Flying south…

We are planning a short visit down under to visit friends and family in NZ in October and to show Jamie around some of the sites (he wants to do the Sky-Jump and Zorbing). So we will try and set a date when we are in Auckland to meet up and get together with anyone who is free.

Where has the sunshine gone…?

I know we shouldn’t expect too much of the British Summer but our hopes were initially lifted by a good spring and the promise by the forecaster’s of a BBQ Summer. Now that June and July have been predominately wet and gloomy the forecaster’s have revised there predictions for the worst.

On the plus side the wet weather has meant that we have not had to water the allotment, though we have not had much time outside and we are getting fed up with the wet and cold. We do have the occasional day of sunshine and heat, but it is unpredictable and short lived as another shower passes through to dampen our enthusiasm. Oh well, I guess it will soon be Christmas!

More banjos than is healthy…

We went to another festival recently, though on a much smaller scale and restricted musical theme as a local village held its 9^th Surrey Mini Bluegrass Festival in the village hall. We have been to folk festivals, jazz festivals and now a bluegrass festival, and it seems there are similar types of people at each, just wearing different ‘uniforms’. It was a small, intimate and friendly atmosphere and we did hear some very talented musicians, and I even enjoyed one so much I bought their album.

Wood, Wire and Words are a family trio of husband and wife and wife’s dad who played a more accessible style of bluegrass that was centred on the lyrics of the young lead singer.

Mad for Womad…

Our now regular trip to the Womad festival was not hampered greatly by the British summer weather and we managed to dress accordingly and shelter when necessary as the rains came and went. The site was prey good again though the organisers suffered problems with the toilets, and we mourned the lack of the Pieminister food stall and the small Little Italy Tent.

Again we saw and amazing selection of artists that most of us knew nothing of. There seemed to be a jazz influence to this year’s line-up culminating in the foremost Acid Jazz performer – Roy Ayers.

Some of the acts we saw included:
Caravan Palace downloaded their album)
Rachel Unthank and The Winterset (on my wish list)
Sarah Savoy & The Francadians (would love to get something of theirs)
17 Hippies (on my wish list)
Victor Deme (on my wish list)
Hindi Zahra
Hypnotic Brass Ensemble
Mec Yek
Solomon Burke
Roy Ayers
Youssou N’Dour
Spiro
Nneke
Ethiopiques
Los Desterrados

Long days (and nights) of prolonged drinking and festival atmosphere did produce some amusing incidents, like putting an order in for tea & toast in the middle of the night under the name of ‘fudgy-foo-foo’ and having another late night cuppa in a chi tent as kids inhaled ‘laughing-gas’ from balloons and a single mum smoked a joint as her baby slept in a pram nearby.

It was such an education for us innocents abroad in everyway.