The first thing I noticed when we got in was the big Innocent drinks marquee, which had free samples…

… and the fake-grass covered ice cream van pictured at the top of the entry. The marquee also had lots of beanbags and deckchairs too, very comfy!

I didn’t actually take any more pictures… it was so so busy, and it was a bit difficult to hold my camera, goodie bags, and free drinks, so the camera was sacrificed! I didn’t expect it to be so busy, I thought being the last day it would start winding down, but obviously I was wrong.

The event didn’t have a drinks licence, so the vendors were forced to give out free samples! Full bottles of drink were able to be bought, but they couldn’t sell single drinks. I tried some toffee flavoured vodka (neat! It was pretty strong, but the toffee flavour was very nice), some sweet sherry (yuck!), Faustino V rose wine (okay) and some Kumala rose wine (better than the Faustino).

The ‘currency’ for the event were ‘crowns’, two crowns were equal to £1. Some stalls accepted actual real money, but for the meals, you had to pay with crowns. I had some poncey smoked salmon and cream cheese roll thing, which was a bit disappointing, but I didn’t really know what I was asking for as it had a fancy name, so it’s my own fault for being hungry and impatient. My fiancé got a chicken tikka kebab wrap, which was more substantial and filling, and apparently very very nice. With our leftover crowns we bought a Belgian waffle with squirty cream and chocolate sauce, and a bottle of water.

Standard entry was £12, and VIP entry was £40, but with the VIP entry you received 30 crowns (worth £15). Our tickets were free, so we didn’t mind paying to get some crowns, but if I had paid £12 to get in, I think I would be annoyed I had to pay further to try food. Maybe I’m just a cheapskate who gets paid minimum wage… haha.

The weather was very strange, as we left the house it was quite cold and overcast, yet by the time we got to Cannon Hill (a five minute bus ride on a 47), it was really warm and I felt a bit over-dressed! Whilst we were there it alternated between really quite windy and being hot again… very peculiar. At least it didn’t rain, we have to be thankful for that at least!

All in all we had a good time, we timed it quite well because as we were leaving, there was a huge queue to get in!

A few weeks ago, me and my boyfriend went to Cannon Hill Park for a picnic. It was when it was realllllly hot, so I smelled very strongly of coconut (yuk!), a necessary evil when the factor 30 has to be brought out. It was really quite busy, partly because it was a lovely day, but also because there was a fun fair taking place at one end (the opposite end to the cricket ground; it was near the entrance by the Nature Centre). I meant to take pictures of the fair, but by the time we left I needed the loo, so the priority was to Get Home Quick.

Anyway, more food and drink related CHP goodness. Is anyone going to A Taste of Birmingham? We got free tickets through my boyfriend’s work, haven’t decided what day we are going yet, but I am always up for a free day out. I’ll definitely remember to take photos, I am hoping they have portaloos.

I walk past it every day, the one they have pictured! I thought it was a crack den personally, but apparently it’s just a brothel. Just a brothel! I haven’t seen anything dodgy, but there’s always been more people than you would expect coming in and out of the house. And then there’s the CCTV cameras. Sometimes there’s a police car in the car park opposite, but I don’t know if they’ve done anything about it.

IKnit, in conjunction with WaterAid, have started a petition to raise awareness of global poverty and the lack of accessibility to clean water and sanitation. This is a petition with a difference! Instead of a signature – knit a blue square, 15cm x 15cm! They will be sewn together, and taken to Downing Street. There’s more information on the links above.

I’ll be taking part, I’d like to knit more than one, I think.

“Acts lined up by 96.4 BRMB to perform before the first three England games include former Busted Matt Willis, Duncan James from Blue and Tony Christie who’ll rally the crowds behind Sven and the team with his World Cup version of his number 1 hit, ‘Amarillo’. ”

Not listed here, shockingly, is Birmingham’s own The Mexicolas, who will be on stage at 12.30 on the day of the Trinidad & Tobago match (I don’t know when that is, I am not a football fan), so if you are planning to go, get there a bit early, because they’re good! Their Myspace appears to have more information than their actual website.

“Commuters force way into station

Commuters were forced to break into a rail station yesterday after staff forgot to open up. Workers heading to Birmingham climbed over a wall and a fence to get to the platform at Lichfield City station. A passenger eventually called National Rail Enquiries and they sent an employee to open the gates. A Central Trains spokesman said: ‘Nobody opened up and as a result people would have been late getting to work and we apologise for that.’”

I know Lichfield isn’t quite Birmingham, but it’s one of the main commuter train routes into Birmingham, and it’s a story about everyone’s favourite train company ;)

I would like to apologise for not updating here for ages. I have handed in my dissertation now, so I have no more distractions, and shall be delighting you lovely readers with very interesting stories. Lucky you!

The other day on the bus into town, and I couldn’t find a Metro, which was annoying because the traffic was really bad and I was bored. But then, I looked up at the CCTV screen, and I could see that there was a copy on the back seat (upstairs). So I had a Metro, and the CCTV served a purpose. Yay.

So, onto the pictures.

[Pictures originally didn't show because I have cold fingers and typed the html in wrong - it affected them all because I copied and pasted the basic text. Ooops.]

It’s cold today, have a cup of tea.