the tent. Choosing a spot against the bordering hedge and next to a nice big camper I felt relatively sheltered and relaxed up a bit more about the weather.

Project 365 2016 #33

Week 33 of Project 366 meant a lot of my time was spent sleeping in a tent in varying weather!

Day 227
It was a glorious Sunday full of Somerset sunshine for my annual camp out with the kiddos at our favourite site. This made setting up camp a relatively easy task, albeit a bit sweaty!
Day 228
Today we headed down the road to Glastonbury for a wander around the town and shops. Since we were here last a new piece of graffiti had gone up. Following the traditional purchases of incense and a trip to the little toy shop that the children love we walked up the Tor for a blustery sunny picnic then went to spend some money in Street.
Day 229
Living where we do means getting to the coast is a bit of a trek. The closest we have is along the Bristol Channel and today we headed out to Brean Down. Here we found the beach and could just about make out the water in the distance; with high tide set for 6.00 pm and a bank of dangerous mud and sand in between us and the water paddling was off the cards today. Instead we built a sandcastle, played catch with a variety of products purchased from the National Trust shop, ate delicious Marshfield Ice Cream and climbed up to the top of the down where beautiful views could be found.
Day 230
Sadly time to head home today. The sun continued to shine so the tent was dry so I carefully packed it away ready for my yoga festival on Friday. Back home we chilled and sorted the laundry and I began to think of some future big ideas!
Day 231
I packed up my bits today ready for Soul Circus! I tried not to look at the weather forecast too much but did throw in extra tent pegs and guy ropes as I feel I will be battening down the hatches as rain and high winds have been forecast. Hopefully the tent will hold up and I won't be dealing with any disasters on my own!
Day 232
I safely pitched up in the rain and had a fantastic first day at Soul Circus taking part in three yoga classes finishing off with Ibiza Sunset Chilled House Yoga underneath the twinkling disco ball.
Day 233
The weekend wasn't all about yoga and today I treated myself to a delicious Pistachio, Ginger and White Chocolate raw cake - it was delicious!

x x x

Project 366 2016 #32

Week 32 of Project 366 2016 saw a lovely end to our time in Norfolk and a lazy week before setting off on some more adventures!

Day 220
Today I returned to my home city for the first time in years to take part in the Run Norwich 10k. It was a sweltering hot day but with support from my brother, his partner and my two kiddos I dragged myself round in a quite respectable 53 minutes 37 seconds so I was pleased with that!
Day 221
Due to an accident blocking the M4 and a detour around Newbury we took over 7 hours to get home but we arrived safely and that's all that matters. The garden sunflowers had grown loads since we had been away.
Day 222
Garden camping time! I'm not sure if we'll get around to a family camp this year so we decided to put the tent up in the garden, which needed a post Camp Bestival clean and airing, and I slept out with the kiddos. It was a lovely evening of BBQ, toasting marshmallows over the fire and a peaceful night's sleep was had by all.
Day 223
A lazy day at home was on the cards; the children played football in their pyjamas in the garden, I had toasted bagel with chocolate spread in the tent brought to me by my girl and then I did housework. In the evening I headed into Bristol to meet a friend and go to a Q&A with Scroobius Pip on his Distraction Pieces book tour. It was a great evening of chat and humour plus the obvious beard and tattoos!
Day 224
We got out and walked into town to the toy shop and supermarket where Lego, glow in the dark stars and camping provisions were bought. I decided after all to book a camping trip for me and the kiddos to our favourite site near Glastonbury as the weather is looking good next week - and it also makes me feel less guilty about having a few completely lazy days at home doing nothing much! I got out tonight for a much needed yoga class though with the realisation on the way home with the darkening yoga sky that Summer will soon be coming to a close.
Day 225
A guilt free lazy Friday as the children are more than happy to play at home. I packed the tent away ready for camping, after sleeping out again last night with my girl, and got together some of the other paraphernalia needed for three nights in a tent. Later I did a little bit of yoga in my quiet place before a lounge camp out and Star Wars with the kiddos.
Day 226
The husband is in London at The Oval today watching the cricket with a friend so that gives us an excuse to have another lazy day! But, I will be packing for camping and making the children walk to the local supermarket to get some fresh air, exercise and last minute supplies. In the meantime my garden is looking lovely, when the sun comes out.

x x x

Camp Bestival 2016 {Me Time}

Having looked at Camp Bestival from a family point of view, and shared some lovely images, today I got to thinking about what I got out of it as an individual trying to find some me time. Camp Bestival is clearly billed as a family festival but that doesn't mean, with a bit of planning, us grown ups can't find some time alone doing some grown up things.

We struck a good balance again this year as a family unit which gave everyone the opportunity to do the things they wanted to do. I planned ahead and booked another nature run with Nick, having loved it last year, and it didn't disappoint; with a gentle 5k+ around and beyond the festival site I can definitely recommend it - a morning run set off at 9.30 on each of the mornings and cost £5.

The nature runs set off from the Slow Motion area which also homed a yoga tent so you just know that I spent some of my me time there! Becoming a bit of an early riser I dragged myself out of bed and up the big hill onto the main site for two 8 a.m. classes; Qi Gong on the Saturday and Rise & Shine Yoga on the Sunday. Qi Gong was new to me and felt similar to Tai Chi, it was very gentle with a calming focus on balance, breath and stretching. The Rise & Shine Yoga I was more familiar with and was taken by a last minute replacement Kali - Kali Green Yogini - who has reignited my desire to move to Cornwall just so I can take some more of her classes! This year all yoga and meditation classes were free.

Project 366 2016 #31

What a week! We started at Camp Bestival and finished it in Norfolk.

