Festive fun

 

Trans Wakefield Xmas meal

This was at Rustico's on the evening of the 17th.  We met up at the Calder & Hops first, which is just over the road.

I had decided to go with my oriental looking dress which has a lovely red satin detail on black.  I chose to wear heels for the first time in quite a while.  It doesn't look as good in the photo's as real life unfortunately. 

There were nine of us that went, it was a nice evening.  The food wasn't that much to shout home about, but it wasn't that expensive either.  I had turkey and stuffing, but it turned out to be huge chunk of stuffing with not much turkey.  It's and Italian place, so I guess I should go back and sample their main cuisine at some point.

We returned to the Calder and Hops for a drink afterwards, I was driving so was on soft drinks though.

The buckles connecting the strap on my clock handbag to it's main body failed in there for some reason, so that is on the to-do list to fix before I go out again.

Didn't feel as safe walking back to the car park in the heels rather than my boots, but there were not many about on a Sunday night.

Had a nice night anyway, was good to spend more time with them all.

Meadowhall

I had taken the day off in Lieu as I had been working the previous Friday, and had agreed to meet up with Ann at Meadowhall as we had not had chance with her missing Chams due to being ill the previous time.  

We met up at 11 ish, and had a coffee at Costa and a bit of a natter. Then had a look around some shops for a bit. I found some shoes on sale for £44, but decided against them, I might get then online perhaps.

I found a dress in Quiz that was £20, and bought that, it shows off a bit too much of my tummy though, so I will perhaps have to hope I can lose some weight after xmas :)

We went for a Pizza for lunch, then did a few more shops. She had to head home before 2 , but I think we had probably done everything we wanted to.  

Trans-Wakefield Thursday night (21st Dec)

Figured I might as well go this meeting as I was already dressed for it, it was in the Café this time. Was a nice enough meeting, Phillipa was there who I had not seen for a while, she wasn't at the Xmas meal.

There was some talk of a member who had left in a huff as there were a difference of opinion, I won't mention names. She seemed a bit odd to me to be honest.  

It was over the assertion that Trans-Women are Women. I think my own views are that it depends on context. If I want my prostate checking, I'd rather be classed as a Trans-Woman - if they are deciding on who gets to use what loo, I would prefer to go with the assertion. I don't think it's bad to be considered to be trans, or feel that I would have to use an overly simplistic binary definition of gender just to suit other people. 

Anyway seemed silly she wasn't prepared to accept that others may not share the exact same view, and just respect that.  

I have no photographic proof that I attended the event, I have found myself becoming less inclined to take selfies as my outings become more regular.

Xmas at the In-Laws

It wasn't as bad as I had feared, nobody mentioned the hair - not even my sister and brother in-law who can't have seen me for quite a while.  Aside from a bit of a cold that developed, and the usual being a bit bored sat around all day, it was OK.

My kids has got me a penguin bracelet, but they gave me it early so I wouldn't  be opening it in front of the family down there.  I have bought myself a ridiculous handbag :)

I made sure to take my gel with me, and had enough privacy to apply without my wife noticing. She knows but I don't like to do it in front of her.

The storm that was forecast for the 27th meant that we set off late on the 26th instead of going early in the morning, so I did manage to get back up a day earlier than expected at least.

Trans-Wakefield Thursday night (28th Dec) 

We were in the pub for this one, it was fairly quiet again - I do wonder if we have lost a few others with this 'split' that seems to have have gone on.  There are a number I've not seen for a while now.

Anyway Phillipa was there, and ended up speaking to her a lot over the course of the evening. We played a few games of pool. She won overall, but one was due to me potting the black in error. Definitely need to practise more next year. 

I was very glad to have gone, and was a nice evening. 

There was talk of NYE plans, but I am unsure if I will go out, as I am taking my mum to see my dad in hospital the next day, he is one of the few unfortunate souls with a birthday on a public holiday.

Darth Hideous

 

My dad is a lot better, he is still nowhere near 100% back with us mentally. But he can speak in sentences now, he knows who we are, and he's complaining about the food :) . We had a chat with a doctor on Friday and it seems like he will be in there for a long time to recover. 

