Summertime and the living is easy....

I have written of and photographed the wonderful Larmer Tree festival before. This year was special as my son Sam celebrated his 18th Birthday. I remember it so well, lumbering around the festival 18 years ago, 'cow heavy and floral' in the coolest dress I could wear. He is now rather disappointed in me in that I didn't give birth to him in the midst of the festival- as that would have been 'very cool'....( Hmm, not for me, I think!).

I was also proud and excited because Emily and her friends were one of the theatrical street performer acts who add such an eccentric and quirky feel to the festival. They were the characters from 'The Wizard of Oz' - dancing and singing as they tried to find their way back home

The tin man is rusty

The cowardly lion manages a scary roar

'Follow the Yellow Brick Road'

 I love all the performers. You never know what you might see-

Every year the vital joys are the same-

 The Wishing Tree

Colourful decorations everywhere

The Peacocks

Great music on the Main Lawn

 David and I were running my workshop as usual- our perfumed pomanders proved very popular

David showed how you could wear one and still remain manly

And some are destined to freshen the muddiest of boots!

I even had the chance to take part in a workshop myself- my fish is the unfinished one...

One of my favourite parts of the festival is ' Dress up Saturday'. A different theme is chosen every year and this year it was' Four Corners of the World'

I was a French Can-can dancer but this is all I am prepared to reveal to you of my costume, as my basque caused  a ' Jane is busting out all over' problem...

David was an Englishman on holiday

Part of the fun is seeing other people's costumes

This year I had the added amusement of watching the press cameramen and women at work...

Stalking their prey

Moving in for that perfect shot

And finally, good-naturedly, having the tables turned on them!

This year the weather was kind to us, although when the occasional thunderstorm occurs it is always best to be prepared

The Larmer Tree festival is the perfect place for families and friends to get together, away from the troubles of the world

David and Ben

Father and daughter

Father and son

I love to watch people and especially the children, who make the festival such a magical place. 

There were lots of beards

Tails were the accessory

I think this last photograph sums up the festival this year

Summertime, and the living is easy...

Festivals, fancy dress and lavender bags- and did I mention the mud?

I have just done an unusual deed. It's a job that usually seems a complete waste of time but today it was vital... I have just washed my car!
This is because last weekend we went to the Larmer Tree Festival. The festival is set in beautiful Victorian gardens, with lawns, fields and woods to enjoy.

However, as I'm sure you can guess, this year's torrential rain had turned everywhere into chocolate custard style mud.
I don't often feel my age but I have to admit that I no longer wish to spend days tramping around knowing that if I actually sit down anywhere, the small portion of my body that I have managed to keep clean and dry will succumb to a relentlessly spreading tide of dirt.

However...
We made the most of the situation. Sam and his friend were undaunted by the weather and disappeared for the weekend, only to be seen occasionally still looking extremely cool despite being even muddier than we were.
Saturday night is fancy dress night and this year the theme was 'All at Sea'. I think that maybe the people who come to this festival are rather an eccentric bunch as so many of the costumes were truly inventive and humorous!

There were Jellyfish

Handsome Sailors

Edwardian Bathers

a 'Lost Boy'

and my favourite
Noah and his Arc and their friend, the Walrus





 Of course we couldn't resist the chance to dress up and got rather carried away creating our costumes...
 Emily and her friend Rosa were beautiful as the Sea and a Mermaidy Fish



I will be the first to admit that David and I were not nearly as attractive...

(we were castaways)

When I saw David in his amazing wig, I couldn't stop laughing and he was equally amused by my strange patchy 'sun-tan' and bird's nest hair!

I think we made a perfect couple...

On the Sunday (restored to our  more natural colour and hair-styles) we ran a workshop called "Bath Bombs and Portaloo Pomanders".

This rather obscure title really meant that everybody had a happy and scented time filling little muslin bags full of dried herbs, spices and flowers, which they then decorated with ribbons and hand-written labels.

These were either worn around the neck to ward off evil odours-

or saved to add to that first wonderful hot bath back home-

David and I added the essential oils for extra perfume

Everybody seemed to enjoy making these delicate treats

All in all, I can say that despite it being a bit of a battle, we still enjoyed ourselves and there was even a little sunshine and

a rainbow!