Late summer events in Cheshire

I live in Cheshire and it is such a great county with a variety of things to do over the rest of the summer. Here are my ideas for the Cheshire area.....

RHS Tatton Garden Show

Loads of glorious show gardens, floral marquees and Pimms. The ultimate posh Cheshire day out and a source of inspiration for gardeners. There's usually a big wheel laden with flowers and plenty of music and food. Take your little wheelie trolley to take home tons of plants in and gain some green fingered knowledge from the veggie growers and their displays of perfect carrots and lettuces. The community gardens, usually done by school are a favourite and it's fun to spot the scarecrows. 

Congleton Jazz and Blues Festival

August Bank holiday music and over 50 jazz bands in bear town. A free event and one that makes for a super musical pub crawl.

Rewind Festival

The ultimate 80's festival with a line up including Belinda Carlisle, Kim Wilde and T'Pau. August 4th to the 8th at Capesthorne Hall. I want to go badly for 80's is my thing, pop my wellies on, shorts, shirt, glitter on my face, cool hairpiece, flower crown and shades. There's lots of 80's dressing up too with day-glo and people dressed as 80's cartoon characters - a lot of fun.Themed bars and food, fairground rides and much singing. You can camp there or just go on a day pass. 

Just So Festival

The ultimate children's festival at Rode Hall. Creative, magical happenings of characters and stories.Singing, dancing, weird creatures, lanterns and stars. There are games to play and tent to camp in, the perfect family event in August. 18th to 20th August.

Knutsford Foodies Festival

A favourite of mine for sampling cheese and wine and coming home with bags full of delicious delights. Held at Tatton Park, 14th to 16th July. Try the chilli eating competition of relax in the vintage tea tent.

Live in the Park at Arley Hall

The nearest stately home to where I live and I'll be able to hear the fireworks going off that night of the 15th July in their grand finale of the annual picnic music event all for charity.  

Astle Park Traction Steam Rally

Steam engines, cars, motorbikes, a roaring event of stunts and feats with a fairground and camping on the weekend of 12th-13th August.

Creamfields

Coolest event in Cheshire. Too cool for me. August Bank Holiday weekend, much dancing, much drinking Ibiza style in Cheshire

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Being happy

When I was younger I had a lot of things bothering me. In my twenties, I was not sure of myself, always wanting to be somebody else and not happy in my own skin. Things are quite different now, I have my moments but mostly I'm past caring what others think of me too much and I'm happy to be healthy and content. 

One of the things in my life that I've worked out, of which I was reminded of this week is that comparison is the thief of joy. As soon as you start comparing yourself to others then it is just a situation where you start feeling miserable and inadequate. Nobody else is on your particular journey and all the things that it encompasses - family, life situation, money so what I've discovered for a happy life is just to enjoy that journey. Right now, I'm learning, I'm on a course. I'm no expert, I'm learning and that is fine - I enjoy it. Of course I'm not going to know as much as somebody else who is ahead of me in this particular area of study but actually that is something to embrace. I welcome people who know more than me, I welcome the knowledge they have to offer. I focus on my own journey and keep on. When you compare, the journey gets halted, you get bogged down with negativity. This goes for everything else too. I am who I am and try to just love life.

Home
Well it's not a huge manor house or a cottage with a picket fence or the house in the Cotswolds that I fell in love with but it's a home and I'm grateful for it. It needs redecorating, if I ever get the chance and I have a boisterous seven year old that chips paint off and creates a huge mess but it's a home. It's filled with my life - memories, little boy giggles, photos, books, warm throws, a pretty garden and the security of my head hitting the pillow each night whilst by two dogs snore away. If I had a wonderful five bedroom home, sure that would be great but I'd still sleep, still eat, still have a bathroom to clean and well my compact home does the trick. 

I have a garden that is big enough for different purposes, a bench where I can sit with a glass of wine and enough flowers around to make it my happy space. It's good to dream of what you want, it gives focus and determination but comparing to others and what they have just distracts. Here's an ideal home I have in mind, maybe one day....

Myself
Ah when you look at yourself in the mirror and think, oh I hate that way one eyes looks smaller, I hate the way my thighs look or I wish I had brown eyes or whatever. Stop! I'm happier than I ever was with myself, sure I have things I want to work on, part of my journey but most importantly I am happy. I quite like my imperfections, I'm grateful for the strength I have and how I am healthy. I'll never be a skinny sort, I'm just me, shaped how I am by genes and a love of cheese :) I love buying clothes and know what suits me and what doesn't for my shape. So always embrace yourself, hit the shops and make yourself feel beautiful whether it's fashion for plus sizes or you wish you were curvier, be healthy and enjoy the process.

