The Larmer Tree Festival and Serious Internal Modification (!) - Mid July 2011

So last time I wrote I was flirting with a 30 something waiting to go to the Larmer Tree and set the date for the modernisation of my home.  To the Larmer Tree Festival first.

Working the Larmer Tree Festival - 13th to 18th July 2011

I was not going to do any festivals this year due to my spring trip to Europe and not knowing when I was going to return so being offered a freebie to the Larmer Tree was most welcome.  I was working the festival for a mate who makes guitar stools and other odds and sods out of guitar bits!  These are better than I make out and are hand made from choice English wood.  They are not cheap either - up to £350 a go, but the quality is excellent, all of the pieces are very attractive and are certain to be a talking point.  The guitar theme is very well used by Roger.  My favorite, except for the solid Walnut stool pictured, was the machine head candle stick holder.

First day the weather was good and we set up the stand and the friend making process began.  The traders have there own secure parking/camping compound adjoining the marque where our stalls were, blissfully as it turns out, under cover.  There was Rose (mad as a bucket of frogs) the felt maker who was to my left, Sian (dirty bitch) Thomas the jeweller directly across from me and the delightful Marilyn Allis and hubby.  She is a TV artist.  (Bit like a TV chef but with paint brushes)

Set up the stall and the punters filed in boy aren't they posh!  The most well spoken festival goers I have ever spoken to!  Not many Mohawk haircuts or extreme piercings here (exceptions and rules? see pic below!).  That said the atmosphere was friendly and it was warm.  Out came my Festival Top hat and I'm enjoying the punters whilst getting ready to catch some Jools Holland.  Not bad first night headliner ay?

I'm working this festival and that means I help Roger man the stall.  I'm a very chatty guy and Roger is a quality artisan.  It's a good match and we operated a loose manning routine that allowed me to rest when I needed to as well as getting a beer or two whilst watching a band.  We tended to close the stall no later than 10pm so I could always catch some late night entertainment.

Enter the beautiful Soni.  A couple of days in an I received an unwelcome text from a female friend of mine that basically allowed me to, er, well, er yes! "flirt a little" - if the opportunity presented itself...  This I enjoyed immensely and one particular lady was a joy.  Soni is a mature blond babe.  Very classy, gentle and warm.  We had a couple of very innocent days "flirting" and it was great.  I promised to get in touch post-fest but I haven't.  I'm doing lots of stuff at the moment and I suspect Soni could do without me and my lifestyle.

For working the festival I got a free ticket and a little pocket money.  I worked hard, got in for free and given that I am just about to redo my house I thought if I saw some nice art I would go for it.  At every festival there is an artist or 2 selling their fantastic work.  I never seen any pictures that I would buy however until I saw Marilyn's work.  Marilyn Allis is a lovely human being as well as being a great artist.  She is charming, polite and welcoming and ya know what?  She looks it in the photo above doesn't she?

For a very good deal I bought 2 of her watercolours and when I finish my house in a month from now I will post pics of the framed paintings on my living room wall.

So far in this long post about this festival I have not talked about being wankered.  At a festival getting wankered is what you do.  Working is not good for the wankering.  Periods of work seriously disrupt the timeline necessary to get wankered.  Wake up, get stoned, tins of lager, bacon butty, beer then on to spirits when bloated, curry, drink doubles until pissed and they turn out the lights.  That is a festival timeline.  Work takes the heart out of it and therefore the chances of getting truly wankered are considerably reduced. I even had an early nite after 1 hectic day and there was even a possible "flirt" opportunity if I'd ventured out.  I went back to my tent and got wankered listening to the stage 30 yards away.  Getting old, still a wanker.

I may have Spanish friends reading this and I wonder what the Google Spanish-English converter will make of the paragraph above!!

I cannot end this Rat eyed view of the Larmer Tree Festival without mentioning Sian Thomas.  Sian makes then sells jewellery.  It's good silver festival stuff and very popular.  We shared 5 days where we were closer than 10 foot for hours a day and she is a great crack.  She had me cackling on more than one opportunity and has a mind like a sewer.  She knows it and is proud of it.  A real sassy, wise cracking, huge bosomed woman.  She has been making a living the alternative way for years.  She lives on a narrow boat and with her "live in capable" van (with chimney from the solid fuel heater) she goes from festival to festival enjoying her lifestyle and making the money to pay for it without a boss.  Sian you are the real deal.  Love your spirit babe and your jewellery rocks to.

