Song of the Moment

Plus ca change...

Christmas Parties Galore

Last week I was rather busy, no time to be playing on the computer. Three Christmas meals in a row!! The first Christmas party was on Tuesday, at the Inn on the Lake in Godalming, with my friends from Fleur de Lys Morris. I thought the food was delicious (I had goat's cheese and onion tart to start, sea bass fillets for main and chocolate pudding with local icecream for dessert). However those that tried the Brussels sprouts complained they were like pebbles! The beer was not bad, the Taylor Landlord and the London Pride were acceptable. Then on Wednesday it was my BRI work doo at the Home Cottage in Redhill. The food wasn't up to it's usual standard as last year's cook was on maternity leave (my steak was over done) but the beer was excellent (they still had some Youngs Double Chocolate Stout) and the pub quiz was good fun (I cheated by phoning a friend!). Lastly was the East and Mid Surrey CAMRA Christmas Meal at the King's Arms, Dorking. Beer was great, as you'd expect, with Whitstable Bay Stout and Scattor Rock Scattor Claus going down a treat with the lads and lasses. I thought the food was very good too - that time I went for Duck Terrine, Roast Beef and chocolate cheesecake for pud.
I could have gone for a fourth meal in a row with my friends from the train at the Pilgrim in Dorking, but by then I was absolutely exhausted!
This week has been relatively tame, with a festive Ploughmans and champers in the work canteen today. It will be Patrick's work doo tomorrow. I think I've actually ordered turkey for that one but I can't remember! Looking forward to the Christmas break, lots of time with Patrick and with my family.
A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY READERS!
See you in 2008 x

The Great Welsh Beer and Cider Festival 2007

A rather grand title for a CAMRA festival, but since it was held in City Hall, Cardiff then it had some entitlement to grandeur! Patrick and I left Bath on Saturday morning and arrived at the festival at 10.30am. Things seemed in their normal state of organised anarchy. I introduced Patrick to my old friends, mainly from Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan branches of CAMRA, some of whom hadn't heard the news about my split with Kevin. Then we rolled our sleeves up and got stuck in with work.
At first we helped set out the CAMRA Products, including some interesting t-shirts to do with beards and religion! Then it was over to the main bar, which seemed very busy, with a short interlude on Foreign Beer (more complicated to serve than you might think) and a couple of breaks for food (huge pasties and tasty curry). We had lots more customers during the Rugby (Wales v SA). As the beer range started to dwindle, it being the last day of the festival, the crowds dwindled too. I still had the chance to sample some excellent beers - Wye Valley Santa's Delight being my beer of the festival. We headed off at about 10.30pm back to the hotel for some well earned rest!

Rye Weekend

Went to Rye for my second birthday weekend (!) just because I'd always fancied going there. Rye town was very beautiful with lots of unusual medieval buildings. The highlight was the view from the church tower at the top of the Rock - a stunning vista of the rivers, the sea, the town and the South Downs. THere were lots of really nice shops there, including a photographer's gallery with some beautiful local pictures. A spooky picture of Dungeness was particularly appealing. We had a superb lunch at the Ypres Castle Inn, washed down with pints of Harvey's Best.
Later on we walked along the Royal Military Canal Path and over to Camber Castle, getting back to town just as the sun was setting. We decided to get fish and chips at the 'Kettle of Fish' before the town started getting busy for the Bonfire Parade - a good call as when we came out we found people queueing down the street!
The firework parade itself was spectacular, with bonfire societies from Rye and its neighbouring towns all dressed up in wierd and wonderful costumes, floats from the scouts, the local school etc, a fire breathing dragon and a 'burning' ship. I took lots of photos, they will be in the gallery soon.
The fireworks were really good, if short lived, and the bonfire itself was huge, made of wooden pallets in which catherine wheels and other small fireworks had evidently been added. The bonfire societies stood round the fire throwing firecrackers around (not at each other, which I've heard happens at wilder towns). Thought they should have performed some circle dances round the fire for more crowd entertainment!!
Next day it was raining so Patrick drove to some locks that he wanted to see on the Royal Military Canal (not strictly speaking a proper canal, more a defensive ditch)
and we went on from there to Snargate and the excellent Red Lion, quick look around Lydd, pasty and mug of tea at the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway cafe in Dungeness. Lastly, the walk on Camber Sands just as the sun was setting was a beautiful experience.
Another amazing weekend - was sad to have to return to Farnborough!

Happy Birthday to Me!

What a wonderful evening at the Talbot Hotel, Ripley. Through the grapevine I'd heard that the local Ale Taster had been invited to do his annual quality inspection of the Hotel's ales, as it turned out he was accompanied by the Lord of the Manor and flunkeys, the Town Crier, a Magistrate, Fleur de Lys and Thames Valley morris teams, a marching band and a pair of Scottish pipers!
Patrick and I had booked a table in the restaurant and he treated me to a three course Birthday meal - bread and olive oil dips to start, then lamb shank with pearl barley sauce and potato hotpot, then warm dark chocolate cake with mascarpone sauce for dessert. I talked shop with Peter the Ale Taster (resplendent in authentic English ale-tasting costume) and he recommended the Ruddles County which was indeed as good as it gets! The entertainment was great, and it was a chance to catch up with the Fleurs again. Wished I'd been dancing with them, at times.
Ian and Janet arrived for last orders, they very generously bought a bottle of bubbly, which we ended up taking to our room, a large medieval bedroom with a four poster bed, very romantic!
Best Birthday ever, I think :)

Marple to Bugsworth Basin

Bit of a boo-boo on the way up – I got on the wrong train at Euston and ended up in Stafford instead of Stoke, so Patrick had to pick me up from there. Luckily it wasn’t too inconvenient - Stafford is only about 15 miles from Stoke, and there were traffic problems on the motorway anyway! Still a bit scary when I realised I was on the wrong train – the guard only announced the stops as the train was pulling away.
Spent the night at Patrick’s parents in Marple – a very erudite evening with beer, whisky and cream cakes – then off to Ripple’s moorings in the morning, Ripple had collected a number of autumn leaves so Patrick had to sweep them off before the acid from the rotting leaves attacked the paintwork. The BMC engine seemed a bit reluctant at first,, emitting black clouds and stalling once, but soon seemed happier once we were underway.
The Peak Forest Canal was particularly beautiful with the autumn leaves all shades from gold to deep rust. Not so good for steering the narrowboat though, as the fallen leaves in the water kept sticking to the propeller. We kept having to pt the boat briefly into reverse to clear the propeller again – but sometimes this was awkward, especially when trying to steer round bends where other boats were moored. Somehow all the other boats seemed to have picked really awkward places to moor up as well!
We stopped at the Dog and Partridge just outside Whaley Bridge for some excellent beer (I had Coach House Navvy mild) and a lovely meal (I had sausage filled Yorkshire Pud) then up to Whaley Bridge basin. Then back down the canal and up to Bugsworth Basin, where we met Patrick’s parents again. By sheer good fortune there was also a firework display in the evening from the local pub, the Navigation, and we happened to moor at the best spot to see all the fireworks! The four of us really enjoyed watching the display from Ripple’s back deck, with the fireworks reflecting in the water. Then it was off to the pub for another meal and some more beer!
Next morning we had a brief wander around the basin, which is a scheduled ancient monument, with some very interesting industrial archaeology. It was a leisurely cruise back down the Peak Forest and Trent and Mersey Canals to Ripple’s home moorings, and we arrived just as the sun was setting. Shame to leave!

Engaged!

