D-Day.

Hello again, it's been a while, but I'm back. 

I'm back at Uni too, back in Shropshire and getting into the swing of things. I'm living in a very cute little cottage in a tiny village, about 2 miles from Uni with Yorkshire Housemate and Leicestershire Housemate. 

It's been lovely being with them again after being away for a year and we do cute things like watch period dramas, knit, cook dinner for each other and bake. We're trying to do work too but that's not coming quite as easily. 

Since my last post a few things have happened.  I went on a fabby holiday to New Quay in West Wales. It was beautiful and for the most part the weather held. It was just The Boyf and the Elder Basons and I in a gorgeous little farm cottage for the week. We did all sorts including go on a dolphin watching boat trip, eat wonderful fish and chips on the harbour wall, go to Aberystwyth and go to the Ynys-Hir nature reserve, the one where Springwatch is filmed. We saw dolphins in the harbour most days and also enjoyed a wonderful day at the beach at Mwnt, which was truly beautiful. It was a blissful holiday and I really, really didn't want to come back home, but alas, I had to. 

The very next day I moved into the cottage with the girls and got stuck back into Final Year life. Quite frankly, it's hard and I'm not sure that I like it, but I'll battle on and finish the year! Everything will be over by the very latest of June 13th, so not too long left now! 

Before that is the dreaded D-Day. Dissertation hand in day! It's actually set for April 29th, but I'd like to get it all finished by April 7th, so that I can enjoy my holiday, birthday and a battle without worrying about getting that done. Hopefully it will all work out! 

The other D-Day is regarding the d-word. 'Diet'. It started yesterday and I have said goodbye to chocolate, cakes, sweets, ice-cream etc apart from very special occasions (namely Yorkshire Housemate's birthday, Christmas Day and Best Friend's birthday). It also means just 3 meals a day and no snacking! Tough challenge but I managed it for lent, so we'll see how well it goes this time. 

I was at home for the weekend so weighed myself, but there are no scales in this house so I hope to have made a big difference when I go back home and weigh myself at Christmas. Don't worry, I'm not going to start starving myself, just seriously watch what I do eat and make sure there's not too much of it! 

The big D-Day for the diet is January 25th. Holly Holy Day. Which means nothing to the vast majority of you, but it is in fact the day each year that the Sealed Knot re-enact the Battle of Nantwich in Cheshire. It will be the first day that I wear my new, smaller, corset and I want to make sure that I have lost weight for it because, quite frankly, I'm vain. 

I am going to be buying said new corset in mid-november at The Original Re-enactors Market (TORM) and I'm looking forward to going and getting that, which will be my Christmas pressie from the Elder Basons. I went to a similar market the International Living History Fair (ILHF) this weekend just gone and had a jolly good time, especially catching up with friends from North of/ near the border. 

Although I really enjoyed it, it did 2 other things. 1) reminded me that re-enactment is expensive but I am a student and have no money. 2) Re-ignited my love for steampunk fashion. I fell in love with a red underbust that I even tried on, but did not have the £110 to buy. I have since been looking at all sorts of steam punk clothes and jewellery online.

Maybe if I'm really good with money between now and mid November I will be able to treat myself to something at TORM! (Probably not, but a girl can hope).

So, next few weeks? Quite busy, the first of which will be spent on a Uni trip to Anglesey, to study invertebrates, on the beach, in November. I kid you not. I never said this Countryside Student lark was glamourous. (No really, it's not, and I never said that). 

Also, visiting the Boyf and combining that with the trip to TORM, the Best Friend is visiting for a weekend of girly fun (and wine), trying to organise my life and hand in assignments and that's about it. 

I must stop neglecting my blog.

I really really must stop neglecting my blog and posting so infrequently. I know that posting daily is also boring, but so are month or so long gaps. So here goes. (I know, I say this ALL the time). 

Summer is nearly over. I am very, very sad about this. Although I plan to make next Summer rather good too, with loose plans of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, Taking a play to Edinburgh Festival Fringe (I'll explain shortly!) and a holiday in Devon, next Summer I will no longer be a student and will have to actually start living a proper working adult life and trying to find somewhere to move into with The Boyf. Also, believe it or not this has been the best Summer of my life. 

I have done so much, seen so many people, improved and made so many friendships and all whilst having had major surgery. As you probably know, that's a whole other blog in itself but I really didn't think I'd have been able to do everything I have done. 

I thought surgery would have ruined my last Student Summer, but in fact it's enhanced it. It's not all been roses and ponies, I still haven't fully come to terms with the tragic loss of The Boyf's brother, but I don't think anyone has yet. Overall though, it's not been half bad. 

Since finishing working in Kent I've: 

• Been to Tentertainment festival and headlined it. 
• Went out for a 'Welcome Home' meal with friends. 
• Been to Stanton Moor for Adventure Day Mark 1 with the Best Friend and also seen her learn to ride. 
• I've been back to Church.
• Enjoyed the incredible heat wave.
• I've been to History Live! 
• I've had coffee with friends. 
• Had two riding lessons back at Barleyfields. 
• Worked my first ever bar shift at Loughborough's Graduation Ball. 
• Spent plenty of time at The Boyf's new Uni house. 
• I had a fab evening with friends and family before going into hospital. 
• I've had Open Heart Surgery. 
• I've bounced back from that and been to my favourite Paint-a-Pot place. 
• I went to Shrewsbury Flower Show and had a song dedicated to me by my favourite band Bellowhead in front of thousands of people. 
• The Boyf turned 21 and we had a lovely low-key celebration. 
• I've been back to Bolsover Castle and seen a demonstration of 17th Century riding in the old Riding House. 
• I've been to Newstead Abbey for our August Bank Holiday battle.
• I've been on a wild night out in town with the Best Friend. 
• I've been to the wedding reception of one of my dear friends that I've made through all of my Heart-Related-Stuff. 
• I've been for more coffee with friends.
• I've stewarded a horse show, 
• I've sorted some of my Uni stuff. 
• I've gone back and forth to The Boyf's Uni house again. 
• My Grandma has moved into a house in the village. 
• I've been to Pub Quiz over in Swad with The Boyf's friends. 
• I've been out for dinner with friends. 
• I've had numerous evenings in the pub or just chilling in the back garden with the Best Friend. 
• I've watched as much as I can of the new Rugby Premiership season on the tele. 
• And I've been on Adventure Day Mark 2 with the Best Friend to Dudley Zoo.