On Wednesday my mum decided that there was not enough worry going around, and started to chuck in some passive aggressive comments about my lifestyle in some message she sent. Also was upset that my wife was not taking her up on her generous offer of support about that aspect. 

She had knitted me a hat, and I had mistakenly assumed she would be pleased to see me wearing it, so I had sent her a picture (en-femme) - I think this set her off. I can't see me wearing it in bloke mode to be honest. 

I shut her down pretty quickly - in a fairly nice way, saying that we had enough to worry about at the moment without getting into all that, and my wife might not feel comfortable talking about that with her.  I didn't want to escalate issues, so refrained from returning a broadside to keep the peace - was quite angry.

But it did put in a pretty bad mood on Thursday. Thankfully I was going to Chams for the Xmas fuddle, and managed to have a really good time there.  I was feeling massively more relaxed and happy as I left.

My wife has taken her into hospital to see my dad this morning, so I await to see what was said during the drive there and back.

Not long till Xmas now, I will be at the in-laws for four days, I am already dreading it, yet more family to see me with the long hair.  I've trimmed my talons, so they are a bit less obvious at least. I only have one more social event planned before we go down and that is this evening, so I may leave the beard growing a bit - it's not a lot now, but it does help maintain the illusion.

It's the Trans-Wakefield Xmas meal tonight, I am off to Asda shortly to get food for lunch, then I will stick my face on. 

Sunday Walk

Last Saturday I was meant to be walking around Newmillerdam with Trans-Wakefield, but hadn't been able to due to hospital visiting.  So I decided to walk there on my own on the Sunday, it's about 6km from my house.  I had been wanting to try going for local walks dressed, as I felt a little trapped without the ability to do that. I do enjoy going on a random Sunday walk.

I had bought a coat and wellies and a warm jumper from Ebay/Vinted for winter outdoor adventures, the wellies have rainbows on 🤣 - The hat as previously mentioned was knitted by my mum.  I quite like it - but some friends have called it hideous. 

I was still not as comfortable walking around in the countryside on my own as a city, felt a little on edge. Trapped by the narrow confines of the footpaths. If I were living alone I might well want a big dog with me. I wasn't doing much eye contact with passers-by, but it was fairly quiet out and I didn't see that many people.  

When I got there, I went straight to the other pub over the road from the car park the 'Fox and hounds', it was very warm in there and not many places to sit, so I only stayed for one in there.

Next I headed the short distance to the pub I was in the previous day 'The Dam Inn'. It was nicer in there, and I stayed in there for the rest of the afternoon. The people behind the bar were very friendly, and felt safe and accepted in there. 

It was dark by the time I wanted to leave, and my wife was worried and offered a lift, but I could tell it was an inconvenience so I decided to get an Uber.  He was nice enough, had some small talk, nearly ended up on the other side of the car when he took a corner very quick though !

Chameleons

Had been looking forward to the fuddle, it is my most favourite of the meetings - not only because I get to stuff my face, but just gets us all moving around a bit more. I put on jeans and a Xmas jumper for the drive down. 

As previously mentioned I wasn't in a fab mood, but I figured once I was there I would enjoy myself, so I should proceed as planned.  I hadn't been 100% sure I would be able to go with my dad health as it was, so I hadn't said I was taking anything, and decided to buy a cheese selection and biscuits as this was not on the list of things others were buying. Looks like Joanna had the same idea , and we ended up with two cheese selections. But we ate it all , so glad we did !

I changed into a slightly bodycon sequin dress when I arrived, I didn't want to wear in on the way down in case i needed to pop into the services. Also put on my goth boots, which I really liked wearing with the big sequin dress at LFF a few weeks ago.

Someone had brought a mini speaker and put some xmas tunes on which was nice, it was quiet enough that we could all still talk.  

Was really great to catch up with everyone, I had missed a few meetings in recent months. 

