To Ell and back

I've started this blog at least four times and keep re-editing from "We're in the middle of our annual trip" to "We're home!" and various stages in between.  

Back on the road

After all the drama of hospital visits over Easter,  we actually made it to the ferry on time.   Tom only got out of hospital on the Thursday and I came home from town on Friday morning to find him out mowing the lawn!   The man has no wit.
 

Ell, in Luxembourg, home place of Jean Claude Juncker

Thank you for all your good wishes - it took half the tour for him to get back to normal and for my stress levels to reduce!  And it took nearly 10 days to feel rested.  My MIL was also in hospital at the same time, and that plus not getting an Easter visit in with my own mum, left me rattled with blood pressure soaring.  It was two not very happy bunnies getting on to the ferry.

Our AirBnb stop in Rouen old city.

However we had a fortnight travelling around the Benelux countries and Germany.  We did 4000kms in 2 weeks and though we're home tired, the memory of lovely gigs and seeing old friends totally overtakes the motorway hours..

We took the ferry to Cherbourg in France, and from there started with a house concert in Luxembourg then north to Rheinberg where we did concerts in Mehr and Hamminkeln, then further north to Oldenburg to stop off with friends and next up to the North West Coast to head out to Hallig Hooge (or Hooge Burg as some wag suggested - do all the burgs in one trip!). 

I find the huge windmill farms in the north of Germany strangely beautiful, although it's hopeless trying to get a decent photo from a moving car

I've written before about Hooge, a very interesting not quite island in the middle of the North Sea.   The main attraction at this time of the year is the arrival of 10s of 1000s of Canada Geese and people travel from all over the country to birdwatch.   For me, I must be honest and say that I don't like cold windy places - once is enough, even the west coast of Ireland is a challenge for me - give me sun any day   But I do love the people on Hooge - islanders are exceptional.  Did I ever tell the story of my song Island Love?   I must do that.

Low tide with one of the Hallig islands clearly visible in the distance

Our last gig was in Zevenaar in Holland and some lovely photos were posted up on Facebook yesterday which I've shared on our Facebook page if you care to have a nosey.

I have been keeping an eye on your blogs even though I've not been posting comments.  There's a feeling when you're on tour, that you're 'on' from the minute you leave home until you get back again.   If you're not driving, and the drives are torturous in Germany, you're either with people or getting ready for the gig - finding an hour alone is very difficult, even on days off.

So as well as getting down to the next thing on the desk, I'm looking forward to getting back to some regular writing and reading and commenting.

February in Photos

February has been a very busy month and I didn't even realise it until going back through photos to join in with Kate for the February Photo Scavenger Hunt.

The words this month are all to do with the senses so I'm going to try to connect them somehow to where we were through the month, not in the order Kate listed them.

Taste

We started the month at Annaghmakerrig, the artist's retreat in Co. Monaghan and despite both of us having a stinking cold we managed to make progress with several new songs and I had a fantastic break through with some problems I'd been working through.  
One of the highlights of staying there for me is joining together with the other people for dinner - it's the only rule of the house.   This particular night there were 14 for Sunday dinner - a poet, a film music composer, a sculptor, someone working with prints, a writer of memoirs, a playwright, an actress working on a new production, two novelists, a painter and ourselves .... I can't remember all the others, but it was such a fabulous melting pot of ideas to share and be inspired by.   The food is fabulous always, but it is the company that makes the difference. 

Sound

We have been doing lots of shows this month, so sound has been the predominant sense.    In the middle of the month we had a concert near home in Burren in an old converted primary school which is now a heritage centre .... Foolishly, or maybe not, we chose a Thursday, not paying attention to the fact that it was 14th February!!   And when it was pointed out that it was Valentine's Day, we thought, sure, no-one of our age worries about that nowadays!  Hah!  Wrong - I get more calls of apology saying I have to baby sit the grandchildren so my son and his wife can go out to celebrate!  Pfff..... In spite of that we had a lovely night and sang lots of love songs in our set.   The acoustics are simply beautiful in the room and while we weren't packed to capacity we had a splendid audience who were willing to sing along with all our choruses.

Ready for the gig in Burren

Full house concert in Denmark

My own choice

We have been in Denmark for the past week, doing a run of house concerts.   I've been finding the long days very tiring, but exhilarating at the same time.  People come for a meal interspersed with music so we're dong lots of chatting, socialising, discovering people, trying to find solutions for the world problems and Brexit!, partying, eating as well as playing a concert and joining in with the house band.  The level of understanding of English is almost totally fluent here so we don't have to rearrange things quite so much in order for people to follow our stories and what the songs are about.   The Danes are a lovely gentle people, quick to laugh at a joke and so welcoming into their homes and our friends Kanne and Jørn that we're staying with have spoilt us rotten.

