Depressing January

This is a bad time of year for SAD sufferers so I make sure I get out when the sun shines. It is hard to enjoy it though when I remember the phone call I got on Tuesday. My friend Gill, who has been undergoing intensive chemotherapy for multiple secondary cancers, finally lost her battle on Monday night. Her husband, Bill, realised she was going down fast and managed to get her into a hospice just before the weekend. She had the best of care in her last few days. I knew she was not going to make it through this bout of cancer but I had hoped the treatments would stave off the inevitable a bit longer. She had so much spirit and strength of character facing her last weeks. All her thoughts were of how her husband would cope and how the dogs would be after she'd gone. RIP Gill.

Losing Gill has helped me realise how little use I am making of the remaining (hopefully many) years of my life. Heaven knows what my 'prospects' are. My Mum made it to 92! But my dad died not much older than I am now! My health issues - obesity, diabetes - shorten my life expectancy so I am thinking probably mid 70's. My oldest sister is now 75 and full of life so the outlook is not all bad.
You may think I am being morbid, but death holds no fear for me. You cannot escape it. Everyone dies at some point. So why be scared of it? I am trying to make sure all my 'matters' are organised and listed so the children can settle the estate easily.
I am now taking positive measures to improve my general health. I have asked the doc to prescribe sessions at the gym for me and I am taking my friend Linda to slimming world next week to sign on. I have been increasing my dog walk lengths gradually, but having good and bad days with my knees sometimes curtails these. I have stopped using a walking stick where possible as it helps me walk more upright and balanced. If I need a stick then I use 2 for better balance. I do often take a stick to the supermarket as it is useful when things are out of reach on high shelves! But the stick sits in my trolley. I am still getting pain relief from the last steroid injection but it is slowly wearing off now and the next step is referral to the orthopaedic surgeons for a knee replacement.
John has made real progress with his new knee but it is looking as though he may have done too much too soon and is having a few problems now.

Honey had a tremendous run around on the beach yesterday. I went down about 4pm and the car park was almost deserted at Sandbanks.

We had the beach to ourselves for a while and Honey made the most of it, charging around at full speed and stopping at intervals to do her amazing backwards helicopter spins. They are hilarious to watch! I managed to walk the length of one section of beach and back. It is hard going on soft sand but walking the tide line is ok. I knew all about it last night though :( my knees both ached like mad all evening. I was thinking of 20 years ago when we first moved to Poole and how we used to walk into Bournemouth from Sandbanks, and back again! We used to have a coffee at Branksome cafe before heading back. A lovely walk taking a couple of hours. I am pooped after half an hour now :( But then it was before I had any knee pains at all, and I was a couple of stones lighter!

I have packed away all the Christmas decorations in labelled boxes, I just need someone younger and fitter to stick them up in the loft! I have bought large Lego sets for the grandsons for the last 2 or 3 years and they come delivered in these brilliant big boxes. They have made a big difference to packing up the dec's rather than just chucking them all in black sacks.
 I have enough baubles in assorted colours to decorate about 5 big trees, but it does mean I can change colour schemes easily. The turquoise and pink this year was a BIG change for me. I usually go for silver & white only, or blue and white, or gold and red. But I now have silver, gold, white, red, green, dark blue, turquoise, pink and purple! So can choose any 1, 2 or 3 from those.

The sun is shining and I need to move and sort out some lunch. Walkies later so hope the sun holds!
Have a good weekend my friends. xx

2011 another year bites the dust

What happened to 2011? Other than flying by, not a lot. Now I will probably write loads so get a coffee and get comfortable before you read any further!

2011 started with my beloved Honey hopping around with her right front leg in a huge metal frame with the leg all pinned together. She made good steady progress as the year wore on and had the frame removed when the surgeons were happy it was healing well and the bones had fused.