Was feeling very relaxed and happy by the time I left, and very glad I had gone - as I knew I would be. I got back after midnight, I wasn't very frugal with the electrons on the way home, and it was warm enough I was in no danger of running low.

Xmas Shopping

I decided to go to Leeds yesterday, but changed my mind as I was driving and went to Wakefield instead. I spent the afternoon pottering around.  Popped into my new favourite Café for a Mocha and some food. Tried the Lasagne this time, but it wasn't that good. 

I didn't spend much on myself, other than some opaque tights from Matalan, some fake nails from Home Bargains, and some cheap own brand lashes from Superdrug.  I favour the Eyelure ones normally, but they are quite expensive, usually at least £5. These ones were £2.50.

Also got a 'Choc Ice' Stout from Sainsburys to try.

I wore my Banned Retro Peacock dress, and my high heel DM's. I was quite overdressed really.

Also went looking for a record player, but they were out of stock in Currys and Argos, so I have bought online.

It was a nice afternoon out.  

December blues

 

Updates

My dad took a turn for the worse on Tuesday, a bleed on the brain has left him hard to understand. My mum had been spending too much time by his side, and she had some form of seizure, but seems OK now. 

Been to and from the hospital a fair few times Friday/Saturday, but not going today unless anything else happens.

I have the Chams fuddle on Thursday, and the Trans-Wakefield Xmas meal on Sunday to look forward to at least. I am hoping nothing prevents me from enjoying either of them at least !

Trans-Wakefield Walk

There had been a walk event yesterday run by trans-Wakefield at a local park set around a lake, I had bought some lovely rainbow wellies and a sensible coat to wear to it.  Unfortunately I missed the walk, as I had gone to check on my mum in hospital.

But I did manage to get there to meet them in the pub afterwards - I hadn't had time to do any makeup or anything, so I was in man mode - although my T-shirt and boots were female at least.

Had a few hours with them, most people left within an hour of me arriving, but I got a have a chat with the group leader on my own for a bit.  Seems like a few of the committee members had resigned recently which is a shame. 

I had a Coconut Porter, a belgian blue beer (blueberries to colour it)  and a fab hot chocolate with squirty cream on.  Only 1/2's for the beer as I was driving. 

I shall have to save the wellies for another time - perhaps this afternoon.

LFF

I didn't blog about LFF in my last post, I should probably do so in brief.

It was nice, not perhaps as good as the first Xmas one I attended as a few friends were ill and didn't make it. But there were others I hadn't seen in a while. 

I did Thursday / Friday , but I made sure to take it steadier on the Thursday night so I was able to stay out longer on the Friday.

It was a very cold weekend, so I was wrapped up warm most of the time, aside from Friday night.

I was staying in the Queens hotel, which is rather posh, and I had hoped to get a load of photo's in there , as it's really nicely decorated, but I failed to do so :(

We did the usual shopping, pubs and food on Thursday.

Had a tea in the lovely tiled café in the art gallery with Ann when I arrived, then it was a Thai with a bubble tea at Rosies for lunch, then a posh meal at Miller and Carter in the evening.  I treated myself to some Champagne and I had a rump steak.  

Friday I had breakfast at Flamingo's with Arabella and we did some mooching around the shops. Our Pint's and Straw's event was starting at 1:30pm, but I got over to the pub a bit earlier, and scavenged some pizza slices from Ann, Bennie and Alice, as I didn't really think I could eat a full one. 

We had a nice tour of several pubs, Oliva attended - a younger member who I had talked to at the last LFF in the bridge. 

For evening meal we did Tharavandu , and I had the chops again - it was lovely.  I had dressed in my final outfit of the day in the hope I would be able to go straight out from there. But I had forgotten to change my tights, and I ended up walking back to the hotel to do that anyway.  I did feel rather out of place in the restaurant :)

The evening was good, we went to the Bridge to meet up with a few people, then headed to the Shed. It was a bit loud and there were not many of us in there, felt a bit like I was still out on our own event. So I made some excuses and headed to 'The End' with Ann , where a lot more of the LFF attendees were congregating.  We met up with Hannah and her partner in there, and Bennie too.  