Well, the news is everywhere, and anyway you guessed this would happen from my last post, dear readers!
Patrick proposed on Wednesday 17th, whilst we were watching the sun go down on a beautiful clear evening at the top of Leith Hill, so of course I said yes! It was four months to the day since that fateful weekend in Middlewich. Some might say it was a bit quick, but then we have known each other for 17 years!
So it was ring shopping on Saturday in Bath - I'd had a scout round the shops on my own in the morning, whilst Patrick was at work, and so when we met in the afternoon I showed him my favourites. We both liked a gold ring with an aquamarine and 2 diamonds, so that's what I'm wearing now! All my friends have remarked on how beautiful it is. Then it was off to the Salamander for a celebratory beer and burger.
We watched the rugby on the big screen at Bath Beer Festival in the evening - disappointing rugby but great beer and cider. Our beer of the festival was Star Spangled Banner from Saltaire Brewery - delicious American hop taste. Cider/perry of the festival were from Ross-on-Wye press - aged in whisky casks for an unusual finish.
Sunday was the walk along part of the derelict Somerset Coal Canal - very interesting, especially the bits about the lives of the ordinary bargees and coalminers, but a bit of a scramble in places, and I hadn't brought my walking boots, d'oh! It was good to meet Patrick's canal enthusiast friends - no doubt I'll be seeing them again soon for some 'vertical gardening' (clearing the weed from canal remains). Patrick offered to drop me off in Salisbury; we thought we'd have a quick walk to the Old Mill and back (again, really nice clear evening) and a pint and takeaway curry at the Village pub round the corner from the station.
Another wonderful weekend :)

Emma and Ting's Wedding

Emma is my oldest friend that I'm still in contact with, having known her since school days, so I was very pleased to hear the news that she and Ting were to get married. I'd met Ting once a couple of years before, and wasn't sure that he recognised me, especially as I was with a different partner! Emma looked stunning in her embroidered silk wedding dress as she came up the 'aisle' in the wedding suite of the Chilworth Manor Hotel near Southampton. Both sets of parents looked very pleased, always a good sign! Noriko, a Japanese lady whom we met on Emma's hen night, had arranged the fresh flowers and Emma's bouquet, and these looked wonderful despite their train journey from London.
Patrick and I were witnesses, so we had to sit quite near the front. It did bring back a few sad memories of my own wedding day of course, even though I was happy for Emma and Ting - an odd mix of emotions. I'm just a hopeless romantic just as it says on my profile.
After the simple registry-office ceremony we were invited outside for some sushi and buck's fizz or orange juice. But as soon as the guests started relaxing and chatting to each other the photographer appeared on the roof and started rearranging us in a more asthetically pleasing way (although we had to pretend to still be chatting)! The photography seemed to take forever, but the grounds of Chilworth Manor were beautiful to look at, and Patrick and I had fun explaining the culture of Georgian English nobility to Noriko. Then it was all single girls to the fore for the Throwing of the Bouquet shot - Patrick laughed as I selected a prime position and posed like a goalie taking a penalty shootout! I managed to catch it quite easily - Emma seemed to have been aiming it straight at me. Don't know what Kevin will say when he sees it though LOL.
Next it was off to Kam's Palace for a ten course Chinese banquet. We all signed a piece of red silk with our best wishes for the couple, which is part of the Chinese wedding tradition, then found our tables. Ting and Emma had generously provided beer, wine and soft drinks. The courses were mostly seafood - the ones I can remember were roast pork, abalone with mushrooms, lobster (my favourite, athough messy), trout, crab's claws (very nice), duck and yam pancake, squid, shark's fin soup and dried scallop with turnip. I don't know why it was mainly seafood - Hong Kong specialities, perhaps? Ting's best man surprised the Chinese guests in mid-feast by making a speech and showing humorous slides from Ting's life story - apparently it's not part of Chinese wedding tradition.
Later Emma changed into a stunning traditional Chinese wedding dress, made with red silk and embroidered with dragons. We had to leave a little early as we had to give Noriko and two other guests a lift back to the station, but Emma cut us some wedding cake to take away and we said goodbye to her and Ting, wishing them a fantastic time on their honeymoon in Florida.
Photos in Valerie's Gallery soon!

Girly Day at the Spa

Spent the weekend at Patrick's flat in Bath, with my sister Shirley joining us at Saturday lunchtime. We then gathered our swimming cossies and towels and headed off to the new spa in Bath, Thermae
Unfortunately the slightly cheaper Cross Bath was full, but we managed to get into the main spa with the rooftop pool. The views from this were beautiful - really good view of the city and the hills surrounding Bath. I cursed leaving my glasses in the locker! We did rather wish we'd brought bath robes and flip flops with us, as we got out from this 35 C (naturally) heated pool and got caught by the Autumn breeze, before padding soggily down the stairs to the steam rooms.
The steam rooms too were a wonderful experience - there are four, and the steam is scented with different essential oils in each room. We guessed eucalyptus, jasmine, pine and peppermint! We did not stay long in each as we are fainty types and found the steam a bit stifling, cooling ourselves down in between steam doses in the large central shower.
Lastly we made our way to the indoor Minerva pool - very modern, despite the Roman name. We had ago in the very gentle Jacuzzi before discovering the Lazy River, a current that pulls you round the edge of the pool. Great fun, we went round and round and round in it! One woman tried to swim against the current, she made very slow progress but no doubt it helped her fitness levels.
We loved it, and our skin felt lovely and smooth afterwards thanks to the natural Bath mineral water. A great idea, even if it was built SOMEWHAT over budget!
Patrick arrived back from the rugby somewhat overexcited - turned out Bath had narrowly avoided defeat, as Sale had missed a penalty just before the ball went out of play at the end of the match. Think our girly spa day was much more relaxing! Patrick had obviously enjoyed the rugby though.
Next day we visited Bradford-upon-Avon, a very pretty town but shhh, don't tel the developers! The Tithe Barn, canal/river area and Saxon church were particularly lovely. Near the Tithe Barn were also some lovely shops and galleries, one with displays from female artists, lending more girliness to the weekend! Patrick is quite easygoing though, he didn't mind us sisters doing our girly-things as well.
We had a good pint of Wadworth Malt and Hops at the Dandy Lion, also nice Sunday lunch.
Another superb weekend - didn't last long enough!

Anderton Lift and the River Weaver

A bad start to the weekend, as I had an awful tummy bug which started on Thursday, when I had to come home from work. I still wasn't well enough to travel up to Cheshire on Friday, that coupled with Ripple being in Nantwich rather than Middlewich as we had expected, and traffic problems on the M6 on Saturday morning, led to a rather rushed weekend's cruising!
Added to this was a narrowboat which had floated loose from it's moorings across the canal on the outskirts of Nantwich. A couple of passers-by managed to drag the boat back towards the towpath but it had lost a mooring peg and they couldn't secure it. Patrick jumped out with another peg and a mallet - but that meant giving away one of our pegs to total strangers! Good job we had a spare one really.
We made it into Middlewich just as it was getting dark, I managed to take Ripple though Wardle Lock but light was fading fast and I didn't feel confident to take her through the next three - I could barely see the lock gates. So we moored up in Middlewich and went to the Narrowboat pub for some good food (me not on beer, sorry TCA, was still feeling queasy! Pat had a cold pint of London Pride though).
Next day we were up at 7.30 to start the cruise to the Anderton Lift and to meet up with Patrick's parents, also canal enthusiasts and very knowledgeable. The weather was great, I was able to relax a bit!
We got to the Lift a little after Patrick's parents; his mum had brought loads of provisions, and there was time for a look round the shop before our slot. Another boat came down with us too - obviously regulars. Going down the Anderton Lift was an amazing experience, really impressive engineering! Well worth the millions spent on restoring it. Note: new photos on Valerie's Gallery - freshly updated!
The River Weaver was a totally different boating experience as well - nice and wide, we were able to go much faster (over 6mph!) steering required more energy but not more effort really. The scenery was lovely at times - it would have been far nicer without the salt and chemical works every now and again but I suppose without them the river wouldn't have been navigable. Locks and swing bridges were very interesting too - on a much larger scale for a start!
We went as far as White's Bridge near Runcorn in one direction, then next day upstream back through Northwich to Winsford where we defied the British Waterways navigation limit to do a gentle turn in Winsford Bottom Flash lake.
Moored up outside the Red Lion (no real ale) and then sadly had to leave Ripple with Patrick's parents and get the taxi back to the car in Northwich.

