All The Fun Of The Festival!

This is the first photo I took and it did not look auspicious weather wise! But miraculously the clouds parted and until the evening there seemed to be a patch of clear sky over the grounds whilst the rest of the sky was full of clouds! The first stop was at the food stalls as I needed feeding! A wonderful lobster filled brioche roll! The item of clothing this year were these wonderful metallic capes - all the children seemed to be wearing them and some adults! They made such wonderful shapes as the ends had sticks so you could fan them out and move them around. 
The Port Eliot festival covers such a huge area so then it was a wander round the entire grounds - stopping for a drink by the river where we watched a farmer gather in his crops and  the festival goers walk by! Teddy Bears Picnic was playing on the old player as we walked by! Party Girl and her partner met up with us here and we carried on up to the Walled Garden past the Black Cow Saloon. There seemed far more families this year - children everywhere! Also not so many people glamorously dressed - but then it had poured the previous day and more was forecast every day of the festival! However wet weather didn't deter me from dressing up! Plus I found a gorgeous throw over to add to my layers! I persuaded Vegan Jo to buy a gorgeous silk dress and a great glitter shrug! 
We watched some rope gymnastics then there was just time to have more food - squid gnocchetti with peas and salmon for me and a spicy burrito for her - then it was off to the church to hear Hat Fitz and Cara Robinson with a local choir. They were roof lifting! She really puts her all into singing and he has such a gravelly voice, it was infectious - whole place was standing and dancing and joining in! 
Things got a bit intense in a different way after this - bumped into a friend who had left upset by one of the songs. We sat in the woods for an hour as she poured her heart and tears out about the end of her marriage. Think it was here I got all the bites from my shoulders to my hands I discovered on going to bed! 
Time for more food - Churros and hot choc dip from a very hip stall where the guys were having a lot of fun dancing to their music and sampling cocktails! Vegan Jo plus other friend decided to join the others at a dance tent - I decided to make my way home! It was raining, my bag was heavy and I didn't fancy leaving it as I danced, and I didn't really want to meet up with the others. I'd already bumped into someone at the church and she acted like  I'd not been absent from the social scene for the last year. The day had proved I am capable of doing the things I used to do, but  I didn't want to push my luck nor did I want to party with people I no longer feel the same about. The drive home was not pleasant in the rain - not used to driving in the rain nor the night! Arrived home feeling deflated and very itchy! It had been a lovely day with Vegan Jo and I enjoyed taking photos, but friends woes had lowered the mood, although she was much lighter after it and stayed on when before she had stated she was going home so that worked out well for her! For me it was a bit of a damp squid* - or as France Dweller had enlightened me the other day - a damp squib!!! All this time I'd been saying squid!!! But then she admitted to saying " Griddle my loins" before someone corrected her! Think I was just overtired - not had a time out like this for over a year, I should maybe have griddled my loins and had a dance but home and bed seemed the better idea!

* also felt we had not seen enough of what was on offer - but Jo was tired from work and I was slightly on edge making sure I ate on time and didn't slip into panic mode! We can do more next year!