a VW camper van called Tangerine Dream

In 1994 my husband Dave and I bought a VW camper van, it was orange and white and I named it Tangerine Dream. It was going to be our retirement project and we hoped to travel all around Europe in it, sadly that was not to be as Dave died in 1998. But we did get to go to Glastonbury Festival in it and Womad, Brighton Free festival, Depford free festival and we used it to travel up to Whirlygig in Shoreditch and later Hammersmith.

every time you got into it it made you think of festivals because of its smell, I cannot describe it but it was a mixture of Sun, open fields, beer, damp tents and happiness!!!

when Dave died I gave in to my daughter Jessica and she used it to travel to and from Loughborough Uni and the Sheffield where she lived for a while, it was still used to go to Womad.

Jessica sold it 2 years ago to a family who were going to refurbish it and take it on holidays and to VW meets. I cried the day she sold it!!!!

I still miss it, it was a wonderful way to travel, and other VW drivers always flashed their lights or waved at us

goodbye Tangerine Dream!

incense

I cannot remember when I first smelled incense, maybe it was when I was taken aged about 8 or 9 to Petticoat Lane and saw the Indian stalls with their Benares brass, saris, statues of Hindu Gods and Goddesses and always burning were joss sticks, I loved it , such an exotic scent, it made me think of faraway places and a hot tropical sun.

later when I was in my teens I discovered a shop in Oxford Street called Indiacraft, where they sold lots f lovely incense, my favourite was called Kashmiri Saffron.

Later still in the 1990's I went to Camden Market and found an incense called Temple Masala, that is still my most favourite smell, but sadly I can no longer buy it, I have a few precious sticks I save for very special occasions.

I now buy Pure Incense online, my top smells are

sandalwood

patchouli

myrhh

patchouli and rose

frankincense

vrindivan champa

golden champa

green champa

and bharat darshan

I burn one of them most days and it takes me to that exotic, hot place straight away!!!

the life of an ageing hippy

the life of an ageing hippy

Festivals

I came late to Festivals, I was 43 when I went to my first one! It was Womad at Reading, and it was quite a small festival in those days, and I loved it! But over the years it grew bigger and the stewards became more domineering and the price of tickets went up and up and you seemed to be there just to fleece more money off. back at the start Festivals were free and joyous-- now they are just money making vehicles for big business. I will never go to another one, and that is sad. I remember one year in particular at Womad when my daughter of 20 something was driving us in in her VW camper van with her 36 year old friend and her young teenage son and me ( I was in m.y 50's ) and we had passed the ticket check and were driving round to the camping fields and were stopped by a huge steward who demanded we all get out and roughly put us aside while he had a look in the van, there was nothing we were hiding and eventually he let us go, but it left us shaken and sad.

The price of tickets has risen to nearly £200 for a weekend in a field surrounded by security and less than adequate facilities, and in the case of Womad you have to pay extra to arrive on the Thursday and £25 extra if you are coming in a camper van, it is just so sad and destructive to the original concept of the Festival.

the colour purple

when I was in my teens I loved the colour yellow, so much most of my clothes were yellow and was given the nickname Sandie Sunshine by one of my boyfriends! also I smiled a lot ( I still do! ) and that seemed appropriate for the nickname too. But as I have got older I have changed and my favourite colour is now purple, I have purple clothes, bedding, towels, china, glasses, throws and shoes to name a few!!! even a purple tattoo!!
I wonder why I changed , but maybe it is just age.
I am a baby boomer and grew up in the grey, drab fifties, when colour was limited to grey, black, brown and dark shades for clothes and furniture, although purple is dark it is also rich , so maybe I am just compensating for all those dull, drab years!
hooray for today when you can buy whatever colour you want!

love peace and happiness

as I get older I still embrace the hippy philosophy of love peace and happiness, but sometimes it is hard!
I smile at strangers in the street and I get smiles back, I chat to older people than my self and usually get a conversation in return, and the ladies in my local shop all .know me by name and ask how I am today.
local cats come up to me and seem to know I am a cat lover ( I have 4 recycled cats of my own ) so I guess I am a lucky person :-D
I am going to have a visit soon from my daughter and grandson who live in Manchester, and 2 weeks later I will have a visit from my daughter and grandson who live most of the year in Thailand.
life is good for an ageing hippy!!