Glitz and glamour

Liverpool

Leeds first Friday were nominated for the 'Community Organisation Award: LGBT' at the National Diversity Awards, hosted in Liverpool cathedral. https://www.nationaldiversityawards.co.uk/2024-shortlist/leeds-first-friday/

Due to myself and Ann's work in organising the afternoon bar crawl 'Pints and Straws' we were give the
option to attend the ceremony.

It was actually a bit more complicated,  too many people wanted to go, and there was a kerfuffle that led to a valued team member leaving, but I won't go into that.

Anyway, we did have pay to attend, the table was quite a bit, and I think it was £180 I paid , then there was hotel costs and some food for the night before, so it wasn't cheap. 

We had a meal out and a few drinks on the Thursday night, which was a bit of a mistake for me as I managed to upset my tummy and then had a really poor nights sleep.

Friday myself and Benni had a lovely veggie breakfast at a café just around the corner from the Travelodge.  We had to change hotels in the morning as it was a silly price for the Friday, so we did that first thing.  Once in our new hotel Benni had to do some work, so I ended up trying to nap while she did that. Later in the afternoon we decided to go get our nails done at the nail bar in the Primark.

I had never had my nails done before, always choosing to do it myself. It was a nice experience, I went with a metallic purple that I thought would match Vinnie (my vampire cat handbag) who would be my date for the evening.

The ladies were nice, and it didn't take very long to do both our hands.  Benni was having a pedicure too though, so I went off to do a bit a shopping while she had that done.  Nipped into M&S for some new tights, and got a phone charger as I had forgotten to bring one.

I got a cheap meal deal sandwich to tide me over till later, as it was likely to be 8pm before we had the food at the event.  I re-did my makeup in the room, and got everything laid out ready.

We were both ready for about 6pm, so we booked an Uber and went outside the hotel to wait for it, getting a few photo's while we were there.

Took a bit longer to get there than I had thought, as the one way system forced him to drive in a bit of a circle, but we were not the last to arrive by a long way.

We stood outside with a few others for a while, as the intention was to get a group photo, but a few were getting a bit cold and we decided to head into the Cathedral, stopping to show our QR codes at the door.

Once inside we could see there were a lot of people already in there, with some tables with welcome drinks setup.  There was also a big wall with all the sponsor logo's on and a photographer taking shots of people and groups.  We got some drinks and then joined the photo queue.  

We did a bit of schmoozing with other guests, got some more photo's then were eventually told that our tables were ready.  We were on a Bronze one, so were in the back 1/3rd of the layout, which was nearer the bar and loos, so not a bad place to be :)

There was wine on the table, I didn't really want to get tipsey so I did get some Pepsi from the bar, and alternated between that and the wine all night.

The food came out slowly, it was raw salmon to start, followed by pork I think, then a lemon cheesecake. It was all really really nice.  

During the food servings, ITV were walking around doing interviews with different groups, and we were picked - Grai the main organiser got the short straw with the interview. There was a wide shot of our table that was briefly on TV but it didn't get me :)

They started to do the awards after desert has been served.  Claire Balding was the host, and she did a good job. Most of the winners had turned up, and did nice acceptance speeches. It was a great atmosphere everyone clapping.   I think there was only one set of really sore losers, a drag show who walked out after not getting it.

Ours was in the 2nd half , and there was an interval with some children singing to break the evening up a bit.   It was soon time for ours, and we were all a bit fidgety, I had my 360 camera running , in case we did win and I could record us walking up to the podium.  But unfortunately we didn't, so I won't be using the disappointed look video for anything :)

We took it on the chin though, and continued to drink the wine.

At the end of the event, there was a famous singer who did a few of her hits, then all the nominees were asked to come up to the stage for a big group photo.  I think you can just see the top of my head in one of them :)

After this we hung around a bit getting more photo's at the logo wall, and trying to locate a team member who it seems had already got the bus to the afterparty. 

