Progesterone blues

 

Medical updates 

I had a few packs of Progesterone left, and figured I should give it another go. Partly because I was having sleep issues, and it did seem to knock me out a bit the last time i used, but also some boob envy of one of my friends !!

 Unfortunately they were of no help with my sleep, i have been told that the blocker i am on acts as a stimulant and could possibly be affecting me.  But I don't want to stop those.

 Anyway, i went back on the P for a while, a few weeks - boob sensation did increase, which was nice, but I had digestive issues.  They seemed to resolve themself when I stopped taking it, so I am pretty confident that it was the cause.  So I have stopped taking again.  Convinced my nipples are a bit bigger in recent months. My boobs certainly seem to be.

I haven't made any more progress with pride in health, they wanted a full blood test, but I haven't made an appointment to see my doctor to ask for those yet. I am in no rush I have supplies to last me till the end of the year currently.

I have also started to split my E dose, doing 2 pumps in the morning, 2 at night - i might revert this see if it helps with sleep.

 

Exercise  

I'm trying to get back into running, i've only been out twice in the last month, but so far seems to be going well. I had stopped as I had a recurring injury with my right foot.  I am trying to keep my distance low, and perhaps try and go out more often. Rather than stress my foot out too much with a long run.

The previously mentioned boob growth has led to issues with running, my sports bra is just not up to the task, and it now hurts.  So I have ordered a 2nd hand posh one off Vinted. If it works much better I will perhaps get a new one.   

Still doing the swimming, I managed 46 lengths last week - they are not letting us in early anymore, so it's a struggle to get to 50 and have enough time to change.

I have been horse riding again, I was on Bob this time - I seem to get a different one each time I go.   I had a proper work out on him, trying to trot, I did seem to make progress towards the end, but I was considering ending it and getting off at one point, it was soooo warm and it was getting tired and worried I might faint !

 

Adventures

21st of June - Blackpool :

Stayed with my fiend Bella, just for Saturday and the evening.  We went to Lytham St Ann's during the day for some charity shopping. It was incredibly hot and humid, and I really didn't feel that great at all.  We only had an hour and half on the parking so I didn't suffer too long.

She has a fab garden room with a projector and sound system and a nice sofa, so in the evening we just chilled and watched a film. Had a lovely pizza from Lidl. It was a relaxing night, neither of us fancied going out to the pub.  

 

26th of June - Hull  

I visited Charlotte in Hull, we watched some Murderbot on Thursday night - I loved the books, and got Apple TV just to watch this.   

Friday morning we did some Charity shops, had a drink in a coffee shop ( I had a very seedy berry thing !! ) then we headed in to the city center for lunch.   It was a bit smokey due to a ship fire in the harbor, but we thought nothing of it.  We went to a museum in the art gallery for lunch, but were evacuated before it arrived.  

I have the receipt, but there was only a number to call, and I just couldn't be bothered to try and get my money back - too stressful.   

In the afternoon we went riding - as per exercise section.  

Saturday we had a pleasant walk around a nature reserve, and popped into a farm shop. She cooked us a lovely fish pie which had with her middlemost, then I drove home in the evening. 

 

 

4th of July - Leeds First Friday

I enjoyed this one a lot more than the previous, I made sure I ate a decent sized lunch at home before heading into Leeds.

I met up with the lovely Ann, and we attempted to buy Pride VANS , but apparently they don't come out till this month - which seems a bit odd.  I ordered some off Vinted instead.  

She hadn't eaten so I took her to a nice place and she had a steak - but she didn't seem to like it that much.  Chips were overdone.

We headed to Friends of Ham which was the first bar on the Pints and Straws Itinerary, and met up with the usual suspects, Benni had brought a CIS male friend along for the experience ! 

The afternoon progressed as normal, beer and chatting, it was a good one.  I was having such a nice time i even managed to leave my mobile at one of the bars !

Got it back ok though :)

I checked into the Hyatt during the last hour at the North Taproom - it's very close.  Very impressed with the hotel, first time i had stayed. 

After the last PNS pub, I headed to Tapped to get a Pizza - I had been invited to go for a Thai but I was being careful with my digestive system.

I had a gluten free ham and mushroom which was lovely - coincidental two other friends had the same idea so I ended up sat with them, and another two people i knew turned up later on too.

