Bristol Harbour Festival 2013

Posted on July 31, 2013 by

Mammoth post alert.

Me and Tom went on a mini adventure down the road on Sunday, to the Harbour Festival.

I like walking down to the harbourside from our house because we get to walk across a really lovely Victorian bridge, and down past the old railway track, which is right by the river. It’s a really beautiful walk. I’m somewhat obsessed with Victorian engineering, so little things like this never fail to excite me.

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We passed under the bridge and were making our way to the Buttery, when I heard the familiar puff and pootle of a steam train! I got suitably excited.
I really love trains.

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This particular train was making journeys up and down the harbour all day; I would have loved to go for a ride but we didn’t have time.

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There were more narrowboats than usual in the harbour; they were moored in little clutches like this along the length of the harbour. I’d never been to the festival before and was amazed at the sheer amount of boats in the water.

We got to the Buttery and the queue was HUGE, so we left our growling bellies and walked down the waterfront past the M Shed in search of sustenance.

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There was a Victorian mechanical crane in operation, giving demos. As with the previous, I would have liked to stop and have a proper look, but we were on a mission!

The Mathew always looks beautiful, from any angle. I was lucky enough to go on a journey on the Mathew for my friend’s birthday a couple of months ago, it’s pretty awesome being aboard. Like a real life bona-fide pirate.

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Then we found the Pyronaut.

What… the… ?

It’s a fire-boat! That is, it’s a boat to put out boat fires. It was made in 1934 (or thereabouts) and pumps out water from the harbour in chuffing great big jets! It really was impressive, considering it was such a tiny boat. I couldn’t get my head around how old it was.

The mist was reaching us slowly and drifting across the whole harbour, and had a welcome cooling effect as it was so hot that day.
It was REALLY sunny. Uncomfortably so. I think it was maybe at some point around here where I picked up the majority of my sunburn. Damn you, pale skin!

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We walked a bit further along and got to Pero’s bridge, aka the trumpet bridge, aka the horny bridge. I have to admit that I didn’t know the proper name for it until a couple of months ago, when I was reminded how important this Pero guy was, and told to never forget his name.

I think trumpet bridge has more of a ring to it though.

This is the view from the bridge, looking over to M Shed. ZILLIONS of boats moored, and felt like even more so going up and down the harbour. The rowers were out in force too, we were accosted by a lady and asked if we wanted to have a go (I was not dressed appropriately).

We went to a sausage stand just down from here and had a massive baguette with a giant butcher’s sausage in it, I would have taken a picture but I was too busy stuffing it in my gob.

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We finally made it to the amphitheatre!
So exciting. It was packed with people and stalls offering food and drinks (we obviously stopped for a beer), handmade craft items, a massage tent, a portable forest (it was a tree in a wheely bin), and a tent offering free workshops and seminars.

We didn’t stay here for too long, we were conscious of running out of time, plus it was too busy to enjoy properly.

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On the way out I spotted some awesome fishy yarn-bombing. They were pleasantly oscillating in the breeze, and I wondered how long and how many people it must have taken to cover the railings like this.
There are a few examples of yarn bombing in Bristol, but this one was particularly awesome.

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A little further along and I noticed a giant teapot.

It was the lovely people at Clipper, who were handing out free samples of their delicious beverage. I managed to score a box of 10 free teabags, which didn’t last very long in our house!

I have to admit that we never buy Clipper in our house, we are far too cheap for that. Along with the teabags there was a voucher for 40p off, and I’m considering buying a stash to take to work, considering the amount of tea I drink throughout the day. It’s FAR superior to whatever horrible teabags they buy in for the staff cupboard.

The ladies handing the samples out had the most awesome dresses on – 1950’s puffy skirted things in different pastel colours, with printed teaspoons down the length of the skirt. They looked amazing, and it was really nice to see that Clipper had put some thought into the ‘uniform’ that they were wearing, instead of just getting a load of plain old printed tees like most businesses do. I wish I’d got a proper picture.

They were also running a mini competition via a wheel-of-fortune style affair, to win a Clipper branded cup! Of course I had a go.

The queue was almost exclusively made up of families and children, and I felt a little self-conscious queueing up by myself. When it got to my go I thought I had completely fudged it up, and was ready to throw a strop if I didn’t win.

Clipper mug

But here he is! Thanks Clipper!

I’m chuffed to bits – I’m currently sitting here drinking chai wondering where the lovely weather went.

Hopefully it will return in time for next weekend.

Here’s hoping!

I heart roller derby.

Posted on July 27, 2013 by

I’m going to deviate a little from the ‘theme’ of my blog and talk about something which occupies a lot of my time, in both a mental and physical capacity – roller derby.

