Camp Bestival - The Line Up Just Keeps Getting Better

Well you've got to hand it to Rob & Josie da Bank, the Camp Bestival line up just seems to get better  and better.  With 60 days (yes we are counting down!) until the festival opens, the excitement is definitely building.  Yesterday the team announced some amazing new arenas, including Caravanserai, a convoy of English and French artists who will be setting up an encampment for weary travellers, to rest and recuperate, The Travelling Barn, with barrels of local ale and toe tapping hoe downs and a Camp Bestival old favourite Pig's Big Ballroom, sharing classic 78's to get us all dancing.  Obviously the diversity of these will pose a few wardrobe dilemmas but I am sure we will cope. Personally I am looking forward to sharing some funky mummy moves in the ballroom!  

Be sure to pop over to the Camp Bestival website for the full line up so far.....but I am sure there will be a few more surprises to share over the next eight weeks.

Have a fabulous weekend and until next time,
Take care,
Zoe
xo

Disclosure - This year I am one of the official Camp Bestival bloggers, working with them to share my top tips and reviewing the festival.  They have kindly given us a family weekend ticket, however all opinions are my own.

Mr Gove, Leave Our English GCSE Alone.

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So Mr Gove has taken the decision to remove 'foreign' writers from GCSE English Literature syllabuses.  Why? This seems like a crazy and very narrow minded decision to take.  As an English graduate I have been fortunate enough to read and study many writers from around the globe.  In my final year at uni the first time around, I studied African prose and Caribbean poetry.  These were some of my favourite weeks of my course, understanding a world so different to mine through the work of these amazingly talented writers.  I still read these and similar works now, many years after the first taste of such incredible writing.  My dissertation for that degree was the Afro American protest of the 1940s-1960s, looking at how jazz and the written word gave these people a voice.  Secretly I plan to head back to uni when I retire to study for a Masters in American Culture, having avidly read works by writers from across the pond since I was a teenager, when my grandmother first gave me a copy of To Kill A Mockingbird.

Studying literature from around the world is incredibly beneficial to students, whatever age or qualification they are working towards.  Of course we should celebrate our own, homegrown talent, but at the cost of not having works from writers of other countries? Quite frankly in this modern world we need to celebrate the talent of the whole world not just make children discuss the iambic pentameter of Shakespeare or wonder why Wordsworth was so obsessed with clouds.  So please Mr Gove rethink this decision, let our childrens minds be opened up to a truly wonderful world of literature.  

Until next time, take care.
Zoe
xo

Portfolio Careers - Can We Really Have It All?

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I read about portfolio careers a couple of years ago and really liked the whole concept.  Having read about this still fairly new idea again recently, it got me thinking.  Portfolio careers could be the perfect way to trial a new career idea.  Imagine being able to finally be a florist after spending hours in your current job daydreaming? By following a portfolio career path you could afford to work in a flower shop a couple of days a week whilst continuing in your current career, by simply requesting part time hours. This would seem the perfect idea if like me you like to mix things up a bit and a normal 9-5 career path doesn't fit with your ideal.  No more boredom, just weeks of working in two or even three jobs, that most importantly you want to do.

But does this all sound too good to be true? A friend has managed to find a happy balance mixing up consultancy work from her old career and two days a week in her new career.  Another friend is about to relaunch her career, mixing up her writing work with brand styling consultancy.  Portfolio careers do not have to follow extremely different paths, you could mix and match similar jobs, specialising in your field, becoming a consultant.  It would seem to me the possibilities are endless and could be the answer we have been looking for, whether we are mothers or not.  Becoming our own boss whilst still being on somebody elses payroll.  

Have you found the solution through a portfolio career? Is this an idea that appeals to you? I would really love to hear from you, to share if this idea is having your cake and eating it!

Until next time, take care.

