Spare time

In my spare time - of which there isn't an awful lot - I like to make jewellery. Mostly earrings, as that's all I've learned to do so far.

I have made far more than I could ever wear, so I take them to places I play and try and sell a few too. My favourite ones are the ones made out of guitar picks - and when I found picks featuring a certain cartoon character from TV, I couldn't resist! See what you think - the photos are not great, but hopefully you can see enough to get an idea.

These I call 'sparkly' - you can't really tell on here but they are faux diamonds that are very pretty. They are on silver posts.

These I call 'Rock Chick' - you can't tell but they have a 'beaten alumnium' look, very metal or grunge or... er... well, whatever! They were expensive to make as the picks were not cheap, but I really like these.

I made a necklace to go with them too - at the moment it hangs centrally with the chain going through the two outer holes, but I may change it so that it hangs at an angle, like the earrings. And if you had these, you'd never be short of a plectrum at your gig again (as long as you remembered to wear them).


These I christened 'Peacock' because they have that wonderful shimmering appearance when the light hits them, just like a peacock feather. They are simply four sequins on the end of a headpin (the long bit) with two purple glass beads on the pin, attached to metal fishhooks (not real fishhooks, but earring hooks).

These are made using a gold coloured metal, which gives a nice contrast to the dark bluey-black of the sequins and the shiny purple beads.

Now I guess you may recognise this smiley fella, but I'm not sure I can name him because of copyright and all sorts of issues - but I paid for the picks, so I've paid my licence fee for using him! He is of an underwater nature and has rectangular underwear. I have another pair I made featuring two of his pals (see below), great fun!

Having shown you a few of my earrings, I hope I get some feedback. I would love to know if they are worth selling, and any ideas for how I could sell them. I think putting them on Ebay would probably not be worth it as they are only going to be sold for between £3-£5, and if you want a box, then that's another 45p, plus postage. I love doing them, but I have such a collection now I really must look at ways of selling them if I can.

I need some advice on how to photograph them too - my digital doesn't really seem to capture the colours right or the detail.

The first pair are wooden beads on silver fishhooks, the second are oblong enamel beads on gold coloured metal, and the last are the cartoon ones on silver coloured metal.

A walk on the Heath

I was the last to leave the office Thursday evening, but as my office is on the top floor, folks don't always yell 'bye' to me. And yesterday, the 'last out' actually locked the door and set the alarm! Well, the result was that I could either sit in my chair all night or I had to move, set off the sensors and rush downstairs to stop the alarm bringing a cohort of policemen... hmm, now why did I turn off the alarm?

Thursday was also elections, so our family got in the car to visit the local primary school and make our marks. On the way we spotted our neighbours. we gave them a lift too and, when we reached the school, met some other people we knew. Then, after voting, we bumped into a band Bryan knows (Megson). Just as we were chatting the 'Poll Guardian' (or whatever they are calle said 'Excuse me, are you Carolyn from Shave the Monkey?'. Turns out he recognised us from the 'good old days'.

later on that evening I went to the 'annual outing' with the local Writers' Circle. We had planned to go to the fire station but that was cancelled, so we had a choice between doing the Town Tour or going to Therfield Heath. The Heath is accessible to us by just walking 100 yards to the end of the road where we live, but we met in the town and drove up to the parking places on the Therfield Road and started our walk. Julie, the Circle Chair, is also highly knowledgeable about plants. She told us the medicinal and edible properties of plants such as 'jack by the hedge' and burdock, of the many natural laxatives on the heath and, usefully, what used to be used as a natural toilet paper (silver birch bark).

Julie told us about the plants that you could eat, how members of the mint family (including the white 'nettle' which doesn't sting) all have squarish stems, and the myths surrounding the versatile elder. This was exmtremely useful for me as I am writing a longer story set in medieval times - I can add a few of these plants (common then as they are now) to the diet of my characters, and also use little side stories like the leaf of the plantain being a useful antibiotic 'bandage'. Julie said they called them 'fairy bandages'. And how one plant (I forget which) creates blisters and how beggars used to use it to make themselves look more pitiful. Creative humanity!

The idea of the annual trip is that we use it to find ideas to inspire us for our writing exercise at the next meeting - I have lots of material, just haven't worked out how I am going to use what we learned. I wrote a story about 'Longbarrow Jack' in the past (a fictional encounter with a barrow wight) as there are barrows on the heath, but I think I will write something about someone who tries to use some herbal recipes and gets it a bit wrong.

One of the team was very keen to find any poisons - she loves writing what she calls 'dark' stuff. I've not heard or read any yet. There was no Deadly Nightshade on the heath - no Belladonna. Translate Bella Donna - it means 'Beautiful Lady'. Why call a poisonous plant that? Because if you put the juice in the eye, it makes the pupils dilate - makes them more beautiful. Oh, makes you blind too - but then in times past folks used lead to make their skin white too, didn't they!

It was a very enjoyable walk, the sun setting orange over the fields - we could see for miles across Cambridgeshire - flat open spaces below us, as we stood on the chalky hills. As the seven of us headed along the top of the heath path and towards the golf club end (about a mile) it got a little chillier. I suggested we continued onwards instead of turning back to the cars and stopped at my house (our road was just about in view) and had tea, coffee and hot chocolate. Then I could drive everyone back in my car (7 seater thankfully) back to where we started from.

Now all I have to do is check my notes, look at my plant pictures and remember which is which, and try and have some ideas for writing up at the next meeting. We all liked this tree - maybe there's a starting point!

Danny La Rue and Marty Feldman

I just heard that Danny La Rue died, aged 81. See my previous post about the time I met him. I would say it is sad to hear he has passed - but instead I would much rather celebrate his extraordinary life. Let's be happy for what he gave us as an entertainer.

Here's a (short) obituary for him from Lurgan (he was an Irishman): http://www.lurganmail.co.uk/latest-irish-news/Death-of-entertainer-Danny-La.5321976.jp

I'm sure we will hear more about the 'comic in a frock' as the news pick up on the story and the researchers put together all the wealth of material they have about him. He was in the Black and White Minstrel show, a TV series that my mother also worked on, so I may have met him then as well. All I can say is I found him a nice guy. He wasn't nearly as frightening as Marty Feldman who I met when I was about 5 years old.

I met Marty in the changing rooms of Queens Park Rangers football club. They were filming a comedy sketch with the Royal Family as a football team. I remember him leaning over me, friendly, saying hello to the little girl on the bench... bless I'm sure he meant well but it did unnerve me.

For some reason, and I don't know what (and I'm not sure Sally remembers either), she had to do a plaster cast of his nose (which was, shall we say, prominent). We had this plaster cast for many years, along with many other weird and wonderful casts (including some 'Vulcan' ears), but plaster deteriorates and, after storage in a damp shed, it had to be disposed of.

May they both rest in peace - two great entertainers who added humour to our world.

Image courtesy of NNDB.com - original owner's rights asserted.