Overall it's been absolutely fabulous and after this week with just a few bits and bobs to do including more coffee with friends and working as an Ambassador at Harper for a day, we'll just have one final week in Wales before Harper Life starts all over again, this time though for the final time. I've also probably forgotten other things that I've done, but every single day of this holidays has been special and I've just loved it. There are some other things I wish I'd done, other people I wish I'd seen but you can't do everything no matter how hard you try and I'm sure everything will work out in the end. 

Aside from all this I've taken on a few other tasks, one of which involves Edinburgh! I have started taking on various tasks of recruitment/ website making for a few of the different things I'm involved in recently. I am helping with recruitment for my Battle Re-enactment regiment, which is going well if a little hindered by communication issues, but the essence is there. I have also started helping my dear friend Hayley (who's wedding reception I went to) with the group she is running for Teenagers and Adults with CHD, the heart condition that we have. It's going really well and I have been helping her with the social media as well as creating a website and starting a newsletter for the group. Most of the info about this will be on my other blog, but overall it's been absolutely wonderful to get involved with and one of the reasons I think I've bounced back from my surgery so quickly.

Also, I am running two websites for one of my friends who I've known for a long, long time through working at Barleyfields together in our teens. She's now at Uni doing a Performing Arts degree and is an actress and I've basically become her PA. It's a little 'job' that I'm helping her with, unpaid, but I really enjoy doing it and again, I'm running both her own website and we're about to start the website for the Theatre Company she's in the process of setting up. Here's where Edinburgh comes in. She is the process of writing a play that we are going to hopefully take to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for a run next Summer. It's all very exciting but Amy is working very hard and I'm doing what I can to help. If it all comes together (and it's all going well so far) we and our cast will be off to Edinburgh. I will be in charge of paperwork and photography ready to put on the websites once we get back and if everything goes well and something takes off because of it. I've got myself a job. In the future Amy and I hope that she would be able to employ me in some kind of admin role, as she says, she'd far rather employ someone who's been there from the beginning and is a good friend than have to employ a randomer. And she'd let me pick my hours and work it round my family, something I dream of! One of the other things I did do this Summer was just last week. I did a photoshoot for Amy, so that she can pick some new shots for her website, it was a fab day and we found an ace tunnel to take a lot of the photos in.

Anyway, that's a long way off yet, in the next few weeks I'll be on holiday with The Boyf and the Elder Basons in Aberaeron, Wales for a week before heading back to Harper to start life in the cottage with Yorkshire Housemate and Leicestershire (nearly Norfolk) Housemate and catch up with the Engineering Boys and all my other friends. I cannot believe that it's been 3 years since I started at Harper and I've made it to being a Fourth Year student. Crazy.

If you'd like to keep an eye on what I've been up to (and up to date Leicester Tigers rugby match commentary) you can find me on Twitter @Basonnn.

Imminent Arrival of Autumn, in more than one sense!

September has just arrived and Summer has nearly left us for another year, luckily the weather hasn't turned completely dire yet but it's definitely getting darker earlier and I'm totally not a fan of that. 

Technically though, my Summer Holidays aren't quite over yet, and I still have more adventures to look forward to. Since last writing I've also had lots of other exciting things happen. 

Everything to do with my heart and CHD etc is still ticking along nicely and one of the nice things was to do with that, so you can read about that here.

As well as that, The Boyf turned 21, so we had a nice quiet evening celebrating and I cooked a special 3 course dinner, he opened pressies and we just relaxed and enjoyed a quiet evening together. I bought him the new Leicester Tigers rugby shirt since he is a season ticket holder now and he proudly sported it to the first game of the season on Saturday. 

The Best Friend has been learning to ride, after finally overcoming her fear of horses, so since I can't ride at the moment I have been accompanying the Best Friend and her sister to their lessons so that I still have a reason to go down and see my friends from the yard, and my favourite horses too! She's doing really well in her lessons and is really enjoying it, so we're all happy ladies now.

As well as this we have been to the August Bank Holiday battle. This was at Newstead Abbey in Nottinghamshire and it was a bloody good weekend! We did a battle here last year too, but luckily this time it was a hell of a lot drier than the one in 2012. It was also a very good way to be celebrating being 1 month post surgery and being with The Boyf for 4 years now. I can't believe it's 4 years, it seems like it was only yesterday, yet he's been in my life all along at the same time!

During these past few weeks though we did have Kieran's funeral, Kieran is The Boyf's little brother who tragically drowned off the coast of France at the end of July. It's been a rough ride for everyone and especially The Boyf who was in England whilst the rest of the family were still in France and I was in hospital when it happened. It meant that The Boyf was here, there and everywhere trying to sort out all the logistics of the accident on this side of the channel whilst trying to visit me in hospital and comfort his Grandparents who were all still back at home too. I am immensely proud of how well he has done and the fact he is back to work now and back to rugby training now, something which he hopes to do consistently this year, is brilliant. Kieran's funeral was emotional as expected but was a very lovely celebration of the young man he was becoming. With a Doctor Who theme running throughout, I think he'd have been very pleased to see so many Daleks, TARDIS (TARDII?), K9s, Cybermen and Sonic Screwdrivers all in the same room.

So it's now onwards and upwards getting ready to go back to Uni and start the dreaded final year. I'm very much looking forward to moving into the little cottage with Leicestershire Housemate and Yorkshire Housemate (different Yorkshire Housemate from last year) and with the Engineering Boys just down the road.

I still have a few things to look forward to before going back though. The Best Friend and I are heading to the Zoo for another adventure at the weekend and I will be going back to Church and hopefully going out for dinner with friends from Church next week. I have coffee arranged with a friend for later this week and we're hopefully going to the Game Fair at Weston Park next weekend. As well as this there are a couple of Sunday Night Pub Quizzes (highest score and finishing position ever the Sunday just gone, I'll have you know!) left and something I'm really looking forward to, a holiday in Wales with The Boyf and the Elder Basons. It's something that I think we all desperately need after the high emotions of this Summer to make sure we're all relaxed again before getting back into the swing of Uni and being back at work with less lovely weekends in between. 

