Ouch!

Feel very silly now. Was wandering through the burrow last night while reading a book and drinking a cup of tea when I managed to walk into one of the doorframes. This resulted in me managing to split the inside of my lip on my mug and spill the contents of said mug all over me. Fortunately the book was unscathed (having been in the other hand) and the mug seemed to have survived intact (although this was proved wrong this morning when I picked it up and the handle fell off. Luckily it was just a common or garden mug, not a favourite.). Anyhow, had fun clearing up the resulting mess, washing the tea (again, fortunately warm, not hot) out of my hair and the blood out of my jumper and am now trying not to smile cause it hurts (and this is proving difficult because there's been a number of people getting stuck in the carpark again. Some of them react in very bizarre ways!). I look a bit peculiar at the moment as the cut (which is little but quite deep) is completely on the inside of my mouth so all that is visible from the outside is the swelling and it looks like I've got cotton wool tucked up underneath my top lip! Apparently multi-tasking is not for me!

Anyhow, as well as all that kerfuffle, I also had a go at learning 'The Plane Tree' and the Schottische that sounds a bit like it but which I can't remember the name of, last night on the melodeon. Had a good deal of fun playing around with crossrowing and I think I may be getting the hang of it. May try and add chords in tonight.

In rapper news, sadly, due to injuries and people being blocked in by snow, our 2 rapper events this week are cancelled which is a huge shame but probably sensible. In fact the whole of the Scott's Selkirk Festival has been cancelled which is a huge shame for them as well as us and I hope it doesn't hit them too heavily.

In burrow tidying news, I managed to get my tent stowed away last night thanks to some creative folding and interesting use of the bed. This makes the burrow look so much clearer (It's amazing how much room a 2-person tent can take up) which makes me feel a lot more inclined to tidy which has to be a step in the right direction.

Caught up with the latest episode of The Edwardian Farm last night too. Liked the way they went into all the detail about how they gpt the eggs from the fish for the fish farm and how it didn't hurt them etc. etc. and then just completely glossed over how they got the milt to mix with them. To me this would seem like the more complicated process. Still, great fun to watch as ever.

Snow and CD Players.

Attempted to hoover up the psychotic spider on Friday evening with the little hoover. Pointed it at the spider (who continued to sit there in a nonchalant manner), turned it on and the whole thing just went 'clunk'! Spider then took a leisurely walk up the wall to the ceiling to be smug while I had a little swearing episode. Have now decided to adopt him as a pet since he seems to be remarkably resistant to, well, pretty much everything. I shall name hime Boris for that is what I call all spiders.
To balance up the defunct hoover, my 5 disc CD player started working again after 2 year on Saturday. (It died a sad death when I accidently watered a plant over it...). Suddenly remembered where I might have left a CD I've been hunting for for a while and tried turning it on to look in the trays and the thing just worked! What's more it worked perfectly, even with the remote. Alright, it has a minor quirk in that, if you don't unplug it but just click the standby button on the machine (or the remote, they both work, she said smugly), it turns itself back on after 5 minutes but I can live with that. Spent the weekend listening to Kerfuffle's 'Lighten the Dark' , Waterson Carthy's 'Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man' and Belshazzar's Feast's 'Frost Bites' cause the inches thick snow outside the window was making me feel wintery for some reason.
Didn't get anything else done this weekend other than make a nest on the settee out of my currently unfurled tent (which is what's causing a lot of the problem at the moment since I haven't got room to do anything with the tent unfurled but I can't roll up the tent because I don't have room. Bit of a catch 22 situation there.) and the spare duvet and read the Robert Carey books again.

Getting a little worried about this snow now. Never mind our 2 rapper events for this week (we've enough problems trying to field a side due to injuries, never mind thinking about how to get across to Selkirk if this doesn't clear) but I want to see Belshazzar's Feast's Christmas tour and never mind me managing to make it across to Cumbria, they might not make it across to Cumbria (although, weirdly, they stand a better chance of managing it than I do). On the plus side, since I may be down south the following weekend so I may be able to go the Nettlebed gig (crosses fingers that the snow will clear before then!) will have to play it by ear.

Having a fun day at work watching folks trying to drive in the car park in the snow. Lots of people revving their engines and just skidding all the more and it's scary the amout of people clearing snow from around their back tyres when it's very obviously a frontwheel drive car...not to mention the overuse of brakes.
Am missing Roger (not that he was a 4 wheel drive but he was heavy enough that the snow saw him coming and just gave up the ghost there and then.). Really think the driving test should include something about driving in snow. (and people really have no excuse for not being able to drive in snow after last year!)

We also appear to have a small person in the office. Hope that this is not a situation that lasts!

