Pin Curl Tutorial Video - Pin Curls the EASY Way!

Since I've had my hair chopped I can now pin curl it (to much delight). If you;re like me and have super straight hair that's a pain in the arse to curl this may be the way for you.

I have frustratingly tried to pin curl my hair before but I never thought to use end papers. I put together this little video as a few of my friends had commented on my photos asking me how I;d done it. When I trued to describe the process it didn't really work, so hopefully this will make it a little clearer.

Please excuse the weird faces I pull when I do my hair, force of habit!



These are a few pics for a close up shot.

Beamish - 4th July 2012

Beamish - Living Museum of the North, need I say more?

Being in a relationship with a Southerner for just under ten years it was a good idea to take him to Beamish and show him what it was really all about, on top of that of course I hadn't been since I was about 14 and I've been banging on at him about it for what seems like ten years.....hang on a minute........

At £17.50 it's a bit expensive BUT you get a full days worth of visit out of it and if you live near your ticket is valid for a year from the date of purchase which I imagine is great value if you have a family and are looking for something to do in the holidays.

I think the photos below say all they need to but a few observations:

I found the pit village really interesting, especially the bit where you could go into the mine, having family from the North East as you can imagine 90% were down the mines working for a living from their teenage years.

The people who work there as people of the past didn't really seem all that interested in talking to us, even when we asked them questions. Especially the dentist. It was like getting blood out of the stone. I really think maybe we should have gone for a more obvious approach and demanded some interesting facts, rather than the responses we got of them rolling their eyes, looking sat the ceiling and muttering a few words.

The Jubilee Confectioners was a great place to be, the staff were really friendly and helpful in there and we stuffed our faces with sweets for the rest of the week. My bag of rosy apples went too soon though!

Full set of our photos can be found here

Adventures in Needlework

My lovely friend Ginger bought me this amazing book for my birthday, Adventures in Needlework by Jessica Aldred and Emily Peacock. I cannot wait to try it out, it looks chock full of interesting projects including canvas work, appliqué, silk shading and goldwork!

Hannah's Meadow, Mickleton Mill - 3rd July 2012

We were up bright and early and on our way to Hannah's Meadow in Teesdale.

If you don't know much about Hannah Hauxwell (daughter of the Dales!) you can read about her here.

She now lives in Cotherstone but this is where Low Birk Hatt Farm still stands. The meadow was farmed by Hannah using traditional methods with no fertilizers or re-seeding and is home to many rare flowers and is a SSSI.

I love the story of Hannah, of the hardships that she seemingly dealt with as just "life". I know what the weather can be like up on the tops in the winter, how bitterly cold it must have been in the winter months with no electricity or central heating to warm her up. She's an inspiration.

My Nana said she met her once, Hannah was known in Mickleton village, not far from Low Birk Hatt, my Nana didn't have much to contribute apart from Hannah was nice enough but not to drink tea if you ever found yourself in the area she was from, she got the water from the stream that the cows wee in! Sage advice from Nana there!

If you haven't seen the documentaries she's features in you should watch them.

On our way in through the gates we were greeted by a cow on a tuft of land, Tim named her little miss mooffet and then laughed at his own joke for five minutes, very tickeld by this!

Although the weather was overcast we were lucky enough not to get rain and when we entered the road and walked down to the meadow we were greeted with a flurry of colour, insects buzzing about and birds flying overhead. It really was a beautiful sight.

I did see this butterfly and I'm not sure what is is, anyone? 

After we'd had a good walk about and Tim had used his key to identify some of the species of flower in there we drove back down into Mickleton and went for a quick drink in the then Rose & Crown, now the The Crown at Mickleton. 

I couldn't quite believe my eyes when we went in there. This is the pub I first ever had a drink in, the place I was allowed to go with my friends as an underage teenager, the pub that had lock ins every night of the week, the pub I was first sick out of my nose in front of, and every other hideous drinking story you can think of, circa 1994 - 1997 this was my watering hole. 

Long gone is the back room with the pool table and the little bar where we'd order pints of bitter and drink a lovingly crafted creation called a "blastaway" - Diamond White and Castaway - long gone are the manky toilets, and there is no lad called Ashley in sight or local folk in the main bar giving you funny looks because after all you're 14, in a pale blue miniskirt and you're downing pints like they're going out of fashion. 

Whilst it was sad to say goodbye to the Rose & Crown, pub of my mispent youth, it was nice to see the old gal get a really good facelift and see it full of folk (and nuns!) enjoying a lunch there soaking in the surroundings of what is a thoroughly lovely place to spend your time (rather than it being the pub your folks don't go to so therefore you do). 

