The Sweet Shop Down Memory Lane, Curious Candy, Bangor. Nostalgic Delights Part One.

This is the first in a series of blog posts reminiscing about nostalgic foods, drinks and meals from the 1970s and 1980s.  

For this post I enlisted some expert help, in Paul the owner of Bangor's classic, traditional sweet shop, Curious Candy. Michael & I had lots of fun exploring all the shelves the compact, but filed to the brim little shop in Bangor's Central Avenue holds.

As well as the nostalgic treats featured in this blog post, the shop has almost every jarred sweet you can imagine, plus a whole section of imported American Candy, like birthday cake flavoured M&Ms. If you don't live where I do, but want to buy any of the products featured, you can visit the Curious Candy online shop  . So without further ado, on to the retro sweeties, which do you remember?

Pink shrimp, sort of foamy, remember them? 

The classic, "get that for you Dad' sweet

Peanut candy

Almost too cute to eat

What about this lot? Any of your favourites? Sherbet Pips, Fruit Salad, Alphabet Letters, Fish & Chips, Jazzies. 

Bangor Rock, Midget Gems, Black Jacks, Floral Gums, Cherry Lips. 

So, are there any I've missed that you have fond memories of munching? Let me know on Twitter @rudedoodle, or ask Curious Candy @curcansweets if he has any in stock.  You can also connect with Curious Candy on their facebook.

This was my purchase today, along with super sour Warheads for Michael, as he's watched lots of YouTube challenges featuring them. If you've seen the Bean Boozle Challenge going around vloggers, and want to get your hands on a pack, Curious Candy will be getting a supply of the totally curious candy Jelly Belly beans this weekend. 

This Weekend's Sunflowerfest Line Up Revealed

Only a few days to go until the 6th annual Sunflowerfest, the family orientated festival here in Northern Ireland. Music will kick off from 1.45pm on Friday 31st July and from 12pm on Saturday 1st August and 12.30pm Sunday 2nd August, with exciting headline acts Dreadzone (10.45pm, Friday), Senser (10.40pm, Saturday) and Skinny Lister (9.50pm, Sunday) closing the main stage on each night of the festival.

To purchase tickets to next week’s festival or explore the full line-up of events and activities for all festival guests, visit Sunflowerfest.

This year’s confirmed music line-up is as follows and can also be accessed online right here.

Cactii & Painting-by-Numbers Themed Jewellery Collections? YES PLEASE!

How kitsch and cute are these two collections from  FinestImaginary ? Which pieces tickle your fancy? Photos by Holly Booth.

Hand Drawn Creative at Bangor's Open House Festival

My wonderful blog logo designer and all round, mid-century loving super illustrator Neal McCullough has a free exhibition as part of both our home town's Open House Festival this August. Pop along for the opening night on Wednesday 5th, or visit his website for more beautiful illustrations, including some free classic car tablet & phone backgrounds.

Luxury Glamping in Northern Ireland : Tepee Valley

The past few summers I've been dying to review a glamping site, but they are few & far between in Northern Ireland. So we were terribly excited when the opportunity to stay at  

TepeeValley Campsite came around.

The very exclusive site is just outside Markethill, near Armagh, in a rural location. If you are trying to find it, make sure you type the name of the road into your Satnav, not the postcode, or like us you'll end up in a farm's courtyard a bit lost!

The family-run campsite features some large yurts, a couple of vintage gypsy caravans, and a namesake teepee, as well as a handful of spots for Caravan Club member touring caravans. The site is open all year round, but the canvas structures are only available in spring & summer. 

There are communal campfire & game areas, as well as two locations with toilets and showers, all kept exceptionally clean.

We stayed in the Shepherd's Hut, the ideal choice for a couple staying on the site, or a parent & child getaway weekend. The caravan has one electric socket, with a lamp, so you can still charge your phone or tablet. There is an old fashioned stove, but no running water, so it's a little bit back to nature, but glamping style! The bottom bunk is a double bed, with a single bunk above. Tepee Valley asks all guests to bring their own bedding, pillows and towels, so we brought sleeping bags & cushions. The Shepherd's Hut has pillows however, so we just had to stick pillow cases on and we were all set. 