Myself and Benni got an uber back to our hotel, she was going to change her shoes and go to the afterparty, I had already decided I would be heading to bed - it was about 1am already, and I saw no need to drink any more alcohol.

The morning after 

We had breakfast at the Premier Inn , checked out , then headed towards the museum to kill a bit of time before her train was due. Ann met up with us outside the museum too. We had a nice time wandering around the exhibitions - they had a lot of Egyptian artifacts which I enjoyed.

After the museum we had a drink in a café and the other two had some food.  I wasn't in the mood for any after a big breakfast.

I headed off about 2pm , stopping to charge on the way home. Was very tired when I got back !

All in all, a lovely experience, and very glad I went. Think I did well with my outfit choice, my handbag got some compliments too.  Probably for the best that I wasn't feeling that great otherwise I would have had too much wine and made a fool of myself 😂

Plumbing the depths

Thursday Night  - Nottingham Chameleons 

I was in two minds as to come, as I would be driving Josephine to a car show near Birmingham on the Friday, and wanted to be fresh.  But I figured if I made sure to leave by 10:30pm I would likely get a good night sleep.  

There was also a chance that Sue might be popping along, so I didn't want to miss her if she did. 

Anyway glad I did, it was a fun night, some newbies there to talk with, a full house nearly.  I might end up sat on the tea trolley if it get's much busier. 

Was in what I had been working in all day, a tunic top and leggings, very practical 😊

I was chatting to Charlotte mainly, who had not been out much and was possibly a bit overwhelmed. But she seemed like she enjoyed the night.

Was fab to catch up with the regulars, including Ann and Sally who I would be meeting up with on Saturday too.  Lynn had done some nice posters which likely made the staircase of doom seem more inviting to the newcomers.  

Was nice to see Joanne back too, on her electric bike, which was a bit of a struggle to get up the stairs.

Several new biscuit options were passed around, which I did my best to resist.  My diet isn't going too badly at the moment, which is nice.

I did manage to bid farewell roughly when I had hoped, and got home around midnight.

Friday - The drive to Daventry 

I had to pack in the morning, as I hadn't had chance the previous night. I had lunch and headed off around 1:30pm

The A1 seemed like the better route, I prefer having a hard shoulder for emergency's.  It wasn't a bad trip, it took around 2:30 , it was about 120 miles.  Mostly sat in the left lane and found other vehicles to site behind (at a safe distance).

I didn't stop on the way down, so was in need of the loo by the time I was there. 

There was clearly an event on at the hotel when I arrived, some desks in reception, possibly a conference of some sort.  They had given me a room quite a trek away, possibly out of the way of the other guests perhaps.  It all seemed a bit tired, and was a bit disappointed with it. 

Had a pizza and a beer in the bar after 6pm.  There was meant to be a pool, but it wasn't open, so spent the evening relaxing in my room. 

Did sleep too well, there was a dog barking somewhere, not sure if it was tied up outside, or was in one of the rooms.  I had to get up at 6:30am to be ready to get to the show as well. It was about 30 minutes away, but wanted to get there fairly early to be assured of a spot with the Women's Drivers Social Club girls.  Also my friend Alice was meeting with them for the 1st time too.

Saturday  - 'Rustival' car show 

It was quite cold in the morning, and I wanted to let the car warm up a while before setting off.  I had to
use my USB fan, on a camera mount pointing at the windscreen to stop it misting back up - she had no heating system or inbuilt fan, a somewhat poverty spec car  😂

By the time I was ready I was behind schedule, but did still manage to get there around 9am , with about 30 mins to spare before the official cut off time for the parking area we were in. We had managed to bag 'Vanden Plas' parking, which is meant to be the best area, and you have to apply early for.

On arrival we were directed to the appropriate row, and I spied Alice and her Land Rover, and ended up parked next to her !