However it was not quite fused enough and a second arthrodhesion (sp?) was carried out with insertion of an internal plate and pins. So it was back to square one with no exercise for 2 weeks then gentle lead walks for another 6 weeks. After 9 weeks she declared fit and well and so we increased the walking using an extending lead for a few more weeks. Then it was off the lead time. Cautious at first, Honey soon found she could run again, although it was short runs and only half speed. She steadily built up the runs until now she is back to almost full speed and running the laps she used to do. It is lovely to see her romp and play with her friends.

My health has been on a bit of a roller coaster too. My knees both have osteo arthritis but the right one is the most painful. I had a steroid injection in it in the summer which did not last long, and a final injection in the autumn, which seems to have worked well. It is wearing off now but slowly so I am still getting some relief. I have tried to not use my walking stick and it has helped strengthen my core muscles and balance is better. The big shock of the year was being diagnosed as type 2 diabetic. I knew I was at risk of it as I have been obese for many years. The initial education given to us at the diabetic unit at the hospital was superb. We had very enlightening sessions with a brilliant dietician and her advice and guidance notes given us has enabled me to lose over a stone in weight.

I am on medication for the diabetes and controlling my diet to keep my sugar levels under control. But I have ended the year on a bad note with some lax eating over Christmas. No Christmas pud, and only eaten 3 bought mince pies over 3 weeks is not too bad, but sadly I have lapsed a little after Jenny made some delicious mince pies and brought some home for me. I have rationed them out but they are rather nice. We had chicken for Christmas dinner and I had a load of left overs. So on 27th I made a huge curry. Loads of veg, chicken, tinned tomatoes and a heap of delicious curry spices. I love curry flavours but don't like too much chilli so although spicy and tasty my curry is not hot. I kept adding a bit of this and that until I had a wok full! It has done me 4 generous servings, two I have had and two in the freezer for another day.

Folk wise the club has had a modest year, the big highlight being hosts to fairport Convention in May. What an amazing night that was. We have booked them again in 2012 - with fingers crossed for ticket sales.

I had some time away at festivals, with Fairport's Cropredy Convention in mid-August, and Shrewsbury Festival over the August Bank Holiday weekend. Both festivals were brilliant and thoroughly enjoyable.

I made good use of my new tent, really a 4 man tent but very spacious for one! I lurve my double thickness, extra wide single air bed. It is very comfortable to sleep on and raised up high enough to make it easier to get in and out of. Shrewsbury was cold at night as usual. But not as bad as the year before.

We also managed a day away in Suffolk for the Bounty Hounds' OXJAM day festival. It was a superb day out and were very comfortable staying the night with our good friends the Bosleys. I left Honey at home, being cared for by my offspring while I was away.
Christmas 2011 was a quiet one as usual. We altered our 'normal' routine and moved the main meal to evening dinner so Jenny could spend Christmas morning with Helen and the horses, then come home for dinner with me and James, and stayed home to spend Boxing day with Craig and his family. Things have been very strained between Craig and James since August and James did not come over on Boxing day. My grandsons were on top form and we had some fun playing games after a scrumptious turkey dinner.
Tonight looks like being a quiet one on my own. However you see the new year in, may it be peaceful and happy. Drink a toast to loved ones no longer with us, and friends and family who mean so much to us.

May you all have a wonderful 2012. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

December already?? Christmas looms large!

OMG 2 weeks to Christmas and still have a pile of pressies to get, I have done a load but it's never ending. Keep adding people to the list :(
On top of Xmas presents I have my lovely sister's birthday next week. Need to get something in the post Monday or there is no way it will arrive by Friday. Don't panic!!
I am sorry I have not posted in here for some time. Just didn't feel in the mood for more than terse comments.
So what's been happening? I've passed the stone off barrier and currently weigh less than my daughter!! But need a serious blitz now to get the next half stone off. Not a good time of year to try and do it but I am learning to not buy fattening things then I can't eat them.

Honey is doing really well and racing around pretty much as before. Her muscles are building up well.

