Cranbourne Chase Woodfair - 8th/9th October 2011

This kinda sneaked up on me.  I've been so wrapped up in my house and my lovely girlfriend that I largely forgot I had arranged with http://www.guitar-stool.com/ to work this arts and crafts fest at the Larmer Tree Gardens in Dorset.  As per the Larmer Tree Music Fest in July I was selling (rather unsuccessfully) high quality stools and other staff made out of fine timbers that have a guitar theme.  Roger Cox is my "boss" and he is a mate and furniture maker.

Christmas is coming and Guitar stool could do with the business so if you have an interest in guitars or love fine solid timber why not indulge yourself or make someones Christmas morning.

Working these things is great fun.  This wood fair closes at 5pm and then all the stalls close then the traders entertainment - a talented rock, folk and blues outfit - play informally in the small beer tent.  Sounds great doesn't it?  I froze my nads off all day.  I had 2 post-work beers with Roger went back to my tent, had a smoke, got warm in my double sleeping bag and fully clothed I fell asleep. 12 hours later I woke up!  Get my rock and roll lifestyle.

I knew several of the other traders from the Larmer Tree fest in the summer.  Marilyn Allis was there http://www.marilynallis.co.uk/ and I bought another one of her paintings.  Check out the link.  Christmas is coming and Marilyn is a great human being and an exceptional artist.  Her work is an absolute bargain.

There are 2 loose groupings:

1.  Craftsmen and women who did the odd festival before the kids and now combine the both.

2.  Festival goers who sought a way to fund their "festivalling" by selling something whilst they are there. (This is me and most festival Cafe owners strangly.  Why?  Who knows.)

Both get along famously and join in with the banter and take the piss out of hectic customers.  I could do this for a living.  If I could get £7k a year I would be happy alas I have only the ability to talk not to create from nothing.  All the traders are under stress however and only just making money if at all.  They work very hard and contribute more than is immediately apparent to the festival scene and vibe.  Most of what they sell is original in design and handmade so you buy a one off.  These "one-man-bands" take simple materials, apply some skill and imagination and create something original.  I think this needs to be encouraged on the use it or loose it principle?  Please check out the websites I have given and shown in the pics - prices are cheap, it is a buyers market at the mo.

http://www.marnhullleathercraft.com/

To round off the weekend Son and I got together for a late Sunday supper at my building site house.  Some organic bread, quality sausage, apple smoked cheese, duck egg and red onion salad finished with a Whiskey and Ginger Liqueur.  She had been off to a Devon retreat doing her thing whilst I was working.  Perfect end to a great weekend.

To music then. Every link I post I have seen live if you get me but this one is different.  I've played this live dozens of times and I had my biggest thrill as a gigging drummer after playing it.  The Devizes Beer Fest is 1200 semi pissed, largely middle aged, beer drinkers and it takes place alongside the Kennet and Avon Canal.  We played on the flat bed of one of the sponsors lorry (Wadsworth's naturally) in the early July afternoon and its warm.  The teen thrash band just got off to polite applause.  After reaching, because it was the biggest crowd ever played and I was scared, we played a version of this Neil Young behemoth for our first song.  It's was our best song and our studio version link is below.  If you look on the photos bit of my old bands site you will see me in the studio doing a poor impression of Ozzy Osbourne.  And I have dyed hair!  Anyway the cheer that afternoon was similar to what you here at a football crowd and I nearly shit myself there and then on my drum throne.  Lucky I was wearing shades to.

http://uk.myspace.com/insomniaofficial/music/songs/rockin-in-the-free-world-18045281

And the Neil Young version that I had the pleasure to see:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTiOKivyn9Q

Soni, Sea and Sand. Poole - Indian Summer, Oct 2011

I was there as well.  As you can see I was kissing the prettiest girl on the beach.  More to follow as the house is getting there after a few dramas.  Big post then if I'm not bankrupted by it first!

Music!  Ok.  A very old friend contacted me this evening and this one is dedicated to her.  I saw this band on their Number of the Beast Tour at Reading 1982 and Mags you were so jealious! Here is to you Mags Glad to hear to you made the jump and are tearing it up.  Remember this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsmcDLDw9iw&ob=av3n

I'm still Alive!