Feel/Touch

The folks here are part of a family that own a horse riding school for training riders and coaches - so 4 horses and a coach etc.   We got a ride around for 20 minutes in the back of one while they were putting the horses through their paces - of course I didn't get a proper photo, but I will try to before we go home.   Later I got to ride a horse, for only the second time in my life.   Beautiful animals although terrifying when they made it run - not funny!   But I'm going back out for another ride today.   

it's a lovely feeling moving with an animal.   The house and farm and that of the neighbours and friends has dogs, cats and chickens running around as well a the horses so it's a very touchy feely place to be.

Sight

I just had to include this photo for sight - when we were walking through the stables to get to my horse, this one kept poking its head out under the bars to get a sniff - it was having a laugh at us, of that I"m certain - it was the mad eye that started me laughing. 

Smell/scent 

As I write this there are wonderful smells coming from the kitchen downstairs as our hosts get ready for this weekend's house concerts - they will provide food for 48 on Friday night including ourselves and 45 on Saturday - there are cakes coming in and out of the oven and everything smells yummy.  

Yesterday we drove north to a different house for another house concert and we travelled up by the coast.  

Denmark has miles and miles of beautiful white sandy beaches - in fact you can ride a horse from the border of Germany right up to the northern tip of Jutland (the western of the Danish islands).  Apart from the thousands of bunkers that have been left over after the war, it is an unspoiled clean white sandy beach.   Even though we're only away for a few days I just love getting back to the smell and sound of the ocean, or in this case the North Sea. 

  

So that's it from me for another while - I'm going for a bit of armchair travelling now to have a look around everyone else's photos.   Thanks as always to Kate for coming up with the words to get the grey matter going and to give a bit of an account of our month.   

A brief stop in the Lake District

For years we've driven past the Lake District on the M6; we even once did a folk club gig in Cockermouth and spent the next day visiting Wordsworth's  cottage.   But never had we managed to see the mountains as it was always, always, misty or raining.

But this trip, the weather was just perfect and we had a long weekend with my lovely cousins who have recently moved into the north lakes district.

Now I can see why everyone raves about the beauty of the area ... wow.

I do hope we'll be back again sometime.  

A view from the road

We love the stories we hear on the road .... You know, like overhearing parts of a conversation in a coffee shop ....
Without a doubt the best one on this trip was in a charity shop in Lymm where Tom overheard a woman with a little dog talking to a couple who had just walked in.

What a lovely little dog! said the woman with the husband.   Do you have a dog? asked the other lady.   Oh no, I wouldn't have one .... Would you not like one? asked the lady politely.    Oh I would, I'd love one was the reply ...  I shouldn't say this, but whenever HE goes (pointing at her husband), I'd maybe get one then. I wouldn't get another man!!!!!!

At which point Tom hid behind a rail of clothes to stop himself bursting out laughing loudly... The woman was dead serious and the poor husband just trailed off behind her and out of the shop.

I'm really missing being out playing - without it I never get much practice done and find it really hard to sit at the computer trying to organise tours .... so this is a sweet memory for me - sit back with a wee cuppa and have a look at the journey we had....

First part of the trip

At the session in Dundee after doing a spot in Inchture

This started to shape up into a tour of the Mountains of the British Isles as we drove up through the Grampians (Tom's idea of a shortcut!!) - the Autumn colours were just fabulous - which unfortunately you'll have to imagine as I was driving and Tom wouldn't take any pics as I was giving out so much about following the stupid Sat Nav up into the wilds of the mountain passes ....but the drive was worth it.  We did a songwriting workshop and Tom did a bodhran workshop as well as our concert on the Saturday night in Portsoy way up north of Aberdeen - beautiful part of the world on a cold Autumn's day.

The beach at Portsoy

Back down across the river at Dundee - the bridge is spectacular -1 1/4 miles long as my friend Hugh pointed out when I made it too short on Facebook.   I was trying to get a photo of the oil rigs the previous night,but photos taken out the window of the car aren't much use - I've so many pictures of blurry lampposts you wouldn't believe it!
 

Crossing the 1 1/4 mile long bridge over the Tay at Dundee

After an unexpected extra gig at Glenfarg folk club we headed west to Quarter, just south of Glasgow, and stayed with our friends Dave and Isobel.   Dave is a brilliant guitarist and very funny performer.   They live up in Wanlockhead, the highest village in Scotland, in the Lowther Hills - very pretty, in spite of the mist.

