I return home, plug in my phone so that I can tell my husband that I’m back, I put the kettle on and say hello to the cats.

I eat two Chunky Kit Kats in the time it takes Andy to get home. He’s pleased to see me, as I am him.

He laughs when he asks to see my photos and I tell him I haven’t taken many. I hadn’t, it's most unlike me.

Andy goes back to work but only after we discuss the acts, the weather, the food, the cats, my tomato plants, and the weather again.

I make another cuppa, eat the pasta pot snack I’d taken all the way to Henham Park with me, and brought all the way home again.

My luggage stays in the hall, I don't want to unpack.

I wander around not wanting to turn on my computer just yet. I feel like I’ve been unplugged for a while and I like it.

I always return from camping feeling very calm, I love the simplicity of living with just the things I absolutely need. I look at our accumulated stuff and promise myself that I won’t add more to it, I’ll sleep under canvas more often instead.

After a few days of being surrounded by people and noise, it feels oddly quiet, there is a low ringing in my ears. There is nothing to do, nothing to see, listen too, or be entertained by. There is a distinct lack of smoke filled bubbles.

I eat my supper in the garden, listening to music. I grab my book and sip another cuppa while I acclimatise to being home again.

Normal life will can wait until tomorrow.

Photo An Hour fell on the Saturday I attended Latitude Festival in Henham Park, Suffolk. It's the 5th year I've been, the 3rd year of camping for the whole weekend, and this was possibly the best one yet!

We opted for Pink Moon camping, which whilst expensive, offered a spacious pre-pitched tent, non-communal showers, vanity stations with hairdryers, nice(ish) portaloos, and it's own fenced off camping area with security guards (or at least people who checked your wristband and refused entry to anyone without one).

My friend came along for the day on Saturday and I met her in the morning, full of excitement for seeing the Stereophonics later that evening.

I didn't take many photos throughout the day, it's most unlike me not to take many more photos than is actually necessary, but I just didn't feel the need. I unplugged, not intentionally, I simply didn't think about reaching for my camera.

But this is how the day went, with photos were possible.

7am I was up and straight off to the showers, they were private and had plenty of warm water, and no queue! I washed my hair - at a festival this is unheard of.

8am Back at my tent I was tucking into a porridge pot, and was enjoying my first cuppa of the day, made with hot water kindly provided by Sophie.

9am I sat in the sunshine reading for a while, my friend wasn't due until 10:30am and, as the weather forecast was a bit grim, I made the most of the little sun we were going to get.


10am Gathering anything I'd need for the day ahead - waterproofs, sun cream, and a jumper for when the temperature cooled, I set off to meet my friend on the bridge, in the middle but to the side, near the Latitude sign (with the crowds I felt the need to be very specific).

11am My friend arrived! The time I spent waiting was used for people watching, and taking photos for people who wanted the obligatory Latitude sign photo. We made our way to the comedy arena, and sat in the (not forecast) blazing sunshine.

12pm After watching, chuckling and cheering to London Hughes (v. funny), and Katherine Ryan (even funnier), and applying a generous amount of factor 50, we headed off in search of food. We opted for pork carnitas which, whilst very small for the £8.50 pricetag, were utterly delicious! I could've eaten another portion, or four. We decided more food was required and chose pakora, and a Pukka three camomile tea (at £1.50 it was the cheapest tea I found on site).

1pm A short stop in the Speakeasy tent listening to a chap talk about his book (not very memorable and lost on me as he was talking a lot about Love Island - which I've never watched).

2pm With the savoury courses out of the way we found ourselves at an icecream van. We sat for a while watching the world go by, noticing the sky turn a very ominous shade of grey. The temperature dipped and the heavens opened. My large poncho came into it's own, allowing me to sit cross legged on the grass, completely covered as the rain lashed down. Some people hurried to find shelter, others carried on as if nothing much had happened. The downpour was short lived, the sun came out again, and I laid out my poncho to dry, within a few minutes it was as if nothing had happened.

3pm We settled ourselves in the Obelisk Arena (the main stage) and waited for Walking on Cars to start their set. Again the heavens opened for a short while, but it failed to dampen our spirits.