It pissed down on the last 2 days of the festival and although no one allows the weather to be a downer everyone always hopes the wet would end ASAP.  Some of these guys have been trying to trade in wet weather for weekend after weekend.  It adversely affects business and it increases the likelihood that some could question their lifestyle.  This on top of increasing silver prices, fewer customers and higher fuel costs.  These are good people who want to earn a living in a certain way, latter day tinkers if you like and festivals would be duller experience without them.  They are part of the festival.  Mary, Vikki, Sian, Sue, Rose, Charlie, Marilyn, Brian, and Soni; live long and prosper and I hope to see you soon.

Thanks Rog, enjoyed it.

Serious Internal Modification!

No I have not had colonic irrigation.  (Wince)  I rested the day after the festival the cleared out my kitchen yesterday (Tuesday, 20th July).  Today Chris the builder brought his van, expertise and sledge hammer to begin the modernisation of my house and its long overdue.

It's the kitchen first and that means opening up the chimney breast to accommodate a 5 ring hob and oven. and my pantry door needs widening to allow me to hide my fridge in it.  I will end up with a dry, modern kitchen with a table I can sit 4 around.  Nice.  Then it's the bathroom, then the lounge.  More to follow.

Larmer Tree Festival and all that...

Well guys things are on the up.  Not only is there a rather nice lady in her mid thirties flirting with me but I have been offered a free weekend at the Larmer Festival.  I'm a keen festival goer but because of my trip earlier this year I didn't know when I would be in the country to go to a festival.  So this is a good bit of luck.  Even better is I am working it.  A friend makes stools in the shape of guitars and has a stall in the Artisans Field of the festival site.  I will be helping out for a few hours a day.  Nice trade for a ticket to see Jools Holland.  I hope being in the stall holders field means better showers and toilets!  So if you are there look out for the guy in a top hat with feathers hovering around the Artisans area.  Say hi.

On the more practical front the builders are firmly booked and start on the 18th July.  This will transform my house and I'm now looking forward to it.  On the down side it will mean my house will be a building site for 4 weeks.  Oh well the old place needs a modernise.

What with France in September and back to Spain after that it looks like its going to be a good summer.

Kitchens, Bathrooms and France

Hi all!  Well, I have been busy and lazy all at once in the last couple of weeks.  As I write I am expecting the builder to knock the door and together my new kitchen, bathroom and lounge modernisation will be confirmed.  My house is a farm workers cottage that was formally owned by the local manor to house their landworkers.  It has been maintained to "council house standards" and whilst sound it ain't pretty!

As I have decided that, for the next several years at least I will be living in my little house in England.  So I think it is worth the time and money to get it comfy.  I'm having a wall removed and fireplace opened out in the kitchen and I'm also having the bath removed from the bathroom in favour of a 2 person shower (ooer!).

I have also just booked the Gite in Normandy for several days in September.  A mate and I are going to take the motorbikes over and do the WW2 battle sites.  This will be my 4th time in France in a year so it is becoming a very familiar and I can't wait to return.

My training is going well and my shoulder injury is still there but easier.  Indeed it has eased up enough to allow me to spend some time on the bike.  that has grown new Bridgestone BT 023 tyres, rack with topbox and Helibars that raise the handlebar height slightly to ease the weight off my back and shoulders.  It's all ready to go for the summer when and if the rain finally decides to stop!

So all moving on but, to be honest, life is dull compared to travelling...

More to follow..

Starting Again...20 June 2011

For those of you who have not read my blog before here is a quick summary.  Due to multiple and degenerative injuries I had to retire from work.  At the time I was madly in love with a woman who turned out not to be what I (and indeed she) thought she was.  Plans were made and then broken.  I travelled for a couple of months across Europe, going wherever the satnav took me.  This gave me the space to make sense of my new situation and allowed me to heal from 5 years of total turmoil.

I have been back from my trip for a couple of weeks now and I need to push on and settle my life.  I'm 45 years old and the where and tear on my body and to a lesser degree mentally reflect a life twice as long as that.  I also came back from Europe with a terrible injury.  I gritted my teeth abroad and managed it with pain killers but they weren't really strong enough.

Now I'm back and I have set balls rolling to set my new life.  This starts with my health.  My shoulder injury has healed as well as it can without active intervention by myself.  I have rested it and now I need to work it.  So today I get back in the gym and pool.  Effectively I have to start again.  I am so weak compared to where I was 5 weeks ago it is scary.  So it is a swim today at 1430 with the over 50's in my local pool.  I recon it will take me 2 months of hard, painful work to regain what I have lost.