If you're wondering why Autumn is on the way in more than one sense, well, my baby cousin, who will be called Autumn is due to be born in a couple of weeks and having not had a baby in the immediate family since her big brother was born nearly 16 years ago, we're all very excited, plus, out of my 3 fully related cousins, she's the only girl! 


If you would like to see what else is happening over the next few weeks, in 140 characters or less, you can find me on Twitter @Basonnn.

Perfect Day- The 126th Annual Shrewsbury Flower Show.

Well where to start?! Yesterday was truly one of the best days of my life, and this post may turn into a bit of an essay, so I apologise. If you want a tea/fag/do-something-more-interesting-in-the-middle break then that's totally fine. If you're in this for the long haul then I highly advise going to the loo and settling down with a cup of tea for this one. 

I think the reason that this day meant so much to me was because it was something that I'd been planning to do before my operation (you must know about my op by now, but if not, look here) but wasn't quite sure beforehand if I'd be well enough to do so, therefore being there and having quite such a wonderful day really meant a lot. 

When we first got there, it all started with a wonderful walk along the river from the show parking. Shrewsbury is a beautiful town surrounded on almost all sides by the River Severn. I have written about it before as it's one of the towns close to my Uni and I love visiting there. We walked up and over to the other side of the river and down to Quarry Gardens, a beautiful gardens on which the flower show is held every year. 

We started off in the Quarry Marquee. This was the marquee where professional companies and exhibitors show their works and my gosh it was fantastic. The standard was phenomenal and we spent so long looking at all the beautiful work people had created. Most of the work was tiered shelving full cut flower displays of the plants that people were exhibiting but in the middle of the marquee there were little show gardens that people had created. At each stand there was the fantastic displays of the cut flowers, which were all for sale at remarkable prices, but were all remarkably large, meaning we couldn't buy one as we had nowhere to put it. Next to this there was a stall for each person/ company where you were able to buy plants and seeds for your own garden. As our garden is potentially being quite drastically remodeled, Mummy and Daddy Bason didn't want to buy too much. We did however buy a new Passionflower to go in a pot outside our new front door that is being fitted soon. We bought a different type to the one we currently have out there and hope that with a bit of TLC the current one can thrive a bit more so the two of them can contrast nicely. 

After this we decided to wander around the trade stalls. There were so many selling all manner of things, everything from the expected garden stalls to charities such as the RSPB, Wildlife Trust and The Guide Dog Association to clothes stalls, health stalls, insurance and finance and gifts, it was quite something. As well as these trade stands there was a large food hall and craft hall. We spent quite a bit of time in the craft hall and then proceeded to the food hall in search of lunch. The result of our search was rather tasty Cornish Pasties! We sat out on the grass to eat them and shortly afterwards the cookery display I was wanting to watch was starting so I went to take my seat. 

I watched a fantastic display all about pudding! Julia from Toot Sweets in Shrewsbury was doing the display and made a wonderful looking Rose and Pistachio meringue layer cake and a chocolate bomb served with home made Ice Cream (I am planning on trying to make the home made Ice Cream tomorrow, there will be a blog about that and why I particularly made it tomorrow that will probably be written Tuesday). Julia is an award winning Chocolatier and I plan on visiting her stall in Shrewsbury Market Hall in the very near future. If you're local to Shropshire I suggest you do too! As I was coming back out of the marquee, Paul Hollywood of 'The Great British Bake Off' fame walked right past me. I wasn't too bothered about getting a book signed or seeing one of his displays, but it was a nice touch. Talking of famous people walking past me, shortly before this, Tim Stockdale (of Olympic Gold Winning Show Jumping fame) and his son had walked right in front of me too. It's the little things in life.

I went back to where my parents were sitting to find that my Aunt and her partner had joined them. We haven't seen her for a while now and didn't know they were going to be at the show, so that was a lovely surprise. Eventually we parted ways again and it was onto more trade stands and then to the Severn Marquee. 

The Severn Marquee was the location for the Amateur Competitions. In here there were flower displaying competitions (as you would expect, with it being a Flower Show...) and they were truly wonderful. I loved everything that I saw, but I have to say it must have been a great year for growing Begonias that year as there 1) seemed to be more entries in this than anything else and 2) they were incredible! They're a beautiful plant anyway with big colourful flowers but not a single flower seemed to be blemished and I think it must have been just the right time of year and conditions for them. I was amazed. Not only was there a floral competition, but there was also a vegetable competition! I have no idea why, but I love vegetable competitions. I think they're fantastic and there's something rather British about them, the sense of achievement as you grow that perfectly straight carrot (or three if you want to show them) or marrow is something I have yet to achieve myself, but definitely aim to do in the future. I saw some of the longest carrots and parsnips, biggest leeks and most ginormous cabbages ever! The vegetable hampers were also a delight and the creations made out of veg were fab. 

After this it was time for the Show Jumping. Mum and I knew it was a big competition and that a couple of the more famous show jumpers, such as Tim Stockdale had jumped there in the past, but in the end he, Geoff Billington and Steven, Joe and Ellen Whittaker were all there and it was a fabulous competition. 8 horses (7 riders) made it through to a jump off which proved to be an exciting one. All in all a good chunk of the afternoon was spent watching it, and sitting in the sun. A rather good way to spend an afternoon if you ask me. 

Again after this we hit more of the trade stands and visited a family favourite 'The Yorkshire Clothing Company'. They trade at most of the big County/ Agricultural shows and Game Fairs and seeing that they were going to be there was fab, they sell a lot of Rydale clothing at fabulous prices and often have some brilliant end of line/ getting rid of stock bargains (did I ever tell you about my £20 tweed coat? No? Well it should have been £100 and I am very proud of that one). Yesterday I came away with a gorgeous new fleecy padded Gilet and a polo shirt for a grand total of £32. Hunting out bargains since 1992, I think you'll find.