Spider Update

Got back from fiddle to find the spider back in the bathroom. I know it's the same one cause it went for the toothbrush when I prodded it with it. Left it trying to kill the toothbrush while I got myself sorted out then went back in after it. It's a nippy little bugger, at any rate and it's now sat on the wall just of reach of my glass and card and now it's waving it's front legs around.
It's just a little house-spider, not even a very big one and no idea why it's so angry (well, I supposed it could be cause I keep prodding it with stuff...).
Anyhow, have declared the whole affair a draw and have left it to calm down while it, no doubt, sits there and plots world domination. I'm getting a sort of jack russell vibe from it in that it actually appears to be a very big spider crammed into the body of a little one in much the same that jack russells are actually very big dogs condensed.

Archenemy in the Making

The Burrow has been invaded again. This time by a particularly aggressive spider. I encountered it in the bathroom and, seeing as I was about to take a shower, got a cotton bud thing to gently prod it out of the way. Usually, in this situation, the spider will raise it's front legs and then scuttle like a scuttly thing for cover, but not this one, oh no! This one didn't even bother raising it's front legs but just went for the end of the cotton bud and clung to it while appearing to visciously attack it. I'm not sharing a bathroom with you in that mood, thinks I, and carried it to the door, still trying to mangle the end of the cotton bud (the spider, not me!). Took me 5 goes to dislodge the little bugger! I'm now faintly worried that it's in a bunker somewhere plotting its revenge.

Work is going very slowly today due to the fact that they're repainting the lines in the carpark outside and the whole process is absolutely fascinating. I always wondered how they did the numbers and the little stick figures you find on walkways. I always thought that there must be some kind of template but no, there's a bloke out there doing it all freehand and as fast as you can blink. Very impressed really.

Rapper stuff in the pipeline (although probably not actually in a pipeline since it might be difficult to dance) includes dancing for an AID's benefit thing at our usual practice pub, The Village, in Leith which should be fun. The staff are really friendly and supportive there and they've been trying to get us to dance for various events for ages but we haven't been able to due to prior bookings or unavailability of dancers so it's lovely to finally be able to dance for them. There's a possible tour in Glasgow in early January and the possibilty of our first teaching workshop at around the same time. In December, we are once again heading Selkirkwards to dance at the Scott's Selkirk Festival which was a lot of fun last year, so stuff to look forward to.

As to my new stretchy scarf, must remember not to knot it tight around my neck like my previous one since, on letting go of the ends, this one contracts...

Stramash Tune

My old scarf gave up the ghost last night and unravelled. Now have a nice, new, very cheap scarf which, I did not realise until today, is stretchy! This came in useful when I was leaving the newsagents at lunch and, as so often happens, snagged the end of my scarf on the door handle. This would normally result in me being yanked backwards as the door shuts before I realise what has happened but, with this scarf, as the door shut, the scarf stretched and I had time to realise I was hooked and detatch it before I became door furniture. Huzzah for the stretchy scarf!

We're playing 'Song of the Chanter' (or some title aproximating that) in fiddle at the moment. It's a reasonably nice tune and it's what our class will be playing at the stramash a week on Thursday so shall be practicing that tonight. At least I have this weekend free to practice and to work on the melodeon (plus I'm getting the urge to have another go at the clarinet). At some point I will tidy, if only because I can no longer find anything at all and it would be nice to have a flat surface upon which I can start making my New Year's outfit.

Getting slightly worried about the weather. Desperately want to go and see Belshazzar's Feast when they play at Brigham Memorial Hall in December but if the weather sets in the way it's supposed to, I may not be able to get out that way and I shall be royally miffed. Not quite worried about New Year's Eve yet since the bus goes down fairly major motorways but the little roads in Cumbria are a little more concerning. Oh well, fingers crossed.

Bellowhead (Sheffield)

Having bid farewell to my fellow Spibods, I once again navigated the tube to Victoria and got on a bus to Sheffield. Once again a not very comfortable megabus trip but at least nobody tried to bash me in the face this time. Spent some time rambling around the Meadowhall shopping centre (and got some Percy Pigs from M&S. Bettyslippers keeps producing them at Bellowhead gigs and I think I'm becoming addicted!) and then headed off to find the Leadmill. I amused myself for a little while trying to find a bus station whose luggage lockers were useable till after the gig to stow my big bag but couldn't find one open long enough so resigned myself to having to keep it with me at the gig and ambled along to join the queue. Turns out I was the first in the queue which turned out to be fortunate since the queue organisation was appalling and the venue was a really funny shape. Ayhow, got in and took up station on the fiddle side of the stage (having seen the brass side the previous day) which allowed me to my bag on the other side of the barrier which was nice. Couldn't see any other spibods but I got chatting to the lass beside me who was good fun which was fortunate because two lads pushed their way to the front and they were right nyaffs for the whole gig, constantly mocking what was going on on the stage. Fortunately for me, they were on my deaf side and at least they seemed to like the dance numbers.
Another great gig from the 'Heads and lovely to see it all again from a different point of view with the fiddle section up to their usual antics. One very memorable note was the smoke machine which seemed to based right where the fiddles were and went into overdrive during the Rochester Coconut dance and first we lost the fiddle section, then we lost the rest of the band and then the people on either side of me disappeared! Could hear Jon Boden asking if we were still out there and asking if the machine could be turned off please and they eventually all hove into view again.
Highlights? Everybody's reaction to the fiddles disappearing, Paul Sartin hijacking Rachel McShane's chair when she was about to play the cello, Paul Sartin trying to land himself in deep water by asking for an interpreter (and those are some snazzy purple winklepickers that he seems to have gotten hold of!), Sam Sweeney apparently attempting to kill his cowbell during little Sally Racket and Pete Flood weaving an increasingly convoluted tale around 'Frog's Legs and Dragon's Teeth' while pleading for the band to start playing because he couldn't think of anything else to say. (Needless to say they just left him to it!).