After that we did Fibre, and then I think we went to Smokestack. 

I was getting a lot of compliments on the dress from other LFF'ers as well as random CIS girls, which was nice :)  

Not sure how many sequins I lost from the dress, I have found a few kicking around my room, but it still looks OK. Might have to get some replacement ones to sew on.

I did get one lad sing 'it's a ladyboy' at me as I walked back to the hotel on my own about 1am, but I wasn't greatly offended, I was more bothered about getting into the hotel so I could warm  up.

On Saturday I inadvertently ended up meeting everyone in Flamingo's, I had contacted to Hannah and Sarah to see if they wanted to go somewhere , we hadn't arranged a time or place with anyone else but ended up meeting Alice and Rebecca in there too. Ann messaged and came along too. 

I got home a little after lunch.

Drawer knobs and Gearsticks

 

Updates

I am on my third pump-pack of the Gel now, I have been remembering to put it on fairly consistently. The only noticeable effect so far is that the tissue under my nipple area seems much more tender than before, and I am feeling pain sometimes if I catch one, or roll over in bed.

I don't think anything else too exciting has happened in the last few weeks journey wise anyway.

I have been a bit withdrawn from social media, and I have missed my usual weekly post on here, lots on at work, and my dad is back in hospital, just not had the motivation to write. So I am partially reconstructing events by looking at selfies :)

Adventures of a few weeks ago

Thursday the 23rd was Chams, it was a nice night.  I went with minimal makeup and jeans and a t-shirt.
Was trying to be more casual. Spent a fair bit of time talking with Amber, and discussing ales. I got home after midnight, but had the day off the next day so didn't need to get up early.

I had decided to try and dress for as much of the weekend as I could, to get more used to doing the boring stuff en femme. So on Friday I ventured out in my warm hat to B&Q in the search of drawer knobs for my chest of drawers. Turns out they are very expensive in there, so I went to Dunelm next door and got some bargain glass ones.  

After this I went welly shopping around the rest of Wakefield, as my vinted purchase had not turned up. Didn't find any suitable ones however.  I had a nice jacket potato and
mocha in the 'Neptune Diner'. Headed home after looking in a few charity shops.

Fitted the drawer knobs, and cleared out a lot of my male clothes I have no longer been wearing. This gives me a bit more room for day to day female casual wear. 

In the evening I took some pics of possible LFF outfits.

On Saturday I dressed again.  I had been clearing out some of my old dresses I knew I would never likely wear again, and took them to the charity drop off point at my local Co-Op , then headed inside to get food supplies.  

After lunch I worked on the car, disconnecting most of the parts required to get started on the engine and gearbox removal. 

Sunday was another afternoon spent on the car - while dressed, under the overalls was a new fruit of the loom T-Shirt I bought to gauge their sizes.  I plan on getting a load more.  I had also picked up some more female jeans on Vinted. 

It was a fairly chilled weekend, and nice to get a few things done around the house, and get my room a little tidier too. 

Friendship Observed

A quiet weekend by normal standards, but I think I made progress being out and about locally and with a long time friend.  

Saturday

Finally got the nerve to go dressed for a drink with an old friend, one of the first people I came out to.

He had only seen a few pictures of me I had shown him at the time, we were both very drunk when I did the deed initially.

We tend to go out around Wakefield, just the two of us, meetup just after lunch and then get our wives to pick us up around tea time before things get too messy.

I also took the opportunity to try out some more pubs, I was hoping for some weird beers to try and did manage to find some nice ones.

I did pre-warn him that I would be dressed in a manner that he doesn't normally see me, and he replied he was fine with that. I didn't want to shock him - he asked me to wave if he didn't spot me. I wish I was so good at makeup that he might not recognise me !!