We headed back to the Paella stall we had found earlier to grab some dinner and then back to the main arena (Well, Daddy Bason went back to the car for the second time to drop off our purchases, he's a good egg) for what was in our opinion the main event of the day. It was time for Bellowhead to perform. The stage was currently rather far away, at the opposite side of the arena, which was fenced off in an area big enough to accommodate a variety of things including a motor cycle display and the show jumping competition, you get the idea. But as they had informed us earlier in the day, the fencing was to be removed for Bellowhead's performance to allow us to stand right down at the stage and we were determined to be as close to the front as possible. By the time the fencing was removed Daddy Bason was back and once the fencing was gone, we literally ran down (along with a lot of other people, we're not the only crazy ones) to get to the front. We ended up in a kind of second row, and really that was fantastic for us. 

If you live in the UK and haven't yet heard of Bellowhead, I'm half convinced you've lived under a rock for the past few years. On his show on Radio 2 on Friday Chris Evans described Bellowhead as 'The best band in the UK today and the best band I've ever seen live. Better than The Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin and other great rock bands'. For my overseas friends, Chris Evans is the presenter of the most popular Breakfast Radio show in the country and Bellowhead, well, they are an 11 piece lively folk band who between them must play about 30 instruments. They are incredible and their live show is just something else. Last night was absolutely fab and the first time that I've seen them live. I am already looking to buy tickets for their show in November! Also, they dedicated one of their songs to me. Yes little me! There is a story behind it, to do with my heart stuff so if you'd like to find out (ooh, look at this little element of surprise for you!) you can head here to do so. In case you don't head over there, the links to the songs I put on there can be found here and here. 100% worth a listen. I can guarantee* you will like what you hear. *You cannot hold me to this on the slight off chance that you are disappointed.

Anyway, after an hour and half of singing, dancing, jumping up and down and attempting to join in with their traditional dancing (I wasn't great), I headed to the road running around the back of the stage to see if I could see any of them to say thank you. I was lucky enough to meet Benji (main instruments Banjo and Mandolin, I think) who was more than happy to talk to me for a bit, asked me how I was doing and told me I was looking great and that it was great to see I'd made it to the gig so soon after the op. He was also happy to let Mum take a picture of me with him and was genuinely a lovely lovely person. Thank you Benji! 

Once we'd done this I was in need of a sit down! It was only 16 days after said op, after all! I was also really hungry again (ok, I admit, I'm a food lover and proud chubby) so we bought jacket potatoes and found a space on a bench. At this point the massed bands of... well lots of regiments who I can't quite remember were playing. They were brilliant and once we'd finished eating we went back onto the hill (the arena was back as a proper arena now and everyone had been sent back from the stage) to watch them. It all got quite patriotic at this point as they played Land of Hope and Glory and then were accompanied by local choir 'One Accord' in Rule Britannia and Jerusalem. I will admit, I got quite emotional when singing Jerusalem as it was the first time I'd sung it since singing it with The Tuesdays down in Kent. I miss you, The Tuesdays! They were then joined by Standard Bearers of the Royal British Legion and sung both the Welsh and English national anthems. I have to admit, standing on a hillside watching a Massed Band and Choir and having the few thousand strong crowd join in for the English National Anthem was quite special, it was getting dark and a taster of what was about to come started as the first fireworks were set off. 

After the bands and choir had left the arena, the finale started. The Fireworks. What a show! They were put on by the company that did the fireworks for the London Olympics and they were magnificent. Set to music, thousands of eyes watched the sky glitter and sparkle for a full 15 minutes. Each time we thought it was the end, it started up again and by the time it got to the climax of the actual end the fireworks were absolutely spectacular. A very fitting end to a truly wonderful day. It really was the best day of my life, all of my favourite things, in one of my favourite towns plus the aforementioned dedication of a song by my favourite band. Perfection. I'm not ashamed to admit that at the end of such a perfect day, I cried, tears of pure happiness.

It's safe to say that I will be going back next year, it's so much more than just a flower show and next year, due to the sheer volume of things to do, I'm going to splash the cash and go for both days! If you feel like doing the same keep Friday the 8th and Saturday the 9th of August 2014 clear in your diary.

I don't usually have my Facebook photo albums set to public, but I knew I wanted to be able to share the photos that I took with my blog readers as well as my Facebook friends so if you would like to have a look you can find them here. I hope you enjoy.

I told you this post was going to be a long one, so if you've made it this far, thank you! I hope that you've enjoyed it and at the very least haven't been bored to tears!

As always, if you're interested in my little life condensed into snippets of 140 characters, you can find me on Twitter, @Basonnn.

Home Sweet Home- Summer Adventures.

Well, it's been a while again (sorry!) but I'm back. 

Back in the good old home town too! It's so good to be home, even if it is boring and industrial-ly (yes, that is now a word) in comparison to the beautiful town I left in Kent.

I've been home for about a month now, and it's been adventures and larks galore recently. I came home and had a lovely meal with friends and family, to mark my return, which culminated in 4 of us playing the Catchphrase board game back at my house. I have to say, the Catchphrase board game isn't really as good as you'd hoped.

As well as that, I have seen friends for coffee, been for an adventure in the Peak District with the Best Friend, spent time going between the Boyf's new Uni house in Loughborough and home. The Elder Basons, the Boyf and I had a wonderful day at History Live! at Kelmarsh Hall. I had a couple of riding lessons back at Barleyfields on my favourite pony Jasper, accompanied by Mummy Bason and I worked overnight at Loughborough's Graduation Ball, which was a tidy £70 and a good, if long, night.

Also, one night we camped in the garden! My very good friend from Surrey came up, and he, Best Friend, the Boyf and I camped in the garden, but not before a very good evening of Bowling (with The Elder Basons, too) where #TEAMGIRL (Mummy Bason, Best Friend and myself) were amazing in comparison to #TEAMBOY (Surrey Friend, the Boyf and Daddy Bason). This was followed by coming home for a take away and two other friends popping round to say hi, they bought cake (this cake will be discussed shortly), they are welcome back again any time. The rest of the evening was spent with alcohol sat on the top patio with lots and lots of candles, as the Boyf had forgotten the fire bucket. 

