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A MINI GETAWAY IN NORTHUMBERLAND

Published on October 7, 2024October 7, 2024 by simplycarinaxoLeave a comment

The other week, my best friend Emily and I finally had our annual holiday together. We’ve been friends for over 20 years now, but as we sadly don’t live in the same city anymore, we don’t see each other as much as we’d like to. We try and make time for a little getaway together once a year. Our annual trips are a cherished break from our busy lives, allowing us to catch up on a deeper level and make lasting memories together.

Whilst planning this trip, my travel anxiety annoyingly acted up however, and so I didn’t feel up to going very far. With only two nights away planned though, it also made sense to opt for somewhere a little more local and not waste time traveling. And so, after browsing Airbnb, we came across a caravan listing in Northumberland. It looked like the perfect peaceful getaway for a couple of nights, just under an hour’s drive from Durham and nestled in a picturesque woodland spot.

We set off on a gloomy Sunday afternoon, the rain a steady backdrop to our journey. Hidden amidst fog-shrouded trees, we found our caravan and hastily unloaded the car. The heat was immediately put on, as well as the kettle of course, and we enjoyed the comforting warmth of a cup of tea as we unpacked and settled into our wee space for the next couple of days.

The rain eventually subsided, and we bundled up for a stroll and explore of the small caravan park we were staying at. We spotted lots of wild rabbits hopping about the grounds and allowed Emily’s daughter to burn off some energy in the small playground, before heading back to warm up again with some more tea.

After dinner we got Emily’s daughter ready for bed and then settled down to play a game together. We both love a good game and I was excited to introduce Emily to Fungi – one of my new favourite two person games. Unfortunately my relaxing evening was interrupted when sometime that evening I stood up from the couch and something in my back just went, giving way to extreme pain.

Although I managed to get to some sleep, I could still barely move on Monday morning and had to rely on a heavy dose of painkillers to cope. Not wanting to just sit around all day though, and hoping gentle movement would be beneficial, we ventured into the nearby woodland for a small walk before lunch. The misty, autumnal atmosphere was both kind of haunting and beautiful.

After lunch and a game of Qwirkle while Emily’s daughter napped, we decided to brave the rain for a little mooch around Hexham. We were fortunate to find a convenient parking spot and made our way to Hexham Abbey. The abbey was a beautiful place to visit; filled with intricate stonework and stained glass windows, it had a welcoming and peaceful atmosphere. There was also an interactive museum wing, which offered a glimpse into the abbey’s history and allowed us all to have some fun dressing up.

Having spent over an hour at the Abbey we sadly didn’t have much time left to explore more of Hexham that day, but as Hexham also wasn’t new to either of us, it didn’t really matter too much. If you haven’t been to Hexham before though and are ever in the area, it really is a delightful place to spend an afternoon and well worth a visit.

On our final evening, we enjoyed a simple oven pizza and played another round of Fungi after Emily’s daughter went to bed. We also decided to get crafting later that evening and while Emily worked on her current knitting project, a miniature pumpkin, I finally started a little embroidery experiment for a potential Christmas gift idea. If it turns out well, I will hopefully be able to share the project with you in a future blog post.

Checkout on Tuesday morning was at 11am – which was a huge relief. I love a later checkout when I’m on holiday as it allows me to relax and avoid a stressful morning rush. With plenty of time to spare once we’d packed up, we could also still enjoy a final stroll through the woodland to take some photos of Emily’s latest knitwear project (the sage green t-shirt she is modelling below). I’m always admiring her knitting skills – I simply don’t have the patience! Emily creates the most gorgeous pieces, and has started documenting her craft online. If you’re interested in knitting be sure to follow her on Instagram here and YouTube here.

After departing at 11am, we decided to still make a stop off on our way home and went for a mooch and a coffee at my local Farmshop, Broomhouse Farm. A browse of the shop’s selection of fresh produce, homeware and artisan goods and quick hello to the animals before sitting down and sharing a scone, was the perfect way to conclude our short getaway.

It is always a shame when holidays and getaways are over so quickly; but then I suppose there is always next year to look forward to!