I haven't written for a while and there is good reason.  The only way you know how lucky you are is to be reminded that what I have, simple as it is, is so much more than so many others have.  When you are simply moving on with your life and improving your lot it is easy to become complacent and forget to say thank you and really look at and enjoy what you have.  In the fortnight since returning from France I have had to witness and help where I can in several important and life threatening situations that I can't detail here.  Everyone is alive and the sick are healing.  I have started to say thank you again.

There are no photos on this post because I am saving them for the post I will write a fortnight hence when most of my house will be complete, decorated and furnished.  It's looking well smart.  So far all of downstairs has had new floors, walls, electrics and ceilings.  The walls and ceiling have had their suction coats and are brilliantly white.  It looks like a hospital.  The house is wired for Freesat, data and phone.  The doors are off and the massive back door has been brought back to the wood, deeply sanded and primed.  The door furniture for this little piece of history has cost a small fortune but it will be a work of art and to a lesser extent so will all of the downstairs doors.  They are all the original cottage doors and over a century old.  Yup, getting to love this place.

The clear up is coming and I think it will be inevitable that means doing the gardens as both are currently covered in rubble and old timber.  I'm not prepared to spend money on this so it's going to be slow progress through the winter but hey, it will be a good work out and I can work at my own pace.  Initially I'm going to level the garden with my old plaster from the kitchen and living room.  Then work out what to do!  I need somewhere solid to park the Mazy and my Kwacker.  I guess I will start there.  A paved, covered car port.  As for the timber?  It will be a warm winter!

So time for the delve into You Tube and after a number of up beat tunes this one is a little different.  Probably because i'm tired and in pain (poor little love).  Anyway, this is a rock masterpiece.  I saw The Who play this in the pissing rain ironically.  Rog made a real good fist of it too, gawd bless 'im.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygOaNo3M_Hw

France and Soni. 1st - 6th September 2011

I'm just about to watch the England Wales game after eating a Chinese and I'm shagged.  The drive back this morning was a nightmare with horizontal rain, gale force winds and an high windy road exasperating the whole thing.  Tough 60 miles or so.

Let's return to the 1st of September and the first day of my Autumn travelling programme..  I met up with my travelling partner - Martin, a very close friend, on Thursday and we went out to have a curry and "shoot the shit".  With a gentle hang over and Delhi-belly we set off.  Martin on his 2008 Triumph Speed Triple and me on my 2002 Kawasaki ZX9R.  On the ferry crossing we passed the time speaking to a fellow English biker Jon who lives in France and was returning home after touring England - interesting role reversal! It made the boring 3 hr channel crossing an enjoyable experience.  Jon is a bit of character and this 60 year old gentleman explained to us how much he was looking forward to see his 34 year old beautiful French girlfriend.  We liked this.  We swapped e-mail addresses and went our way.  Martin and I hit the French roads in bright warm sunlight.  I didn't realise just how much I missed travelling independently and, for the first time in a long time, on my motorbike.  Bliss.

It's slow going through Le Havre but then the road opens a little and the Pont Du Normande comes into view.  This is a fuck off bridge!  It's in two "bits" one lowish and the second over the river and it needs to be high enough to allow large ships to sail up the Seine River.  Up and over we go and and the road clears as the Nationale to Caen goes into open country.  With an 80mph speed limit and an excellently maintained and clear road we cruised at a safe 85 to 100 mph.  Obviously popping in the decidedly unsafe "above 130" as the road demanded, as you do.  If you are a biker this is great stuff and you can hold these speeds for miles.  You get into a real rhythm.  We were travelling really light too (just clothes) so we stretched the legs of these excellent motorcycles.

From Caen we stopped off in Falaise for a beer and first use of schooldboy but well rehersed French.  From there to Mont Ormel which is where the gite is.  Those of you who are sad and bored enough to read this blog you will be aware of the gite in question from posts earlier this year.  It's idilic, quiet and the bar close by is the place to have a few cold ones, admire the lovely view, take in the sunset and shoot the shit.  We ate here for 2 nights and it's a little gem.  "Bar-Restaurant Le Montormel" is a family owned bar that does excellent home cooked food.  The owners have Armenian discent and at the weekends the plat is a Russian or Armenian dish.  This is a small place and quiet so you don't have much in the way of choice but go with it and you will get tasty homecooked food with reasonably priced wine.  You can't go wrong and they are good people.  We loved it. 