We spent a little while chatting to some of the group, then headed off to get coffee and food, then around the event to look at the 100's of cars that were there. So many nice ones,  it's a real mixed event - Dubbed 'The friendliest car show'.

I got lots of compliments on my Doc Marten knee highs but don't actually have a picture of me in them :)

Elaine - A friend from Uni had been taking a break in the local area for a few days, and so I had invited her over to the show, she arrived mid-morning.  We also looked around most of the cars, before re
joining Alice and heading into the Museum buildings to look around their collection.  

We had some lunch in the café inside after this, and then did a bit more looking outside too.  She headed off mid afternoon, and I stayed for another hour or so.

Alice and myself were going to meet up with Ann and Sally in Derby, and have a meal out and drinks that evening.  I think it was 3ish that we headed off, the event hadn't officially finished, but we wanted to get going. 

The drive to Derby wasn't particularly eventful, other than I was getting quite low on fuel, and did panic Alice when I disappeared from behind her into the services for some really expensive E95.

I actually managed to get to the hotel before her, as she had stopped at the next services to message me, but I didn't hear it come through.

Saturday Evening - Derby 

Met Ann in the car park of the hotel, she was unpacking her car as I pulled up, I was confused as to why I had beaten Alice there, but she turned up a few minutes later. 

We had a meal booked for 7:45, but wanted to do some pubs before hand. So we didn't spend long getting booked in and changed.  The rooms had their heating turned up really high and the windows only opened a crack, so it wasn't the most fun place to be hanging about in either.

I changed into my cat circuit board print dress, partly as it was a lot cooler to wear in the room :)

We did a few real ale pubs on the way to the restaurant, meeting up with Sally in one of them. She had designed a new game called 'trap your jacket in your handbag zip' , which kept us amused for at least 10 minutes 😂

How many trans girls does it take to free a jacket stuck in a handbag ?  two as it turns out ! 

I only had a few halves as didn't want to be bad the next day as driving the Morris with a hangover is much less fun than a modern car.

The pub Ann had booked for the meal was really nice, and we all enjoyed the food. I had a hanging kebab which is always a fun option :)

We did some more pubs on the way back to the hotel, Sally had been in some new heels and wasn't able to walk that fast in them at all.  We managed to find one pub still open near the hotel, and stayed in there till last orders.  Then we all went back to the hotel, and Sally got an Uber home from there.

It was a very pleasant evening.

Sunday - Victorian Pumping Station

Despite not drinking much I wasn't feeling that great in the morning, tummy troubles mainly.  I did manage to eat some of my cooked breakfast - it was buffet style so I didn't waste it, just didn't get much. 

The plan was for myself and Alice to head to Clay Mills Victorian sewage pumping station near Burton upon Trent. https://www.claymills.org.uk

They allow you free entry to the museum if you take a classic vehicle along to display, so we got to park in the main compound rather than the car park.

Alice was nearly taken out by an insane Kia on the dual carriageway on the way, going from the outside lane to a slip road for a filling station right in front of her. Thought she was going to do a bit of impromptu off-roading !  unfortunately I wasn't directly behind her so have no footage. 

I made sure to get some nice photo's of us with the cars before we looked around. There was a lot to see there, 4 huge beam engines arranged in pairs, 2 of which we saw running. Other ancillary static engines doing minor roles, also one powering belts for lathes etc.  

There was a 'land girls' singing group in one of the sheds, and we listened to them for a while until a load of motorbikes arrived and we decided to go look at them instead.

There was a fire engine rescue demonstration too. 

It was a really fab place, I got some nice video but not uploaded any yet.

We headed home about 1:30 ish, we were going mostly the same way up the M1 for a lot of the journey, so I stayed in convoy as much as I could.  Got home after 3pm.

I was meant to be swimming at Bramley baths at 5ish, but I was very tired, and didn't bother.

I couldn't be bothered to go into the office on Monday morning, choosing to WFH instead 😂