I ended up in the pub on my own waiting for him, as he is always late - despite him already delaying the start time, he operates on his own time zone :)

I grabbed a seat in an upstairs area as there was no room downstairs where the bar is. A lady came and asked if I was expecting anyone else, as she didn't want to intrude by sitting near me if I was. Overheard her refer to me as a 'young lady' to her husband when he came up and asked her why she had sat so far away - that was nice :)

He arrived after 10 mins or so, he did spot me unfortunately. It was really as if there was no difference, it was all nice and normal and not awkward at all. We spent a good 4 hours wandering around Wakefield, this is the pub list :

• Luis Bar - Favourite Real ale place, our normal starting point
• Polka Hop - One I had been to before, quiet but has a few nice beers on
• The Black Rock - Really good, had an amazing Chocolate porter
• The Calder and Hops - Bit like a Weatherspoon's, sub tropical temps, no ale
• The Talbot and Falcon - We were the youngest people in there aside from the staff, no ale
• The Lockwood - Motown, no Ale, even the Guinness was from a can !! 

I was pleased that didn't get any negative treatment in any of these places, aside from one of the staff calling me 'mate' when ordering, but I can forgive that. 

Going out so close to home is still a lot more nerve racking to me that being somewhere far away for some reason.

I had a KFC on the way home, and some left over pizza from the fridge too. 

I got a nice Txt from him to say that he had enjoyed it, which was also good !

Sunday 

Following up on my success of the previous day, I had intended to go for a local walk in the countryside
- but the weather was not great, and despite owning enough pairs of boots to fit out a small army, none of them are really great for mud.  

I rectified this, but splurging on vinted, a red waterproof coat and a pair of black wellies with a spot detail are on the way.

Again being out close to home does make me very uneasy, but some of it is that I am not that confident even in man mode.  Being out in the middle of nowhere on a towpath or disused railway line, you just don't know who you are going to run into, and there might be nobody around to help. 

But I really want to try and make sure I am happy doing the things I previously was able to do in female mode.  Coincidentally there is a Trans-Wakefield walk planned for December at the lake I walk to sometimes, next to the real ale pub I walk to sometimes.  I hope to walk to the lake, might get my wife to pick me up.

I was also experimenting with my makeup, cutting it down to the bare minimum, foundation and colour corrector on the lower half of my face only, no fake lashes. I wore my jeans, black knee high boots, a jumper and my male waterproof. 

In the end I decided to walk to my local Aldi, which was something I had avoided doing, as - and this may sound snobbish, but there are more down to earth people shopping there, and I was worried I might stand more chance of getting negative reactions.  

The world didn't end, and I got some lamb for tomorrow, even the group of kids I passed on the way back didn't say anything. I really don't feel that feminine in jeans, and the male coat and beanie didn't help. But I guess it's less likely to attract attention than flouncing about in a dress. 

So that's all the supermarkets done now :) , I guess I should do the few charity shops next. 

 

Vertical Food and Parakeets

 

Last weekend was Gainsborough beer festival.  I went for two days 

I was meant to be staying at the Travelodge, but they had water issues when I arrived, so I booked some rooms above a pub very nearby.  I  was supposedly one of the roughest pubs in Gainsborough, and my friends were a little concerned. But there was no trouble.

I've left them a nice review on TripAdvisor.

The festival was at Gainsborough Old Hall ( https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/gainsborough-old-hall/ )

I was pre-warned the main part would be unheated, so I needed to dress warm.

Day 1 - Friday

I decided on a halter neck peacock print dress, with my new DM's and a big fluffy green coat I got at a charity shop in Lancaster the previous month. I also had my steampunk clock handbag too.  

Got there by lunchtime at Friday, and had a beer at the festival, then had to sort out alternative accommodation with a quick Google, as my friends had told me about the hotel issues.

I had a KFC while I waiting to check in at the pub. Then back out to the beer festival.  We spent the rest of the afternoon drinking, I was mainly on stouts and porters, as my tummy seems to deal with these better than fizzy IPA's.

We ate at 'The Clockhouse' where I ordered a hanging Kebab, which was different - fairly nice, I enjoyed posing with it as much as eating it. 

We tried to get back into the beer festival, but there was a limit of 200 people in the venue, and a queue had formed, so we went to a pub nearby, had one in there, then headed back to find the queue gone.