Huge admiration for the band for keeping up that level of energy for so long. They've still a week left to go so I hope they don't run themselves into the ground.

After the gig, caught up with Shelley and Stephen who'd been at the other end of the stage which was nice and then set off to make the hour and a half walk back to the Meadowhall Interchange to get the bus back to Edinburgh. This seemed like such a good idea when I set out but by the time I was halfway there, my feet were agony. Then I got there and realised that was the least of my worries since they seem to have installed some sort of anti vandal device which plays loud, really bad music through the whole station. It was very effective. Given the choice I would have been out of there like a shot but I had to wait there for 2 hours and 45 minutes in the freezing cold and, by the time the bus arrived, I was homicidal! Anyhow another uneventful but supremely uncomfortable journey back to Edinburgh and was I glad I'd taken the Monday off this time cause I just about had the energy to shower when I got back before clambering in to bed and snoozing the day away. Got up in time to go to rapper which was fun despite me not really being awake and then back home and back to bed.

Don't think I can take much more travelling by megabus. I need to either find a job that pays enough for me to take the train or to move further south and I need to do it soon.
However, no matter how horrendous the various journeys were, they were still completely worth it for Bellowhead. Roll on New year is all I can say (as I settle down for a cup of tea in my new Bellowhead mug)

Bellowhead (London)

What a great weekend!

Had a fairly inauspicious start on the Friday evening when I decided to have beans on toast before heading for the bus. Was happily getting the beans into the microwave when there was an almighty bang behind me. When I picked myself back off the floor I discovered that front of the toaster had blown off and there was now bits of toaster and toast all over the floor. Another kitchen appliance bites the dust! Anyhow, cleared up most of the mess (although am still finding little bits on the floor now), ate the beans (after giving the microwave a stern look and reminding it of the one exploding item a day limit!), got myself packed and set off to catch the bus. Then had to get back into the burrow when I remembered half way down the road that I hadn't picked up my concert tickets!

