Bellowhead

Well, as Bellowhead won't come to us, we must go to Bellowhead.

As Bellowhead don't (doesn't?) seem to be playing in London for the foreseeable future, we have decided to treat ourselved to a weekend away in Lewes, which is the nearest place I can get my fix anytime soon...We're going to stay at the Pelham House Hotel, as the receptionist, Lizzie was by far and away the friendliest of any B & B or hotel people we spoke to, some of which answered the phone with a weary and grumpy 'yes' or 'hello'. Feel slightly ill about spending so much to go and see a gig, but then remember it will be an excellent and much needed break as well. We might get to see Sam, Fiona and co, who relocated to Lewes from Hove about three years ago IF she gets in touch.
What to wear though....last time, having heard that people at Bellowhead gigs really dress up in Burlesque and other outrageous stuff, myself and the select yummy mummies and daddies really went for it when we saw them at the Festival Hall. Although it was packed there, we were definitely among the few dressed up for the occasion, I was sporting a medieval style green dress and feather mask, Di wore a basque and a kind of hitched up skirt, the others, variations on the theme. I thought we looked fabulous. So, this time requires some serious planning...or should I wear the usual jeans and sludge colour tops?

clocks went forward

Well, for the first time ever, I forgot to change the clocks. Threw my day out a bit, because we were going to go to church and then to the Mac store in Regent Street. Plans changed, as we realised at what we thought was nine o'clock, that it was in fact ten o'clock. Too late for St Paul's, so we went to worship at the church of Apple instead. We got some nice new toys, and hopefully will be able to produce a shiny new blog, and Phil will be able to create shiny new music, too. I will post the new blog address here when it's all set up. Will be much easier to post photos online instead of peering at invisible thumbnail pictures and trying to guess which photo is which.

Other things this week... I said goodbye to my dad's flat in Putney in it's previous incarnation; mainly 70s pale green everything, with multitudinous nicotine stains...Barney's builder's have moved in and are gutting it before transforming it into the lucrative des res that will pay for Dad's care. The bathroom looked particularly strange with a great cavity in the wall where the tap end of the bath had been. Then We were going to meet Jake at Putney station and go for lunch, but there had been a signal failure and Jake got off the train at Barnes and walked to Putney. In the meantime, I went to look at stone for our new patio. It was cols and rainy, but good to see what colours the different types of stone became when wet.

Went to tap on Friday - I'm really getting back into it now, after months of minimal exercise, I am walking to work again, and dancing twice a week...hopefully the pounds around my middle, laid down during the stay in Putney will budge soon.

Thinking of being back home, and about the yummy mummies and daddies of our neighbourhood, I've begun to regret introducing them to Darren! They have stolen him away from us, and he now has no time at all to do even the tiniest job for us. Darren, we need legs for our table!!!

It's 2008

Well, it's new year again...we went to two parties on the night, starting at Pat's, and then saw in the new year at Anne and Chris's party in Brentford. All the yummiest people were there and looking fabulous. The teenagers all behaved beautifully, and it was even relatively easy to extract mine at 2am...luckily, we left before other teenagers became unwell....oooh, one very popular person was in trouble...it was a brilliant night though, lots of time to catch up with everyone. The only flaw being the jukebox Anne and Chris hire. The teenagers get on there first and programme in all the stuff they like, and because the thing has a long memory, it takes hours to get to the songs one wants to dance to.
The night continued to be great, as Ali la Peche kindly put us up for the night, and even cooked us bubble and squeak for breakfast!
Music at parties, always a problem. The jukebox is a great idea, but needs a shorter memory (it could borrow mine); mix tapes or cds are a good idea, pre- programmed selection on i-tunes, maybe a DJ...these issues are all rumbling about in my mind at the moment, because I am planning an extension warming party.
Yes the two upcoming projects are, getting Dad and his flat sorted out, and then getting back to our newly extended house. I cannot wait.
Staying in Putney, although it has it's charms, has been expensive, and it is now cold. Dad's heating, which was in overdrive when the weather was milder, has decided to pack up completely.
The tiles around the bath which a builder/decorator only replaced a few months ago have fallen off, and damp has spread through the wall to the bedroom. Being cold in Putney gives me a flashback to my teenage years in our huge and draughty house. Although we had central heating, it always seemed quite cold, and I remember hugging hot water bottles sometimes to keep warm, as well as being told to put more layers on.
Dad will hopefully be coming out of hospital in a week or so, and there is a lot to do. We need to refine the sorting out of his belongings, and get his flat prepared for a total revamp. He will; move to a nursing home in a house a few doors up from our childhood home. We have to decide whether to sell his flat or rent it out. Either way, it needs a revamp.
Our extension is coming on apace, the shell is built, and the builders are waiting for the plumbers and electricians to do their stuff. Everything's very exciting. More soon, I'm off to Bristol now for a one hour meeting.