Win came and went without too many ripples on the home pond.
John has had his new knee fitted and is doing well, but needs to pace himself a bit better as it still swells up regularly when he over does things.
I had a steroid injection in my knee and it worked for about 2 months YAYY I've not been using my walking stick and walked the dog without it too. It has helped strengthen my core muscles which are  nowhere near as good as they used to be. I wobble and lose balance more easily - so I need exercises to build the muscles.
It feels as though the injection is starting to wear off now. I've had a few occasional twinges the last few days.
I had hoped it would last over Christmas.
Got the Xmas tree up now - thanks to Jen and a load of half price decorations I bought last January.

We've been struggling a bit at the pub quiz as we had a few weeks of just Jen and me and coming 3rd or 4th. Not won any chocolates in ages as we did well but not good enough in the pictures, and it was rare to make double figures on the music. Last week we all met up for our Christmas dinner at the pub and even James joined us :). He had a good night, winning £40 on the bingo, and choccies in the picture quiz. We finished 3rd in the quiz so not too bad. I hope James will start coming to the quiz again occasionally. We had an 'exchange of words' in August and he's been distant since then. But now warming relations again. At least we're talking!


The folk club is still going and we had a great night last Friday with a duo, Huw Williams and Maart Allcock.
Maart has played for years in bands like Fairport Convention and Jethro Tull and Huw used to be half of 'Huw & Tony Williams' until they finally retired in 2001. Huw has not sung his songs like that since then, but has been writing some new ones and writing for other artists to cover. Maart has dragged him back to performing and they are booking a tour in the spring. We hosted them as a 'try-out' gig and recorded all the songs to hopefully form the base for a CD to be issued in the spring. It was a brilliant evening and both Huw and Maart are full of humourous stories. A great night!

Off to see Phil Beer at a local club tonight so another good night in prospect :)

My blind friend Linda managed to tip a saucepan of boiling water down her leg a couple of weeks ago and has been unable to walk much. She had really bad blisters, especially her foot, and I've been ferrying her up and down to A&E for treatment, but now she has the district nurse calling. It's not looking good though. It might be infected :(.
I have another friend with cancer currently undergoing drastic chemotherapy which is wearing her out. I took her dogs for a walk Friday with Honey and they all got on well. Honey likes Scooby a lot so they were fine. I kept Teddy on the lead as he is not good at coming back when called and I could not risk him running off when I've got Honey and Scooby to control as well.  Jill was grateful I got them out as her husband would not have been home until well after dark and teddy is scared of the dark.

John & Roz had a bad time when their young dog, Rex got run over after running off. His death was an  horrendous thing to have to cope with. John made enquiries with the breeder where they got Rex with a view to reserving a puppy for next year. The breeder had 2 puppies left from her last litter and offered them the little girl now. Polly has settled in well and is doing really well in her new home. She is Rex's niece and a darling. She is more placid and laid back than Rex and gets on well with the cats. She is now sleeping on the same bed at night as the cats :) They are happy now as they can have the run of the house in safety without being chased by Rex.
I had Polly for the day the other weekend and she was brilliant with Honey. So it all looks good for the future.

Time to go wrap some presents I think :( maybe it will bring more Christmas spirit - hmmm maybe it's Baileys time too!! That will help the task along :)
Bye for now xx

More personal stuff

A few months ago now I was diagnosed as type 2 diabetic. My doc decided I needed a full check up as it was a couple of years since last comprehensive blood tests. My BP turned out to be ok, cholesterol high (but lower than before), and sugars came out over the line for diabetes. Liver and kidney function were fine. I have been overweight to lesser or greater degrees most of my life - even when running exercise classes! But it was more muscle than flab back then *sigh*

I have taken control of the diabetes by attending the education sessions offered at the hospital and taking on board the dietry advice given. I have modified my eating habits and got my portion sizes down considerably, along with healthier balanced meals. I have slowly but steadily been losing weight, around 1-2 lbs a week, apart from the weeks when I was away at festivals where I managed to eat out, or takeaways, and not put weight back on.

