A review and small defence of Sanditon (mild spoilers)

 I admit it openly, I loathed Sanditon series one.  I thought Andrew Davis, once the darling of costume drama fans thanks to his adaptation of 'Pride and Prejudice '95'  had turned into a unoriginal, borderline plagiarist once he needed to write an original story to fill in past the beginning chapters that Ms. Austen was able to write before her untimely death.  The modern dialogue and overfamiliar manner of the characters, the blatant sexuality (this is Jane Austen FFS) Charlotte Haywood design  (admittedly not Andrew Davis's OR Rose Williams fault) the derivation of P&P with Sidney and Charlotte's love story, Charlotte Heywood being 'not like other girls' and doing ahistorical (and worst still, A-Austenian) behaviours such as running off to London at night on her own and walking around dark alleyways (WTAF?) and the lone black female character, surely a wonderful boon for representation, turned into a surly 'angry black girl' trope *sigh*  

I made my feelings known, upsetting some fans whose Yum yum I gleefully yucked in mocking everything, including the (non existent to me) chemistry they swore that Sidney and Charlotte had.  I made one of the first reviews of the show on two well known public reviewer sites and I was unsurprised when it was cancelled.

Then it was picked up by another network and Producers were smart enough to air it at the same time as mega fantasy Regency hit 'Bridgerton'  so when thirsty, middleaged women like myself marathoned Bridgerton in eight hours straight, only stopping to go to the loo or yell at adult child to bring you food,  the large gaping Regency era hole that show leaves has to be filled with something and for many of us, that something was Sanditon.  

 First the bad

So I watched the first episode and although I already knew that Theo James was not returning, whose character Sidney has died in the first scene,  I supposed they felt that the only way to move fans away from hoping for Endgame of SidChar, it too is UnAusten-ian.  Did Willoughby die for Marianne to move on towards Colonel Brandon?  Did Mr. Knightly have to die for Miss Smith to move on towards Robert Martin?   Jane Austen teaches us that we can have a crush, we could even be in love, but that first love might NOT be endgame and you can have a happy content new love whilst their living their hopefully miserable married life.  The problem with modern romantic tropes is that first love is the (one true) ONLY love and MUST be endgame OR if this person is/has been in love with someone else, that other love is proven to be weak, false or yes, dead.  

 Two hundred years from the practicality of the Georgians, we have bound ourselves up in a romantic convention that has made for some disheartening expectations of love including the idea that the object of your affection must be yours because you deserve to get what you want regardless of whether it is a good or practical partnership for either one of you.  Sidney could just as easily been living on his rich wife's Estate never to be seen again whilst Charlotte finds love with someone maybe a little less Byronic but fills her tank even more,  but Andrew Davies is writing in 2022, not 1822 and apparently the only way to stop the passions of modern love is to die.  Considering we live in a world of serial monogamy, second and third marriages and polyamory  Is "death ends all possibilities of a life together" REALLY the message we want to give here? 

I was annoyed to find out that Charlotte still has her hair out though thankfully, when she is working, she is more often seen with her hair up and is now joined by a sister, who also has her hair out often, though it is styled in such a way as to look more period so I am still at a loss as to why Rose Williams hair still looks like it is straight out of a Pre-Raphalite painting, sure they have straightened it a bit (don't think I didn't clock that, I did) but the fact is, her hair SHOULD BE UP and it isn't and it is not cute, it is fookin annoying.

We meet the new characters, including maybe one dashing Redcoat out of a whole Regiment, the rest are all scum, I am wondering whether Andrew is making a statement about men in the Military but goodness, I don't think dear Jane was ever that scathing, anyway they are setting up more derivative storylines picked from Cyrano d' Bergerac, P&P again and do I detect a little bit of Dickens too....? 

The Good and Not at all Ugly

One novel and absolutely delightful addition that I have noticed is the wonderful SUGAR boycott instigated by Miss Lambe and her guardians, the Vicar and his sister.  As an Afro Caribbean woman, my roots lie in a culture built upon sugar plantations, all of the sweetness that Georgians got to enjoy was thanks to the work done by my ancestors who toiled the field.  Seeing boycotts and awareness raised by black people and white allies was absolutely lovely and has redeemed some of the show for me.  Plus, I have the biggest crush on Alexander Vlahos 

 and seeing his messy, eccentric artist (who I suspect is bisexual) try his luck with the inscrutable Miss Lambe is worth gritting my teeth past yet another scene of Charlotte being a 'pick me' girl with her hair out like an 1800s lunatic saving the day with her ability to be daring and adventurous, always at hand to rescue children and grown men from angry horses and bad businessmen from hot air balloon folly.  

 

Well......I didn't say I was totally over S1 entirely. 😉 

Chivalry and how to reclaim both being a Lady and my sexuality....

........without feeling like a walking contradiction.

How I want to be

How I would also want to be

I have spent the last two years pretty much separating my persona's, like some sort of living embodiment of the Madonna/Whore trope.  One part is the maternal, pure, costumed matron.  The other is some sort of perverted sex object, open with my sexuality and all its diversity.

Yes sometimes one part bleeds into the other, I came out subtly to a few people at work but in general I don't talk about my life all that much and more recently, I came out rather spectacularly to the other mums as we were all very drunk, pretty sure I offered to kiss one so.....that happened.

I was very, very drunk.

Anyhoo, from my last serious relationship, until now, I have wondered how to incorporate both of these sides of myself with what I want to be, a Victorian lady with a rather saucy and sexy bedtime persona, with what gets projected onto me by these men (just keeping it real).  Who don't want the Lady, nor do they want a bedtime vixen, they just want a body, naked (or scantily clad in things I would never wear) because it is about their sexuality, not mine.  At the end of the day, to many men, you are fulfilling a fantasy of theirs, rather than living your own sexual truth.

