Hot Rod Hayride! A Rockabilly's Paradise!

I got home on Sunday evening and felt all deflated. I realised I had very little to look forward to now the big event of my summer (who am I kidding? It's the highlight of my year!), the Hot Rod Hayride, was over. It flashed past in the blink of an eye and yet so much went on I'm still remembering some of it - or maybe that was the copious amounts of Bulmers I got through?

We (my parents, their friends, and I) arrived at about half ten on Friday morning and still weren't the first ones in. The first field was half full already and our's was filling up quickly too. My new tent got it's first airing and our little camp was soon set up, and the bud's were cracked open before lunchtime. I had also already seen my perfect man by this point - first sighted on the gate, in fact, with a blue Triumph - but soon found out he was attached (damn!) not that it stopped me looking haha! The rest of Friday was spent looking through the stalls (Freddies of Pinewood was naturally my favourite), looking at beautiful cars and motorbikes, eating lots and lots of barbecued meat and drinking a lot of beer. We did have one run in with good ol' health and safety on the Friday; we were told to move our cars either to the show ground (for pre 1966 vehicles) or to the public car park because they were a fire hazard. We all thought this was completely ridiculous as some of the cars, like my dad's 1967 Dodge Coronet and his friend's 1953 Cadillac coupe DeVille, is a prized possession and to be separated from it can cause a bit of tension. Most of the people at the Hayride have been going to shows for years and no one we know of has ever had a problem with having their vehicle near their tent/caravan, so, in my opinion, this was health and safety madness!

We cracked open our bottles of Italian pin up lemonade on Friday

Saturday was the main event day for the weekender and involved, yup you've guessed it, more cars, shopping, eating and drinking. My main purchase of the weekend was bought just before we went to the drag strip; you can read about my lovely new bicycle (called Agatha) here. After a horrendous journey through Guildford to the Top Gear test track - to be on this 'hallowed ground' excited me, as just the thought of being somewhere where Jenson Button has been is just amazing - we discovered we were too late for most the racing and only caught the finale. It was supposed to go on until 3pm but was all over just before 2pm. Maybe if we hadn't been led through a city with a one way system on a Saturday we'd have been there sooner, but oh well! At least we didn't end up in a housing estate like my uncles who mistakenly followed the wrong biker! On another note, a first was had on the Saturday! The first ever wedding took place at the Hayride which I think is brilliant! What a great place for a wedding no one will forget! Congrats to the couple!

Agatha and I

The second, and last, night of the Hayride was just amazing! The music was brilliant, the spontaneous clog dancing from the Dutch bunch was entertaining, the Freak Show was...freaky (who knew a man could do that up a pole?!), and Anna Fur Laxis' burlesque was seductively sexy (This is also a call for anyone who knows where the half of her unique, handmade bra is. Anna can't do this act without it so if anyone knows any information please, please, please get in contact with her!). One personal highlight of mine was the £50 note practical joke our lot played on unsuspecting victims from the pavilion's veranda. Mum had got a pack of quite convincing napkins that resembled £50 notes and so we planted them on the ground as if they'd fallen from our pocket and then watched as people pick them up and realise it was a fake. Sneaky, sneaky! We had the whole side of the veranda going!

Fake £50 gag in action

Pole Dancing Freak Show style ;)

Anna Fur Laxis - Mr Perfect was stood next to me at this point =D



Sunday was over far too quickly for my liking! It started with more shopping at the bootfair sale which offered clothes, art and vehicle pieces (I skip those - it's all gobbledegook to me!) and ended with the famous Hot Rod Hayride Soapbox Derby. The event seemed shorter than last year, but I put that down to the track being a lot shorter - it missed the speed bump which I can only put down to health and safety demons again. We were packed up by 2pm, and soon enough I waved goodbye to paradise for another year...

I won't even bother to give you a verdict because I think my opinion is clear: the weekend is my idea of heaven! Looking past the health and safety dramas (unnecessary if you ask me) and the Guildford disaster I cannot fault it. I look forward to the weekend all year and this certainly hasn't changed! The only thing I'd like more (apart from the obvious Mr Perfect part) is more people to go with, so anyone interested in next year please get in touch because I would love to meet more people in the scene and get my own crowd going!

Pretty In Pink

I've had a wonderfully pink weekend whilst at the Hotrod Hayride (diary to come soon!)...

I have, once more, dyed front sections of my hair pink - or cerise as the pot tells me - like I did last summer. Yet again I love the results, and although the picture is after a hair wash the colour is still vibrant. I put the dye on hair that hadn't been freshly dyed blonde so the colour won't remain bright for more than a week before it needs doing again, but oh well! A pot lasts a long time! I wonder what work will think...

