Pink Procurement

The British high street has embraced the flamingo motif, for some reason. I've often wondered about people whose job it is to decide what we plebs get to buy and when. But, since flamingos and Airstreams go together, I'm not complaining this time. There are opinions and theories about why Airstreamers like flamingos. I go along with the idea that when Don Featherstone designed the gracefully kitsch lawn ornament for Union Products in the nineteen fifties, RV'ers probably wanted to take theirs away with them to created a little bit of their own yard-away-from-home. And the look just stuck. Now, you don't have to be into the whole fifties look to plonk a pair of flamingos outside your trailer and feel like you're part of some ironically kitsch gang. Most of us UK Airstreamers have a pair (although there aren't many genuine Featherstones around).

So this summer, we can also fill our shopping baskets with flamingoey stuff of a varying quality, and this is my choice, a drinks pitcher from a ubiquitous high street store. There was also a massive bag I fancied from Next (I think), but I'd never have use for it, or anywhere to keep it. That's the refreshing, anti-consumerism effect of living in an Airstream. Saves money and future trips to the charity shop to offload crap you bought on a whim.

The flamingo trend has been highlighted by my new favourite blog/website, Domestic Sluttery - the home and lifestyle blog for women who have better things to do. In other words, women! They have spotted a fabulously fifties/Hawaiian skirt from River Island, among other slightly more subtle finds. I've just found this website, but I'll be keeping an eye on it for their cocktail recipes, and indulgences like Chocolate Butter!!! I just know these are my people, because rather than wrapping in clingfilm and placing in the fridge for an hour, no no no, you pop it in the freezer for 5 minutes before schmearing on toast, pancakes, etc. As close to instant gratification as is decent.

Airstreams Throng

The Airstreamers have been gathering in Dorset and Yorkshire. We had a miraculous break in the weather for a weekend at an Airstream-friendly campsite in Dorset, then two weeks later, a cosy paddock and a heatwave near to York.

I really look forward to the gatherings. I've often thought that they are a way for the 'streamers to get their travels off to a start, but of course, in reality, many have already been on the road for a while. But anyway, it's a great time for talking about recent travels and future plans. For others, it can be an excuse to get a bit of maintenance or restoration finished in time for an appreciative audience, or to share your latest modification, or to show off that freshly polished trailer!

In Dorset we had a few new faces, which is always lovely, plus a catch up with some familiar faces we hadn't seen for a while, as well as some really regular gatherers. As people come to more of these weekends, the more the banter and ribbing flourishes. It's just joyful. And because you often know about other Airstreamers via the internet, it's great to put faces to names. This time we met the lovely Jenni and Kevin from Happy Days RV, who rent out their trailers on the site where we gathered.

For the second event, we went up North to Airstreamers Dave and Tanya's paddock. It was just the right size and shape for a cozy get-together, and the sun beat down on us the whole time. I still have the flip-flop tan to prove it. This time, there were no new faces, but the familiarity coupled with our sort of kidney-shaped formation made the group feel very relaxed.

Next? Rockhill Rendezvous in September, of course! It was lovely to hear all the York gatherers bidding each other goodbye with a "See you at Rockhill", like it was a given. Well it is for us, obviously. Our trips to the pub are also known as "meetings", where we each have a notebook and assorted, developing 'to-do' lists. Top of my to do list is "don't break leg!" I've already stepped up my yoga practice to strengthen my legs and ankles. Prevention blah blah blah.

Icing on the Cake

From Inner Realms on Etsy

I know one or two people who would feel right at home in this Airstream. You'd just hope that the inside contents lived up to the temptation on the outside.

Retro Flamingo Fabric

Barkcloth Hawaii Fabrics

On the UKAirstreamers forum a member has posted photographs of their newly-finished interior. Coveting their fabric led me to a bit of a surf and I ended up on the lusciously retro  Barkcloth Hawaii website. This flamingo print just ticks every box for cool vintage trailer style. It's got the ubiquitous flamingo and just enough of those squiggly and starbursty motifs to give the look without being overly kitsch. Although it does come in a range of colours, so if this is too timid, you could go for a pink or turquoise background.