We shopped for our fresh food, bread, pate, cheese, beer, wine, cidre, more beer and then yet more beer, mostly in Falaise.  This gave us the opportunty to do the coffee culture thing and buy from the Saturday market that seems to fill every open space in the centre of this historic Norman town.  This was the birth place and home of William the Conquerer and also the site of bitter fighting in the Second World War.  Schrapnel damage can be seen on the older buildings.  Fortunately enough of the Norman town and castle remain to make this site important to the history of both Britain and France.  It's a nice place to chill in.  It has a slow but steady pace and everything you need (see list above) is here from the plethora of small shops.  Sharpens up your French too.  You have to ask for stuff and deal with numbers several times a day.

Then it started raining.  The last two days were wet and my shoulder - yeah that one - start to play up so we were grounded and went up the bar.  The way home was uneventful and then we got on the ferry.  I shouldn't laugh but you see I have never suffered from sea sickness on a ship...  It was rough.  Really rough.  You couldn't walk around the "Fastcat" passenger spaces because this fast catamaran was bobbing like a cork.  About 20% of the passengers hit the chunder button and the number of others, who looked like Martians (green), was the same again.  The crew were flat out dealing with full sick bags and slippery floors.  Martin and I had a can of Stella and a Ginsters Cornish pasty and looked on pointing out people who were throwing up to one another whilst trying not to chuckle too openly!  Wicked? yes, but you couldn't help yourself really!!!  As we docked and went down to the car decks the stewards were still hosing down the outside prom deck where groups of the unfortunate had gathered.  The "Fastcat" had become the "Vomit Comet". (I'm giggling as I recall this!)

We disembarked, said our goodbyes and set off on our onward journeys.  Martin had a 2 mile ride home and although the sky was angry, it was dry.  I was off to Poole and had a 50mile or so blat along the English south coast to get there.  An hour, and some rain later I arrived at Soni's for shower, dinner and cuddles.  What an Angel and Soni is alright too.

Right, music time.  The music links I place on here are all from acts I have seen live.  This is an unusual one but falls within that bracket and is one for the purists'.  Give it a go.  This is a bona-fide, top class professional singer at her pomp.  There is not one thing about this performance, from the phrasing of the words to the dynamics of her voice, that has not been worked on and perfected.  The power is amazing and the song tells a story.  It was written by George Harrison and is a cover of The Beatles (yuk!) hit.  There are many versions of this on You Tube and this one is the best I think.  I give you the one, the only, Dame Shirley Bassey.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZsbOJhFh8c&feature=related

Budget Busting and an interesting week - Late August 2011

Hi all!  Well, next week will be fun.  In terms of the house I will be well past the half way mark and I'm off to France on Thursday.  I've included some pics of my lounge and one of my kitchen in a pretty advanced state - just to tantalise you.  I've also ordered my new table.  It is small but I have chosen the plank of Olive Ash that it will be made from and I will be beautiful once the maker works his magic.  Having a hand made table to my requirements may sound extravagant but Roger is a mate who I work for from time to time and therefore the price will be affordable.  The chairs however.....

That brings me nicely on to my modernisation budget.  I allowed myself a generous 20% contingency fund for my rebuild and as these things tend to it disappeared pretty quickly.  In order to completely finish the house in the way I want therefore requires me to do some of the work.  I'm going to do all of the living room with some advice from my builder.  Like most DIYers I can lay bricks and work accurately with timber but the art of plastering and other finish work is something most prefer to leave to the pro's due to the high quality finish they give.  I'm going to tank, render and plaster my lounge and lay the new floor.  This work has to be done correctly and my builder will supervise whilst he finishes the kitchen and moves on to the bathroom.

