It's a new year - time to get this blog back on track!

Warning: this post briefly talks about burial. 

Okay, it's time to get this blog organised! At the end of my last blog post I said I was going to talk about what I got up to over summer so I'll cover that today and then crack on with getting up to date. 
I've got some new ideas, topics and styles for this blog this year but I don't want to leave a big gap in it so we'll get caught up first. It was a busy summer so this post will probably be fairly long but I'll try to keep each section short so it's a bit easier to read!

NASS Festival (https://www.nassfestival.com/)
The first event of my summer was volunteering with Oxfam at NASS Festival. I've been volunteering with Oxfam at various festivals since 2013 and I've worked at this festival twice before. It's based at the Bath and West Showground in Somerset and has a capacity of around 15,000 people. The festival has action sports (skateboard and BMX mostly) during the daytime and mostly "electronic" music, of all different genres, at nighttime.

My sister also volunteered with me. She started volunteering with Oxfam in 2015 and from the following year we both quickly climbed up the ranks to work in the shift leading team. We usually work on shift at the same time but tend to prefer slightly different roles with her based as Shift Leader while I tend to work in Event Control. This means that she coordinates more what Oxfam is doing on the ground while I have a wider view of what's going on across the festival and how Oxfam fits into the bigger picture. We have the added bonus of really knowing how each other thinks and works and so this really boosts our communication and teamwork.

During the time off from shifts we are free to enjoy the festival. We can usually be found in the Pro Park watching the action and BMX is our favourite to watch, mostly because the tricks are easier to tell apart and it looks more impressive. We make sure to grab a good space to sit and then take turns going to fetch food or drinks so we don't lose that space!

We don't usually watch that much live music at this festival, mostly because it's not really our thing but we have seen Pendulum and Knife Party here.


New House
Straight after NASS finished I headed to Brighton to pick up the keys to my new student house the following day. I'm sharing with three girls who I was placed in halls with last year. One of the other girls met me there with her car and we spent the rest of the day unloading our storage unit and moving everything into the house.

On this day we also received our emails from the medical school to let us know if we had passed Year 1, and we did!

After we had finished moving everything into the house we hit the road for a 3-4hr drive to my house as the following day we were going to volunteer together with Oxfam at Latitude Festival.

Latitude Festival (https://www.latitudefestival.com/)
Latitude is the closest festival to my home geographically but I've only actually worked there once before and I personally don't rate it very highly, but that's just because it's not really the vibe for me. It is, however, very laid back and very diverse. It doesn't just have music, but also comedy, poetry, dance, cabaret, science, etc. it goes on and on.

I worked in Event Control here which was a role I hadn't previously done at this particular festival, but as expected I enjoyed it. It was a bit quieter than some other festivals I'm used to but it was a nice change of pace. 

Dad's Burial
After I arrived home from Latitude the next "event" of my summer was the burial of my Dad's ashes with his family and close friends. He had, before he passed, already arranged permission to have his ashes buried at one of his favourite fishing lakes, and a golden willow tree to be planted to mark the location. The staff at the lake had chosen and cleared a space for him at the final swim he fished from. (A swim is like a marked out location on the lakeside for fishing).

His ashes were buried and the willow tree planted above them so he will nourish the growth of the tree and in so doing become one with it. We also all took turns sprinkling wild flower seeds around the tree. Spoiler: they never bloomed, which is probably for the best to be honest. I could always imagine him saying "I can't believe you planted flowers around me!" haha!

Family Holiday
My siblings and I chose to spend some of our inheritance money on taking our family on holiday. We  decided to head back to Hastings for a week so we could visit Dad's sloth.

 https://www.drusillas.co.uk/

 During this holiday we stayed at the same holiday park but we didn't want the holiday to be too sad so, apart from heading to Drusillas Park to see Dad's sloth, we decided to do some different things instead. 

We spent a day at the Observatory Science Centre at Herstmonceux. This is where the Royal Greenwich Observatory was based from 1958 until 1990. The site now houses a hands on science centre and the renovated telescopes, some of which can still be used. Find out more here: https://www.the-observatory.org/#

We also spent a day in Brighton as my family had never been before, and we decided to go on the British Airways i360 (https://britishairwaysi360.com/). Now let it be known that I am terrified of heights and so it took a considerable effort to stand near the edge and taking a photo of me smiling!

