Not so Beautiful Days.

We have not long been back from Beautiful Days Festival in Devon and are just glad to be dry and warm again. The festival started out with sunshine and good prospects but descended into a mud nightmare within hours. We would have been well miserable but for the fact that we found ourselves pitched next to Log and Homa, who we met at The Workhouse Festival. They are both very friendly, entertaining, people and we had a laugh, or two, along the way. We were a bit miffed about where we were pitched as well as we are normally down in the main trading area and this time we seemed to be out on the outskirts. A good job in some respects as the main arena turned into a mudfest to end all mudfests! Not all was doom and gloom as lots of the weird and wonderful came by our stall and we got to catch up with friends.I also got a few comments regarding my hair which Tree had dyed with the Levellers logo from about 1984. Log and Homa have invited us to stay a few weeks at their house in Bali, in the New Year, and we will now concentrate on getting some dosh together for the airfare.

Meanwhile, I am finishing off the shop, ready to hand back, and job hunting for the winter season.

Pip and Murali are moved into their flat and I will be helping them get it sorted.

Alas poor shop ! I knew it well.

Today is the last day of the shop in Ledbury but, have no fear, I am more than ready to move on to the next project. What with the credit crunch, economic retail downturn, bad weather, rising fuel prices and food costs increasing, it is the right time to call it a day. The shop was an excellent means by which I could leave the bank and I have a few fingers in other pies already. My main focus will be on developing the festivals, markets and craft fairs with the winter months made up with casual work. Even though I am okay about the closure, I have had one or two tearful customers wanting me to stay. Quite heartwarming really!

Anyway, I haven't time at the moment to think of anything else apart from Beautiful Days Festival and The Rock N Roots Festival which are over the next two weeks. Busy, busy,busy!!

Viva La Nozstock!!!!

Its been a long time since I have been able to say that I have experienced a good festival and I am so happy to be able to say it at last. Nozstock is a small festival just outside of Bromyard. The atmosphere is like Glastonbury used to be, before the "corporates" got hold of it. The festival site was well planned and decorated with dragons, fantasy carvings and amusing little signs posted everywhere. Noz, the man behind the name, is a lovely bloke and everyone had a fantastic time. We were pitched in our own sort of mini field and had wonderful neighbours. Sarah, our nearest, fell down a hole on the first day. Her foot went blue and swelled up like a balloon so we took care of her and her stall with the help of our other neighbours, Carol and Gary. The band line up was pretty cool and even the dance tent blaring out was okay. I have already asked Noz to keep us the same pitch for next year and we are going to make it "our own" again with Sarah, Carol and Gary. Tree and I were quite sad to leave but were happy for the friends we made. A special big up goes to Christina for sorting us out, she's worth a gold star or two.

Mud glorious mud.

Following on from the mudfest that was The 3 Wishes Fairy Festival, we raised our hopes for positive weather at The Workhouse Festival. How naive could we be! The weather was pleasant and sunny on Thursday, which was great for setting up the tent, but sadly not to last. By Friday morning the rain was on it's way and the prospect for the weekend did not look good. We resigned ourselves to a bit of mud and maybe a few pools of water here and there. By Saturday morning the pools had become small ponds and we were glad we had not had a pitch further down by the main entrance. Some pitches ended up with a foot of water outside and platforms had to be erected to gain access! However, just as we got a bit smug, the dance tent started playing some tunes. Now I don't want to sound like an old man but there is only so much base you can handle. The base bins were so loud that water in a cup was doing the Jurassic park thing, where the water vibrates in rings. The following morning and we had a chat with the site manager who said that traders on the other side of the site, about 100 yards away, were complaining so we didn't feel like old fogeys. Sunday came and the mud was even deeper with nowhere being saved. Now this may all sound a bit miserable but, trust me, we still had a good laugh and managed to break even by the end. We also met some fantastic, weird and wonderful, people and a big "festie" hello goes out to Log, Homer, Tabbie, Rheanne, Bern, Pablo, Scottie and all at Banana Meinhoff. We are now looking ahead to Nozstock, but I'm making no predictions about the weather this time!!!!

