I *heart* Blackpool.

I have never been to Blackpool before, so when my friends said they were going there for the weekend, Ed and I decided to go adventuring for a couple of days. I'd heard mixed reviews of Blackpool, some people said it was a dive and very tired around the edges, whilst others said that there was a lot of fun to be had there. 

Blackpool certainly lived up to the latter of those views! I love seaside towns that are a little shabby around the edges, you can't help but get enveloped in the English seaside nostalgia. There was so much to see and do here, one night there was nowhere near long enough to explore this place.  

I had always wanted to visit The Comedy Carpet in Blackpool, but I had completely forgotten about it. So as it loomed ahead of me, when I was walking along the front, I was incredibly happy. This is an amazing piece of art and I would recommend going to see this for yourself because it is so beautiful. The Comedy Carpet refers to work from over 1,000 different comedians and it squeezes over 160,000 granite letters in 2,200m2 of embedded concrete. If you are a lover of typography I don't think you will want to leave! I only managed to tear myself away when I started to get really chilly from the sea breeze.

I can't wait to visit Blackpool again.

Hope you have had a wonderful weekend <3

Much Love

xKirstx

The Day I Met Neil Gaiman.

A few months ago I met Neil Gaiman *Eeekkk*! There are very few people who I would ever get star stuck over, and even fewer who I would make the effort to go and meet, but Neil Gaiman has to be top of the list for me. 

I have loved Neil Gaiman's work since my early to mid teens, it all started when I stumbled across his Death the High Cost of Living graphic novel. I was deeply rooted in my Goth era then and I just thought Death was the coolest character ever, I even started to wear an Ankh because of her, which I still do today. One summer when I went to London with my friend, we were waiting to go on a Jack the Ripper tour when an American tourist came up to me and said ''You read Sandman don't you, you look just like Death''. That was and still is one of the most awesome compliments I have ever had in my life (I realise this is maybe a little weird). 

I soon meandered to American Gods, this book is probably my favourite in all the world. If I could only read one more book it would be this one. I am a massive sucker for mythology and folklore, especially of the Norse schism so it just pulled me in and kept me there. The story and characters are intoxicating and it provided me with some much needed escapism. 

Then there was Neverwhere. I was going through a difficult time in my life, I was living away from my parents, I wasn't particularly happy and I felt utterly lost. This book gave me a world that I could envelop myself with and somehow it gave me hope that better things were out there within my grasp.   

So looking back Neil Gaiman's work has been an inspiration, a comfort and kindling for my imagination. It was an amazing evening to go to Ely cathedral and sit watching the occasional bat flitting around whilst listening to him answering questions and read from his books. We were told that we were allowed to take one book and one other thing that we loved most in the world. I was lucky because Ed didn't mind getting The Ocean and the End of the Lane and Neverwhere signed for me whilst I got American Gods and a photograph of Doris. 

This was a totally magical evening for me and one that I will never forget. 

much love

Kirst

Autumn at the Allotment.

The allotment adventures are winding down now Autumn is in full swing. Today Ed and I went and dug up the last of the potato crop, picked the beetroot stragglers, collected the onions that have been drying in the greenhouse and did a small amount of tidying up. 

We have had the allotment for about a year now and it has definitely been a story of ups and downs. We have had some amazing food such as blackberries, garlic, onions, beetroot, raspberries, strawberries, plums, runner beans, lettuce, potatoes, nettles, dandelions and courgettes. And we have also had some disappointing ones, those being sweetcorn, Romanesco broccoli, bak choi and the kohlrabi. Pretty much anything that the cabbage butterfly could lay it's eggs on got chomped. So next year we have decided to get plenty of netting.  

It feels amazing to eat food that you have grown. I know exactly where it has come from and that it has had no chemicals poured all over it. I also know when it was picked so its always super fresh when it ends up on my plate.  

One thing I have learnt is that allotments are a lot of hard work! More than I could have ever anticipated. The upkeep has been really tough and what with having a 30 year old campervan to maintain and repair, this summer was a lot more hectic than planned. But it has definitely been worth it. That said, it will be nice to have a few months off battling weeds so I can get down to figuring out what I want to grow and eat next year. 

How have your green fingered plans spanned out this year?

Much Love

Kirst x

The Abandoned Road...

The weather was quite sunny yesterday so Ed and I decided to trek out to the Peak District and have an adventure. Castleton is one of our favourite places, the drive up there is pretty awesome, there are some wonderful pubs to have a pint in and there is the abandoned road! Ed and I accidentally found this road when we bought one of the walking maps, a few years ago, from the tourist information centre in Castleton. I was pretty amazed at how much the road has slipped down the Mam Tor, it really reminds you of how powerful nature is at stripping the human additions away. 

The original road was built around 1819, but due to the natural formation of the rock beneath it meant that it was vulnerable to landslides in wet weather. Because of this major road works were required in 1912, 1933, 1946, 1952, 1966 & 1974. In 1979 the road was abandoned and the traffic was rerouted. When it is quiet here it feels like the apocalypse has hit, I imagine it is even more eerie here at night.   

Ed and I had a really good time, we managed to get to the top of the road eventually (we stopped a lot to take pictures). Then we realised we had to start making tracks back down into the village because we had a tabled booked for dinner at one of the local pubs.  Hope you have had a fabulous Autumnal weekend <3 Much LoveKirst x