Not the best megabus journey I've ever had. For starters the bus was an hour late and it was one of those buses without the footrests on the chair in front. Because I'm a little shorted than the norm, it meant I was continuously sliding off my seat and having to push myself back up which gave me a bit of a sore back and meant I was swearing to myself for most of my trip (which might have worried the person in the next seat somewhat). They also couldn't turn the heater off so, not only was it swelteringly hot (and this bus didn't let us out to stretch our legs anywhere so we wer stuck with it for over 9 hours!) but I had to sit with my legs twisted to the side to avoid burning my leg on the heater! Just to add to this, as we were setting off, the lad in front of me decided to put his seat back (and whoever decided that this facillity was a good idea on public transport wants shot. Space is limited enough without someone in front of you reducing it further!) and, if there was a safety device to stop it going back to far then it had obviously failed since the only thing that stopped me attending the Bellowhead gigs in my guise as Pandagirl was the fact that I managed to get my arm in front of my face before it hit me! (As it was, I now have a fairly badly bruised knee) And then the lad glanced back once and was going to leave his chair in that position! After a few words from me (and from the lad sat next to me who seemed a little startled by the whole thing as well) he put it back but tried to do it again half way through the trip. There should be a cull, there really should.
Needless to say, by the time I arrived in London I was stiff, irritated and exhausted. I decided to walk to Shepherd's Bush to orientate myself and stretch my legs and, having found where the Youth Hostel was for later, I bought myself a ticket for the 9am showing of Harry Potter meaning to have a nap in the warm while it was on. As it turns out, the film was actually quite good (couldn't stand the book. Overpadded and badly written wasn't it, but I suppose it got kids reading it and that's never a bad thing.) and I only slept a little bit. No matter, a couple of hours in a comfy chair at a nice temperature with no-one beside me worked wonders and when Firebird from the Spibod froum called to let me know she was at the Southbank Centre I decided to to risk the tube and meet her there. To my suprise, I had no problems on the tube (although the people using it were bloody rude and inconsiderate. Prefer the Metro.) and got to the Southbank Centre in no time at all. Course it was then that my phone ran out of money and I had to go searching for Firebird on the offchance. As it turned out, I found her fairly easily and we had a nice relaxing drink before we headed off to let Firebird and Bettyslippers try their hand at busking. It was their first time and I though they sounded pretty good. Having met up with Siansparkles we then headed back to Shepherds' Bush to book into the hostel and meet up with Sarahfairy.
After tea at the Stinging Nettle, we finally headed to the Shepherd's Bush Empire. It's a lovely venue which I had'nt been to before. There was a bit of queue to get in but Sarahfairy managed to get in early due to having an O2 phone and saved us some space.
The first support act was LucyFarrell and Jonny Kearney who were very sweet and listenable to and it was a shame that they had to sing over thepeople talking at the back of the room. The next support act was Matthew and the Atlas who were awful. I could have done what the accordionist was doing and I don't even play the accordion, their 2 brass players were completely wasted (although one of them did have a fairly stupendous moustache) and the lead singer seemed to think he was better than he actually was. Me and Bettyslippers amuse ourselves by trying to predict how many times they'd go 'Oooooooo'.
Finally it was Bellowhead and they were awesome. It should not be possible to cram that much energy on to one stage. A couple of firsts for me: Benji was playing and it's the first time I've seen him play with the band (if my experience was anything to go by, I'd have said James Fagan was the band member!) and he was very good, and it's also the first time I've been at the brass side of the stage and they were a huge amount of fun. Still unsure as to why Justin Thurgur was wearing a cassock but it obviously works for him so long may it continue. I'm starting to suspect that Andy Mellon actually runs on batteries cause he was bouncy as a bouncy thing and Brendan Kelly was all over the stage while Ed Neuheuser seemed to be havig a great time on the helicon. John Spiers was doing some amazing jumps in his really rather nice velvet suit and orange trainers and, at one point, Benji managed to get one foot on the rail right in front of us with the other still on the stage (although I'm even more impressed taht he managed to get back upright again otherwise!) Couldn't see as much of the fiddle section as I'm used to because a certain Mr Boden was in the way and you can't really ask him to move, especially when he was on such fine manic form, but they also seemed to be bouncing around like maniacs and they got us all dancing along with the Sloe Gin set and it's really nice to see Rachel McShane coming to the front of the stage more. Highlights? So many, Andy having to be pulled off the stage when he started playing up to the audience in Cholera Camp, Brendan barging Squeezy John out of the way to get to the microphone for Little Sally Racket, Squeezy threatening to poke Jon Boden in the side when he was holding a long note, Pete Flood trying to announce the last dance having finally made it to a microphone, Paul Sartin cheerfully calling South London a place of poverty and destitution, the list just goes on.
It was also really nice to be able to go back to the hostel and just enthuse about the whole thing with the others. Just a really great evening, even if we did get a fire alarm at 1am in the morning and had to be let back in by one of the hostel staff who appeared to be holding a newly cooked wrap and said that he wasn't around when the alarm went off when none of us had even asked. Little too specific a denial there methinks.

Mouse Burrow (Probably)

Enjoyed fiddle last night. Learning a new tune which is quite good fun (and which I can't currently remember the name of!) and we went over a bit more ornamentation.

I may have a mouse. Saw something fairly large moving out of the corner of my eye last night. Whatever it was, it had done a fairly impressive disappearing act when I went across the room to investigate but I'm damn sure I saw a tail. I suspect the cold weather has driven it inside and, when it discovers that it's actually colder in the burrow than it is in the garden, it'll decamp like they usually do but in the meantime, I may have to see if I can get hold of a trap because, while there's no food out (or, indeed, much in the burrow at all that isn't canned) there are still a lot of things it could chew and I'd rather all my festival kit and instruments remained in one piece. If it touches my books, I won't need a trap: I'll be able to explode it with my mind! I suppose I should be greatful that this is apparently a stealthy mouse as opposed to the usual culprits who come and sit in the middle of my rug and eyeball me while I'm trying to eat my tea. Lucky the little buggers don't frighten me really, I suppose, but I do object to the sheer bloody cheek that some of them have!

Well, have sent off a stewarding form to Cheltenham so will see what comes of that and I've sent off 2 more job applications so that's something else to wait for.

As for this weekend, well, on one hand I'm really dreading spending upwards of 18 hours on various coaches but, on the other hand, 2 Bellowhead gigs!!! Little bit excited, just a little bit!
Anyhow, setting off tonight then I've got all day to wander round London before I meet up with some of the Spibods at the Youth Hostel and head along to the Shepherd's Bush Empire. Am I going to make an effort to be right at the front? Course I am.