Boomtown Fair (https://www.boomtownfair.co.uk/)
The next festival on my list for summer was Boomtown Fair. I've worked at this festival once before and honestly I still have mixed feelings about it. If you ask any seasoned Oxfam steward who has worked there they will say it's the best festival on the circuit. I am as yet undecided, but it is a truly incredible set up. I took so many photos while I was there but photos never do it justice. I have included a few but honestly I would recommend checking it out for yourselves at least once. I imagine it's even better if you're not working there!

Boomtown is based in Winchester and has a capacity of 66,000. The festival is split into 14 uniquely themed districts all with different theatrics and music to explore. This festival also has tons of secret stuff going on so the more you get involved the more you will discover. If you see a closed door, give it a knock, who knows what will be behind it!

At this festival I worked as a Shift Leader. This role is not my favourite, simply because it's actually hard work! Especially at bigger festivals. The role basically entails co-ordinating all the stewards on the ground. This means being available in person, on the radio and on the mobile phone for people to report anything and everything, and then figuring out, mostly on the spot, how to solve the problem. The role is supported by a Deputy Shift Leader, someone in Event Control, and a Coordinator (a paid staff member from Oxfam). It sure kept me busy, although I have to note it actually wasn't as busy as I expected!

On a non-work note the weather really took a turn for the worse during this festival as a storm hit the west coast and rolled in. Emergency shelters were set up for people who lost their tents. I saw tents making shapes they were never designed to make! Somehow mine held up, but I did decide to head home a day early just to escape the weather! I live (at home) on the east coast and the weather was holding up much better over there!

My Birthday
I celebrated my 28th birthday at home with my family. It was my first birthday without Dad so it felt a little strange, and I did get pretty upset about it a few days beforehand, but I made it through and the day was actually okay.

My Mum made me a really pretty cake and I got some really thoughtful presents.

Reading Festival (https://www.readingfestival.com/)
Reading Festival is a longstanding favourite of mine and I've been every year since 2013 (mostly working but once as a customer when I took my Dad. A short summary of that trip can be found on this post: https://itsmymedicinejourney.blogspot.com/2018/09/2-weeks-to-go.html). Reading is the festival I choose for the music, and I've had the fortune to see almost all of my favourite bands at this festival so it really does hold a special place in my heart. My sister has been joining me at this festival every year since 2015 and it's one of her favourites too.

Reading Festival is based on Richfield Avenue, in Reading. With the capacity now reaching 105,000 it's also the biggest and busiest festival that I choose to work at.

This year saw me working in Event Control for the second time at this festival, and this time I was even allocated a fancy radio headset to use! This festival also surprised me by not being as busy as I expected, but that probably has to do with the fact that my shifts were 8am-4pm which is honestly before the action really gets going. I was super grateful for the evenings off to spend watching the music with my sister, and some friends of ours who were also at the festival as customers. I was not super grateful for having to be at work at 8am though! Especially as it took around an hour to get to work in the mornings, and it was often pretty cold at that time.

Other challenges of the festival included the weather exceeding 30 degrees (Celsius, 86F). This meant long queues for water points, and the water from them being warm due to pipes often being exposed to the heat, also living in my terrible bucket hat and slowly working my way through our supply of sun cream!

I think my music highlights were probably The 1975 and A Day To Remember. I also got to see Foo Fighters for the first time and honestly was disappointed.

Trip to York
In early September I headed out on one final trip. My brother and I took my Grandad to York for a few days. This trip was organised as a surprise for my Grandad and planned around my Grandad going out on a steam train day trip from York. My brother accompanied him out on this trip as he also likes steam trains. I spent the day in York wandering around on my own! My Nana was supposed to come with us but wasn't feeling very well on departure day and so she decided not to come. I didn't mind being on my own though, I've been to York a bunch of times and feel really comfortable there. For a while I had actually considered moving there!

I took myself to York's Chocolate Story (https://www.yorkschocolatestory.com/) where I learnt about the history of chocolate as we know it and got to make my own chocolate lolly, The York Dungeons (https://www.thedungeons.com/york/en/) where only two other people turned up at that time which made for an interesting experience, and a Ghost Walk which I hadn't been on before.

