Advent photographs | Fun Dressing up

I was ' The spirit of Yuletide' and I had two elves and my two lovely helpers today at the Friendship Club. David took the day off and joined us and took these photos.

 

 



 

Bite each day to the core

As I left my daughter Emily at her student house, I felt the usual natural feelings of slight sadness and loss. However, as I drove home, I realised that I was also pray to another emotion- nostalgia.
Emily is blissfully happy in her second year, sharing a house with five other drama students. The tales of their antics, the photographs I get to see and the very smell of their home, transported me back to a golden time in my life. In 1982 I was living in Ferncroft Avenue in North London, reading English at London University and making the most of every minute, day and night.

My reminiscent mood has stayed with me, so today I dug out my old photograph albums and brought together two happy lives- thirty years apart.

To start with, I should let you know that our house was known as "The House of Ill Repute"



( in our costumes for a Brecht play, before you get too worried)

Theirs is simply called "Brian"...

We seemed to spend most of our lives in fancy dress- going to dozens of parties




Stone Age Vamp

As do they.

Halloween

Goodness knows the theme of this one!



I think we can guess this party

Every day brought a new chance to dress up and laugh at ourselves. This next photograph is my closest friend and room-mate Gillie, who we dressed up in an approximation of the extremes of 1980 fashion- all because she was dyeing her hair and had wrapped a rather large towel around it as a turban...

One evening Emily's housemates dug out every hat they could find...and wore them in character.

As always, there are private jokes-

The contents of a cupboard cling-filmed and guarded by an ancient Nan bread at Emily's house

 And rituals

Gillie and I set up a chess board. Each and every man we knew was on that board and we solemnly moved the pieces every day, depending upon their conduct towards us!

One day we made a huge poster but were disconcerted to find that the paint we used was permanent.

One riotous evening, Emily somehow ended up balancing most of the kitchen's utensils on her head...

Emily and her gang are lucky to have a garden to enjoy the recent snow

We did not but that didn't stop us sitting out on the window sills to enjoy the cool of the summer nights

We were always up to something. One of my most memorable pranks was holding a Christmas Dinner in the middle of Whitestone Pond on a very cold day in March. This event was complete with butler, wind-up gramophone and carol singers...

Emily has had her chilly moments- the boiler broke down for several days over the last freezing spell

We too were such close friends, there was nothing we didn't share or do together

There was often a gathering together at supper time

And it is the same at 'Brian' too

The decor may have changed




Ellen and Gillie in our room



Ems in their home-made fort

But there is so much the same.

One of my strongest memories is awakening early to the bright sunshine of an early summer morning. I lay in bed and realised that this was a unique period in my life. I had been given a one-off chance to live without care, to study and mix with so many like-minded people. I asked myself  "was I making the most of this wonderful gift". I lay and pondered and finally came up with the answer "yes, I was".

I could honestly say I was making the most of every single moment, on all levels. I have never quite been able to say the same since but I'm so glad I 'seized the day' during that wonderful, magical year of 1982.

My friend Gillie and I enjoyed every minute

And, from the looks of things-

Emily does too!

(With many thanks to Emily and her friends for the photographs I've snaffled- please don't borrow or re-use  them or any of mine! )

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!

Summer Festival, Larmer Tree Gardens

It's mid-summer and it's raining, so it must be festival time!
Tents and chill boxes are packed, wellies rediscovered and outlandish clothes decided upon. For over 20 years the much loved Larmer Tree Festival has lured me away from my comfortable bed and tempted me into wearing unsuitable brightly coloured outfits.
 Many go for the eclectic mix of world music but I'm just drawn to the ambiance of the festival, with its art and colour and the feeling of freedom from everyday life. It is set in a Victorian Pleasure Garden and is full of hidden corners and eccentric buildings. It has ponds and temples, peacocks and parrots-

Throughout the gardens you come upon works of art and so many sights that delight. One year there were huge bubbles everywhere, another year everybody wore fairy wings and tutus. I'll not easily forget the sight of two local rugby players in pink wings and frilly skirts. This year, delicate rose garlands were the fashion... and yes, I did buy and wear one! 

There's music everywhere, of course.

With some bands you can just lie back and relax -

With others you go wild -

Or just be inspired-

One of the unique features of the Larmer Tree is the huge variety of workshops. You can do early morning Yoga on the main lawn, join a drum band or become very arty and crafty. I once ran a herb workshop, where everybody made a 'portaloo pomander'. These were to be held to the nose when visiting whiffy areas...

Another year I pinned up poems about summer and happiness all around the gardens-

One year we wrote and decorated our own favourite quotations and then hung them up for all to enjoy-

Every year we have our favourites places to visit and things to do- I love the wishing tree, and the hanging books library and we always get at least one henna tattoo!

The food is amazing, a far cry from the burger and chip vans at so many festivals.

A prize-winning flat bread pizza and home-made lemonade

The tea garden

The high spot for our family has to be fancy dress Saturday. Over the years we have been characters from books and plays and people watching is taken to new levels...

An uneasy truce between God and Lucifer

Merlin

It's hard getting ready in the back of a van...

I think I was a Druid...

50's Revival

'Clockwork Orange' and 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'

A sight of rare beauty

'Pirates of the Carabbean'



and Superman...



And I haven't even mentioned the carnival...  

The Larmer Tree Festival is a magical place to be.

http://www.larmertreefestival.co.uk/