Litha blessings to you all !!

This weekend saw the Summer Solstice on Saturday. Unfortunately, we were in the middle of a "Hooley", as the Cornish call it, and so visibility was down to a few feet. We celebrated anyway as best we could and were blessed with the return of the sun by Sunday. May the sun shine gently wherever you travel.

I wish it had stopped raining.

Tree and I went to Bodmin for the 3 Wishes Faery Festival over the weekend. We arrived and set up in sunshine but from then on it just rained, rained and rained some more. The turn out was a lot lower as a result but those that came made sure that spirits weren't dampened. The highlight of the weekend was meeting up with Peter Procownik and his partner Nicola Lydon. I have long been a fan of Pete's artwork, and music, so I was well pleased to come home with some of their artwork. In addition, a mention goes to all other stall holders including Rupert (Arthur's Stone), Caroline, Jen, Tarvis and Pete (pictured looking very proud of his wooden mushrooms). Last but not least, I couldn't forget the Goblin Doctors even though I threatened to report them to the "Elf" authorities for mal-practice.

A lesson to be learned

I was going to write about how busy, as ever, I am and how everything seems to happen at once. The thing is that there isn't really any point in worrying or moaning about one's lot but rather that we should just get on with it. My motivation for thinking this way comes from a seagull no less. When I catch the train to Ledbury I sit at the far end of platform 2 directly opposite the building works that are going on behind platform 1. Since work began I have noticed a seagull that is nesting on the top of the wall opposite. Twice this bird has had its nest moved by workmen and still it comes back and tends to it's young. Only this morning workmen were standing almost on top of it trying to manoeuvre a stud wall into place and still it sits there. The lesson to be learned is that no matter what life throws at us we should just carry on. Things are far worse elsewhere in the world and we am luckier than we think.

I should know better.

Not a lot to report, after the washout that was last weekend, other than the mysterious bites have finally healed. We had a stall at the 3 counties flea fair last Monday and spent most of the day watching gazebos and stalls go flying past the doors as the wind caught them.Good job we didn't plump for an outside stall!!

I have almost finished the van now and have only to install the 4-way speaker system so we can have some cool sounds while we travel to the festies.

Oh..and I almost got myself in big trouble! Whilst clearing up the shop I came across a present that Al gave me. Typically being Al it was something stupid, namely, a disembodied arm. Well, I was on the train when the guard asked me for my ticket. Not realising my bag was part open, I handed him my ticket and he hurried away to the next carriage. After a few minutes he came back and told me that he had been in two minds as to whether I should have the Police waiting for me at Worcester platform. It was only after he thought about it that he realised what, in fact, was in my bag. Good job I'm not Brazilian and wearing black is all I can say!!!

(Give that man a hand)

Something is really bugging me.

Well yes, something is literally bugging me. After our return from Tiddesley Wood I started to get a slight itch on my back. Within a day this had become an intense burning sensation and I started to come up in lumps. Tree counted 11 bites in total. After a week of putting creams on, taking Piriton and using E45 I decided to go to the doctors. The doctor had to call in another doctor for a second opinion as he hadn't seen bites like these before. After a long debate they were none the wiser about what had bitten me but both agreed I should be on Antibiotics, which I hate taking, and an Antihistamine as the bites were now infected. This has left me more than pee'ed off as I am usually the one that bugs and mosquitoes leave alone. Oh well, they're obviously making up for lost time!!! The photo shows a few of the bites AFTER they were cooling down, so you can imagine what they were like at the hottest!!!

Tiddesley Wood and the rain.