Went back to my room to change after this, then headed to the Bridge End Social for the main event.  It was a fairly busy crowd which was nice. Played a game of pool with Ann and caught up with some others - Sally turned up there too which was nice.

After this we went to Northern Guitars for a bit, sat out the back which we took over. Then on-wards to Behind Closed Doors.

I feeling a bit gassy towards the end of the night, and Ann had given my hiccups with some jokes about farting in lifts, so I decided to call it a night after this one.  It was just after midnight before I got back to bed,

Saturday morning 

Didn't sleep too well unfortunately - but this did mean i was up early for breakfast - which was good, really liked the sausage and black pudding, they were not cheap ones.

There was a gothic market on at the markets, but nobody was up as early as me, so I had to wait for them to get a move on.

Met up with Benni and her friend Mike at the Corn Exchange -  we had a bit of a look around there, then headed to the market.  

I managed to get two pairs of my favorite cat/bat earrings that I have previously lost twice ! 

We spend a good hour looking around there I think, then went to Bridge End Social for a drink, as I needed to get back home. 

All in all, a very nice weekend !  

 

 

 

 

 

Baby Guinness

General Updates

I have recently signed up for a new trans health care provider, 'Pride In health'. It was one a friend had suggested to another friend - they were were not an option when I first looked. They seem to be a lot cheaper, and I am hopeful they will be more interested in my well being.  GenderGP is not proactive at all.

I have ordered a home blood test kit - a fancy one, that sucks from your upper arm ! - I have tried finger pricks before, and didn't get on with those.  This is a stop gap to get me some hormone levels until I speak with a doctor to ask for a free test. It was that stressful dealing with them over the NHS App, I have not wanted to go back until recently.

I tried cutting my fringe yesterday, it had started to annoy me, getting over my eyes. It doesn't look too bad, but it far from perfect. My next appointment is on the 28th of this month, so i may need to do it again before then.

I have been for laser today (04/03/2025)  , it was not fun, hurt quite a bit.  I had sent pictures of a few days growth so she could target the worst areas.  You have to shave before the session, so it's hard for them to tell.

Work is a tad stressful, there is a re-org going on, I am unaffected by it really, but my own department move is still ongoing.  I have a new laptop at least, and I got some praise for saving the company some money by doing some work in house rather than pay our contractor. 

Swimming - I managed 48 lengths on the 2nd !! 

Adventures

Catch up with an ex-colleague - 14th of Feb

I went to Leeds in the morning for brunch with an ex-colleague who I have been friends with for quite a while. We had some breakfast bagels at a place I didn't know existed down a narrow passage near the
cat café. 

It was a pleasant couple of hours.  She did ask if I had done more with the voice training, which I haven't done at all.  She also thought I had lost weight, which I haven't - possibly my face might look thinner with the hormones ? that is about all I can think of. 

Blackpool - 14th / 15th Feb

I drove to Blackpool straight from Leeds, I was staying at my friends new house, and she wasn't meant to be getting away from work until 6pm.  So my plan was to dump the car on her drive, and then go for adventures. 

I had been looking at real ale places near where she lived, and had seen a Micropub I quite fancied.

My friend was very impressed I had dared venture there alone, as it was in the roughest part of town ! and is something she wouldn't have considered.

But anyway, there were no issues.  It was a bit cold inside, not very big.  The barwoman was OK with me, but not overly friendly.  I tried a bitter which it seems was nearly done, so not at it best. 

I sat for a bit and did some social media, but got bored and put my phone away. An older chap who was nearby took this as a sign that I was open to conversation, and we had a bit of a chat.  He was into real ale himself, and had been all over in the past. 

I had a pint and a half more while we talked. Nice fellow, we never exchanged names though :)

My friend messaged to say she had unexpectedly got off early, so I said my goodbyes and walked back to hers. 

I got the guided tour of the house, which was very nice indeed.  It had a lovely garage with a rollup door. Unfortunately my friend is not into cars, so it will never likely receive an oil stain 🥲

We popped to Lidl after a bit, but ended up popping into another pub - once she had been in 20 years
ago, but had never expected to go into again. It was OK, we had a drink, then went
to Lidl to buy breakfast items.  Shopping in Lidl after a few beers is dangerous however, and I bought some cheap metal taps and dies from the isles of temptation :)

After dumping the shopping back at hers we drove into town to find somewhere to eat, ending up at the Abingdon Street Market.  I had a disappointing curry, but it filled a hole.