More Plans and Schemes

Started trying to cross-row with the melodeon last night. Think it's going to take a bit of getting used but I'm determined I shall manage. I have the John Kirkpatrick DVD to aid me in my endeavours. Am also experimenting with a different method of depressing the buttons (using the flat of my fingers rather than the tips like I would with piano). It seems to be working well so I may continue with it. Also got some fiddle pratice in. Seem to have hit a bit of a plateau with the fiddle at the moment so am trying out new tunes to keep my interest up. We're just starting to get into ornamentation in classes which is good fun and I cracked at Bromyard and invested in the Music Room fiddle tutor DVD so will give that a go after this weekend (really no point beforehand!). If I'm ever going to play for dancing on either of these instruments I need to really start thinking about what I'm doing. I think now might be the time to concentrate on 6/8 jigs and see if I can get a bit of speed up so I can have a go at playing for some stepping at rapper practice and get used to it. Hmm, will see.

Festivals are starting to rear their heads again. The skeleton outline had gone up for Shrewsbury and it's looking very good. Think I'll be buying a ticket again this year rather than stewarding cause there's too much I don't want to miss! Still waiting for the Sidmouth line-up to go up but I think I'll be going regardless so will have to save up for that too. The Big Session is a definite of course and so is Oxford (but I may offer to steward for that this year.). We're dancing at Holmfirth and I'm currently considering Cheltenham (Cause Jon Boden and the remnant Kings are playing there and I'd like to see them and there's also Nancy Kerr and James Fagan and Pete Coe. May see if I can steward though) and the line-up for Bristol is looking good too. Decisions, decisions.

Well, fiddle practice tonight (missed last week cause I was panicking about Witney!) so that should hopefully be fun and must make sure that I've got everything sorted for my weekend Bellowhead extravaganza.

Shaved Donkey Overload

Fingers sore from practicing melodeon for hours last night (upstairs neighbours are doing really noisy DIY to absolutely silly times so, rather than complaining, I'm taking advantage and practicing my growing collection of instruments for longer than usual) with occasional breaks for fiddle. My neighbours probably now know 'Shave the Donkey' as well as I do...

Caught up with the first episode of Edwardian Farm on the i-player last night. I do love these series and this one doesn't look like it's going to be an exception. The lime kiln was particularly interesting (and I did like the complete singlemindedness of the ram and the complete lack of interest among the ewes themselves! In my experience, ewes are only ever really interested in a ram if he's not supposed to be there!). Also watched Misfits which was hilarious and I may keep an eye on it.

Finally got round to hunting for my Bellowhead tickets last night. Found them (thankfully!) but the bed has now disappeared under all the stuff I emptied out while doing so. Spent last night on the sofa which has persuaded me that tonight's first job is hunting for the bed! Anyhow, tickets are now ensconced in my temporary safe ticket place (a different spot on the mantlepiece) and plans are afoot to try and provide a more sensible system. Moles may be involved.

More job applications to fill in tonight so that should be dull but will make me feel like I'm doing something constructive in between fiddle and melodeon jags.

A new lock has now appeared on our stair's front door which is interesting. I've been given keys but no-one has said anything about it (and my landlady would have mentioned it) so that will be fun to watch. If they're wanting everyone to chip in for it without prior consultation then they're a bit buggered cause that will not be covered by a statutory notice.

Only 3 more days to Bellowhead!

Melodeons at Witney

Well, Friday saw me catching the coach down to Oxford again. Interesting trip down: there were only 3 of us on the whole coach but a woman still sat in front of me and tried to put her chair back! I took the opportunity to move to another seat while she just looked bewildered. A cull is really the only option. Still didn't manage to sleep (although I remembered my travel pillow so at least I was bit more comfortable) Anyhow, got down to Oxford where I got the bus to Witney with no trouble (Thanks to all the advice form the spibods who told me to look out for the church to know where to get off) and arrived early enough to go looking for my B&B so that I could find it later.