On the days with my Brother and Grandad we visited:
- The National Railway Museum (https://www.railwaymuseum.org.uk/)
- Jorvik Viking Centre (https://www.jorvikvikingcentre.co.uk/)
- The Shambles
- Richard III Experience at Monk Bar (https://richardiiiexperience.com/)
- Barley Hall (https://barleyhall.co.uk/)
- York Minster (https://yorkminster.org/)
- Yorkshire Museum (https://www.yorkshiremuseum.org.uk/)
- Dick Turpin's Grave
- York Castle Museum (https://www.yorkcastlemuseum.org.uk/)
As well as walking around some of the city walls.

Also pictured is Clifford's Tower which we walked past but didn't go inside. (https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/cliffords-tower-york/).



Other notes
In the times I was actually at home I kept up with my snowboarding sessions twice a week (usually) but progress was slow and I'm hoping a bit of a break from it will take some of the stress out of it. I have a couple of short, and busy, breaks from uni this year so I might not get back into it until next summer, but honestly I think it was starting to harm my mental health more than it was helping. But I'm looking forward to having a fresh go at it next summer.

I don't think I really have anything else to say about summer, or I certainly can't think of anything right now while it's 1.30am and I have just realised that this is the one Monday when I start class at 9am instead of 11am. Well, I'm going to need a coffee in the morning!

In the next blog post I'll try to cover the first term of year 2, then we won't be too far from caught up.

Thanks for reading.
Katherine x

Dad's Secret Holiday!

14th January -
11 days post discharge

Dad's secret holiday was a holiday my family and I planned for us to go on with my Dad. The location was planned around a specific activity we wanted him to do. After he was discharged from hospital at the beginning of the year after his cancer diagnosis and major surgery he bought himself a sloth cuddly toy. He later informed me that sloths are his favourite animal, something I didn't know. He's gradually been accumulating a collection of sloth toys and pillows, and now t-shirts too! 

Sloths are pretty laid back animals and so I thought I would have a look online and see if there were any zoos in the UK that offered sloth holding or feeding experiences. I found one called Drusillas Park, which is sort of near Hastings in the South of England. And so Hastings became the holiday destination. 

I contacted the park about adopting a sloth for Dad and getting a plaque put up with his name on before we arrived, which was something they offered on their website. There are three sloths at Drusillas Park, Sophocles, Flash, and Gordon. We chose Flash for Dad to adopt as we thought he would find it funny that Flash is fast and sloths are so slow. 

Here's the adoption certificate and photo of Flash:

We started the adoption certificate from Father's Day, 17th June, but he wouldn't find that out until we arrived at the zoo.

The park also offered the sloth encounter experience we were looking for and as soon as the holiday dates were finalised we booked this too. 

For the holiday we chose to stay at a Haven Holiday Park simply because of the convenience of having things to do at the park so we didn't have to go out every day if Dad wasn't feeling up to it. 

We hadn't told Dad any of this, the only thing he knew was the dates. He told us later he thought we were going to Wales! 

Without further ado, here's the photos! The sloth experience was Tuesday if you just wanted to see that.

Saturday 21st July

Arriving in Hastings

On the train

Giant deck chair

Dad having his first alcoholic drink
since the surgery

The oncologist told him he couldn't ride a real motorbike
anymore... he was straight on this as soon as he saw it!

Sunday 22nd July 

Okay, so I had to borrow a photo from the Haven website to show you the waterslide they have at this park. Dad went down this slide, in swimshorts and a rash vest, and whizzed round the bowl three times! It was a pretty fast slide, I've been on one at another Haven site but this one was rougher and faster.

Image from Combe Haven

Dad at Party In The Dark

Mum and me at Party In The Dark

My sisters at Party In The Dark

Monday 23rd July

View from West Hill, Hastings

Hastings Castle

This stone was swapped from
a castle in Normandy, France

Smugglers Adventure, in the caves

Tuesday 24th July - The secret Sloth experience day!

Oddly enough, Dad had picked up a leaflet for Drusillas Park in the Haven reception and said he'd like to go, he likes zoos. We brushed it off and said if we have time we can go later in the week. So, when we rocked up at Drusillas on Tuesday morning he was already pleased. I spoke to the reception while he was in the loo so he couldn't overhear anything. 