We left when they chucked us out at 10:30pm :)

Getting to my room at the pub was uneventful as there was a separate entrance I had been given a key to, it was very lively in the bar so wouldn't have wanted to go in that way.

Day 2 - Saturday 

We were aiming to meet for breakfast at a café at 9am.  I hadn't slept that well - not due to the hotel, they had left me earplugs.  I had a few cups of tea while plastering my face, and that revived me. 

I ended up following a friend at a distance, I didn't feel confident at shouting in my manly voice to attract their attention.  

The breakfast was really nice, the sausages were locally produced and the best I've had in a long time. Got a nice photo of us by the river after breakfast. 

On the way back to the hotel, we passed through the market square where

there were people fundraising for the poppy appeal.  I got a fab selfie with a Parakeet while there :)

The festival didn't start until midday, and I had offered a room to Cindy as she had not intended to stay the Saturday, but I had a twin room and nobody using the other bed, so had offered it to her.

So we got her bags from the Travelodge, then decided to go around town and look  for bargains in the charity shops. I was getting quite a few nice comments about my handbag around town which I enjoyed :)

I had been a bit cold the previous day, so I was on the look out for a hat, and found a sort of  Russian looking one that I really liked the look of. So bought that, and also a necklace too.

Cindy and myself had a drink in the pub we were staying at, which wasn't that crowded during the day - there were a few people still dressed in uniform for the vintage fundraising going on in the square. Felt safe and friendly enough in there.

We headed to the beer festival shortly after.  I was on cider for most of the day, but was flagging a little in the afternoon, and had a few more teas.  Also some sausage rolls and crisps, as we didn't really do lunch. I had a fab Ginger beer - it was very strong tasting, nobody else liked it.  

We went for a Pizza at Prezzo's around 6ish, which I was most glad of.  Then to a pub for a final drink after that.  I think we were back in the hotel for 9pm , we had all run out of steam by then. 

Day 3 - Sunday

I had slept a lot better thankfully, but we were still up fairly early.  I had a shower and got dressed and packed, then headed to the car with my friend. My plan was to drive us both just around the corner to the shopping centre, where I could charge the car, and we could have breakfast in one of the cafes.

Turns out only Greggs was open, so that limited the choice, but we had a nice bacon roll each, and a hot drink.

I headed home after saying my goodbyes to my friend - it was a very foggy return journey, but no issues. I was home for 10:30am.  Spent the rest of the day dressed and catching up on a bit of housework.

All in all a very nice weekend, and it did help chase some of my post LFF blues away ! - This is likely to be the last Beer festival for a while, so glad it was a good one.

Minimal changes

Updates

There haven't really been many things of note, my dad was sent home from hospital for a bit and he seems to be doing OK aside from feeling the cold a lot more than usual.

Had been feeling quite down post the latest LFF -  Friday the 3rd of this month, and hadn't felt like posting anything. So we are now fabulously late with reporting on that one.

I had to miss Chameleons as it was parents evening last Thursday night, but I was at Gainsborough beer festival Friday afternoon, to Sunday morning, so am socially topped up at least. I will post about that separately to ensure nobody falls asleep half way through reading.

The title eludes to not much happening, and also a reduction in the need to change my outfit a billion times a day on the last few socials. 

Leeds First Thursday

Two of my friends Alice and Rebecca were doing Thursday / Friday  this time, so I decided to join them. I was sharing a room with another friend on Friday night so ended up booking the same hotel for the Thursday - Travelodge Vicar lane. 

It's a bit further out, and in a bit more of a dodgy area, but was fairly cheap - the markets car park was also really cheap, so it did save some money on that too.

I was really keen to wear my new peacock dress from 'Banned' that I bought in Sheffield the other week, matched with my patent boots. With my hotel being a bit further away, I wasn't planning on going back to get changed.

