Review of Sidmouth Folk Week 1st-8th August 2008

Sidmouth Folk Week
As usual there was lots of music in the Radway with some really good sessions. Its good to see some younger musicians who obviously really love what they are playing - Matt Quinn,(son of Dan, obviously !), Will Pound, Tom the boy fiddler, and the amazing lad with long ginger hair whose name I wish I knew. They made a lot of other musicians look and sound like dinosaurs.

The culmination 5 days Big Band workshops with Nick and Mary Barber was the ceilidh in Anchor Gardens on Thursday afternoon. The band and dancers persevered despite the threat of rain and a few showers.




Rees Wesson is making me a new melodeon and he has all the pieces ready for the next stage of assembly. I chose the wood for the body, keyboard etc, button color and stop knobs. Hopefully it will be ready around the end of September so I can use it Melodeons at Witney in November. If I play it well enough it might get him some more orders.





Tony Hall was appearing at various venues and also doing a 'Melodeon Masterclass' which was entertaining but not really what it was advertised as.



To be continued......

Things to do with a Rolling Pin No. 1

Often the crust at the end of a loaf of bread is too thick to fit in a toaster and the bread goes to waste. To avoid this and take a tiny (and roundabout) step towards improving your carbon footprint, just place the bread on a breadboard and using your trusty rolling pin roll the crust until it has flattened sufficiently to fit the toaster slot.

Rosie having Lunch

I was sitting in the sun eating a sandwich being watched by Rosie when she began to nibble at the Daylily plant. Initially she only took the withered flowers and I thought she would leave the new buds but then she started on those too. It's OK they are edible, in fact there is a Ladies Group in the USA dedicated to using them in receipes.

Amputation of Broadband

Yesterday at around 2pm not only did it pour with rain again but there was a huge flash of lightening and an abrupt end to all internet access. Suddenly it seemed that everything I wanted to know or do was only possible via the internet, I felt like a spoilt child being prevented from playing with my friends.

More importantly I couldn't finish uploading the photos of Simon & Ivana's celebration which I had hoped to have finished. Considering they were nearly all taken with flash in the barn and mostly unposed I'm quite pleased with the results and so are they which is obviously most important.

It's Stopped

6.40 am and the sun is actually shining and the rain has stopped, seemingly for the first time since Saturday. Yesterday was like autumn with really strong winds and pouring rain all day, definitely not dog walking weather. I've been busy uploading pics from Simon & Ivana's celebration, so far they are pleased with them and so am I.

Chipper -my small brown terrier type dog- has mange which means that much of the time since our return from Sidmouth has also been taken up with washing dogs in foul smelling sulphur dip, washing multiple dog beds and trying to stop her from chewing herself to pieces.

Thanks Denise

Over the past couple of weeks I have received a huge amount of help from Denise to give my website a fresh new look and also this blog. My photo storage and website are courtesy of SmugMug which is THE only place for discerning photographers to display their work. There is a great forum where anyone can get all the help they need to customize their site form many helpful and knowledgeable people. I'm off to Sidmouth Folk Festival and will hopefully return with lots of new pics to share.

Even More Rain ..........

So far today it has been raining solidly since I woke at around 5.30am this morning. There is flooding on many roads around here and it has been foggy since lunchtime. I've just checked the local 24 hour weather forecast which says that visibilty is good and by 10pm will be very good.