First "boon" of the year!

While playing in the garden I spotted this in the sky. When I pointed it out to Ivy she gasped. In Bristol I think seeing a hot air balloon is to summer what crocuses are to Spring. So if summer is coming then it MUST be spring !





She watched and pointed and waved. And she no longer says "boon", the L is making it's way in there, but she's a bit funny with L's and kind of overuses her tongue to say them so it sounds a bit like "bleh-oon".

Day 5: my hometown

I was born in Bristol and I have always called it home, even when I was living elsewhere. The area that we now live in makes me love the city more, it is so perfect for us. Although I guess having a sandy beach would be the icing on the cake, oh well. It's funny because I was reluctant to move to this area as I had my heart set on somewhere on the other side of town. I love living within walking distance of everything we need, and that includes FOUR parks! I love living in an area where local and independent is valued, and it's bursting with bumps and babies so it's an ideal place to be a doula.

Yes, I have a deep attatchment to this city.

Fiesta

A couple of weeks ago Ivy came in from the garden to find me. She took me by the hand and led me outside saying "Boon! Boon!". I didn't know what she was saying until I saw it - a hot air balloon! It was so close we could hear the burner. We waved to it and Ivy said "Boon!" even after it had drifted out of sight.

She would then point out of the window or to the sky and say "Boon" hopefully for weeks after. Whenever she heard anything similar to the "Pshhh" of the burner she'd look for a balloon. We didn't see a balloon again.

On hearing her interest in hot air balloons, my Dad looked for pictures on his phone (because he looks up everything on his phone). This meant that whenever he would try to show her something else on his phone she'd point at the screen and demand "boons". Blackberry's are useful for one thing only, apparently.

We are lucky enough to live in Bristol, home to the Balloon Fiesta! So this is what our Friday evening looked like...

Close enough to hear the burner and the passengers shouting "hello" when we waved.

The evening was so still that the balloons were struggling to stay up and just about managed to get past road and houses to land in nearby fields.

My Dad got really excited and pursuaded us to go with him to the fields where they were landing, and I'm glad he did because the view was stunning.

One landed in the same fields as us, then decided to go back up and land in the next field.

When Ivy saw a Union Jack flag she recognised it from the balloon and said "boon".

UPFEST 2012

Yesterday was the first day of this years UPFEST, and it's even bigger than last year. We spent a good few hours wandering around looking at the art and enjoying the music, there was a great festival atmosphere and I'm so excited to see the pieces develop over the next couple of days. I am generally just in a constant state of excitement and awe. Kwojo was designated photographer, so I have to give him credit for these photos.

Something new this year. A replica subway train carriage. Such a great idea to honour the roots of street art as we know it. It looks amazing already, I love the colours.

This portrait is stunning, no?

And inside, collaborative drawing. 

Plenty of portrait inspiration to get me off to a good start with Creative June (which I still think needs a better, um, more creative, name), as well as general feelings of OMGILOVEART. So much work goes on behind the scenes, I have massive respect to the volunteers who organise it. I also love Bristol for being home to events like this.