All of this was done in 2 and a half weeks, in the run up to a Major Life Event. The following day I received a Very Important Phone Call. That afternoon I was due at the hospital. For Open Heart Surgery the following day. I have to say I'm so glad that Surrey Friend and Best Friend were there when I got the call, it was a very weird, numb, scary feeling when it all suddenly became real. The whole of this heart adventure can be read about here. By the way, aforementioned cake was in the shape of a heart, which was wonderful!

Anyway, I am back home now, recovering better than anyone had expected and have many more adventures planned for the Summer. Since coming home I have already visited a place called The Mug Tug. I'm not sure if I've talked about it before but it's at Barton Marina and is Paint-a-Pot on a canal boat! I absolutely adore it's quaint and quirky feel and the lady who runs it is so welcoming. I went there to make Something for the Boyf's upcoming birthday and also decided to paint something for myself, when I've collected them after they've been finished off in the kiln, I will post photos. 

I am planning on going to Shrewsbury Flower Show at the weekend, partly to go to the show, and partly to go and see Bellowhead! So very excited for this. Other upcoming adventures include visiting Bolsover Castle to see the 17th Century riding school, and the next Battle, which is the August Bank Holiday weekend. 

Since I am actually doing interesting things at the moment, I do aim to actually blog about it. We'll see what happens. 

If you enjoy reading about my little life, and would like this condensed into 140 characters, I am on twitter @Basonnn. 

'Nobody gets remembered for the things they didn't do' Thank you Mr Turner.

Well, I have precisely 4 weeks left in Kent. At the end of today in 4 weeks time I will be singing on stage with The Tuesdays and then making my way back home for the last time.  I'm looking forward to going home and can't say that I enjoyed my time down here wholeheartedly. There were quite a few reasons why, mainly due to stuff down here in Kent itself but various other things too. 

Anyway, I'm trying to look at things in a positive light, and see what was great about this year, because there were some things that were truly wonderful. Also, I want to make a list (my whole life is lists...) of things that I didn't manage to do whilst I was down here, in a bid to try and do them at some point in the future.

These are a few of my favourite things:

1) Friends- I have made some absolutely wonderful friends down here, people like Mummy T and my Best Singing Mate. Lots of the other domestic staff where I work and all the rest of my friends in The Tuesdays. I'm going to miss these people terribly when I leave and owe them a lot for supporting me down here when I found it tough. 

2) The Tuesdays- Well this bunch have been an absolute delight, every Tuesday, for a couple of hours in the church hall, worries have disappeared and lots of laughter has been shared as we sing away to our little hearts content. We have performed publicly 4 times and I thoroughly enjoyed every one of them. In exactly 4 weeks time we will be performing our HEADLINE! (how exciting's that?!) set at Tentertainment Festival. It will be standard 'it'll be alright on the night' Tuesdays style but some of our songs already sound most excellent, even if we do say so ourselves. It will also be the most fantastic way of rounding off my time here, as friends from work have promised to come and watch me and then say goodbye as I leave. 

3) Rare Breeds Centre- There's nothing like repeatedly cuddling your favourite baby goat as you introduce a class of city kids to a farm and farm animals, often for the first time. It was probably one of my favourite trips to take the children to, as it was really rewarding and the children obviously got a lot out of the experience. Also, it was lovely to be able to spend time with all the animals and improve my own knowledge. I will miss Twix the goat kid though and I'm still annoyed the Elder Basons and The Boyf won't let me bring her home!

4) Canterbury and the Cathedral- I was very lucky to visit Canterbury twice whilst living down here, and enjoy a free trip to the Cathedral with one of the groups that came here. The Cathedral is just incredible and the guided tour we had was fabulous. Canterbury as a city is also beautiful and I look forward to visiting it again in the future. 

5) Scotney Castle- I have visited a few of the National Trust places whilst being down here and have to say that Scotney Castle is just beautiful. I went a second time with The Boyf and although the weather wasn't as nice second time round, it was still gorgeous. The folly is exquisite and I hope to come back and walk further around the estate in future.

6) The Historic Dockyards, Chatham- One of the best tourist attractions I've ever been to and we had a fabulous day out there. Was a bit dubious of the £15 price tag to get in but there is so much to do that we didn't even see everything and had we had more chances to revisit, our ticket does actually give us entry for a whole 12 months. 

7) The Woodland Walk- The woodland walk on which we take the children most weeks is one of my favourite things about having been down here. To see the woods change through all 4 seasons, has been simply wonderful and the one time I was able to do the walk without the kids, but taking The Boyf to see what I harp on about, the weather was outstanding and it was a truly wonderful afternoon. I really really hope to come back here and do that walk again in the future.

8) The Coast- Whether it was at Camber Sands and Rye Harbour with the children, or the days spent at Dungeness Nature Reserve by myself, the fact that I've lived this close to the coastline has been wonderful. I love the fact we're an Island Nation and have a great interest in our Maritime history, so to experience the seaside for more than just a couple of weeks in a year, was lovely.

The Things I Didn't Do:

1) Visit Brighton- This was quite a big one, I really wish I'd gone to there, it seems like such a vibrant and exciting city.

2) Spend more time in London- I was hoping to do a few more things in London, but alas, I didn't find the time or company to do so. 

3) Go to Broadstairs. It's probably one of the furthest places to get to in the county from where I am, which is a shame as the long drive meant that I never did go and see this beautiful town.

4) Go to Battle- This is almost embarrassing. I was so close and a History geek. I should have made the effort.

5) Visit Tunbridge Wells- Again a beautiful town I was advised to check out by many people but never did.

6) Visit Leeds Castle- I have always wanted to go here, but mainly due to money, I didn't get to. I think I regret this more than most things but I will make it back down here again and will go one day.

Already planning to come back down here and stay with Best Singing Mate for Snowball in December and I'm sure that it won't be too long until I'm back down here to visit friends, sing and visit new places. It's been a gorgeous place to live and the weather has certainly been better, I look forward to come back of my own accord.

