When, for many people in the UK, thoughts turn to the fabulousness that is a Bank Holiday weekend. Ahh, the joys. An extra day off work to potter or to do exciting, meaningful, useful things.
But if you live in Reading, August Bank Holiday means one thing: it's time for the Reading Festival.
And, if you're not a festival-goer/fan, it means one other thing: how to best avoid the traffic, the mess, the crowds, the all-round chaos that the weekend can bring. Reading can become gridlocked, it really is a VERY bad time to be driving in/out or around the town, unless you know where you're going and can plan your journey carefully in terms of route and times. And the side of town we live on gets the absolute worst of it because we live literally within shouting distance of the venue; so we don't just get vehicular gridlock, we get pedestrian gridlock, right outside our front door.
That said, the people-watching is top-notch and second to none. We can cosy up in our living room and watch the world and his rucksack go by. So far, and it is only Tuesday, I've seen three ultra-keen festival goers arrive; clearly desparate to get themselves a good pitch.
This is what it looked like immediately outside our front door this morning: lots of lorries with deliveries for the site as well as gazillions of catering vans offering all manner of tasty treats from Chinese to Thai to Fish 'n' Chips to a lovely cup of coffee:
And a little bit further along the road, here's the pedestrian entrance to the site.
All of these photos were taken as DC and I ambled along to softplay at the leisure centre which is right in the thick of the Festival site. Think we might give it a miss for the rest of the week...
Peppers; who knew you could grow these in a pot outside?
Well done, Mr Green Fingers.
and instead of eating his lunch like a well-brought up little chap, decided to play the urchin and pull half-eaten penne and meatballs out of his mouth and deposit them on the floor, along with the lid of his tupperware pot and two forks. Many times. It was trying, to say the least. In between pandering to Little Lord Fauntleroy's every whim, I did manage to enjoy a mocha and an absolutely DELICIOUS chocolate brownie. And I took some more photos.
Luckily by the time we'd finished our drinks Cath had flung open her doors so we had a little look round. I rather fell for a pack-a-mac type raincoat (like this one but in the dark green with white spots pattern that Cath does so well)
but the M/L size was a little snug and they didn't have a larger one. Ho hum. Maybe by Xmas I'll be able to get into the M/L size ** (I dropped hints that the mac would make a great gift, alongside the 2011 diary, which is already out...)
After all that fun in the park, it was back to the shops. Emma Bridgewater was kind enough to be having a sale, so we bought a couple of mugs from her. Then it was time to head off for some lunch as DC had fallen asleep; we had some very good food in EAT and then made haste for Starbucks where we could relax and read the Sunday papers/current book while DC slept on. I enjoyed my favourite drink of the moment, peppermint mocha, accompanied by my favourite cake of the moment, Rocky Road.
Then DC awoke from his slumber and it was time for us to cater to his every whim once more. We decided that it was time for a little toddle (accompanied by Mario the Monkey), and off we set for a little more shoppy time before heading home. A very enjoyable day all round.
** Just to let you know that the weightloss is going well - I've lost 2st 10lbs so far. The magazine pile has also shrunk considerably. Did you know there is quite a good trade to be done in secondhand magazines on eBay?!
to pick up a local paper and got chatting to the owners who told us all about the village, then it was off to the pub (on the right)
for lunch - monkfish tempura
and triple-cooked chips - yum!
and then we walked through the village
past the school and pre-school where DC will go
and on to the house we're buying (unfortunately, not as pretty as most of the houses in the village!)
for a good look round and a meeting with an architect to discuss possibilities for extending, renovating, etc, etc. After about 50mins we came away very excited and brimming with ideas.
Replace the conservatory with a kitchen/dining/family room, perhaps?
New kitchen?
New fireplace?
But the garden can pretty much stay as it is - fabulous!
Although, we may tidy the woodshed
And the view from the front of the house isn't too bad either.
And, while you are there and itching to part with your cash, if you are in the market for a hand stitched card, you could do worse than buy one that has been made by yours truly...!
