Autumnal Clumber Park Adventures.

So I'm back! After a long, old hiatus I have decided to start blogging again, a rest is as good as a change after all. Life has been busy and has bought me many wonderful experiences and challenges, it just meant that some aspects of my life had to be put on hold for a while. It has been an amazing summer and I will be updating you on some of the adventures I have had over the next few weeks. 

For most of the morning I lay in bed reading, listening to the rain patter on the window, so I was really happy when the weather broke and we could hit the road. Doris, Ed and I headed over to Clumber Park for a walk and a picnic, it was lovely being out in the fresh, autumnal air. We visited the walled garden first and were amazed to see the renovation work that had been carried out on the glasshouse. It looks absolutely beautiful, all clean, pristine and white. I'm excited to see what the gardeners have planned for it next year. 

After we finished looking around the walled garden and glasshouse we headed back to Doris to rustle up a spot of lunch, then we went for a walk around the lake. I love exploring woodland this time of year, everything is awash with ochre and amber hues. The light had started to gloam by the time we got back to Doris and Ed and I were ready to say goodbye to Clumber and head back home. 

Hope you have had a beautiful Autumn weekend <3

Much Love,

Kirst xox

Farewell 2013, Thanks for all the Memories.

I thought I would shake together a montage of what 2013 has blessed me with. So many gorgeous memories. Sometimes at the end of the year I sit down and wonder what I have done and achieved, but blogging really helps me piece together all the 365 days. Some of my favourite adventures included: buying Doris & Libertea Belle, free arty gin, bike riding, getting the pigs, picnics, quaffing beer, alotmenting and visiting many National Trust properties. 

Happy New Years Eve all you lovely readers. Thanks for perusing over my blog this past year. I hope you all have a wonderful night full of fun, memories and sparks of excitement for 2014. Here is to many more adventures, journeys and love. 

Much Love and see you in 2014 <3

Kirst xXx 

Holiday Memories to Warm the Cockles.

After scanning the weather forecast for most of last week Ed and I decided we could squeeze in a camping trip to Wells next to the Sea, at the weekend. We were so lucky with the weather, it rained going there, rained coming home but the rest of our stay was full of sunshine. 

We went for a drink in a couple of our favourite pubs on Friday night then snuggled under the duvet in Doris and watched a film. On Saturday we went crabbing, the first dunk of the bait net we had a huge starfish munching on it! Obviously it fell off when we pulled the net up, which was a good thing really because we had only brought a small bucket, I'm not sure if one of his legs could have fitted in. Then on Sunday we raced Ed's RC trucks on the beach, which was pretty cool. He only lets me play with his cheapest ones though because he thinks I'm too rough! 

The second to last picture is the view out of the back of Doris on Saturday evening, you can see the pop top of another T25 just over the hedge. There were 4 T25s all in the corner of the camp site, which meant that Doris had plenty of company hehe. It was such a lovely weekend, it is hard to believe how warm and summery it was when this week has been  so chilly and rainy. 

Hope you have enjoyed the last few fragments of summer <3

Much Love

Kirst 

Summer Adventures & Life Plans.

You may have noticed that I have been pretty quiet over the last couple of months. I just realised how busy my life was with everything I was juggling and decided to just chill out a bit and take the time to ponder on where my life was heading and where I want to wanted to be. I have some wonderful new clarity on the future and have set some goals to work towards.  

All my life pondering aside it has been a really fab summer full of BBQs, VWs, camping, picnics and sunshine. You may also notice that Doris (our VW campervan) has a sister now, I will introduce you to her properly soon. I have some big plans for her over the winter which I am super excited about!

Hope you have had a wicked summer. I will be posting more regularly again from now so watch this space...

Much Love

xkx

Journeying up Mount Doom in Doris.