The other pink themed thing was the adoption of my new vintage bicycle, whom I shall name Agatha! I bought her at the Hotrod Hayride for a measly £20 because she needs a bit of love and care. She needs new tires (white rims, naturally) and a lick of paint - I'm thinking cream with either dark red or British racing green pin striping? But I love her! I'm going to get a basket and everything =D

So yes, stay tuned for my little report back from the Hotrod Hayride, ie: my paradise, as I shall be writing that up forthwith!

Roxie Reviews: 'Odette' by Jerrard Tickell



Odette Samson (or one of her other countless names used throughout her life) is possibly the most famous allied woman in history. Her work as an SOE spy during 1942 and her mixture of French patronage (and eternal grace granted to so many French women) and English bravery in the face of the atrocities implicated by the Germans awarded her George Cross at the end of the war.

The book 'Odette' by Jerrard Tickell was first published in 1949, and was written with the aid of the great woman herself. This has allowed her 'character' to be unbelievably true to life with the anecdotes conveying the exact feelings and emotions felt by Odette during her war. The French have a strong characteristic of being incredibly loyal to their country and people, and even though adopting England as her home, Odette has an overwhelming connection to her homeland and it's freedom. Even at the end of the book when she is saved by the Americans from the horror of Ravensbrück she keeps her gentle manners by telling the SS soldiers that accompanied her to run (most likely for their lives) - this is an overall theme through the book that just because the soldiers were German does not necessarily make them Nazi, and they were just following orders from the evil above. Her sense of forgiveness is amazing.

The majority of the book is set in France or within her three imprisonments, with very little being set in England or her life before her SOE work; I can only guess that being having being written in 1949 a lot of the work done in Baker Street was still top secret information. The chapters set in France were very fast paced and I did find them quite confusing to follow (probably not helped by my lack of French speaking skills and a few pieces of information being in French) but the speed only reflected the dangerous excitement experienced by Odette and her comrades. At this point in the novel (is that the genre? Is it a biography? 'Faction' before Capote's 'In Cold Blood'?) Raoul - or Peter Churchill, who became Odette's second husband in 1947 - was my favourite character as he was that 'hero' figure, reminding me of a gallant knight from a Medieval folktale mixed with a bit of James Bond's suave style. However when Odette was imprisoned in the Parisian jail of Fresnes she met a German priest (who was an active soldier stationed at the prison) named Father Paul Heinerz; Father Paul was Odette's humane rock in Fresnes (which was unusual as Odette didn't believe in God, although she occasionally prayed in desperate times) and characterised that war didn't mean your enemy was evil and it affected all walks of life - he was German under the boot of the Third Reich.

So, overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book thanks to the extraordinary real-life story aided by great writing. As a Hamsphire girl I had always had an interest in the county's association with the spy networks across occupied Europe but I had never actively sort out any research on it, but I definitely will now! 'Odette' is the perfect book for anyone with an interest in World War Two, great women through history or who just loves a great adventure.

Roxie Reviews: Nicky Clarke Classic Blow Dry Styler

If anyone follows my Twitter they will know that I got very excited at my new 'toy' last week. I had nothing but praises for the Nicky Clarke Classic Blow Dry Styler (£13.27 from Boots) initially but after a few uses my opinion has changed slightly. I went for this styler because of the different attachments and because Nicky Clarke is a name regularly trusted so I thought I would be okay with the appliance.

The air dryer combines the brush and the hair dryer used for round brushing ones hair with two of its attachments (one for shorter hair - the thinner one - and one for longer hair to create volume), straightening hair with another attachment, and the last attachment can be used to tong the hair into curls. I never really straighten or tong my hair so the last two attachments didn't really interest me that much but as a time saver for traditional round brushing, the first two attracted my attention.

"Create salon styles quickly and easily with my 500W blow dry air styler. The four different attachments mean you can create numerous styles from smooth sleek locks to voluptuous bouncy curls whatever you hair type." - Nicky Clarke

(L-R) Volumising Brush, Curling Brush, Curling Tong, Straightening Brush



The Pros:



• It saves so much time round brushing wise. It usually took me about 45 minutes to round brush my shoulder length hair using a hair brush and a normal hair dryer, but with the Nicky Clarke Classic Blow Dry Styler it took it down to 30 minutes with styling.
• It has two speed settings and one cool setting to set the style.
• The appliance is very light to handle so it doesn't make your arms ache as you style your hair.
• The curling brush works wonder on shorter hair styles to create flicks and volume. I did a Jackie Kennedy inspired style on my mum's hair with the appliance and was highly impressed with the ease of the usage and staying power of the style.
• It can cut out a step in creating a style; it creates volume and curl that usually would need heated rollers to obtain - so your hair is subjected to only one dose of heat rather than two.