Towersey Festival 2007

Traffic delays meant that we had to dash straight into the Peter Donegan Band on Thursday night, then pitch the tent in the dark afterwards. Peter Donegan gave a superb tribute to his recently deceased father, ‘King of Skiffle’ Lonnie Donegan – not too many of the old chestnuts like 'My Old Man’s A Dustman' - although there would have been a riot if he hadn’t sung it for the encore! Patrick is a Lonnie Donegan fan and knew most of the words to the songs. We had a good dance as well, great fun. Trouble was, Pat did his leg in, so he had to take it very easy for subsequent dancey bands!
Seth Lakeman was the headline act for Friday – the tent was absolutely packed with his fans, who had evidently just come for the day. Despite his fame in the pop world, there’s still no denying he’s a bloody good musician and dedicated folk song writer. Earlier, Nancy Kerr and James Fagan did an excellent set, and we discovered James’s sister Kate Fagan was also very good. The evening finished with one of my favourite bands, 3 Daft Monkeys, who often support the Levellers. Their Cornish/Yiddish crossover music was supremely dancey and an instant hit with the crowd, but they started at 11.15pm and didn’t finish till 12.40am! Phew, knackered!
Saturday we went to the ‘Three Horseshoes’ for lunch and the folk session – for which about 20 musicians turned up, crowding the listeners out of the pub, almost! Apparently some just come to the festival to play at the pub all weekend. Then it was off to workshops – Patrick went to the Stanley Holloway workshop run by Dave Sealey, which he really enjoyed. I went to the singing workshop in the main tent but it was so hot, I kept feeling faint and oxygen-starved every time I stood up to sing! Peatbog Faeries were the headliners but we went to see Van Eyken instead – good impromptu second encore outside the tent!!
Lastly Sunday night finished off with The Demon Barbers’ fancy dress party – demons and Barbies! Patrick looked naughty but nice in with black horns, whereas I looked suitably stupid in a blonde wig and pink miniskirt! Got a front spot with a good view of the clog dancers and Damo’s dragon tattoo, so we were both happy ;-)
Nice festival with something for everyone – will bring an ABEK face mask before attempting to use the campsite toilets again though!

Wickham Festival 2007

Arrived at Botley station on Friday evening and was soon whisked off to Wickham Festival for a weekend of folk and blues with the Fleur de Lys Morris girls. I’m not so keen on Blues myself, it’s a bit samey. Some of the folkies were commenting ‘so-and-so were a bit miserable’ – well what do you expect from a blues band? Luckily Les Barker was on hand to cheer things up a bit, with his laughter-inducing poetry like ‘Dachshunds with Erections Can’t Climb Stairs’, ‘Mange-Tout’ and ‘The Long Lost Land of Dyslexia’. Class. Some of the ladies looked a bit puzzled though – not quite their sense of humour perhaps? I’d heard good things about Cherish The Ladies, who were on next, but they seemed a bit lacklustre. Apparently one of their friends and fellow musicians had died just a few days before, and perhaps that was why. We were unanimous though in liking the Dolmen, a folk-goth band from Weymouth. Some of us even had a bit of a bop at the front!
Saturday was dancing day – and was also baking hot, which came as a bit of a surprise to us after the long rainy spell. A reasonably successful dance outside the Kings Head, with refreshing pints of Chiswick available to quench the thirst. Then on to Chesapeake Mill, by which time I was rather peckish. I’d just been served a fat slice of home made Vanilla Fudge Cake when Janice the Squire requested our presence in the dancing area. She did let me off the first couple of dances so that I could eat it though, nice Squire that she is! The Rabble folk-dance and theatre team was with us here, and put on a very entertaining Robin Hood play and some good Border-style dancing.
Most of headed off for lunch in the Italian café on the Square. Then our last performance was outside the Community Centre, which again went really well. Sweat was pouring off me in a rather unladylike manner by then! Was very glad I’d brought a change of clothes with me.
Discovery of the Festival – ‘Yves Lambert & Le Bebert Orchestra’. Yves had a strange accent – sort of a cross between Scots, Canadian and French – turned out they were a band from Quebec. Excellent Celtic-French-sounding music.
Some considered Kathryn Tickell’s band the highlight of Saturday. Good solid North-Western dance music, especially good if you like the Northumbrian pipes. Being more of a song person I was quite content to sit in the cream-tea area whilst some of the others had a good dance.
Eddi Reader’s band had quite a good set, less of the insipid numbers that I’d heard before at Guilfest and more of the pop style crowd pleasers. Boo Hewerdine was on guitar, and unsurprisingly she sang a few of his songs – ‘The Patience of Angels’ being my favourite. I quite liked Donnie Munro, the ex-Runrig front man, despite the accusations of rock-star egotism levelled at him from certain quarters. Again, not something folk bands ever indulge in. Well, hardly ever.
Another lovely weekend – good music, good company, good weather for once!

Blog War!

A certain ugly blogger has been publishing rubbish about me again. Usually she publishes mostly boring domestic things and alibis for her sordid sex life but she's taken to character assassination once more. I make a point of ignoring her these days, which only irks her as she has an almost pathological need always to be the centre of attention.
I notice two other relatively new bloggers whom she has attacked have vowed not to sink to her level. However I am a far better writer than the Ugly One, and since she knows I hate her, and with good reason, I've got nothing to lose. So I say, blog war, bring it on! It can only make things more interesting for my readers!!
Edit: definition of 'greedy bugger' - someone who takes a helium balloon from a friend's party with their permission, or someone who is grossly overweight and hates immigrants?

Guilfest 2007

Was lucky enough to get a take-out of cask-conditioned Old Speckled Hen from work on Friday, just right to take to the festival with me :)
Soon met up with Trev and Angie with their family, Sparky and Freedom from the Alt Levs board and sat down to listen to The Hold Steady, which made quite pleasant background as I caught up on the gossip and guzzled my OSH. Rodrigo Y Gabriella stood out far more - frenetic punk-guitar playing from Mexico - I liked! Also liked the Ordinary Boys, depite the Big Brother connection; I hadn't thought I would. Too much like the Clash? Is such a thing possible? Might get their album, "Over The Counter Culture", at some point.
Gave Supergrass a miss to go and catch the end of Newton Faulkner, whom I'd seen before at Cityfest, and get a prime front-row position for The Saw Doctors. Fantastic set from the Irish folk-rockers, caught most of their classic songs before having to leave early to get the last train back from London Road, bit of a blow.
Next day woke up late but got to Stoke Park in time to enjoy Jimmy Cliff. Jimmy was playing classics like "Many Rivers To Cross" and Johnny Nash's "I Can
See Clearly Now", which was for once appropriate, as it was a bright sunshiney day! Jimmy had an orange silk suit on which only he could get away with, and was dancing up and down the stage with amazing energy. A good start to my evening, then!
By contrast, went to see Damien Dempsey with high expectations but sat through 2 limp songs and decided to try some of the smaller stages instead (there were 5 stages with non-famous bands, as well as a theatre stage and a comedy tent this year!). Not much to note though till Rory McLeod, who gave a really good performance, even though it was limited to half an hour. Rory kept his ramblings short - I don't mind him rambling, but I can see storytelling is better suited to long sets and venues such as the West End Centre (under threat, apparently). He did sing "When Mummy and Daddy Made Me" which got the biggest applause!
Crazy P and Captain were quite pleasant as I guzzled my Youngs Double Chocolate Stout, which I'd decanted into my big plastic beer bottle. Then it was off to see guitar hero Richard Thompson, who resembles my friend Simon except with a black beret. The crowd were inevitably demanding "Vincent Black Lightning" and "Beeswing", which he eventually obliged with, but there were evidently more recent fans there, shouting for "Dad's Gonna Kill Me", his contemporary anti-war song. And yes, he finished the encore with "Valerie", glad he still admires me ;-)
Richard's set unfortunately overlapped with Squeeze's, so that I ended up having to run down the field to catch them playing "Tempted" and have a sing along. Again, had to leave early, but sang "Labelled With Love" all the way back down the road to the station.
On Sunday my train to Guildford was cancelled - damm! But by an amazing coincidence one of the lads at Farnborough North suddenly said, "Are you Val Badger?" - turned out it was fellow blogger Lever!!! Lever, his mate Simon and me duly headed to the Prince of Wales to sup some real ale until the next train arrived. At the festiew, met up with Lever's other mate Phil, a huge Duke Special fan.
Had some port with me but discovered some real ale in the beer tent ("Guilfest Ale" at £3.50 a pint, ouch! Especially as it was apparently Tetley's Bitter) and some Brother's Pear Cider which was quite tasty. The Icicle Works were a bit disappointing, doing mainly cover versions, Toots and the Maytals were great though. Sadly I'd missed Simon Friend's set in the acoustic tent but caught him on the Ents 24 Stage. Think Lever quite liked him but Phil seemed a bit cynical! I thought it was a great set, had a dance to Men An Tol and Beanfield, he also played a couple of Paddy Stratton numbers which also got a lot of applause from the crowd of (mainly) Levellers fans.
Phil, silent though all the other acts, was yelling enthusiastically for Duke Special and singing wholeheartedly to all the songs. The star of the show for me however was Duke's drummer Chip, mad as a hatter but a totally amazing percussionist. Have got photos of him playing the egg whisk and cheese grater, as well as whacking the two huge bass drums. Marvellous.
Another dash across the field to Madness - by the time we got there we could only get as far as the mixing desk, and could hardly see Suggs and the boys! Still, had a good pogo to "Baggy Trousers", "House of Fun" and "Night Boat to Cairo" amongst others before the day sadly ended!
Shared taxi home due to crap train times and so ot in at an almost reasonable time for bed - just as well, was folding at the knees! Had fabulous time though, just a shame Patrick had other commitments for the weekend. Still there's always next year!