We then went to Mickleton Mill, a farm and caravan site that my Grandparents had a caravan on and then my parents took over after my Granda passed away. I spent all of my weekends and summers there as a kid and grew up with the other kids on the site. It had a huge place in my heart and I don't think I've been back there since I was 20. The 12 years that have passed have brought a lot of changes to it. 

The space where we used to have our static van is now a road to another part of the site. 

There's a pig pen where the cow field used to be, and the old toilet block where hideous moths used to live of a dark evening, is now locked up and used as a store.

The old dens that we used to play in and pretend we were orphaned kids are now long gone, or at least covered with water due to the rain, and there was no swing across on bindy twine island.

I went and stood by the river and got quite emotional, I spent a lot of time here with my sisters and my Grandparents in times that somehow seemed a lot simpler to me, before a lot of things happened that broke us all away from each other. I remembered when Dad used to put us all in the dinghy and we'd swim in the river together and play.

It was good to go back, and I spoke to Carol and Keith who still own and run the farm and the caravan site and we had a little catch up. Out of all of my friends there; Peter, Kate, Faye, Carly, Chris, Adrian, it's now only Adrian whose family still has a caravan there, and Chris sometimes goes there with him. It's a shame, we were all once so close, I really wish I could find them all again and have some sort of reunion! Alas I don't think it's meant to be. 

It was good to show Tim the places I often talk about and for him to see why I love that part of the country so much, growing up here has made me love the English countryside and Teesdale in particular.

Full set of our photos can be found here

Low Greenside Farm, Ravenstonedale - 2nd July

We knew the weather would be terrible, we knew it would rain for a week. We crossed our fingers it wouldn't be too bad....

We arrived at Low Greenside Farm campsite and saw the note saying we coudn't drive onto the field as it was too waterlogged, we gulped a little, then the rain started. So we opted for the best bit of grass we could find and not too far away from the car so we wouldn't have to dash about in the rain as much.

Putting the tent up in the rain wasn't too much of a mission, although we were happy when we didn't have to keep making trips with the wheelbarrow left out for us back and forth to the car.

At £6 per person per night, the campsite is extremely good value, added to the fact that you can have campfires in the pits provided, although we only managed one and only for a few hours with the inclement weather.

There is  a free hot shower  to use in the static caravan on site which is also the toilet block although there is another toilet available in the courtyard near the house. It also serves as a little tourist information point which is kept very up to date. Roise does a fab job of keeping the place spick and span and she also rents out books for local walks for a £5 returnable deposit.

There is also a very old family sheep called Laura who has arthritis, sometimes sitting in  the field by the caravan, she's a lovely old gal!

 

Our super awesome tent

 

fire pit, without fire....and with (even if it only lasted an hour before the heavens opened) 

 

The moody view from our tent 

We decided not to do anything on our first day, the weather was crappy, we were still shattered after the Stone Roses and we had a cool box full of food and the net book was fully charged and ready to go with podcasts. 

Tim did take some time out to fly his kite though! 

Full set of our photos can be found here

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter

Directed by Timur Bekmambetov, known to me for Nightwatch, Daywatch and Wanted, I thought it had a reasonable chance of being good.

Not being from the states myself I didn't know too much about Lincoln (my American history is not so good but something I really want to get to grips with!) and therefore don't really give a crap if someone's going to initially write about then someone else make a film about him being out of the prowl looking for vampires to destroy. Not altogether sure how the Gettysburg stuff would have gone down with those who are from the States though.....

Benjamin Walker, relatively unknown to me, does a great turn as the man himself, and along with Dominic Cooper has some fantastic action scenes (never before have I wanted to learn how to weapons train with a massive axe) but the real star to me is Mary Elizabeth Winstead (ah Ramona.....) who adds a little credibility to a storyline which is in one word ludicrous.

I didn't really see the need for any of the 3D, yet another film jumping on the bandwagon when there was nothing that it would add.

If you're going to watch this in the hope it will be some sort of cinematic masterpiece you'll be really far off, but if you want to see a load of vampires get killed by an Abe wielding an axe, or you'd like to see the most ridiculous chase of a vampire over horseback then this is your film.

Enjoyable if you're not taking life too seriously, although it looks like the director did. No tongue in cheek which it could have possible done with a massive dose of.

I'd give it a 3 out of 5, watchable, enjoyable to a point. I'd rent it but I wouldn't pay for it (again!)

