Dogs

Never again. I am not going to do it. They weave their way into your home and your heart. You trip over them, they steal the cake off the table and dribble in terror on your knees when it thunders. They take irrational dislikes to shiny floors and they cost an absolute fortune at the vets.

So I am going to lead a dog free life. I shall get into my car and drive off to exotic places like Norfolk and Sussex without having to make elaborate arrangements for the care of the ancient hound. I don't need to walk in the rain and snow and howling gales and blazing hot sun twice a day.

I don't need to hear the patter of claws on the tiled floor of the kitchen. I don't need to have the damp nose of a long furry muzzle thrust under my hand that's holding a cup of coffee, just because the owner of the nose wants to be stroked. I don't need to have the warmth of a dog leaning on me and making room on the couch just so that I can sit next to it and become a pillow for it's head.

I certainly don't need to have those big eyes watching as I eat the last few crumbs of a piece of toast, or indeed just watching me in case I look as though a walk might be in the offing. And I don't need to be always looking out for the paws that are just in the right place to trip me up.

Most of all I really don't think I need the silent companionship that is just there when I am sad and need comforting.

So I will stop looking at elderly greyhounds that need a home and trying to decide which of them might be my next beloved companion to join the ghosts of all my previous beloved companions.

Who do I think I am kidding? This is all lies. I expect I will last a month at the outside and then another one will be lying on the floor at my feet ready for me to fall over it...

Elderly Astral Folk Goddesses

Yup. That's me apparently. Top left. According to these extraordinary trading cards given away with Galactic Zoo Dossier last year.

So there I was on Wednesday, having a whale of a time trying to find a parking place outside the rheumatoid arthritis day clinic so that I could be infused with the bi-monthly dose of the fearsome drug that enables me to function like a (fairly) human being.

Another half an armful of blood taken to be tested to make sure I haven't fallen to bits in the last month and then sit in a chair and do all the crosswords in the paper while the infusion goes into my other hand, while trying not to spill the cup of coffee that the lovely nurses supply me with...

2 hours later and I am home again with a hole in my bruised wrist, but with joints that don't ache as much. So that's me set for another couple of months...

Now. Why have I written all this? Because as I understand it, it is being recommended that people with RA are only allowed to have one try at these fearsome anti-tnf drugs. And if they don't work then that's it. Goodbye.

It has taken 4 years of trying drug after drug to try to suppress this rotten disease that I have and three different anti-tnf drugs until I found one that actually let me be human again. So I think it is blimmin' unfair.

Right what else has this elderly cult goddess been up to this week? Cleaning out the shed. That's what. Full of stuff that needed to go to the tip. With the aid of someone else though. Half the stuff I couldn't lift or move. Feeble thing..There's lots of room in the shed now and I found a lot of things that I'd forgotten were there.

That'll do for now. I'm going to Womad with theNeff tomorrow and I shall hopefully be able to meet up with my lovely publisher Rob and have a natter..

Toodle-pip....

Articles and Interviews

I have put some articles and interviews up on my myspace site. In the photos bit...

www.myspace.com/judydyble

They are scans so I hope they will be readable..

They are from Rock'n'Reel, Shindig! and fRoots. and there is a new interview at www.madeloud.com

I expect I have said the same thing over and over again, but there you go :-)

I haven't done much this week bit of gardening, bit of dusting, bit of visiting Fairport's new offices (very cool indeed) and a bit of falling asleep a lot...

Ho hum. It was summer for a few minutes every now and again, but I can see that my socks will be coming out of hibernation if it doesn't cheer up a bit more..

I just heard that you can't order whitebait any more as a meal. You have to call it Blanchbait apparently...
That's really daft that is...

Good grief...Time flies...

I can't believe it's so long since I wrote. Mind you, I've been computerless for a few days, a victim of the Windows XP update/Zone Alarm firewall collision. All sorted now, but the computermending man has put something else as a firewall/anti virus and I'm not sure that I like it...

Not only that but I have been struggling to learn how to record myself at home. Got all the bits, got the program, but I have hit a snag and I'm getting bored with it all now. I think I need to be recording with someone else listening and saying, 'do this, try that...'. We'll see. Perhaps I'll get the hang of it all.

I went to Cornbury and saw Paul Simon sing. I forgot to take my wellies and my feet were frozen. It was also a vast distance from the car park to the arena (and back) and uphill in places. I have problems breathing and talking on flat ground, and hills are a real problem so I was distinctly lacking in oxygen by the time I got there. And it was soggy and freezing cold. What fun eh? However I met up with friends and watched (well, just heard, really) Mr Simon and then trotted home again.... I'm not very good at this festival lark, I'm afraid...

A nicer visit yesterday to Adderbury's Party in the Park.. lots of local bands playing including 'Harlequinn' and they all sounded great. And the scones with cream and jam were gorgeous...