I have a well developed plan that I used in the last several months before I left and I am going to use that as a base for the routine I start today.  Basically I will be working "splits".  Namely I have divided up my bodies major muscle groups found exercises that avoid damaging my body too much and overlay cardiovascular and abdom routines over the top of the upper body and arm weight/strength training.  In effect I will only be working my major muscle groups twice a week.  That should allow them to heal, reconfigure and grow in flexibility and power.  As I get into this the routine will change and I am hoping to return to the standard I had reached before I left.  I was fit enough to work professionally in a gym and/or pool environment and to prove it that is what I did for a few months.  Below is my starting routine:

Monday:
Swim - 20 slow lengths to loosen and stretch my arms and back muscles.
Chest - Inclined Pressups, Flys - Light weights - 5-7 kgs, only 2 sets.
Tricep - Overhead Tricep Extensions, Tricep dips - only 2 sets.
Abs - 45 lower ab sit ups, 30 mid ab sit ups, 10 minutes of horse dancing,  5 minutes of the Plank and Stick (if shoulder injury allows) together with some Yoga moves.

Tuesday:
Swim
Shoulders - Mil Press, Lateral Raises, Front Raises - Very, very light and only 2x sets

Wednesday:
Back - Dumbell Rows, Dumbell Pullovers, Dumbell Shrugs
Bicep - Curls
Abs

Thursday:
Swim
Chest
Tricep

Friday:
Swim
Shoulders
Abs

Saturday:
Back
Bicep
Abs

Sunday:
Day off


That routine delivers and it can be expanded very easily.  As it is written it is about half as intense as I was doing before I left for my trip.  The exercise is only half the story though.  I have my weight (I am prone to being a fat bastard) under control at the moment.  When you train you must also eat correctly.  After all why go to all the pain and effort of training hard if you waste it due to poor diet that does not help your body to change?  To start I will drop the well known carbs.  No bread or pasta for me.  Fruit, salad, fish, chicken and once a week, red meat.  I want my gut to be virtually empty so I draw my energy from my fat reserves.  I will slightly raise my meat portions to provide a good supply of protein.  At first I will lose weight (especially when I get on the crosstrainer again) then as my strength improves I will start to put on weight but loose fat.  I have been here before and this weight gain phase is to be feared.  You burn so many calories and feel so strong that it is easy to loose control over your food and become massive but fit.  I need to avoid this.  I need to be light and strong and very strong in my core.

Today is day 1 and I can't wait to hit the pool.  The sooner I start the sooner I will feel stronger and better mentally.  Working out is it is good for you.  In a world where we make choices often based on taking the lesser of two evils.  When you exercise there is only good outcomes.  It enriches your day and your life.  I have a little motto that some of you may not get but here it is:  "Wherever you are and whatever you are doing you still need to do the washing up."  An interesting, sustainable and varied existence starts with good basics and a realisation that life is for real and not a collection of unfulfilled fantasies.  If you want it, go get it - it won't come to you.  It is time to light the afterburners once again.

Queue Micheal:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSK9kkM7GL4

Friends - It's late and I'm bored so I thought I would show the bike off...

Can't wait for the rain to stop so I can take this 175 mph missile out for some serious abuse.

Adjusting - Mid June 2011

Well, I have been back a week or so now and things are moving on nicely.  I have a date for the house to be renovated - 11th July, and Fart and I are going to France in September.  I have put together an aims and attributes paper for my business partners to agree or adjust.  Looks like a return to Rute will be late September early October.

I have decided that I do not have enough money to support the life I want.  I want my home in England.  I want to travel for several months a year.  I want to have enough money so that I do not need to worry about my current account.  So I must work.  The issue is I can't work all the time so that means to earn above the minimum wage I must own my own business.  I have 2 good partners who are also genuine friends that are going in with me.  As a group we also have other advantages.  We are not greedy and we will not need the support of a bank as we have the purchase and start up cash.  With these men I think we have a very good chance of success if we find the right business.  Anyway that project has now started and it would be good if we could start trading in the late autumn.

My little house in Wiltshire will be my home for the foreseeable future.  With this decision made I guess I'm building myself a home and that is something I have not done for years and it's surprisingly exciting!  I'm having some minor structural work done (Kitchen: opening up a fireplace to fit a cooking range and removing a wall to expand the room) and a new kitchen and bathroom.  I having a 2 person shower rather than a bath and all new white goods including a dish washer.  The living room is being re-plastered and a new floor fitted.  New heating and a covered and open terrace in the rear garden will complete the modernising.  The place will be very dry and warm with good facilities and an easy and spacious place to live.  Yup, up for that!  The house market is dead here anyway...it is not a good time to sell so I'm going to hold on for 5 years.  My house needs to make me £10k over my investment for it to be worth selling.

For all that I'm bored.  I still can't train due to my shoulder and that is a real bastard.  I'm getting so soft...at least I'm not putting on weight.  I had a very light session yesterday and the day before to test it and so far so good but it is still painful.  After 4 weeks it is still painful and it makes me wonder what I have done.  The injury happened after I had performed a massive shoulder workout following a long drive.  Shame, I was looking so good and felt so strong.  Oh well, I will get it back, it won't take long.

