All in a day's work!

Before I give you the wrong impression entirely one of us was working on Saturday, but it most definitely wasn't me!

This friendly chap is called Richard Vobes or The Bald Explorer as he's more commonly known. He makes delightful short video walks from different parts of the country [more from the South where he lives] and then puts them out on his Youtube channel. I first encountered him last year when he featured one of our town and then started to follow what he was up to. His work is intended as just a taster, nothing too indepth, but a chance to see some places you might never visit or have even heard about.

Through online contact I met him a couple of months ago and when I shared some wild flower shots he asked me if we could make a film. I agreed before I had a chance to find a reason not as experience has taught me that my anxiety will always stop me from taking the risk of doing anything new if I let it get a tight hold again. Admittedly I was very nervous beforehand and normally shy away from being anywhere near cameras [I'm always posing for photos when out dancing, but I am hidden behind my mask so it's not quite the same], but he was very good at putting us both at our ease. We shall see how it's turned out once he's edited the rushes [see I learnt some lingo yesterday!]. I did stress beforehand that I am very much in the category of very keen yet fairly rank amateur when it comes to all things growing wild. Thankfully we went back to Levin Down where I've been before so I was able to mug up beforehand. Between filming Mr GBT took a handful of photos to remind us of our day.

It always intrigues me how much colour variation you can get in a single type of flower. These tiny pink and blue flowers are both Milkwort.

Foxgloves. I know they're common, but what stunners.

A new one for us. Hop Trefoil

Marjoram I do believe.

Back to where we started.....in amongst all Milkwort look at what Mr GBT spotted.

If I haven't made a complete twerp of myself I might share the final version of the video here once Richard's released it in a few weeks time. I'll have to see how I feel about it!

Arilx

End of the working week.

Let the weekend beGin- tomorrow is World Gin Day apparently!

Have a good couple of days and I look forwards to hearing all your tales.

Arilx

Tying the knot.

The phrase comes from a time when the clothing threads of the bride and groom literally were knotted together as a symbolic gesture of their union. Whether you're a fan of the whole business of getting married or not, hopefully you might enjoy the photos of some of the different styles of dress brides have donned over the years which I saw earlier this week. For me personally it was the chance to view the historical costumes and the workmanship which went into some of the gowns that I loved.

Regrettably I don't have any idea of the dates for any of this set. The hours they must have taken to make!

This very understated one is more to my liking. It's a Quaker one and dates from 1775-1810. The front panel is missing.

Turning to the modern examples I actually remember this 1920s one with pearl detailing coming into the museum when I worked as a volunteer there, so I can actually say I've handled this one [carefully I hasten to add!]

1930s

1940s

1950s

1970s and all the accessories. This has reminded me of when I was a bridesmaid in the mid 1970s. It was a winter wedding and my Mum made me a dress in a very similar pink with some kind of lace trim just below the bust line. Typically I had just lost my two top teeth so I could only smile in the photos!

This little lot bring us up to date. A couple of handmade bouquets with a difference and a rather striking uchikake which is a Japanese bridal kimono.

There were lots of information boards up about the history of marriage including the recent legalisation of gay marriage. This rather pithy quote tickled my fancy and seems a good note
on which to end!

Arilx

In the pink.

Some toerag seems to have stolen all my natural pink highlights overnight and replaced them with grey ones...this state of affairs obviously couldn't continue so, with a day off, I dragged my rump into town and plonked it into the hairdresser's chair. Thankfully I'm now happily repinked and whilst out and about I decided to duck into our local museum to catch their latest exhibitions and see what was out in the garden. If these photos are anything to go by this pink has definitely been the colour of the day!

Arilx

"I like driving in my car. It's not quite a Jaguar"

Apologies to dear old Suggs and the rest of Madness for quite clearly stealing their lyrics for my blog title. Actually I think I did see a Jaguar yesterday, but they tend to not be the ones which float my boat. Now these are far more up my street and that maverick addition of skulls and dice definitely got a big thumbs up from me.

Realistically this mode of transport is more in my price range. However, I am definitely in the ex cyclist camp these days...you take your life in your hands on the hideously busy roads round here.

Blending in perfectly well with the crowd as I was all donned up in my Mythago kit these interestingly dressed folk caught my eye. The lady was kind enough to agree to having her photo taken. The Steampunk dancers were apparently doing fusion belly dancing. Sadly I don't know enough about the genre in the first place to really understand what the differences were.

It was with great delight that I sourced myself a Pimms yesterday...reward for all that energetic dancing in the scorching heat wearing a mask I reckoned. How could I not be impressed though by the size of these whopping wine bottles.....thankfully for all those around me they were empty. Hic.

Then there were plants....oodles and oodles of floral loveliness. I might not be big on gardening, but I am big on the idea of having a gloriously fabulous garden. These delights came back with us to GBT and it looks like I'm going to have to pick up my trowel. There are a few heucheras in there, a golden thingy which does well in the shade and at the front of the border where we've got leftover space and at long last I've managed to track down the pink geranium with the dark centre. I've seen it all over the place, but never for sale. Hallelujah!

I have one final small planting tale to tell for another day and then I'll change the blog record!

Arilx

Slumming it.

Yours Truly has been strutting her stuff and entertaining the masses at this year's Floral Fringe Event. If you think of the images you see on the pages of the magazine Country Living, this fair is like the whole lifestyle brought into 3D. Think Cath Kidston meets Laura Ashley with a dash of Farrow and Ball and you've got it. A tad too pretty, pretty for me, but it does have a lot of plant stalls and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the prices were more reasonable than the local garden centres around here, so we did buy a few more to fill in the remaining gaps in the back garden which was a half planned outlay.

Seeing as browsing has long ceased to be a hobby of mine, I took a gentle turn and took a few quick photos of things which took my fancy [there's never much spare time when we're performing]. With it definitely being on the rather warm side [what sort of mad fool wears all black and chooses to dancein a mask in these conditions I ask you!] it wasn't long before I beat a hasty retreat to the shade of the trees. Before I did so though I managed to park my ample rump on the driver's seat of this beauty....

Oh yes one has been behind the wheel of her first ever Rolls Royce today....not that one is crowing you understand! Even I have to slum it once in a while....

I should point out that I do know its lovely owner. He did amuse me when he explained that Lucy's car reg of 666 is a nod to his birthday as he was born on Friday 13th! It was a lovely little treat and I have always been rather partial to classic cars.

More photos to follow tomorrow.

Arilx

It's not The Blackeyed Peas!

How peculiar I'd always thought this track was by The Blackeyed Peas...today I found I've been wrong all these years. No doubt everyone else will already know this is "Hey ya" by Outkast. I was always late to the party on everything!!

Arilx