(If you don’t know what roller derby is, get ye to Google, there are hundreds of better explanations, and I’m not going to take the time to)

I’ve been playing derby since June 2011 when I started out as ‘fresh meat’ with Severn Roller Torrent, and now skate with Bristol Roller Derby, having literally just stepped through the door from a closed bout, in which I played for their B team.

Despite sitting here now being immensely sweaty, tired and hungry, I’m thinking back over the last few hours and trying to piece together what it is about derby which I love so much.

On the surface it’s obviously all the cool things – the weirdly liberating feeling of wearing Lycra, war-paint face painting, customising your helmets, an ungodly amount of cool stickers, plus sparkly short shorts, which would be questionable attire for any other occasion other than a roller derby bout.

The biggest factor is obviously the people. You will meet the nicest people you have ever met in your life being involved in roller derby. I mean that. It’s one of those sports which attracts people from all walks of life, whatever age or background and invites them to participate in any way they can. It’s not all about the skaters – we have referees, NSOs (non skating officials) who keep the score and track penalties amongst other things, and of course, the spectators. Everyone has sacrificed a percentage of their time and dedicated it to derby.

It’s a vast network of awesome people who also happen to be insanely talented; all the promotion, artwork, organisation and planning it takes to put on a bout is organised by members of our league.

Bristol Roller Derby hold public home bouts every three months or so, at the WISE campus in Filton. The last was in June, so the next will be in September or October time. For more info about the league or roller derby in general, head over to www.bristolrollerderby.com.

When you are involved in derby all the time you tend to over-think it. There’s a lot to be said about it but on the surface, it’s a women’s sport, played on frickin’ roller skates.

What’s not to love about that?!

I made a tiny hat…

Posted on July 22, 2013 by

Despite it being at least 30 degrees outside, I am already planning ahead for winter. I bought a practical, waterproof coat (more on that soon) and have started knitting things which I can use in the colder months. I think it might be a coping mechanism.

You are crazy.

I’m not, I just can’t bear this heat, and much prefer the reliability of the weather in the autumn and winter months.

At knitting club I was particularly inspired by a book called , which promises 30 minutes of your time in exchange for adorable (and functional) knitted projects. In this was a beautiful ribbed lace hat, perfect for winter.

So, I made a prototype.

The pattern uses giant wool and 12mm needles for a right ol’ chunky affair, but in order to get my head around the pattern I knitted this bad boy on size 7 needles with bog standard 2 ply. I got a couple of things wrong, but once it’s all stitched up you can hardly notice a slipped stitch here or there. I haven’t found a use for this guy yet, I might knit a creature to wear it, but I think that’s a long way off.

I’ve also started cross stitching, hooray! If you read my Summer Wishlist I included an Etsy shop called Wee Little Stitches, who sell cute and contemporary cross stitch patterns, with a healthy dose of pop culture references. I had my eye on another pattern, but chose this one as it seemed a little easier for a first time project.

Can you guess what it is yet?

Dinner at Zazu’s

Posted on July 18, 2013 by

Food update!

A friend of ours is moving to the States in a week or so, so we went out for a last supper at Zazu’s Kitchen in Bedminster last night. We’ve visited Zazu’s before for cocktails on my birthday, but never had a chance to try their evening menu.

It was lush.

I tried their quinoa and halloumi salad, firstly because it was so bloody hot outside that I couldn’t comprehend eating anything other than a salad, and secondly because I had never eaten quinoa before. I couldn’t even pronounce it properly. It was pretty tasty. Hiding under that pile of leaves are piles of aubergine and giant chunks of salty halloumi deliciousness.

My friend had bream. I am most definitely not a ‘fish person’ (unless it comes in a tin or battered from the chip shop) but this smelt incredibly good. I was also suitably impressed by the generous portion sizes – usually in trendy hipster bars like this they charge you £15 for a mouthful but I was full enough to not have dessert, which is a big deal.

I had room for more cocktails, though. This was their summer breeze – vodka, elderflower, cranberry and apple juice. Dry, alcoholic and delicious.

Zazu’s have a massive terrace which is a suntrap on amazingly hot days like the ones we’ve been having recently; we dined al fresco and watched the people of North Street go by.

Awesome stuff.

Summer Wishlist

Posted on July 15, 2013 by

How warm is it?! I can’t cope with the heat, I’ve been retreating into the cold cave of my front room and cooling off in the only way I know how – freezer-cold lager.

So anyway, I know I promised this wasn’t going to be a fashion and beauty blog, but considering that the vast majority of blogs I read are lifestyle-related, I felt inspired to follow in the footsteps of these individuals and make a wishlist of stuff which I ~~want~~ need this summer.

I am due to come into some extra cash at the end of this month and have been daydreaming for most of my working days on what I am going to spend it on.

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From left to right, top to bottom.

1. The first is a pair of adorable little wooden earrings made by illustrator Kate Rowland, which I have been meaning to buy for weeks. Have a look at her Etsy shop, I dare you not to fall in love with something. It’s all awesome.

