Don't just be in Oxfordshire - LIVE Oxfordshire
Review of corduroy bloomers from Pigeon Organics
I may have mentioned before how much I like wee girlies wearing bloomers, but they’re not necessarily that easy to find, and not always in great colours. I was absolutely thrilled when I found this scarlet corduroy pair from a local, Oxfordshire business. Pigeon Organics makes fabby childrens’ clothing with an ethical background, local sourcing and unique styles and patterns.
This is a review of the Wallingford Book Shop and in it I am going to give away one of my big secrets. Yes, if you know me and you have a birthday coming up please look away now, because my go-to present of choice when I have no idea what to buy someone is always a book. This is only in-part due to the fact that a book just makes a very nice present (have you seen how Iceland feels about them?). Of late it is in far larger part due to the fact that I live within easy reach of Wallingford and Wallingford is home of the super duper, love-it-till-I-die Wallingford Book Shop.
Who knew there were so many ways to tie a scarf? Not me. I’m really more of a wrap-it-round-and-round-til-I-run-out-of-scarf girl, but watching LisaB, the stylist, twist a variety of different scarves into ever more complex ties made me realise anew just how far my standards have slipped since I became a parent.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve never been hugely into fashion, so an invitation to a styling and fashion event at the Olivia May boutique in Oxford filled me with equal amounts of excitement (a child free night out!) and hesitation (fashion? me? um….) Mostly I went along because I have made a resolution to push myself this year – try and expand my horizons a little. Where better to do this than at an event that filled me with trepidation?
Well I don’t know if you noticed but I’ve developed a new look round here lately. I’m pretty proud of it all – goodness knows it’s been a long time coming. There may be a few more tweaks to make, but they’ll be mostly cosmetic now and www.liveoxfordshire.com will be my home for the forseeable future. So welcome, take a look around and allow me to tell you about my plans for the next year.
I know many of you, like me, are faintly dreading the coming week and wonder “what can I do with the kids?” Well, Oxfordshire is a veritable smorgasbord of free, cheap and low cost entertainments, both indoors and outdoors. What with The C word (yes, I went there – Christmas) on the horizon, Halloween at the end of the week and fireworks night shortly thereafter there are all sorts of themed activities to do across the county. I’ve outlined a small selection for you below, a gateway if you would, with something to do each day, but most of the venues listed are holding more than one event and it would be worth looking through their sites. Google is also your friend if you’re looking for something in a specific town.
South Oxfordshire is something of a crafters’ heaven. More than anywhere else I’ve lived it is teeming with gorgeous little fabric and yarn shops, quilting groups, stitch and bitch sessions, yarn bombing and all sorts. I’m not sure which came first – the crafters or the craft shops, but the two now exist in a blissful symbiosis of supply and demand.
For the disparate crafter, like myself, there’s the holy triumverate of Masons in Abingdon, a set of three shops spread throughout the town selling variously: fabric and yarn, fabric and notions and ribbons, cake decorating and papercraft items. Lady Sew and Sew is a lush fabric warehouse in Henley – a quilter’s paradise of fabrics – and for the quilter in search of support, Village Fabrics in Wallingford has the most knowledgeable and helpful staff, and they don’t do a hard sell on you. It also runs lots of great classes and groups.