Drummers

Have you heard the one about the guy who kept hanging around musicians? He was a drummer... boom boom! Oh dear, there are stacks of bad drummer jokes, but there are stacks of jokes about banjos and accordions and their players too. But I didn't start this post to make bad jokes, I was just thinking the other day about the drummers we've played with. And what an interesting and varied bunch they are!

Let's start with the first drummer I played with, properly, in a band. This was a band we put together where I worked with various members of staff. My boss and I both had music in common and we formed the aptly named 'Mike Mucus and the Membranes' for a couple of fun gigs. Nothing too serious, a few cover songs and basically good fun. But we didn't have a drummer in the office cadre of musicians, so Mike brought in a friend of his called Follett. He was a good drummer, and although we rehearsed together, we never actually gigged with him for some reason. I remember one rehearsal where he dropped his joint behind the radiator. He spent the entire rehearsal trying to fish it out with a drumstick, and then dropped the drumstick down the radiator too. All very well, but we rehearsed in the office canteen! I hope the evidence of his shady habits were never found. Well, they must have been one day, for that building is now the headquarters of McDonald's in the UK.

Follett couldn't play for our one main gig - at a night club in London supporting some pop/punk band called Scarlet. So Mike brought in another friend of his, Bill. Now, we didn't need to rehearse with Bill because he was a 'professional'. He was amazing! He played that one night with us an we had an absolute blast. He was a quiet guy, very pleasant, amazingly talented and had longish hair and a moustache. That's about all I can remember about him - but if you want to know what he looked like when he was 'top of the pops', just look up Bill Legend - from TRex!


The next drummer we played with was Tony (pictured left) who was the drummer in our folk rock band, Aardvark and No Money. This was in the 80s and Tony had naturally curly hair whilst Bryan and I had perms! Oh yes - matching perms. Tony was a rock solid drummer - his timing was so spot on that when we recorded, whilst being mixed someone asked if he was a drum machine! He used to play in a vest top and I do remember one gig, at the Old Bull Arts Centre in Barnet, where I 'oiled him up' with glycerine to make him all shiny under the lights. Hey! It was the 80s, OK?

Tony was a great drummer, but for reasons I honestly can't remember, we parted ways and he was replaced by Kevin (pictured right), who even now still plays with Bryan in the dance band Swindlers & Gentry. Kevin came into Aardvark in, sadly, its declining years, but he stayed with us as we formed Shave the Monkey which played (and I have to say, didn't do too badly at all!) together for over 16 years.

At one time my son Alex played with us - he did a couple of barn dances when he was only 7 or 8, but he was easily good enough. He still plays now (aged 17) but exams and skateboarding and other distractions keep him away from his sticks these days.

Shave called it quits in the early part of the new millennium and it was time to seek pastures new. One gig I depped on bass for was in an ad hoc dance band in Kent. The drummer this time was a quiet chap but extremely talented, called Carlton. Turns out he was a professional too. Played with a quiet outfit called Bad Manners!

For a short while Bryan and rehearsed and recorded with a band called Fire Giants, but it never quite got going. We had an amazing drummer called Martin who was very different in style to the other guys - he had spent time in Cuba learning some incredibly complex rhythm stuff. He played all sorts of percussion too including weird African drums, shaky and wobbly things of all descriptions.

The next drummer that I played with (and still play with) was Baz - he was a friend of Penni's and we played at a few ad hoc gigs at Rougham together (more stories about some of the weirder gigs are on this blog).

As you can tell, quite a history of drummers. And all of them, without exception, excellent. I consider myself very lucky to have played with such great drummers. And, as a bass player, it's important the bass and drums 'click' to get a great rhythm section. Hopefully the drummers I've played with have enjoyed playing with me too (though I should think that Bill and Carlton probably wouldn't remember those one off gigs).

Now the other day, Kevin couldn't do one of the barn dance gigs. So Bryan called up a friend who he hadn't played with for years, but who had recently got back in touch. Full circle it seems, Bryan and his mates played a gig with Tony - but he doesn't exactly have curly hair any more, and Bryan doesn't have a perm either.

So, who do I play with now? Well, Shani, my music partner in our band Tu, is also a drummer! We can't exactly perform live with the drums though - because she plays bass, guitar and sings too. Talented as she is I think playing drums at the same time as bass or guitar is going to be a challenge... unless we change and go for a 'White Stripes' type act at some time!

What's the difference between a drummer and a drum machine? With a drum machine you only need to punch the information in once. And there's a really rude riposte to this about bass players too but, funnily, I can't remember it...

Relaaaaaxed

Ah - I did something today I've not actually done in ages. Nothing! Yes, nothing. I lay on the lawn in the warm sun and did nothing. I felt the tickle of small bugs as they crawled over me - a huge interference. I listened to the screech of the swallows diving across the clear blue sky.

I heard the snore of my cat who chose the discomfort of heat so that she could have companionship in the sun. I heard the chatter of neighours and smelled the smoke of early barbecue preparations. And the rustle of the frogs amongst the pond plants - a splash as they chased the sun from the edge of the pool.

I felt the prickle of the grass beneath my back and the hard, dry ground underneath me, unyeilding. I lay, content to do nothing except, occasionally, read a few pages of my book. But mostly I just felt that warm sun on my skin and the weight of a lovely lunch settling in my stomach.

What a peaceful afternoon.

Upstaged!

Last weekend Shani and I played at Rougham Air Field at the Suffolk Kite Festival. It was an incredibly windy weekend (good) but rainy too (not so good). There were kites like a crab, Tweetie Pie (pictured), an octopus, a giant teddy, as well as the fantastic stunt kites. But we didn't get to see much of them.

Shani and I were in the tea/bar tent, playing in the afternoon to the visitors to the show. We played both Saturday and Sunday for about three and a quarter hours over a four hour period - mostly because we were having such fun.

But - on Sunday - we were upstaged! Oh yes, upstaged by a guest performer. You see - I always ask the audience (when there is one - sometimes there weren't that many people in there, but we always had the bar staff!) what they'd like us to sing. 99% of the time of course we don't know what they want, but one young lady asked me for a song I knew!

"Horsey, horsey, don't you stop, just let your feet go clippety clop, your... mmmmm.... and your wheels go round, giddy up we're homeward bound". OK, I've probably not sung that since my own kids were about four, but I remembered all of it but one line. I asked the little girl if she knew the line and she did. I asked her if she'd like to sing it, and she said she would.

With a smile of consent from her mother, the cutie clambered onto the stage and I put the mike down to her level. With a loud and confident voice she sang the song with us accompanying, and 'tail goes swish' was the missing line. The audience of course applauded hugely. Her little eyes went round as saucers and I could see she loved it. Another soul lost to the lure of the stage! Even if it was in a tea tent in a field at a kite festival.

Two days of solid playing our fingers were sore but we had a grand time. John, the guy who runs all the events, was not happy with the layout of the event and there weren't really enough people there to make him completely happy, but even so he seemed happy with the music and it was, for us, a good time. They run some superb events at Rougham (and some of my earlier and more bizarre gigs have in fact occurred there too), so worth a visit: http://www.roughamairfield.org/

Muppets and Drag Acts

Here's something from my personal history - I dug it out of my old writings when I was talking about the Muppets with one of my colleagues.