We had a look at some bars, but they were quite noisy, so ended up going back to hers and watching some telly.  

The next day we did Lytham St Annes in the morning, mainly the charity shops - I didn't get much, but they were nice shops.  I picked up a corgi Morris Minor, series 2 but in Lilac. Not sure that combination ever existed, but it was only £2.

We lounged around the house in the afternoon, then had some of the food we had bought the previous day.  There was a gig at a rock pub nearby  - The Waterloo Music Bar , which started about 9pm, and ended up going to that.

The bands were not that good, but it was a great venue, full of memorabilia - it has one of Lemmy's bass amps !  (behind a cage).   I had a few Guinness's and enjoyed the ambiance. Lots of weird looking people there, so I fitted in :)

We didn't stay too late, and got home at a reasonable hour.

I left pretty early in the morning, I wanted to beat the traffic, so was back by lunchtime.

Hull - 28th Feb

A hull meetup had been organised by Cindy, I know a few people from that area so was keen to go.  I had done it for New Years Eve, but not really been to any other bars in the city centre. 

I arrived at a friends house in the early afternoon, and it was about 3pm before we made it into the city centre.  Ended up at a few real ale pubs, and played some pool.

The others had gone to check into their hotel, and so met up with us a bit later in a tapas bar.  We had some lovely food, then ventured to the gay quarter.

It's not a huge area, only really four bars, two owned by one person, and two by another. But they all seemed to have their own character, so was still nice to move around them.  We did encounter a drunken bloke who took a bit of a shine to Sally, but we did eventually lose him !

Persuaded a few of us to try Baby Guinness's - got a shot of me trying to do the old 'small and far-away' comparison 😁 

We decided to leave this area and go to another gay bar which was about 10 minutes away.  Unfortunately they were charging to enter, and nobody seemed to have an appetite to pay - but I spotted a pub called The King Edward, which I thought sounded like a good idea, as pubs named after potatoes must be good !

Had a couple in there, then decided to call it a night, and got a taxi back to my friends house. It was a fab night, and would definitely go back again - I believe Saturdays are more lively though. 

The deed is done

 Deed Poll

Last pic of me before I signed

The deed poll was indeed kindly done by Lynn and Ann at Chams on the 23rd of May. Monday was a bank holiday, so it was Tuesday before I notified work.

I sent an email to my boss first, indicating that I would be talking to HR. He rang my back pretty quickly after getting the email, but unfortunately due to issues with Teams not playing call notification through the speaker, I missed it. I sent him a message, but it was then a good few hours before he tried again. 

That stressed me out a little.  But when I did finally get to speak with him it went well.

I explained I would likely agree a date with HR to do a switchover, as all the IT systems would need updating at the same time - perhaps on a day off.  

He asked if it was OK to keep using my old name and pronouns until this had happened - partly in case anything we sent each other needed to be forwarded to anyone else who was not in the know yet.  It seemed sensible to do this, so had no issue. 

I emailed HR after this, slightly amending the wording of the email I had sent my boss. She replied saying that she didn't see any issue in principle, but asked my permission to talk with IT first, then we could have a call about it.

She sent me an invite for the next day, so I didn't have long to wait.  IT had advised it was better for it all to happen on a working day, so that if I had issues logging into anything, someone would be on hand to fix it.  Fridays are better as 1/2 the company is off depending on what cycle they are on.  

So it ended up being set for the 14th of June :)

The HR lady was lovely, and admitted that I would be the 1st to do this, but she didn't want me to feel like a guinea pig.  I did offer to send her some material that could perhaps prove useful if anyone needed any assistance with getting their heads around this.  She mentioned that the standard policy's included the protections that I already knew I had, which was good, and seemed to be really on my side, which was fab :) . I felt quite emotional afterwards, in a good way !

Adventures 

I did Blackpool with four friends last weekend. It was really good, got some nice photos and 3D footage.

We were staying at the Garnet hotel, a first for me - it was really good, the breakfast was excellent. Although my veggie friend didn't like the meat free sausages, and after trying one I could see why.

I picked up Bennie from Wakefield before heading over the Pennines, we arrived around lunch time. 