A TRIP TO BEAMISH MUSEUM

Published on September 2, 2024March 2, 2025 by simplycarinaxoLeave a comment

Last week my partner’s parents flew over from Portugal to visit us and although neither of us could sadly take much time off work, Luis did manage some half day trips out with them and I got to take the August Bank Holiday Monday off so we could all have a daytrip together. Having taken Luis’ brother to Beamish Museum earlier in the year when he visited, we thought his parents would also enjoy a day out exploring Beamish and so we set off late Monday morning.

If you’ve not heard of Beamish Museum before or had the chance to visit, I would highly recommend. Beamish is a world famous open air museum in County Durham, which brings the history of North East England to life at its 1820s Pockerley, 1900s Town, 1900s Pit Village, 1940s Farm, 1950s Town and 1950s Spain’s Field Farm exhibit areas. It is such a fun day out for the whole family and I would advise you plan for a whole day there, as there is so much to explore.

It was a bit of a grey morning when we set off and we made the mistake of not really considering how busy it might get being a bank holiday as well as school holidays. We arrived to a traffic jam of cars waiting to get in and then also had queue for a good half an hour to buy tickets for Luis’ parents. We were probably one of the last few lucky ones to get in as the overflow car park we were directed to was almost full when we parked and by lunchtime they had a post on socials saying they were at full capacity.

Tip: especially if you’re going on what is likely to be a busy day, leave early and book ahead online for quicker access once you arrive.

Once through, we made our way to the 1900’s Pit Village, an area with a lot to explore from going underground in the drift mine (although I’ve not done this myself as I suffer from agoraphobia) to seeing how miners used to live in the replica terraced houses and visiting the school house where you try your hand at popular yard games played by children at break time.

Having spent quite some time in the pit village, we walked on to the Farm and, amongst other animals such as turkeys and pigs, came across these cute little chickens running around trying to avoid being chased by little kids. If anyone knows what breed these chickens are, please do let me know in the comments as we’d love to have chickens one day and I fell in love with these fluffy little gals.

Continuing along the road we headed towards the 1900’s town passing Rowley station and a summer fair ground along the way. The fair was bustling with kids enjoying the rides so we didn’t stop there long, but the small fair ground a nice addition to Beamish in warmer summer months.

Arriving in the 1900’s town we were greeted with live music from a brass band playing in the band stand. The sun was shining at this point and it had turned into a beautiful warm afternoon with people milling around the Edwardian high street, enjoying a pint from the Sun Inn or lounging on the grass by the band stand listening to the music, and soaking up the atmosphere.

Once again there is a lot to explore in the 1900’s town. From visiting the bank and chemists to hearing gruesome stories from dentist practices back in the day. You can fill your pockets with yummy freshly baked goods from the bakery or pick from the vast array old school treats in the sweet shop, where if you’re lucky you might also catch a live sweet making demonstration. The 1900’s town really is quite spectacular.

Tip: wear comfortable shoes; there is a lot of ground and various terrain to cover. As you can see in the photos, Beamish does operate trams and old double decker buses throughout the museum, however, although they are admittedly fun to experience and ride, on busy days the queues for transport around the museum are usually very long, so if you don’t want to waste time waiting around, I would come prepared to walk.

Just on from the Edwardian town you entre the 1950’s town, Beamish Museum’s newest exhibit area. Before visiting with Luis’ brother earlier int he year, I hadn’t been to Beamish in years and was thus excited to finally be able to see the new addition of the 1950’s town. When we were there in May there were still some parts in development however and so this time round, there was even more to see including the addition of the cinema, record store and toy store etc…

You’ll find a fish and chip shop in the 1950’s village and I would recommend stopping for some. We did so on both our visits and thoroughly enjoyed!

Tip: although dogs on leads are very welcome in the museum they can’t actually entre any of the indoor exhibits or the main canteen/cafe in the 1900’s town; so I recommend coming prepared with a picnic if it’s a nice day (the huge lawn by the fair ground is a great place to enjoy a picnic to do so with toilets close by) or grab some some yummy fish and chips and find a bench.

Once we’d enjoyed our very late lunch, it was past 4pm already at this point, we sadly didn’t really have much time left to explore the rest and so after a quick whizz round the rest of the 1950’s town we slowly made our way back to the entrance and had to leave out the rest. Here’s still a few photos from our visit in May where we did still managed to squeeze in a stop at the old Pockerley Hall.

