Andrea and Tina at Kay’s Harrogate Weekend

Last weekend Tina and I went along to Kay’s Harrogate Weekend there are additional details here.

We hadn’t been able to get along to Sparkle back in January, so Tina came up with the idea of Harrogate.

We had a great time there.

For me preparations begin early Thursday evening with nail polish. A nice shade of red. Three coats. A day before it’s needed, but it’s nice to know that it’ll be dry and pretty scratch resistant by the time I need to use my hands again.

Later in the evening there’s packing to do. The suitcase is big enough to hold plenty of clothing for two weeks, so I hope that it will hold a couple of days of my girlie things.

Short dresses. Two black. One pink. One red.

Longer dresses.  One black with white spots. One floral. One a shade of purple. One blue.

Medium length skirts.  Blue denim. Black cotton.

Blouses. Two.

Shoes. Black heels. White heels. Black small heels. Grey small heels. Black flats. White trainers / sneakers.

Makeup and brushes. Lots.

Toiletries.

Bras, knickers, stockings, suspenders, tights.

You know how it goes.

It fits into the suitcase. I know it’s on the extravagant side for a weekend. But you never can tell.

Friday morning sees an all over trim and shower then I drive across to Tina’s. We’re driving as guys rather than girls. If we did the makeup thing it would take an extra hour and by the time we hit Harrogate we figure we’d have to take it all off and do it all over again.

I transfer my stuff to Tina’s car … well actually to Tina’s wife’s car and prepare for the journey.

“Have you got everything?” asks Tina.

“I hope so. I’m always afraid of forgetting something important. I could manage ok if I forgot some of the makeup – or even my boobs” (yes, Andrea has detachable boobs that are currently in the suitcase), “but if I left my hair behind I’d be in big trouble.”

“Oh”.

Tina heads back for the house explaining that her hair had been washed and hadn’t got so far as the car.

Tina and Andrea have detachable hair as well.

Tina re-appears complete with hair.

Wow.

That would have been a close shave.

The miles speed by.

We meet a few of Eddies girls along the way, and stop for coffee at Leicester Forest.

Eventually the traffic stops moving. An air ambulance appears, disappears into the distance and returns. The traffic flows again.

I’m reminded of a Chris While song, A Simple Twist of Fate that I said I liked a lot here.

You can listen to a bit of it here.

We arrive at the Cairn Hotel a little later than expected, but all is well.

We makeup – without ever having fallen out.

It’s a little slower than usual. Only one usable makeup mirror between two girls is a recipe for complexity.

We dance around each other applying touches of  foundation, powder, shadow, liner, mascara, rouge, lipstick and gloss. Oh, and boobs, hair and a short black dress. Black high heels.

A trip to the bar and a meal. Lovely people. Enjoyable conversation.

Saturday begins with makeup, a patterned dress and flat shoes. Soon followed by breakfast.

The food, people and hotel staff are great.

We stroll through the hotel grounds for a little while.

Andrea:

Tina:

Then back to the hotel entrance.

We take a look at some of the things on sale inside the hotel. Tina buys a handbag. Andrea buys a necklace and earrings.

A short walk to the town centre.

I suspect that Tina has a fetish and so we call in at the Winter Gardens, a J D Weatherspoons pub. To be fair though, it was me that suggested calling in as we passed by.

I definitely didn’t twist any arms though.

If you ever meet Tina, be sure to ask about J D Weatherspoons in Manchester.

A couple of hobgoblins keep us company for a while, but they don’t last too long.

On our way out we visit the ladies. It’s strange how a lot of Weatherspoons web sites feature pictures of washrooms. Here’s how it looks at the Winter Gardens, just in case you are interested. I’m not sure if it’s the ladies or the gents. I only visited the ladies, but my memory is unfortunately not photographic.

We drop by Debenhams and take a look at what’s on offer. Quite a lot of nice things but nothing especially takes our fancy.

I feel the after effects of the hobgoblins and discover what the ladies room at Debenhams looks like. A lot less chic than the Water Gardens version.

As we stroll through the park we hear wolf whistles. A small group of guys and girls seem to like the idea of whistling at us. I can’t make out what they are calling out, but it seems good natured.

Rather than seek the services of a policemen I wave and blow them a kiss.

We sit and chat in the shade on a bench along Montpellier Hill, the young men and ladies leave us alone.

After a while we walk slowly back towards the hotel, enjoying the afternoon sun. Stopping for pictures at Crescent Road.

