Use the sleeves of my sweater, let’s have an adventure

It’s been a while. I have sat down to write several times since I last posted, but for one reason or another I just couldn’t finish anything. I’ve had a fog hanging over me and my creative flashlight wasn’t bright enough for me to battle through.
This post is a little lighter and doesn’t call for my “ferocious intelligence”, so with any luck I’ll actually be able to publish this.
My month in photos. An iPhone Retrospective, if you will. I have a double for you this time as October didn’t go up when it should have done. Behold! October and November snapshots.

October, week one.
Bruising and huge swelling on my right ankle after dislocating/spraining it on my way out around three weeks prior. Bought a gold septum ring and I love it, prepare yourself for more selfies. That beautiful handmade chair by Jason Mosseri (also an extremely talented tattooist), came home to live with me.

October, week two.
An awesome week meant that I got to catch up with some of my favourite ladies and drink Brighton gin out of my favourite shaped glass. It’s so round and makes me feel like a proper witch casting spells…
Another selfie. And a trip (hobble) to Islington to see my favourite band, Pokey LaFarge play an amazing gig in a chapel!

October, week three.
Narcissism. My dog thinks shes a human and likes to be fork fed, we shouldn’t encourage this behaviour, but look at that face! All of the hair.

October, week four.
Halloween! I love Halloween. And even though it’s my very favourite, I had never carved a pumpkin until this year. Mine are the two in the middle, one says “I put a spell on you” and the other says “Witch please!” with a tiny bat on the side. I think I have found my calling. Then came Halloween night, sparkly spiders in my backcombed hair and all of the fake blood. It has become a tradition that Kit and I should spend ol’ hallows eve together, drinking and cackling away.

November, Week one.
I put this photo on Instagram to mark my Grandma’s birthday. Shes the lady in the middle and my mum is the one at the very back. I cannot believe that I have lost two of the most important women in my life in the last six years. But what a happy photo. I made some sweetcorn and spinach soup, it was delicious. More hair.

November, week two.
It is hard to find decent alternative/Halloween clothes for plus size women. Asos offer a pretty decent selection of more current fashions for us and I was devastated after seeing that the skeleton dress was sold out in my size. However, it was back in stock and on sale after Halloween, so I finally got my hands on it. The middle photo is of a print by Alex Binnie (another very talented tattooist from In To You), I liked how it looked in the red light of our landing. Septum ring and gorgeous quartz necklace narcissism.

November, week three.
My wonderful aunt bought my sister and I Ciate advent calendars this year, they came in a lot of bubble wrap. Naturally we turned Dolly into a bubble wrap nun. My face. I have watched all of Casey Neistat’s vlogs (I watched all twohundredandthirtyfour in about a week). He is fascinating, highly talented and magnificently creative. Casey’s time-lapse interludes of New York City inspired me to try some of my own. Here is a still from one.

November, week four.
My feet looked really tiny in this photo and it made me laugh. I also really like my handmade tie dye bedding I did back in the summer. Yes, I know it’s still November but I have already written all the Christmas cards and watched both Home Alone films (the John Hughes ones, the only ones that matter). And then I put my Christmas bedding on – don’t worry, I’ll wash it and put it back on before Christmas day. Bored and waiting to go out for lunch (incidentally the best food I’ve eaten for a long time at The Urchin in Hove). Forever wearing my favourite necklace from a company called Sugar and Vice.

And that concludes the months of October and November. Yes, a lot of selfies but a few other good things too. I like reflecting back on my month, it makes me appreciate the times I’ve spent with certain people or the times I’ve taken for myself.
Hopefully I’m back into a writing streak and I can post some more soon. Fingers crossed.

Seven golden Daffodils all shining in the sun, they light the way of evening when our day is done

If you know me or you have read my blog occasionally you will know about my love for a band called Pokey LaFarge (and the South City Three). I came across them on Jools Holland one night in 2011 and instantly fell in love with the sound of bluegrass and lyrics about whiskey. They had a sound that I have long been drawn towards ever since my grandparents, mainly my Grandma, introduced me to the King of Skiffle – Lonnie Donegan around the age of 3. (The same amazing woman also introduced me to the likes of Fats Domino and Santana, each still very much favourites of mine.)

