Southern Yacht

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

Sunday 25 November 2018

Christmas at Beaulieu

Anyone that knows me, knows how much I love Christmas. When I heard about the Christmas at Beaulieu event and I was invited to go along with Southampton Bloggers - I might just have squealed a bit (ok, a lot! I was very excited).

Christmas at Beaulieu - Palace House

This is a magical after-dark illuminated trail and is the first time such an event has been held at Beaulieu. Probably most people think of the National Motor Museum when they think of Beaulieu, but there's also the Palace House, Abbey and beautiful grounds to explore.

On arrival we were greeted with mulled wine, some seriously scrumptious mince pies and a short introduction about the installations. The amount of planning, work and number of lights involved was impressive and with over a million lights and 11 miles of power cables we knew we were in for a grand show. We were then let loose to make our way around the mile long trail. The first piece was the 200 foot long Cathedral of Light with 30,000 lights (and as we quickly found out, was the best place ever for taking selfies).

Christmas at Beaulieu - Cathedral of Light

Christmas at Beaulieu - Cathedral of Light

I have so many photos of the evening, so apologies for this picture heavy post. They just don't do the evening justice though and there's really something magical about walking through the trails at night with Christmas music and lights. In the grounds of the medieval abbey we found the Fire Garden lit with over 180 torches. By time the event finishes on the 24th December, they will have used over 5,000 candles. This was one of my favourite areas, the natural lights with the surrounding history was a perfect balance.

Christmas at Beaulieu - Fire Garden and Abbey grounds

Other highlights included singing Jingle Bells with Santa on his bus and The Twelve Days of Christmas installation (does anyone get confused after the 8th day?)

Christmas at Beaulieu - 12 days of Christmas

You could toast your own marshmallows in front of a Gingerbread House (raspberry and champagne flavour caught my eye). There was also a love lock tree where quite a few Christmas wishes were being posted.

Christmas at Beaulieu - toasting marshmallows

Christmas at Beaulieu - Gingerbread House

Christmas at Beaulieu - Love Lock Tree

Christmas at Beaulieu - Alice in Wonderland

Earlier in the evening we stopped off at the village of Beaulieu and looking across the mill pond, we got a hint of the lights and music in store for us. Walking around the other side on the banks of the River Beaulieu was even better.

Christmas at Beaulieu - Mill Pond Walk

Christmas at Beaulieu - Mill Pond Walk

Christmas at Beaulieu - Icicle Walk

At the end of the trail was a huge tree (serious tree envy here) and a selection of festive huts selling hot chocolate, crepes, sweets, mulled wine and bratwurst. Perfect Christmas snacks. And if you needed more lights and excitement, there was a carousel, ferris wheel and the Beaulieu monorail to ride.

Christmas at Beaulieu - Christmas Tree

Christmas at Beaulieu

Christmas at Beaulieu is on until the 24th December 2018. A big thank you to Beaulieu for the invite, this really is an event for all ages and the look of wonder on the children's faces was beautiful. There's also plenty of photo opportunities.

Christmas at Beaulieu

Christmas at Beaulieu - Icicle Walk

Thanks for reading, I'm off to dig out the decorations from the loft now!

Cathy
xx

*Gifted tickets - thoughts and reviews are my own

SHARE:

Sunday 11 November 2018

Supermarket sweep - the jumper edition

Is there anything more tempting than those hidden clothing sections in the supermarkets? Especially when you're trying to count pennies before Christmas. Surely a couple of jumpers popped into the trolley along with the Quality Sweet isn't going to break the bank - is it?

Disclaimer - yes it can! But as long as you shop wisely and remember budgets, there are some gems to be found in our supermarkets. Here's a couple of jumpers I picked up recently at Tesco and Asda.

Striped jumper from George at Asda

This first striped number is from George at Asda. I picked my normal size 20/22 and there's plenty of room so maybe size down if you want it more fitted.

Striped jumper from George at Asda

Striped jumper from George at Asda

The second jumper is from F&F at Tesco. I have a bit of a love/hate thing with F&F clothing. I don't always think they're that cheap for supermarket clothing, their sizing is a bit hit and miss and you can't order their clothing online anymore. But even after all that, this was a love at first sight jumper.

Grey striped jumper from F&F at Tesco

I'm wearing a 22 here and I think it's pretty true to size. Both jumpers are soft and snuggly and very comfortable - which at the end of the day is pretty much my number one priority!

Grey striped jumper from F&F at Tesco

Grey striped jumper from F&F at Tesco

Can I also mention my coat? This was also a purchase from George at Asda and is nearly 5 years old. There's so much 'fast fashion' around nowadays (and as a blogger I know there are times when we add to the problem with monthly hauls, purchases etc). It still fits, makes me feel good so why replace it? Even if it is tempting to buy a new coat every season, anything we can do to re-use and recycle has to be good for the environment and our purses.

Thanks for reading

Cathy
xx


SHARE:
Blogger Template Created by pipdig