With theatrical parents (in more ways that one), I was brought up in a very open atmosphere - where more 'artistic' views, exaggerated personalities and attitudes were acceptable. I met many fascinating people - I only regret that being so young, I did not fully appreciate how lucky I was to meet them.

Certain instances remain fairly clear in my memory, such as watching a production of the Muppet Show and seeing not only how it was done technically, but just how much the puppeteers 'lived' the characters. Even though from the studio floor you could see the operators, the characters of the puppets were such that you watched them and followed their dialogue, almost ignoring the puppeteers 'below'. The show was staged on two levels - the studio floor being where all the human muppets moved, and a secondary level from which the show was filmed, and from where the lives of the puppets themselves were all that could be seen.

The episode I watched being filmed featured Racquel Welch. I remember her laughing most of the time - you couldn't help it with the crew and the 'cast'. The pure fun of such television magic made the whole experience magical, even though the 'technical magic' was revealed.

(I found part of the show on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEuEx0qJyO8)

Perhaps being brought up in the theatre had disadvantages too - my mother tells me that when I went to see 'Peter Pan' on stage I loudly cried that I could 'see the wires'. Peter wasn't flying at all! The wires aren't so easy to see these days (on screen they can be edited out and cgi is a wonderful thing), but I know they are there. I wasn't much good at the suspension of disbelief I guess. Perhaps that's why I liked reading so much?

For one production my mother worked on, I can't remember which (probably something at the London Palladium), I was down in the dressing rooms with her whilst she fitted head dresses. Danny La Rue entered in full ball gown, wig and makeup. He was very funny, even just chatting to his companions, and he loved to say in a sudden, deep, butch aside "I'm a fella really". All the men I met were charming and tolerant of a young girl, and I think the strong affinity between theatrical people stems from comradeship and a history of tolerance that has been around longer in their profession than in perhaps any other (save the oldest, I imagine).

Muppet picture from Wikia Entertainment website, Danny La Rue from BBC website. Unknown origins, no copyright claimed, original owners' rights asserted.

In the garden

At last we are enjoying some pleasant spring weather that has lasted a whole weekend! It's been very intermittent, with rain and clouds and single sunny days - but yesterday and today it has been lovely.

Sally, my mother, does lots of work in the garden throughout the week, weeding and tidying. Last weekend I mowed both lawns and trimmed the hedge. Our hedge adjoins the neighbour's so we always do both hedges (both families). Thing is - my extension lead doesn't reach all the way to the end so their hedge is only 3/4 done. Oh well!

Would you like a quick tour of my back-garden? It won't take long - since we built two extensions on the house, it isn't such a big garden as when we first moved in.

At the back there is a patio that extends the width of the house. There is a conservatory too, but it's in the lee of the house, so isn't too hot. Warm in the mornings, cool in the afternoons. Only two sides are glass. It's rotting away - the wood wasn't treated the last two years and now it needs serious repair, or even removal and rebuilding.

The patio has two sets of steps down to the lawn, and the lawn is surrounded by border on three sides, with a shed at the bottom in the middle. We are repairing one of the sets of steps, and one of our cats decided that the rubble bag would make a great place to snuggle. Daft animal!

The strawberry border has taken over what was the leek and bean bed too, so hopefully with the consistent rain and the sun (pleeeeease!) we will have a great crop.

In front of the shed is a small border too, that is planted with potoatoes. Next to the shed is a broken pot - it's actually a toad house. When I moved last year's grow bag (not many tomatoes) there was a toad in residence, so I scooped him and his surrounding earth into a heap and put the pot over the top to keep the earth moist and keep him protected. There's nothing worse than mowing frogs and toads accidentlly when the grass is long!

At the bottom and to the left of the shed is a lilac tree and it fills the garden with its scent. When it has finished flowering, the mock orange blossoms, and that corner remains fragrant. To the right of the shed is my pear tree and this year it has so many small fruits on it, following an amazing blossoming, that I've already had to support one of the main branches. I'll have to reduce them and give it more support, I'm sure.

Down the side of the house where the conservatory is we have a wider part of patio with table and chairs and this is also where I'm doing more vegetable gardening. There is not enough border to plant more vegetables (there are lovely flowers and shrubs down the sides of the lawn) so I am growing a variety of goodies in pots. I have three tubs in the conservatory with khol rabi and broccoli, and outside I am growing more potatoes (in a bag), tomatoes, beetroot, squash, beans, peas (only two plants!) and carrots. I'm not sure how successful they'll be, but I do enjoy getting my hands dirty - the feel of the earth between my fingers (not so nice under the fingernails though).

Hopefully we will have some home grown veg to accompany our home grown pears, plums and strawberries. The wall along the patio has a border on the lawn side and this has jasmine and agapanthaus (I think!). It's a bit wild, but in the spring it's full of bulbs including narcissi, tulips and hyacynth. At the moment it is a soft green carpet of nigella - waiting to burst into flower as 'love in a mist' over the next few weeks.

Niamh Parsons and Graham Dunne

Sunday night, after my busy weekend away with Carol in the Midlands, Shani and I were the support to Niamh and Graham at Hitchin Folk Club.

Our set was quite laid back, but very appropriate for the mood and audience. Getting them to sing along with 'Sunset' (audience participation is a must) was a challenge, but they didn't let us down!

But back to Niamh and Graham. Let's start with Graham, a quiet, reserved seeming fellow from County Clare - but his guitar speaks volumes! He describes himself as playing 'folk, jazz, flamenco' and certainly all those styles are in his playing. His ability as a guitarist is amazing - because he doesn't just have the technical ability to play something as complex as, say Rodriguez' Recuerdos de la Alhambra (with that neat triple note playing), but because he could accompany and adapt his style to suit that of the singer - Niamh.

His guitar playing suited every song - the majority of which were traditional but not all. He also played some solo pieces, all of which were like little 'musical journeys' rather than set pieces. They took you down lanes, byways and some highways in their pace and structure.

Niamh sings - though she says she plays guitar (like she did when she was 15) - she only sung this night. Her voice is in a low register, and her Irish accent adds an additional dimension that is pleasing to the ear. Her choice of songs, though sometimes morbid (I was impressed - she had a body count at the end of the set which even I could not match!), were moving and thought-provoking.

Her delivery on stage is relaxed and informal, yet she stands out as a consummate professional. She engaged the audience with talk as well as her singing, anecdotes relevant to the songs and to the performance. Her voice has a tone and timbre that are easy to listen to. She does not sing with a power borne of volume, but - and the only word I can find to explain it - presence. A rich tone, without feeling cloying. I guess the best thing is if you listen yourself: http://www.myspace.com/niamhparsonsofficial. Visit her site, buy her CDs, see her live!

If you like good traditional folk music and excellent guitar playing without the 'diddly diddly', then Niamh and Graham deliver the goods!

Kenilworth and Sundials

On Friday night I picked up my friend Carol and we drove across to Kenilworth to Woodside, part of the Sundial Group. I had been invited on a 'Taste of Sundial'- a promotional event which included around 70 guests.