As I was trying to get the new chargers working two other friends pulled into the same car park. There was also a weird guy who started talking to us - then I recognised his voice , it was another of us in drab. I had never seen her in guy more before :)

We ate at the station café for lunch, it's not actually in the station , it's just near it. We just did some shopping in the afternoon. Had a meal at Peek-a-booze late afternoon. 

In the evening we largely did the normal venues, Ma-Kellys, Galleon , Garlands and finishing at the Flying handbag

We went up the tower on the Saturday morning. Randomly I got a photo with a Dalek in a washing
machine shop on the way there ! 

I saw my friend Bella on the Saturday evening in the DragonFly for a short while, I had some bits that she bought in Whitby a while ago, and had somehow got left in my car.  But she didn't seem to want to stay out with us.

Saturday we did LuLu's , a cocktail place, Galleon, Garlands again perhaps, and then the Flying Handbag. 

There was a free photo session in Lulu's with a while couch, and proper lighting, not had the photo's
back yet. 

I avoided getting too tipsy, cheesy chips were consumed at the Flying handbag at the end of both nights.

This Weekend

Saturday I was meant to go to York pride, but the friend who I was going with had issues, so I didn't bother in the end.  I did go to the camping shop and get a mattress , a folding chair and table , and some other bits. I also put up the tent Ann had gifted me - this is in preparation for the morris minor meeting later this month.

Today I have been for a run in the morning, and then spent a good few hours tinkering on the car. She is largely ready, I got the electric windscreen pump working. It doesn't look very in keeping, but it works so much better than the original manual pump - and the useless modern lookalike replacement I bought. 

Only 4 days at work this week, then LFF !!!!!  I am very much looking forward to it :)

 

A mostly wigless month

 

Updates 

My dad has been in hospital for his 1st round of chemo to treat a blood cancer, and is likely to be in there for a number of weeks more as it didn't go as planned. So I have been doing my share of taking my mum to visit him.  He seems to be doing OK at the moment.

Hormones, it's been a few weeks - not sure if anything I've been feeling is actually due to them or not. I had thought it had changed my sleep pattern, I seem to be waking up during the night a lot less. No problems noticed at least. Not sure I feel any different emotionally, which I assumed I would. 

I am at least remembering to apply the gel every day !

My hair looks a bit of state in both modes, I have been trying  Frizz Ease conditioner which seems to work a little.  I need to dye it again really, I am thinking darker for the Goth weekend.

Need to spend some time watching some video's I think, work out if there is something simple I am missing in terms of styling. 

Despite this I haven't actually worn a wig (other than for some pics at Chams) for most of the month, even though I've been out quite a few times - which I think is an achievement. Might wear one to the next LFF though :)  

Adventures

Thursday 21st

Instead of my usual Wakefield group night, I had a drink with a friend - I was in drab, I mainly mention really as it was in working men's club and I'm a bit self conscious with how my hair looks in 'man' mode. There were no issues though.

Saturday 23rd - Blackpool

I didn't have any big meetups planned, but a friend in Blackpool had was unexpectantly free and asked if I wanted to visit. I got there at lunch time and they made me a nice meet free burger, then we went to a retro video game arcade.

You pay to enter, but all the machines were then free to play. It was really good, they had Time Crisis, Mario Kart,  lots of really old machines like 1942, Galaxian etc:  https://www.arcadeclub.co.uk/blackpool/  

We were in there a few hours, had a really fun time.  Afterwards we had an ice-cream at Notarianni , which I was told was the best ice cream in Blackpool - it was certainly very nice. We did some charity shops and I got a nice black dress for £6. 

While waiting for some pizza's to be delivered,  we watched a very funny but also terrible film : Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse !  Which I would totally recommend. 

Then we got changed and headed out into the town for a bit of a pub crawl, we did Galleon's , a soul place I've forgotten the name of, then back to Galleons. We were not really on a drinking session, just taking it steady.  

I stopped for a roast dinner on Sunday then headed home in the early afternoon. It was a very relaxing weekend, and a change from some of the more hectic things on the calendar, and really great to catch up with my friend.

Thursday 28th - Chameleons 

I wasn't able to sneak off work early as had a lot on, so by the time I had finished faffing with my fake lashes it meant there was no danger of me being early.  This unfortunately meant I wasn't able to meet up with Ann at the outlet before hand, but she was going to Chams afterwards anyway.  

