Q is for Quirky

When I first started thinking about what I was going to do for the letter Q in the blogging from A to Z challenge my mind went a bit blank (I know, nothing different there).  Then I realised that the answer was staring me in the face - when we're out and about we see so many quirky things that it had to be that.  Quirky means something a a bit strange but still a bit cool.

Our first quirky person is a lady that we encountered in Barcelona 11 years ago - she had done her makeup to look the same as her rabbit.  There is a breed of rabbit that has black rims around their eyes but we were a little bit worried that she may have enhanced the rabbits eyes as well.

A great source of quirkiness is all the quaint British traditions, customs, and celebrations, and for the sweet toothed people like us there is the pudding club.  An evening where the great British stodgy pudding is celebrated and you have to eat your way through 7 different puddings - yes we did feel ill by the end of the night but we have our certificate to prove we did it.

The menu of puddings for the night

The puddings laid out ready to eat

I'm a big fan of moomins (creatures created by Tove Jansson in the 1940's) and there is a lovely shop in Covent Garden which they sometimes have a Moomin outside of to entice children (and their parents) into the shop.  Both myself and the Moomin are quirky in this picture as children were wanting their pictures taken with him and then there was me.

Our darling boy Bertie Boo (yes we still miss him every day) was very quirky in that he would choose the most uncomfortable looking position and choose to sleep in it.  Does your dog do this?

There are so many quirky festivals across Britain and this one was the Green Man Festival in Clun, Shropshire.  This festival is to welcome spring back to the land and includes a mock fight with the ice queen in the middle of the town. Fabulous.

Festivals give people a chance to bring out their inner quirky child with how they dress.  This hat was on someone at a music festival - I think there's a naked bird somewhere as this man has stolen all the feathers.

These two ladies accosted Ken at Peace in the Park, a festival in Oxfordshire.

Here's the two of us finding our own inner quirkiness - Ken at Folk by the Oak and me in full fairy mode at the New Forest Fairy Festival (and again, the word you're looking for is crazy).

We often see shop window displays that are so quirky they slip into cute - for example this owl wearing a beanie in a shop in London (don't worry, it's not a real owl). I think there might have been alcohol involved when they were debating what to put in their window display.

A place where quirkiness really comes out is in how restaurants and cafes signpost their toilets. These are two of my favourites - the skeletons are in a Mexican restaurant, and the pants are in a park cafe.

I'm not sure if the next photo displays common sense, quirkiness, or just plain strange.  It's a canal boat with a car on it - how did they even get it on there?

Signs are a great way to make people smile, and I think that's one of the most important factors in the quirky stakes.  The one below was outside a pub in Kent - it really made us laugh.  The next one was on a Trike at a car and bike show - we were tempted to loiter and see if the owner lived up to the statement but thought that was us being a little weird.

The final shot is my favourite type of quirky - we were sitting on Hampstead Heath in London when the below man walked past in full Scottish regalia with a fabulous stick. I love it when you see people who are totally confident in their quirkiness - I think Ken and I need to up our game when it comes to our quirky behaviour.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and take note of all the quirky things around you this week.

Pamela & Ken
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