When we arrived we were greeted with tea and chocolate eclairs, and every staff member we met was very welcoming and friendly. We then convened at 7pm for an official welcome and a 'mysterious' tour. Taken in groups of 20, we walked round the beautiful grounds and met historical characters along the way. Each encounter entertained us with a story of events from the darker side of history. The tableux were presented by a group called 'Walk on the Dark Side'. We learned the story of Jebediah Stone and his misdeeds, his encounter with the Devil and a dishonest innkeeper, plus the strange story of Moll Bloxham of Warwick, who misused the generosity of the court and ended up cursing the city. I can definitely see a couple of songs in there! Especially as Moll undergoes a transformation into a demon dog - oh yes, songworthy!

This was followed by a marvellous dinner which was, I have to say, extremely appetising, if a little prolonged. Amongst the guests at our table were of the actors, plus Jo (part of the family who own the Sundial Group). We mixed well, had extremely interesting and stimulating conversations (from Spinoli dogs to haunted houses, from Egypt to existentialism), and I was impressed with the service of the staff.I had been to a Sundial Hotel before, Highgate House, and had been extremely impressed last time. There is something about a business run by a family - rarer and rarer in these times in this industry - that is very encouraging. Without exception, at both hotels, the staff were friendly and welcoming. From the cleaners who I passed on my way to the swimming pool, the Czeck barman, to the General Manager - everyone had a ready smile and - something we appreciated - a ready glass of wine too!

After breakfast on Saturday morning we were given a 15 minute tour of the training facilities - including (and I really liked this) the training rooms with magnetic walls. Well, the walls must have been metal but the little magnets stuck to them (and they looked just like normal walls) so you could put up flipchart paper or promotional materials without damaging the walls.

Sundial also run their own team building events with 'Teamscape' and have facilities within the grounds at all of their venues.We were then taken by coach to Warwick Castle where we were briefed on a Treasure Hunt exercise which took us round the castle on an information trail - finding the answers to questions and find certain items. This was arranged by Adventure Sports. One of the objects we were asked to acquire was a peacock feather. They have many peacocks in the Castle Grounds who are no doubt used to gawking tourists and being chased by children, but they must have been particularly irritated that day as so many adults were following them round in the hopes of a dropped feather! Warwick Castle is a great venue for corporate events, and they have a superb range of team building and facilities that the 'tourist' visitor doesn't see. However, trying to rush round the castle in two hours was a little bit of a tall order - so much to see! We were also 'caught' by a 'stalker'. She followed the teams and got each to perform a silly task which was videoed.

These included: Looking up into the sky and yelling 'aliens!'; Using a bad foreign accent to ask another visitor where the Monkey House was; Marching to a sargeant major yelling; Telling a rude joke and... A hopping race. Our team got the hopping race which we did in one of the rooms in the great hall, we were lucky not to get thrown out!

We then returned to Woodside for a lovely barbecue and those who were not staying over left. That was the end of the official part of the weekend, so my friend and I headed into Stratford to visit Anne Hathaway's Cottage, took a trip round the town and then in the evening extended our 'dark side' experiences by going on the Warwick Walk with the Darkside folks. We learned even more about the history of the city and also some speculative intrigue on Queen Elizabeth I and Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester.

Elizabeth visited Robert several times at his wonderful home in Kenilworth (he extended the castle specifically to build her amazing apartments) and on the 'famous' stay of 19 days, it has been speculated that she did actually marry Dudley, even if it was just a Pagan hand-fasting. What gives rise to this theory? According to Andy of Darkside, it's all in the Langham Diaries. There were a number of events with a strongly Pagan feel and - well - she was there 19 days, they were friends from childhood and she never married anyone else. All we need to prove this theory is... a Tardis!

The rumours that Dudley murdered his first wife Amy were another black mark in Dudley's book, making him an unsuitable suitor for Elizabeth - but according to historical record, he was at Hampton Court at the time of her death. And no one saw anything - in a time in history where a new rabbit on the field might well have been noticeable! All stories from Andy and his crew, but they have been thorough enough to research their subjects from historical sources rather than just reading stuff on the web and putting it in their own words.

Sunday morning Carol and I took a walk and accidentally ended up at Stoneleigh Abbey, which is nearby. One part of our walk was over the motorway - that felt really weird! We were too early for it to be open to the public, but it looked impressive. And in walking distance from Woodside too! Before heading home we went to Kenilworth Castle which the Sundial team had kindly arranged free entry to. This was another amazing experience steeped in history and further intrigue with Dudley and Elizabeth. My overall impressions of the weekend are that Sundial Group care about their delegates and that their staff are fantastic. The Midlands is a superb area for activities and sites of historical interest and if you are arranging retreats, soft skills training or team building events, then this is a superb location. Click here for photographs I took including some of the actors and of Warwick.

Heacham Beach

This Sunday I went to visit a friend who I haven't seen in 5 years. It's not that we haven't meant to catch up.. it's just...

I drove up to Norfolk after my Sunday morning swim and the sun was shining. The drive was lovely, along the river, up the (slow but pretty) A10. We had tea, biscuits and a good natter. We sat in the sun lounge, looking out over the Wash.

We had a short walk along the beach too - I saw sanderlings, plovers and turnstones. The sanderlings (pretty little grey shore birds) hopped in and out of the shallows - and for some reason they did hop! If they wanted to move down the beach it was obviously too much effort to put the other foot down again so they hopped along in a very comical manner.
(This photo courtesy of www.watchingbirds.co.uk)

There was sunshine, but a cool wind. The atmosphere was relaxing and I just love the sound of the ocean. My friend has had to go back to her family in Spain, she has a difficult time ahead with a sick relative, but it was good to catch up, even though it was just a few short hours.

It was good to be by the sea again too. I really must go more often.

Rearranging the blog layout

I watched a video on the net about how to add PayPal buttons to the blog and how to keep posts with saleable items on them easy to access. You see the 'labels' section? One of my labels is 'store' - and if you click on that, you can find the things (both of them!) that I can sell via this blog! Whoo hoo! I'm learning more and more. Oh, I mean 'I'm monetising my blog' (pah, jargon!)

Now all I have to do is see if anyone ever buys anything off me!

The clever thing about the labels though is that you can find stuff more easily - now I know how to use it properly, I'll be more careful how I label up my posts. And I want to do more book reviews, maybe some music ones too - all keeps me occupied and off the streets, eh?

The Ghost by Robert Harris

As well as being a writer and musician, I am also a prolific reader - so I thought I'd offer a couple of my own thoughts on 'good reads' I have had recently.

So - I'm starting with a book that I picked up without any recommendation, called The Ghost. It's not what you think - it isn't horror or even supernatural, it's about an individual engaged in the fascinating occupation of ghost writing.

The novel was about a ghost writer called in at the last minute to write the autobiography of a former UK Prime Minister. His predecessor came to a sticky end and this is just the start of a far more complicated story that slowly unfolds. I won't give away the plot, but I will tell you how much I enjoyed the book!

