Box Hill is in what my Mum refers to as “deepest, darkest Surrey”, aka, only accessible via car (good luck on the shockingly ropey piece of crap that is Surrey’s excuse for a bus system). I’d not been since I was 8 and had no idea what to expect. Continue reading
I’m terrible at relaxing. I almost never “switch off” and I function at quite a high level most of the time; numerous projects going on in my head, multi-tasking different jobs and constantly planning my time. If I’m not working then I’m partying or out seeing friends – and if I’m not doing that, I’m asleep.
Friends have told me repeatedly I need to find some sort of relaxing activity to unwind with, and just a couple of weeks ago I was contacted by Ocean Loans to see if I wanted t o take arelaxing day off. My initial thought was “No, I don’t do relaxing”, before immediately seeing the offer as perhaps the perfect experience I needed to properly learn to de-stress!
I originally wanted to call this “Denbies through the Seasons” but I’m not entirely sure my real life cynicism, sarcasm and constant irony really come through on this blog and was worried people might think I was being serious. Anyway, these photos are from Denbies Wine Estate in Dorking. I first visited back on one of the first sunny days of the year, and it was lovely to visit again and see the changing colours of the leaves against the perennially golden fields.
If things look a little different, I’m trying out my new camera lens! This lens will take some getting used to as it has an incredibly shallow depth of field which is great for portraits as it focuses on one subject (i.e. notice how blurry and undefined the backgrounds are in the photos of me), but I do like taking shots that show detailed tableaus and this lens is not great for that (i.e. the banana sign is way clearer than the others, where as in previous posts those kind of flat detailed shots are very clear as I’m using my other lens – like this one).
I’m wearing my newish Orla Kiely coat (!!!) which was 65% off in their sample sale and then a further 35% off the marked sample sale price when I got to the till (isn’t that the best feeling ever?) and my new shoes which were £6 from New Look in the sale. One of the many perks of having massive feet is your size is always left over in the sales. I love mustard (both as a colour and a condiment) and have wanted a coat in mustard and gold for such a long time, so it was like a dream present to myself. Does anybody else have dream items in their mind which rarely seem to actually exist?
P.S. I’m going to be shutting down my Raccoon Circus Facebook page soon so please follow me here or here instead and I recently signed up to both LookBook and Pinterest, so you use those sites do let me know! 
Coat – Orla Kiely (sample sale), shoes – New Look (sale), dress – Miss Patina (sale), bag – ModCloth (gift), leggings – Tesco, socks – Monki
This post was supposed to show you my coat (new) but as I was editing the photos I found I was blurry in nearly all of them. My camera had decided instead to focus on the trees around me. I think this may have been a conspiracy between the trees and the camera; I was using another tree branch as a camera stand so there was plenty of time for them to plot whilst I had my back turned). At first I was a bit annoyed, but then I realised my camera had the right idea as focusing on the immense natural beauty in these photos is far more interesting than my coat. Just look in the first photo – the irregular pattern of the cracks in the tree closest to the camera and the myriad shades of green are far more exciting and dramatic than an item of clothing could ever be!
Recently I’ve spent lots of time outdoors marvelling at the beauty of nature (especially at this time of year) and it makes me think how impossible it is to capture those moments. You can’t paint those colours, or photograph the crisp feeling of a leaf under your shoe, or sketch the smell of the rotting conkers and leaves in the wet grass. The colours on my computer seem so dull and uninspiring in comparison. If you read this post, go for a walk today and admire the leaves. Tell me what your trees are like.
So, this is my new coat from Greece – leave it to me to go on a beach holiday and return with a winter coat! I wore it on the plane home along with a wide-brimmed black hat; when James collected me from the airport he just said “Hello Snufkin“. I was so happy; as I child I always felt a sense of kinship with Snufkin as he was an outdoorsy, rebellious, loner musician like me. I much prefer owning clothing that looks like it belongs to my favourite characters rather than just featuring them! I love my Moomin skirt but if I wore it in Moominvalley, I’d just look weird whereas with this I would fit in. I’ve got lots of coats, but I spend so much time running around between rehearsals and gigs in the cold I feel it’s justified!
I hope all of you have been enjoying the gloriously warm evenings we’ve been granted this summer! It’s so lovely to be able to stay out in the sunshine late into the day. These pictures were taken at Goddards, a beautiful country house in Surrey. The house was designed by renowned architect Edwin Lutyens and for most of the time it is private to the public and kept for reservations. James and I were lucky enough to be invited to a dinner at the house with members of the Lutyens trust and took the opportunity to explore the beautiful home usually off limits. It was a gloriously golden evening when we arrived and the stunning gardens were filled with dappled rays of evening sunlight.
Edwin Lutyens collected many interesting objects throughout his life which have found their way into the home, such as the beautifully ornate door knocker pictured below and the rare stag heads decorating the bowls room. It felt like every room was filled with yet another unique treasure! The living-room also featured a hidden door behind the curved bookshelves, originally put in to allow a small person to crawl through and clean the windows behind. Old houses have such a feeling of adventure, don’t you think? Especially when filled with as many quirky details as Goddards!
At the weekend I visited Denbies Wine Estate in Dorking. Isn’t it pretty! I’ve still yet to take the actual tour of the vineyard but the farm shop, art gallery and conservatory cafe are enough to merit a visit in my opinion. :)
TAPE PARADE 