Signings and Signposts

'Right then' I said to Mr SatNav man. 'I have to get to Brixworth Country Park from here. And no you can't take me via Silverstone, which we both know would be the easiest way to go, because it's the Grand Prix weekend and the roads are closed off. So take me there and don't get me lost'

Well. He did his best, poor Mr SatNav man, but sometimes I forgot to listen and sometimes I didn't quite understand what he meant by things.. He was very patient though and just kept changing the route till we got there. Mind you, he did take me through Northampton, which was a bit scary and my phone began to ring when I was in the middle of a triple carriageway bit. 'I can't answer' I yelled 'and just be quiet 'cos I can't hear what Mr SatNav man is telling me to do' Twice it rang and then there was a message beep, by which time I had 'reached my destination' as Mr SNM kept telling me. 'I know I'm here' I muttered, 'I can read can't I?'

(The phone calls, I discovered later, were from Alistair and Jon, because Alistair had forgotten where we were meeting, so had been frantically trying to contact me...)

And there was Alistair grinning at me. He and Tim had driven across from Norwich and Cromer to meet me so that we could sign the inlays together. And waiting for the inlays to arrive had been another heart-stopping tale, they had been supposed to arrive on Friday, having been sent on Thursday, but they somehow hadn't got picked up, so the couriers had had to send them to arrive on the Saturday. Which they duly did. At 8am but I only got them because I had seen the ParcelForce van drive by and rushed into the lane to find him trying to deliver the parcel to my neighbours house behind their electric gates. He'd have taken them away if I hadn't stopped him.

Anyway all was well, Tim, Alistair and I took over a table in the cafe and signed all our signatures and generally nattered. Over the course of the 2 hours, my signature got more and more idiotic, Tim's got more obscure and Alistair's stayed the same. and there was one that I signed upside down and didn't notice until I'd signed it a second time, so Tim and Alistair signed it twice as well. That will surprise someone I expect.

So signing over, back in the cars...goodbye, goodbye, see you soon and we went our separate ways home.

I got lost. I'd managed to tangle Mr SNM and he was trying to take me through Silverstone and getting really cross when I wouldn't turn round. I kept saying 'don't be silly I can't go that way', but did he listen? no he didn't. Well he is a machine. I found my way home, through some very pretty villages and I was a bit shattered but happy that we now had 500 inlays signed.

Tim took half of them and I sent the others off to Jon to put back in the CD boxes. All very lovely..

Did I say that it all looks wonderful and sounds even better? Well it does and I shall say it again. I think it is the best thing I've ever done.. yaaaay!!

Fetes and practisings

It's the village fete today and for an amazing change, it isn't raining. Well not yet anyway! It's a lovely thing to do, walk down the main street through the village and see and say hello to the people that I have known for years, but in some cases haven't seen for months, but Fete day, everyone comes out for a natter. It's also extraordinary how many people I don't know, who have moved into the village while I wasn't looking. 'Tis what happens when you don't have children at the village school any more, that is the place where many friendships start and continue till the children grow up and move away. Like many villages, sadly there is no way that the children can afford to buy houses in the village where they were born, thus some continuity is broken..

However, there will be cakes and teas and raffles and tombolas and bric-a-brac and plants and guess the weight or guess the name.. and there will be music and dog shows and all the things that a church fete should have on a beautiful honeysuckle filled summers day...

What else? Ah yes I have been practising playing instruments that I haven't really played for too many years so that if I should be called upon to play them I might be able to at least make a stab at it. And relearning songs that I haven't sung for, well,40 years or so.aarrgh! This is all for the Barbican concert in July. Which seemed to be ages away but now errrr isn't that long..but it will be lovely to be playing with old friends. And what's more I will have to be staying for two nights in that there London, on account of rehearsals and idiotic train times. Hopefully the Neff will be dogsitting the Whiz

Plus getting excited about the album which looks (and sounds!) wonderful and can be pre-ordered via my myspace . if you want to. The CDs should be sent out at the end of June/beginning of July.

More building work is going on around me, I wouldn't mind but it's not me that's going to benefit! Big concrete lorries and earth moving tractors outside my windows for the last three days. and because my house is a long old stable, there isn't anywhere to get away from it..hopefully they'll just be building now and not excavating any longer.. I seem to have been surrounded by building works for the last three years.. and I still think the worst thing are the radios blaring at full volume while the builders are somewhere else.. Right, that's today's small rant over :-)

Shall I mow the lawn again? No it can wait for a day or so...

A couple of very large pigeons have built a nest in the winterflowering honeysuckle tree near the kitchen. The crash landings into the branches make me wince, but so far nothing's fallen out of the nest. Not sure there's anything in it. Perhaps it's just a holiday home for them.. There was a panicky baby bird in the kitchen a couple of mornings ago, it must have flown in the evening before. Naturally it was squeaking and attempting to throw itself out of the window, so I had to balance on a stool and grab it (it's a deep windowsill, behind the sink)I caught it by its little feet and then carefully calmed it a bit and put it on the table outside. It flew away... a trifle grumpily I thought..

The honeysuckle and philadelphus blossoms are making me sneeze and my eyes itch. I don't care, it's worth it for the glorious scents :-)

It's a bit warm today...

....so I delved into the darkest recesses of the freezer and found a choc ice left over from last year. It's a bit chewy, but it is cold and that's just fine..

So where have I been and what have I done lately? Been cooing over the babe obviously.. She usually cries when I hold her, but I am assured that it is because the holding coincides with needing a nappy change or feeding, but when she isn't crying she is very very pretty. Of course..

Huge gateposts have been built opposite my window for huge gates to be hung, at the entrance to a big house over the lane. I feel a bit as though I am surrounded by people who want to be shut away behind walls and gates, not like the openness of the village when I first moved here, but I suppose people need to feel secure. It seems a shame though. Mind you the other house at the end of the lane has electric gates which have stopped working. Oh dear. I giggled a bit at that.

The album is now manufactured and I am awaiting a pile of them to appear. Somehow, Alistair, Tim and I will have to find somewhere obscure to meet, so that we can sign the first 500..perhaps a tea shop in St Neots, or a service station in Towcester..who knows where we'll end up? McDonalds in Kettering probably..

And the Barbican concert is beginning to loom as opposed to being just a thought on the horizon, Still not sure what I will sing, but I have every faith that Ashley and the others will make a decision for me. It looks as though I shall have to spend two nights in London. Cooo, haven't done that for many a year, have to get someone organised to look after the Whizzy though (whom I am seriously considering renaming Dozy).

Right then, what rock cult legendary thing shall I do now? Mow the lawn? Yes I think so...