2. I have been in two minds about whether or not to buy a pair of Juju Jellies for the summer, and have decided after much debating that they are more awesome than ugly looking, and I would like to transport my feet back in time to 1997.

3. I love Game of Thrones. My housemate was recently sporting a shirt made by the excellent Fencing & Archery printing company, and I need this grey Stark shirt in my life.

4. One of my most recent discoveries was Photojojo. I don’t quite know how I managed to not know of it for so long, but amongst all the wonderment is this contraption which scans 35mm negatives onto your smartphone. I know, right.

5. Another Etsy find! Just look at this shop. I sucked so badly at cross stitch at school but this gives me an itchin’ to pick up a needle and thread again.

6. Finally is a treat for my skin. It’s so bad. Recently a friend lent me this gentle glycolic peel from Ren and it made my skin look amazing. It’s pricey, but for a once a week treat which makes that much of a difference I reckon it’s worth it.

It’s pretty bad that the money hasn’t even hit my account and it’s already been spent, albeit in a mental capacity. Perhaps I should save my money, but where is the fun in that?

Mojito time!

Posted on July 10, 2013 by

Now that it’s pretty much the flipping Maldives here in Bristol, there is one thing on my mind on the sticky car journey home – homemade mojitos.

The simple yet satisfying combination of a few ingredients – rum, soda water, lime, fresh mint and sugar syrup.

Sugar what?!

I make a simple syrup by combining 1 cup sugar with one cup water and boiling on a high heat for two minutes. I find it much nicer to use syrup rather than plain old sugar as it’s far easier to dissolve, and you don’t have sugar crystals spoiling your otherwise awesome drink.

(This makes quite a lot – if your drinking alone, halve the recipe… you poor thing)

Assembly is straightforward – smush some fresh mint with a couple of wedges of lime in the bottom of a glass (I use the end of a rolling pin to do this). Add a little syrup, as much rum as you want, a few ice cubes and top up with soda.

And what’s better than plain old mojitos?

Raspberry mojitos!

I think you could put pretty much any soft fruit in a mojito, next ingredients on my list of things to rumify are strawberries and watermelon. Haute refreshment.

Drink responsibly, kids.

Brunel’s SS Great Britain

Posted on July 7, 2013 by

I love history. And engineering. So Brunel happens to be one of my favourites.

After living in Bristol for nearly four years we finally got round to visiting the SS Great Britain a couple of months ago.

It was full of strange waxworks which Tom found terrifying, and I found quite funny. We stopped off for tea and bacon sandwiches at Brunel’s Buttery on the way there (as you do), which is a Bristol institution in itself, and most definitely merits a visit if you are by the harbourside.

What’s great about the SS GB is that when you buy a ticket it’s valid for a whole year, for as many repeat visits as you wish! Seeing as I have a slight obsession with the aforementioned, plus boats in general, I reckon that is most definitely on the cards.

Holy slipped stitches, Batman.

Posted on July 2, 2013 by

Knitting update!

Last night it dawned on me that I only have one week of knitting club left. I signed up for a five week course and somehow it’s already been four!

Therefore I decided to throw myself into something which I had never tried before – holes.

Deliberate holes, not accidental ones.

These can be useful for all sorts of things, buttonholes mainly, but we tried a pattern for a more decorative holey effect.

I used the ‘yarn over, slip one, knit one, pass slipped over’ method (not the catchiest title in the world) which looks something like this:
Row 1 – k3, *yo, sl 1 knitwise, k1, psso, k2*, rep from * to * to last st, k1.
Row 2 – purl
Row 3 – knit
Row 4 – purl

This is based on a row of 20 stitches with a few rows of stocking stitch worked in already.

Now if, like me, that looks completely alien to you, don’t panic. It took me about 10 minutes to figure out what it all meant, and once I was into the swing of things I picked it up pretty quickly.

Translated, it means this:

k3 – knit three stitches as normal
yo – pass the yarn over so it is in ‘purl’ position ie in front of the knitting, rather than trailing behind.
sl 1 knitwise – go to knit a stitch but instead of passing the yarn over simply transfer, ‘slip’, it onto the other needle.
k1 – knit one stitch as normal.
psso – pass slipped stitch over. The stitch you slipped off needs to be slipped over the one you just knitted, it will be easy to spot because it will be slightly diagonal. Put the needle in from top to bottom and slip over the stitch to the left.
k2 – knit two as normal

This should be repeated four times if you have twenty stitches.

Bored of stocking stitch? Stick some holes in and jazz it up a bit. This can be used for anything from the most basic scarves to little coin purses or even worked into a hat to make a decorative lacy effect. Have fun and experiment.

More knitting updates soon!

Lily Doughball

Bristol-based fashion, beauty and lifestyle blog

Monthly Archives: July 2013