Hoorah! I can relax, sort of, now we have done the show. We arrived on Saturday evening and nearly went straight back home. The wood was well boggy and, even with wood chips down, the ground was like a huge sponge oozing mud. We set to putting up the tent and Tree thought it would be easier if the van was nearer to the pitch. At this point I must say that I knew this was a bad idea, but left her to it. Minutes later and the van was stuck in huge ruts of mud. I dug out the wheels but we couldn't get any traction. Lucky for us there was the man, with his Romany caravan, who had a tractor. This made light work of pulling us out and we resumed pitching up, saying no more about it. It was now getting dark and we just finished before the last edge of light sank below the horizon. We were the only people staying in the wood overnight apart from the caravan guy, and his two friends, who were pitched in the field outside. We settled down for the night, listening to music, played by the guys in the field. One was playing the fiddle and the other a mandolin. In the background, a Vixen howled every once in a while. It was quite magical.
I awoke early to hear my first cuckoo of Spring and the call of a rookery sounding out around the woods. By now it was raining and we had doubts about the whole show. As other stallholders arrived the consensus was that we would only take money from each other, as no-one else would show up. 10 a.m came and went with no sign of a rush. 11 a.m and the rain eased a bit but we hadn't taken more than £20. But we had underestimated the wellie brigade and all of a sudden we were busy with people everywhere. By the end of the day we had taken more than last year!!! Result.
In view of this, Tree and I may go back to doing the festies full time instead of the shop, but time will tell.

Beltane blessings !!

Just a quick one to wish everyone a Merry Beltane.

Plant some seeds and jump those fires!!!

The earth is yielding and the sap rises.

Busy, busy, busy

The title says it all, as I am making mirrors, wands and stuff like crazy. I still took time out though for Pip's birthday and we (Me, Tree, Pip and Murali) went out for a meal to celebrate. It was a bit of a double celebration as it was Murali's birthday on the 30th as well. We had a lovely meal with, the now famous, Mango lassie that is the best you will ever taste. Better than in India!! Pip's cake was so thick in chocolate it took a few good goes just to cut through it and you couldn't eat more than one slice.

On another note, Tree and I have been accepted to Beautiful Days festie and are seriously considering doing the full festie circuit next year. It would mean closing the shop but, in the current economic climate, that may make sense. We shall wait and see!

Bella Italia!

Tree and I have not long returned from our trip to Venice for her 40th birthday celebration. We had a good time, getting in a lot of walking, and are glad to be back home. Venice is a lovely city but I wouldn't recommend staying for more than a few days as you can take in most of it in a good weekend. It is an expensive place and the locals take every opportunity to inflate prices for the tourist trap. I wouldn't mind but a lot of it is not worth anything to start with. The most ridiculous place to go is Harry's Bar. A club sandwich is 45 Euros (£39). That has got to be one mother of a sandwich for that price!! Some people we know had lunch for four, upstairs in the expensive bit where the menus have no prices marked, and got a bill for over £1000!! There is Murano glass everywhere you go, most of which is imported in from China, and carnival mask shops. We took a trip to Murano and decided to buy a small piece of glass, direct from the foundry where at least we would know it was genuine. We took a trip to the Lido and got on a bus. We were trying to get to Malomocca, a small picturesque village, but ended up going straight through it. Next thing we were going up a ramp and onto a ferry before we could get off. At the other side we drove for miles, with the roadside turning from houses to rougher houses and then a shipyard. At every stop rougher people got on and Tree had a guy with a deep scar, right across the back of his head, sit in front of her. At this point she noticed in the guide that the next stop was in an area where the people were described as "relatively lawless". Needless to say, we stayed on the bus and went back to the ferry pronto. Altogether not bad for 1.80 Euros!!

I must also add that Venice is not good for veggies as the food is all geared towards meat eaters. Hoever we did find, possibly, Venice's only veggie restaurant. Sadly it was on the day before we left!!!

When we got back to Blighty, we went down to see Joy and Nige for a few days and chill. Tree and I enjoyed some nice weather and spent a lot of time on the beach and went hunting for some places to move to.

Now comes the rush as I get ready for the first show of the year at Tiddesley Wood!

P.s Well done to Dan for completing the marathon and don't forget it is not too late to make a donation.