4pm I'm not really sure what I was doing at this time, possibly still listening to Walking on Cars and meandering a bit. We were approached by an Oxfam representative who asked us to join the Say No To New campaign, and give up new clothing for a month. I pointed out that the shoes on my feet, the bag I was carrying and the t-shirt I was wearing were all secondhand. He said 'you're the sort of person we need to sign up' ... surely they need people who don't shop secondhand to sign up. I signed up anyway, he clearly had a quota to fill, it was getting late, and it was hot.


5pm Maisie Peters had just finished her set and we'd grabbed a cheeky glass of Prosecco and wandered about in the woods looking at the art installations, before heading the the Lake Stage to see The Northern Ballet perform.

6pm With my friend still reeling from a brief encounter with Charlie Brooker, I bought her a cuppa, and admired the selfie she'd been brave enough to ask for. Could you do that? I wouldn't have the guts.


7pm We'd been watching Tom Greenan for a while. He was very entertaining and worked the crowd, promising to be back at Latitude as a headliner soon. I hadn't heard of him before but enjoyed his set and found his songs kinda catchy. He might just be added to my iTunes sometime soon.

We then went in search of food before the Stereophonics came on. The shortest queue was for Cajun chicken, with Cajun fries and Cajun slaw. It was tasty but could've done with an alternate flavour in there somewhere!


8pm Stereophonics time! They. Were. Awesome. My friend and I went to see them years ago at a charity concert in the Albert Hall and we both hoped they'd be as good as we remembered. They were! I sang and cheered until I almost lost my voice.

After this I walked my friend to the exit and she made her way home. I caught up with Sophie and her husband at the tents and sat under the stars drinking beer and chatting. I'm not sure what time I went to bed, but I knew I'd had a great day and was looking forward to the next...

I hope you had a lovely weekend. Thanks to Jane and Louisa for hosting #PhotoAnHour.   

The summer is a dim and distant memory now but I still wanted to share how I got on with my summer to-do list.

1. Eating
I wanted to eat in a restaurant every day for seven days, be it for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner. I thought that this would be a good way to celebrate my birthday but after just two days of eating out I was done. It probably didn't help that on my birthday I had a cooked breakfast in a local cafe, a roast lunch with family, and then went out for Italian food in the evening. The next day I had a pub lunch and that finished me off. But I do still like the idea, it feels like a very decadent way to celebrate a birthday. I think it's doable, I just need to be a little more sensible about it.


2. Camping
I went to Latitude for a day this year, and I camped at a local campsite in Dunwich on the Friday and Saturday night. Dunwich is lovely, and the campsite is next right next to the beach. I went early to set up camp and when my friend went to pick up his kids from school I had a stroll on the beach, read for a while and had a bit of a nap. Walking back I picked up feathers and shore flora and made a beach bouquet. Typing this feels really familiar and I think I probably already wrote about this in a weekend post.

3. Going Coastal
I wanted to spend a day at the beach, 9 to 5, eat ice cream, and fish n chips. But I decided to stay away during the summer holidays. By the time the school term started the weather dipped into clouds and high winds, by the time the weather improved the summer was over.

4. Hosting
I wanted to invite friends for afternoon tea, but I failed to make a plan so it didn't happened.


5. Reading
I wanted to read 12 books over the summer months, but I haven't been reading as much recently. I managed only 10 books with September taking all of September to get through! I did survive the Zombie apocalypse, and loved reading 22 Britannia Road. My friend used to live on that street so I know it well. I could visualise the house and garden, and when he talked of cycling up a hill on his way home from work, I knew the hill as I'd cycled up it on my way home many times. The labels on June irritate me, but I did forgive it for being a hardback book (not stated when I ordered it) as it was an enjoyable read.

6. Decorating
Our bedroom has been at the planning stage for about two years now... and Andy threw a spanner in the works just as I was about to buy the paint and make a start, more on that in another post.

7. Exploring
I wanted to give Geocaching a go, locally at first, but again plans weren't made ...


8. Attending
My intention was to visit the Hemingstone Flower Show. But it wasn't on until the early autumn, so I went along then instead. It was very quaint, the flowers in the church were beautiful, I was particularly drawn to the dahlias.

Afterwards refreshments were available in the Hut, which is a WW1 hut given to the village by Rendlesham Forest in 1920. It's the social centre of the village, which has no other amenities apart from the church.