This is an intriguing house.  Lifting the floor - probably the first time since the last fire in 1904 - revealed charred brick and tile and showed more evidence of the building phases going back some 200 years.  The last house I owned was built in 1720 and this one is more interesting and worthy of respect.  This is partly why my budget has grown.  Removing timber lintels and "over specing" the new lounge floor are examples.  The lads from (my old) work who read this know only too well that in any project you can usually trade time for money.  I am over spending therefore I need to reduce the time/money spent on paid labour to bring the project back and get all that I want for the money I have alotted.  So I have asked the builder to give me the last 10 days on my own.  4hrs a day, 4 days out of 7, I have worked on the house.  This together with keeping my old kitchen floor has saved me about £1000.  I'm getting entirely fresh kitchen, bathroom and lounge for £12k.  I think this is good value considering the quality and completeness of the work being performed.  No short cuts here and the electrics and heating are state of the art and have some innovation applied to them.  This will be an interesting home designed just for me and it should deliver exactly what I want my house to do.  Can't wait until it is complete - October?

My blog posts tend to centre on several recurring subjects:  travel, fitness (or lack of it), festivals and the plethora of minor shit that equate to building my new life.  There is one other subject I tend to write about and there has been some changes here.  Early days and caution is present but I'm smiling more.  Thank you.

Ive got that "Buckle up your seat belt Dorothy'coz Kansas is going bye bye" feeling.

My beautiful daughter returned from travelling this week so we went out and got shitfaced - as we do.  Some parents my be shocked at this but Lizzy and I are great friends and I would just like to ask what do you do with your friends when you haven't seen them for some time?  Anyway, Friday was a great night where travel stories were exchanged and I benefited from from hearing her insight.  Lizzy spent a month in Cambodia and a month in Thailand performing voluntary work with orphans.  She is 20 in September and off to Uni in October.  I would say this wouldn't I but my daughter is quite a gal.  Given all that has happened she is honest, straight and ambitious in the right way.  She is also a thinker, beautiful and funny.  I hope you can see why I'm so proud of her.  We had a great night and crashed at a close friends flat that is blissfully located not 30mtrs from the pub.  I slept on the freezing kitchen floor whilst Lizzy and her (quality) boyfriend had the lounge.  I woke up stiff as a board and shivering, clear signs of a successful, good ole fashioned alternative piss up.  Here's to you Lizzy, welcome back kid.  Love ya.

This was going to be a simple post but actually I really enjoyed writing this one!  Lots of things have happened and more to come next week when I leave for France and the lounge gets it's new floor.  The bike is ready for France and in touring trim (as opposed to "all out, fuck off, mad dog, turbo charged nutter bastard" trim) and I hope I am ready as well.

So it's music time.  I saw the Goddess that is Flo perform this twice at Glastonbury a year ago and it was emotional.  It was the only time I have seen the entire Pyramid Stage area crowd (full by the way), the Solidarity bar punters and all the fast food traders stop doing whatever they were doing and climb on tables, chairs, turned to each other and put their hands in the air.  Everyone, together, at once, sang the great lyrics and smiled.  A true "moment" and I was there.  Even if you have heard it a million times treat yourself one more time.  Grab the hair brush, plug your laptop into your hifi, volume to 11, think of someone past or present and let go.  I bet you can't play it just the once!  This is what I saw, listen to what I heard. This one is for you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6ozSBEc814&feature=fvwrel

And this is the equally excellent official vid of the studio version without Dizzee

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQZhN65vq9E&ob=av2n

Brief Update - Early August 2011.

Hi all!!  Been a while because the house looks like a victim of a World War 2 blitz attack and it's been a busy time.  Dust is everywhere but I have a kitchen and it is looking lovely.  Trick lighting, all new white goods and damp proof.  On the advice of the builder I am letting the place thoroughly dry before decorating it.  As you can imagine that is driving mad!  3 days work and it would be finished...ho hum.

I'm stripping the plaster off the walls of the living room presently and the builder is going to teach me to plaster so I will probably do the vast majority of the work in that room.  This should allow the builder to concentrate on the bathroom.  I'm not going to post any pics until the whole place is complete.  I think it will look good; and so it bloody well better be considering the money this is costing me!

I've been buying some art.  I have several watercolours already but I have just bought 2 nudes from an artist called Rob Saunders and very nice they are 2.  They are very light effected and look different at different times of the day.  Need to work out where to put them now.  Think I'm a couple short though but buying art is about patience.  Wait until you see something that you really like and view it a long time before you buy is my advice.