Run, Dan, Run

Well time is flying, as ever it does, and I am up to my neck in the proverbial work. Tree has been busy as well making her weaving sticks and door wedges.
We are taking a week off though, to go to Venice for Tree's 40th and then on to Cornwall to see Joy, Nige and the tribe. A very welcome break indeed.
I also want to give a quick mention to Dan, who is running in the Marathon on Sunday, and wish him every success in finishing in good time. Go visit his site here and make a donation - no excuses, even a pound will do!!

Otherwise, I have been getting back in touch with Pip, my eldest daughter, and this has made me very happy. I always feared that Tree was wrong, when she was optimistic about us seeing each other again, and had almost given up hope. Pip has left home and lives with her boyfriend Murali. Tree and I bumped into Pip in the Shambles just before New Year and a few weeks ago I got a call out of the blue. We have met up a couple of times since and things are back to normal between us. It has always been so painful to me that we lost contact but we both recognise that circumstances prevented it being otherwise. Anyway, she is a free minded, independent person now with a lovely bloke beside her (Murali, not me you fool) and the future is very bright.

I am now officially the shortest one in the family as Pip, Elliott and Gideon are all taller than me!!

A pain in the leg!!

I recently had the misfortune to fall from the train, not while it was moving I hasten to add, at Worcester Foregate St station. I felt a twinge in my leg but thought it would go away after a bit of flexing. Wrong!! The pain intensified over the next few days and reached critical on Sunday after I did a 3 mile walk round Pitchcroft. Basically, I have been told I have what is known as Shin Splints. This is where the tendon, connecting to the shin muscle is torn away, and the muscle attachment to the shin is damaged. The pain is like someone is kicking you in the shins non-stop. I have to rest it as much as possible and keep it strapped up. A bit of a problem when you consider that I walk to the train and the shop everyday. If it doesn't improve in a week I will have to have my lower leg put in plaster to restrict the movement. Great!! Just in time for Venice and the festies. I won't let it stop me though. It's more of a pain in the arse than anything!!

Oh F**k or let's forget the Uffington Horse

Following on from my post about the charms of quaint rural town and villages like Colwall, I have to report on the latest addition to the hills around Ledbury. We all know the Uffington horse carved in the chalk hillside, and the Cearn giant even more, but Ledbury was obviously feeling left out. So a kind farmer has carved the words "OH F**K" in the hillside as you come down from British Camp. You can just about see it from the road but the best viewpoint is from the hills or on the train. I have tried to capture a photo of it, but they all come out a bit blurry due to the movement of the train and the use of a zoom lens. To help see it better I have posted two photos of which one has the lettering overlaid to make it clearer. So, next time your bored on a weekend, take a trip to the hills and feel the warmth of a truly rural welcome.

Happy Eostre!!

What a day for getting up on the hills and experiencing Mother Nature at her best! It was so windy today I saw a sheep get blown over on the hillside and, trust me, sheep look very funny when they just keel over and just get right back up again. If this wind keeps up I will be out tomorrow hunting for the usual windfall of timber. As long as it doesn't snow too hard later, as I don't want to get stuck in the shop, I will go for a long walk down by the river. Apart from that, I am just busy as ever working towards the upcoming festies and shows. So not much to report really! The diet is going well and I have lost 2 stone and 3lbs in eleven weeks, with just one stone to go, and I have been stuffing my face as much as ever. Just shows what a little adjustment in diet and exercise can do. Tree has been doing okay on it as well. We've also been eating out 4 times in the last two weeks and still lost weight! Anyway, enough about that, here's an apt poem I remember from Spike Milligan.

Granny

Through every nook and every cranny

The wind blew in on poor old Granny

Around her knees, into each ear(And up nose as well, I fear)

All through the night the wind grew worse

It nearly made the vicar curse

The top had fallen off the steeple

Just missing him (and other people)

It blew on man, it blew on beast

It blew on nun, it blew on priest

It blew the wig off Auntie Fanny-

But most of all, it blew on Granny!