It surprises me every time just how quickly time does fly at Beamish and how much there is to see, which is why, especially if you’re local, and can make a few trips a year, I think the tickets are well worth the money as there really is so much to get out of this wonderful living museum here in the North East of England.

If you’ve visited Beamish Museum before I’d love to hear what your favourite exhibit is!

USEFUL INFORMATION:

Opening Times:
20th March 2024 – 25th October 2024: Open daily, 10am-5pm
26th October 2024 – 3rd November 2024: Open daily, 10am-4pm

Tickets:
Tickets are admittedly quite expensive, however I do think you get a lot for it and they are valid for one year, so especially if you’re localish and can get a few visits in, they’re definitely worth it in my opinion. (*prices shown for September 2024)

Adult: £27.95
Senior (60+): £21.25
Student: £21.25
Child (5-16 years): £17.25
Family (2 adults + 2 children): £71.00

Accessibility:
Beamish is a large open air museum with many historic buildings, some of which are not always completely accessible to all visitors. To create an authentic feel, there are a variety of ground surfaces, some of which are uneven by nature. There are also steep slopes in places, and some buildings and exhibits have stepped access. Beamish does operate a Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle however which is available on-call every day that the museum is open, although limited to its seated capacity.

*Disclaimer: please note that pictures featured are from both our August Bank Holiday trip as well as our visit in May earlier this year.

A SUNNY STROLL AT CROOK HALL

Published on August 25, 2024January 23, 2025 by simplycarinaxo2 Comments

Although it’s just down the road, we don’t often head into Durham City Centre, but with the weather being so nice that weekend we fancied a little outing and decided to head into Durham for some breakfast and a stroll around Crook Hall. We renewed our National Trust memberships again this year and wanted to make the most of our local sites with the closest being Crook Hall. These beautiful gardens set against the backdrop of a medieval hall are only 12mins in the car from us and thus perfect for a mini outing.

We opted for the Riverview Kitchen as it’s dog friendly and we hadn’t actually been before, so it was somewhere new to try. I chose the avocado on sourdough with bacon and eggs and Luis opted for the full English. Prices were expensive enough, but what you’d expect in the city center. Saying that portion sizes where generous and I struggled to finish. We enjoyed the food and the coffee was decent too, so we would definitely return. However I would say the atmosphere is not the cosiest as the tables are all very close together. I understand they want to maximize on space, but it does make it feel very cramped, and not very suitable if you have a dog. We were lucky and managed to snag a table in the corner with a bit more space which was great as we had Maya with us, but if we’d had any other table, I’m not sure it’d have been as enjoyable a experience, as we’d have to be continually watching Maya wasn’t in the way of anyone and she wouldn’t have settled.

Once we finished our breakfast we walked over to Crook Hall. We love having Crook Hall on our doorstep as it’s perfect for a gentle afternoon stroll enjoying some fresh air amongst the wonderful flowers and plant. It’s not admittedly very big, but filled with lots of little nooks to sit in and enjoy the gardens, it’s also the perfect place to spend an afternoon with a book on sunny day.

What I love most is being able to come back throughout the year and watch the garden transform. From the crocuses and snowdrops in spring to vibrant and lush scented roses in Summer, It’s beautiful to see.
If you have a National rust membership and love a good garden mooch – I would highly recommend, however at £3.30 parking and £8.50 per adult it it perhaps a bit pricey an entrance fee if you do not have a membership.

Have you been to Crook Hall before and do you have a favourite time of year to go?

2024 BUCKETLIST

Published on August 8, 2024January 24, 2025 by simplycarinaxo1 Comment

We’re half way through the year already and so I thought it would be a good time to reflect on the goals I set myself for 2024. At the beginning of the year I wrote a list of things I would like to accomplish this year, no stress. I wanted my goals to feel attainable, to encourage myself to get out more, to be more creative and work on my physical and mental health without getting too overwhelmed.