 

 

At the hotel there’s time for a little drink and then we change for cocktails and the Gala dinner.

Again the food, service and company is excellent. I meet Sally and chat with her as we eat.

After dining there is a chance to dance and, for the brave or foolish, there is karaoke.

Tina and I don’t drink anywhere near enough wine to be tempted by the karaoke. But it’s fun watching the others. It ranges from the sublime to the … not-s0-sublime.

It’s a warm evening, but we do dance a bit.

At about midnight we drift back towards the bar and get a drink and sit and chat with Rita and her wife.

And then its makeup removal time, sleep, breakfast and the journey home.

As I said, we had a great time. So thanks to Kay for all the hard work that she put into it.

Fantastic!

Sparkle 2012 - thoughts, feelings, pictures and video

Sparkle 2012 has been and gone.

As ever, it was great.

Tina and I travelled up to Manchester together last Friday. We set off  a little after 9:30 am from Windsor.

Eddie Stobart truck name spotting is an affliction that I acquired in July 2012 … and it’s all Tina’s fault. We saw Nicole (don’t remember her second name) and Beatrice Ann … and several others as well. Still no sign of an Andrea or a Tina.

The traffic was pretty reasonable. We stopped for a coffee en-route and arrived at the Premier Inn on Portland Street in Manchester a little after 1:30 pm. The weather was grey and wet most of the way.

The traffic got a lot worse not much after we had passed the M5 / M6 junction … a few people we met spent a few hours in traffic jams.

All the staff at the Premier Inn on Portland Street that I’ve met in the past several Sparkle’s have been really helpful and friendly. It’s a great place to stay and is very TV (transvestite) friendly.

We checked in, dropped off the luggage and parked the car.

At round about 2:00 pm we began the process of of getting made up and dressing.

Round about 3:30 we called into the hotel bar to meet up with Veronica, who Tina had chatted a little with on TV Chix.

Veronica was chatting with Maxine who she’d bumped into while having a ciggy break outside the hotel, though Maxine was currently in male mode. Emma was also there, and currently also in male mode.

Here’s Veronica with Tina:

And Veronica with me:

We had a drink and then went for a walk round the corner to the Paramount Weatherspoons pub on Oxford Street.

Just in case you are interested … here’s a picture of the Gentlemen’s toilets taken from the web site … I don’t know if they were really like that though, having only ever visited the Ladies:

Here’s Tina in the pub:

And here am I:

 

The only not-nice incident of the weekend occurred here.

Veronica visited the Ladies and a guy that was very much the worse for wear in terms of excessive alcohol consumption … began to bad-mouth her. For no good reason.

There was a member of the Weatherspoon’s staff close by at the time who called a security guard over and the man was escorted from the premises.

When we left, the guy was still outside the building with a few of his friends.

He was abusive to everyone and if it hadn’t been for the efforts of his friends in holding him back, I guess all kinds of things could have happened.

Incidents like this have different effects on different people.

My own feelings are varied.

It didn’t bother me much … I try, though not always successfully, to not allow the behaviour of bigots, idiots and drunkards to upset me … and the guy seemed to fall into all three of these categories.

It was good that his friends could see the unreasonableness of his attitude and behaviour and that they were prepared to calm him down.

However, a part of me would have been happy to hunt down a police officer to explain to the drunken man the unacceptable nature of his behaviour.

Really, I don’t intend to offend or upset people.

At the same time, I am who I am … and the law agrees that I have the right to be myself. And so do Veronica and Tina.

A song called Second Time Around by Amy Ray includes the following words:

Here's what I've learned about compromise--
Don't do it if it hurts inside
'Cause either way you're screwed.
Eventually you'll find
You may as well feel good.
You may as well have some pride.

And I think that kind of attitude is a fair one for transgendered people to take.

Next stop, a change of clothing. Something shorter for the evening. Without shoes:

And with some pink ones:

 

Then back to the bar at the Premier Inn for a meet with Veronica, Emma, Tina and Maxine … all girls this time:

And then out for a meal.

We ate at the Red Chilli restaurant which is a short walk down Portland Street. The food and service were excellent.

And then for a night on the town. Mainly in the the Via bar on Canal Street.

We hadn’t been there long when Nikki and Rachel showed up:

We knew they were around somewhere, but hadn’t been in contact … only minutes before they arrived Tina had said, wouldn’t if be funny if they showed up here. And, het presto!

We chatted and danced.

Later in the evening we dropped by Eden and sat and talked for a little while longer. It was getting close to 2:00 am when we headed back to the hotel.