A drum track has been added by Pat Mastelotto to a couple of the tracks on my new album and has made them sound amazing...

What else? Got to post stuff to Dan the boat boy who is currently on a canal up north. Manchester I believe.... more later..

'My Sunrise' John Gillies

Good grief! Two blogs almost at once!

This is to tell you about this fabulous love song, released by John on the 30th June.

John is the guitarist and writer for The Conspirators and this is his debut solo single

you can hear a bit of 'My Sunrise' here

and it can be found at HMV as a download

Oh and it's a really lovely song .....

P.S. It got to 25 in the HMV download charts and 5 in the HMV indie chart. Brilliant! well done JG.

Jack and I reunited in a little way

Friday afternoon and I was on a train to London. Feeling a bit nervous because I was going to meet a bit of my life that I hadn't seen for over 20 years and hadn't sung with for nearly 40. (Dear me, statements like that look so dreadful when written down...)

Jon the Manager met me at Marylebone and we walked briskly to Baker St, well , JtM walked briskly, I trotted breathlessly.. When did I forget how to cross roads in London? Nearly got run over at least once... So Baker St. stairs down, that's all right, I can do that. Find the right platform, JtM did that. Get away from the very loud station announcer... impossible. Get on train. Squish squash, I'd forgotten about the rush hour....squish even more, all the way to Hammersmith. Via Ladbroke Grove and Westbourne Park, all the stamping grounds of my youth seen out of the carriage windows.
Hammersmith at last, another hugely busy road with a million traffic controls and screaming sirens in all directions. Closed my eyes and followed JtM (not easy!)
And there was the Irish Centre with posters saying 'Tonight! Jackie McAuley'

Jack hadn't got there yet so off to have a coffee in one of those coffee places that aren't very good when you say 'a cup of white coffee with some sugar please'. Got to say what kind, big little small etc. and then wait 15 minutes while the huge machine does it's thing.

Back to the centre and there was Jack in the middle of a soundcheck. Hug hug. He's still enormously tall, introductions to Jon and then to sit for a while to listen to the soundcheck. Jack's brother Brendan, was playing with him, whistles, uilleann pipes, flutes, bodrhan. They called me up to do a soundcheck, Jack played and I sang 'Down & Out Blues'. It was amazing. Instantly transported back to my youth, then we tried a song that Jack had sent me, 'Radio Waves' . Never sung it before with him, but a harmony appeared from nowhere and it sounded lovely.

We all went off to find something to eat and returned to find Jack's mum and another brother, had arrived. I listened to a few of the very good floor spots and then slipped out to talk to Jack in the foyer and catch up with a tiny part of the years.

Then it was Jack's turn, he sang several songs then called me up to sing.
No nerves at all, Jack was brilliant and it all sounded beautiful.

We stayed to watch nearly all of Jack's set, but then we had to go so that last trains home could be caught..
Oh that was such fun!

A bit breathless (not used to hills)

Lynton & Lynmouth are miles from everywhere and surrounded by hairpin bends and hilly hills.
Very beautiful though... and the weather was wonderful for their music festival last weekend, warm with a breeze. I sang with the lovely Conspirators, on stage at about 2.30pm on Saturday.

The first one that I sang with them was a harmony with Genevieve on John Gillies beautiful song 'You Are My Sunrise' which is released as a single at the end of June -you can hear a part of it here.
Then came one of my songs, 'Rivers Flow',only the second time I have sung it live (the first time was the night before at the warm up gig that we did at the Village Inn in Exwick -lovely people there). It made me wonder why I'd written so many words? It would have been easier to remember them if I'd written fewer!. Then came 'One Sure Thing', our joint 'hit' single, and then a Conspirators song 'The Trap' for which I sang a backing vocal. After that I left the stage and the Conspirators rocked into the rest of their set.

I was privileged to meet John Hurford there. He is a massively talented artist that was around the London scene at the same time that I was, in fact he spent a lot of time in the record shop (Simon's Stable) that my soon to be husband ran at the time. We used one of his designs for the cover art for the single and I am hoping to use more of his artwork on my future albums. it was such a pleasure to meet him

The Conspirators camped overnight, being young and bendy, my travelling companion and I, being slightly older and unbendy were able to stay with two lovely people, Dave and Pat, who lived nearby. They took us out to supper at a lovely pub/restaurant and were totally wonderful hosts, and drove us the next day to Barnstaple where we caught a million trains back to Oxford. Thankyou Dave and Pat xxx
So that was a real adventure...

Now what. Oh yes I remember. Jack McAuley is coming over from Ireland to play at the Irish Centre in Hammersmith this Friday (20th). I am going to listen to him and hopefully sing a song with him. A Trader Horne mini-reunion. That'll be fun! We haven't met for over 20 years....