Having bought our first doer-upper house last year, I also have a long list of house goals, but that is a post in its own right, so for now here’s my personal 2024 Bucketlist and what I’ve accomplished so far:

~~Go camping with Luis and Maya~~
~~Get The Orchid Creative (my creative side hustle) more established and ready to sell things for Christmas.~~
Get a new Tattoo
~~Have a holiday in the Peak District~~
~~A coastal mini-getaway~~
Read at least 30 books (managed 17 books + one almost finished audiobook)
Go to at least 4 concerts/shows (Saw Half A Penny and A Sixpence)
Start dance classes with Luis
~~Start therapy~~
~~Start an exercise class~~
Begin learning Portuguese
~~Make the most of our Joint National Trust membership~~ – aim for 10 trips together (managed about 7 which I’m happy enough with): 1. Fountains Abbey 2. Wentworth Chapel Gardens 3. Crook Hall 4. Crook Hall 5. Gibside 6. Gibside 7. 8. 9. 10.

If you had to pick only one item on your bucket list to complete this year – which would it be? Do let me know in the comments down below; I’d love to know!

I’M BACK

Published on August 8, 2024September 2, 2024 by simplycarinaxoLeave a comment

Well it really has been a while since I last took to WordPress and my blog. I’ve missed it and I’ve finally taken the plunge to get it up and running again. I’ve updated my site and plan to ease my way back in slowly. I’m hoping that starting my hobby again will encourage me to get out more, explore, make memories and give me a way to let my creative juices flow.

So brew yourself a coffee and let’s catch up!

A lot has happened since I first began this blog in 2017; here’s a whistle-stop tour. At the time I was crashing at a friends and working part time in a cafe in Durham as well as part time for my dad’s coffee house. I then moved into a house share round the corner and was lucky enough to find a great friend in Jess, the other girl who moved in.

After a couple of years I was able to join my dad full time at his cafe and we also began planning a new business venture together – roasting our very own coffee. Time ticked on, and as much as I loved Jess, I started feeling like I was ready for my own place and thus, after some searching, moved to a wonderful townhouse on the other side of Durham. The move also meant I was closer to work and my parents as although I had finally started driving lessons, I still hadn’t got my license yet and was relaying on dad to scoop me up to and from work.

Not long after I moved however, and just as dad and I were ready to launch our new coffee roasting venture, the dreaded C word took over the world. I went through a somewhat tumultuous time. In some ways I had a great furlough time setting into my new house and enjoying many a sunny afternoon in my lush big new garden, but at the same time I also fell into some extremely unhealthy habits and routines being suddenly all alone. It was a yo-yo of emotions of highs and lows.

Eventually though, things slowly began to open up again and the road to normality seemed unveiled. We opened the cafe on weekends for take-out coffees and cakes, whilst running our coffee roasting business Durham Coffee during the week, primarily launching as an online platform. As things continued to return to normal, we soon realised however that it was going to be too much to run the cafe and roastery at the same time and we came to the decision to sell the cafe and concentrate on roasting.

During this time I had also put myself back out there hoping to make new connections. And one day, when restaurants were open again and meeting up was allowed again a Hinge date with a wonderful guy named Luis forked a new path in my journey. What was supposed to just be lunch ran into a lovely evening out and was soon followed by date no.2 in my garden drinking wine, playing Banagrams and cooking dinner together. Although in many ways we were very different, we also just worked. He made me feel at ease, loved and accepted and was especially patient and understanding with my anxiety; it was no surprise that a few dates led to us already moving in together about nine months into our relationship.

Not long after our first anniversary we got the cutest addition to our wee family, a gorgeous little show cocker spaniel pup who we named Maya (you can check our her adventures on Instagram at @mayatheshowcocker). A year later we also unexpectedly (as it hadn’t been in our immediate plans) ended up buying our first house together which we are now in the process of slowly renovating as it was/is stuck in the 70’s.

And there you have it; a whistle-stop tour of my main life events between 2017 and 2024. Coming back to blogging now I don’t want to tie myself into a specific blogging category, but rather narrate, as my name Simply Carina xo aims to suggest, the simple everyday of my life. From renovation blogs to favourite recipes and travels with my family. Thank you for reading, it’s nice to have you along for the ride!