The sloths aren't far into the zoo, still inside the building which houses the main entrance, but typical Dad walked right past them! We called him back and said did you see the sloths? So then he came over and we showed him the plaque with his name on and we pulled the adoption pack out of my brothers backpack and gave him the certificate and photo. 

The enclosure information

The adoption plaque

After a while of looking at the sloths we carried on around the zoo. His encounter wasn't until 3pm so we had to keep him busy until then (he still knows nothing about it). Later on in the zoo there's a walkthrough area (where the animal encounters take place) and one of the sloths is there. Dad spent ages looking at him and taking photos, while the rest of us were grinning at each other because we just know he's going to love his feeding experience. We finished looking at the animals and had some lunch, and around 2.30pm we started heading back towards the entrance/exit, to the visitor centre. The park has some other things to do as well as the zoo and Dad was trying to look and getting stroppy because he didn't know why we were rushing him! We managed to get him to the visitor centre just in time and then we handed him his sloth experience pack and when he realised what he's doing he got really excited. First the keeper took Dad and me to the kitchens where he showed us all the food stores, explained the animals diets, and picked up the food for the encounter. He asked us if it's a birthday surprise, and Dad openly told him he's very poorly, I gently explained it's a bucket list surprise, and we kept chatting so it didn't get depressing. Dad was very interested in the foods, and asked lots of questions! We even went inside the walk in freezer! It was lovely on such a hot day! Then we headed out to the encounter walkthrough.

Dad with the food

Dad feeding Sophocles

Dad feeding Sophocles

The keeper called Sophocles down from his box, it took a while but eventually he came down for some food. Dad could put the food in his mouth, or in his "hand", and he did both. Some vegetables Sophocles didn't like and he would drop them on the floor. Dad was chatting away to him and really enjoying himself. One of my sisters was also in there taking photos. My brother went in too but I don't have a photo of that. Dad also got to touch Sophocles' head and he fed a fruit bat as they were also in the enclosure. One of the fruit bats even climbed over Sophocles and stole a piece of food right out of his mouth! We learned the Sophocles is the Dad of Flash and Gordon, and that Flash had to be hand reared because her Mum died after birth. The zoo are hoping to find a new partner for Sophocles. The keeper let Dad have over his 30 minutes that the encounters usually last, and then he offered to let Dad go inside the sloth tank and feed Flash as she's the one he adopted. So we went back to the main sloth tank near the entrance and collected the bucket of food for Flash and Gordon, and Dad and one of my sisters climbed inside the tank. It was very hot inside, but Dad got to feed them both and Flash even came out of her box to get more food from Dad after Gordon dropped his own piece and stole Flash's piece out of her hand! Dad touched Flash on the head once but had to be careful because she's got quite a feisty personality. By the time Dad had fed these sloths too his encounter had been over an hour long, and the keeper was perfectly happy for him to take as long as he wanted, but he needed the loo! I couldn't thank the keeper enough for the experience he gave Dad, he went above and beyond for him and it really meant a lot to us. Here's a link to Drusillas Park if you're interested in going or seeing what other animal experiences they have. One of the keepers told us that the Beaver Experience isn't very popular, and I felt sad for the beavers, so if you love Beavers go give it a look!

Dad inside the tank

Flash sitting in a basket

Dad feeding Flash

Wednesday 25th July

The view from East Hill

East Hill has the steepest Funicular Railway in the UK and I can safely say it felt pretty hairy going up there. Thankfully the way down wasn't so bad! We also went to Blue Reef Aquarium and the Fishermen's Museum before heading back towards the park on a miniature railway. 

My brother and sister racked up
16,000 tickets in the arcade by
Thursday to buy this drone!
Safe to say they're all over the
Space Invaders leaderboard

Thursday 26th July

I didn't leave the park on Thursday. In the morning we did a Pirate Treasure Hunt, and then we went swimming. I spent the rest of the day relaxing. Dad and my brother went into Hastings to go antique, and army surplus, shopping. Mum, Glenn and my two sisters went to the beach. 

Mum having a water fight with my littlest sister

Friday 27th July

Battle Abbey - Built on the site of
The Battle of Hastings

Riding into Battle

Thanks for reading!

Katherine