Day 213
Sunday at Camp Bestival started in the best way with an 8am Yoga class.
Day 214
Time to head home and start the chore of unpacking and laundry. The books we picked up show that we had a well rounded festival experience.
Day 215
A wet day packed full of laundry and tent cleaning so when I finally got to bed I started to read my Yoga for Traveller's book - alas no plans to go travelling in my future.
Day 216
The sun reappeared and our sunflowers were looking rather splendid when I returned from a much needed, but difficult, 5 mile run.
Day 217
Following a long drive to Norfolk, and stopping off to see my mum, we finally arrived at my brother's house. Just before we got there I stopped the car to get a photo of the hay bales in a nearby field.
Day 218
Driving to Horsey I spotted a man bringing in the sedge from the broads to use for thatching cottages. I pulled over for a few scenic snaps of the scenery.
Day 219
I can't go to Norfolk without heading to Wells-next-the-sea. This is a place of memories for me and I want my children to make their own memories there too. The beach was busy but we had a lovely time; the children played, I read, we walked to town, we explored the pinewoods, we had ice cream. All in all a perfect day.

x x x

Camp Bestival 2016 {In Pictures}

It's that time again when we go through all of our pictures taken at this year's Camp Bestival. Between the four of us attending the family festival this year we had a DSLR, a compact camera, an iPhone and a Samsung phone all of which were constantly used to snap away taking pictures around the site. As you can imagine this resulted in hundreds of images.
Not really knowing where to start I've selected a random set of photos, in no particular order, that show some my favourite sights of Camp Bestival 2016.
Enjoy!

Going it alone to a festival {Soul Circus 2016 ~ Preview}

Whilst still on a high from attending Camp Bestival last weekend, with thousands of other family festival goers, I now look ahead to a calmer experience at Soul Circus. Challenging myself this year, and setting a few goals before I hit the magical age of 40, I'll be stepping outside of my comfort zone by attending Soul Circus alone. With the main focus of the festival being Yoga and Wellness I have a good feeling that the other 500 festival goers will be of a like-minded nature and I don't think I'll feel alone for long. That's not to say I'm not a little bit nervous though. To ease my concerns I have stream lined my usual festival packing list to make setting up camp more manageable and I have perfected the solo erecting of my tent - as long as the wind is calm! I plan to pack light; yoga leggings, crop tops and baggy vests to see me through plenty of classes and workshops and comfortable cosy yoga pants for some evening relaxation. I'll also be adding these, easy to pack, unbelievably soft organic bamboo eco, leggings and vest from Boody to my case. They are great to pair up with brighter clothing or layer for warmth.

Soul Circus have just released their Yoga Class Timetable and Wellness Workshop Schedule with plenty happening each day to keep me busy. In contrast to Camp Bestival, where we struck a good balance between family fun and adult me time, at Soul Circus it is just me to think about. Going solo to a festival does have some advantages that I can see straight away; I can get up when I'm ready to, prepare my own morning cuppa and porridge without the worry of having to escort any children to the toilets, set my own agenda for the day and change plans without upsetting anyone else, eat lunch and dinner when my stomach is hungry but most importantly I can do yoga whenever I like!

Camp Bestival 2016 {A Family Review}

We've been back home for just over 24 hours after leaving Camp Bestival 2016 behind us in, a just starting to get a little bit damp, Dorset. Across the weekend we were blessed with blue sky and sunshine which increased the amount of sparkle from all the space age glitter festooning the revellers across the festival site. And what a site it was again. This was our seventh year attending Camp Bestival and still there was enough to keep all four of us busy, satisfied and happy that we had had a complete weekend. The children, now 10 and 8, find new things to love every year but still enjoy repeating past experiences - you just can't get tired of Camp Bestival!

We arrived at around 10am on Thursday and easily entered the site through the well marked lanes around Lulworth Castle. Parking up was straightforward, a £25 cost, and once we had our bands safely on our wrists, and the £10 programme pack bought, we began the task of getting all of our gear to the campsite. Arriving a little bit earlier this year there was more choice of free areas but we headed to our usual camping spot that the children were familiar with - now they are older they are able to independently walk to the campsite toilets and collect water for us. Portable toilets were set up throughout the camp site and we never had more than 4 people head of us in a queue at any point across the weekend. There were times the paper and hand sanitiser were out so always be prepared and have those on you.

Once camp was set up we chilled for a bit, made some plans from the programme and later explored the site. The Magic Meadow is open on the Thursday evening with plenty of eateries, bars and entertainment going on to whet your appetite for the three day weekend to come.

Across the long weekend we struck a good balance of things for us to do as a family, as one parent with the children and as a solo adult. This post is going to concentrate on just a fraction of the things that we experienced at Camp Bestival for the children and as a family.

Project 366 2016 #30

Week 30 of Project 366 2016 and the first proper week of the school holidays!

Day 206
Another one of those lazy Sundays - things don't change even though we are on holiday! Today we got out the husband's board game from his younger days, Lost Valley of the Dinosaurs, for a bit of good old-fashioned retro fun!
Day 207
The planning turned into action today ready for Camp Bestival with a trip to the supermarket for the essentials!
Day 208
To break the chore of planning the packing we headed out to The Courts with the in laws for a picnic. The gardens were in full bloom and the honey bees were busy.
Day 209
Packing day is here! Luckily we have a big VW Transporter to carry all our paraphernalia down to Dorset.
Day 210
An early start but it was worth it. Once we had done the big task of setting up camp we went for our first peek of the Camp Bestival site and were greeted by quite a sizeable Spaceman!
Day 211
The first full day on site included a must go ride on the beautiful carousel.
Day 212
Early morning Qi Gong for me today followed by my favourite Soya Chai Latte from the lovely Coffee Camper.

x x x