Mist in the Lowther Hills

From the top of the hill in Wanlockhead

On over to Irvine on the West Coast of Ayr and then a long drive down to Lymm in Cheshire - another great folk club night there and we had a splendid wander around the next day and heard the story above, before heading up north again into Yorkshire and to the Bacca Pipes in Keighley, one of the best singer's clubs in the world - everyone sings, and they do magnificent harmonies on songs that they've only heard the first verse and chorus of - brilliant.   I want to ship them all over to us for the next recording we do.

the second leg

A barge on the river at Lymm in Cheshire

Driving through the Yorkshire hills

Everywhere, the fields look incredibly green - there's no filter on this pic above ... no wonder it's my favourite colour.

So, after Keighley, we had a few days off and spent it with my cousins in the Lake District.   That deserves a post of its own, mainly because I'm fed up trying to get photos to go the way I want them to here, but also because it just does deserve a bit of special attention.

Needs no more comment ;)

The last leg took us back to Redcar on the East coast of England, then down to Birmingham where we spent a silly amount of time in the car on the motorway (how do people do that sort of commuting every day!)   And ended up after a quick visit to friends in Leicester with our last gig in Bollington back in Cheshire.  With one exception we had gorgeous weather the whole trip with beautiful vistas around every corner.   These truly are the most magnificent islands.  

The trip home from Holyhead to Dublin was very churny and a lot of people were sick - take a look at this video that Tom took from the front of the boat ... We've spent a lot of time on ferries, even singing on them at one point, so we're able to cope with heavy seas (the trick is to keep your eye on the horizon and at the same time let your tummy go floppy), but I felt really sorry for all the children on board.  And to make matters worse there was a medical emergency so the boat turned back to meet the helicopter which had to airlift the patient to hospital - I hope they were ok - but that added another hour onto an already slow journey.   Still, we got home in one piece, really exhausted, but very happy with the trip.  

On tour

We've been on the road in the UK for over two weeks now and it's been a brilliant trip.   The concerts have gone very well, we've seen lots of old friends and made many new ones, we've travelled from the north of Scotland down into the Midlands of England and points in between and while I'm sad it's over I am most definitely in need of a break and ready to be at home now.

These photos were taken on the very last night in Bollington Folk Club - many thanks to John Appleyard for sending them on to me.

The clubs have been a joy with fabulous singers all along the way who have not only sang with our songs but have provided great entertainment before and during our sets everywhere we went.  And thankfully our new songs went down very well wherever we went.

There have been lots of laughs and many sad moments too as people sang songs about the great war, and many towns we passed through were bedecked with mementoes to the thousands and thousands who lost their lives in it.  And saddest of all, in of the clubs we visited, the Cutty Wren in Redcar, the organiser was very ill in hospital and sadly died the next day.  John Taylor was a lovely man whom we only met once but who made us feel very welcome.   He will be very much missed.

But then the hilarious goings on of singers in the next club redressed the balance.

We stayed with many old friends and some new ones, and of course sat long into the night solving the problems of the world and finding out about each other's views on the B word.  I'm totally talked out about Brexit now.

In spite of my great intentions setting off on a tour, I'm pretty terrible at taking photos on the road, but I'll be back later in the week with a few sights and views.

The path back to Autumn

A slow path back to the world

I'm not quite ready to give up on summer yet... it's been so delightful having long periods of sun and when the rain started at home we managed to follow the sun again back to France.   Now, we've a couple of unscheduled days off in Germany before our concerts this weekend and the sun is  still shining.   So I'm sitting outside on the veranda sipping a glass of wine and doing a bit of catching up.  Our dates are here.

Alone with the cat and my thoughts

This is my birthday month and my favourite time of the year.   Here in the North East of Berlin we're staying with friends at a house that was only just built the first time we visited 25 years ago and is now beautifully and randomly matured - forests nearby, not a sound of traffic anywhere within earshot, and food and drink still the common languages.   The talk with our friends down in Munich on Tuesday was all of Brexit - I don't think I could ever give up this sort of easy travel ... hopefully it all turns out well enough to not cause too much hassle, or perhaps it will be time to up sticks and move.  

Having a chat with the neighbours

It's been an enjoyable if unconscious break from online pursuits this summer and I've found it hard to get back to the day to day focus of the visibility needed to enable classes and tours.  But it'll not take long to get back into the swing of things.   All around us friends are starting to enjoy retirement or the prospect of it and it can be quite unsettling.  I'm starting to feel the need to slow down myself but have a good few years yet to go until I reach the age for a state pension.  I feel tired from being constantly ill over the past number of years, but my head is still full of energy.   So my intention for this coming big birthday, and for the coming winter is to focus on increasing my energy, getting a bit fitter and keeping myself as healthy as possible to be able to keep on touring and getting to see beautiful parts of the world like this.  To be able to enjoy long, late into the night discussions with good friends, to enjoy seeing the new generations as they grow and to enjoy my singing groups at home as they develop and mature.  