Gillingham Folk Day 2007

Well, I really shouldn’t be posting about this, it seems Gillingham’s Folk Day is Dorset’s best kept secret! It’s a lovely small festival based at the North Dorset Rugby Club, in a big (mostly waterproof) tent outside, with bar and food available in the clubroom. There was a little stage for Morris and Irish dancing, as well as Mummer’s plays. Also a few stands from local charities, crafts and CD selling.
The lineup was absolutely fantastic for a one day folk festival (although the Gillingham Festival itself went on all week, with music from various genres). Kirsty McGee and Mat Martin had the first slot – which shows you the quality of the other acts! I had seen Kirsty and Mat at Wickham Folk Festival last year and had been impressed by their impassioned song lyrics and their eco-friendly recycled guitars! Patrick was curious about one of their songs set in Manchester and I wanted to own the song about Hell (‘Fresh Water’) so we went up to them for a chat and a signed CD afterwards. They were nice to talk to - I admired Kirsty’s porkpie hat and she admired my shirt from Fat Face!
Psychedelic-folk buskers The Huckleberries were next up. I could see the good people of Gillingham thinking what on earth are this bunch of pikeys doing here, get orff moi laand! But although they look like the street-corner ambassadors that they usually are, the Huckleberries are excellent musicians. Especially Paul the fiddle player, who might look like he’s drunk the world but amazes all with his virtuosity – seeming to go into a trance like state, hardly moving the bow to produce the sweetest violin music. They played a variety of stuff too, from their own compositions to well-known Irish session music like ‘Raggle-Taggle Gypsy’ and ‘Wind That Shakes The Barley’. By contrast Flook were very polished, and despite their stunning musicianship were in danger of being a bit boring after playing one to many sets of jigs and reels.
Mike Silver got the audience singing with his hymn-like self-penned songs, including the famous (in the folk world) ‘Pretoria’ which Patrick was still singing in the car on the way back! It is a classic song; we should remember the days of Apartheid, and there’s still a lot of racial injustice out there.
I’m not a big fan of Cara Dillon although many are – somehow she always seems a bit wooden. She had just given birth to twins about 6 months ago but was as skinny as a rake! Some women eh. The twins were very cute though.
Next the moment we’d been waiting for – the arrival of the Oysterband on stage – yaaaaayyy!! I think not being the final band had affected their choice of set – there were a lot more slower numbers from their new album, but they did belt out some of their classics like Northern Lights (my favourite), Native Son and Everywhere I Go. They also played Patrick’s favourite, Uncommercial Song, so he was happy too! The somewhat too topical ‘The Flood’ was sung to the audience, JJ came down from the stage with Chopper and Alan Prosser so we felt well and truly part of the experience. The Oysterband are fantastic entertainers, no doubt about it.
A lot of folks left after the Oysterband, but us diehard dancers stayed right to the end for Salsa Celtica. A beautiful fusion of Celtic, Spanish and Latin music, they have bags of energy and joie-de-vivre, daring you not to dance! Think I’ve mentioned them before. The little Irish girls who had previously entertained us on the dance stage were up the front dancing away, and even the Morris dancers were getting on down to the beat!
Excellent little festival but let’s keep it quiet, we don’t want everyone turning up there!

News!

Good news - I've got a new boyfriend. Yes, you've guessed it, it's Patrick! Some have expressed concern that I'm on the rebound still, it being only 5 months since the breakup of the marriage. Seems like years ago since that dreadful St Valentines Day, I've come so far in that time. I really thought that my life was effectively over and that I would never love again. So strange then that I felt that little flower of love inside me slowly opening up over the course of that Sunday at Middlewich. I really didn't think it would be Patrick either, till that day I didn't fancy him at all! Somehow we reached an understanding between us and everything clicked into place.
We have the Demon Barbers to thank for the thing that brought us together - me deciding to ask them to sign their album 'Waxed' to Val and Pat! Well, it seemed so right at the time and indeed it was.
We're still at the soppy, glowy stage at the moment, very happy together. Fingers crossed that love lasts this time!

Middlewich Folk & Boat Festival 2007

What a bloody good weekend - despite the stormy weather throughout!
Was good to be able to enjoy a folk festival again, and gratifying that Patrick enjoyed it so much - he'd never been to a folk festival before. All the artists were good apart from a couple of duff musicians, very good considering. Discovery of the festival was the Demon Barber Roadshow, great music and fantastic sword, Morris and clog dancers (Patrick pretended not to appreciate one of the attractive clog dancers' boob tube slipping down). Seth Lakeman's gig was of course packed, and he gave an excellent gig, one big Northern bloke at the back was inspired to shout "Ah loov you, Seth" - perhaps being fed up of his girlfriend fancying Seth! Elbow Jane also gave a brilliant gig, and Breeze and Wilson were superb, generously giving out not one but two excellent free CDs.
It was also good fun to wander around the Boat Festival (which seemed quite separate, strangely), there were some gorgeous owls from a nearby sanctuary and a very interesting demonstration of how horses were used to pull narrowboats. Patrick had a go at the 6 Knot Challenge - the quickest time to tie six knots won a full set of new fenders, which would have been useful as Ripple had just knackered her front fender in a lock. Considering Pat had only had one quick demo of the knots before the attempt, he did very well, coming pretty close to the leading times!
Show of Hands gave their usual great performance, lifting the roof of the blue-and-yellow stripey tent with numbers like Santiago, Country Life and Roots. Very much pleased that Patrick was yelling enthusiastically for their encore! What's not to like about Show of Hands though?
The weekend also included some really nice pubs such as the Swan at Fradley Junction (good food/beer/atmos), the Narrowboat in Middlewich (OK beer, excellent food and the chance to say hello to Seth Lakeman) and the Newton Brewery, a lovely old-fashioned pub, only one beer (Pedigree) but best pint of the holiday.
So good to be able to enjoy a folk festival again - good music, good company and good beer, and the chance to stay on a narrowboat! Fantastic.