We did a bit of shopping then headed to Rosa's Thai in the Trinity shopping centre for lunch - I had another bubble tea, and a something fairly spicy but I forget what :) 

Had a drink in Bankers Cat, then I went to check into the Travelodge, and we met back up at Northern Guitar, then to Tapped, and onward to Tharavadu for 'Leeds best curry'.   I had lamb chops, it was delicious. After this we moved on to 'The Brewery Tap' where we met up with Steph, and lastly to 'The Shed' for one last one before heading to bed. 

We probably shouldn't have had that last one, but Steph had come into Leeds especially to see us, and felt a bit guilty about leaving her after one drink. 

Friday - Pint's and Straw's

We were going to give 'Farmhouse' a try for breakfast as one of our friends had been the previous month and really enjoyed it.  I put on a basic makeup look, and my favourite popsy peacock print dress - you can never have enough peacock dresses. 

The breakfast was immense and although I made a valiant effort it defeated me - although I managed all my sausages, unlike another friend. But I felt quite fat for a while afterwards.

I waddled back to my room and got glammed up for the rest of the day, as with the previous one my plan was to not come back until I needed bed, so I was a tad overdressed for the daytime activities perhaps. I was gothing up again, as I hadn't really had much use out of all the dresses I bought for Whitby. 

I had spotted some Doc Martens in one of their two stores in the centre the previous day, and found this gorgous high heel version with parent toe, heel and a strap on the top. They didn't have my size in the shop I spotted them in, but they were kind enough to phone the other one and they did. So I met back up with my friends and we went there first.  I tried them on and they fit really well, so I blew some daft money on them ! 

We had a coffee at Flamingos, slow service as always, they really do take their time some days. Our friend Benni joined up, and then we headed to Tapped as we were hosting our official LFF pub crawl starting at 1:30pm.

The pub crawl went well, we did Tapped, Bankers Cat then moved on to the North Taproom just south of the Central Travelodge. We didn't get as many attendees as the last time, only about 10 of us in total. But we had a good time.  There were some fairly strong beers in the North Taproom, and I had one that was 7% and one that was 10% - but only a 1/2 and 1/3rd respectively. 

Gemma who I had met at Chams and also Invasion came along for her first LFF experience and met us in there too. 

It was soon time for food - I was feeling quite tipsy by this point, and I wasn't really sure I could cope with food, but I needed something if I was going to do any more drinking. We had a table booked at Gino's in the Marriot so headed there. I had a pizza, and managed most of it, with a coke to try and sober up a bit too. 

Then I hung around the Marriot reception while the others changed outfits, and soon we headed to the Bridge for the Newcomers meeting.  Met a lovely young girl called Olivia in there, who was great to meet and talk to.  Caught up with the primary Gemma (LED Gemma)   in there too, who was also Gothing , and was unusually not lit up !

We went to the Viaduct for a bit, I had a cocktail it seems, thank god for selfies , then to Bankers cat for the 3rd time that weekend :)    , then Tapped again, and then for a bit of a long walk over the river to the 'Bridge End Social' where I tried a Yorkshire take on Baileys - which was lovely.

It was getting close to midnight and we had been drinking for 12 hours, so we decided to call it a night at that point.

I said my goodbyes near the Marriot, then walked back to my hotel - was feeling quite on edge, it was a fair way from the safety of the 'Freedom Quarter' and seemed to be attracting more attention than usual. Although nearer the hotel a man strode past me, he was wearing a bright orange suit, with matching orange leather shoes. So I did wander if everyone was looking at him as he walked behind me. 

Anyway I ended up following him into the hotel and we caught the same lift too, I did think it amusing that we were probably both thinking 'what the f*ck are you wearing' at each other - I was tempted to talk but was too shy.

I didn't sleep that well, as there was a loud pub across the road, and it didn't die down until about 3am.

Saturday

I walked to the market with my friend Arabella, and bought myself a glow in the dark necklace from a stall selling Uranium Glass objects.  

I don't think it's a uranium piece, but I may see if I can wave it near a Geiger counter at some point.  We had breakfast at a little place in the market, it was a bit more greasy than the posh place, but they did at least have size options, so you were not forced to buy a huge one that you really didn't want.

We looked at a few other shops, then I headed home mid morning. 

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