Work and study
A huge proportion of my time is taken up with my post graduate diploma and it has been very hard going. When I first started I was so overwhelmed by what the other course members knew and how engaged they were in debates. Instantly I felt disheartened but then I took a step back. Many of the others were older than me or had been working within churches already, or had done previous medieval study. I had to realise that this was my thing and I was doing ok what with juggling looking after a little boy with extra needs and keeping afloat. I'm still behind with the course but I'll get there and it's not a race. As long as I keep a smile on my face and manage to pick up a course book each day I'll be fine and we'll see where it takes me.

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Places I'd like to live

Every so often I feel like moving to a different area, I have a bad day and want to up sticks and go to another part of the country or even another country entirely. Some days it might be the city and on other days the coast. if I'm on days out I get seduced by new places and start imagining a life there and how things would be different. 

One place that always appeals is the wonderful city of Bristol and its association to me of nature and its culture. I first found myself there in my twenties as a student of ecology attending a Mammal Society conference and dreaming of working for the BBC Natural History Unit. As soon as I see the Clifton Suspension Bridge across the Avon Gorge I get a flurry of excitement. The arty culture in Bristol is vibrant from the street art of Stokes Croft to the annual balloon fiesta with over 150 colourful hot air balloons flying over the city.

Another place that appeals is Scandinavia. I'm a bit obsessed with the culture and the lifestyle of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. The wooden houses, the design, the snowy landscapes of winter and the greenery of summer. Folklore of trolls and brownies that you leave porridge out for, Norse gods and goddesses and the other worldliness. I am particularly in awe of the wooden stave churches. There is something about the Scandinavian life that exudes coolness and sophistication - their flair for home design is something the Brits love. Family life in Scandinavia seems pretty trendy too, think Ikea and how the family room is the heart of the home, open airy living that promotes communication and togetherness. I spent a little time in Norway some years ago and was incredibly impressed, making it one of my dream places to live.

Wooden stave church By Eduardo [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

France
Living in France would also be pretty amazing. I imagine myself in a French village, collecting my pain au chocolat and croissants from the boulangerie, walking past vintage Citroen cars and past beautiful gîtes with shutters and pink roses scrambling whilst beans grow up canes. There are so many regions that I would choose, perhaps Brittany and all its coastal castles. A tumbledown cottage would suit, in a French medieval town, windy streets and steps past bars and small shops, sparrows chattering away and the late afternoon sun dipping behind the church tower.

Cornwall
Quaint seaside towns and harbours with colourful boats and cottages along lanes with flower and crab pots by front doors. Cornwall is a county that I adore for its pace of life and wonderful beaches to walk along and watch the surfers. Cream teas, Cornish pasties as you go, dog walks, clear water and a sense of freedom. The community feeling of local festivals, markets and buying local produce. I long to go back and explore some more and will have to be satisfied with staying in holiday cottages but pretending that I live there for a week is pretty exciting. 

Gardening for health and well being

Things around here have been stressful lately what with trying to get my son a school place and having no help at all from the LEA, my dog being poorly (I'll save this for another time since I cannot quite write the words) and family stuff, well it's been all stress after stress. The one thing that keeps me sane, helps me to unwind and not be so completely consumed by stress is the garden and also the allotment - the latter of which needs a lot of work but hey ho, it's still stress reducing and I get to take home fresh fruit and vegetables.

Grow Your Own
When you sprinkle a packet of seeds onto compost or push a seed into the earth it starts the whole magic off. Every day checking and nurturing that seedling until you have a leafy plant that starts flowering and fruiting. There is something so addictive and so calming about the whole process, unless the slugs get them. But even the challenge of successful growing is a good occupier of the mind. If you're combating slugs then some of your angers are taken away by that. Most years I grow strawberries and having them in baskets on my patio is really satisfying as I can catch them when they are ready and eat them straight way, sharing with my son. I grow potatoes at the allotment and lots of beans, bringing home a full bounty of goodies to eat is very rewarding and improves how I feel.