I had been looking forward to going with a more autumnal look, as I don't have that many summery dresses and I feel I had gone my money out of most already this year. So went with a 'Kurt Muller' dress I got from Barnsley market last year. 

I stopped off at Tibshelf on the way down for snacks as I had neglected to bring biscuits, got a smirk
from a tradesperson as I walked in, but if that's the worst I get I am very lucky. 

There were already a few people there when I got to the centre, and the room soon filled up. 

It was nice to see such a good turnout again, and the room was full enough that we were able to fragment into smaller groups. Was really nice to catch up with the other girls. 

There was the additional fun of a charity used clothing and accessory sale, which meant we all had fun trying things on and messing about a bit. Got to poke some rather unconvincing boobs for instance :)

Lynn had tried on a wig which looked quite retro 80's and I decided to have a go with it too - I quite liked the way it looked so I put some funds in the donation box for it.  I posted the pics on Instagram and it went down quite well ! 

Anyway it was a very enjoyable night, certainly in the shortlist for the best Chams meeting of the year :)

I was in the Leaf so I had a more relaxing journey home, I had the day off the next day too, so it didn't matter it was quite late when I got back. 

Friday 29th - Bolton Abbey

I had planned on not doing anything at the weekend again - there was a beer festival, but I've been
spending a lot of time away, and the hotels are quite expensive, so instead I plotted a solo adventure day trip.  It was a dual purpose adventure in that I would be using the Morris as well.

I got ready at quite a leisurely pace, and it was fairly late before I set off. But I managed to get to Bolton Abbey for about 2:15pm. The drive itself was nice, no major issues, Josephine appeared to be in a good mood, not much crunching of gears or idling issues. 

The lady at the car park kiosk complemented my on my vehicle ! - which made me smile :)

I headed for the Café first and got myself a cheese and onion pasty, a hot chocolate with marshmallows and cream, and a bit of cake. All of the major food groups, fat and sugar.   

After this I headed over the river and down the opposite bank to where I had parked towards the stepping stones which would take me to the abbey.  It wasn't the nicest weather, I had taken my brolly just in case but didn't need it. 

I did some photo's at the stepping stones, but I couldn't actually cross as several had been swept away by tree's hitting them after being washed downstream in a storm. A bit of a shame, but I can always go back later. 

I had a brief look around the remains of the abbey, and the church next to it, then headed back to the car. Overheard a few people commenting on her as I was faffing around getting ready to leave, she does attract attention. 

My shitnav took my back through the middle of Leeds, which wasn't very relaxing, stop start traffic is no fun with no hydraulic assisted clutch and a crunchy gearbox. But we got home OK.

It was good to get some more miles under my belt, and fab to have a nice day out too. 

Two Coasts, Four days, Six dresses

The school summer holidays started on the 21st of July for us, I had booked a static caravan for a week at a nice site in Hunstanton, Norfolk. The park is Searles, we had stayed there previously a few years ago and loved it. 

With the additional room available in the wife's new car, it was the first holiday where there would be room for additional bags of female attire and the vast array of makeup and shoes required for some en-femme days.

The holiday itself was really good, we did an amphibius seal tour on the sandbanks around Hunstanton, a narrow gauge railway ride to a holy village, and a ride in an army truck around a military museum - as well as the usual beach days, over eating and drinking too much of the local beer.

En-femme in King's Lynn 

I only managed one en-femme day in the end, that was on the Sunday. It was only my third time out with the family. 

We headed into Kings Lynn arriving just after midday.

I chose to wear a vintage 80's 'Mollie Haw' dress, it was suitably summery and nice and light fabric. 

On arrival we found a café and had a drink. Then we did the museum, then popped into Boots as we both needed something. 

Then we started looking for food places, and ended up in a pub. I had a really nice pork belly roast.

After this we had a 5 minute look around inside the cathedral, then onwards to the docks. They have some kind of mammoth trail thing going on, so I got a photo next to that too.

We then popped into Costa for a drink before heading home. We were wandering around for about three hours in total. 

It mainly went well , both kids called me dad once, and my wife asked one of the them to double check what 'daddy' wanted while she stood at the bar in the pub. But given it's not a regular occurrence they all did really well.

