Home is where I park it

Time to say goodbye dear readers. Off on my travels, new life adventures, a time to grow and heal, a time to make new friends and love old ones more. There is not much else to say except I will come back to this blog at some point but I do aim to have a few months off technology! Thank you all for your continued support, reading my blog and looking at my pictures. With the greatest of love xxx

As you know if you are a regular reader of this blog I have been on a journey to loose weight and get fit and healthy. It has been quite a rocky road but recently things really seem to be coming together. I have continued with healthy eating and now that I have gone vegan there are no 'snack' foods here at work I can have which is good. I have given up the fast and feast days in favour of most days being pretty low calorie. I am not counting calories really anymore but I think most days I'm taking in around 1500 calories and some days 2000. The breakthrough I think has been getting back to exercising every day. I started by doing 10 minutes of yoga, 10 minutes of light aerobics and 10 minutes of pilates every morning before starting work. I then joined a gym and started doing classes every day usually 45mins to an hour of aerobics or pilates or yoga. Now I am back at work I am doing 10-20 minutes of yoga, 10 minutes of light aerobics and 15 minutes of pilates every morn...

I have been doing a lot of work on self esteem, self love, selfless acts of kindness, remembering all the positive and good things and dropping all the bad things and negativity. That is not to say there was a lot of that in my life as I have always been very positive and held a belief that I can do anything I want if I put my mind to it. I guess it's the belief that you are a fantastic person and you deserve all those good things that is sometimes hard for me.  I'm not going to go into too much personal stuff here not really because it is read by total strangers but more because I am still very much processing a lot of changes and am finding it hard to put it all into words what I am going through and discovering on this emotional, spiritual and healing journey I find myself on. Instead I'd like to share with you a few of the things that have made the biggest impact on me recently. First is this quote which took me a few readings to fully understand and a few more to...

I have been a vegetarian for about 15 years and have long thought about going vegan. I knew it was the right thing to do for the planet, for animals and for my health but I had never quite managed to make the transition. After watching Earthlings in 2014 I was more determined to get as close to veganism as I could. For me it was pretty much all about the food. I had been buying cruelty free products for years and the only non-food item I bought that was non vegan was boots. After watching Earthlings I stopped milk and didn't buy eggs again, although still ate them now and again. It was a small step in the right direction but only a small step. For the last couple of years I have become more and more conscious of my own health. I was overweight and looking to my diet (as well as exercise) to try and loose weight. At the beginning of this year I cut out a lot of the cheese I was eating. Gradually, through research and YouTube videos I could see how a plant based diet would be b...

This blog has had a facelift a bit like my life! The wheel turns and so begins a new chapter. I'm not going to go into much detail here but I am now travelling solo in a little campervan I recently bought. I haven't taken many pictures of her yet as been really busy getting her ready for a winter in warmer climates! But here is a quick snap... more to follow :) There are quite a few important changes going on that I want to share so thought I would write some separate posts about each thing. I will be away very soon for a few months and I am having time away from technology as much as possible (I already left Facebook a few weeks ago!) So I doubt there will be any posts for a while after the next few. Thanks for looking  :) xxx

The last two festivals of the year were both great, Equinox had a lovely new site and the weather just about behaved itself and Something Else in the Dean and lovely new compost toilets and the weather didn't behave but hey it was all good fun! Read my review from Equinox Festival HERE .  Read my review from Something Else in the Dean HERE . Thanks for looking :) xxx

So I did a bit of editing and expanding on my original blog post titled The cost of festivals that are 'just like the free ones' and along with some input from Alan Dearling we made it into this weeks Gonzo Magazine :) Please check it out... page 43 is where is starts... www.gonzoweekly.com Thanks for looking :) xxx

Is it just me or is there suddenly loads of good looking, squeaky clean, sporty, white young heterosexual couples blogging about life in a van? No it's not just me, after research it seems that this new trend is real and happening and coming to a social media platform near you soon, no not soon, now! I always feel the need to remind you readers that what you read here are just my views and opinions mixed with some facts that I have discovered after research. Most of my articles start as a post on Facebook or a shorter rant on my blog and if they get a reaction I try and expand on what I originally wrote as well as taking on board other people's comments. And also lets get some things straight. I believe as human beings we are all equal and are all entitled to live our lives as we sit fit as long as it doesn't impact on other people. I believe in being real, being honest, trying to make the world a better place for us all to live in. I believe in freedom to pu...