I weighed myself this morning (usually once or twice a week) and it's down again. Now lost 10-12 lbs (wobble on the scales and reading varies LOL) and that first stone off is in sight! I think the last time my weight was this level was about 10 years ago!

My medication seems to be working well on the diabetes and the tests show much better readings. My doc is keen to keep a close eye on me. Losing weight will be a big factor with the diabetes, and my cholesterol levels.
The dietry advice sheet from the hospital makes it a lot easier to visualise portions and balance of food types to get healthier eating.
My exercise levels are slowly increasing as Honey gets better at walking and can go further and a bit faster. More activity helps burn off the food quicker too.
My knees are still bad and are basically too far gone to feel much benefit from reduced weight. The co-codomol prescribed by my doc is not really working as well as I'd hoped. No more effective than taking Ibuprofen and paracetamol together. I tend to only take them, with food, when the pain is really bad, as I don't like excess stomach acid it can cause.

I actually made it round IKEA last week for the very first time, much to my surprise. It was pretty much a straight walk through with hardly any stopping to browse. I did have a brief sit down while I 'tested' some dining chairs LOL. I brought home the catalogue and will have a look at their online shopping. I don't have cash to flash at the moment so resisted the temptation to buy anything, but I did see some very neat, slimline units for storing shoes! I've wanted 'something' to go in my hall to reduce the shoe hazards round the house.
 I know having a unit will not make shoes go in there by themselves but it will encourage both Jen and myself to not leave assorted footwear around the place.
I have a wobbly trolley in my entrance hall that's become a clutter collector so that can go, along with it's clutter, to the tip ... ahem Municipal Re-cycling Centre... freeing a nice space slot just right for a shoe cupboard unit which will take less space.
I think I need furniture that has sloping tops so you can't put things down on it.

My lovely solid oak sideboard in the lounge has been swamped by 'stuff'. It started off being bare, with a lamp one end and a vase and matching ceramic balls at the other end. You could enjoy the beauty of the wood and the open space. Then the fish tank arrived *sigh* then the odd bit of post seemed to linger, then the books started appearing and added to what was now becoming a heap. Now it is a dumping site for more stuff! *runs away and screams*
It seems an unwritten rule in this house that shelves, worktops, and even sofas cannot be left empty and bare. *more sighs*
We are tackling the bedroom heaps of stuff at the moment and contributing vast quantitites to the recycling centre. But the movement process of it migrating, from upstairs to down, builds it up again downstairs before it gets transported to the tip or charity shop. So upstairs is looking a lot better but downstairs... *shakes head sadly*
Just keep attacking the heaps, Kath, and you WILL see daylight eventually!
I currently have a heap of camping gear in the kitchen waiting for some strong legs to stack it all in the garage for me *hint hint* The festival camping season is over now so it can be stored safely.



Just had my oldest sister on the phone - it will be action stations now as the annual visit is booked for October 17th. Jen will be happy! (NOT) Win has a lot of good points and a lot of bad history with my kids. She's never been married and never lived with kids so visits have always been 'strained' in past years. Jen's the only one left still at home now and dreads 'the visit' from Aunty Win, who is now 74.



Win in turquoise on right



Win is quick to criticize faults in others, many of which she has herself. She got so upset with our other sister coming to visit and tidying up for her, chucking out lots of stuff Win wanted to keep that Win banned her from coming round. They live in adjacent roads - 3 mins walk away. Win has a 4 bedroomed house all to herself but does not have a spare bedroom for visitors to stay in. Every room in her house has stuff stored in it. I dread the time when she passes away and we have the house to clear. She goes to car boot sales almost every week when they are on and always buys something to bring home. She has 'collected' thousands of cookery books, God knows why! She is allergic to so many ingredients she could never eat the dishes shown in the books.