The Cons:

• After two uses the fastest speed setting no longer worked, thus taking the heat and speed of drying levels way up. Not impressive at all! This is the main reason I am taking this model back and having it replaced! After it broke not only had the speed depleated but the heat had also reduced severely.
• The curling tong doesn't heat up to nearly as hot as most curling tongs and does not produce the same curl as a result.
• The straightening vented brush tugged too much on my hair and felt as though it was stretching each strand. I wouldn't use this attachment anyway so this didn't bother me too much.
• The appliance over heats very easily, especially when using the tong and the straightening brush - I think this is the main reason for one of my speed settings breaking.
• Maybe it was because I used this attachment after the speed setting breakage, but I found the volumising brush did very little in terms of drying my hair and certainly didn't produce the volume I was promised.

The Verdict:

★★★/5



As I said, I was initially very excited by this product, but I became more and more unimpressed with this appliance. I'm hoping I just got a duff model, because I am going to replace it as I think it has great potentional. The styles it can create (especially with the curling brush) are wonderful so I would probably only use this attachment whilst avoiding the straightening and curling tong ones. I can't give any recommendation until I have replaced my model and tried it out, but fear not! I shall report back on that and let you all know if it's worth it.

Glorious Goodies!

I've been a busy girl this week buying lots of new clothes and shoes - with the aid of dad's credit card, obviously - as my wardrobe needed quite a revamp! It might look like a lot of things but all were purchased in the sale, except a couple of things that were soo cheap anyway, so, technically, I saved lots of the parents money which should just be spent on more things!

So, first off there are a few unphotographed items for this blog. I didn't think you really needed to see photos of my underwear...

In the Debenhams sale I got two sets of underwear and one lonesome bra.

• Gossard 'Wild Flowers' Plunge Bra £29.00 £14.50 now £8.70
• Gossard 'Wild Flowers' Thong £12.00 now £2.70
• Ted Baker 'Bows Silk' Plunge Bra £24.50 £12.25 now £7.35
• Ted Baker 'Bows Silk' Thong £12.50 £6.25 now £3.75
• Gorgeous (By Debenhams) 'Verity' Balcony Bra £24.00 £12.00 now £7.20

What I loved about my undies haul was there was so much choice, which for a girl with a large bust, is very rare for me!

The other unphotoed items were two pairs of New Look skinny jeans; one with a 32" leg and one with a 36" leg which is perfect for freaks like me! Both these pairs were £9.99 each so I'm not expecting much from them, but I've been wearing the 32" ones for a couple of days now and the shape is still holding up.

Now for some lovely photos...

£25.00 now £12.50 - Hepwright's Vintage Fashion

The photo doesn't really do this vintage jumper from Hepwright's justice!  It's a muted orange-red and hand knitted - as far as I can tell anyway - so it should be nice and snugly warm for those cold northern winters! Their sale is still on in their boutique in Bedford Place, Southampton, with everything on white hangers up to half price!



£55.00 now £15.00 - Long Tall Sally

I don't usually shop in Long Tall Sally - a shop specialising in tall women's clothing - because a lot of it is for the maturer woman, focusing especially on office wear. However, I saw that they were having a sale in their Winchester store so I decided to take a look. I found this grey (anyone that knows me, knows I do love grey tops!) cardigan with flat studs on the shoulders; the front doesn't do up but I never bother with doing cardies up anyway, and instead hangs like a waterfall. I'm thinking I could possibly pin the waterfalling material up to make a thick top too...

£15.99 now £7.00 - Blue Inc.



Going back to my rockabilly roots I got this simple gingham tie blouse in the Blue Inc. sale and cannot wait to wear it with my Freddies of Pinewood jeans at the Hayride! The weekender is just eleven days away and I can feel my excitement bubbling away!

£28.00 £14.00 now £8.40 - Red Herring





This tea dress is a little shorter than I would usually prefer but in this 'hot' (who am I kidding?) summer a shorter skirt is nice. I love the flowery pattern and the on-trend lacy collar, and teamed with a white or tanned belt (it has little hooks which suggests it was supposed to have a belt with it but for that price I can hardly complain!) it makes for the perfect summer dress.

£19.99 now £9.99 - New Look

New Look tends to be my saviour for shoes as they stock a wide range of shoes in sizes eight and nine that don't resemble something an arthritic granny wears. This pair of vintage inspired pumps are replacing my very worn out pair from Primark, but they are causing me the most crippling blisters at the moment as I wear them in!

£24.99 now £9.99 - New Look



These are definitely more of a winter shoe - even though I wore them today to Winchester! - and are still suitably vintage in my opinion. They remind me of the sort of shoe worn in the cold North American winters in the late 1940s and early 1950s that were warm but had a glimpse of glamour too. The chunky heel means they are secure under foot and don't lead to achy feet an hour into wearing them.

£3.00 £1.50 now £0.90 a pair - Debenhams

How could I have refused these socks? With one pair saying 'I <3 Sailors' and another reading 'Aye Aye Captain!' and covered in stripes, they were everything I've ever wanted in a pair of socks!

And that's it! That's my super saving haul of new clothes! And the total saving came to...

Drum roll please!

£182.59!!