It's been a while since a proper post on my progress with the fast and feast diet. As I've mentioned countless times before it goes OK when I'm away working but not so well when I'm home. Our lifestyle just doesn't allow me to do it! (OK that's a lie, it's just much harder!) Back in July was the last time I weighed myself and since then I have quite a few meals out with family and friends as well as some pudding treats that I could have done without and not as much exercising as I should be doing... July's weight    = 69.3kg  ...  BMI = 27.1  ...  FAT - 37.1% Today's weight = 67.6kg  ...  BMI = 26.1  ...  FAT - 38.5% But YAY! I have lost a little bit although gained body fat, how does that work? But not too much and I measured myself and have lost 2.5cm off my waist and hips since May. So it's slow but steady and I know that I put the effort in with the exercising I could do a lot better! I have been out cycling 3 times in the l...

There are some photographs and a short review on my website now from It's Not the End of the World Festival put on by the Horsedrawn crew . See it HERE! Thanks for looking :) xxx

Sorry not too much to tell on the weightloss front as haven't weighed myself since the last time I blogged! I am maintaining my weight though, I'm pretty sure I haven't gained (or lost) which is good enough for me at the moment as have had many meals out with family and friends, festivals where eating habits go out the window and not really getting any power walking done. I have recently discovered my smoothie maker that was in storage though and have been mainly having a smoothie for breakfast and one for tea pretty much every day while I'm at work. While at home I have tried to be good but there is always the tempting puddings and pastries in the supermarkets that I find so hard to resist! I have been walking the dogs when not at work so have had some gentle exercise but have been busy trying to make some craft items in my breaks at work. It keeps reinforcing what I know anyway though, to loose weight I need to eat right and exercise! I have always thought that ...

While writing my latest review on Surplus Fest I started having a bit of a rant about the price of going to these 'grass roots' festivals, you know the ones I mean, the ones where people say it's the closest thing to the old school free festivals of the 80s and 90s. Yes there are those sorts of bands, those sorts of alternative people, dogs and trucks and travellers and more importantly there is that sort of vibe. But there is quite a lot of money being charged not only for your own ticket but for your truck and your dog so I'm not sure how that's 'like' a free festival! I thought it unfair on Surplus festival to add this rant to the review of their festival so decided to do a blog post about it. Before you start on at me for being negative and moaning about the price and telling me I got loads for my £165 at Surplus please remember this is only my own point of view. Personally I like really small festivals, I like a non stewarded event, I like not be...

It seems like a lifetime ago now but a few weeks ago we were lucky enough to go to Wales for this years Surplus Fest. The review and some photos is now live on my website :) CLICKY HERE   Thanks for looking :) xxx

I decided not to do a review on my website for this years Solstice as firstly I didn't actually get about much up and down the Ridgeway as it was so blooming hot and secondly because I didn't really take any pictures down at the stones! Needless to say it was a lovely few days spent up at the Ridgeway with friends despite the blistering heat. The Ridgeway was kept clean and tidy and I don't think National Trust or the Police had any issues with the vehicle dwellers and campers there, at least not the group of them I spoke to anyway. Due to the glorious weather we actually got to see the sun rise which was lovely but hampered by the shear amount of litter all around the stones. Whilst this was picked up on Solstice morning by a band of volunteers armed with bin bags I still get so annoyed at anyone making the mess in the first place. Ok maybe there should be more bins provided but if not just take it with you, keep it on you. You must have carried it there in the first pla...

Very quick update bloggers as not much time and not much news. the diet is still go pretty well, as always more disciplined at work with food and exercise. Now having 5 weeks off so a real test of my mental strength!! I have only lost 1lb in these last 4 weeks so now 10st12lb (69.1kg), my B.M.I. is 26.7 and my body fat is 38.8%. So a very slight drop in everything and really need to focus on this while off work so as I don't end up putting weight back on! Thats it for now, check out the tags on the left hand side of the page to look at past posts with more in depth detail about the fast and feast diet and power walking. Thanks for reading :) xxx

Before I start lets be clear... it is CHEAPER to buy my stuff direct from me via this blog, my Facebook page or website. You can buy through Ebay which of course offers buyer protection but you can see how good my feedback is on Ebay and the feedback on my Facebook page and website. CLICK HERE FOR MY FACEBOOK PAGE CLICK HERE FOR MY WEBSITE CLICK HERE FOR MY EBAY PAGE Ok now we've got that out of the way here are some new things I have been making recently, all for sale at the various outlets listed above and listed again at the end of this post. Shiva's Eye is one of the most magical things I have ever found. I first came across them 5 or so years ago when I picked one up on a beach in the south of Spain. Someone there told me they were called Shiva's Eye and it was a lucky find as they are quite rare. Over a few years of walking the same beaches often for months due to staying down there I had found nearly 50 of these gems. I tried using my little hand drill to m...