If you have never heard of Skiffle before you should definitely check it out, I don’t think many people realise just how many musicians are influenced by the music of Lonnie Donegan. Paolo Nutini has a song called Worried Man on his Sunny Side Up album where he takes the chorus of Lonnie Donegan’s song of the same title. Originating in America around 1925 but dying out in the ’40s over there, the fairly unknown and obscure music genre was revived here in the 1950s by the wonderful raconteur Donegan. With songs such as Rock Island Line, Does Your Chewing Gum Lose It’s Flavour On The Bedpost Overnight and My Old Man’s A Dustman, he was quickly crowned the king. My very favourite is Seven Golden Daffodils, demanding that it be played at the disco I had for my 7th birthday. There is something about the cadence of Skiffle and Bluegrass music that fills my heart with joy and allows me to breathe. The art of telling a story through song is something Lonnie Donegan and Pokey LaFarge are extraordinarily good at. I often wonder if I was born in the wrong era with my ear being drawn to music with the sound of times gone by. If there is a washboard, double bass, banjo or harmonica being played then I want in! My Grandma often said that is she had one regret it was not taking me with her to see Lonnie Donegan play in Brighton before he passed away in 2002. When my Grandma died 7 years later it was only fitting that Seven Golden Daffodils was played at her funeral.
Over the last few years I have been to see Pokey LaFarge as many times as I can and they never ever disappoint. His voice is so powerful and they put on an impressive show. I have come to find more acts that are similar in sound too, like Rob Heron and the Tea Pad Orchestra from Newcastle and Bad Bad Whiskey a skifflebilly band from Brighton.
I find myself wishing that my Grandma had been given the chance to hear Pokey LaFarge, The Secret Sisters, Rob Heron and the Tea Pad Orchestra and Bad Bad Whiskey. As the woman who introduced me to a similar genre of music, I really think she would have enjoyed them.

Pokey LaFarge are an American band who incorporate a mix of early jazz, string ragtime, country blues and western swing to make them my very favourite bluegrass band. “It’s not retro music. It’s American music that never died.” I was hooked before I had heard the whole of the first song I ever heard them play.

Rob Heron and the Tea Pad Orchestra have supported Pokey LaFarge in the UK a couple of times now and this is how I became a fan. Based in Newcastle this homegrown roots band play a joyous mix of ‘western swing, blues, gypsy jazz and country, or “North Eastern Swing” as they’ve coined it.’

The Secret Sisters are real life sisters from Alabama with a beautiful heart wrenching country sound. Another Jools Holland find, I was enthralled with their song The One I Love Is Gone and their cover of Patsy Cline’s hit Walking After Midnight.

I accidentally came across my hometown’s offering to Skifflebilly – Bad Bad Whiskey when out for a drink with a friend at a pub in Hove. They just carried in a double bass and I was excited to hear them play, I wasn’t disappointed when they did either. If you live in my local area, even if you don’t you should catch one of their shows.
(click photos for bands websites)
If you haven’t heard any of the music I have spoken about in this post I’ve mad a playlist for you to check out:

Even if you don’t think you are going to like it – give them a try as you may be surprised.
I can’t tell you exactly how this music makes me feel or why it makes me feel that way but it always brightens my day and encourages my need to play music as loud as I can. And they’re all especially good to listen to on a lazy summers day such as the weather we are currently having here.

It was like the way you wanted sunshine on Saturdays, or pancakes for breakfast. They just made you feel good

 

My brain is a little all over the place today, so to gather my thoughts I’m going to do a list based blog post for you. If you know me at all you will know that I love writing lists, as I have mentioned before – I am a notebook enthusiast with a compulsion for list making. The act of putting pen to paper and organising things into categories focuses my mind and lets me forget momentarily about all of the other thoughts that are inconsequential to the task at hand. It is also another method of procrastinating, something I am entirely skilled in, as I don’t have to deal with all of the other stuff which is either boring or too important for me to think about right now. I thought I would just name a topic and list 5 things from that category that I like and hopefully if you haven’t heard of them you will find new things to like too.
YouTube
– The RH Experience
– World of the Orange
– Essie Button
– Fun for Louis
– Miss Glamorazzi
Films
– Stuck in Love
– The Kings of Summer
– License to Drive
– Funny Face
– Moonrise Kingdom
Songs
– The Offspring – Denial Revisited
– Paolo Nutini – Iron Sky
– Pokey LaFarge – Daffodil Blues
– Jose Feliciano – Lonely Teardrops
– You Me At Six – The Rumour
Instagram
– Grgctts
– Alielayus
– Lamiakaric
– Lsbeth
– Melancholyellie
Food
– Sushi
– Burgers
– Blue cheese
– Crisps
– Anchovy stuffed olives
Books
– Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
– Guitar Girl by Sarra Manning
– You’ve Been Warned by James Patterson
– The Secret Lives of Dresses by Erin McKean
– The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton
Drinks
– Tequila Sunrise
– Rose Lemonade
– Mango Cooler
– Honey and lemon
– Gin and tonic
Photographers
– Guy Bourdin
– Camilla Akrans
– Annie Leibovitz
– Joshua Hoffine
– Tim Walker
Detectives
– Adrian Monk
– Miss Marple
– Johnathan Creek
– Precious Ramotswe
– Hercule Poirot
The perfect place to conclude my list making…now to take the dog out in the pouring rain. Boo. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my lists and maybe found something new to watch, listen to or read.

(I do not own these images).