It was racy, politically smart, well written, engaging and the main character was very easy to identify with (because I like writing? Maybe!). The PM was excellent too - shades of Blair, but it could have been any contemporary British PM (I had a very pleasant mental image of Hugh Grant as he played the PM in the film 'Love Actually').

The story carries you on at a good pace, has a great ending and is written in a style that I personally found easy to read. It was a book I wanted to read all at once but my reading habits don't usually allow that. I won't trot out 'couldn't put it down' or the other usual corny comments that tend to grace the world of book reviewing, but I will say it was an excellent book, a terrific story and I wouldn't hesitate in recommending it.

Genre? Well, it's a cracking good adventure story - but not in the traditional sense (no racing through deserts, but plenty of other action).

Here's the Amazon link to the book: The Ghost, Robert Harris

Enjoy!

If you like my book reviews - this is the first I've done (be gentle!), please pass this blog link on to others.

You cain't go back...

Yes, you can! The other day Bryan and I went to meet a pal from about 25 years ago - a musician. A while back we met Fang again, after about 20 years. And yesterday, I went right back - to my childhood.

No, I didn't start sucking my thumb again (I know where it's been!) but I did drive to the Norfolk town of Diss and surprise my ex-neighbour on his 87th birthday! Thankfully the shock wasn't too much. That had worried me - his son (Paul) and I arranged that we would meet up after finding each otheron Facebook just a few months ago.

Funny really - you think of someone from the past, stick the name in Facebook and up come all these entries and you wonder ... but I saw Paul's photo and knew it was him. He still has the same cheeky look from 30 years back!

So for Maurice's birthday we arranged a meal in Diss which was also attended - as a surprise - by my mum, myself and another neighbour from those days, Daphne.

Backstory: from aged 3-16 I lived in Athenaeum Road, Whetstone, London N20. We lived in a nice house, but by the time we left it was in sore need of serious (and expensive) repair. Opposite us lived Maurice, Beryl, Paul and Anne. Beryl (Paul's mum) died in 1971, my dad died in 1973. So our parents were, respectively, Widow and Widower. Friends, but never anything more. Paul and I - though I am four years his senior - were best buddies for most of those years. We would play in his huge garden or in our houses; we set fire to his shed once (only a little bit) and would play with our Action Men and invented many imaginative games. I was - ahem - probably a bit bossy. No, actually, I was VERY bossy! Poor lad already had an older sister too!

It was a friendship that lasted right up until we lost touch some time after Bryan and I got married and we moved away from Barnet (both families had moved away from Athenaeum Road by then).

Daphne lived further up the Road with her family and she and my mother Sally remained friends through all the intervening years. She now lives in Ely - so Sally and Daphne drove across from Ely and I drove from home to meet Paul and Maurice in their home town of Diss.

Seeing them both last night was a pleasure - they say you can't go back, but sometimes you don't need to go back, you can just look back and laugh together.

Of Poets and Possibilities

Ted Mikalski has been a friend of ours for a very long time... over 30 years in fact. We lost touch with him for many years, but a few years ago we got back together and Bryan recorded him singing his own songs, and eventually produced a CD.

He did a CD launch last night, at a club in South London (Tulse Hill). The gig was organised by Ingrid (Heartsong on myspace) and the evening was a mixture of poetry and song. Ted Met a few people he'd 'known' on Myspace for some time - but this time 'in the flesh'. Bryan and I accompanied him - I played my stand up bass and Bryan played mandolin - but the star of the show was Ted. He has an easy way with him on stage that engates and relaxes audiences. One of the other performers Was Jude Cowan - another myspace friend. She has an amazing wit and intellect that she transfers amazingly in song.

I hope this PayPal button thing works - it would be good to sell a few CDs for Ted at last.

PRS

I signed on to PRS as they told me disbursements would be made at the end of the month. And... yes! I have income from my publishing!

Why is this worthy of blogging? Because I thought the 'button' on the PRS screen was fabulous - it simply says:

"Show me the money"

My - they have us pegged, don't they?

Now all I need to do is work out who I owe what of the percentages. I wonder which writer and which songs have earned the money? It's not a lot, but it's a start!

Spring? Spring!

Though it keeps trying to fool us, Spring definitely made an appearance today! The daffodils are nodding their lazy heads in the warm sun, the tulips are straining, hoping to open their red hearts to the gentle rays soon. The primlas are rioting... taking over the borders and rampaging whilst they can before the nigella take command!

It's been an interesting day. We got up early for a Sunday because Jack the Plumber and Mark the roofer were coming round to fix a leak. Yes, the least rain in ages and that's when we end up with a huge damp patch in the kitchen ceiling! But Jack sussed out it was external, and he and Mark spent Sunday morning in the sunshine spreading thick black goo on the roof. "This'll work fine, it's the same as the stuff they use for the Channel Tunnel". Goodness! I hope we never have to face that kind of water threat!

I did lots of gardening - mowed the back and front lawns, planted a rose, dug up some weeds, mended a step (started to, anyway) walked on the heath, and - delight of all delights - did tons of washing and ironing.

So the washing dried in the brisk spring sunshine - the chill wind helping of course. The blossom is out and the hyacinths are spicing the air with their sweetness. My cheeks are now red with air and my fingernails blunted by earth and stone.

It's such a shame it's going to rain again tomorrow

Against the odds

Having sworn never to blog - my friend Nadine has now started a blog! She's gone back on years of saying she'd never blog.

Here it is!

http://nadinelaman.blogspot.com/

She's a writer in North America (Arizona) and has written a series of three books about a lady called Kathryn. I've read the first two - waiting eagerly for the third due out later this year.

A very civilised evening

Saturday night Bryan, Sally and I went to a concert. Only a half hour, but a performance by a young cellist called Simon. Simon plays in Bryan's band, Strangeworld.

He was accompanied by a pianist and the concert took place in Jesus College Chapel, Cambridge. You can't get much more civilised than that! (Beats my last gig which was an Irish evening in Loughton...) Simon played excellently and performed works by Bloch, Beethoven and Debussy (the last piece being a very expressive concerto).

A lovely setting, nice music, and a very pleasant evening all in all. As we rose to go Bryan said 'He plays Beethoven, Bloch and me!' - which is absolutely true! Not sure it puts Bryan in the same category as the other two Bs, but it does show Simon's versatility.

Oh, and Jesus College Chapel is pretty cool too!

The Brits love their chocolate!

One of the products I am selling on my trainer site is chocolate, yes chocolate! No, it's not so I can sample the stock, honestly! Though I have tried it and it is rather... mmm...

Thing is, this stuff is 'healthy chocolate' - the way they have processed it makes it a fantastic antioxidant, and I think if taking antioxidants daily is a good healthy thing to do, taking it in chocolate has to be the best option!

Well, I'm going to give it a try on the site, see if the trainers like it, and I'm giving away free samples to get things going.

http://www.completetrainer.co.uk/Training_Add_Ons/Healthy_Chocolate

Aparrently the fastest growing outlet for this chocolate, which was 'invented' and launched in the US, is the UK. We does love our chocolate it seems.