Given it's exclusive nature, the site is very peaceful and quiet as you'd imagine. My son quickly made friends with a little boy from the other caravan, and because of the enclosed, safe environment I was quite happy to let him run around the site & explore by himself. 

Another fun feature that sets Tepee Valley apart from any other campsite, are the rare breed animals you share the space with. In the enclosure near our hut there were goats and two adorable little black sheep, who were very friendly and loved being fed handfuls of grass. 

The owners' daughter kindly picked us some roses, and left us three eggs from the chickens on the site, which my son loved. You are also given logs for your stove, or outside fire.

We really enjoyed our stay in Tepee Valley, it's luxury camping in an absolutely beautiful, rural location. We hope to maybe travel down again before the end of this year and stay a night in the actual teepee.  

You can connect with Tepee Valley on their  Facebook page.

Another Day Trip Destination: Kilbroney Park Narnia Trail

Two weeks ago I shared with you the new family forest trail at Slieve-Gullion . My friend Karen tipped us off about a similar destination, The-Narnia-Trail at Kilbroney Forest Park. We hadn't been to Kilbroney before, but we had driven past the entrance to it several times whilst staying down in that direction. It's situated right outside Rostrevor, near Warrenpoint, which means if you are Bangor or Belfast based, like us, it is a bit of a hike, but given that it's summer you can take a day and maybe fit in Slieve Gullion too. We were staying not too far away, in Teepee Valley one night and Hanna's Close the next, but I shall tell you about them shortly.

Kilbroney Park has a large carpark which is free. The set up is a bit like Carnfunnock in that there's a good sized, free play park, and a multi-level restaurant/cafe. Plenty of free to use toilets too, and by the looks of things mountain bike trails and rentals. The day we were there there was a guy doing horse drawn carriage rides, I think it was about £3 an adult, £1 a child.

As for the Narnia Trail itself, it's great. I love any sort of sculpture walk, so these trails are right up my street. It's worth asking directions, as there are signs all over the place, but to actually get to the trail from the carpark you have to go down through the building and then down to your left, past where the outdoor gym equipment is. 

The trail then begins with a giant wardrobe, of course, and it's well signposted throughout. It's a lot shorter in length than the Giant's Lair walk; I'd say the Narnia one is only 1/4 mile in a small loop. You do go off road so to speak, down through wooded areas & over lawns. It's definitely worth a day trip however, with the added bonus of one of the citadels looking a little like Elsa's castle! 

This Year's Sunflowerfest Will Be Super Refreshing Thanks to Vita Coco.

 This year Sunflowerfest, the all-ages, mid-summer, Northern Irish, family festival will have a unique chill-out zone where festival-goers can kick back and escape the summer heat while rehydrating with complementary Vita Coco coconut water. Sunflowerfest’s Bliss will include a range of local music, complementary therapies and all-inclusive yoga sessions for kids and adults, offering an opportunity to refresh and unwind during the weekend-long festival 31st July – 2nd August.

I've always fancied attending Sunflowerfest, as a beginners' festival event, to let my son experience the atmosphere of an open air music event. Perhaps this year will be the year? For further information visit www.sunflowerfest.co.uk 

Yogi Helen McAleer celebrates this year’s Sunflowerfest ‘Bliss’ line-up, sponsored by Vita Coco coconut water.

The 30+ Blog Collective: Open to Join Now!

Are you a blogger aged 30+ ? Fancy joining a network of like minded men & women, discovering new blogs & being listed where brands and PRs can easily find you? Then you need to join Hayley, londonbeautyqueen's Blogger Collective. Join for free here 

30plusblogs and start meeting new bloggers straight away! And thank you, Hayley, for putting so much work into making this network for us.