Embroidery: Happy Birthday Shazza

Card made for my lovely mate Shazza for her birthday. Design from Wild Olive as a free printable. Check out her stuff! 

The Stone Roses, Heaton Park, Manchester - 30th June 2012

Anyone who really knows me knows that I LOVE The Stone Roses.

In the first six months of me and Tim getting together back in 2002, he asked me...

Tim: If you could go back in time to any year where would you go?
Me: 1990
Tim: What? Even if you could go back in time and see dinosaurs?
Me: I'd rather see The Stone Roses

I was a Britpop Queen in the mid to late 90s. I loved everything about it but The Stone Roses have a very special place in my heart. I remember hearing the intro for Love Spreads and it struck such a cord with the teenage me that I quickly and obsessively found out everything I could about them, bought their past singles on CD and had them on a loop of my player and in my brain for years.

I have no idea how I ended up finding all the info out about them that I did (what did we do before the internet) but the Rockumentary on Radio 1 (ah, those were the days) helped a lot....something I had recorded on tape that I'd listen to and play to anyone with a remote interest at every opportunity I could.

So it was with much delight that we secured tickets and on 30th June, me, Tim, French and Carl all went off to Heaton Park to see the wonderment that is The Stone Roses.

We got there, queued for an hour early doors and went hurtling down the field and secured front pit passes (YEAH BWOY!). I couldn't believe my teenage dreams had finally come true and here I was about to see the best band in the world, something I never thought would happen.

The gig was amazing, you could feel electricity in the air and it was topped off with a group hug by the band, a statement of "we're back!" and the best fireworks display I've ever seen. It'll always be one of the best days of my life and I savoured every second of it.

Highlights for me: Shoot You Down (my fav of all time!), Somethings Burning, Where Angels Play

 

Front pit gal! 

 

That was rain, not piss. 

 

The crowd behind us 

 

Check how close we were!!!

 

Zombietown on the way home 

Carl, after declaring it was the best day of his life, is somewhat broken at the tram stop

Weston Super Mare (The Museum, the Pier, the Odeon - Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter) - 28th June

Turns out yesterday's camping took it out of me, and this was my face in the morning.

We went to Weston to have a quick stop off with Tim's family and to go and see some of the haunts of his old stomping ground.

After a quick visit to his Mum's and seeing his all new slimline sister (lost 6 stone on slimming world!!) we went off in the direction of Weston town centre stopping along the way for a bit of tomfoolery. 

First up was Weston Museum, at £3.60 it's a snip to get in and have a good nosey about. Tim told me it wasn't big but I really enjoyed it. It did have a rather large exhibition of smocks and I did like the photographic sections on the history of Weston, oh and they had an gorgeous 50s cocktail cabinet that I would have loved to have had in my home!

Anyhoo, me and Tim took the opportunity to dress up in available stuff (for kids). I especially liked being a ladybird.

Then it was off to the all new fangled Grand Pier. It's the first time we've been on it since the fire and subsequent re-vamp. I had a big old soft spot for the old one and it looked brilliant after it had all of the work done to it, but I have to say the new pier is a beauty and so much better for the town now with live events and a licence for weddings.

We went on the ghost train, it wasn't as good as the old one. You're in cages now so no cobwebs in your hair or things brushing past you. I did have a good old scream when we came out into the end of it and the attendant was there which made him chuckle a bit. But ghost train old and new were now ridden on the pier.

Then it was time for fish and chips, which were nice and munched straight down by the seafront.

We strode off to the Odeon to see a film, it was pot luck, and we went to see Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter (review here) and Tim showed me the place he's watched a countless amount of films and after discovering he'd never had a smooch in the cinema he got his first one, with me :D

It's a beautiful art deco building and is massive inside, I suppose the spoils of being built in a seaside town and it was great to have it pretty much all to ourselves for the film. I was a little bit gutted that I couldn't see the organ that Tim had been telling me about but according to the wiki it's still there as it's protected and building is Grade II listed now.

Tim's Mum did tell us there were plans for a new cinema along the seafront and I do wonder what will happen to the Odeon when this comes about, I imagine people will go to the newer one and the old one will eventually close. The council have a lot to answer for in that case, there are far too many of the beautiful old Odeons being closed around the country, Manchester and Chester to name but a few. I'm glad I got the chance to check it out though and I'd urge anyone else to too, before it's too late. 

We rounded the day off with a visit to Jebby (Tim's Granda) which was good to see the old boy, and then back to camp for our last night before what became an epic 6 hour journey home (it should have taken three and a half!).