The Food and Drink Federation say:

"The UK confectionery market is valued at an estimated £4.41bn in 2006, although growth is slowing as this sector is seen as unhealthy. A move to more healthy options has occurred amongst suppliers with sugar free versions as well as the inclusion of additives such as vitamins.
In 2005/06 the most obvious trends in the chocolate market were the moves towards darker and more expensive chocolate. The health benefits of cocoa were one of the reasons behind the move towards darker chocolates, which are also perceived as higher quality."

So, healthy chocolate is the way to go. £4.41 billion? How much chocolate is that!! Chocolate Confectionary Industry Insights report that the 2008 UK market for chocolate alone was 6411.3 million Euros!

Is chocolate recession proof? Thing is people get depressed during recession, and often eat chocolate which is known to free the good old endorphins... so it could be that people eat more chocolate during recession. I don't know, it will be interesting to see though.

Right, back to work! I've been distracted by chocolate (and now I REALLY want to open the stock, but I won't....) long enough.

Skins!

Well, my daughter asked if she could watch Skins last night (a TV programme about young adults). And we said 'yes', because she watches it, her mates watch it, her brother watches it... and last night I overheard some of the language in the programme. I daren't think about the storylines that go with some of what I heard them saying!

But the thing that really strikes me is how different TV and people are now since when I was young. OK, maybe I was an exception, but at 15 I was still watching Scooby Do and didn't know 'who dunnit' either!

We are asking kids to grow up very quickly now. It seems in our wonderful developed world we are curtailing the joy of youth voluntarily. In the third world kids are sent out to work, even in the developed world many children have to work, take on responsibilities and face a difficult world in which they live.

I'm not saying I want to wrap my children in cotton wool and keep them young forever (goodness no), but the deterioration in language (in my opinion) is surely fuelled by these highly adult themed programmes which are aimed at kids. I don't care how 'real' or how 'relevant' these programmes are, they are making bad language, drug taking and bad behaviour acceptable to the youth of today.

And hey, folks, when we are old (I mean really old), these guys are going to be the ones who look after us. Am I totally naieve in wanting some positive role models for our children that are still valid, real and relevant, but don't have to be splattered with foul language and continual bad behaviour?

Maybe Skins is not the best example, I can't say, I haven't actually watched it. So, put me right! But I've seen Eastenders, and I don't think that's much better!

Right - now where did I put my Thomas the Tank Engine Video? Darn those pesky kids...

Blogging

Well, it may seem I have neglected this little blog, but in truth I've been running two other blogs (work based), plus I should do more on the Sheppard Family History one.

Also, I'm tweeting, facebooking, myspacing... I think ... I'm very scared that I might ... actually be turning into a virtual person too!

Nope - the ironing still needs doing, I can't be that virtual!

Check out my work blog if you get the chance:

http://www.thecompletetrainer.blogspot.com/

And, of course, I'm putting lots of stuff on my main site too http://www.thecompletetrainer.com/

Outside of work I've been designing the cover for Ted's album that Bryan recorded www.myspace.com/edwardmikalski and doing loads of other things. Mel has been accepted by a modelling agency (hardly surprising, she is drop dead gorgeous) and I took Alex up to Coventry University last week for his interview. Conditional acceptance, way to go!!

Right, back to work, that's enough for this lunch time! Oh, I should have another blog post up soon - Shani and I are doing a St Patrick's night on Saturday. Yes, English and Israeli singing Irish songs all night. Should be a laugh! See you at the Gunmakers Arms, Loughton, by any chance??

Naughty Maxie!

Last night I met an interesting character - he was called Maximums Naughtius. He was an 11 month old Siamese kitten and the skinniest, most petite little rogue you are ever likely to meet on a cold night in February.

He was a smokey coloured siamese and he liked attention! I was visiting a trainer in Letchworth and during our conversation, Maximus discovered my bootlaces! What a cheeky little fella - 11 months old and lots of fun. I tickled him a bit whilst talking to my colleague still, but he really did capture (or is that cat-purr?) my attention, the little rougue.

Strangers and friends

I have been tardy with my posts again - and so much has happened!

Two sets of hospital visits (Mel got the Novo virus and Sally broke her wrist), a few gigs (including a whole unplanned evening with Ted and Maria at the Unicorn in Cambridge) and the Mel went to New York too. So much that I could have blogged, should have blogged!

So here's a simple story of my Sunday evening. I met with one of my friends from the writers forum I belong to. She was up from her home town in the West Country for a work meeting on the Monday. She was staying in a hotel only 30 miles from me so I drove over to pick her up from the station and have a 'face to face' chat at last.

We've known each other for about three years, informally over the web, so to meet up was going to be interesting. What would we talk about, just the writers we knew in common on the forum? The weather? Meeting someone new is always exciting and always a little nerve wracking (for me), what if I'm not like they expected? What if they don't like me?

Well, putting all that aside, I drove down to the station following my Sat Nav which dutifully took me down an alley and into a dead end the wrong side of the station! After a 54 point turn, I extricated myself and vehicle (why didn't I follow my instincts and ignore that stupid machine?!) and picked up my friend at the station. She recognised me - I had a big black hat on.

I drove her over to her hotel and we sat in the bar and talked. And talked! For nearly five hours we just talked about everything: cats, jobs, men, medical devices, writing, the Armenian diaspora, childhood, history...

She is partly Armenia, hence the conversation around the country and the persecution and genocide. Though denied by Turkish authorities even now, the population of Armenia was reduced by 75%. I once knew an Armenian who worked with me at the computer company and we spent an evening in Milan (or some European city) many years ago playing cards and talking about his home country. I remembered him saying how his family had to leave his country. Now, I have to say I am not up to date on European politics or history, but this is a subject I should study more, if nothing else just to understand human nature better.

I once heard it said that no oppression or attempt at subjugation of a people had ever truly worked - but I think I need to understand the Armenian situation more fully to see if that statement bears truth in this instance.

We talked about so many other things too - some quite personal subjects - but we were very comfortable with each other instantly I felt. She had a few glasses of red wine, I had so much cola I had to keep visiting the ladies room, but it was a lovely evening. My friend on line was now a friend in person.

Talking with someone new, learning new things, having intelligent conversation was very stimulating. I'm normally asleep by ten, but we stayed up chatting till 12 and I then headed back home, with a really good feeling inside. I hope she enjoyed the evening as much as I did.

The Family Sheppard

I add another blog to my writing exploits


In 1892 my great, great auntie Elizabeth Mary Sheppard compiled a history of the Sheppard Family of Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire. It's an amazing document - two huge tomes full of delicate hand writing, photographs, pictures and a complex family tree (pedigree). This incredible resource should be made more widely available, especially as so many people like to trace their family histories now. I don't have to do that - I have it all to hand! So I'm going to put up what I can, over time, to help others who may be seeking information on the family.

What I would love is to have the books transcribed, maybe one day. Meanwhile, if you'd like an insight in the Sheppard Family, visit my new blog:

The Sheppard Family History

Tardy!

I was admonished today for not having updated my blog in the last month. Oh dear oh dear! Well, actually - I haven't been up to much mischief the last four weeks!

