I’m camping in the woods in a yurt this weekend. After last weekend’s mud fest I’m missing home comforts – especially my bath!
It’s a lot better than a tent and we even have a proper, wooden Privy nearby. Just need to keep an eye out for bears!
My evening took a bit of a dramatic turn last night when I decided to go to the pub for dinner. I was about to tuck into my main course, sitting at a table outside, when I heard a strange wailing noise. It was quite noisy and I couldn’t see any sign of anyone in distress so I carried on eating. Then it came again followed by several members of the staff who came and stood outside peering up at the roof.
It turned out that a young lady who works there (with her knee in a brace as she had broken a ligament in her knee) had tried to climb onto the roof to rescue her cat! Perhaps not a great idea while incapacitated (although we love our pets and do what it takes to protect them sometimes). Consequently she’d fallen and hurt herself quite badly and was lying on the roof terrace wailing in pain.
A very unfortunate incident but luckily the fire service turned up quickly and got to work. Then it got challenging as they couldn’t get her off the roof through the building. Two fire engines and a fire truck later they were ready to go. It was seriously impressive how they managed to extend the car across in the air about 20 metres. It was quite a rescue to watch and apparently she’s OK.
Who’d be daft enough to wear white trainers to a muddy festival? I’m going to have fun cleaning these (along with most things from the weekend) What was I thinking?!
Challenging festival weekend in the mud…. but this evening the sun came out and Van Morrison played. Such a privilege and pleasure to watch and listen to him in person.
Well, it’s been a crazy time since we arrived at Wickham festival early yesterday morning. We’ve had a bit of a mud-fest and it’s caused total chaos. Although it’s been a bit challenging, it’s been great to be part of the event so far. I just wish I’d brought a pair of wellies and not (previously white) trainers. These have raised a few smiles and chuckles with the event staff.
There have been various mishaps, the worst being the main stages not being opened due to the heavy rain and electrics. This has been difficult and disappointing for the staff and some of the vendors located nearby. Then there were the loos that wouldn’t flush all day and filled up (gobsmackingly disgusting) because the waste tanker got stuck in the mud. Eventually they flushed at around 5 in the afternoon.
Here’s a couple of photos: the motorhome that got stuck and had to be towed out by a tractor as well as a digger (far left). Today when the sun came out – a great shot across the venue. It’s a really lovely festival – nice atmosphere and very friendly. It seems many of the people who work here have been coming for years.
Most of the hits on my website are from the US now so I’ve decided to get Privvi over so we can give the market a try. I’d have sent it sooner but the wipes can’t be posted so they’ll have to go into the boxes when they get there. Hopefully we’ll be all set in a few weeks. Thanks to my friend Barney for helping with this – much appreciated and fingers crossed.
We’re at a festival in Hampshire tomorrow so I’ll try and post a video or pictures. Very busy preparing and packing tonight.
I nearly didn’t write this evening and it’s a lot later then I’d usually post. I’ve currently got 7 minutes to post before midnight! I’ve had an extremely busy day and struggled to find a moment to work till now. Since I haven’t ever missed a Friday (as far as I’m aware) I couldn’t accommodate the idea of missing one.
My thumb’s doing pretty well – still a bit numb and I get weird pins and needles down the side sometimes. Hopefully this will subside. I’ve been given the all-clear by my consultant and physio and been advised that I’ll have about 80% function in my hand now. It’s sore sometimes (apparently due to the trauma) but I just need it to work for the essentials – driving, working, eating, cooking. I know I can’t do certain things but I have to accept that and appreciate the things I can do. It does make me sad but I have to try not to think about it, keep busy and focus.
If I think back to my thumb ‘reveal’ video a while back, this is an enormous improvement and it looks almost normal now.
My grandma used to eat a lot of prunes. Apparently they are great for ‘movements’ (of the bowel variety) as they have a lot of fibre in them. I’ve never tested this myself.
I had this idea for my social media – the five Olympic Rings as toilet seats. I think it just about works. I had never thought about what they actually mean or symbolise before this moment. They symbolise the unity of the five continents in the Olympic movement and were invented in 1913 by Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic Games.
I spent today at a food festival in Cambridge (which is a great place). Not particularly busy but a good location and I think that things will pick up tomorrow when many people aren’t working.
I stood in the field yesterday trying to put up a new, smaller tent and after industriously working,, sweating in the heat for about an hour,, one of the tent poles snapped and the whole thing pinged into a shapeless mess. It took a great deal of will power not to walk away as I stood there holding it up. I was thinking the whole thing might have to go in the bin but managed to find someone to help cut a tiny piece of broken pole off the cord inside then jam the broken end (now slightly shorter) into the other side.
Another 20 minutes of sweating and untangling the mess and I had a tent. I nearly walked away twice from what may have seemed an insignificant task but I persevered and it worked out OK. I think the duct tape helped (thank you to the nice man at the gin van for that!).
We’re green for go as lockdown lifted (for the most part) here in the UK today. Despite rising Covid rates the verdict was that we’re good to go and it’s a case of now or never.
I intend to remain cautious – not just for myself but for my friends and family and because I wouldn’t feel comfortable carrying on as ‘normal’ anyway. I went out and about today and wore a mask as if it was still lockdown. There were actually quite a few people doing likewise (we’ve had quite high rates here fairly recently).
It’s not I’ve anything against the rules lifting and I appreciate it’s important for many people and businesses. My main concern is that we may end up going backwards which would defeat the whole purpose of what everyone’s done so far.
So I’m going for amber and not green.
Saving My Hand