Friday, October 31, 2014

Trebarwith Strand Take 2

On the Thursday of our holiday we went to Wadebridge cycling as we had taken our bikes. It was quite dismal and overcast but we cycled a few miles. What with the swimming, cycling, and walking along beaches, I've been glad to come home for a rest! 

After lunch NOT in Port Isaac (don't ask) we went back to Trebarwith Strand as it was sunnier and we had our beach shoes. I actually wish we'd taken our swimming stuff - there were others about waist deep and I would've been one of them! Next year! I need to take baby steps with Lee and the sea!




Isn't the beach beautiful? I could've stayed here forever


Closer look at the mussels on the rocks again


This is the tea dress from Simply Be that I've worn a million times; it's easy to throw on but always looks cute



We wandered around to this cave and I got soaked as the sea came in fast and deep! Lee managed to stand on that rock but I was too late and got soaked to my mid-thighs! Typical, but fun. 

If you ever go to Cornwall do go to Trebarwith Strand, it's so worth it. 



Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Trebarwith Strand Take 1

A couple of months ago I started reading the blog of a lady called Jo who lives in Yorkshire like I do. She is a crocheter also like me so I added her to my blog reader. This summer she went to Cornwall with her family and went to Trebarwith Strand. I looked on the map and it wasn't too far from where we were so on the Wednesday of our holiday we went.

We'd been bowling in the morning in Launceston and had lunch there, so we went to Trebarwith Strand in the afternoon. It was quite overcast so we didn't go on the beach just walked across the wide rocky bit and looked at the stream. 

We got an ice cream from the surf shop and watched a class of German kids do a bodyboarding lesson. It looked like fun! It started to rain as we were sitting eating our ice creams, but we were warm so we stayed, and then we finally got back in the car to go back to the cottage.


This rock in the sea is called Gull Rock




You can't see but there were hundreds of mussels clinging to these rocks



I love how water carves a way through rock, it's amazing


Thank you to the lady who took this photo of us! My dress is from Asos, ages ago, and I'm wearing a plain black top from New Look and a cardigan from H&M

Sunday, October 26, 2014

St Ives

On our way back from Land's End we stopped at St Ives' beach for a little paddle. As you've seen, I love paddling. Lee isn't keen, though, as he doesn't like sand on his feet and legs. But in July when I went to Whitby with my friend, I bought a pair of beach shoes for myself thinking that they'd be great for my camping trip (and they were!). They're made out of wetsuit material but have a grippy rubber sole on the bottom so they're great.

So Lee and I bought him a pair too. And he really liked them and as long as we made sure we had a towel for damp feet too, he was happy to paddle with me. This beach had a wide area of water left behind when the tide went out which was perfect to paddle in. 

St Ives is a really pretty beach although I can imagine in high summer it would be nightmarishly busy!









Friday, October 24, 2014

Raues Review

I was contacted by Raues who make plus size customable clothes. They have a nice range of clothes and all of them can be customised by length, sleeves, neck-line, whether you want pockets, and so on. I chose the Angie dress as I liked the colour and the detail on the neckline.

When you sign up to Raues you get to a page where you have to enter lots of measurements from all parts of your body so that they can make the clothing accurate to your body. There are really clear pictures to show where on your body you should be measuring, and with the exception of my height I managed to do them all myself.

The dress arrived quickly from the US and nicely packaged. It is fully lined and has a zip on one side to help putting it on and off.

I love the top, I love the neckline and the way it sits on my chest. I like the pockets, too - I always appreciate pockets. The dress is short on me so I will wear it with jeggings.

I took these pictures in the dark so the colour isn't accurate, see the website for a more accurate colour. You could also check out Fat Heffalump, who got the same dress for review!




Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Visit to Lands End and What I Wore 30th September

On the Tuesday of our holiday we went to Land's End. We were staying near the Devon border so it was quite a trip but I couldn't go to Cornwall and not go to the most westerly part of the mainland UK! It costs £6 to go in and park but I suppose someone has to maintain it. There were lots of people there even though it was quite late in the season. 

The thing that got me was the sea and the vastness of it! It is lovely and beautiful but also so very overwhelming. You can stand right on the cliffs. 

There's a restaurant which is reasonably priced. We had some lovely fish and chips. We also got the touristy photo under the sign taken, but it will arrive soon. It's a really fun place to visit. 



Look at the beautiful weather we had 


And the blueness of the sea


Lee


Me. This is the close up of the dress I was wearing





The dress was from everything5pounds which can be very hit and miss but I love this dress, it's nice and soft with a bit of a sheen and I think the pattern is interesting!

Monday, October 20, 2014

RIP Anthony


I just want to write a brief post about a family tragedy. Lee's uncle was killed in a road accident on the M56. He was an HGV driver and had been for 25 years. Investigations are still undergoing as to what exactly happened so I don't want to say much, but it is such a tragedy. I also want to pay tribute to the lady who died. I'm sure she will be missed in her family as much as Anthony will be missed in ours.