I am learning to control my hoarding habits and actually throwing stuff out right left and centre. I have a pile of hard drives my lovely son Craig extracted from all the old PCs he took to the recycling. God knows what's on them! I will try to find a 'caddy' I can slot them into, to plug in to my current pc and retrieve any old photos off them. I don't think there is anything else I want on there.

Oh lord! time is racing on and all I've done is waffle on here. My stomach is saying it's lunch time. 1pm.

I hope you are fit, well and enjoying life. You only get one life so use it well. xxx

All festivalled out



Home for the weekend



Well...Shrewsbury Folk Festival is now a distant memory, even though it was only 3 weeks ago. I had a good journey up to Shrewsbury and Roz met me at the entrance to the festival site. I was all sorted out with my tent, airbed and bedding within an hour of arrival. The weather outlook for the weekend was a bit iffy - the dreaded showers! You might get lucky and they all miss you, or everyone could come over and dump on you. We were pretty lucky and the few that did manage to drop on us were either night time, while we were snug in our tents, or came during concerts while we were in marquees.



June Tabor with Oysterband



The concert line up for the festival was fantastic and it was really hard to choose who to see. Unfortunately concert times did conflict so I did have to make difficult choices.

The whole weekend was brilliant musically and socially. Met up with the Bosley's from the Bounty Hounds and other friends. Came home on the Tuesday in moderate traffic. Got a huge greeting from Honey.

Jen had taken Honey to the vet on the Friday for me as the sores on her leg needed re-dressing. She made it clear to the vet we were not happy with Honey's treatment as the poor standard of dressing had given Honey sores she need not have suffered. It also prolonged her treatment by 3 weeks. Having her leg bound up the way it was meant she was not putting her leg down to the ground as it made her walk on tip toe, pushing her claws back into her paw. No wonder she was not walking on it! She now has the dressings off and has finished all the anti-biotics and is finally starting to use her paw.

Having had it bound up for so long has caused the tendons to tighten and shorten so now I am having to walk her very slowly to get her to use the leg and massaging her leg and paw to gently stretch the tendons at the back. She is making progress but it is slow.



John, Pete, & Alan - an off duty moment

 This last weekend was Swanage Folk Festival - the one I help organise. It was a hectic time and I found it physically hard. The festival seemed to be successful and enjoyed by all. The concerts were well attended and loads of people frequented the field and patronised the bar! The festival bar ran dry of beer Sunday afternoon - a good sign! The new festival bar we had in the Mowlem theatre ran out of beer during the interval of the Saturday night concert! Right now the treasurer is counting the pennies and pounds collected over the weekend. I am hoping for a nice little profit. It won't be anything like last year's but I do hope it will be well in the black.



Jenny - superstar!



I have had the pleasure of the company of my daughter Jenny for three days. We have been de-cluttering and clearing out. Roughly 20 sacks of old clothes and general rubbish have found their way to the recycling centre. I had a shock as they have moved it! I gaily drove to where it used to be only to find big signs up redirecting dumpers. It has only moved down the road a bit but now we have to climb stairs to drop things into high containers :-( It might be better for their management of things but it's knackering when you have dodgy knees! Clothing into charity skips, wood here, cardboard there, electrical goods over there, metal on the end, etc etc - back and forth with various stuff, up and down the steps to the different skips. Jen's legs got a good work out. I am so grateful to her for her help clearing out.

Love you Jen!

I have been a bit lax with the food of late, takeaway type meals for 2 weekends, and pub meals at odd times in between. I have tried to eat healthily at home in between and the scales say I have not put any weight back on, but I do need to cut down a bit to get that weight coming off again. *sigh*

Tonight is our folk club with Les Barker. He is an amazing comic poet so there will be large doses of laughter tonight - always good for the body and mind. Loads of tickets sold but not quite a sell out.  Just how I like it!

