Muddy Fields, Cake & Beards...

Well, I'm finally off dial-up..my teenager was left at home with her friend for one day in the holidays and managed to break the wifi & bugger up the phones..then spent the rest of her time off whinging because she couldn't 'chat' online to the boy she likes..still, all good now :)


Where to start..ah, Glastonbury..I was up at the crack on that Sunday morning..both pc's set up & ready for battle! By 9.20am I'd not only got my group's tickets, but various friends aswell. I spent the morning 'bathed in gold' & one lot drove 60 miles to bring me festival strength Brother's Pear Cider! After a few hours of drunkenly jumping around chanting 'Piiiiiiillllllllllttttttooooooon' in deep manly voices, we caught the news saying how it hadn't sold out..nobody cared by then though..we were going..now I just have to learn how to drive our old Dodge camper..





..and polish my wellies..

The festival season kicks off in less than 4 weeks for us..we've got a stall & a huge tea tent at the Bearded Theory Festival in the middle of May. We're also hosting the open mic sessions in the tent..and Rev Hammer will be doing a spot! The planning is knackering us out..making list after list, and knowing we don't have the funds for at least another week to get fully equipped..apart from all the obvious equipment we will be taking..and offering..

Freshly ground Fair Trade Coffee of every genre..Juices & Smoothies..

Hot Chocolate Heaven..made with liquid chocolate - dark or white - & covered in cream & sprinkles of your choice (fudge chips are my favourite)..

FT Tea, Red Label, Herbal, Fruit & Chai..Vanilla, Spiced & Peppermint..


You can't beat Peppermint Chai with a tot of Brandy in for cockle-warming..


Then there's the cakes..


Choc Fudge, White Choc & Cranberry, Dorset Apple Cake, Lemon & Blueberry, Cappuccino, Lux Carrot & Walnut, Lux Coffee & Walnut, Peach Melba, Banana & Choc..

Muffins, Giant Cookies, Crumble Cake, Caramel Shortbread & Cupcakes..

..all served in/on 100% biodegradable cups & plates..organic milk, GM Free, free-range eggs etc etc..

Then there's the stall, but that's pretty easy..I'll just take the contents of the shop..& the landlord will no doubt sweat for a few days thinking we may have done a runner..

..and then there's the beards..the festy organisers asked if we could sell some..as it's compulsory to wear a beard at the event..I've just managed to source some..I just hope they sell! :)






My writing is all over the place at the moment..I put Aisling Dreams away a couple of weeks ago with the intention of getting it out for one more re-write before I blanket sub it..I've drafted out the mirror book, What Reality? and started writing it properly..I've written it in the first person to challenge myself, but I think that will change..

I've got an urge buzzing around my head that just won't go away..to write about my Nan..she had my Dad illegitimately in 1921 & kept him..she was only 17! Disowned by most of her well-to-do family she moved to the midlands where the father lived, but he wasn't interested..she was put together with a one-armed man 20 years older than her..he tried to chop one of her arms off with an axe, but just cut her badly..he then went to prison & she married him when he came out! Then had my Dad share her bed until he was 12 so she didn't have to sleep with him..and on it goes

I won the Flash Poetry challenge on WW this week and am still in shock! I think my poetry is crap..it always rhymes and it's simple to read..it was 'Wasp' ( see a few blogs down )..x

List

Inspired by IreneintheWorld..

