Camping - A Survivors Story

Hello people - I am happy to report that I'm daisy-fresh, Clarins and I have had a mini reunion, and I've bought some shoes... I'm definitely home!

Here is a run-down of the Lounge on the Farm event:

Location - Beautiful. The farm is in Canterbury and was the perfect place to hold a festival; there were different fields for different themes and the crew camping area was right next to a lovely corn field.

Camping - I coped. Due to having to make a stop at the warehouse, I didn't arrive at the site until 4am on Wednesday morning; the gates were locked so I had to drag my stuff half a mile through mire to the crew camping site where I put my tent up as the moon went down. 

Now, I'm not very big on camping and I felt dirty all. the. time. they didn't plumb in our showers at all and I only managed to find one in the VIP area on Friday; unfortunately when I went back on Sunday night they had unplumbed them! I used the VIP loos most of the time though, and due to some careful planning (not drinking after 8pm) I never had to get up in the night - this is important to me... more important than hydration it turns out.

Music - A mixed bag. I was working from around 10 in the morning until about 2.30am but managed to pop my head into a few tents to see who was playing. I had a bit of a jump around to some Drum n Bass and it is now evident I am not as young as I used to be - I used to dance all night to that shit and now it appears I can manage... ooooh about 8 minutes!

Seeing Roots Manuva playing in an actual cowshed was quite surreal, Krafty Kuts was pretty good and Dub Pistols were brilliant. I wanted to see Billy Childish but missed him. Some of the music was surprisingly dire and shoddy enough to warrant comment.

Work - Interesting. Our office was next to a barn of bulls (sounds nice but is actually quite scary in reality - they try to rush the fencing as you approach and shouldn't be trusted) and it was also pretty close to a 40ft pile of silage... yes you heard me; I had to pass a massive pile of shit many times a day... many times a day.

I was lucky that I had access to the Internet (da-daaa... dongles!) so I could check what was going on in the World; I was too tired to actually write anything on here apart from comments though, but I did keep up on what you were all doing. I'm a complete media whore and need my fix.

Overall though, I like the actual work but dislike camping still - I'm a city girl and am not 'at one' with nature. I plateaued on Sunday and really missed Brighton and Dexter and felt like killing anyone in a silly hat or wig (which was every other person as hats are big at festivals) I also felt quite old and was amazed that anyone in their 20's could dance at all as their trousers were either tight as you like or held up by a wing and a prayer... pull your fucking trousers up people!

So, very glad to be back; I've been to 3 cafes today, found a place to live (I'll do another post for that one) and bought a new pair of shoes. Dexter and I are reunited and last night I slept without any earplugs. I have loads of work to do and find and I also need to prepare, as next week I leave for another week of camping. The good thing about slumming it however, is that you appreciate your home comforts more than ever when you get back! 

One Down, Four to Go

cheesy quavers - ravers

Well I just got back from my first festival of the summer - Dance Island. Held in Ely, Cambs, it was only a 1-day event so I only spent 2 days there whereas on Tuesday night I will leave for the next one and be away for 7 days! 

my tent

This was actually the first time I have EVER put up a tent and I have to say that, although I've achieved many things in my life, I felt such a sense of achievement once I'd done it, I'm almost embarrassed at how chuffed I was. I'm famous for not being much of a camper and didn't do much to disprove this by spending my first night in the Travel Lodge!

Arriving on site at 6.30am Saturday morning with my Costa Coffee, I went round and took a few pictures for you; it was a beautiful day and I none of the colours have been altered in any way - the sky really was that blue! The music, as you would expect, was banging dance music; the clubbers when they arrived were all UV and fluffy, and the event was really fun.

I went to bed around 9pm then rose this morning at 3.50am (I will often be working through the night - it's not very glam behind the scenes!) the sunrise was stunning, mist was rising off the ground and the place looked quite post-apocalyptic. I have some fantastic photos for Skywatch Friday although I'm not sure when I'll get to post them!

I'm now home, showered, looking forward to sleeping in my own bed and about to go and get a takeaway for dinner as there's no point getting food in if I'm off again in 2 days. Tomorrow I have to buy loads of things (including a tent; I'd borrowed this one) then Tuesday I have 2 meetings with clients - I actually received a new enquiry whilst I was in the field, which was great.

It was a brilliant couple of days and I'll let you know how the next one goes; we have wi-fi at the festivals and I'm going to take my phone cable next time (all the pictures I ever post are from my camera phone) so I may even be able to blog whilst I'm there too. This weekend was only a short test-run; I imagine the next one will be exhausting!