Southampton Weekend

Had a great time in Southampton *deleted*. Had a really nice meal with Pat and Shirl in Buffalo Bill's in Commercial Road - excellent burgers and very big portions. Just right to line the stomach before heading to the beer festival at the Guildhall.
Decided to make it a dark beer night with Bradfield Farmer's Stout, Cairngorm Black Gold, Little Valley Stoodley Stout and some others which I forget!
*deleted* Mary Jane were still very good, and I knew a lot of the words to their old stuff, so could appreciate Burning Times and Matty Groves, for instance. Shame their new album wasn't ready yet! The new songs sounded fab though, lots of nice fast Celtic numbers, and some slower woodwind-led ballads.
*deleted* Next day we all met up again and we drove to Romsey to show Pat the canal, the Salmon Leap and other sights. *deleted*. No pubs were involved, although we did point out quite a few of our old haunts! Had a nice tea and cake at the King John's Lodge - I'd definitely reccommend it. They've done a lovely job with the museum there.
Back home again now - have finished all the painting - hooray! Hope we have some offers on the house soon - I can't wait to get away to Redhill and start my new life.
Sorry about the deletions folks - Kevin has requested that I do not refer to a certain incident in my blog, which is probably for the best.

Taking it easy

Shingles are all but healed, although still giving me stabbing pains every now and again. But I decided to take it easy for a while, eat healthily and give my immune system a chance to build up. I also walked back from North Camp station to home a few times just to keep a bit fitter. So not much in the way of news (although it's Southampton Beer Festival and Mary Jane tonight) - I did get rather drunk after choir on Monday though and decided I was everyone's kindred spirit! I'm sure they put something extra in the HSB at the Royal Oak...

Meanwhile here's a Wikipedia game - search Wikipedia for your birth date (day and month). Then post 3 events, 1 death, 2 birthdays (other than yours) and 1 holiday celebrated on that day.
Here's mine (6 November):

Events
355 - Roman Emperor Constantius II raises his cousin Julian to the rank of Caesar, entrusting him of the government of the Prefecture of the Gauls.
1935 - Before the New York section of the Institute of Radio Engineers, Edwin Armstrong presents his paper "A Method of Reducing Disturbances in Radio Signaling by a System of Frequency Modulation," i.e. FM radio.
1975 - The Sex Pistols play their first concert at St. Martin's School of Art in London

Birthdays
1494 - Suleiman the Magnificent, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1566)
1926 - Frank Carson, Northern Irish comedian

Death
1893 - Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian composer (b. 1840)

Holiday
Sweden - Death of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden and official flag day

Shingles - ow ow ow ow ow!

No, not the kind you get on the beach, but the dormant chickenpox type that has decided to resurface because I am stressed. Yeah thanks, body, that's just what I need at this moment! There's a patch on my ribs and another on my back. The one on my ribs is really painful, it's like getting stabbed in the chest every now and again.
And it means I can't come into contact with other people, as I could give them chicken pox/shingles if they haven't already had it. So no Chippenham folk festival for me this weekend. Also no more flat viewings for a while, and nobody can come here either for viewings as I'm staying in the house.
On top of all of that, it's hissed it down with rain all weekend, so I couldn't even go into the garden!
Good thing I have friends and relations to phone up when I'm feeling down. The Aciclovir tablets knock me for six and the disease seems to have scrambled my brain as well, I'm not at my sparkling-est.

Isle of Wight Holiday

Met up with my sister at Southampton Central, bundled my rucksack into her car, then headed off to the Isle of Wight in the car ferry. Was a bit too blowy to be outside and the smell of chips and vinegar was everywhere on the (only) inside deck, but apart from that it was good fun. We spotted lots of familiar villages and landmarks along the Solent and were pleased to see the Eat Cowes landing, the start of many good childhood holidays.
We had no difficulty finding Ruskin Lodge. Good views, close to the beach and CAMRA bar, and our rooms were beautiful – plus a friendly housekeeper, handsome owner and two cute kittens! What more could one ask.
Having unpacked we headed down to Freshwater Bay where the waves were crashing onto the little prom. Then it was into the Fat Cat Bar at the Sandpipers Hotel for some refreshment. There were some superb real ales on during our stay (we went there a few times) including Goddards Bitter, Elland Bargee and Caledonian Top Banana – as well as a kilo of moules mariniere for under £7! Bargain.
Sadly the weather wasn’t that good while we were there, but the Isle of Wight is very geared up to tourism and there were plenty of things to do inside, such as Alum Bay glassblowing and sweet factory (we went back several times to stock up on handmade sweets), Carisbrooke Castle, Butterfly and Fountain World, Newport shopping (we got absolutely soaked inbetween shops though), Chessel Pottery and a number of local pubs. Apart from the Fat Cat, other outstanding pubs included the Bargeman’s Rest at Newport, where I had a stunning pint of Goddards Inspiration whilst listening to a really good Jazz band and eating a huge burger. There was also the Red Lion in Old Freshwater, which did a superb Lobster Chowder, and the New Inn in Shalfleet where I ate some beautiful tiger prawns in garlic accompanied by a pint of Ventnor Gold.
Fortunately the day we’d booked to go on one of the Walking Festival guided walks was sunny, so we enjoyed walking around Colwell and Totland bays and up to Tennyson Down whilst learning more about the history of the area. Next day I thought I’d take Shirl on the short walk from Alum Bay to the Needles – but the wind had picked up again and she nearly got blown off the cliff! She fell over and the contents of her handbag flew about in the wind – we had to pick up cheque books, ciggies etc before they all blew out to sea! She was all right apart from an impressive bruise on the knee.
It was great to get away from the stressful situation at home for a while – but it was straight back into the grind of redecorating when I got back. Never long enough, holidays…
PS photos in Valerie's Gallery just as soon as I can get my home PC to sign me in to Blogger :-/

Moving On

Hi All
Sorry for the lack of posts recently, as I am redecorating the house I've had to move my home PC, which has also had problems connecting with the internet. So am just doing a quick post from work today. Hopefully I'll be able to reconnect the (much better) home PC soon.
Friends and neighbours have been brilliant in helping with the trickier bits of redecorating - big thankyou to all of you.
Did some Morris dancing yesterday to welcome in the May-o outside the Red Lion in Godalming. There wasn't a huge audience as the Red Lion was closed, and most people were watching the Chelsea-Liverpool game, but this was just as well as I fluffed Nutting Girl and my petticoat started slipping down during Sophie's Stave Dance. I hope this doesn't happen at Kew Gardens on Saturday, which is our next outing!
Apologies to Titchfield Cycling Association for not listing them under 'friends' - of course all my links are friends! I'd love to join TCA for a ride at some point, it would have to be near a train station for me to get there by public transport. I hope there are a lot of 'spare' men there too - I'm quite partial to fit men in lycra ;-)
Driving lessons are coming along sort-of-OK, last lesson we did hill starts and I kept forgetting to put the car in first gear, then wondering why it kept slipping back. Simon reckons I should be able to pass my test this time. It would make a great difference to me, so I certainly hope so!
Off flat shopping now - will let you know if I see anywhere nice :-)

Reading Passport Challenge

The weather's been beautiful today so I've been out on my bike, visiting the few last pubs on my Reading CAMRA passport. Yesterday I was invited to TWO barbecues in Reading, and as well as partying also managed to squeeze in some pubs near the town centre that I can't usually get to - the lovely Butcher's Arms in Tilehurst, the friendly Eldon Arms just off the A4 and the excellent Hop Leaf on Southampton Street (supped some Hop Back Entire Stout there, flippin' gorgeous!).
So today I had a choice - 2 pubs in Theale or two pubs in Hurst? I also really wanted to go to the Bull Inn in Sonning, as I had heard how good it was from a lady in the Eldon. In the end I decided on the Prince of Wales in Caversham, which I'd been to before and knew was nice, then on to Sonning down the Thames Path then back through Hurst (even though it meant a spare pub) to Wokingham and the train home.
Had a nice half of Brakspear Organic Beer, then it was on to the Bull, which was very busy by contrast. The food looked good but I couldn't really afford a meal so had some speciality nuts instead!
Next it was a longish stretch to Hurst - thought I'd cut off a corner by going down Park Lane which was very quiet and picturesque, and I also passed an interesting looking 'Brakspear' pub called the Land's End. Unfortunately there was a ford on the other side of it! My trouser bottoms got rather wet but the little mountainbike-hybrid was unfazed.
The two Greene King pubs in Hurst weren't really inspiring, but their Greene King IPA was OK. Then wobbled to Wokingham with my 13 stickers, having achieved a free VIP beer festival ticket. And some sunburn. Ow!