Boats v Planes, Cars v Trucks

Travelling by boat is by far my preferred mode of transport.

A more sedate way to travel - traditional boats on the Loire River

This week we're back on the road again - to Germany this time - and as it's a short trip we decided to fly and borrow a PA - Tom already has a set of congas in Munich (and in Canada and in Australia!).

I'd forgotten how busy (for that, read stressful) going by plane is - a silly early start, then hours of walking and queueing and checks and more checks.  More time queueing to pick up our rental car and then straight out into motorway traffic in a left hand drive car.  For the record, being a passenger on the right hand side freaks me out far more than driving on the left side .... good grief!  As an aside I'm recovering from a summer cold which is determined to lodge in my chest - the antibiotic I'm taking is making me break out in a sweat; it's 26 degrees C and that's also making me perspire; but by far the top cause of glowing profusely is the huge truck pulling out right in front of me with what seems like inches to spare.  So I'm burying my head in the computer writing this blog.  (Note to self, don't look up suddenly when you see a truck looming and scream with fright and terrify the driver)

Boarding in Harwich at sunset

On the other side of things, going by ferry is much calmer, and driving your own car is much more familiar.  When you load up at home, providing you've forgotten nothing, that's you until you get to your destination.  No tramping around in queues.   There's time to look around you and perhaps have  a leisurely meal on board the ferry if it's a short crossing and time for a lot more relaxation if it's a long one.  You can take time while waiting to board to knit or read or grab a quick nap or catch up on emails.  By the time we reached Munich yesterday I reckoned we could have been waiting to board our second crossing if we decided to do a land bridge (Ireland-Scotland/England-Holland).   We're now driving up to Berlin for our first gig, loaded to the gills,  so that would be no different than going from Rotterdam to Berlin, time wise,  if we'd come by ferry.

On the Carlingford Ferry

So from here on I'm choosing the more sedate way to travel - unless we're heading to the other side of the world.

How about you?  What way do you prefer to move between countries?   Are you lucky enough to live on a large landmass and have the possibility to go by train or car?  Do you find it hard to drive on 'the other side of the road'?  I'd love to hear.

A Day on the Road

With friends from Denmark and Germany waiting for the 0630 ferry from Hallig Hooge.
The truck in the back has everyone's luggage and all our equipment in it.
The smiles belie the fact that no coffee had yet been consumed!

When asked about being 25 years playing music with the Rolling Stones, the drummer Charlie Watt replied that they'd only be playing music for 3 years and the other 22 were spent hanging around.

I concur - although at a much reduced level than the Stones.

Touring is wonderful - we get to see great places and having a string of concerts together gets you well honed and into good shape.   And the concerts are always wonderful - people are kind and generous.  

But the down side is the time in the car on the motorway.   We are constantly looking for new ways to travel over to the Continent that involves getting the most sleep - let's say that this one didn't fit that bill very well.  We were away for 12 days and with the exception of 3 of them we were up and well away long before 9 and on several days we were actually travelling by 6.30 A.M.!!!! (in the vain hope of avoiding traffic jams).  Then sleeping afternoons (if there was time) and getting ready to play in the evening.  And all the time the weather was showing off at its best 30-33 degrees C.  We travelled 2,300 miles through 7 countries, did 7 concerts and sold lots of CDs.

After a week of it I was totally shattered.  But thankfully we were staying with friends most of the time and towards the end of the trip we had 3 nights in one place and our friend Rita fed and watered us and let us lay about the place for a day which helped enormously.  

And here I am, home again and planning to do it all over again!   Are we mad or what?

So today we're taking part in #FairPlé - a day of musical activism for Gender Equality in Folk and Traditional Music in Ireland.   I'm hosting a session at 2pm (the sun's still shining - will anyone want to be inside in a pub?)  and afterwards we're going for dinner to celebrate Tom's birthday.
Please, sun, wait around for another couple of days.  Pretty please??

Have guitar. Will travel.

And we’re off.  Out over the Irish Sea.

So excited to be heading out on the road again.  

Playing at a couple of new-to-us folk clubs near London first.

