Love and rage

A wise woman said to me, ‘we are all at different stages in this journey. Many are just waking up. There is no point blaming or being angry with others. We must drown them in love and knowledge’. 

Civil disobedience works. I feel conditioned to say I’m sorry for the disturbance I cause, but I am not. I’ve never cared much for what others think, but I do care about others welfare. This is why I take to the streets with thousands of other humans.
Soon more than 1000 good people will have sacrificed their freedom to force immediate action on the climate emergency. This is not going away. We do not cause distraction and waste police resources out of choice. We have no other choice. Change is coming if we choose to accept it or not. The option we have is to ignore it or to act while we still can. NOW.
People have never liked rebellion but it is proven in history to get things done. I have met many amazing people in London, all ages from all walks of life, and each feels drawn to act in this mass movement. This is a planet wide problem and we need to come together, tell the truth and work things out.
Whatever stage you are at on this journey, I hope you are coming to understand why so many have been drawn to the streets. For me, I had no choice. How can I tell my kids I did nothing while I could?

Love and rage from planet earth

Into The Trees 2019

Guest review from Tor and family. Thanks for checking out Into The Trees 2019.

My top parenting tip is to keep your expectations low. Don’t hope too much and you can’t be too disappointed, right? 

It was with this in mind that me and the family headed Into the Trees last weekend. I was aiming for camping with friends, with a bit of nice stuff to look at and activities for the kids to complain about. As idyllic as the Instagram photos were I knew my family experience wouldn’t mirror the smiles and wholesome activities. 

Well. Blimey. It was just lovely. And it lived up to the hype.

To start with, the decorations, signage and set up details were so beautiful you feel like you’re in a well planned photoshoot before you even get to any activities. But the substance behind the style is absolutely there. With knobs on. 

We hit the Schools Without Walls art trail on Saturday morning. Set in the woods, it was inspiring and well organised. My son kept pointing and saying “I want to make that” and “I want to do one of those”. He never says that.

The crafts and activities on offer around the festival were varied and easy to do, and quickly effective. After finishing his first craft my son said “more crafting please” and we did four things quickly and easily. It was straightforward to access and plenty of happy crew around to help out a little one if an activity was a little tricky. We flipped between exploring the woods, or sitting down and doing an activity. No pressure. 

We spent Saturday afternoon loafing around the bar and mini stage, nipping off to make lanterns, dancing with other kids to our own music, face and hair painting each other, just whatever came to mind.

We joined in the bat walk Saturday evening but didn’t make the woodland ceilidh. Not getting back out after the kids’ bedtime was not surprising. It was also not a worry. As the focus is on the day time, unlike most festivals with a solid evening entertainment programme, you don’t feel you are missing out if a day with the smalls has taken it out of you..

Sunday took us to the Woodland Tribe playground, the barefoot walk (done repeatedly by all!) some more crafting, tree listening, fabulous faffing about in the woods and pond dipping.

A few things across the weekend were timed so it was worth keeping an eye on a couple of must dos. But the atmosphere across the whole event was one of relaxation. I’d just come from 3 days working indoors at a tech conference and after a 10 minute verbal offload on Friday night I settled into the field and didn’t look back. 

We were super lucky with the weather, which of course makes being outside easier. That occurred to me as I wandered round and I found myself planning what I would bring next year to manage all that, if the weather was colder or wetter, as I wouldn’t want to miss out just because the sun wasn’t shining as bright.

There were of course fraught moments. Our kids are 5 and 2 and I’m generally a control freak! Getting dressed and meal times were a battleground just like at home. Can’t win them all.

We managed to make so many family memories in just one weekend. I kept trying to remember what the kids said about how much fun they were having but I was so relaxed they kept falling out of my head! Maybe I’ll remember next year! 

See you next year at Into The Trees

Chilled in a Field 2019

Daisy writes…

We have just got back from Chilled in a Field festival where I had an amazing time.

We camped up with children ranging from 2 to 15 and all of them had a great time. We arrived on Friday and watched the opening parade where a very talented man did some tricks and some comedy then we followed him to the woods.

 In the woods we passed the amazing marble run which definitely attracted all ages. We also saw the woodland stage where later on there was a silent disco which unfortunately I missed because it did not start till 11pm!  I was very tired from doing stuff in the day time so really wanted to go. Hopefully, they will have an earlier one next year. 

Something I love about this site is the miniature railway which I went on with some family and friends. It went all the way around the campsite and past the main festival field so you could wave at people as you go by.

I didn’t watch many bands as it was just such a hot weekend out on the main field. Most of the ones I did watch were very good although one was very loud and intense on Friday night which just hurt my head.

There was one girl who I loved to watch called Jolie Skye Phillips because she was only 13 – the same age as me so it was very inspiring to see.

The campsite was very nice and the toilets and showers were also good for lots of people. Where we camped in the campervan field there was loads of space to run around and play frisbee.

There was a lot of food choice and my favourite was the chips from Ollie’s Fish Shack. I also liked the crepes but they were way too expensive in my opinion although there was a voucher where you got one free once you’d bought a few.

Overall I think it’s a lovely chilled festival and will definitely be coming back next year with more friends.

Daisy Ryman, 13

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Elderflower Fields 2019

Daisy writes…

This Elderflower Fields was the first time that I bought a friend with me. It was her first time at a festival and she said it was a great experience. We spent most of our time sitting on the main field chatting and watching bands and music.

We also spent lots of time in the woods where there were loads of activities and food stalls. One of my favourite things in the woods this year was the giant hanging nets [Monkey Do] which we just loved. You could climb up really high then throw yourself down on the bouncy nets or just hang out with friends.