Fareham & Gosport Folk Festival 2007

Rather a different experience to previous festivals, but I enjoyed the music and the company. Avoided Kevin and Ugly, though I spoke to Kevin briefly about house plans. Sat with Ugly's husband on the Friday evening which was a bit bizarre - but it was good to have his empathetic and cheering company for a while. Old friends like Darren, Mary, Dennis and Sue, and Lesley were on hand to give some support, and also new friends Dawn and Vicki from the B&B, whom I hope to stay in contact with!
Discovery of the festival was Flossie Malavialle, a French folk singer who has lived in Darlington (or D'Arleau as she called it!) for a long while, and has acquired a hybrid accent as well as musical style and sense of humour! She was also really nice to talk to, which makes all the difference really. I bought her album 'The Wilderness Years' - great music, perhaps a definitive divorce album! Old favourites Paul Downes and ColvinQuarmby were also there on the Friday. CQ were singing a few of their splitting-up songs too but theirs are more cheerful - in the pace of the tunes, anyway!
Missed Mary Jane and Arlen sadly, as their sets clashed with Show of Hands 'dress rehearsal' of their Albert Hall gig the next day - a truly outstanding show with guests as diverse as a Cornish choir (Fisherman's Friends), Tom Robinson, Martyn Joseph, Miranda Sykes and Paul Downes. Would you expect anything less?
On Saturday I took advantage of the glorious weather to cycle down to Warsash, a pretty little village with a nature reserve and a pink ferry to Hamble. Discovered a little delicatessen which served a delicious bowl of Leek Chowder with fresh bread, and real icecream. Bought some Zapatista Coffee on Robb Johnson's recommendation!! I also chanced upon a beer festival tent outside the Ferryman's and supped some Goddards Ale of Wight, very nice.
Took the pink ferry over to Hamble and had a wander round - yet more pubs, but only ventured into the little gastropub, the Bugle. They only had Courage brands so I tried some Kronenbourg 1664 Blanc - CAMRA heresy but tasty and refreshing on a hot day. Cycled back in time for the evening concerts. John Tams and Barry Coope were very good - John is a master songwriter and Barry an impassioned singer - but I alwys moan at Barry's artificial-sounding Yamaha organ which kind of defeats the (folk) object as far as I'm concerned. Kate Rusby and her band gave the best performance I've seen the give so far - really enjoyed it! Missed 'Sir Egremont' as I popped out to the loo though, damme and blast it!
On Sunday I met up with Mum, Dad and my sister Shirl for Easter roast meal in Braishfield - huge portions! Got front spot for Seth Lakeman, was well pleased. Wasn't keen on the much-vaunted Megson, but Lau (including award-winner Kris Drever) were wonderful, full of energy, originality and passion, very skilled musicians and good fun! Almost enjoyed them more than Seth's , whom I had a good dance to. Got my paws on Ben's set list which I'll keep as a souvenir. Also got introduced to Seth later at the Lysses House musician's late session - he was so down to earth, nice to see fame hasn't (noticeably) gone to his head!
Stayed up listening to the late session, 3 of whose most enthusiastic participants (drinking as well as playing!) were Lau. Vicki offered me a lift home at 4.30am, got back to the B&B just as the dawn chorus was starting.
Another trip out on Monday with Shirl to the Sussex Brewery, Emsworth otherwise known as The Sausage Pub. Springbok Sausage was amongst the 'specials' - didn't get to try it though! Had a little walk round the Slipper Pond and the seafront then tiring journey with full pack and mountainbike back home. I'm off to bed now then!

Divorce Songs

Getting ready to go to Fareham and Gosport Folk Festival, which will be better in some ways than previous years - I'm not forced to watch Ugly flirting with my husband as she's got what she wants, but then I have to steel myself against seeing them together as a couple. Hopefully Ugly will have the sense to stay out of my way.
I've heard Ugly's husband might be there as well, it would be nice to see someone who's in the same boat, although he has someone else and is probably further down the road to 'recovery' than me.
Anyway, I digress. Today I've been off sick and feeling sad, so I made a second CD of appropriate divorce songs to cheer myself up.
Some favourites from my divorce CDs:

1. Boo Hewerdine - Evidence
2. Marvin Gaye - Grapevine
3. Carole King - It's Too Late
4. Muse - Plug In Baby
5. McDermott's 2 Hours - The Wheel
6. Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street
7. El Dopa - Slow Boat
8. Nanci Griffiths - Still Got The Radio
9. Beautiful South - Here It Is Again
10. Tears For Fears - Change

The demo for the new McDermott's 2 Hours album, 'Goodbye To The Madhouse', has been strangely useful - it is all about mourning for friends and loved ones who have passed away but is somehow appropriate to the death of a relationship and lifestyle upheavals as well.
Thankyou to all those out there who write sad songs 'where would we be in times like these/without the songs, Loretta wrote'...

Ascot Beer Festival & Racing

Went down to Ascot with Julie, and met up with Ian and Janet, Martin and Jenny, James and Doug as well as lots of friends of Julie's - quite a good crowd from Surrey Brances as well as Berks LOL!
BRRRR!!! Is all I can say. So much for the posh new Pavilion! It obviously wasn't built with the British weather in mind. There are huge gaps in the wall on the bottom floor where the wind whips through, also huge automatic glass doors and lots of glass frontage, yesterday was also more of a typical, perishing cold March day. I felt sorry for the poor Beer Festival volunteers who had to stand in the howling wind serving beer all day - I could barely stand queueing for a beer! There were two folk musicians who were so cold they could barely hold their fiddle and piano-accordion, playing fast tunes to keep themselves warm. The fiddle player was Paul Sartin whom I recognised from Bellowhead - a pleasant surprise!
Beer of the Festival for me was the first one that I tried - Lovibond's Henley Dark, a delicious, well-balanced porter. The Twickenham Naked Ladies was very good, but the Crane Sundance somewhat medicinal. Loddon's First Gold also in good form. Unfortunately I had a bit of a tummy upset so couldn't drink much.
I wasn't lucky with the horses again, only winning £1.33 on the first race. Janet and Ian seemed to be the luckiest, winning on almost every race!
I'd definitely go again, enjoyed the horse racing, the beer and the company - but I just hope it's a bit warmer next year!

Salsa Celtica at South Hill Park, Bracknell

A superb night with Salsa Celtica the Hispanic-Celtic 10-piece band, consisting of 2 drummers (trad and bongo), saxophonist, piper, impassioned Latin vocals, keyboard, fiddle, guitars. They include musicians from Venezuela, Cuba, Scotland, Ireland, amongst others. There was a big area at the front for dancing, at first the crowd of mostly middleaged folkies were shy to dance but after a few drinks at the interval the floor was packed with people doing a bizarre mixture of Salsa and Scottish Ceilidh! Jane, who knows how to dance Salsa, was amongst them - I was trying to teach a Spanish lady to dance the Highland Fling (or something approximating to it!)
Last year I reviewed their album El Camino for folking.com and was pleased to hear lots of songs from that, especially the beautiful 'Esperanza' and the energetic 'Pa'l Rumberos'. Superb musicianship and great fusion music, can't wait to see the compadres at Gillingham Festival!