Spring has Sprung! I Think?

Ahhhhh spring. Probably my favourite time of the year, but boy have we had to wait this year. 

I live in Kent currently, so you'd think that Spring for us would have been and gone by now, but we've still got Bluebells out in the local woods and I haven't seen any fledglings yet. We do however have some bluetits nesting in the nestbox outside our house, and as I was sitting watching the birds on the feeder the other day, I could hear them cheeping as Mum and Dad flew in with tasty snacks for them. It's the very cutesy part of nature...

Basically, It's that Springwatch time of the year, and the bug has really bitten me and I'm out and about more. Thanks to the upcoming surgery, my summer will be spent recovering so I'm hoping that I will be able to get out and about with the camera a lot over the next few months.

The other day, after watching Springwatch, I decided to go out for an evening walk. I'm not usually one who goes exploring in the evening but I've decided it's something I should do more often. I wandered around the gardens and out to the back of the property, where there is a gap in the hedge that goes onto neighbouring farmland. It was getting on for sunset and I stood in the gap in the hedge and was rewarded for my evening wander by seeing a hare! It was the first time I'd ever seen one, and something I've wanted to see for a long time. I was so impressed! In fact, as I scanned the field, I found 3 of them, one of which was approached by a fox. The behaviour between them was stunning. The fox had obviously realised the hare was nearly as big as itself and although it did approach, it seemed wary and not sure what was going to happen. The hare stood on it's hind legs, did a small amount of 'boxing' with it's front legs and the fox slumped off. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me, and there wouldn't have been enough light anyway. 

The next morning I was up bright and early, to try and go and see more hares, but unfortunately the weather was against me, and in the drizzle I found the farmland empty. Well of hares in any case, there were plenty of birds out there, especially members of the Thrush family digging up all the worms that had been bought to the surface. After a while I decided to head over to one of the two ponds that we have here, but instead of going to the viewing platform which is really exposed, I went upto the fence where there was a slight gap in the shrubbery around it. On the opposite side, sitting on the fence was a Kingfisher! I was so lucky, two first sightings in less than 24 hours. 

Again, no camera, but I have treated myself to a new tripod (and very nice it is to!) So hope to do a stakeout at the pond, camera at the ready, sometime soon.

I'm really hoping that the weather holds now, at least more than it has done so far this year, so that we can really enjoy spring and nature has a fighting chance of having a good year this year. For anyone who's read the recently published State of Nature report, you'll know that by god do we need it to have a good year.

Spring? I hope so!

Well, my Five Favourites thing worked well... or not. I might try and restart that this week and see if I manage to keep it up. I have to say with Lessons Learned, there's been a few these past couple of weeks. 

In general, my absence can be blamed on the lack of decent weather. My life takes a horrifically boring turn during the winter, mainly because my main hobby packs up, as camping in winter is frankly stupid.

Well, you say that. Believe it or not we were camping last weekend. IN THE FREEZING COLD. Literally. It was not pleasant temperature wise (we didn't jokingly call it Basingrad for no reason...), but overall it was a good weekend. I can't say I loved it but it was definitely nice to see people again, get back on the battlefield and be drinking Port around a fire again. 

My next event will hopefully be up in Rotherham in Mid-May where I will be parading round in girl kit and not going on the field. I did this for one event last year, where only one other person from my regiment was there, and it was nice to just be able to do whatever. I hope Rotherham can do that for me this year.

Nothing of great interest has been happening in Kent, we missed the last bout of the snow which was lucky but it was still cold, the chickens were not amused, especially after the few days that looked like spring a couple of weeks ago. They're a lot happier now!

Party planning is going very well, which is a good job as the party is in 6 days time!! Can't believe after all the preparation and planning, it's now so close, it almost doesn't seem real. I have my outfit now, have a vague plan for the rest of the weekend and I'm just very excited now. I can't wait to see everyone, more than anything, there are so many people I haven't seen since moving to Kent, so it's going to be wonderful to see them again. Farnham friend has been keeping me entertained with plans to have an after party back at my house afterwards, for those camping at ours!

Nothing else really to report on, will do my Five Favourites thing later in the week.

Take care, out there! xxx

Five Favourites and Lessons Learned.

I have to admit I have stolen this idea from a friend Morgaine, from her wonderful blog that can be found here. It's all about looking back on the week in a positive way, discussing what's been your favourite parts and reflecting on some of the negatives but learning from them and the good bits too. It's intended to be done weekly, so I feel that it's a good way to jazz up a boring old Thursday evening (apologies if Thursdays are your exciting night of the week!).

Five Favourites:

1) Normal school weeks: It seems like the first time since December that our groups visiting here have followed a normal school week for me. It's not just their fault, it's mine too, every time there was a standard school week group in, I had holiday booked! It's nice to get back into the routine I'm used to.

2) This weeks The Ruby Chorus: Every other Thursday evening, I'm not suffering from a boring Thursday anymore. My lovely singing group (The Tuesdays) has set up a new group, run every other Thursday for those of us who want to do something a bit more challenging. Instead of just being given lyric sheets and all learning from hearing the music and being taught in nice simple methods from the choir leaders, we're given sheet music and the lovely leader of the choir has been teaching people the basics of reading music, timing etc. We've been singing some lovely pieces such as the Flower Duet, Amazing Grace, Bring Him Home (from Les Miserables) and a bit of Zadoc the Priest. Today for some reason was just particularly good and we had a real laugh for part of it too.

3) New Joules Clothes: This isn't intended to sound too shallow, but having walked past the recently shut down store in town this week, it made me appreciate the lovely things that I managed to pick up in their closing down sale a couple of weeks ago. I've decided that instead of going clothes crazy and buying impulse things from cheaper stores that I'm then not so sure about. I need to be more patient, wait for things to go into the sale in more of the stores I love that have a heftier price tag, and spend more on better quality items, that will last. This mean that I don't have to have tonnes and tonnes of cheap stuff that doesn't last. I don't mean to sound snobby or anything but expanding my Joules clothes has made me really appreciate the items I have from Joules/ similar stores and appreciate the better quality fabric, the fit and the cut etc.