I am always a bit worried about getting negative reactions while out with my family, if I'm on my own I only have myself to defend - or more likely just laugh off, or get myself away from it. I do feel more conscious of the potential for my loved ones to be upset, and feel guilty about this.

We didn't seem to get any that I noticed thankfully. 

After we got back to the caravan park, I headed out alone to the beach - I had dreamt of doing so for a long time. I had a bit of a paddle and took some video's of me messing around for Insta. It was fun !

The wind was not fun with my wig, and some of the other photo's I took didn't turn out so well.

Blackpool - Friday

We returned from our holiday on the Thursday night, which meant that I then had a free weekend to do some more en-femme adventures !

I had four options, Hull Pride, Nottingham Pride, the 'Seasiders' meeting at Bridlington, and also 'Blackpool Chix'. I chose the later, I knew people at most of them, but I had been itching to do Blackpool for a while.  I had heard many good things about it.

On the Friday they meet up at the Dragon Fly BnB at 8pm, and on the Saturday it's LuLu's at 8pm.

I found a cheap BnB online, which was very near both meeting points and booked that. It was a gay friendly place, as it seems a lot are around that area : https://www.habberlyhotelblackpool.co.uk/

Turns out the owner had been on "Four in a bed" , the hotel review program ! - but at his previous hotel.

I set off around midday, stopping to charge at Birch services around 2pm, and arriving at just before 4pm.  I had a sandwich at Birch. Got booked into the hotel, and carted my bags up 3 flights of stairs to the attic room I had booked.  It was very cosy ! - the loo/shower was a shared private room one flight down, just for the two attic rooms.  It had a Velux window, and I could see the sea if I poked my head out 😁 - I did have a sink at least. 

The event didn't start until 8pm, so I did some wandering up and down the front, got some photos, and then found a café where I had a jacket potato.  My digestive system wasn't very happy, too much beer over the previous week I think.

I headed back to the hotel and got changed for the evening. I was feeling a bit bloated, so went with my Shein summer dress which is quite forgiving around the waist. Had really nice comments the previous time I wore it out too. 

I walked the short distance to the Dragon Fly and had to wait a short while until someone came to answer the door bell, as the inner door was locked.

Once inside I was directed to the bar where I found a few of the other girls. I had known that Justine would be there, so there was once friendly face. But was soon talking to a
number of others too. It and the next venue were cash only bars, fortunately I did have a £10 note on me for emergencies !

We headed to LuLu's next , which is more of a proper LGBTQ+ cabaret bar, but also a hotel too, rather than a BnB.  It has a DJ and is much bigger downstairs. 

We spent a while in there, then headed to Galleon, which is a straight music bar - really nice in there. They had a live band on, and we met up with some women who were on a 50th birthday weekend. They were quite tipsy but very friendly and lovely. 

There was some fab decor in here too - the downstairs loo was through a Tardis door !!  - and there was
all sorts of Dr Who memorabilia inside.

After this we went to the Flying Handbag which is an LGBTQ+ venue , very big, air conditioned with a drag host . It had a pool table, big dancefloor and quite a lot of seating. We got in for free with out Blackpool Chix card too ! - saving us the princely sum of £2.

I decided to call it a night after midnight, I had been on soft drinks to try and help with my digestive issues, and also wanted to try to be fresh for the next day which was really more the main event. Alas this was not to be.

Blackpool - Saturday day time

I had not had a good night, there was heavy rain at 2am which on the Velux was really loud and woke
me.  Then at just after 4am a guy who had the other attic room arrived back, and fell asleep on his bed with his light on and door open.  He had somehow managed to set an alarm on his phone which was really really loud and woke me up.  

Unfortunately he was so absolutely hammered it didn't wake him, and it kept stopping, then going off again every 10 minutes.  So I chucked a dress on and went next door and shook him till he woke up - he did attempt to turn it off, and apologised 'sorry mate' - but he clearly failed as it continued to go off for another 30 mins. 

I didn't want to interact with him any more in the state he was in, so I just shut his door and put my emergency earplug in - I carry one in my purse for loud clubs, one ear buzzes when music gets too loud.

I did manage to get back to sleep, but he had clearly set an alarm for 7am too, an hour before I wanted to get up. I just got up at 7 and had my shower. It was still going off an hour later when I finished putting my makeup on.