Community gardens
If you don't have a garden of your own, or a place for even a few pots at the front of the building then have a look for a local community garden. Great places for meeting like minded people and many work with lots of local charities too, so it become a wonderful place for all working together. My local gardens are open to all and you can learn new skills there, even how to be a bee keeper. Garden therapy can work on its own or add as part of a plan with experienced psychologists and psychiatrists to help when things get too tough. Stress and depression is not an easy matter and I'm glad people are becoming more away of these issues. My son suffers with anxiety, it is part of the way he is and being out in the garden helps him so much. The social aspect of community gardening is a great way for socialising in an indirect way. Weeding and potting up require no words, is calming and informal for ways of interacting with other people.


Growing cut flowers for the home
When I was young my father grew amazing blooms such as dahlias and we would always have some in the house over the summer as a cut flower. Flowers within the home do brighten the place up and being able to pick your own from the garden is easy and a quick pick-me-up. Roses in the garden provide blooms nearly all the way through the summer. Next year I would like to grow a cutting garden, you can buy packs of seeds where they have been carefully selected for being a good cut flower. The bees win too and you will be rewarded with nature aplenty.

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Quick fixes to spruce up the summer home

In the summer I go through the house and make a few updates here and there, nothing expensive as I'm on a budget. Perhaps switching a few things over, swapping items from my bits and bobs cupboard where I will find summery candles or pictures that I can use to brighten the rooms up. Now the sun is shining, I'll wash all the soft furnishings and line dry then to freshen up and each room will perhaps have a few investment pieces for summer colour and the latest trends.

Bedroom
My main relaxation area, my bedroom, must have some new summery bedding. I'll look for something colourful and cheery, perhaps spots or a floral pattern that will fit in with the existing scheme. I keep the walls plain so this helps being able to change room slightly each season. I'll pop a few new candles in the room, coconut is a favourite summer scent and anything fresh and fruity. Sometime I'll buy the small votive candles or scented tea lights as I can buy lots for not a lot of money and switch them over frequently. Use citrus candles to keep the bugs away.

Image source: George at Asda

Family Room 
The family room is where we eat,play,relax and study. The sofa has been recently updated so I will add new cushions and the woodburner whilst it is out of service, even though it's been chilly, will have a new spray of paint. New storage is always helpful and pretty boxes to add paperwork or bits and pieces into. I need a new desk chair so I'll have a look at office furniture suppliers for something ergonomic and colourful that I can swirl about on and do my work.

Bathroom
The bathroom actually needs some work after a leak ruined the flooring so I'l be ordering some new lino, hopefully a shiny white one that will bring light into the bathroom. New hand towels and bath sheets however, will add some colour and I have my eye on some bright pink Egyptian cotton towels for a feminine touch. I might contrast these with turquoise for a holiday feel. On the sink I'll pop a pretty bottle of hand wash and some hand lotion, particularly if I'm having friends over to stay. When I do my weekly supermarket shop, I'll try a different shower gel too, scents that remind me of the sea and salty air.

The colour combinations I like for the bathroom could also have a pop of yellow, probably my favourite colour and even an orange would work against the light grey tiles.

Design Seeds - http://kitsdesomni.typepad.com/kits_de_somni/2014/04/el-color-de-abril-2014.html

Kitchen
In the kitchen at the time of year it starts to become full of produce from my allotment. Tubs of soft fruits such as raspberries and currants, also beans, potatoes and lettuce. So much fresh fruit and veg to make exciting summer dishes with that I like the kitchen feeling updated with a few items since I will be spending more time in there. On the open shelves, a stack of colourful crockery adds a colourful dash and some pretty new plates to serve my food on.

Coloured and pressed glass tumblers are very summery, I have seen some with a little bee motif pressed into them that would be great to go into my kitchen shelf units. The shelves are set against a white backdrop so the coloured glass will really stand out. I might also gather some sweetpea flowers from the allotment and bring the intoxicating scent of them into the kitchen.

http://keltainentalorannalla.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/vari-ideoita-maanantaille.html?m=1

Living room
Easiest addition the smarten the living room up is a new set of cushions which I'll pick up from the home ware section of a supermarket or from the high street. £5 a cushion, a bright and colourful pattern of animal and that will make the sofa look great for summer lounging. I have found some bumblebee cushions that will be perfect and add a yellow throw for cooler summer evenings or rainy day film watching - it was quite chilly the other day considering it was June.
Finally, a new set of fairy lights to twinkle away and I'll rearrange the books on the mantelpiece to be around summer nature and day tripping around the UK. Some flowers too, maybe a rose from the garden into a bud vase and I shall feel like the house feels a bit more cheerful for over the summer months. 

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