There is nothing I love better on a rainy evening than looking at all the random photos that I took on our last camping trip. I forgot I had taken all these until Ed reminded me yesterday. He was a little bit disappointed that I didn't take any pictures of our 20% gradient hill accent! He then just teased me that I was too scared to think about anything else whilst we were doing it. I must admit when the hill loomed in the window I did hold my breath slightly. It was steep and we had never done anything like that before, so all that was left to do was Ed to put her in second gear and then we prayed whilst she slowly journeyed to the top! Frodo climbing up Mount Doom had nothing on us.  

Every journey is super fun in Doris, especially now I have got used to all the mechanical noises she makes, the first long trip I got Ed to explain what all the noises were because some of them were a bit scary. And when we get to our destination it feels so awesome.

We are already planning our next trip, just can't wait!!

Much Love.

xkx 

Doris' First Trip to Wales (with Us).

You may have noticed that I haven't been around a lot this week, well I have still been getting over my gluten episode and we had to get ready for our camping trip mid week. Ed and I decided to go to Wales and my folks came with us and brought their tent. This was the longest trip we have taken Doris on. We did the first part on Wednesday evening, Nottingham to Shropshire which was is about 90 miles, then on Thursday we did the rest which was close to 100 miles because we took the scenic route. The weather was beautiful and this was the view we had from Doris in the evening. 

This was probably the best camping trip we have had so far, it was so much fun and we even caught up with my aunt and uncle which I haven't seen for years. Doris was very well behaved and the slight issue we had with her cutting out when coming to a stop was fixed when Ed tightened up a loose part of the carburettor. We are already planning out next couple of trips! 

Hope you have had an awesome week and bank holiday weekend <3

Much Love.

xkx 

Post Camping Blues.

I am missing camping sooo much! It was a perfect weekend and one of my favourite things was going to sleep staring at the stars out of the back window, life doesn't really get much better than that for me. I am still impressed with how cosy Doris is inside, when the bed is made up in the back it is my version of heaven! 

Hope you had a lovely bank holiday weekend and managed to soak up a bit of that much needed sun. We have another camping trip planned in a couple of weeks and I am super excited <3

Much Love
xkx

Spontaneous Date Night.

So you may have noticed that I didn't post yesterday, well Ed and I kinda, accidentally had a date night. I love it when nights like this happen, we went into town shopping for some last bits for camping in Doris, then went for a beer at Brewdog which turned into two because they have Dead Pony Club on tap as well as this awesome guest draft called Atlantic Drift. Then we decided to have a cheeky Nandos, I always have extra extra sauce because I am a bit of a spice fiend and I enjoy watching Ed struggle trying to match me with the hot sauce. Then we trundled home and chilled out. Was a super perfect evening <3

Hope you have some super cool plans looming for the Bank Holiday Weekend!

xkx

Doris' Maiden Voyage!

Ed and I set off on our maiden voyage in Doris on Friday, we were a little bit nervous as this was the first big trip we had ever done in her. Ed has worked so hard on Doris since we got her in January, she was in really good condition for a 30 year old van but there were plenty of niggles that needed ironing out. We couldn't have wished for a more perfect weekend, the weather was absolutely stunning and Doris was super comfortable, it has definitely given us wanderlust. 

We went to Wells-next-the-Sea, it is a popular sea side resort on the East coast of the UK. Wells is one of my favourite places in the whole world, for me it has everything a sea side resort could have to offer, beautiful beaches, a quaint harbour, places to go crabbing and amazing local food shops. We found a little Deli in the town called Wells Deli, I had a Laksa there, it was one of the best I have ever had AND it was only £4.25! We did a lot of cooking in Doris because the local produce in Norfolk is second to non in my opinion. The local butchers even cured their own bacon... treacle bacon! I discovered there are few things better in life than fried, treacle bacon in gluten free granary bread. 

Saturday night was pretty epic, we found this boat called The Albatros which has been converted to a bar and has live music over the weekend. This was probably the coolest venue I have ever been to, it has a well worn, comfortable, shabby chic style to it with real ale! It has even made it into the CAMRA Good Beer Guide. The live music was a mixture of blues and americana and this little venue rocks when the guitars start up. I think this will be a regular haunt for Ed and I when we are camping in Wells. 