Carina xo

BODYSHOP HAUL

Published on November 11, 2018November 7, 2018 by simplycarinaxo12 Comments

Good morning beautiful souls,

I recently purchased some new Bodyshop goods, products I haven’t tried before. I thought about doing a first impressions post, but then decided to try them out a little first before reviewing them. So without further ado, here’s what I thought:

Waterproof Mascara –

I’m going to be blunt – I hate it and definitely will not be repurchasing this again! Saying that I like the brush, it makes for a an easy application and creates good lash length. However the product itself leaves me with dark circles under my eyes quite quickly and removing it at the end of the day is practically impossible without ripping out half of my eyelashes!

Lipgloss –

I didn’t need a new lipgloss but this beautiful shimmery metallic rose tone just wanted to be bought haha. The application brush is a works really well and the lipgoss has a nice consistency and sparkle to it without being uber shiny and sticky which I hate.

Vitamin E Face Cream –

I’ve been really enjoying this face cream as it is nice and light and doesn’t feel like it clogs up your skin. The reason I picked this though is because it has an SPF 30. It’s important to remember to protect our skin from the UV rays in autumn and winter too when the sun and sunburn aren’t as obvious! I use this every morning and am very likely to repurchase!

Primer –

I’m going to admit I one of these people who doesn’t really pay much attention to primers, I mean I understand what they do, but as to whether my makeup is really smoother or stays on longer, I really couldn’t tell you. Saying that it does make the application process easier and does seem to soften and even out the skin well.

Have you tried any of these products?! I’d love to know 🙂

DESTINATION ALNMOUTH

Published on November 9, 2018September 2, 2024 by simplycarinaxo8 Comments

Good morning beautiful souls,

My travel blogs are coming at ya a little belated, for which I am sorry, but I’m finally getting back into mu blogging and I have a lot of belated content to share haha, plus it is nice to reminisce all the cute mini getaways I had this summer! A couple of months ago I had my last holiday of the summer which was a couple of days in Alnmouth with my family and I just wanted to share a few photos from my time there with you!

We had a lovely few days together just relaxing by the seaside and enjoying each others company. We went for walks along the beach…

Let our creative juices flow spending time painting together, exploring an art gallery and taking a trip to Potadoodledo to paint some pottery which was great fun!

I cooked everyone delicious vegan food every day from tofu scramble to pea risotto all the while enjoying some delish holiday G&T’s whilst doing my thang in the kitchen haha – anyone else love a drink whilst cooking dinner?!

My sister and I introduced our parents to Queer Eye (if you haven’t seen this program you’re missing out- it’s the cutest) and we chilled watching tv or reading our books in the evenings…

All too soon however it was time for me to go home and back to work, whilst my mum, dad and sister were allowed to enjoy another couple of days there (I totally was not jealous!)

I love Alnmouth! If you live in the north east and haven’t been yet I highly suggest you take a trip to this cute coastal village with a beautiful beach!!!

LINDISFARNE FESTIVAL

Published on September 21, 2018September 2, 2024 by simplycarinaxo9 Comments

Good morning beautiful souls,

I can’t believe that it has already been about 3 weeks since I was reunited with my best friend (who had just returned from her 5 month trip of a lifetime traveling around the world with her husband) and we set off on our annual holiday together to the Lindisfarne Festival. Because she lives in London I don’t get to see her as often as I’d like and so we decided 3 years ago, when we went to our first Lindisfarne Festival, that we would make this our annual holiday together.

We set off in the afternoon just managing to beat rush hour traffic and arrived in time to watch the sun slowly set as we set up camp. The sunsets are always beautiful there and sadly the photos just never do them justice, but they’re such a sight to behold!

As we’re old farts when it comes to festival bedtime we decided to camp in the quiet area of the campsite this year which, bar for some rude people who didn’t quite seem to understand the concept of quiet, made our stay much more enjoyable as we got a decent night’s sleep (a big thanks goes to my earplugs of course too)!!

Once our comfortable 5 man tent was set up and decked out in fairy lights we opened a jar of olives, popped open a bottle of bubbly and relaxed for a while before going to check out the festival arena.

We even surprised ourselves and ended up staying out grooving away until about 1am (I know you’ll laugh – that’s not late – but usually we’d be tucked up in our sleeping bags by that time haha).