Even when it comes to men in the vintage/historical scene, they have little interest in you unless you fulfil a preconceived notion of what vintage women look like. I haven't had much luck with those men at all.

Maybe I am just going to stick to being me, in all its contradiction and loving it. 

Single parent survival camping techniques

And re-enacting camping with devils Children!

So, after five years it was about time I made a little costume for the babe and go to a multperiod event to do some 'group shopping'.

Learn from my mistakes and my successes, it doesn't have to be hard even if you don't drive.

Do................

• Buy a camping trolley!  OMG, this was such a good purchase, the best thing in the world.  My tent, the sleeping bags, airbed and the kitchen equipment all fit into it. Face it, unless you have some strong kids, they will not be able to carry much and I had enough to carry on my back with such the clothes.
  
• Invest in a good quality tent and if possible, go and see it first.  My weekend weather was badly affected by two periods of torrential downpours, we were very dry even though the outside of the tent was absolutely soaked, the seams and all parts of the tent were totally dry.   I went to Decathlon in Surrey Quays and got to walk though a range of different tents, including the newfangled 'air tents'  which IMHO are just a gimmick but you know some people always want the 'new' type of thing. But you know I have never really fussed about putting tents up, it is taking them down which I have always hated and those air tents don't pack themselves! Regardless I settled on a nice two room mid priced tent and had it sent to me.
  
  
•  Thoroughly investigate your route beforehand and check it out on google maps.  One thing I had to budget on for example, is that I could take a bus TO my event, but coming back from it there is no safe space to cross a busy A road, especially not with a young child and a trolley.  Yes, I definitely would have taken the chance were I alone without a trolley, but I am insane, however I will not put my child at risk for the sake of saving some coin.
• Related to the above, make sure you order a black taxi if you have a trolley because the minicab place, despite you telling them specifically what you need, will not care in the slightest and will send a standard care, necessitating you to take everything out of the trolley and fold it down.  
• Brioche, brioche and brioche.  Kids get through brioche like it is going out of lovely French fashion,   so don't waste your time buying whatever terrible rolls they are charging £5 at a time.
• Noodles for lunch, make sure you do not put as much water in them as they say to, that is the very best way to end up with a much of MSG flavoured mess all over the tent.
• Save your money for dinner, the best chips on site are not necessarily the most expensive, if you are at an event, buy from the people catering mostly to eventers and not the people catering to the public, the prices are often cheaper and the quality is better.  Also if you happen to have a particularly cute kid they might knock some money off....(whaaaa???  it is not my fault she is so bonny!).
• I found sticking her wellies into a thick pair of winter stockings made a nice fake period boot, but it totally ruined those stockings, in future I will remember to buy some appropriate sackcloth and do the same thing.  Don't buy kids re-enactment shoes unless you are a)wealthy and b) doing an impression of a wealthy child.  Most of the children I saw were either modifying modern footware or barefooted. 
• Fruit, please take some, it will stave off constipation after all the brioche, ramen and chips and fool you into pretending you are a parent who still cares about health. Face it ladies, you will not be making a spinach and avocado Quinoa salad, so just stop the pretence. Grapes are fine, as are apples, pears and all dried fruit, trail mix and fruit bars.  For petes sake though, avoid soft fruit at all costs!  
• Goes without saying but camp close to the loos and if you have little children with little bums, stick your old potty in the camping trolley, don't be like me and have to sacrifice one of my bowls.....phifft, I had three others.
• Don't forget your LED lanterns it will be very boring and hard to undress.  Yes, I am very, very stupid some times.
• Let the kids take some toys in their backpacks as long as they can carry it.

I hope these bits of advice can help you get through plastic camping with little ones.  Next year I hope to be on site more and in the camp less but it was a particularly wet weekend.

Alors....until next season!!!!

The Future?

I can't wait to get one here.

I am SO jealous of Devon. Link to full story

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Day 7 and the aftermath

Potatoes?  No change there...

Soooo, there you have it, my last meal of non plastic packaged goods.  it was mashed potatoes and some sort of soya thing in onion gravy, plus some rather nice H&B snacks. 

And what have I been up to since?  Have I brought any plastic?

I feel I brought ALL the plastic at the  Asian Supermarket buying up loads of vegetarian fishlike food (tbf to myself, one of them was in a can). I have brought plastic drink bottles and some biscuits but I have also found myself wondering aimlessly around the supermarkets, thinking of that nice snack or dessert and wondering why there is so much plastic packaging.  I go back and forth over it, thinking of how nice it will be to eat that tasty treat.

And I leave without it.

It has been a hard week, anything I buy in plastic comes with a pang of guilt but goodness I know how hard it is not to buy any at all, no lettuce, no kale, no berries, no grapes.  In the toss up between a chips and tinned soup road or a life of salads and sauteed kale, my health trumps the environment because my body cannot afford to take the hit, especially in a world where no one else is making that sacrifice.  But I yearn to live in a way where I don't HAVE to make the choice between kale packaged in plastic or no kale at all.

Think before you buy....always.

N
x

Day 6 - Shopping leftovers and some fruit

So, breakfast and lunch for myself was the last of the bread from the weekend loaves and since I was planning on making a soup with the last of the Squash I brought, I didn't HAVE To buy anything today, but I did fancy some chocolate, fruit and a soft drink so darn it, that is what I brought.

Today's disappointment, unlike the Cordial top from Tesco's which was fully metal, the Sainsbury's Sparkling Sicilian Lemonade had a plastic one.  Mea Culpa, that was upsetting.

Everything else was, of course, as expected.

Tomorrow is my last day.....I have no idea what I am going to do after.  But I am definitely more mindful of the plastic I use and I don't think you can put that Genie back in the bottle.