Newbury Ablaze.

I'm genuinely relishing in doing absolutely nothing this weekend - except maybe making a den and cooking some pizza from scratch. I've been so busy this week that Newbury Ablaze feels like months ago rather than just last Friday - crazy! Anyway, on a whim, and because I'd heard about it on the *incredible* Newbury.net when looking for what was on, we took a lazy walk along the canal towards Victoria Park for the Newbury Ablaze fire festival.

It seemed that we were about as wise to the event as some of the more 'established locals', what exactly is a fire festival? In all honesty, I'm still not sure, all I know is that to celebrate 20 years of Newbury's Corn Exchange they created a showcase of sculptures and displays all down the canal, I swear Newbury is one of the weirdest towns...


It's such a shame that it's been a little too wet recently to do a bit more walking once work is over, especially as the days are getting shorter as it is.


Pretty set-up in the park.



Spinning fire sculpture.



Dotted around the edge of the canal with the fire sculptures were a few performers, this guy had a pretty wicked-sounding whistle.

It was a little bit culty, but it was quite pretty all lit up once the sun went down, there's something a bit hypnotic about fire sometimes and it was quite nice to be part of the community even if most of doing that involved quite a lot of queuing.
I posted a couple of videos that kind of demonstrate it a little better but I'd be interested to know if it's actually a 'thing' and if any other towns do it too? Other than bonfire nights, I've never really seen anything quite like it.

Locals.

One of the things I really enjoy about living in Newbury, aside from feeling pretty safe, there's a great sense of community. I relish in the ridiculousness of Britishness - the kind I was photographing for Malden Fortnight a couple of years ago. We some how stumbled on Newbury Carnival last weekend, there was a wicked parade with bagpipes and everything, it really made for a fun couple of hours.


I think they were selling children's hats, but not entirely sure, creepy.


Wonder how many actual hot chocolates they sold in the 32°C heat.








You really have to admire people who are willing to dress up in thick, furry costumes with the sun beating down on them.


Gotta love a morris dancer.




The coolest vehicle of the parade and he still looked sad.


Costa to cool off with some ice-cold drinks.


The signage for the butchers in town is one of my favourites, it's recently been re-done, can't even begin to describe the font-appreciation.
Does your town put on fun summer events with parades and funfairs?

Fine day.

I had the nicest Sunday yesterday, filled with carbooting and taking in 'local culture', not to mention catching some sun. So much sun in fact, that Moon and I both ended up with a bit of sunburn, pretty shocking really considering we managed to evade it the whole time we were away. It was really good to spend some time together as we've been a bit ratty all week and I've been working evenings so we've hardly really seen each other.



We started off the day with a trip to Newbury Racecourse carboot, the last few times we've visited it's been shocking but this time it was overflowing with knick-nacks. I only picked up a book at a few DVDs, but for once it was actually worth the £1 entry fee, plus I mainly go to look at all the weird things people are trying to sell.

Moon was pleased that we finally found a copy of 'Armageddon' as I've yet to see it, here's hoping it works and isn't a dud.


We spotted this beast as we were leaving the racecourse, there's a lot going on with it to say the least.

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I'm trying to get back into reading in a big way, although I'm not that far into '50 Shades of Grey' yet (I don't think I'm too interested in the others at the moment), I don't want to end up being stuck with nothing to read by the time I've finished it, so I'm planning ahead. I've already read this but so long ago that I think it deserves a re-read, I hope they show the stage adaptation at Vue.



Lunch was a bacon, egg and mushroom sandwich, so nomz! ♥



I spotted an ad for a carboot we'd seen advertised a few weeks ago but never investigated, as it was open until half 4, we decided to head over to Taplow and check it out. In hindsight, we definitely should get there earlier in future, even though we arrived with a few hours to spare, there were a lot of people packing up.


Apparently, driving barefoot is easier than driving in flip-flops.


Although there was a lot of furniture, no one had just the thing I'm currently looking for...


Sunglasses: Boots
Dress: Primark
Belt: (with a skirt) New Look
Bag: Alphabet Bags
Leggings: H&M
Flipflops: Fitflop

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On our way back from Taplow Carboot, we stopped by the Newbury Waterways Festival. I was in my element and felt nostalgic for Malden Fortnight. The event was held on the Kennet & Avon canal as well as in adjacent Victoria Park. I've never seen so much homemade chutney and jam in one place, I'm also pleased to say I saw my first duck race too.

Who knew that this was a thing? Apparently it is though and it was kind of fun to hear and see the crowds get so into it.

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I know this last one doesn't fit in with the others but this was my only carboot find at Taplow, for £3, I'm excited to use it as it takes the same film as my other Fujifilm polaroid and it looks just as odd.

I think things like this are exactly what Sundays were made for. Today has been all about a bit of interview-prep and doing chores.