Friday morning was lovely and sunny and we started our day with a yummy healthy breakfast of fruit & musli and a cuppa tea. Note: we both had our pretty reusable bamboo cutlery with us and eco mugs!! Although I managed quite well on some eco friendly accounts, there was sadly still plenty that I didn’t manage to do quite as eco friendly as I might have, so I will endeavour to do a better job next year!!!

After breakfast we got ready for the day, donned on our festival outfits & makeup and headed for the arena. I wore this really cute floaty skirt from Next that my mum had bought me as a treat and paired it with a crop top from New Look and these bright earrings from Accessorize.

After we’d listened to some spoken word, comedy and various musicians we headed back to our tent for lunch, a game of Yazi and some more drinks. I’d found these Pimm’s imitations in Lidl along with some G&T’s and they were perfect for the festival. The past few years we’d brought beer and wine, but Emily and I can only drink one or two cans of beer before we’re beered out haha, so these were a very welcome tasty change!

Being next to the sea, it is always so much windier and in the evenings it really cools down quite quickly, so before we went out again in the evening we got changed into something slightly warmer. We hadn’t really heard of anyone that was playing at this years Festival, but it was kind of nice just stumbling upon new people and groups, from jazzy solo vocals and rock bands to reggae, there was a great mix!

On Saturday morning we took our (now also usual) trip onto Holy Island for a little walk and break from the festival site and of course so I could say hi to my old stomping ground – Pilgrims Coffee House – and enjoy a top notch cuppa home roasted coffee!

By the time we’d returned and had lunch we had sadly ended up missing acro/partner yoga as well as laughter yoga which we’d planned on doing. I’d also really wanted a massage, but all the booking slots were full by the time we returned. However we hadn’t wanted to tie ourselves down either by booking things and so we joined in with the hoola hoop workshop instead which was a great laugh but really hard work actually! I sucked at hoola hooping around my stomach, Emily faired way better than me, but I did succeeded in hoola hooping with my hands and even switching hands mid movement!

As you can see, the struggle is real – my face says it all – haha!

After a good hoola hoop workout we watched some fire performers and warmed up by the fire pit before the smoke blowing into our eyes moved us along. We ambled around until the Showhawk Duo were on (2 acoustic guitars covering dance tracks and the like). They were absolutely phenomenal and really had the crowd going!!!! Definitely one of the best acts we saw!

And well that was sadly already the last evening. The festival was well organised, there were lots of various acts, stalls and food vendors and the toilets were cleaned every day so they were never in too bad a condition.

My only wish for the future is that there are more Vegan food options available, that there is an official rule about no more noise after 12 in the quite camping, that more bins are provided and that people would actually tidy away their rubbish. The rubbish difference between the Vegan Camp Out and this was huge!

But we had an absolute blast of a time and can’t wait for next year already! It feels so nice to have an intimate local festival to return to every year!!

I hope you enjoyed seeing what I got up to and I’m really sorry I haven’t posted much recently! I will endeavour to work on this!!!

VEGAN CAMP OUT 2018

Published on August 26, 2018September 2, 2024 by simplycarinaxo9 Comments

Good morning beautiful souls,

Last weekend I went on my first proper solo trip! I went camping, to a festival all by myself and I’m glad I did! I get huge travel anxiety so this was a big deal for me, but I coped! Woohoo! I didn’t have a panic attack and best of all I had great time and met some lovely people! The festival I was attending was the Vegan Camp Out Festival at Newark Showground. With this being a very new festival (only it’s 3rd year running) I’d say it’s still a learning curve for the organisers too, but considering the number of attendees more than doubled from last year, it went down super well, there were no major hiccups and everyone had a blast.

I departed lunchtime on Friday with far too much stuff (but hey I was only used to going camping with the car where you can chuck as much as you like on the back seat aha, so considering this I think I managed to reduce my camping kit considerably!). Jessica kindly helped me carry all my things to the train station and from there on I just about coped; luckily I had a direct train and once I arrived in Newark it was a just a taxi ride from the station to the showground and a little walk to the campsite.