I hope you are in good health and have a fantastic weekend. xxx

Poor Honey

I am fuming. Since having her latest op on her leg Honey has been seeing my own vet weekly to have her leg checked and dressed. A badly padded splint gave Honey sores, a bit like bed sores during the 2nd week. The vet  said the skin was 'bit red', but the vetinerary nurse assured me they'd added extra padding underneatn the splint and she'd be fine. It was a bit better but Honey wasn't happy. They redressed it again the following week and said she was doing well. Honey did not seem to be making much progress with using the leg to walk on, but I put that down to the size of dressing and amount of wadding they had used and the fact she was walking on tip-toe. Yesterday I went back to the VERY expensive orthopaedic vets who x-rayed her leg. They showed me the x-rays and it all looks good. She has a state of the art, thin, lightweight metal plate and 8 pins holding her wrist in place. The bones are well fused now and the op wound site is all clean and healing well. However.... he was very concerned about the scabby crusty sores! There is a high risk of infection in early weeks and having open sores is not good! They gave her 3 injections of various anti-biotics and anti inflammatories and have redressed the leg without the splint.

This dressing has to be checked and changed twice a week at my own vets. As I am away from Thurs to next Tuesday, I have had to ask Jenny to take her Friday and make an appointment for me for late Tuesday. These injections were only necessary because they failed to notice the sores early enough or treat them properly. Otherwise Honey would be bare legged by now and making progress. I am very upset she has been in pain and discomfort at times for weeks. I expected some reaction to the operation and could not tell the source of her discomfort. Now it will be a couple more weeks of treatment before she can get rid of the dressings.

I am so sorry she has had to go through all this. I feel guilty for not making more of a fuss between visits but I had no idea how bad the sores were. Honey did not get the level of care and treatment she needed. I hope this is rectified now.

ok steam let off now... I am calming down.

We said goodbye to Jen's old Mitsubishi Pinin today. After efforts to sell it it for spares or repairs, and only getting piddling offers we have sold it to a scrap dealer for more! They came and collected the car today. It went off in style belching out some ominous smoke (or maybe steam) from the exhaust as the guy drove it off the drive. This is its final journey. Goodbye leaky rusting hulk.  Now Jen can clean up the marks on the drive :-) ... maybe!

I am having a clean around day today clearing the decks before I go away for a few days, off to the wilds of Shropshire and Shrewsbury Folk Festival. The kids are doing a rota over the weekend of houseminding and dog sitting. I hope Honey will be ok.

The kids can fend for themselves LOL.

 The healthy eating is going well and I have lost 9 pounds in about 6 weeks. I hope I can get through this weekend with minimal impact on my weight. I know I won't lose any but I hope I don't put any back on. I am taking fruit with me for breakfasts and snacks.

My tent is already enroute to Shrewsbury and will be all erected by the time I get there so I can move straight in. It is camping but in relative comfort. I have a 4 man tunnel tent to myself. Plenty of headroom to stand up in all parts of the tent. A large bedroom for my super sized double thickness single air bed and a chair. I need something solid to sit on or hold on to getting my knickers on and off LOL I have packed a second quilt, winter thickness just in case it turns cold at night. Past years have had a nip in the air, even a touch of frost by morning! Nothing worse than waking up in the middle of the night with cold feet!

Last year all the local supermarkets sold out of duvets as the cold nights caught out a lot of people.

I just hope it stays dry as much as possible. The forecast is not good but could be worse! Showers do not happen everywhere!

Whatever your plans are for the weekend I hope you have a good one. xx

Food, exercise, aches and pains

I got back from Cropredy to find the dog in fine condition having been fed and watered well by my oldest son and daughter. Thank you both!! I got a huge greeting from Honey and she tried to get on my lap! I have a small lap.
She is a big dog with a banadaged leg. We compromised with her leaning up against me while I cuddled her with my arms round her. Lots of squeaking in pleasure (from her!). Since then she has stuck closely to me, following me everywhere I go. She is going to hate me going away again.