London Irish v Wasps, 18/03/07

WHAT A MATCH! To start with, there was a brilliant St Patrick's Weekend atmosphere in the Madejski Stadium, with the gate numbers at a record-breaking high of just over 22,000. The tannoy was blasting out the inevitable Irish folk songs such as Molly Malone and The Fields of Athenrye - should it be Peckham Rye for the London-Irish version? ;-)
The team came on to thunderous applause, I was disappointed Mike Catt wasn't there, but he'd been playing at international level that weekend. Irish started off playing really well, but missed a few conversions that should have been straightforward. By half time they were 10-0 up.
In the second half Wasps seemed like a different team, swarming round the Irish players with far greater energy and purpose. They were soon level on 10-10, then just ahead 10-13, but then Irish pulled themselves together to get level at 13-13. With 10 minutes to go the Argentinian player with the long hair and difficult name made a superb run down the pitch to get over the try line, but got carried away with his success and failed to touch down! What a wally! Luckily Riki Flutey saved the day for the Exiles with a goal, giving them a 16-13 win.
Had such a good time at the match, am definitely a London Irish fan now and shall go again sometime!

Climax Ceilidh Band at Godalming Ceilidh

As a member of Guildford Vox there was no way I could miss seeing our leader Anna Tabbush playing with her ceilidh band. I'd already seen Meridian, her trio, and had enjoyed the gigs a lot so I guessed I was in for a treat with Climax Ceilidh Band who are Meridian plus two.
I'd arranged to meet Linda from morris dancing at the Borough Hall, but she was a little late so I asked a nice-looking bloke if he fancied a dance, which he did! What is is to be (almost) single. Linda and I joined in with several dances, the caller Fee Lock was very good, teaching us quite complicated dances but always making sure that the beginners knew what they were doing. There were inevitably quite a few of us from Guildford Vox there, but also two people from Anna's other choir in Brighton! It was also good to sit out a few of the dances and just listen to the band, which were excellent. I am a fan of Chris Walshaw's pipe playing, and he has a beautiful set of French pipes inlaid with silver, lending a continental feel to quite a lot of the tunes. It was also amazing to see Anna playing fiddle and dancing in her stilettos! The skill of the woman!! They played many songs from their album, Come Dancing, which is of course highly recommended.
Had a pint and a half of the Hogs Back Tea from the polypin but mostly water, as I was perspiring somewhat from all the dancing. Then it was a long walk back to Linda's house to stay the night in the spare room.
Many thanks to Linda for her company and hospitality!

Racing at Sandown

Why Sandown? After my first visit to Esher I was walking back to the station when I chanced to see a banner advertising a health and safety exhibition at the Grandstand, Sandown so I popped in to get a few freebies, I mean get some useful information for work. As well as a free smoothie and a good haul of pens, keyrings, bottle openers etc I also acquired a free Grandstand ticket to the race meeting on 10th March, worth £15! Patrick had never been to a race meeting before so he came along too.
The Grandstand at Sandown is far less grotty and sleazy than most racecourse stands, and we were pleased to find a stand selling Hogs Back real ale and Mr Whitehead's scrumpy cider. We also couldn't resist the salt beef sandwich stand for a mid-afternoon snack! The course itself is very attractive, with views stretching as far as the Wembley Arch, and the weather stayed fine and clear. We didn't make a killing on the betting though, it has to be said - I made the princely sum of 50p on the first race with an each way bet, and Pat made £1 on the last race! On the second race I was most disappointed to watch my horse leading all the way round the track, only to jump the last fence badly and unseat its rider. Stupid donkey!!
After the racing we went round Simon and Jane's for fish and chips from the award-winning chip shop in Aldershot - excellent meal it was too. Holly acquired the left over bits of fish skin.
Very pleasant day out - shame Lady Luck wasn't with me though!!

Choir Gig at Student Union, Guildford

This time we were singing in the Chancellor's Bar, by invitation of the Student Union's 'Know Yourself' stress-busting initiative. Rather hard to find - I ended up navigating us to the Varsity Bar instead, perhaps out of habit!
I think the choir went down rather well, considering our audence of discerning students - not everyone talked loudly over our singing, and some even clapped along to 'Sloop John B'. Abba's 'The Name of the Game', although a difficult one to learn, always goes down well as everyone knows it. The African songs were well received but the Finnish 'Reindeer Calling Song' got some strange reactions! After the gig there was the chance to relax with some (cheap!) beer - I passed on the Itchen Valley Treacle Stout and went for the keg Hoegaarden instead, delicious. There was also a very good blues band on afterwards as well, maybe we'll recruit the singer into the choir!

Wittering On

Went to West Wittering recently with my friends Simon, Jane and Patrick, as well as Rosa the Dog (Five Go Down To The Beach?). Of course we could not go all the way down to Wittering without a pub stop along the way - so we dropped into the Horse and Groom at East Ashling. As soon as we entered the pub the smell of the food started driving me crazy, so we decided to stop for a meal - I had the Shoulder of Lamb which, though on the expensive side, was both substantial and delicious - well worth the money. Everyone was pleased with their meal and Rosa got to have my lamb bone! Rosa was unhappy in the car, and a neighbour kept phoning up the pub and complaining. However the pub were very understanding and allowed Rosa in to the bar area, where she calmed down considerably. The Dark Star Hophead was excellent but Pat had given up booze for Lent - so of course Simon and I extolled the virtues of the beer at length!!
West Wittering beach was nearly empty, apart for a few couples with dogs. There were lots of interesting shells and stuff - I was disconcerted to find that I've forgotten most of my seashore biology, will have to get my copy of Seashore Life out again. Simon was skimming stones (mostly) impressively with Rosa chasing after them, we lost Jane amidst the dunes but were all reunited eventually. Simon and Jane had brought some real coffee in a big flask, also chocolate and biscuits, then we piled into the car to head off home.
The stop on the way back was the Fox Goes Free at Charlton. The beer was not so good, being a bit on the cold side. The house bitter is brewed by Arundel and so it's a bit on the malty and sweet side but still a good session pint.
Then a rush back for choir gig at the Student Union, University of Surrey!

Bellowhead at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

Hi all
Have decided to keep the blog up, despite some personal problems recently, especially as it annoys a certain ugly slapper!
Went to the Royal Opera House on my own. Bill Badger insisted on giving me a street map despite the fact that I know Covent Garden like the back of my hand (as any serious shopper would)! There was a bit of a scare as a stupid American woman kept asking a young couple when they thought the next terror attack was going to be and shouting "Wake up London". Eventually the man got annoyed and threw her rucksack off the train, forcing her to get off. Then the train was delayed as security people went over to talk to her.
I tried to give my spare ticket to the Box Office but they wouldn't take it, which was rather annoying as the girl sitting next to me had also had to come on her own, as her friend could not get a ticket on the door. What a waste! The girl introduced herself as Asha, and we soon got friendly enough to get a front spot together and swap dance moves! She was a great dancer and a lovely person to talk to, we swapped myspace details and I hope to see her again at a festival somewhere.
Bellowhead were excellent, danced to almost every tune, my favourites being Haul Away Joe and the intriguingly named Rochdale Coconut Dance! The Floral Hall is a beautiful Victorian white-painted iron andglass structure similar to the great greenhouses at Kew. Apparently the acoustics in the Floral Hall weren't that brilliant but from my front spot the band sounded fine.
Kate-from-Choir's husband very kindly gave me a lift home as far as Woking, and I caught a train to Farnborough within 10 minutes.
Good music, good company, fast dancing - just what the doctor ordered!

Wey Famous!