It was soo windy when I arrived that being by myself and with a brand new tent (which I hadn’t practised putting up beforehand) I really struggled to set up camp. Luckily some kind stranger next to me asked if I needed any help and together with the tips of two passing guys who had a similar tent we eventually, after what felt like hours, managed to erect it although I was a bit dubious as to whether it would stay up with the way the wind was knocking it around. Once I had my sleeping mat rolled out and the fairy lights put up though I was very happy with my spacious but cosy home for the next 2 nights (I had a 4 person tent all to myself which was rather lovely I’m not going to lie).

Before going to the Vegan Camp Out I’d joined a Facebook group created for all the lone travellers, so that we could interact and arrange somewhere to all camp together. However I also knew that my experience would be ruined if I were to be kept awake all night by loud neighbours haha so I decided to camp in the designated Quiet area. I had been nervous about plonking my tent amidst strangers but before going I by chance ended up making friends with a lovely girl named Molly via Instagram. She was coming to the festival with her boyfriend and they decided to camp with me for which I was very grateful. About three hours after I got there Molly and her boyfriend Will finally arrived and set up camp next to me.

After settling in, we decided to check out some of the talks and went to listen to guitarist Jona Weinhofen’s personal vegan story, before ALF (Animal Liberation Front) founder Ronnie Lee took to stage and gave a very motivating speech about why we should not just be passive vegans but take to the streets and become activists. Having spent a good 9 year in prison himself for being an animal rights activist this guy’s passion for animals and their welfare is seriously inspiring!

Later in the evening I met up with Sam (a guy who’d messaged me from the Facebook lonelies group a day or two before the festival). We went to listen to the reggae legend that is Macka B and then sat down to chat the night away. Okay, okay you got me, we didn’t actually chat the night away. I mean I would have loved to, it was so lovely just chilling and chatting and Sam was super nice but I was literally yawing like every 2 mins come 12pm haha, so we called it a night.

The next day Molly, Will & I went to some more talks and workshops, including one by founder of the Carnisim Debunked website, which were all very informative and thought provoking. One of the talks held by Earthling Ed had such a huge crowd I only just managed to squeeze in at the back, but I’m glad I did – it was amazing hearing him talk in person, what a guy!!!

We treated ourselves for lunch and had some vegan pie & mash (I went for the mushroom one) which was so yummy and went off to listen to more talks such as by Peter Hammarstedt a Sea Shepherd Captain.

In the afternoon we decided we wanted to go to the screening of Dominion. Watching Dominion was so difficult, not everyone made it through the whole film. It was very harrowing to watch – it’s a stark & emotional reminder of why we as vegans do not eat animal produce! Hearing the cries of anguish from mothers and calves being separated, bearing witness to the thousands of animals repeatedly abused, watching as foxes are skinned alive for their fur, seeing baby chicks get conveyorbelted into a shredder just because they are male, having hidden cameras reveal the disgusting dirty & cramped conditions farmed animals live in….. the list of unnecessary, inhumane cruelty we inflict is truly endless, terrible and heart-breaking!

❤

PLEASE, PLEASE PLEASE, START DOING SOME RESEARCH TO INFORM YOURSELVES MORE ON THE IMPACT ANIMAL AGRICULTURE HAS ON ANIMAL WELFARE, OUR EVNIRONMENT & OUR HEALTH! IT’S SUCH AND IMPORTANT TOPIC!

Here’s some sites to get you started:

Carnism Debunked – Plant Proof – Must Watch Informative Vegan Documentaries

❤

Well after a difficult afternoon, we went back to our tents to rest a little more before having dinner. I’d brought most of my food for the weekend with me (far too much in the end aha) and so I made an avocado salad sandwich but joined Molly and Will by the food stalls to treat myself to some vegan Churros for dessert. Annoyingly they ran out of chocolate sauce, 2 people in front of me?! Say what?! But they were just as tasty with just sugary cinnamon!