What a great weekend, 220 miles under our belts and many more to go, I'm missing camping already.

Hope you have had a lovely weekend <3 

xkx

Doris' Get Ready for Camping List.

Ed and I are hoping to be able to take Doris (our T25 VW campervan) out for our first camping trip together very soon. I am so excited, I just can't wait to go to the seaside in her  read books, have adventures and relax. As I love lists so much I decided to scribble one up to get Ed and I focussed on some of the things we will have to aquire before the first camping trip. We really don't need that much as we have been collecting treasure for her even before we bought her.

So far we have a collection of vintage and new melamine plates and cups. I refused to drink any hot liquid out of the old melamine because I was scared of weird chemicals zapping into my drink (I'm not sure this fear is founded on real fact or not). So I bought Ed the tin VW mug ages ago and Ed bought me my tin camping mug today! It was in the sale at Paperchase and I thought it was super cute. I bought three cushion covers from a charity shop absolutely ages ago and I just never found a proper use for them so I have decided I am going to throw them in the wash and get them customised so they can live in Doris. Its one of my beliefs that you can never have too many cushions (Ed doesn't like them too much though hehe). 

Have you got any trips you are itching to start?

xkx

Style *hearts* Sunday - Tweedy Owls.

It was the first sunny day of spring today *yey*, Ed and I had adventures planned so I threw together this outfit quick, to go and fill the day with frolics. It is getting soooo close to us being able to go camping in Doris, we just need to get a few more bits of equipment and she will be ready to rock. 

Dress - The Rainbows End.
Jacket - Vintage Vixen Newark.
Boots - Dr Martens Grace Boot.

I love this dress so much, the print is funky and because it is a light knit it bridges that 'it's too chilly for a dress gap'. The cowl neck on this dress is minimal but I think it is sympathetic with the simple tailoring of the dress. This tweed jacket is going to be one of my spring staples, it is so cute and the shoulder pads make me feel like a late 80s business woman. The boots were a Christmas present from Ed and I totally adore them, I like to wear these with dresses because I think the shiny, patent leather and ribbon softens the 'kick ass boot' look. 

Hope you have had a great weekend <3

Kirst x    

P.S Do you see Doris' boyfriend just over the fence in the last picture?

A Much Needed Spring Clean!

Porcelain Agaric has had a much needed spring clean! Ed and I set about working on it this morning and we are pretty happy with what we achieved. I have felt totally inspired by the slivers of spring that have been peeking out of the dreary winter. So here is the new layout, I really hope you like it. I have loads more work to do on it but I feel really stoked that it is moving in the right direction. 

I hope you have had a wonderful weekend, and have plenty of fun adventures planned for the week ahead. I have lots to keep me busy with the introduction of new weekly features and we have to take Doris (the campervan) for her MOT retest on Saturday *eeeek*. 

Much Love

xkx 

Campervan Melamine Loveliness.

Ed and I are looking to buy a VW T25 campervan, hopefully before next summer! We are very excited about all the adventures that we can have in one. We have decided it will probably be called Doris, but I did see one with a moustache which I loved and would have definitely called that one Poirot. When Ed's birthday came around the other week I decided to buy him/us some cute melamine that can live in the camper when we get it.  

These first two sets are by Kath Kidston and I have to admit that they were in the kids section, so they are probably for clumsy toddlers. But I thought they would look adorable in a camper with a chintzy interior. 

I found this this random harlequin set of melamine in a gorgeous vintage shop in Whitby. I got 3 yellow plates, 1 orange plate and an orange cup for around £10. Then the kind lady gave us an extra mug and the two coasters for free, I think, because she thought Ed was cute and the fact that I had my Diana F+ camera with me and she really wanted one. 

So this is our lovely dining set ready to go campervanning with up in the summer! It makes me so excited to look at this set of melamine and imagine the fun these items will share with us next year. Just need to keep an eye out for cutlery and other quaint little bits and bobs now.