I ate what I fancied at the festival but tried to have the healthier options where possible. I did not have chicken and chips or hot dogs. I did have a buffalo burger once and an organic beef burger once but no chips with it. I had a burrito once - chilli con carne, rice, cheese,  salsa and extremely hot chilli sauce. It was delicious and filling. I twice had the noodles with tempura veg and some chicken dish. A really good plateful and not toooo fattening.
I did put 2 lbs back on over that weekend but I've shifted those plus another pound since coming home. :)
I am following a healthy balanced diet as recommended at the hospital, just watching the portion sizes. They gave portions as individual items, 1 apple, 1 banana, 2 egg sized potatoes, or spoonfuls - easier to visualise a portion than having to weigh it out.

No food is banned but obviously things high in fat and calories like pork pies should be taken infrequently and in small quantities.

They gave guidance on lower calorie alternatives to things or ways to cook foods to reduce the fat content. So I can still have a bacon buttie once or twice a week, but in granary or multi grain bread, with grilled bacon with the fat cut off. Just about halves the calories and still tastes lovely. 

I am also being more active at home now Honey can go walkies again. She is a bit reluctant to walk on her bad leg yet but I think that will improve once the splint and dressings are off. She is going to the Orthopaedic vet Tuesday for a check up and X-ray. ££££ :-( I hope they will leave the dressing off now so she can use her paw more and walk more easily.
While I was at the festival my knees were not too bad on the whole. I walked up and down to the loo and food/drink at regular intervals and stood up and stretched my legs between acts. Since coming home it has been a different matter. Perhaps the hard water here is a factor?
I have had a lot of pain on occasions and woke in the middle of the night Weds night with searing burning pain in both knees. I could not find a pain free position and tossed and turned and wriggled about for about an hour and a half before I could get back to sleep. It may have been the after effects of having the grandsons for the day on Wednesday, but I took them to Wilton House and sat while they ran amok on the adventure playground, so it should not have been a strain on my knees. The pain was not too bad Thursday day time but started up again during the evening while I was at the folk club. I took some Ibuprofen at the club but it only helped reduce the intensity of the pain. My friends even noticed I was not right so it must have been bad. At least it eased off when I went to bed. It was a good evening at the club too! We had a young lady visitor of about 9 or 10 yrs old so I changed what I was going to do. Try listening to the Arrogant Worms' Assumption Song on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TywmpMQYojs
It is almost rude, but only in your mind! It is definitely an adults only song! It has the folk club laughing their heads off.

I am now sorting my camping stuff out again ready for Shrewsbury Folk Festival next weekend. The kids are doing house and dog minding in shifts for me while I'm away. I will not put Honey in kennels unless I have no alternative option. I do have an option to consider now though as my neighbours 3 doors down have lost their dog and have not yet got a new one. They have been having friends dogs to stay for holidays so maybe I will have a word with them and see if they would have Honey.



My new tent

 I am happy to have mixed weather at the moment because it increases the chances of a settled few days for Shrewsbury next weekend. I am not too optimistic though because it is a Bank Holiday weekend and notorious for bad weather :-( Last year we had a mini whirlwind slice through the festival site destroying gazebos and flattening tents in a swathe. There were a heap of bent and broken gazebos put out for the rubbish collectors at the end of the festival. We lost ours that day, ending up with a lovely cover and a pile of twisted and snapped poles. They were lucky no one was injured. The site stewards did a valiant job and picked up the debris and tied the remains up in bundles.
I am happy to camp there all weekend. My own tent is spacious and comfortable and my double height air bed is very comfortable. I am taking an extra duvet as the nights can get very cold! If I get desperate I can sleep in my dressing gown, a warm soft fluffy one.

As all the concerts are under cover there is not so much need for good wet weather clothes. Just an umbrella to get from A to B will do, rather than golfing umbrellas and waterproof ponchos you need when sitting out in the open.

I am out to a dinner party tonight with a bunch of friends, 9 of us I think :-). Looking forward to it.
Hope you have a good weekend wherever you are and whatever you are up to. xx