In the evening we went to see the last bit of Simon Amstell’s show on the main stage and have a good laugh. Molly and Will went back to their tent after this and I headed off to find Sam and hang out with him and some other lonelies grooving away to JME! After JME it was time for the afterparty, but I was pretty tired by then and knew I had an early enough start the next morning so I made my way back to my tent. Sam came back with me to my tent (I was forcing my leftover booze on him as I did so not want to have to carry it all the way home again aha) but instead of going back to the party straight away he stayed a while and we talked a bit more which was really nice as I felt like we’d just clicked really well. Eventually I did go to bed though and Sam went off to continue the party, well into the early hours of the morning apparently (I’m so glad I’d listened to myself and did not sleep in the lonelies area of the camp as this had apparently been the afterparty of the afterparty area where I would have got 0 sleep).

Anyway I woke the next day to a grey sky and chilli morning which made getting out of my toasty sleeping bag rather difficult. I had hoped both mornings to be up and awake to join in on the morning yoga sessions, but totally failed both mornings, preferring my cosy lie ins aha! But this morning I couldn’t lie in too long as our taxi was booked back to the station for 11.30am (following the horrendous queues for taxis to the festival we made sure to book on Saturday for Sunday, and I’m glad we did otherwise who knows how long we’d have had to wait!). I’d packed my things together quite quickly and was having my breakfast by the time Molly & Will woke up and in the end our tents were all dissembled quicker than I thought, which was good though because it meant we could still go to one of the morning talks before leaving. I was also a good call getting up earlier as it started to rain and so we just about had everything packed away before it got too wet!

Once we made it to the train station the last leg of my trip began as I had almost 4 hours to wait for my train home. It wasn’t too bad though, I read my book (The Handmaid’s Tale), drank coffee and before I knew it 4 hours had flown by and I was on my way home.

I apologise for this essay of a blog post, but I guess I’m not good at being short and precise aha, so you get the long winded ramblings of my weekend adventure! I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about what I got up to and might even be inspired to check out some of the links 🙂

DAY TRIPPING – DESTINATION ALNMOUTH

Published on August 6, 2018September 5, 2019 by simplycarinaxo8 Comments

Good evening beautiful souls,

Last week I was lucky enough to have 3 days off, which for me is very rare and thus meant that I actually had time to do something nice for myself once all the housework and various other tasks were completed. The weather was so nice and I was craving a beach trip, but not being able to drive made this wish a bit problematic. Sadly there aren’t many easily accessible by public transport beaches around, well not unless you want to sit on a bus for over an hour which for me is a big no no as I get serious travel anxiety when it comes to bus journeys that are longer then 20mins! After some research however I discovered that Alnmouth station was pretty easy to get to only being a 30min walk away from the beach and so I had my day trip destination.

The walk to the beach is quite a pleasant and easy to follow as it’s just along the main road. From the station you firstly walk through a small housing estate and then it’s out in nature with wild fields on your left and glimpses of the sea on your right. After about 20 minutes you reach central Almnouth and walk through it’s floral hanging basket lined street until you reach the golf course and the beach.

On my way down to the beach I came across these beautiful roses and I had to stop and give them a sniff – does anyone else do this whenever they see roses?! They smelt divine and I’m not going to lie, I was very tempted to snap one off and take it with me!

The beach was relatively busy, the sun was out and there was a light breeze rippling through my hair as picked a little empty spot to put down my picnic blanket. Once settled I sat back with my feet in the sand just enjoying being in the present moment and watching the world around me; the grandparents sitting in their folding chair reading their papers, children hopping from stone to stone and family’s running around playing Frisbee and flying kites. It was a beautiful afternoon.

It wasn’t long until I unpacked my picnic full of healthy vegan goodies and read a bit of my book whilst savouring my lunch. I had grapes, blueberries, pretzels, veg, hummus and crackers as well as a little can of G&T. It was the perfect picnic! Afterwards I lay down with my headphones on listening to my audiobook (The Count of Monte Cristo) and relishing the feeling of the sun warming my skin.

Sadly the clouds came in not long after and they didn’t seem to want to budge meaning I got chilly quite quickly and ended up deciding to pack up and head on home again, but not before I took a stroll along the beach and dipped my toes in the chilly sea of course. Although I was only there for about 2 hours, it really was worth it and I enjoyed every minute of my mini excursion!

I hope you’ve all found the time recently to go out and do something nice for yourselves too! I know I need to make time for myself like this more often. I don’t do it enough and it did me the world of good!