I thought I heard an almost imperceptible lull in conversation as I entered the Hut. I felt like an interloper, never seen before, it tickled me and I had to try hard not to laugh - was it just my imagination? Luckily I saw a friend of mine and in talking to her I hope I gained some credibility with the locals. I had a delicious homemade tomato and basil soup which warmed me nicely for my walk back to the car, and I bought a huge slice of chocolate cake for Andy for £1.00. I hope to return again next year.

9. Concocting
I wanted to make lemonade from scratch. But I didn't due to the amount of sugar involved and I'm trying to limit my sugar intake.

10. Utilising
I wanted to get a book from the library, I joined last year and have yet to do so. I really should, I really want to, but I didn't get around to it.

For all the things I didn't tick off the list there were several things I did do. To name a few I dined out with friends, with family, spent an afternoon on Southwold beach with my young nieces and nephew, celebrated my oldest nephews 18th birthday with a family BBQ, discovered that I like love figs, avocados, and creme brulee. I developed an obsession with pom poms and spent a lovely afternoon teaching my sister in law and her children how to make them. I celebrated my birthday with two birthday cakes (double the wishes when I blew out the candles). Caught up with old friends over a chili and a scary movie, and with others over coffee. The summer was fab, and I hope autumn will be equally as sociable. I haven't written an autumn list, but plan to look back and write a post about the ten best things I do this autumn.

The first full weekend of the month saw England play (and beat) Sweden in The World Cup. I watched the game alone as Andy was gearing up for harvest and working all day, everyday. He hadn't started working into the evenings but as kick-off was a 3pm, he missed the game.

I sat down with an elderflower spritzer and picked up my knitting (standard practice when watching football, yes?). I can't just sit and watch football, I have to have something else to do (I used knitting to ease the tension of the England vs Columbia penalties). By the end of the game I realised that I'd finished my third lion. Apt, right?

It seems like an eternity ago already, it's a shame we didn't make the final, but didn't the England team do us proud?

The Sunday was all about pom poms and writing blog posts. I always have 20 - 30 posts in draft, some which need updating as time goes on - my seasonal list, or my Day Zero updates for example, and others that I just need to get on and finish!


The following Saturday was Latitude. I camped at a site in Dunwich with friends on the Friday and Saturday nights. On the Friday I made my way to the campsite to help set up the tents in the afternoon. Whilst my friend returned to Ipswich to pick up his kids from school, I spent a few hours on the beach. I read, I napped a little, and I made a sea bouquet for our tent - something every tent should have!

The evening consisted of a BBQ on the beach, and sitting around a bonfire until 1am catching up with friends I haven't seen for far too long.


The next day we didn't get to the festival until 2pm and our first stop was to find food! I don't feel like I explored as much of the festival as I normally do. I didn't go into the forest at all, and there were lots of new things that I just didn't get time to check out.


I did meet up with Sophie though, and we fell back into our normal Latitude routine of bouncing between the Radio 6 tent and the main arena, with trips to the bar in between. I then found the friends I'd arrived with and headed to the main stage to watch The Killers. They were awesome. The 2 hour wait to get out of the car park however, was no fun at all. It was chaos and there was not a single warden around to help. Luckily I wasn't driving so I was able to get some sleep in the back of the car.

On the Sunday I got up surprisingly early considering I didn't get to bed until almost 2.30am. The day consisted of slowly packing up the tent, whilst drinking mug after mug of tea, and making my way home.

Andy was at work until late and I arrived home to an empty house with a touch of the festival blues. I made a pom pom wreath to keep myself occupied.

I'm hoping to go to Latitude for the entire weekend next year. I feel like I missed so much by only going for one day, but I did enjoy the camping tremendously. It's years since I've been.

The third weekend of the month was one I decided would be just general pottering and with a little being sociable thrown in.

The Saturday was all about pom pom making, and in the evening I went to friends house to watch a scary movie. The film was IT, which was rather good and thankfully not as scary as I thought it would be. Then we watched a documentary about a haunted farm house in the middle of nowhere. It was terrifying, and then I had to drive home to my farmhouse in the middle of nowhere... I had to have a cup of tea and a sit in the garden with my friends until I felt brave enough to drive home alone. In the cold light of day this seems ridiculous, at nearly 1am in the near pitch black it seems totally reasonable.