4) Just Give Me A Reason- Pink ft. Nate Ruess: I really do adore this song this week, sometimes you just get songs with lyrics that really speak to you, and this is the case for me with this song. The video on YouTube is also beautiful, you have to check it out!

5) My lovely Mum: It's been a strange week for her, due to ups and downs about her operation on her collar bone (she fell off a horse back in October) and also finding out that she has yet more health conditions developing, she really does have enough already. Pray/think of her please.

Lessons Learnt:

1) Family are so so important: I went home last weekend and going back made me realise just how important my family are. I didn't appreciate them enough when I lived at home/closer to home, especiallydcuring my mid teens but now they're not there or a little drive away when I'm having problems it really made me realise how much they support me. I went out for a lovely meal with The Elder Basons, The Boyf and The Boyf's Parents. It's not the first time our sets of parents have spent time in each others company, and we know they get on well but for some reason I think this time everyone felt even more relaxed and it was lovely.

2) The Wonders of multi-cultural education: This week our group doesn't have a single child in it from British descent. Now a lot of people would take that as a bad thing, and I do think it's a shame that there isn't someone representing a whole childhood spent in British culture in what I'm about to describe, but it was also very moving. We took the children to a local village this week to do a comparison between this sleepy village and the area they live in Hackney and when we went into the church, knowing that they're all from different countries I decided to tackle the topic of religion with them and it worked a treat. I asked them all to have a little look around the church and then got them sat in the pews and asked each child in turn if they worshiped in their faith regularly (all but 2 did) and if so what faith they worshiped in and a feature of this church that was different to their place of worship and hearing them talk about their own experiences from such a wide range of countries was very inspiring, probably because they're all 10/11 years old and were still young enough not to be scared to talk openly about their religion.

3) That I need to trust my gut instinct when driving: Yet again I panicked when I saw a sign saying a location I thought I was heading for, even though I was also thinking, 'I don't think I came from that way though'. It was a mistake to trust the panic sign, it took me into Sussex and added 45 minutes onto my journey.

4) No matter how upset or angry you are, there is no need to put this across to your colleagues: I wasn't on the receiving end or the giving end of this, but I see it happen in my workplace fairly regularly and it annoys me. I am a firm believer of, when at work, there is no need to lose your temper at people and be disrespectful. I know colleagues quickly become friends, but also, you have to remain professional. If you have something bothering you in your personal life, you cannot let that affect the way you talk to/act towards colleagues and if you have a problem you raise the issue diplomatically, instead of just getting stroppy about it!

5) Washing doesn't do itself: I wish. Enough said.

This ended up a lot longer than I expected, but at least there is now a bit more structure and thought gone into a blog post, instead of mindless ramblings about my normal life. If you regularly blog 'Five Favourites, Five Lessons Learned' please comment with a link to your blog, I love things like this :) 

Ta'ra a bit, as they say in the home-shire.

Feeling Better...

Trying to actually get back into blogging again, I do enjoy it, but struggle to find interesting[ish] stuff to talk about, so don't want to bore.

I have been feeling a lot better recently though, which I think will help my blogging inspiration etc. 

I've started to lose weight, which although shouldn't be the be all and end all of my life (it's not, I promise) it is making me feel better about myself and love my body a little more. Also, having a health condition where excess weight strains my body AND one that causes me to put weight on really easily, it's hard to try and get things balanced. Also, with the upcoming surgery the fitter and healthier I am, the quicker I recover and since it's planned for slap bang in the middle of Summer, I really want to be recovering quickly. As an official 'short-arse' at 5' tall, I also don't think it's good for me to be carrying the weight I have been for the past 6 months or so, in comparison to my height.

To help with the weight loss, I've given up all sorts of things for lent such as Chocolate, Sweets, Ice Cream, Cake, Biscuits, Desserts etc. I do go to church and would count myself as religious, but I tend to let my religion help my health when it comes to lent and go on a bit of a sugar detox before my upcoming birthday (always within a couple of weeks of the end of lent, sometimes IN lent) and the approach of Summer. This year though, it will extend well into Summer, up to my op date, to try and be nice and healthy in time. 

I'm finding it hard but also rewarding as my clothes get looser and I manage to buy things a size smaller. 

As well as that, I'm starting to take care of my skin more, especially my face. I always kept my skin washed, but often didn't moisturise or cleanse and I was SO BAD at remembering to take make up off in the evening. I've made a real effort now, with the help of receiving various facial related smellies for Christmas, which has been nice as I'm able to try stuff I'd be dubious about buying, namely things from the No.7 range at boots. Always been a bit dubious about slightly higher prices and how well it would work compared to anything I'd normally buy, but turns out it's great stuff. I now have a nice combination of Simple and No.7 products both morning and night and I'm really starting to see the effects, it's lovely!

I have been feeling better about being at work again because now we're back up to full staff, I can start to get back into the routine I was getting used to before Christmas, we've also got at least 6 weeks now of just standard school groups, which we haven't always had lately and much as it's nice to have a change, it does make it harder as nothing is the same as usual. I really do function better in a routine and with structure, not so much when it's all up in the air.

It is nice to be feeling better and more positive about things. It's still hard being down here on my own, but I know I don't have much longer to stick it out and that it will all be worth it at the end of the year and that I really have gained some valuable experience down here. 

So long for now, I'll probably catch up with you lovely lot at the weekend.

Winter blues.

Dear Summer, please hurry up. 

I'm truly fed up of the winter blues now. Although it's getting dark later and more birds are singing each morning, it's still bitterly cold and often wet, which is getting a bit tedious. We had a couple of days of warmer weather at the beginning of last week, and I got hopeful, only for it to go colder and damper again over the weekend.

I also want Summer to hurry up because that's when I tend to get out and do more. My main hobbies of riding and battle re-enactment have more of a front seat in the summer, and having only had one riding lesson since the summer and not having gone to a battle since October, I miss it all.

I also miss my friends, especially from the battles. One of my favourite things to do is to sit round a fire in good company with a bottle of port and some good music/ songs to sing. Not done that in what seems like forever, but luckily, on Friday, I will only have to wait 4 weeks to do so again.