Oh yeah, we had Christmas, and New Year, but even then I was well behaved! And no gigs so no shinnanigans there either.

But.. I do have some stories I should write up. Like my next door neighbour's wedding. Ann is 70 and she married Ernie on 5th December 2008. It was the first time any of us had been to a church for ages without it being a funeral! It was a lovely day and though December was a dull well month, that one day was shining and bright.

I have been busy at work - I now run two blogs for my business (www.thecompletetrainer.blogspot.com and of course add new products to the work website (www.thecompletetrainer.com) - all of which keeps me busy.

I use online networking (Ecademy and LinkedIn) and and busy emailing and marketing and doing adwords and also ... would you believe.. helping to promote a holiday cottage (Cley Cottages) and some other stuff for my boss (Angie).

Coo! What a lot of links! But, that's what my life is at the moment - a virtual world! My business is virtual, I spend time on line writing (my writers circle) and my music life is... online too!

Ah, yes, and I've been working on a brand new project to publish music. Sooo... all in all I've been busy, but I've not been doing those kind of things that I like to blog about - weird gigs, odd parties, getting lost in strange places, trips, visits etc etc.

But that doesn't mean I won't be doing some exciting things this year... oh yeah, I have some plans I can tell you! And, knowing my luck, any gigs I do are bound to give me something to write about one way or another.

After all, the best subject in the world is human life, and my oh my, it's everywhere!

"20th anniversary reunion of folk-rock band Shave the Monkey"

Well, it was five years to the day that Shave last played at Hitchin Folk Club. On 30th November we had a superb night - full hall and a chance to catch up with friends from far and near.

Despite a few hiccups with the PA, the evening went well and it was great to sing and play the old numbers (and a new one too) again.

On 13th December we had the opportunity to play our second 20th Anniversary concert at Bridgwater Arts Centre. Yes - 20 years since Shave the Monkey first started! The Arts Centre gig was great - the PA was superb and we had a lovely stage and lighting and the audience were feisty!

There's photos from Hitchin and Bridgwater on my flickr page.

The journey home from Bridgwater was a chilly one - freezing fog, flooded fields, sheep dong the breast stroke and roads turned to rivers! But we made good time home.

Story time with a difference

"We find Fang"

On 6th November Bryan, Penni and I went down to Archway Library. No, not an overdue book from Bryan's childhood in North London - we were going to see Fang, a musician we had played with many years ago (see Aardvark & No Money) and had lost touch with for over 25 years. Through the wonders of the internet we had been told he would be performing at the Library.

So, the three of us arranged a floor spot to this one off event and travelled down. We saw Fang outside the library, still the same in many ways - a mass of hair and beard (but white now instead of red) and wearing camos, that remained unchanged. He looked much older (well, we all are) and has health problems, but he was unmistakable. I'm not sure if he recognised us at first - let's face it Bryan has a lot less hair and I have a lot more weight since the last time he saw us.

We went in and the library was open - people browsing books, on the internet. But 'Story Time' corner, the children's section, was cleared of tables and chairs and, on its raised dias, was a small PA system - two mics and speakers. The area in front of the Story Time section was cleared of tables and rows of bright yellow plastic chairs were lined up expectantly.

We were met by Ruth who had told us how to find Fang and had done a 'performance art' piece with him previously. There were other musicians there and soon the Story Time crew were ready for performance! Our drummer from many years ago was also there - we had caught up with Tony for the first time in years at the Thriplow Daffodil Festival a while back (isn't it funny where you run into people?). He'd brought his 16 year old son to watch the show too.

As the time came for the show to start, someone yelled 'Bryan, can you go on first?' and Bryan, Penni and I performed a song and a tune. Penni sang a traditional Highland song in Gaelic and Bryan played some fast tunes. I accompanied on bass and a bit of backing vocals, and the audience seemed to enjoy.

We were followed by a young trio. An extremely enthusiastic electric guitar playing American girl, a young guy on acoustic guitar and a chap on bongos. He didn't realise bongos go between the legs and they kept slipping off his lap! They were 100% enthusiastic, even if tuning and timing weren't their strong points.

They were followed by two women (one guitar, the other played recorder and both sang) who did a Manfred Man song and another equally pleasant, well performed (and calm) song. Then came a man who had stood quietly a the edge all evening, dressed in great coat and scarf.

He took off his scarf and coat to reveal a gold suit and bow tie! He looked very 'London Palladium'. He asked for two volunteers from the audience to sing backing vocals and two young ladies came and obliged. He then launched into Abba's song about falling in love with a Star Ship Trooper but did advise us first that he had never actually heard the song as he went deaf in 1975.

He then proceeded to amuse us highly - he could not really sing nor play the guitar well (I guess due to his deafness) but he certainly knew how to entertain! And the girls were also naturals at comic timing. It was such fun - the whole audience laughed and enjoyed his performance terrifically. He enjoyed himself too - we were laughing with him, not at him.

The Librarian Herself came up afterwards and sang some traditional songs and then, at last, Fang came on to perform. He creaked up the little step to Story Time, overseen by The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Charlie's Cat etc (huge colourful murals) and sat carefully down. He took out his instrument - ukelele - and started to sing A Black Sabbath song. He followed this with 'Anarchy in the UK' to the tune of 'Constant Craving'. Highly successfully of course! As soon as he sang, the 'old' Fang reappeared. He was still there. An extremely talented musician and wonderful singer (and songwriter).

And that was it. 9.15 and it was all over. The event wasn't excactly organised - no running order or MC - but Fang said 'I want to see more of them' and pointed at us. We obliged of course, but insisted Fang sing with us. The Librarian, two girl singers and enthusiastic American joined us too - (the latter on bongos on the floor where they could not slip and slide). The three girls stood at the back and provided extra vocals and 'dance', whilst Penni and Fang sang, with Bryan and I accompanying. We did a further three songs (you can see a snippet on Youtube - poor quality though).

After we had finished another of the Librarian's got up and sang a soul song, unaccompanied. It had been a real mix - but it had been good to see Fang again. Sad to see him in poor health, but everything changes. Nothing remains the same. Sometimes it may be better to keep the old memories and not go looking to dig them up, at other times looking at the past can be good, especially in light of how things change.

I don't want to 'go back' or turn back the clock (though I'd love to lose a few stone, that's quite possible without the aid of a time machine). But I am very glad we saw Fang again, I heard his wonderful voice again, and to think back on some of the very good times we had 'in the old days'. Hmm... perhaps I should be sitting up in that Story Time place now, a book in hand, children at my knee... but then again

The Wedding Player

"Hired for a night"

The other night I played with the Brookfield Band at a wedding. The Wedding of Tamara and Rob (nope, no idea who they were). But Tamara looked stunning. Slender and with a most fabulous dress. Not the best for barn dancing in, but she did her best, along with many others in high heels (mostly the girls).

Whilst we set up, a pianist entertained on a grand piano. He played some nice stuff, no music, just playing lots of tunes form memory. We were nearly set up when he started playing Eine Kleine Nacht Music. Rachel, our violin player, started to join in, so did I on bass, and then Wendy on whistle. It sounded great! Very impromptu and the audience (busy eating their desserts) applauded.

