In The Pink

Blimey it is the second to last day of August! This month has just flown by and although we have been busy doing really nice things I am still having trouble accounting for 31 days! That's actually one thing I really like about blogging, it allows you to look back and remember things you have done or thought, music you have found or friends you have made.  We have a similarly busy month coming up next but smack bang in the middle of it is our summer holiday! Two whole weeks in the tent in Scotland and I cannot wait! Mountains, fresh air, camp fires, walking all day, reading all day, flying the kite oh and teaching Buddy to swim! Anyway, I have been looking back through my blog for the last holiday we had in Scotland which was on Skye, and instead stumbled across my first Thursday Thirteen post, where I noted 13 things I like about camping, and this photo I took while working in Scotland a few years back. I am looking forward to views like this and the reasons for my love of cam...

Ever since I posted last I have had Van Morrison singing Into the Mystic in my head (please note I am not complaining) it has been 3 days now! Well I am delighted to say it is Friday and I am starting to get that Friday feeling, helped along by the sunshine which has returned albeit through thin and intermittent cloud. The dogs and I have had a long lunch time walk and swim (as usual I did not swim but as usual the temptation was there) and they are enjoying an afternoon nap! I miss the ignorance of childhood. I am a water baby and as a child would accidentally on purpose throw myself into any available water. Now the desire is still there but knowledge prevents my actions. For example the stream may look nice but the cows poo in it and the farmer washes his equipment and such off in it upstream! Still I will be plunging myself into the water on holiday in Scotland next month, no matter what the temperature. We are usually very lucky with the weather in Scotland. The year the sto...

I have had a trying day work wise and like most days of this ilk have found myself making many mental blog posts, but when the time comes when I can sit down and blog I am exhausted and ready for bed. I did however find some peace of mind in this wonderful song. So I am blogging the end result of the day. Enjoy!

We have had my parents staying with us for the weekend and had the most wonderful time, including a bit of a sing song session last night which lead to my few previous musical posts. At 2am I gave it up and went to Bedfordshire! It was lovely to have some quality family time. My Mum taught me some new crochet which was very exciting and will hopefully be the start of me developing my skills in that area, having been limited to crocheting squares. I have always got a lot of joy out of it but I am now looking forward to going further. My Gran taught me to crochet squares when I was little. It is a very peaceful past time. My Dad, reminded me about the The Grumbleweeds, which I had completely forgotten about, who were a group of comedians and impressionists around on the TV when I was growing up, and we all had a hoot listening to some old Barron Knights tracks. (As posted below!) The main event of the weekend was my Mum's driving experience day but that is not my story to share...

Time for a bit of reflection on Cropredy folk festival which we attended last weekend. It is a three day festival organised by Fairport Convention and their management team and although predominantly a folk festival has grown to encompass other music genres.  There are approximately 20,000 people attending and the music is all on one stage.  In recent years they have had Robert Plant, Nick Harper, Jethro Tull, Yusef and Dreadzone. This year the biggest names were Status Quo (who were also surprised to be asked to play a folk festival), Rick Wakeman (a thoroughly decent chap who was kind enough to shake out hands and let us grab a photo with him) and the amazing, best band in the world, Little Feat! Little Feat are one of our favourite all time bands so it was amazing to get to see them again. It was a sad event however as  Paul  Barrere announced during the gig that their drummer, Richie Hayward, had passed away the day before. We were aware of his illness and...

Well I am almost caught up on sleep after the past few days! Not quite ready for the big festival post though! It was such a great event and I thought of loads of things I want to record about the three days but I do not want to rush it and this is a quick stop by only! I have noticed that although it is the 16th August I have only made 4 posts this month! And I expect that trend will continue throughout the rest of August and September as we have a lot on. It is all good stuff and we are very excited. I might just have to come back in November and make a summary post about the whirlwind that was late summer into autumn! Well I am going to have to take the pups for a walk, they never tire!

I will fill in the details in the next post, right now I am catching up on sleep! What a blast!

I had a top day today. I was very busy in the office...well the spare room but Monday to Friday it doubles as my office. Anyway I got loads done and won a contract in Walsall that starts next week. (With trees it's always can you start yesterday!) On my lunchtime walk I turned at the sound of jet engines to see the Red Arrows do a flyby which was very special. They were in two V formations and very low. I waved! And after that I was treated to a close and pre-longed flyby by the Buzzards who inhabit the hill fort in our village. Just lovely. I did not have my camera with me which is a shame in some ways as the birds and the planes were so close, but on the other hand I got to enjoy the moment completely without suddenly trying to get my camera out of its case in time and focus. I just sat back, smiled and enjoyed it! The Red Arrows is such a special site and gave me that welled up happy feeling that makes you laugh out loud. I would have loved to have been a pilot but most ...

How on earth did it get to be the 10th of August? Although I have been busy doing fun things. Most recently we had some good friends come and stay with us for the weekend and had one of those fab visits where you feel like you have had a really good break, relaxed and laughed, and you do not feel cheated on Monday. Having said that it still went too quickly! Last weekend I spent studying for an exam on the Monday which I am happy to say I passed! It was an all day assessment with a practical aspect and verbal examinations. The week in between and the start of this week have been busy with work and I am looking forward to a short week as we are off to the Cropredy festival on Thursday. Cropredy is traditionally a folk festival but has expanded in recent years to include more diverse music genres and Little Feat and Status Quo are both playing. How cool is that!!! So some good live music reports to come soon! I have always wanted to see Status Quo and cannot believe I am finally ...