Lake District Julip Live 2019

While my dolls have definitely taken over as my main hobby, I still absolutely love going to Julip shows as they're always great fun and its one of the few times a year I get to hang out with groups of likeminded rubber pony people.

This year, Magda was off at a very inconveniently timed family wedding, so it was just Heather and I making the journey south to the Lake District. We'd booked the same guesthouse we stayed at last year in the seaside town of Morecambe, as it was really nice and very convenient in all respects. For a change we made it down without issue, not getting lost once, and managed to book in early so we had time to wander about Morecambe. Unfortunately our room was right at the very top so lugging multiple boxes of ponies upstairs wasn't exactly fun!

It was a glorious day, cool yet sunny - a far cry from the boiling hot experience of last year!

Lake District Live 2017

As with the same show last year, I travelled down to the Lakes with my friend (and new owner of Magpie Models) Heather, though this time we had an extra travelling companion in Magda, who I'd seen last a few weeks prior at the RHS. She didn't currently have any Julips, but we assured her from personal experience that she'd manage to acquire at least one in the spares. :P

The journey was good, save for that one time the sat-nav directed us around the world's smallest roundabout! (which was literally a clump of grass in a very narrow country lane!) We were staying somewhere different from our usual room at the George Washington pub, this time we'd be at the Arnside Independent Hostel  overlooking the estuarine Morecambe Bay.

We arrived in good time; so good in fact that we were far too early to book in, so we went for a wander instead.

Copperfox UK Tour - Scotland Stop! IMG INT

Months ago, when I first learned that Copperfox would be touring the UK and one of those stops would be up here in Scotland, my heart sang. We have so few model horsey events 'up north' and I just couldn't wait as for once, I could go to a show in a day, without having to travel and stay somewhere overnight!

Of course, it being me, I procrastinated to my usual ridiculous degree, only assembling my list of models and setups to take a couple of days before the show - some of which were only painted and/or made literally within the last couple of weeks.

Finally, the day dawned - rather unfortunately for me much earlier than intended, as for some reason my brain thought it would be a bright idea to wake up at ohdeargodwhy o'clock. (I was awake for ages, then finally checked my phone to discover to my horror it was 4:55am and I didn't need to be up til 7. Urgh)

Once finally vaguely conscious, I bundled all my models into the car, and Dad and I set off to pick up fellow hobby friends Eleanor and Arla, who we were giving lifts to as the hall was a bit of a faff to get to if you didn't drive. The drive up was nice, only about half an hour away and close to Loch Lomond, and we even spotted a couple of ponies in fields which is always a bonus when going for a horse themed day out.

(apologies in advance for some of the blurry photos - my camera didn't always like the indoor light levels and my phone agreed)

This post is going to be loooooong with lots of photos so if you'd rather just look at them without my rambling commentary, check them all out -here-. Feel free to save photos if you or your horses are in them!