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Seeing the Libertines

I just want to write this post because it's about a significant thing that happened to me recently, and that's what blogs are for, right?

I have been a fan of the Libertines for ten years... since after they broke up. I was just 21 and although I had been a huge Manic Street Preachers fan in my teens, I didn't think I could or would ever feel that way about a band again. Then I fell into the Libertines and oh god, they hurt my heart. As I said, they had broken up in acrimonious circumstances and formed other bands - Carl and Gary went into Dirty Pretty Things, Peter already had Babyshambles, and John formed Yeti who had a very small following that I'm proud to say I was one of! I saw DPT a few times, Yeti a bunch of times, and saw Peter solo with Graham Coxon on guitar.

I also met a whole bunch of lovely people, some of whom are still my best friends. There was a very active fandom on LiveJournal and I met so many people. One of my closest friends was Lucinda. We didn't talk very often for a few years, including when Peter and Carl played a bunch of reunion shows in 2010. I think that's why I didn't really pay much attention to those shows.

This time around Lucinda and I are close again and her enthusiasm for The Libertines as a whole band reforming was infectious. Plus, when I saw photos from the gig they played in Hyde Park they just looked so happy. I'm a romantic, deep down ;)

So anyway, the Libs announced three gigs at Alexandra Palace in London, and Lucinda and I decided we would go. I also then asked my friend Von, who lives in London, and my BFF Sam, who lives near me and would travel down with me.

Oh gosh, it was so good. Not perfect - but they aren't and never were a perfect band. It was ramshackle and chaotic and uplifting. We sang along to all the words and it was just so lovely to be there with people I love and who I only know through a ridiculous band, for crying out loud.

There's talk of a tour and new recordings, and even though it's ten years later and I'm older and supposedly wiser, my little fangirl heart is so excited for those things to happen.


I took this photo - as you can see we couldn't see much of the band but fortunately they had a big screen behind them which played both video of the band and other stuff.

Happy endings, they never bore me ;) 

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

What I Wore September 29th and visit to Newquay

After we had been to Jamaica Inn we drove to Newquay as I've never been and wanted to see it. It's on the north Cornwall coast and it's famous for surfing. We parked by the beach and wandered down. Now a couple of months ago I bought myself some beach shoes which are rubber soled and made out of wetsuit material and are ideal for walking on rocks and things. I'd left them back at the cottage though, which was a bummer!

The tide was quite far out and there were signs warning about where you could surf and where you could swim. There were lots of people in the water doing both, and then a small powered craft came too close to the surfers. There was a siren, and then a lifeguard on a megaphone in the building behind us telling the craft how far to go back, in no uncertain terms! It was great to see they take so much care over keeping everyone safe.


The lifeguard building is on the left






Here's what I wore. The t-shirt was from Asos last year and the skirt is the black one from Yours Clothing I wear a lot. I love ducks so the t-shirt was ideal for me!



As you can see I was reduced to tucking my skirt into my knickers so I didn't get it wet!

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

September Swap

Debz at Wannabe Princess held a September swap where bloggers swapped gifts with each other. I sent mine to Steph at Seeing Spots and I think she liked everything. I don't know who sent mine, they're still a mystery! Here's what I got, anyway:


Everything was wrapped in a leopardskin bag, I got a scarf, some eyeshadow, some nail polishes, and some chocolate which I've eaten!


I like these colours especially the top ones


I don't often wear shades like this but I like them, the one on the right is gorgeous


This is the scarf pattern, isn't it adorable!?



Sunday, October 12, 2014

A visit to Jamaica Inn

I have been a fan of Daphne du Maurier for several years after my friend Laura encouraged me to read Rebecca, especially since that is also my name! We then saw it at the theatre and it was excellent. I read Jamaica Inn and enjoyed that, too, and I recently watched the dramatisation starring Jessica Brown Findlay and thought it was good. 

I hadn't realised that Jamaica Inn was a real place, but as I was looking through the tourist leaflets in our holiday cottage I saw a leaflet for it and knew we had to go! It is in the middle of Bodmin Moor and these days the dual carriageway bypasses the road it sits on, but you go on the old road to get to the inn and it is a narrow and windswept road. 

The inn still functions as such and has several hotel rooms - how amazing would it be to stay there! There's also a huge bar, a restaurant with carvery, a gift shop, and a museum. We paid to go into it and although it wasn't huge it was good fun. 


The sign, with Joss Merlyn brooding down from it


The inn itself; it was always this L shape apparently


du Maurier's writing desk and her typewriter


A signed copy of The House on the Strand




More signatures 


A playbill of Rebecca


Half of the museum is about du Maurier and her life and works, and half is about smuggling


I loved this old chest!

Lee hadn't realised that du Maurier wrote the short stories The Birds and Don't Look Now, which were made into two of his favourite films, so in the gift shop we bought an anthology of the short stories to read, and I also bought My Cousin Rachel and another copy of Jamaica Inn as I don't know where mine went!