Loughton in Essex on Thursday 26th

Barnet, north London on Friday 27th 

(Details here)

Then driving north over the weekend- stopping for a night in Northumberland -(and I’m hoping to fit in a visit to Barter Books en route - thanks Kezzie for that tip).

Then two more clubs in Scotland

Stirling on Monday 30th

Glasgow on Tuesday 1st May. (Gosh May already)

(Details)

We’re looking forward to hearing some great floor spots - the songs are always very different from region to region and it's one of things we both enjoy most about playing folk clubs.  (If you're not familiar with folk clubs, a lot of clubs devote  the first part of the evening to members who perform a couple of songs each - there can be as many as 3 performers before each set, and as few as one support act - that's known as a floor spot.  In fact I think Barnet Folk Club has half the night as a singaround/session and the second half will be us)

If you know someone living near any of these clubs who may be interested please pass on the info.  

November 2017 Scavenger Photo Hunt

It's the end of another month - the year is passing fast - and it's been so good to be back out on tour again.   I'd forgotten what hard work travelling and performing each night is, but I'd also forgotten the sheer delight of being back on stage.  So all my photos for this month's Scavenger Hunt come from this trip through England and the Scottish Borders.  

Thanks as always go to Kate at I live I love I craft I am me for hosting this delightful bloghop each month.   As well as the fun of finding photos to match the words it's also a chance to get a glimpse into friends' lives in other parts of the world.  

So here's mine.  

1. Blue

The mining museum at Woodhorn near Ashington in Northumberland.   The sky was so blue - perfect early Winter weather, freezing cold but thankfully dry.  I loved the architecture of the wheels against the sky and the museum, which has an interactive mining experience as well as an exhibition of the Washington Pit Painters, really brought alive the tough tough life of the miners and their families, from the earliest days right up to the Miners Strikes in the 80s.  Very interesting and sobering afternoon. 

2. Me

Well wrapped up and freezing cold at the Christmas Market in Chester.

3. Starts with a ...... W 

The Pit Wheel at Woodhorn

4. Rainbow

Driving through the Lake District last week this beautiful rainbow popped up - right on cue.

5. Arch

The ruins of Jedburgh Castle in the Scottish Borders - how about that for arches..

6. Toy

Every folk club holds a raffle to help with their funds and for nearly 30 years Tom has been buying raffle tickets - at every club we play at.   When he won his first bottle of wine years ago we reckoned it probably cost him about £200!!  

The raffles are always fun - whoever wins the box of chocolates or sweets has to share them around, usually under the nose of the singer , humph

This was the result of his winnings one of the nights this trip - a Kinder egg!  which produced this crocodile when opened and put together - "Don't forget his fish!" was the retort behind the drivers wheel! 

7. Swirl

Isn't this lovely?  We went to a folk club concert early this week and the singer was playing this guitar...  I thought it fitted perfectly.   Some of you may have seen him - Stanley Accrington.   It's the funniest evening I've spent in years.   A real belly laugh.    Stanley's a hoot - a clown, a jester and a very clever wordsmith.  A comedic commentator on life and all its anomalies and quirks, skilfully dropping in some very poignant thought provoking songs that kicked our emotions back into touch, and then rescuing them again with some hysterically funny observations.  

8. Brush

I love these everything shops - whether you need a brush or a beach ball, an egret or a lampshade, this is the place to find it.  You might even find a pair of leggings !   A heater would have been top of the list this week - this pic was in Jedburgh.

9. Nail

Back at Woodbury - these are Dog Nails (spikes) - large headed thick, mild steel nails for fastening rails to wooden sleepers.  

I have to confess this prompt had me stumped and after searching for weeks looking for a really impressive and imaginative photo for nail, this one arrived just in time.

the exhibition followed a young lad of 13 becoming a man and going down the mine for the first time, the experience of going underground, the ribald humour of the men, the desire to get the top job of the hewar - a man who basically stayed crouched down in a space smaller than one metre high for his entire working day and working life.   What a life!   When it came to reading about the strikes in the 80s which I remember very well, I felt so sorry for these people who's lives were totally controlled by the establishment and the strength with which they fought back.  

But, in spite of the lack of jobs, I'm sure there's very few would wish to be back underground.  

10. My own choice

A guy was making huge bubbles at the Christmas Market in Chester last weekend - I managed to catch this one before the children burst it.  What is it about bubbles that makes everyone smile - such a simple delight.  

So that was my month.   I'm writing this on the ferry heading homewards, head full of ideas and plans, and looking forward to this month at home, getting Singmarra ready for the village pageant and taking part in the various events that lead up to mid Winter.

Head over to Kate's blog to check out the other Scavengers and we'll reconvene in January sometime.