A Mixed May

 Well May is nearly out and with it, Spring. On Sunday we will welcome June and the start of Summer. 

But let's reflect on May 2025.

It was a very up and down month for me. Definitely highs and lows. The month didn't start well with my wife's illness making things difficult. Her Multiple Sclerosis continues to slowly worsen, and aided by other co-morbidities, It's made life very tough for her and as her carer, it's made things very tough for me too. It's a very stressful situation and has been for the last few years. It certainly has a huge impact on my ability to find time to crossdress, which creates a catch 22 situation,  because the dressing helps me to de-stress and find some release. My wife's condition did threaten to scupper my plans to visit my friend Nikki Kent at her holiday accommodation and as a result, I had to prepare for a Plan B scenario, where we met briefly in drab, just in case our original plans were unable to be realised. Thankfully my wife's condition settled a bit, and Plan A stayed on track.

On Thursday 8th of May, I was able to dress and drive over to St Just, to spend a few wonderful hours with Nikki Kent. I have already written about it on the blog,  so I won't repeat myself,  but I will say that I had a wonderful day, meeting an old friend,  and it did me the power of good that everything went to plan. It was a real Red Letter Day for me.

I was still on a high on the day after meeting Nikki,  but came down to earth with a bump, when I had a bad migraine that affected me from Friday through to Tuesday. Migraines take a lot out of me, and it really took a week to get my strength back. 

I was rejuvenated by the excitement and fabulously camp spectacle of the Eurovision Song Contest. I know it has it's knockers,  but I love how vibrant and camp it is. It's so much fun and provides a crossover of mainstream and queer culture that is fun but also important at a time when the queer community is facing a little pushback against it, especially the trans contingent. 

And then the television was full of the bittersweet (for me) gardening extravaganza that is the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. It's bittersweet for me, because I always used to attend it, as a member of the RHS. I haven't been able to attend since 2013, due to my caring duties. So I love seeing the gardens and floral displays on the television coverage,  but miss being able to attend  in person. It looks like it was a very good show this year.

Of course I love gardening and I did manage to do some work in the garden, which I enjoyed and the garden is looking nice this year.

I managed to squeeze in a nice dressing session towards the end of the month, and wore a dress and cardigan ensemble that I had recently purchased from Vinted. I am very pleased with it, and the resulting photos. These photos were taken to mark my 16th anniversary of being active in the transgender world, with my first interactions coming on the UK Angels forum back in 2009 on May 24th. So I consider that day to be my Girl Birthday.  

And so we come to the back end of the month,  and I had hoped to get another chance to dress, but unfortunately another migraine has put paid to that, and I'm seeing out the month feeling rather unwell.  Also my wife's condition is deteriorating again. Hopefully we will both improve for next month. 

I have a couple of dressing sessions planned for June.  I am also hoping that I can visit my friend, Veronica,  but it's all a but up in the air at the moment with my wife's condition. So fingers crossed. 

This Week's Music Pt 4

 This week has been a busy one, so not much time to sit and listen to music, but I did sneak in a few YouTube views of music videos, and saw the first episode of Later With Jools Holland. So this week's music is 

Sona Jobarteh - Gambia, YouTube 

Sharon Shannon & Steve Earle - Galway Girl 

Van Morrison - Higher Than The World

The three selections above were suggested for me by my friend Nikki and I thoroughly enjoyed them, especially Sona Jobarteh.

The Cramps - Live on The Tube 1986, Tyne Tees Television, YouTube.  In 1986 The Cramps played for 20 minutes on UK music show, The Tube, but only 10 minutes were broadcast.  YouTube now has the full performance to view.

The Mary Wallopers - Blarney Stone, YouTube

The Cramps - A Date With Elvis, album 

Later With Jools Holland, BBC2 music show featuring live performances by Skunk Anansie, CMAT, Cynthia Erivo, Heartworms and Sam Amidon

Sixteen Years

Sixteen years ago, on May 24th 2009, I entered the online world as my femme persona. I did this by creating an account on the UK Angels forum and then making a post in the Introduce Yourself section. It was the first time that I reached out and engaged with the transgender community. I got a positive response and I am still very much a part of the trans community today. The UK Angels is no longer in existence, but the UK Angels as an organisation is. I soon found myself on Flickr and also getting out and about in the trans world and the wider world. It's a massive part of my life and I cherish my femme existence so much.