At night time there was a brilliant silent disco where at the start they played songs that kids my age would listen to and then later there was older songs for parents.

During the day there was loads of free stuff to do so we never got bored. There’s always something arty or sports happening or you can just chill out to music.

There were aerial and circus workshops, which we took part in and really enjoyed. It’s good that kids of all ages could join in with this and lots of other things. Close by there were trampolines which were very fun but I thought the rules were too strict because we weren’t allowed to do flips.

Most stuff is free so you can just join in except mountain boarding, kayaking and tree climbing which you needed to pay for. I think it was £10 but we spent our money on sweets and ice cream.

There is also a sports and an art camp for free which I’ve done before but now I prefer just chilling out in the woods.

There is a large selection of food there so anyone will enjoy it but we mostly eat stuff we’ve cooked back at camp. Mine and my sister’s favourite is the crepes but they are very expensive so we worked out how to make our own on the fire at the campsite. Ollie’s fish shack is amazing too. The best chips ever!

We are always camped at the bottom of the hill so it’s easy to get into the festival, although on the way home, there is a massive hill!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love going to Elderflower Fields because the atmosphere is so nice and calm so I always feel very safe. It is quite a big festival but never crowded so once you know your way around most older kids are happy to roam about making friends. Everyone is really nice and at night we tend to hang out in a group near the music with other families. 

I think Elderflower Fields is my favourite festival to relax at. See you next year! ☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺

Best family festivals

It’s grey and cold outside and I am dreaming of a field somewhere. Worry-free long sunny days surrounded by gorgeous vibes and happy faces.

To cheer myself up I decided to write about my best family festivals and remember some of my most special moments last summer.

I love Aladdin

As cartoon characters go, Aladdin has to be up there near the top of the hunk lists, right?

Perhaps just me then.

Tall, dark and mysterious with his own flying carpet. What more could any girl need? He even has a monkey who can make tea. Win!

Guilt-free shopping – 5 reasons to buy second hand

Today I tried to go shopping for my eldest daughter’s birthday. Quickly racing through the scary world of tweens. She is very fashion conscious, and sadly a total victim of todays fast-paced consumer society. I struggle hugely to go guilt-free shopping but also give the kids gifts they will love.

Although I want to treat her to lots of lovely things as I love her dearly, I also need her to understand that our planet can’t keep up with the ever-growing demand for new stuff.

Into The Trees Festival – Win tickets

Last year we were lucky enough to be one of the few families that spent the weekend at Into The Trees at Pippingford Park, a protected ancient woodland in the heart of the Ashdown Forest.

A relaxed and fun day event for families, Into The Trees is a reasonably new kind of festival exploring our relationship with nature. For the last few years this has just been a day event or guests but this year they are offering a limited number of families the chance to camp in this very special spot.

Wingardium leviOsa!

Of course it is happening inside your head, but why on earth should that mean it is not real?

We are big fans of ‘make-believe’, the world would be a far duller place if it wasn’t for the ability to journey inside imagination.

Remembering Lost Vagueness

 

For those that remember…

…or those that don’t!

Lost Vagueness was the ultimate party for those in search of a little bit more.

 

Climbing the magic faraway tree

Have you ever dreamt of living in a treehouse in an enchanted wood?

Our family are all big fans of Enid Blyton’s classics and the adventures of The Magic Faraway Tree. Wouldn’t it be amazing to climb those branches and discover more about Moon-Face and The Saucepan Man? To explore a little further avoiding Dame Washalot’s bucket, past Mr Watzisname’s door, and perhaps take tea with Silky the Fairy? And what if we made it to the top to explore whatever world was through the clouds that day?

Panto returns to Brighton

With Christmas shows becoming a firm tradition in our family as the kids have grown, we were delighted to see the return of big stage panto to Brighton this year.

Spoilt for choice in 2017, Brighton welcomes not one but four productions across the city.

One of the most popular fairytales retold in panto has to be the story of Cinderella. We were lucky enough to catch the opening night at Hilton Brighton Metropole.

Panto Season is here again!

Oh NO it isn’t!

We’ve become somewhat of a panto family over the last 5 years. Without realising it we have joined millions of families in this uniquely British tradition of screaming ‘he’s behind you!’ at a large man in a dress on stage.

This year, Daisy is actually taking part in a professional panto herself, so we really are going the whole way with panto fever.

Halloween fun at Tulleys Farm

We dare you!!

With summer over and the nights getting darker we are missing being outdoors. Luckily for us Halloween is just around the corner and what better way to get in the mood for it than a Halloween Festival!

Camping in the forest at Hollands Wood

We have just returned from a relaxing break in The New Forest at a magical family campsite called Hollands Wood.

Review: Camp Bestival 2017 – Hunny age 7

I loved Camp Bestival but it was very, very muddy! We still had lots of fun. The mud makes it really FUN!

Read Hunny’s Camp Bestival kids review:

Making friends at Blissfields – Daisy 11

If you are looking for a small family friendly festival stuffed full of fun and kindness, Blissfields is hard to beat. We last visited in 2015 and fell in love with this great little festival. You can read this year’s full family Blissfields review at Festival Kidz here.

Find out why this is the perfect festival for kids is Daisy’s Blissfields kids review here:

Review: Funk The Family by Hunny aged 7

We had lots of fun at Funk The Family.

Review: Elderflower Fields Festival – By Daisy aged 11

A really fun and family friendly festival. I’ve been before but this year was the best so far because lots of my friends came. Read my Elderflower Fields review here…

 

Sri Lanka with Kids

Blink and it’s gone.

We always said we’d travel with our kids. Before they were born we went on a long haul trip every couple of years to discover new horizons. The trouble is, when they arrive everything else gets in the way.