Next morning Tina and I went for a wander along Canal Street and had a coffee at the Via Bar and a little walk around Sackville Gardens where the main Sparkle stage and stalls are.

And then we met up with Sarah, my eldest daughter, at Weatherspoon’s for lunch. The prices are good, and there’s a great selection of beers.

Next stop is a re-visit to Sackville Gardens.

We listen to the Burlesque Boys:

There are a few strange animal passers by:

 

And a nice mix of folk all around:

 

And we have a chat with a few of the police support personnel.

Then a short walk to the Lesbian and Gay Foundation on Richmond Street where some of the people featured on the Channel 4 documentary  My Transsexual Summer are interviewed … Karen, Donna, Lewis and Fox. I’d watched the TV (television) series and it was really interesting to hear a little more from them.

And then, Sackville Gardens again to hear Elouise

And admire the Pink Punter Bus … the biggest, gayest bus in the world:

And see Miss Sparkle being crowned.

Here’s a taste of it:

Another change of clothing and tidying up of makeup and Tina and I head for Eden. I’m wearing four and a half inch stiletto heels, so it’s a slow walk.

We have a bite to eat. It’s busy but not overcrowded and the food is great.

Later on in the evening … Sunday morning to be more precise … a girl comes over and says she loves the way that we look and can she have a picture taken with us. She’s with her mum and her girlfriend (all are gg’s rather than tg’s, ts’s or tv’s). She very sweetly says that she had to try hard talking her girlfriend into taking a picture because she was so jealous … so cute.

And here’s a picture or her mom and me:

They’re really lovely people.

And then back to the hotel. A passing girls makes us smile as she says “you look really great girls”.

As we go through the door we meet Emma in male mode and have a chat. (S)he’s headed outside for a smoke and we arrange to meet in the bar in a few.

The bar is surprisingly busy for 2:00 am.

We sit and chat and drink Stella Artois.

Emma keeps apologising for being really drunk and for swearing. But is good fun talk with.

Eventually its time to sleep again.

10:00 am on Sunday morning and time to get ready for the day.

Tina gets made up. I’m in guy mode. Sarah is getting married on Friday and we’re planning on calling on her to collect things to take down to Windsor ready for the wedding. Her fiancé knows about Andrea, but doesn’t feel ready to meet her, so I’ll visit as a guy.

We leave bags in the luggage store at the hotel , have breakfast and then wander around the Arndale shopping centre for a while and have a cup of coffee.

Collect the car and luggage.

Visit Sarah to collect the wedding things.

The drive back home.

The traffic is moving pretty well and we see a few girl trucks.

Another really good weekend.

Roll on Sparkle 2013.

Sparkle 2011, Stobart Saddo’s and things that go bump in the night

9:00pm Thursday July 7^th 2011. Sparkle starts tomorrow and I need to do some packing.

The plan is to take just enough clothing for the weekend.

So how much does a girl need to take to last from 2:00 pm on Friday until 2:00 pm on Sunday?

Two suitcases later and the best laid plans have gone awry. One is full of clothing the other with shoes, makeup, hair, costume jewellery, boobs and stuff.

Friday July 8^th, Tina arrives at about 9:45 and soon we’re en route to Manchester.

All is goes well until round about midday.

The SatNav bleeps.

There’s a 2 minute delay a few miles ahead.

No sweat.

Four minutes.

There are red brake lights in the distance and no exit between them and us.

Bleep.

Twenty eight minutes says the SatNav as we draw to a halt.

Twenty eight minutes becomes an exclamation mark.

The SatNav knows as little as we do.

“Maggie Sam” says Tina.

“Maggie who?” says I.

“Maggie Sam. The lorry.”

A lorry is a truck.

“Which lorry?”

“The Eddie Stobart lorry. They have girl’s names.”

“They do?”

“They do.”

So ... whether you like it or not ... here is some background.

It seems recently there was a television program devoted to the Stobart Group. The web site (http://www.stobartgroup.co.uk) says:

The Stobart Group is the UK leader in multimodal transport and logistics solutions. It is one of the most recognised and strongest brands in Britain, best known for its iconic Eddie Stobart trucks. Today, Eddie Stobart is the name behind a road haulage fleet of some 2,250 trucks and over six million square feet of cutting-edge warehousing facilities. By size, Eddie Stobart has the best vehicle utilisation in the industry, helping to maximise efficiency and environmental benefits.