I had my breakfast, but didn't feel too great after it.  I met up with Justine who was eating breakfast at a café just over the road and had a tea in there while she ate hers.  Then we headed towards the shops and met up with the two other girls, Stephanie and Catriona. We did a bit of shopping, and we had a drink at a coffee shop.

Catriona decided to go have a sleep, and the three of us did some charity shops for a few hours. I really wasn't feeling too good at all, so I decided I would also go for a lay down. 

Hadn't had any lunch yet, and some pills I got from Superdrug said they needed to be eaten after food, so I went to Sainsburys and got a ploughman's sandwich and some ginger tea.  I spend the rest of the afternoon napping.  

Blackpool - Saturday Night

I really wasn't sure if I was going to feel well enough to go out, but a message from a friend
Arabella who actually lives in Blackpool and wanted to meet up pushed me to make a decision and I got ready and gave them a call to arrange meeting with them too.

Really glad I did, it was a fab night in the end.

We met at LuLu's , spend quite a while in there. There were a few more girls, perhaps 10 of us in total. After this we went to Galleon's again, it was much much busier, and we were standing for a while.

There was a couple of bands on, who were really good. We eventually managed to steal an entire corner of the bar and a few tables to make our own trans area 😂

The tipsy 50th party women from the previous night turned up, and one of them was being very entertaining again.  A lovely CIS girl ended up being our official photographer and took quite a few group shots of us all, none of which I have yet though.  She even lost her seat in the process which seemed a little unfair.

Arabella met us in there, and we had a bit of a catchup in between people trying to flirt with her 😂

There was also another fairly drunk young couple who wanted us to dance. She was very keen to tell me how inclusive they were bringing up her kids, and that she saw us as women, and was very complimentary about our look.  They were both nice, but a bit handsy ! 

We were in there quite a while, but eventually a number of us decided to head to the Flying Handbag. Me and Arabella joined them.  We spent another hour in the handbag, did a bit of dancing. Arabella headed home and soon it was just three of us left at about 1am.

This ended up with just me and Emily, who decided we should try a very 'down to earth' bar before heading back to our respective hotels. It was called 'Garlands'  - it had a drag DJ , flags and such. 

The clientele were a little rough looking, and some were very worse for wear.  We ended up on a table with some lovely older CIS couple who had been out drinking and had a bad experience in another bar with an aggressive drunk lady.  They offered some seats to us as we were standing at the bar. Emily wowed them with some slight of hand magic which they found amazing.  

A fairly old guy with came in, with an even older guy with a walking stick - he looked very frail. They ended up getting a table next to us.  The really old guy seemed to be shuffling closer and closer to me on the bench seat, the couple I think spotted this and moved to give me a bit more room. I thought he was going to end up in my lap at one point. It was a bit strange.  I was half expecting to be groped when I left, but he didn't.

I waked back towards LuLu's with Emily, and we passed some very dodgy looking characters, who I wouldn't have wanted to meet on my own for sure !  We got a comment 'Fuckin ell'  not sure if it was an insult, or compliment, but didn't stop to find out.

We parted ways at the pedestrian crossing which took me over the road to my hotel. I think I met her at Nottingham Invasion last year - it was the slight of hand magic that made me twig. She did some coin tricks in the pub next to the shopping centre.

Sunday 

I had to be out by 10am, I got down to breakfast at 9am and had the place to myself with the two partners serving / cooking for me.  Felt hungry so did manage to eat more than the previous day.

Journey back was nicer, I did it in about 2:30 , charging once at the Rivington services on the M61

It seems to be a new tradition that I pop into the local shop while still dressed from an adventure, so I did Asda too !

Feeling a bit better today, but still quite tired.

Summary 

All in all, a fab couple of nights, was great to meet and get to know more people, I will definitely try to get back to more of them. It's so much cheaper than Leeds or Manchester too. 

Definitely one to do if budget is the primary concern. The drive there and back isn't fun - but it's doable. The train might even be an option !

The bars are more like the ones I love in Manchester, but just spread out a bit more. 

It doesn't feel as safe as either Leeds or Manchester, it's a much more deprived area, so I wouldn't want to be walking back to my BnB in a bad state on my own for sure.

Was great to be able to visit both coasts En-Femme for the first time too, and in the same week !  Didn't get to paddle in the sea at Blackpool though, I will have to do that next time.