The Heritage Buddy

I got up at 4am due to crippling anxiety driven by my OCD, just so I can take on the necessary last minute organising. A taxi my father had booked picked us up at 5:30am to take us to London Gatwick. After getting through security, we had breakfast at Wagamama, then sat and waited for the gate number while I charged my phone in a charging port as it hadn’t charged fully overnight.  I am a nervous flyer; I only had my Frankenstein cat plushie from HMS Belfast as a comfort item, as well as a good book to keep me entertained. My adrenaline kicked in as soon as the cabin door closed and the gangway disconnected. It’s take off I find the most nerve wracking (self-explanatory), but as soon as we were at cruising height, I felt calm, then read a couple of chapters of my book whilst sipping on coffee served by the cabin crew as I didn’t get a chance to buy some at the airport.  Once we had landed, (bounced like Tigger as soon as the wheels hit the runway!!) and got through the process...

Did you know that lavender has been used for many different purposes throughout history? The inspiration for this blog post came from when my mother, who works as a gardener on a private estate, brought home a whole bunch of lavender sprigs for me to harvest and keep the buds for my embroidered lavender bags I like to craft.  Above: My harvesting process and my filling lavender jar on my Instagram story. As we know, lavender is a purple flower that blooms in season from late May through to mid-July, and is harvested from late July through to early September. It is known for its sweet and relaxing scent that is beneficial for stress, anxiety, depression and sleep-related difficulties, which is most commonly used for in this modern day, but can also be infused as a herbal tea. (Yes, lavender is also considered a medicinal herb, there will be more on that later in the post).  Traditional uses of lavender include aromatic (for scent inhalation), carminative (helps relieve flatulen...

 Following on from my VE Day performance at my autism group (read here) , I offered to my peers and their friends and family if I could perform some heritage interpretation at any events they may run; I then got an act up and running again when I was invited to perform at an inclusive music festival (as well as selling some of my arts and crafts).  With my first VE Day performance being a drag-act (despite having a uniform I considered gender neutral from being a Civil Defence uniform and it was a uniform designed for women) and with the second I performed to the age group below me in a dress inspired by Vera Lynn's White Cliffs of Dover (referencing my autism group's talent show in 2017 when I performed that song in honour of her 100th birthday), I spent a good bit of time debating whether it would be drag or dress (one of the most difficult decisions to make as a non-binary genderfluid reenactor).  I happened to be scrolling on Instagram when I discovered a fellow reena...

The coastal village of Gwithian in Cornwall, situated in St Ives Bay, is home to the iconic Godrevy Lighthouse, National Trust site of Godrevy Farm and home to a number of places for food and drink, including Sunset Surf and The Jam Pot Cafe. A short walk along St Gothian Sands behind Gwithian Beach takes you to the residential village, where there’s a camping and caravan site and a pub, the Red River Inn. Only next door to the Red River Inn is St Gothian’s Church (also known as Gwithian Church) which works closely with St Elwyn’s in Hayle. The church is open for visitors every day, as well as offering Sunday church services. I came to visit some war memorials whereby there’s three at the church; one tablet outside in the porch and the other two are inside as a painting with a roll of honour and a stained glass window, including five Commonwealth War Graves in the graveyard. St Gothian’s Church is your typical small village church that’s very small and cute, carrying cottagecore vibes....