Got back to Henry Box school in plenty of time to meet up with friends before registration and then it was off to my first workshop. This was Liam Robinson's 'Getting it Together' workshop which proved to be tremendous fun. He was a good teacher and very funny and made the whole thing easy to understand with lots of useful tips which I can't wait to have ago at. Don't think he's entirely sane, mind!
Enjoyed lunch with some of the other workshoppers at an interesting pub and just made it back in time for the afternoon.Having coped with the workshop fine, I still managed to mess up the tune in the afternoon squeeze, partly due to my inherent nervousness at playing in front of other people and partly due to not being used to being so close to other people when playing. The other groups sounded great and it was fun to listen to what they'd been learning.
Set off to my B&B (which was lovely and friendly and would definitely stay there again) meaning to have a quick nap and then head back to see the concert but, sadly, woke up at 23.00 so completely missed the whole thing, although, given even the owner of the B&B said I looked much better in the morning, I obviously needed the sleep.
Sunday saw me doing the 'adding the Base Line' workshop with Issy Emeney who was nice and a good teacher but very odd. Still trying to get my head round the A minor, B minor and D7 chords so have a lot of stuff to work on and she gave us a lot of exercises to be going on with which I think will be useful.
Had a thoroughly enjoyable lunch in a very nice pub with some of the others (although, if that soup was tomato and basil I will eat my melodeon. It was very nice soup though regardless)
managed better in the group squeeze this time but didn't even attempt the Main group tune. Enjoyed listening to it though.
Best line of the weekend goes to Saul Rose who, on hearing Liam Robinson's explanation of what his group had been up to on Sunday which ended with him saying that not doing something made the melodeon fairies sad, commented to Liam's group, 'I think we can all see what kind of day you lot have had!'
Was really quite sad to leave Witney, which is a very pretty place, but I managed to get my bus back to Oxford with no trouble where I sat reading in a pub for 5 hours waiting for my coach. Trip back was uneventful (although the hour's wait for the change at Milton Keynes at midnight was freezing!) but I still didn't get any sleep which meant I was knackered at work on Monday and ended up having to take a half day to get an afternoon nap. I suspect my days of managing to go for days with no sleep may be coming to a close. That said though, I might just have hit the wrong part of my sleep cycle as I still do get periods when I don't sleep for days or get by with an hour's sleep at night. It might even just be that the bus was so uncomfortable or that I was concentrating so hard at the workshops. Anyhow, at least it was cheap.

Really enjoyed Witney and learned a lot. If I can afford it, I may consider doing the fiddle on in February.

Still managed to get to rapper on Monday evening though (even though I don't remember much of it). Trina gave me my icing melodeon and mole (which is currently sitting on the kitchen worktop) and we discussed finding someone to dance with us at DERT so we'll see where that goes. Trina, it seems, had an absolutely wonderful time at the Bellowhead gig on Sunday so I'm now really, really looking forward to seeing them on Saturday and Sunday (even if it does mean another Megabus trip. Think I'll take the Monday off this time!)

Odd Day and Bad News

Had a fun day on Saturday. Started by pratcicing melodeon with Trina and Kev before heading along to Bennets to start the tour. There was a bit of a fight before we started up (well it sounded like one, I stood no chance of seeing over the crowd!) but the customers had settled down enough that we got a good reception, even when my sword snapped leaving me clutching the swivel handle and pretty much nothing else. There was even a bit of blood (a teeny tiny bit but blood nonetheless)! We also danced at the Old Toll where we got cornered by a very bad, very drunk 'poet' (gods, he was awful) and Lock 25 where we ran into a stag party who got us to take the groom-to-be through single guard and a lock. We finished off by dancing 2 dances at The Welcoming Ceilidh which went down very well (despite some fairly ropey stepping).
Meant to tidy the burrow on Sunday. Filled in job applications instead. Still, at least it was productive in one way.

Today was a bit of a weird day all told. Started off with not being needed for Jury Service then a truly boring day at work. Got home and tried to call the court phone line to see if I would be needed tomorrow but the message was still talking about Monday so that was no help. Wombled along to rapper and we nearly had a full complement for once which was nice. We tried dancing Swalwell and we tried doing the Steak Pie dance with everybody in different positions which was great fun. I love dancing rapper and will dance it anyway I can, I realise that the height difference also limits the positions I can dance if people are tumbling but I have been getting desperately, desperately bored with dancing 2 all the time (and dancing 4 occasionally is not much of a change) so it was really nice to dance 3. Trina also produced an amazing birthday cake for me (had completely forgotten myself) in the shape of a fantastically detailed melodeon (it had little screws and an air button and everything!) being watched by a mole. It was also in the nature of being a 'jenga cake' where the cake underneath the icing was actually little caramel squares and the team had fun trying to grab bits without dislodging the icing. On the bad news front however, it doesn't look like we've got a team for DERT. Will still try and go down but it's not the same when you're not dancing. May try contacting the Mabels later and seeing if they need any help stewarding. May as well be useful.

Got home and found the court had finally changed the message and I'm not needed tomorrow either and it appears that that's the end of my Jury Duty which is a relief really and at least it's all over and done with now.

Too Excited to Breathe

Well, have booked my ticket for Bellowhead's New Year's Gig at the Southbank Centre. I'm staying at a hostel with 6 friends from the forum and I've sorted out my travel (Megabus, unfortunately. Still, return from Edinburgh to London for under £12...but, still, megabus) so all I have to do now is sort out a costume. The theme is circus and cabaret and while there is a lot of discussion going on about corsetry, I don't fancy spending the whole night in tights, feathers and/or sequins so I am considering being a performing dog. I have an elizabethan ruff but I can probably make a sparklier net one with marching wrist ruffs and I can easily make a little clown hat and I have dark trousers and top. I can make a tail and either create some floppy ears or just not get my hair cut and tie it in high bunches. Add some black face paint to give me a doggy nose and possibly eye patches (although that could end up with me as a performing panda!) and that could be me. This would also pack down really well and not to chilly for hanging around outside in London at night. Yep, that idea is growing on me. (After all, I am the girl who turned up to a reenactors' pirate party, where all the other lasses were in corsets and high heeled boots, as a parrot. I have a reputation to maintain! I think the most worrying thing about that night was that I was wearing a red wig, red face paint and a big beak and everyone still instantly knew who I was...)