 

So today I celebrate my Trans Birthday. Sweet sixteen, although my actual 16th birthday was decades ago.

 

Thank you to everyone who has been a part of my femme life over the years.

 

Hopefully there will be many more years to enjoy en femme.

This Week's Music Pt 3

 Not much music on the hi-fi this week, due to being busy and also focusing on the Eurovision Song Contest, which I love.

China Crisis - The Collection, album 

Guns 'N' Roses - Appetite For Destruction, album

Eurovision Song Contest - First Semi Final, BBC tv

Eurovision Song Contest  - Second Semi Final BBC TV

Eurovision Song Contest - Final BBC TV

This Week's Music Pt2

 Alison Goldfrapp - The Love Invention, album

Ultravox - Reap The Wild Wind, 12'' single 

Vitamin Z - Every Time That I See You, 12'' single

Echo And The Bunnymen - Heaven Up Here, album 

Depeche Mode - Blasphemous Rumours, 12'' single 

Blossoms - Gary, album

Van Halen - Van Halen II, album

Sisters Of Mercy - Floodland, album

The Normal - T.V.O.D/Warm Leatherette, 7" single 

An eclectic mix again this week, some chosen by myself and some by my wife. 

When Deeanna Met Nikki (and Lily too)

 I have been friends with Nikki Kent for 16 years online. When I first created an Internet presence as Deeanna (or Davina, as I called myself back then) I joined the UK Angels forum. This was back in May 2009. Nikki made a few comments on posts i made on that site. And when I started my Flickr account, Nikki was the first person I added as a friend. After a couple of years we both drifted away from Angels, but stayed friends on Flickr and we have made many comments on each other's photos and swapped messages down the years. But we never met. Nikki lives in Kent  and I lived in Hampshire  before moving to Cornwall in 2016. 

  Well I'm very pleased to say that yesterday we finally managed to meet  for a few hours. Nikki is staying in a holiday cottage here in Cornwall, about 25 miles from my home. So I arranged to drive over to see her there. 

It has been a few years since I have been out in public as Deeanna, but I decided to drive there en femme, so I had to leave the house dressed. Thankfully I didn't have any problems getting out dressed. The drive went well through some beautiful countryside out on the Penwith peninsula. It was quite amusing because I was following a mini bus taking some school children out on an excursion, and I had the girls on the bus waving to me out of the back window.  Whether or not they had realised I was trans, I don't know, but they seemed friendly enough. 

Once i arrived with Nikki and settled in, we had a good old natter, discussing a variety of topics. We got on very well, and despite never meeting before we just chatted like old friends. Nikki was exactly the same in real life as she comes across online. I was only able to stay for 5 hours and I really didn't want to leave, when the time came to go home, because I was having such a nice time and enjoying her company. Nikki was kind enough to make us a lovely ham salad for lunch, and then we took some photos to capture the moment for posterity. 

I chose to change back into drab for the journey home,so both myself and Nikki changed back to en bloke, and walked down the drive to my car, and said our farewells and I had an uneventful drive home.

It was a really lovely day spent with a lovely friend and as such, it was a red letter day for me. Nikki has some connections to Cornwall which will  bring her back down regularly, so hopefully we can meet again. 

Oh, and I  got to meet Lily the teddy bear, who always travels with Nikki. 

 

   

This Week's Music

 A list of the music I have been listening to this week, for anyone who might be interested. 

The Cure - Head On The Door, album

Deacon Blue - Our Town, album

O.M.D - The Peel Sessions, album 

D.A.F - Für Immer, album

Depeche Mode - Speak And Spell, album

Human League - A Very British Synthesiser Group, album

Motörhead - The Lost Tapes Vol 6 (Live in Berlin 1992), album

Fontaines D.C - Romance, album

The Damned - Phantasmagoria, album