My thoughts are also turning to the opposite sex.  There are always options but non that really stand out as simple or suitable.  It's been 3 months since I last had sex or even kissed a woman - it is like being married!!!!!   My problem is I don't want to repeat mistakes I have made in my distant past and just fuck for the sake of it but trying to find a middle aged woman (preferably) that is not a nutter and "baggage free" is difficult.  If I can't have those things I will simply remain single.  Sad but I have had enough of being fucked around.

The End...The Journey north to Ingleterra – Rute-Cordoba-Madrid-Borges-San Sebastian-Bordeaux-Nante-Rennes-St Malo. Early June 2011

Before I start I just want to plug my pictures pages!  To the right of this web page is a list of other pages in this blog.  There are some poems (mostly sad ones) and there is also a list of all of my photographs from my trip.  The ones of Cordoba are probably my favourite.  Please have a look.

I couldn’t sleep so I packed up the Mazy and left Rute at 1030pm.  The route was a simple one.  Due north for 1064 miles!  At first all went well but this turned into the most challenging drive of the trip.  Not only was it a long drive but the weather was not sympathetic.  It hammered down for about 150 miles south of Madrid.  I was up high and everyone had to slow to 40mph. I was tired and in pain so I rested for a couple of hours before continuing.  The weather changed and the final 150 miles run into Madrid was a high speed fun run!  It is a dead straight road and high speed was requested from and delivered by the ever reliable Mazy.  Madrid came and went as did the night and I rested for another couple of hours at the Spain/France boarder.

After trying to get a bed for the night 60 miles short of the French channel coast I pressed on to St Malo.  Here I found a little gem and had my best meal of the trip.  The distance from Rute to St Malo is 1064 miles.  I had completed that journey in 22 hours including rest periods.  I was tired and hungry and I felt that my wonderful adventure had come to an end.  By this time all I wanted was a cheap Ibis or Travel Lodge type hotel.  As I approach St Malo I went for the first hotel advertised.  La Grassinais Hotel and Restaurant (Tel: 02 99 81 33 00). After a quick shower I sat down to eat in the Restaurant part of my hotel at 845pm.  This was a simple, classy dining room that offered 4 starters 4 fish and 4 meat dishes.  With the exception of a pastry and cheese board that was it.  I knew I was going to get a good meal here so I gritted my teeth for a significant bill.

I ordered a brochette of langoustines to start followed by filet of beef.  A complementary melon soup came to me first and it was to die for.  I also ordered a Grand Cru claret (£40).  The reduction on the beef was plum like and worked magnificently with the wine and I savoured the whole meal.  The wine lasted long enough to be enjoyed with the cheese.  The service was first rate and I went to bed at 11pm.  This old French farm house is bizarrely set in a modern industrial site on the outskirts of St Malo (about 10 minutes from the ferry port).  My meal cost me £105 and all up my last night was 175euros and it was a fitting end to 2 months on the continent.

Refreshed and with a slight headache I packed up the Mazy for the final time and went down to the ferry terminal to change my ticket.  I was 3 days early and wanted to get home – the magic and impression of freedom had now disappeared.  Brittany Ferries swapped my ticket at no expense so I took the 1030am crossing and that was that.

So there ends the road movie.  So what?  What have I achieved and was it worth it?  I was a little messed up when I left.  I also really wanted to do something meaningful whilst I still could.  I also wanted to improve my understanding of my continent and its other countries.  I think I have succeeded spectacularly.  Note the following:

Major Mountain Ranges Crossed:                            Alps x2, Pyrenees x2, Sierra Nevada

Self Governing Territories Visited:                            Spain, Andorra, Gibraltar, Monaco, Italy, France

Miles Covered:                                                                 5926 (door to door)

Cost of Fuel:                                                                       £1250

Road Tolls:                                                                          £350

Total Spend:                                                                       £5000

My problem in conceiving this trip was to do something worthy of retirement and achievable with some effort.  The most important requirement however was for my trip to be epic and worthy of remembering.

I have dined with interesting people.  I have also formed fun and interesting relationships with normal French, Spanish and, to a lesser extent, Italian people.  I have begun to believe that it is possible for me to learn a foreign language.  I have proved to myself that I can still do big things when I want to.

I have taken many pictures when I was touring and I have included most of these in the pages of this blog.  I am going away again this summer to France with a friend on the motorcycles.  This will be very much a 3-4 day affair but I will “blog it”.  Later in the year I also hope to return to Rute – once I learn a little more Spanish!!!

But for now it’s the rebuild of my house.  I will keep you informed of that project as well.  I don’t think it will be as interesting a story as the trip I have just completed however.