Zoe

xo

Festivals and My Frizzy Hair

Headband from Moondial Gypsy 

Yes it's true, I have frizzy hair.  The invention of straightners has of course aided my daily plight in taming my locks and as long as the air isn't too humid I can pass off having straight locks.  Adding to my frizz issue is the natural wave that I try to tame, perhaps because I am really not sure how to make my waves stylish and not just a mess.  Obviously with our forthcoming trip to Camp Bestival and the thought of no straightners for a whole four days scares me.  I managed last time, tying my hair into a  fun side plait, perfect for festival styling.  But my hair is a little shorter now and I may not manage this fail safe option this time.  So dear readers I need your help, as the vast amount of products for wavy hair is quite honestly confusing! Is there something I pop on my wet or dry hair to make my waves work?  Answers on a postcard please....or in the comments below or tweet me. Thank you, I am relying on you guys to help me!

Until next time, take care.
Zoe
xo

It's Never Too Late To Start Again

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One of the biggest fears for mature students is being too old.  Just imagine turning up to that first day of induction week and being the only person over thirty in the room.  Well erase that thought right now.  Just about every course in the country has a good mix of students, old, young and every age inbetween.  I worried about being too old to be a student again, but that fear was quenched on my very first day.

So stop using your age as an excuse.  It really is never too late to start again.

Until next time, take care.
Zoe
xo

Happy 16th Birthday - A Letter to My Eldest Child

Dearest Connor,

Today you turn sixteen, I can't quite believe this is actually happening.  I seem to have blinked and you grew taller than me.  Every year passes and you continue to amaze me with your maturity and attitude to life. Nothing seems to faze you, everyday is taken in it's stride.  There have been moments when you have not been so confident but soon accepted life isn't always fair or that some things happen without rhyme or reason.  

Over the years you have been an immense support to me, taking care of and helping your younger brother and sisters, especially when Dad worked away.  The role of big brother is one that suits you and you have taken on this huge responsibility with ease.  I am immensely grateful for your help and still cherish the time you readily assisted Jack and Lucy when Amber was a tiny baby, making sure they bruished their teeth. There are many more moments to be cherished and far too many to mention, but that is one that has remained very clear in my memory.

Now you are sixteen life will take on even more responsibility, your first weekend job, studying for your A levels, learning to drive, applying for uni.  But never forget to enjoy life too.  Remember to take time to enjoy the moment, creating your own memories to take into adult life.  These next two years offer many amazing experiences before you are expected to be a bit more grown up, taking a degree, managing your own money to pay your rent on time.  Be sure to enjoy every moment!

So with a huge amount of happiness and pride I wish you a very happy sixteenth birthday.  You are amazing and I am very honoured to be your mum.

Love always,
Mum
xo

Retraining - Studying As A Parent

Nobody said retraining would be easy but being a parent makes it doubly hard.  Not only will you still be trying to be mummy or daddy but you are also a student, with deadlines, maybe clinical placements. Suddenly life as you know it is very different.  There will be days when you wonder if you are doing the right thing, moments of despair, often in the middle of the night, when you actually think it would be easier to just stop, to go back to the old way of life, when it was all so much easier.  But was it? There is a reason you have chosen to retrain, to be something else.  

Believe me there have been days when I have wanted to quit, to return to my old life.  That is when I remind myself why I am retraining, why I wanted to be something else.  Yes I have this blog and still freelance a little, perhaps it's my comfort blanket. But in all honesty I love my new life, which sometimes I need to remind myself.  Right now I am in the depths of revision, assignment writing and clinical practice.  The long commute adds to my tiredness, but I know that in four weeks time all my assignments will be handed in, all my exams finished and just a few more weeks on placement.  I will have almost finished my second year, in thirteen months from now I will be qualified.  These are the carrots dangle in front of myself in those dark moments in the middle of the night.

So whatever life throws at me I will persevere.  My children have adapted to our new life, although I know they aren't so keen on me not being here as much.  Just because I am doing something else that means I am not home as much doesn't mean I love them any less.  I still adore them, am partly doing this for them.  To help them financially through university, to pay for driving lessons.  But above all I like to think that I am showing my daughters that women can make changes, they can be more and yes we can juggle family and career.

Until next time, take care.
Zoe
xo