On Saturday 26th September, I went to a lolita meetup at the Botanic Garden in Oxford. For those unaware, it is a beautiful green area filled with flowers and plants and trees and greenhouses of natural beauty. I had never been before, but I can safely say I will definitely be going again.
I was in such good spirits as I set off that morning. I've recently taken to using my village's train station instead of the main one in the town centre. Even though it runs a slower service, I find the lack of crowds and abundance of trees there to be very peaceful and pleasant. It's nice to be able to sit at one of the benches on the platform, and gaze into the distance, waiting for the train to appear.
Once on board, I settled myself down and listened to some music. I'd had the new Macklemore song "Downtown" in my head for days now, and I couldn't help watching the music video on my phone. I have been a fan of Eric Nally for years now so to see him pop up in some mainstream track is still quite surreal to me.
I soon arrived in Oxford, and after using my trusty travel sewing kit to sew my friend's broken shoe strap back together (this turned out to be a very temporary fix, unfortunately), we headed off to our meetup destination.
It was a photoshoot meetup, organised so that we could come up with a picture to contribute to the upcoming Tea Party Club calendar. Our month is April, so it seemed only sensible that we try to create a springtime gardening scene. I was initially worried about the fact we would have pretend it was April in September, but these gardens looked like they were stuck in spring, and we were surrounded by flowers of all colours in full bloom. To contrast, there were also great trees sprinkling golden leaves onto the luscious grass, so it was like experiencing two seasons at once. The weather that day was sunny and hot, so the only unrepresented season was winter. The brightness was perfect for my camera, and I excitedly snapped away endless sharp images. One of the items on my overly long list of interests is photography, and I particularly enjoy taking pictures of flora and fauna.
We only stayed for a couple of hours, heading off for lunch as soon as we were done taking pictures, but we managed to see a lot of the gardens while we were there. I particularly enjoyed the plant life in the greenhouses, though sadly these were fairly busy and excruciatingly humid, so we could not linger for very long. Despite this, I was still able to get some nice shots before we left for lunch.
So many flowers!
I am so proud of this shot.
A little pumpkin!
I was focused not only on capturing our lovely surroundings, but also on getting pictures of myself! I have so few genuinely decent pictures of myself in lolita that I feel determined to keep a better record of my outfits moving forward. My friends felt the same way, and in between posing for the calendar we found ourselves moving into our own little spots to take outfit pictures of one another! I made a particular effort to take pictures of Sammi as I didn't even get an outfit shot of her at the recent big lolita event we attended last month. I went a little "street snap" with her to make up for this neglect.
I decided to put together a country inspired coordinate using my newest dress, Meta's Gingham Cherry Ladder Lace jumperskirt. There are cherries, strawberries, and daisies in the print-- perfect for the spring theme!
I decided to put together a country inspired coordinate using my newest dress, Meta's Gingham Cherry Ladder Lace jumperskirt. There are cherries, strawberries, and daisies in the print-- perfect for the spring theme!
I love this photo of me!
So, that was my experience of the garden. There's something very revitalising about being surrounded by plant life, I feel, though that might be my tree-hugging side talking. Being out and about in pretty surroundings lifts my spirits and gives me things to marvel at and appreciate, which comes as a welcome relief from the stresses of the world beyond it. I must make more time to indulge in these days out, and remind myself that life has its good moments, too.
I hope you enjoyed this post! On warm sunny days, do you enjoy garden strolls and walks in the countryside, or would you rather be doing something else? I'd love to know what sorts of outings you like best! As always, thanks for looking and reading.
See you next time ❤