Mind you - we arrived at the venue at 6.45 and we didn't start playing till nearly 9pm. We finished at 11.30 but they danced non-stop - high heels lined on the edge of our low stage.

I really enjoyed playing that night (and I got paid, even better!).

Lost in Loughton

"We play at a new venue in Essex"

Keith, the guy from the pub in Loughton, asked me to play at a gig at the Murray Hall in Debden near Loughton. Shani came round at 6.30 and we headed south - down the A10 into Essex Land. Unfortunately, Shani forgot the map and we spent half an hour driving round and round. Everyone we asked sent us different directions, and by the time we arrived at the gig it had already started.

There were some of the folks from the other gig in Loughton (Danny actually plays piano brilliantly as well as singing fantastically). The hall was an amazing building - big, great acoustics, arched roof. The audience were a mixture, locals mostly.

Shani and I played a lively set and it went down very well. The funny thing was, that at the end of the evening the main host passed round leaflets asking if we'd like to attend the next 'rally'. Unbeknownst to us we'd just played at a political fund-raiser!

Well, thank goodness it wasn't something drastically off our own (mixed) political views!

What, no murder?

"Bryan and I take a trip on the Orient Express"

At a trade exhibition in April, I stuck my business card in one of the many pots saying 'win...' and amazingly, I did win! I won lunch for two on the Orient Express. And this month we actually managed to find the time to go.

Although it's October, the sun was pouring through the windows on our train from home to King's Cross. We took the underground to Victoria and there we checked in a the Pullman Lounge. Straight out of the 1930s, dark wood, plush and full of the grey haired brigade!

!We boarded the train right near the front on a car named 'Vera'. Rescued in the 1980s, it had been a garden room for many years. We left Victoria and headed into the Garden of England - Kent. The carriage was amazing - it was like walking straight into a set from an Agatha Christie story. The sun continued to pour through the windows and we spent four hours enjoying excellent food, comfort, quality service and the beauty of the English countryside.

I took a wander through the train - each carriage was decorated differently, with amazing marquetry. We reached home again at 6pm, having left at 9.45 that morning. It was a lovely day - relaxed, comfortable and a real insight into the past. The one thing we did avoid, however, was Murder on the Orient Express

From Sweaty Badgers to WWII

Four very different gigs!

I decided that I am going to 'get out there' and play more. After all, I'm a musician! So on Thursday night, I went to the Doctor's Tonic in Welwyn Garden City and played at their acoustic evening open mic night. I went with Ted, my friend from Denmark, and because we hadn't booked him a spot, we shared. But we were on late - before us came...

The two lads singing songs about a Spaniel in Calipers, My Mutant Wedding, The Sweaty Badger... they were not great performers but highly entertaining!

Then came some lads with loud guitars, voices, and no sense of tune or rhythm but hey, they were up there and doing it! There was a lad with a guitar who sang very sensitively and played well, then there was a lovely young lady who sang two unaccompanied Alicia Keys songs beautifully. It was a diverse evening indeed - she was followed by this bloke (50s I'd say) who got up on the stage as if he owned it! He could play, he could sing, but his songs were rubbish and his attitude put me right off. He was joined by a strange man with wild hair, a very colourful stripy jumper and a velvet jacket. He sang in a weird way and with such volume and emotion that at one point he looked like Violet Elizabeth, stamping her feet and clenched fists.

I went to the 'green room' behind the stage to get my guitar in tune at this point. There were three lads, waiting to go on next. I thought perhaps they could play. They were confident, cheerful (a little drunk) and one lad had the most beautiful hair! I discovered that the young lad with the lovely hair was a bass player too. When his enthusiasm for bass playing showed his mates said 'Are you hitting on the lady?' - my, the look of horror on the poor lad's face. Made me laugh.

Anyway, whilst we were chatting backstage the strange man was singing louder and louder, stamping his little booties and yelling 'Car ... Crash...' with great emotion. I think actually it was probably a great performance, just wrong time and wrong place perhaps?

When I went on stage to play, not many people were left. Well, let's face it, most of the audience probably had school the next day. I played a couple of songs, they listened. One of the people left in the audience was a frantic scribbler. All night he had been drawing, but I never saw what. The interesting thing was that he drew whilst looking at his subjects, never at the paper. Ted said 'yeah, but have you seen how much chalk he's got on his trousers?'.

Ted joined me on stage for two more numbers of his, and they seemed to go down well. Backstage afterwards, one of the guys involved in the running of the place came to see us. He's keen to run a folk night sometime. Well, Mungo, why not!

That was my Thursday evening - on the Friday I went to the Red Lion folk night with Ted and my pal from work, Dan, plus Mel and her mate Rosie. It was a fun evening, lots of people and very relaxed.

Saturday night we played at one of the Rougham Airfield events - with Penni, Bryan, Baz and myself. Ted joined in too on the bodhran. We had a really fun evening. The tent was flapping like a bird's wing on the motorway and the rain was aiming to get in any angle it could. But we played loud, mad, and extemporising all over the place (well, it could be cleaned up in the morning). The audience comprised stall holders from the air show - and participants who had remained in costume. That included both German and British uniforms.

Sunday night I played at an acoustic stage in Loughton. When Ted and I had arrived Keith, the organiser, was asleep in the corner! keith started the night off playing guitar and singing. I'd volunteered to go on early - having never played there before. I sang one of my few speedy songs, then thought 'oh what the hell' and sang a traditional folk song. The audience listened, and were appreciative, though what went down really well that night was the sing along stuff performed by the regulars. One lad sange some Johnny Cash songs, whilst others did stuff like Oasis, Paul Weller, Beatles etc. Keith's son, Rob, sang. He was about 22 and had the most amazing voice! Another lad called Danny also sang, he had a lovely voice too. Keith accompanied them on guitar, competently playing anything they wanted.

It was different - not like a folk club at all - but really nice. Very different to the acoustic club in Welwyn Garden City, different from the Red Lion and different from playing in a tent in the middle of Suffolk in the pouring rain.

The Awake

An unexpected performance

For quite a few weeks now Penni had told us of a party for her mother. Her mother has severe cancer, the prognosis is not good. So she decided to have a party. Why have all the fun when she's dead and can't be there? Was the idea. So instead of a wake, we went to an 'awake'.

What I didn't realise is that we were expected to play, so after arriving in the small but picturesque village of Braughing, I had to drive back home again and pick up my bass (Bryan had his mandolin, smart man).

We played for about 45 minutes and the audience, including Penni's mum, seemed to enjoy us (we got booked for the local Rotary, so can't have been too bad).

A short post, but not the last post. Though I've tons more to write on Spain (swimmin wiv da fishes, the Arab Baths and all sorts)... I just don't seem to have the concentration to write up my wonderful holiday in a suitably consumable format. The above pic is me in Palma, enjoying a vino tinto and a lot of sun! Ah well, never mind. Just know that I had fun and so did the rest of us. And in case you were wondering, the journey back was pretty rough for Mel too, but we didn't need an ambulance this time - just lots of sick bags!