A few minutes at http://stobartsaddos.com/ or http://www.clubstobart.co.uk shows that Eddie Stobart spotting is a serious business. And for a mere £15 membership fee you can get a list of the names of all of them.

Here is what one looks like:

Wikepedia says that this is Sandra Ann (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Eddie_Stobart_lorry_Scania_R420_Sandra_Ann_PX07_BXK_in_Plymouth,_9_August_2007.jpg ).

We haven’t met.

BBC Radio 2 informs us of a jack-knifed lorry on the M6. There are long delays.

We nod in agreement.

Approximately two and a half hours later we pass the scene of the jack-knifed lorry. The lorry is long gone, but the road is in the process of being cleaned up.

By now Andrea is suffering from StobartSaddo syndrome. The tally so far includes:

• Maggie Sam
• Carol Ann
• Cheryl
• Melissa Nicole
• Jacquelyn ... I don’t remember her other name

Arrival at the Premiere Inn on Portland Street is at about 4:00 pm.

Tina pulls into a loading bay in a side road.

The road markings say ‘Loading Bay’. A little sign says ‘Lorries only’. Another says ‘No unloading’.

The suitcases get left in the luggage store and the car goes to the car park.

At about 6:15 we set of for the Taurus on Canal Street where we’re meeting up with a few girls for a meal. Laura and Billie arrive not long after.

We eat, drink and chat.

Tina and Laura:

 

Billie and me:

After eating we take a short walk and spend a few hours in Eden. The bar that is, not the garden of.

It’s quite pleasant even if it isn’t paradise.

Tina is impressed by the Wainwright’s beer. Billie kinda likes it as well. Laura has a Bud. I have a Carlsberg.

Billie goes to the bar.

“Where’s the Bud?” ask Laura.

Laura sips the Wainwright’s and doesn’t seem to be quite as impressed as Tina. You should have seen Laura’;s face a bout 10 seconds before this picture was taken.

Laura goes to the bar.

Billie decides to go for a walk.

We sit and sip.

Laura tries phoning Billie:

Andrea gets out the umbrella and wanders up and down Canal Street on a Billie search.

Next stop is the Via bar. It’s an unusual kind of place. Looks like any other bar from the outside. But if you walk in and head for the back the interior looks as though the inside of an old church building has been transplanted into it.

We find some seats and I head for the bar.

Down a couple of steps. Then down a couple of more.

All of a sudden as I turn a bend on the stairway the ground disappears.

Oh my.

Right hand grabs onto the banister.

Bum hits the ground.

Left arm slides along the edge of the step.

Bump. Bump. Bump.

Ouch. Ouch. Ouch.

A guy at the bottom helps me to my feet.

I smile sheepishly. I think.

Looking down at my stinging left arm, just below the elbow I see a patch of white shredded looking stuff.

But nothing that looks red. Apart from my dress. But the dress was red before the fall so I’m happy with that.

At the bar I buy a Carlsberg and a glass of lemonade. Then carefully head back up the steps.

Looking back at the arm it’s not just white and a little shredded any more. Red and purple. Grazed. But not bleeding. Just stinging.

Laura and Tina are eminently sympathetic. And don’t even suggest an alcohol induced injury.

The consensus is that I ought to report my little trip at the bar.

This time I negotiate the bend in the steps very carefully ... watching exactly where I out my feet ... making sure that I take the outside if the bend. On the inside the steps are very narrow. That’s the excuse that I’m sticking with at any rate.

The guy behind the bar escorts me to other bar where the first aid kit lives.

The girl behind the bar takes a look.

Ouch.

As the guy hunts through the first aid kit she has a cloth with antiseptic on it.

“This might sting a bit.”

It stings a lot.

The guy reappears with antiseptic wipes.

“This might sting a bit.”

It stings a lot as well.

It’s all very bruised but it’s pretty dry and there’s no blood.

A bandage is wound around my arm. A red one would go better with my dress. But I can live with the white.

I have a freebie drink and head back to join Tina and Laura.

Here I am complete with the freebie drink and the bandage.

You should see the bruise on my bum. It’s huge!

Eventually it’s time to get some sleep.

Laura is staying at the Ibis. “Just turn left at the end of Canal Street then” I say.

“No ... I think I need to go right” says Laura.

“No ... Charles Street is off to the left.”

“But I’m staying at the Ibis on Portland Street.”

“I thought Billie booked the one on Charles Street.”

Laura gets out the map.

The x is on Portland Street.

So we all head for Portland Street and some sleep.