Southern Yacht

My little take on plus size fashion, life, travel and smurfs

Sunday 31 December 2017

The best of 2017

It was a funny old year - I won't lie, it's been more downs than ups. But after seeing other people reflect on their highs and lows of the year, I thought I'd take a look at the highlights of 2017 - because it wasn't all bad you know!

First up - regular readers will know how much I love Smurfs and the wonderful friends I've made through collecting these little blue guys for over 40 years (how long?!?).

In March, we descended upon Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent for a day of smurfs, laughter and fun.

The Smurfs movie display

Me with my smurfy friends

The Smurfs movie preview day

In June we spent a lovely week in Devon where we revisited old favourites and discovered new ones - I spent far too much time on the dodgems....

Knightshayes Court in Devon

Bumper cars at the Fairground museum

Riding the carousel at the Fairground museum

I found there were beautiful places on your own doorstep if you look hard enough.

Portsdown Hill in Hampshire

Bevois Valley artwork

The old walls in Southampton

I got to drive a posh new car for a while - which made me realise how short I was every time I got in it and couldn't see out the rear window...

Rental car

I attended the M&Co AW press day in London and caught up with friends old and new.

M&Co AW press day

M&Co AW press day

Also in London we went to the Star Wars Identities exhibition at the O2 and I found out which Star Wars character I would be (a pink furry Ewok - obviously!).
Star Wars Identities at the O2, London

We decided a break was in order in September so took a week travelling north to visit some of the places we always said we'd go and see 'one day'.

Bamburgh Castle
 Bamburgh Castle

Stood outside Bamburgh Castle


The Poison Gardens at Alnwick
 Alnwick Gardens

Alnwick Gardens

Alnwick Castle
 Alnwick Castle

Hartlepool Marina
 Hartlepool Marina

Middlesborough Transporter Bridge
Middlesborough Transporter Bridge

A day out in York
York - where I discovered I didn't have such a head for heights as I thought...

Luckily the timing of our trip up north coincided with the Curve Fashion Festival in Liverpool which was an amazing day.
Curve Fashion Festival

Curve Fashion Festival

Curve Fashion Festival

In October, France and Belgium beckoned. We've been so many times, it's like revisiting an old friend (and of course, there were more smurfs...)

Blue Paradise Smurf Fair
Blue Paradise Smurf Fair

Falais Castle in Normandy, France
Falais Castle 

Falais Castle in Normandy, France

Falais Castle in Normandy, France


Arromanche Beach in Normandy, France
Arromanche

Arromanche Beach in Normandy, France

Cite de la Mer in Cherbourg, France
Cherbourg

Cerisy la Foret in Normandy, France
Cerisy la Foret

So that's my round-up of the year. It's actually been so helpful doing this as it's far too easy to think about only the bad things that happen during the year. And no matter what happens, it's never as bad as you think.

Thanks for reading & a Happy New Year

Cathy
xx
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Sunday 17 December 2017

Christmas traditions - new v old

Hello there,

One thing I really enjoy this time of year is seeing photos of other peoples trees and how they decorate their homes and prepare for Christmas. But it started me thinking, how many of you use the same decorations year after year?

As much as I'd love a rose gold themed tree with beautiful white twinkling lights, our tree in reality is a right old hotchpotch of decs from childhood, first homes and holidays.

These have to be the oldest decs on our tree. The Angel is 29 years old (from Woolworths of course!) and the boot was from the other half's childhood, so that's a good 50+ years old.

There's also a selection from holidays and special places. Every year it's become a tradition to buy a new decoration from places we've visited. Previous years it's been America, Bath and this year was a traditional tartan bauble from York.

So although our tree won't win any prizes for coordination or themes, it's full of memories and we wouldn't have it any other way.



Thanks for reading and Happy Christmas!

Cathy
xx







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