A Lashing and A Pelting

It's one of those Sundays you just have to go with. Pete said he'd go out and do the chores when there's a lull. Lull, what lull? A lull is when it's drizzling instead of lashing. But you have to be quick.

Weather conditions can be evocative of specific moments, and this pelting is reminding me of a couple of times and places during our first year in the Airstream where we were holed up, keeping warm and dry. Everything, and I mean everything felt like part of a wonderful adventure during our first couple of years. About a month in, we were on a fairly exposed farm not far from Mevagissey in Cornwall, and storms picked up. We didn't know how much the trailer could stand up to, and like all our neighbours on the campsite, we didn't go anywhere for two days. We didn't dare. We didn't know if the Airstream would still be there when we got back. Now I'm not so sure we would have wanted to be in if the trailer had started to tip over. As it was, it just rocked a bit and kept us awake at night.

Later, during our Summer in Ireland, our loo packed up and we waited on a large, deserted campsite by the coast in County Sligo while a replacement was being dispatched. Like I said, everything that happened was part of this incredible time that we had set out to appreciate, no matter what. So, in the wind and rain, clad in waterproofs and Crocs, I relished my walk to the toilet block. And when I got there, there would be musac! It's a bit surreal. Pelted by grey wetness on the way, you negotiated a 'Wet Floor' warning triangle and walked into a discomfiting cocoon of industrial toilet cleaner aroma, yellowed wall tiles and unnecessary music. But I did enjoy the particular lived-in quality of this slightly run down, out of season site. I'm sure it would have been perfect hell during the holidays.

So these images of being marooned in the wind and rain are flashing back to me, I don't have to go anywhere, Pete thinks he has perceived a lull, and he's out there choring. Alabama Shakes are playing, freshly downloaded after seeing them on Later With Jools last Friday. Jack White was good, but Brittany Howard really reached down in her boots and rocked.

Better put the kettle on because that lull was a false one and there's one soggy husband out there.

Airstreams Inspire

'Palm Springs Airstream' by Leah Giberson

One of my favourite shops on Etsy is Leah Giberson's. Many of her paintings are of Airstreams and other cool trailers, as well as iconic houses and objects. Her style, which saturates the image with colour while pairing back extraneous detail, is really suited to her trailer, suburban and urban structures, and pool-side subjects. In this one she has captured the sunlight so well, you almost need to squint to look at it. On her website she describes her subjects as ordinary. I find them anything but. I love urban and suburban images. We have known for some time that we will not be returning to live in the city, but urban landscapes are as much a part of my experience and inspiration as any pastoral scene.

Some Squares

The granny squares are accumulating. So far I have been adhering religiously to my plan to use up my stash, but I have got a point where I am left with a smidge too much pink that I don't want to use, and I feel a breathless craving for more shades of turquoisey-blues. So I am obviously going to have to cheat and supplement the spectrum with a trip to a yummy wool shop. The plan at the moment is to go around each square with a subtle and soft grey and then join them together with the same or similar colour, if I can find it. That way I think each square will stand out nicely rather than blurring into a painful cacophony of hues. Remember the snake in Disney's Jungle Book, hypnotising young Mowgli with his swirling eyes? Yeah well, that's not the effect I'm hoping for.

A note about the squares... Clearly, I have chosen to stick with the traditional granny square. I had bought a very funky-crazy pattern from Wonkey Donkey on Etsy, as seen on this post. But when it came to it, I could see myself spending years trying to learn each variation on the square theme and not getting very far with the blanket. As it is, this project is one to pick up and put down, according to mood or weather, so it's simple and comforting to just get into the rhythm of a familiar pattern. Then there are all those ends to sew in, but I'm not thinking about them today.