Need to do some more melodeon practice for Witney tonight and have another go at tidying the burrow (nothing changes!). Might try and get to see Burke and Hare at the cinema this weekend or I might go and see Red again (very silly but enjoyable film. The only film, in fact, where I've ever liked John Malkovitch) and, at some point, I should really work out how the gears on my bicycle work. Last time I cycled regularly, bicycles had 3 gears and I wasn't particularly good at using those. Now there seem to be hundreds of the buggers and, while I understand the theory of using gears while cycling perfectly well, I haven't yet worked out how to make the bloody things work on the actual bike! At least I'm avoiding the whole ninja cyclist business so prevelant in Edinburgh. I have enough lights and reflective clothing on when I'm cycling that I'm probably visible from space. I probably leave swathes of blinded drivers in crashed cars behind me as I go (on my very, very slow way)

Things to Come

Well, first to start off with this morning's really annoying incident. Was standing on the traffic island waiting to cross the rest of the road (normal lane and bus lane) when man in a range rover stopped and waved me across. All very nice, except I'd seen the taxi zooming up beside him in the bus lane so I stayed on the island while I waited to see what the taxi did (since I couldn't see it behind the range rover and it was going a fair speed). Within 10 seconds, the stopped driver went from exaggerated gesticulating to really swearing at me for not crossing. As it was, the taxi did shoot past and, if I'd gone with his gesticulations, I'd be a bit of a mess on the road by now but that didn't seem to phase him in the least. It's quite common for drivers to stop there to let people across and just not register that there's traffic in the lane beside them (mainly because if one driver stops, the drivers behind often decide to undertake them in the bus lane!) but I've never seen them get so mad at people for not crossing when they say, never mind so quickly.



Needless to say I was a little annoyed when I got into work this morning and I'm now thinking of taking Mouldy the Mole back out with me to wave at people who annoy me thereby relieving my frustration by causing confusion and worry in others!



Anyhow, fiddle practice tonight. Quite pleased with how my fiddle playing is coming along and, when I've upped my knowledge of scottish tunes (my current repertoire tends heavily towards the english at the moment), I'll head back to the slow session again because I enjoyed it when I went along last time (Just wasn't familiar with most of the tunes.)



We have a rapper dem at a ceilidh (and probably a little tourette) this weekend which I had forgotten all about. Have had no rapper practice for 3 weeks so I might be a little rusty. Should probably do a bit more stepping practice tonight. Also off to practice melodeon (and I have a nice new Hohner Pokerwork melodeon (well, to me, anyway) since Ellie let me try her melodeon at Bromyard and I haven't been able to play my cheap Stephenelli since!) with others of Mon Meg on Saturday.



Lots of concerts and workshops coming up. I'm down in Witney first for the Melodeons at Witney Workshop which I'm really looking forward to but really nervous about at the same time, then I have tickets for 2 Bellowhead gigs for the new tour (London and Sheffield, same weekend), then I have to catch one of Belshazzar's Feast's Christmas gigs (They're playing a few up in Cumbria so I may have to hire a car for an evening) followed by Phil Cunningham's Christmas gig in Edinburgh and closing out at New Year (hopefully, if I can get tickets) with Bellowhead's New Year's Event at the Southbank. Then, come the New Year, I've booked for the 'Learn Smallpipes in 1 Day' workshop at Celtic Connections and the Spiers & Boden and Saltfishforty gig. Plus there's the Spiers & Boden Birthday gig in May at the Shepherds Bush Empire. Lots of stuff to look forward to.

In the meantime, I am taking advantage of the fact that I really feel like me for the first time in a fair few years and the fact that I always get a little restless in the Autumn, to sort myself out. Am currently applying for jobs like a little jobfinding fiend while, at the same time getting in touch with my Postgrad Dean to find out what I can do next in the medicine line. Whichever happens, I'm getting out of my current job, whatever it takes. Will also be looking for a new flat when I've worked out where I'm going to be. Want to move on in all ways.

Ooops! Catch-up.

Oops, have neglected this shamefully this year. Mostly due to having way too much fun stuff to do and being either far too knackered or off to write anything inbetweentimes.

Shall try to recap.

Festivals I Have Been To.

