Tent Sniffing for Beginners

 I adore Boomtown. It's the one festival I just can't miss and I have just returned from an exhausting but blissful few days in a field in Hampshire.   I never manager to actually get involved in the story no matter how much I have good intentions to do this and this year was no exception. Despite that I have a wonderful time. I wander the fields, I talk to strangers, I dance, I chill, I walk up and down hills. I climb the steps ( lordy those steps!)   This year it rained on the first full day of the festival, making it a deadly mudslide in many areas leading to some people falling and even breaking bones! I remained intact. I also decided to do the festival sober this year. I don't  take any drugs anyway, but this year I also didn't have any alcohol either, maybe that helped me stay upright!  Walking boots were the show of choice in the mud, but that soon dried on Friday allowing me to move into my crocs and continue my relaxed lounging lifestyle. Food was grea...

I recently wrote about my number one camping essential over on The Mediocre Dad , and that made me think. If I had some spare money and wanted to treat myself, what would I add to my camping arsenal? Which extra bits and pieces would I buy? So I had a little hunt about the internet, and asked a few companies what they thought I really 'needed' to add to my kit. Here are some of the things I found, and some things I was sent to test out! First up, a bit of comfort. I usually either have no pillow, or an inflatable one. Inflatable pillows are small and light and can be easily packed, but they are not always the most comfortable. I'm getting on a bit so was very happy to try out a new camping pillow. The Hippy Chick memory foam pillow packs easily into its own travel bag (it really does roll up small and go back into the bag easily!), is covered in soft Tencel, and is gorgeously supportive. The Hippychick Waterproof Memory Foam Travel Pillow is the perfect pillow for camper...

#AdGifted  Summer is the best time of year. Summer is full of sunshine, beer, relaxing, big skies, music on the breeze and the gentle tickle of drying grass underfoot. Of course being Britain it's also muddy, grey, dreary, windy, cold, full of umbrellas and it smells of damp tent. But one thing it is always full of is festivals. Some years it can be hard to choose which ones to go to! Festivals are excellent value for money with 24 hour (almost) entertainment, camping included (bring your own tent) , excellent food choices, music and glorious fields in which to roam or snooze. I like a medium sized festival. large enough that you won't be bored but small enough you don't feel you have missed half of it on the last day. Big enough for some well known names on the set list but small enough that new bands will get a look in, some of my favourite music discoveries came from festivals. “Large enough to get the big acts, small enough to enjoy them” Jools Holland ag...

#AdGifted  Regular readers will know that I'm a regular at Camp Bestival, the fun, family, festival held in Dorset each year. Last year the fun was slightly dampened by such dreadful storms on the last day that the festival had to be closed early. But better safe than sorry!  Seeing Mary Berry on the TV the other week brought back all the memories of the sunny days before the last day! And totally made me crave cider and feasting in the sunshine while watching other people doing energetic stuff! (there was a high wire trapeze and people could have a go! madness, and yet it was booked out early everyday!) One of my daughter's favourite bit's of any festival is the comedy. So I was pleased to read about Camp Bestival's comedy line up.  "We're excited to reveal the 2019 belly-busting comedy headliners heading to Camp Bestival’s Big Top at Lulworth Castle, July 25th - 28th. Leading the laughs will be award-winning comedian and actor Omid Djali...

Last year I discovered a new festival and it was great. I don't know why I have only just found out about Cornbury as this will be its 16th Year! I love a grown up feel to a festival, neither a kids's festival ( though I do love those for being silly, it's also nice to sip a glass of chardonnay in a deckchair while listening to something 'mummy likes' once in a while ), nor a teen festival ( I'm all for the odd late night rave and drunken stagger back to the tent at 4am occasionally but sometimes I like to be more...refined ) The Cornbury Festival at the Great Tew Park turned out to be just lovely. The flat ground meant that we could easily get all the tent things to our pitch. There were comedy tents, a vintage cinema, a helter skelter, even a 2p arcade, candy floss, a WI tent and local children performing on the smaller stages. The whole glorious relaxed vibe was ably assisted by perfect English weather. I can recommend Cornbury festival to older co...

#AdGifted What's that about? As you know each year I'm an ambassador for Camp Bestival and 2019 will be no different. I am here to tell you all you've ever wanted to know about Camp Bestival and share my past photos and fun stories from past years in exchange for gifted tickets to the main event. I've been attending Camp Bestival since my daughter was little and she's grown up in the embrace of one of the safest festivals I know. Over the years she has braved climbing walls, made sticker models and flower crowns, eaten pies in fields and watched brave wasp tamers. I'm hoping that 2019 at Camp Bestival will bring more of the same. This year the festival is being held over the weekend of the 25th -28th July. Camp Bestival is family festival. I cannot stress that enough. It is the perfect festival for the 'new to festivals' type and still excellent fun for the festival fan. Safe to bring the entire family, including babes in arms, and an excell...

Where to begin. What an incredible festival. Before going  to Boomtown , but after I had, on a whim, purchased tickets, people were keen to tell me what to expect. To be fair to them, some of these people seemed to assume that a 52 year old woman would be shocked by drug taking and horrified by a festival loo. And on the whole, the reactions I received upon mentioning 'I'm off to Boomtown next year' were those of shock and horror. I was variously told : "you'll hate it, it's a full on festival" "Rather you than me, it's not a family festival" "People die there you know, it's all drugs and gangs" "The music isn't anything you'd like" "It's a lot of walking, really hilly" and my favourite : " 'king hell, rather you than me, you'll die" Reader I did not die. It is true that a lot of drugs are consumed at Boomtown, keys of ket seem to be as much currency as the grea...