1971 - Born in a shitty little town in the Midlands.
1975 - Grab Mummy's hand in Woolworths and she leads me out. Except it wasn't my Mummy! Rescued at the door.
1976 - Stung by a bee very close to my eye.
1977 - Father bankrupt. Move from posh house to council house. First continental quilt.
1981 - Maternal brother no.1 has a hit record and I am everyone's new best friend.
1982 - Move to Somerset with my retiring parents. Top sets at school.
1984 - Maternal brother no.2 announces that he's gay.
1985 - Paternal brother appears after years with a sob story and is taken in. Or at least my parents were. And me. Paternal brother (then 29yrs old) tricks me to the flat he's looking after and rapes me. Told mother. Secret kept.
1986 - Dropped from top sets at school. Mostly concentrating on solvent and alcohol abuse. Got the lead in the school play. Got a modern languages award.
1987 - Left school. 4 O Levels. 4 CSE's. Left home to live with 2 gay blokes. Decided to be gay too. Got YTS. Dropped solvents and replaced with marijuana, speed and acid. Festival bug begins.
1989 - Sold kitchens door to door before getting 'proper work' in a taxi office.
1990 - Got promoted to controller in aforementioned taxi office. Met and got together with daughter no.1's Dad. Found cocaine and magic mushrooms.
1991 - Bought a Commer Highwayman and travelled all over the UK and Europe.
1992 - Got domestically savaged. Got clean. Got pregnant. Got married.
1993 - Got fat. Got a broken doorframe over the back. Gave birth. Got 52 frigging stitches from doing so. Got a beautiful healthy baby. Got peace.
1995 - Got divorced. Got alcohol and drug-fuelled again, though mostly at weekends when daughter no.1 was at Dads or Nans. Travelled. Started an Art degree course. Dropped out due to feeling boxed in. Got a management job.
1996 - Got with an alcoholic type. Travelled.
1997 - Found my Mum's family ( another story ). Started a business with the Princes Trust help - searching out lost relatives. Bought a bass guitar and learned to play it.
1998 - Expanded to genealogy. Tried to remove alky type...and failed. Went to Argentina. Saw the Iguazu waterfalls with great friend. Maternal brother no.1 marries the daughter of someone very famous.
1999 - Married alky type on the stage at Reading Festival. Said I'd give it a year. So did my friends. Got sterilized. Joined a band.
2000 - Great friend's baby is still-born. Much sorrow. Got rid of alky type on 1st anniversary. Got divorced. Had a blow out. Went to Dahab in Egypt with above-mentioned great friend to help her mend. Very, very special friend dies of cancer.
2001 - Got together with an old friend. Cleaned right up. Not even a glass of wine in the evening. Just the odd smoke. Got nightmares. Got married at Gretna Green on my birthday. Honeymooned in an old transit on the banks of Loch Ness. Got to face up. Spoke to police. They got paternal brother. He got 6 1/2 years. I got closure. Old friend/new husband fell off ladders and smashed his foot.
2002 - Move to the forest. Paternal brother got cancer and died. Had sterilization reversed. Pregnant 7 weeks later. Happy.
2003 - Daughter no.2 born. Very happy days.
2004 - Daughter no.1 passes entry tests to Grammar School. Very proud days. Get pregnant.
Open a baby shop.
2005 - My Dad is diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Son born. Scary caesarean. All ok in the end. Named after my Dad. More happy days. Gorgeous husband builds business back up though not really recovered.
2006 - Move shop premises. Change stock. Become Fair Trade bonkers. Daughter no.1 decides grass is greener at her Dads and goes back to Somerset. Sad days. Got Highly commended for customer service and window display.
2007 - Open coffee bar in shop. Son diagnosed with Coeliac after 6 months of illness and dropping to 15lbs. Daughter no.1 returns and gets accepted into her old school. Daughter no.2 starts school and adores it. Gorgeous husband looks after the brood while I trample mud at various festivals. Got an NVQ Level 3 in Retail Management. Move shop to a busier town.
2008 - Wrote a children's 30,000 word novel in 6 weeks. Joined Writewords. Wrote some other stuff. Drew illustrations for an eco-kid rhyme I wrote. Submitted it and some other work. Getting ready to work and play the festivals...

There's loads more..like I can enjoy a glass of wine without feeling the need to down the bottle..pretty clean living these days..and despite it reading a bit gloomy, my smile lines are deep and my sunny disposition rules :) x