Holmfirth - Great fun. Spent most of it hanging around with Stone Monkey Rapper who are lovely and saw, amongst others, Belshazzar's Feast, Rachel McShane and Pete Coe who were all brilliant. Got hugged by a morris dancer who was dancing on (took me a second to work out who it was!) and had a great evening in the session at the Cricket Club.
The Big Session - Just as awesome as last yeareven with the pouring rain on the Friday. Oysterband were brilliant in both their gigs, Chopper's solo stuff is lovely, Alan's stuff was great fun again. Saw the Proclaimers and realised a lifetime ambition I never knew I had (to hear them sing '500 Miles' live), really enjoyed Cara Dillon's set (which was a surprise since I can usually take or leave her stuff), loved Kerfuffle, enjoyed dancing to Whapweasel and discovered Megson and the Moulettes.
Ely Folk Festival - Blazingly hot weather, lovely little festival. Thoroughly enjoyed myself. Oysterband, Faustus, Demon Barbers, The Woodshed, Beckleberry, Chris Sherburn and Denny Bartley, Colvin Quarmby and John Tams and Barry Coope were all amazing. Met loads of people I knew, had fun at the French dance workshop and got thoroughly freaked out by how flat the land is there. Awesome weekend.
Whitby Folk Week - Amazing week. Hung around with Snark Rapper, played my fiddle in the beginners' sessions, learnt some cool new rapper figures, danced my socks off, loved the Dance Challenge between Chiltern Hundreds and Snark rapper, had an awesome night with all the sword dancers at Beck Hole, got to watch sam Sweeney and Hannah James while stewarding and had a really good time at the Northumbrian Ceilidh.
Shrewsbury - So much fun. Saw and loved Bellowhead, Belshazzar's Feast, Kerfuffle (last gig!), The Young 'Uns, The Wilsons, Kerr and Fagan (with and without Rob Habron), Fay Hield, Karen Matheson, Tickled Pink. All brilliant! Managed to play my fiddle through the Beginners' Session and loved John Kirkpatrick's 'Playing for Dancing' workshop.
Bromyard - Fun despite the rain. Belshazzar's Feast and Mike Wilson and Damien Barber were probably my favourites (both time both bands played) but Show of Hands, James Findlay, Fay Hield and Tri were also great fun. Whapweasel's ceilidh was lovely and I took my melodeon out for the first time for Issey Emney's workshop.

Concerts

Belshazzar's Feast - Saw them in Settle. Absolutely brilliant and so funny.
Spiers and Boden and Saltfishforty - Saw them in St Andrews. Enjoyed both of them as duos and they all played together really well in spite of the differing styles.
Mozart Festival Orchestra - Saw them in The Royal Albert Hall. Music was fantastic and the costumes were lovely. Might have accidently threatened to kill (and it was an honest accident) some german tourists beside me who would not stop talking (well, they did afterwards)
Bellowhead - Got an invite to the launch of Bellowhead's new album 'Hedonism' down in London. It was brilliant! They were so good in such a small space (and it was scary just how much of the audience I knew!) The new album is brilliant and they played it all the way through.
Spiers and Boden - saw them in Berwick. Really lovely weekend (got stared at by the seals off the pier) and the music was lovely and hilarious.

Rapper

Been a bit of a quiet year for rapper since DERT. We had one tour down Rose Street in the summer (fun but the football was on which dampened things a little.) We danced at the Anstruther Lifeboat Gala and then finished with a tourette in St Andrews which was good fun. We had a good day of practice for the DART team at The Village where I had another go at tumbling. Still not quite there but getting closer and I'm not giving up. We also had another soiree at The Village. Little more subdued for some reason than the previous one but still fun before we ended up at Trina's for mystery cocktails (which, is suspected, mostly consisted of vimto and slivovitz!). Apparently our team went down well in america at DART and I'm not jealous, not jealous at all.


In other areas, have got rid of Roger. There was too much too fix and parking was becoming an absolute nightmare. In one way it's incredibly annoying since I now really have to think hard before I want to go places again but in another way, it's a huge load off my mind. I managed before I got him, I'll manage again.
Attended the wedding of some reenactment friends at Craigmillar Castle. Lovely day, they both looked lovely in their medieval gear (ashamed to say I was in civvies since none of the kit I have is fit to be seen in nice places and I haven't had a chance to do any sewing this year), the company was good and there was a barn owl to drop off the rings.
Only managed one re-enactment event this year but it was a fun event in Inverness (where I managed to get quite a nasty sunburn despite linen coverings and factor 50 suncream!), multiperiod event at Fort George. Lovely to see the other time periods and nice to see the rest of the group as well.
Spent 2 weekends with Freaks in the Peaks. One was a normal dance weekend with blazing hot weather, and some fantastic sessions and the other was the canal trip which was wonderful. I ended up on the boat with Triskele rapper and we had a huge amount of fun on the gin slum as our boat became known. Some good fun dances (including the somewhat drunk gentleman who ran through the middle of a set with no trousers and only his hand to hide his modesty (as was pointed out later, he didn't really need the whole hand...) and some lovely scenery.

Lots of stuff coming as well. Will actually try to keep this thing up to date from now on.