Sunday I made more pom poms (have I mentioned how addictive it is?) and Andy was working close by so he popped home for lunch, which was a lovely and unexpected surprise. Later I nipped to my  brother's for a while and came home with an abandoned knitting project to frog and make into more pom poms.


The final weekend was dedicated, once again, to pom poms. I made my biggest one yet - 14". Saturday was Photo An Hour and Sunday consisted of more pom poms and the making of a Malteser cheesecake for my nephew's 18th Birthday BBQ the following day.

...................

It was my wish at the beginning of the year to avoid that Sunday night feeling of a weekend wasted. My goal was to have a plan in place for the coming weekend by each Friday evening. July seems to have been largely dominated by pom poms (if you're wondering about the pom poms you can read more here. Long story short - I had a load of green wool that needed a use, I decided pom pom wreaths were the answer, and I'll be selling them on a craft stall in September, October and November), but it's also been a good month for seeing friends I haven't seen in far too long.

I've been trying to write this post for nearly two months, wanting to get down every last detail. But I just don't think it's going to happen, so I'm going to share random thoughts and photos, and try to make the whole thing reasonably coherent.

Being at Latitude for a second year felt instantly familiar, like I'd never been away. I met Sophie and C at the same place en route, so we could arrive at Henham Park together. We parked in the same car park. We pitched our tents in practically the same spot as last year, close - but not too close - to the toilets, and the path to the village, meaning our route into the main arena was almost identical.

We stepped wordlessly back into the same routine as last year. Toasties to start the day, swiftly followed by comedy in the morning, some wandering about, followed by music, peppered with food and beer throughout the day, and a trip back to the tents to change into warmer gear for the evenings.


Thursday
It seemed busier than last year. I remember sitting on a picnic bench last year, drinking Hobgoblin with people milling about, but this year the main arena seemed to be bustling. We had a wander into the Faraway Forest, where I fell in love with the rose covered Friendship Tree, and tried to capture the colourful pom poms in the trees, managing just a few blurry images.

We paused to to watch C!RCA with their cleverly choreographed acrobatic routines with boxes, and vertigo inducing ladder, and then strolled over the bridge to peek at the Solas area, with it's beautifully lit sculptures nestled in the trees.



We watched some dancing on the Waterfront Stage - The Hofesh Shechter Company performing tHe bAD - some contemporary stuff with five dancers in gold catsuits (which made them look naked, shiny, and kinda slippery). The synchronised parts of the dance were excellent, but when they were all doing their own thing it looked like kittens having a fight in a sack. But then, I know very little about dance...


Friday
After a toastie and a smoothie we headed straight to the comedy tent. We started with the Chortle Student Comedy Awards Show, all were good, but the highlight of the day was seeing Oh Wonder in the BBC Radio 6 Music tent. I hadn't heard of them before but Sophie highly recommended them. They're right up my street, you can check them out here. I love the song Without You. Last year my take home band was Years and Years, this year it was Oh Wonder.


It was a wonderfully sunny day and after finding some dairy free food (salad), and having furnished ourselves with beer we sat watching Jones (mainly because Sophie and I liked her outfit).


It was then time to head back to the Comedy tent for Russell Howard - always funny. Although, as with all the better know acts, it was busy and was standing room only. Being short I couldn't see him from behind the huge man in front of me so had to watch him looking sideways at the large screen.


Our next venture into the BBC Radio 6 Music tent ended in disaster, I won't go into it, but too many people, and security that didn't act quickly enough to contain the situation, lead to us being separated and forcibly extracting ourselves from the throng, luckily it didn't take long to find each other.

To compose ourselves we grabbed another drink and headed to the quiet of the Faraway Forest. You can't beat being in the forest as daylight fades.


Saturday
My best friend joined us for the day, whilst awaiting her arrival I gazed at the pink sheep. It irks me that they dye them, I don't know why, but I couldn't resist a few cute photos.


We immediately set off for some comedy, catching the end of Joe Bor as Jasper Cromwell - Jones, who had me in stitches, not only was he funny but his voice was hilarious too.