I'm now fully injury free - finally.  Start back working out and boy have I weakened.  What was a breeze now hurts, but that is the way of it.  After I trained today I will get a little stronger.  After tomorrows session the same will also be true.  I'm also chipping off plaster and doing stuff that the builder doesn't want to do and all these things help to stretch and work my poor ole body.  Got to be good before the 1st Sept - I'm off to France on the bike for 5 days then.

I won't say I have a girl friend BUT it may be close.  Luckily she doesn't read my blog so between you and I....she is a cracker!  Classy, intelligent, a thinker, physically beautiful, tactile, independent, funny, festival goer and dresses well.  I also love her approach to life and I could look at her walking all day.  Hummmm, interesting....we will see....

More to follow.

Todays music link is an absolute classic acid/rock/folk number from The Levellers.  I have had the privildge to party long and hard with them and followed them to numerious festivals and even seen them play in Amsterdam (not that I remember much about that gig...).  This song is their favorite: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld4kvadTXKY

Dust, Sweat, Builders and the 1000th Visit to my Blog!

As the long grim British Summer continues we have yet more rain, rioters on the streets and my kitchen is still a mess.  On the plus side my shoulder, finally, no longer needs pain killers to make it work and although it is still sensitive when I exercise and ride my bike it is not the sleep (and sense of humour) remover it was for over 2 months.

Just as well as the photos show the kitchen is moving on.  That means my thoughts are turning to the next room, my lounge.  This will begin with the same treatment as the kitchen.  All the plaster and render off the walls.  Massive dust and many Zoolander like opportunities for the lads and myself to appear from the house into the bright sunlight (yeah right!) glistening with sweat and covered in grey dust.  Not for the feint hearted.

A quick recap on the kitchen build:  The vast majority of the plaster and render has been removed.  The kitchen has been "Tanked" - this is a waterproof, anti damp slurry that is applied to the walls and floor.  It has then been rendered with a waterproof cement and sand mixture and finally plastered with a conventional plaster finish that I can paint.  The kitchen should now be damp free (another "yeah, right" moment!).  I have painted the ceiling and walls and fitted the new lights.  I have opted for 8 down lighters controlled by 2 dimmer switches.  The coving is being put up as I write - you see it half done in the photos above.  I will have a 4 seater table in my kitchen therefore the lighting has been installed to emphasise this dual role - Laurence Liewellyn-Bowen , eat your heart out.  The lights over the table can be dimmed with the lights over the work surfaces can be turned off.  It hides the washing up when eating (forgot for a moment that I have a dishwasher now!!).  The new lighting shows up well on the photos above.  Probably because it is on :-/.

The new kitchen brings with it new white goods including a dishwasher!  As it appears I will be very single for the next 100 years or so I thought it would be a good move (Ladies, now you see why I will be single for at least the next hundred years!!!).  Another reason for me being single is that the rework on my house is the final stage in my retirement adjustment.  Until now I have been enjoying myself and investing my money.  That phase is virtually complete so it is time to scale back my spending and live within my means.  It will be comfortable but limited therefore I need to start to think how to make some money on a regular basis for the luxuries of life.  I have already started and since I have returned I have secured several thousands of pounds of taxed income but have not yet seen the bulk of the money.  Not bad for 2 months effort and a cold start - September should see my current account swell again.  This will pay for my furniture and that will be quite a bill.  I want a comfy, warm home I can retreat to.  I'm a month and some difficult work away from accomplishing that and having a nice home is a major plank in what I want from my future, free and independant existence.  I also retain the option - if i do stay single - is I can flog it for loads of money in 3 years time and piss off to France or buy my boat and truly disappear!  Me against the world - what a way to go.  Man, what a dream.

I've started playing the drums again.  Back permitting this could be a nice way to earn my beer money.  I left my last band just before I went off travelling and the itch to play live again has returned.  So it's time to practise.  My neighbours will hate me for it but such is life.  An hour a day should get my "touch" back in a month.  Got to swat up on music notation and learn some new songs then I think I will be good enough again to play semi-professionally again.

To Gary and Lizzy - both in far off places around the world.  Guys!  Hope you are reading this and I hope you are safe.  Call me if you need anything.

More to follow - and today's music hyperlink (below) is a cracker and sums my mood up perfectly!  Turn off the advert that plays immediately and stick with it.  Maybe I will find my way home - one day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q9_ZEtuTR8&ob=av2n