Latitude
Posted under Witterings
Skippy, that’s me that is. Recently returned from my first EVER music festival and I loved it. We only went for the day but next year we’re camping because it’s such a pity we missed out on the evening. It was a long, hot day and the boys just got too tired for us to stay beyond tea time, boo hoo. Diggy was also too tired to walk so I spent most of the day with him strapped to me in a sling. That was OK, ish, when he was a baby…but now he’s a strapping 3 year old and it’s physically tough to lug him around. Bertie gave up in the end too and ended up on MrSpud’s back in a sling too. The pushchair would have been a good move…here we are queuing up to get in…NB thumb in, exhausted already and we’re not even IN THERE yet:
On the excellent advice of various Tweeters I left the Big Girl’s Camera at home my iPhone and an old P&S instead. It was good advice given that I ended up carrying the Digster around, I had no arms/energy for photography to be honest…never mind the hassle of lugging the kit around.
On which note, Twitter I mean, I saw a bloke wearing a T shirt which said.
I am a man
I do not Tweet
I do not Twitter
Riiiiiiight.
I saw another bloke whose T shirt said:
NO, I’M NOT ON F*CKING FACEBOOK
… which made me smirk in a knowing way until I remembered I still have a Facebook account, despite deriding it on a fairly regular basis. Hmmm. Double standards anyone?
We experienced in the festival in a very shallow kind of way, we grazed our way around since the boys’ attention wasn’t grabbed by anything for long periods…there was too much else to see and do. Once I’d embraced this and realised the day wasn’t going to involve lazing around listening to the acts I quite enjoyed it. Snatches of poetry here….bit of a band there…..an insect circus here…a fashion show in the woods there. It was a bit like a dream where scenes randomly segue in to each other without bothering with any kind of connection.
Mostly I enjoyed the people watching and, oh boy, was there opportunity a-plenty. Quite apart from the statement T shirts I think the memory of many of the people I saw today will stay with me for a while…I couldn’t drink it in fast enough. General points:
GIRLS…if your shorts are so short you need to hoik them out of your backside every 5 seconds then, you know, they are TOO SHORT. We are getting more of an eyeful that we would like.
BOYS…ponchos in mid July are not a good look. Even if you add a drippy tash. You look hot, bothered and ridiculous.
GIRLS AND BOYS…I know it must be hard to pack for a festival when you’re camping. But wellies and socks and shorts in this heat look daft, and surely your feet are stinking in pools of sweat in there? GIRLS..I know Kate Moss pulled this look off but, well, you’re not Kate Moss.
WOMEN OVER 40…it doesn’t matter how well preserved you are, or what a great pair of legs you have, you will always look like mutton dressed as lamb in a super short mini skirt. Your baggy, wrinkly knees give you away. For God’s sake put a pair of rainbow Hammertime pants on like everyone else.
We were bullied in to buying a couple of hellium balloons on the way out, at the princely sum of £4 EACH. Dear God. MrSpud hasn’t got much change out of the £35.00 cash he had when we arrived, having bought 2 diamond encrusted balloons, 4 bottles of water and 4 ice creams. Sheesh, this festival lark ain’t cheap.
Naturally the balloons were the boys’ highlight of the day. We could have saved a mint and just nipped down the florist for a couple of balloons and ‘made a festival in the garden’ as suggested by Diggy, with ‘ice cream, music and people’. “Modern day parents are overly elaborate when entertaining their children. Discuss”
There were Hammertime pants? Since people-watching is one of my top five favorite pleasures I think that I would LOVE this festival. Maybe next summer? I don’t camp, though. Any cute hotels nearby?
I loved the lavender sheep . . .
And your hair grows FAST. (I’m so glad you are growing out the curls again.)
You must have shoulders of steel to carry a three year old around all day! Though I am glad you had fun nonetheless :)
And the purple sheep beg the question WHA?
I can’t believe I’m missing it! Next year we’ll camp right next to you!
Gorgeous photos, interesting looking festival, wish I could muster up the enthusiasm for camping, T in the Park is on my doorstep but I am just too attached to indoor plumbing!
Curse you, Spud, and your latitude-ticket buying organisational skills. We’d promised ourselves Latitude this summer but didn’t get tickets in time. Next year for sure. Like what we said last year.