Shortly after the first battle, it'll be my birthday! As you've probably already gathered, I'm very excited for this and hope that the 'Spring Garden Party' theme will at least go some way to making it feel like Summer is on it's way.

To be quite honest, I don't know why I'm so eager for this Summer, since I will be having my operation in July and most of my Summer will be spent not doing a great deal. For at least the firt 6 weeks after the operation, I'm not even allowed to drive, and for 3 months I can't lift anything heavier than a telephone directory (although have the hospital seen the size of the most recent Thompson Local, they're a lot smaller than they were). 

Ho hum, hopefully fun stuff will worm its way into my schedule and the weather will start to turn for the better.

All in all, I don't have a great deal going on, so take care one and all!

Why the boyband/twitter phenomenon should be put to a stop.

Usually this blog is just about my boring life, but this time I have a pet hate to discuss, and who knows what hatred this could lead to...

It's basically the whole boy band/social networking phenomenon. It should be banned, immediately.

I like to follow bands and artists on twitter, I follow a lot of them. I have a wide taste in music and it's a big part of my life. I also love being on twitter. But I like following bands and artists on twitter to keep up to date with stuff like album releases, gig announcements/dates and general stuff that they tweet about. What I hate with a passion is seeing them retweet stuff from followers saying 'Please follow me I love you with all my heart' and 'Please retweet this as it would make my life'. I also hate fans retweeting other fans to try and get peoples attention. Sorry guys but the 'One Directioners' are the worst for this by far. 

Please, girls (and you boys, you're not exempt from this, just less common) you're making yourself out to be a fool with very little between your ears. If the only thing that will 'make your life' is a member of a boy band tweeting you, I really think you need to reassess your priorities in your life. I have a few things in my mind that would 'make my life' and they involve things like travelling to interesting places and getting a good job and lifestyle because I've worked hard for it. Not being tweeted by a boy band. 

Also, jumping to their defense when they've had a negative tweet? Seriously? Do you think they really care that a bunch of teenagers have their back, yes they probably feel that it's nice that their fans are there for them, but really, what are you going to do? Jake Bugg said that One Direction were terrible and there were children tweeting that this was 'Jake Bugg's warning' and that 'next time there would be trouble' oh please, what are you going to do, swear at him across a virtual medium? That's hardly threatening and you can't exactly go and hunt him down, you'd have to ask your parents to drive you.

Also, no matter who you try and convince you aren't 'Mrs Styles' and 'Nathan loves me' isn't likely either. I'm not saying don't dream, but twitter doesn't need to know about your mad crush on a member of One Direction or The Wanted.

Also, seeing 14 year olds tweeting that they want to sleep with boy band members is 1) worrying and 2) delusional, you may as well stop that now. I know that Twitter is for everyone and you can tweet what you like, but it's cringeworthy and I can only imagine what they'll think of themselves in 10 years time. It's a matter of self respect too, you don't need to convince yourself that you have to sleep with a boy band member to get anywhere in life and obsessing over a boyband doesn't exactly portray you in the best light as far as looking shallow is concerned.

Also, finally, purposely tweeting things over and over again just to make something about your favourite band trend. Seriously, what the hell are you doing with your life? Go out and do something worthwhile! Also, saying what date and time you met JLS isn't important either.

I do like the occasional boyband hit, but I don't feel the need to obsess over them and nor do so about the bands and artists that I like the music of best. Frank Turner doesn't need to sleep with me to make my life complete, but he's a very talented artist. I don't try to convince Twitter that I'm married to him either.

People wonder why the nation is going to the dogs yet we let children take to twitter to talk about how a member of a boyband loves them and let them sit there for hours on fan sites and forums to talk about said boybands and their plans of getting them to sleep with them. Letting them believe that they too can be famous because they 'sing' (I use the term loosly) on the X Factor and that it is the best way to get the lifestyle that you want. The Olympics was a godsend because children were actually looking up to real idols, people who've worked hard to be where they are today and people who have done the country proud, for reasons we can actually be proud of. Then we mucked it all up again by convincing Louis Smith and Tom Daley to join part of our horrific 'celebrity' status culture, but at least they had more of a reason to be there to start with. If only children would look up to people who are doing well and working hard at something more worthwhile... 

Trundling on, winter is boring.

Yet again I have neglected this, but that's mainly due to the winter months in my life being far far more boring than the summer ones.

Not much has happened since October, although that can't be said for singing. I joined The Tuesdays in the beginning of October and never looked back. We did a show in November (4 weeks after I started) and had a wonderful time, I even sung as part of a small group, which was lovely. 3 of us younger girlies singing Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend (The Boyf was there, he didn't agree). After that show we did a Carol Concert in mid-December and the Annual Snow Ball. This was cracking and I sung solo for the first time ever. 4 days before the show the people who run the choir decided I was going to be the first person to perform. With a small amount of dutch courage it all went swimmingly and I sung I Believe In Father Christmas by Greg Lake (and now me!).  

For our efforts at the show in November, which was a charity event, a couple of weeks ago Cheryl Baker (you know, her from Bucks Fizz!) came to present us a certificate for raising so much money, as she is the new patron of the charity. The charity is Abigail's Footsteps, and is a wonderful charity working with families affected by stillbirth. You can check it out here. 

Next week we are actually recording a Charity Single! How exciting is that?! All the money raised is going to Abigail's Footsteps. I will post details of how you can purchase a copy in a couple of weeks. It's a beautiful, brand new song written by one of the men that sings in the choir, the first song he's written in 20 years.

More has happened with the advances towards having my heart surgery, but all of this is detailed in my other blog here.

Apart from a lovely break at home over Christmas and New Year, not much has happened really. The Bird Watching weekend I ran at work took place at the beginning of this month and was a success all round, so I'm hoping that someone else will be able to run another one next year when I've left working here.

Hopefully all the exciting summery things such as battles and music and stuff will start to kick off soon and I can write about more interesting things. 

In the mean time I'm going to carry on planning my 21st Birthday Party and carry on at work (although coming home for 4 days next week, so might have interesting stuff to blog about).

Take care, one and all