I was intrigued to see The Boy With Tape on His Face, our closest camping neighbour had recommended him, and I wasn't disappointed. I cried laughing, it was the funniest thing I saw all weekend. His act is unique in that he doesn't say a word. Check him out on YouTube here, the first part is a very similar skit to one he did at Latitude.


Lucius / fish n chip lunch / fresh fruit lollipops



A wander among the crocheted flowers (made with huge crochet hooks and ten strands of yarn), a bit of a sit under the Friendship Tree and off to chuckle at Joe Lycett (who I saw for the first time at Latitude last year, and went to see in Cambridge the following Autumn), followed by Milton Jones and his clever one liners.


I had to chuckle when Joe Lycett wandered into the audience and a girl wanted a selfie with him, he obliged, but she was clearly not satisfied and ordered him to "smile!" before taking another.

I also really enjoyed Joe talking about how people wearing numerous festival wristbands ages after the event were all knobheads, particularly because an achingly cool hipster teenager had plonked himself down in front of us with a gaggle of his mates wearing several such bands. His mates pointed and laughed at him in true teenage style, and he looked like he wanted the earth to open up and swallow him, which I enjoyed immensely. I hope he took off the grubby looking things after that, although I doubt he did.


We sat outside the Film and Music arena listening to Adam Buxton in conversation with Louis Theroux, the queues were insane and we knew we wouldn't get in so our spot outside the door next to the speaker was the next best thing. Thankfully we were sitting in the shade, and were glad when we had our only rain of the weekend - a slight smattering of raindrops, enough to be refreshing, not enough to soak in.

We chuckled at the security men taking the job of queue management very seriously indeed. Despite this several individuals marched confidently up to the front of the queues and walked straight in, leaving behind them a chorus of tutting and mumbling. I marveled at their audacity, and chuckled at the very British response.

After scoffing more donuts that I'm going to admit too, I had the sugar wobbles and needed something to counteract the sensation. I settled on another salad, but asked for no tomato. 'So you want salad, with a little less salad?' the lady asked me. 'Yes please'.


We then sat outside the BBC Radio 6 Tent listening to Half Moon Run and eating my salad-with-less-salad, before moving to the Obelisk Arena to watch an energetic set from Chvrches. My second favourite band of the weekend.


Sunday
It was so hot! I had to buy myself a hat to cover my sunburned nose and scalp, and then we immediately went and sat inside. We watched Spencer Jones, and David O'Doherty, but I was a bit distracted by the lonely sight of Hello Kitty bobbing in the rafters alone. I wondered was someone sad to lose her?


We sat listening to Minor Victories back in the BBC Radio 6 tent, but I was lost in people watching, and not for the first time that weekend. My friend had commented that Latitude was 'better than an airport for people watching'. She wasn't wrong.

Next to me was a teenage boy, lanky and all elbows and knees. But what struck me was his choice of hat. A safari pith helmet, the way he held himself, the clothes he wore all screamed with a lack of self confidence, an air of teenage awkwardness, so the hat - a bold and unusual choice - was a surprise.

Sitting by the Lake stage I was lost in my own thoughts, ignoring the band playing entirely. I'd spoken to Andy on the phone several times over the weekend, swapping details of our days and general chit chat. It occurred to me that we don't normally speak on the phone much anymore, and it reminded me of the early days of us. Suddenly I really missed him.

Later on, listening to Foy Vance I felt the same sensation when he introduced Ed Sheeran on to the stage. Thinking Out Loud was our wedding song and now anything remotely related to Ed Sheeran reminds me of our first dance. I thought about wandering over to the doors of the tent to get a glimpse, but on hearing the words 'Ed' and 'Sheeran' eleventeen billion teenage girls appeared and swarmed the tent. I decided to stay put and just listen and enjoy. 


Next up we found of good seat for The Lumineers. And after hearing the only song I knew (Hey Ho) I was happy to grab some chicken satay before packing up and heading home. Trudging back to the car, weary, happy and totally chilled out.


When I arrived home everything felt oddly spacious, quiet, and echoey. It was so good to be home, to see my husband, cuddle my cats, and have a long hot shower, but I missed the hustle and bustle until normal service resumed, and I slipped neatly back into daily life.

Looking forward to next year already!