Searching for something else entirely, I found that this blog has been quoted by the River Wey and Navigations Society! Wait till I tell Patrick!!!
Take a lookie, it's quite a way down on the right hand side, under Wey Snippets - Wey Tradition.
http://www.weyriver.co.uk/theriver/places_7_guildford.htm

Ron Trueman-Border at Cricketers, Yateley

Not my favourite pub, the Cricketers serves Greene King beer brands - the IPA and Olde Trip were acceptable. We found a table easily, although we didn't want to be right in Ron's field of view, he has been known to get rather irritated with his audience!!
Ron only plays his own stuff, so for instance he hates pubgoer's requests as they tend to be for covers. Fortunately he didn't get many - apart from me, who requested one of his own songs, 'Peter Green' which is one of the most outstanding folk-blues songs written. Nobody apart from me and Bill Badger was really listening to the more downbeat stuff which was a bit of a shame, but the funloving pub crowd did dance to the more uptempo, swing-type numbers. Ron also played Bill's favourite, the more lighthearted (!) 'Covered In Blood' murder ballad. Maybe Ron liked us though, as we kept singing along to the choruses as invited, and we seemed to be the only people there who had specifically come to see him.
I hope Ron builds up a following amongst the pub crowd, I'm sure there's many out there who will appreciate his irascible wit, strong humanity, and wonderful songs.

Bully Wee Band at Twickenham Folk Club

We were introduced to the Bully Wee Band by Quintin, who has been a fan for a long time, but of course we knew Ian Cutler, the Kentish fiddle player, from 'Feast of Fiddles' and the 'Hot Rats'. The rest of the lineup were also original band members - Fergus Feely, Jim Yardley and Colin Reece who were all excellent. Loved the Anglo-Celtic dare-you-to-dance style of music - with the Bridge Violin as well it's almost perfectly my thing! Colin's own songs included a great folk story about the Lady Lovibond, an aptly named ship deliberately wrecked by a first mate in hatred of his girlfriend-stealing captain, and the Christian-pagan story of Stanton Drew stone circle. Fergus's 'Fifty Channels' was by contrast to most of the band's material, a sad, touching love story.
Very entertaining evening - Jim's cheeky 'Love Will You Marry Me' stood out for me, as well as the band's well-loved version of 'The Snows (They Melt The Soonest)'.
Quintin and I got up to dance at the end to the band's last fast-and-furious jigs (forgot what they were called, sorry). Thought we'd be told off by some of the more staid folk-club members, but amazingly we were not! Great evening, even though the bar at the Cabbage Patch had run out of Deuchars IPA.
I also bought the album, which the band kindly signed for me, called '50 Channels' recorded live in January 2006. The sound quality is great, with no overdubs or postmixing, and it captures a little of the live experience - go and buy it, folkies!

Evil Wolf-Cat

Sorry for the lack of posts, I've had a stinking cold and haven't been up to much.
We have noticed recently that our little tortoiseshell cat, Holly, is too scared to go out and started messing inside, till we put a litter tray down. If we shut Holly out at night she'd come back with deep scratches and bite marks on her, as if another cat had tried to kill her! Hubby also noticed a huge grey cat, which we call Wolf-cat, peering in at the windows.
Then the other night I was awoken by a cat fight on the landing (hubby amazingly slept though the dreadful wailing and hissing). As soon as the other cat heard me coming it must have legged it downstairs and out of the (broken) cat flap again. The next day hubby noticed Wolf-cat in our garden again, so it's a fair bet that he is the one who attacked Holly in her own home! Again Wolf-cat legged it when he saw hubby, he must be used to humans trying to scare him away.
Now we've boarded over the cat flap so that Wolf-cat can't get in, but now of course Holly can't get out. She is only safe outside with a human bodyguard. Such a shame, as she loves the outdoors! Horrible Wolf-cat. Not a lot we can do though...

Twelfth Night in Guildford

Touring around pubs doing Mummer's plays, reciting stories and singing carols and wassail songs on a Saturday night in Guildford is not easy, but I guess Pilgrim Morris are used to it! Somehow the morrismen and their entourage, including Anna and Nonny Tabbush, Nick Sowden and a handful of Guildford Vox members, managed to squeeze into the main bar of the Star to perform the usual doctor-raising-Turkish-Knight-from-dead play. This was done with far more panache than other, more ponderous Mummer's plays we've seen! Great fun. Then someone handed around songsheets and loads of us joined in the singing. Although I didn't know many wassail songs I did by the end of the night!
The King's Head was closed, so it missed out on it's lucky chalk crosses for the New Year. The Angel Hotel bar was also closed, but the manager let us into the lobby area - which was really good, not so crowded and we had good views of the plays (the doctor one and a version of Cinderella). The (young, attractive) Queen was hoisted up by a couple of morrismen amidst much merriment to chalk the lucky crosses on an oak beam below the balcony.
Next the morris entourage somehow squeezed into the Three Pigeons for another performance. I couldn't face more claustrophobia and didn't want to risk the variable beer there, so I formed an advance party to the Royal Oak and some nice Freeminer Bitter. I grabbed a few seats for the Vox and sipped my pint. The morrismen were a little late, so I only had time to sing a couple of carols before having to run off for the last train home at 12.14pm - but was accompanied by Simon Friend of the Levellers, who was there with a group of friends! Good for him, I say, suporting the old traditions.
Such a fun night out, I'll be back next year!

New Year's Resolutions 2007

1. I will learn to drive. I will, I will, I will! This year, for certain!
2. I will find a plumber somehow to fix the fresh water tap.
3. I will get a washer-dryer.
4. If any woman asks if my husband fantasises about her, invites my husband to lick beer off her tits, moans about his slim, attractive wife taking attention away from her, invites him to 'tuck her in' etc etc I will tell her in no uncertain terms that this is unacceptable! Either that or throw my beer over her!! I think this is entirely reasonable.
5. I will not spend loads of money on tat from the sales. Honest.
6. I will not spend loads of money this year on station coffee. Nice though Puccinos is at Redhill. Instead I will bring a small Thermos flask with me on the train.
7. I will keep my diary up to date so that I know what I'm doing months in advance, like Bill Badger does.
8. I will spend more time on my bike. Once the weather has cleared up that is ;-)
9. I will not buy any more bottled beer. Not till we've drunk the huge stockpile we have already.
10. I will buy less jewellery. I am not obsessed, jewellery jewellery jewellery. Damn.

Happy New Year!

Yesterday we tried to get Sunday Lunch at the Sandrock but they'd evidently changed their minds about cooking on New Year's Eve. Bought 7 pints of RCH Pitchfork and 3 1/2 pints of Holden's Golden Glow for the evening at Godalming Ceilidh, and then went to the Shepherd and Flock for posh nosh and more beer.
The day before, we'd not been able to get tickets from Record Corner in Godalming, which had sold out. We made an anxious call to our friend Jane, who kindly checked their website, and the tickets hadn't yet sold out completely so she was able to order some for us online. You SHALL go to the ball, Cinderella!
Jane also offered to drive, what a star woman. Weather was appalling as well, with rain pelting it down.
Bursledon Village Band were excellent, and we had a better caller than last time, a guy in big red pantaloons who looked a bit like Buster Bloodvessel.
As well as Simon and Jane there were lots of familiar faces at the ceilidh - choir members mostly! Spotted Joy, Tim, Jocelyn, Clare and Marie with their partners. I look forward to Climax Ceilidh Band's stint on the 24th March, it will be good to see Our Illustrious Leader with her band.
The dancing was great fun, with nobody being picky if you messed things up, and although Simon was skeptical at the beginning, he seemed to be getting into it at the end (perhaps that was the beer and single-malt whisky taking effect!). Sadly I've no pictures, Billy Badger didn't bring his camera. Probably just as well!
Laurence had brought a load of balloons and we had fun kicking huge ones around, and letting off screamers. There were also party-poppers and assorted plastic musical instruments to make loads of noise at 12 o'clock, which we did! THen followed the obligatory Gay Gordons which I messed up, apparently holding Bill the wrong way. Shame when it finished at 1am - I could have partied a lot longer!
Wishing a very happy 2007 to all my readers.