Waltzing Along

 The title of this blog is a track by Indie band James, one of our all time favourite bands.  We went to see them last week with our friend Ade and his son, Billy.  They've been going for a whopping 40 years now, but their clean living frontman, Tim Booth (who, incidentally, also attended a boarding school just over the border from us in Shrewsbury) is still in fine voice.

It was a double celebration so beers were consumed.  

Ade was marking a landmark birthday...and as for Gareth and I, a little over 22 years ago, we got married at a local country house where we partied until dawn.  The owner was extremely accommodating, if a little eccentric and pretty much let us have free run of the place.  One of my abiding memories of that day was our impromptu midnight "Library Disco."  The band we had booked to play outside earlier in the evening, had long since departed.  We had planned for this eventuality by bringing along our CD player, knowing that no one would be ready to call it a night until the wee small hours.  In this photo, we're all singing along to James's "Sit Down."

We've seen James a number of times over the years and they always deliver.  

Still on a high from this, we were excited to get the best seats for Glastonbury (shimmying between our living room and garden sofas).  

Whilst I still hold out hope of visiting Glastonbury Festival some day, this year we were grateful to be a few strides away from the refrigerator and the shade of the garden.  I'm not moaning....I'm not...but the heat has been intense and we seem to have evaded the predicted thunder storms.   

We saw Billy No Mates, Foo Fighters, Manic Street Preachers, The Pretenders (amazing), Arctic Monkeys, Guns n Roses, a sprinkling of Young Fathers, Sparks, Kelis, Texas, Sparks, Queens of the Stone Age and Rick Astley (covering a number of Smiths songs).  For me though, the standout performance was Cat Stevens (fine voice, fine human being).  

I saw Sunday's headliner, Elton John when I was 18 and recall feeling quite bored, but decided to watch his headline slot on Sunday anyway.  Sadly, this time my experience was no different.  I like a few of his songs and he's undisputedly talented, but for some reason, I once again found myself drifting.  He just doesn't do it for me.  However, I'm obviously in the minority, judging by the humungous audience.

In between watching Glasto coverage, we squeezed in our annual Mini & VW Meet just down the road.

Headlight selfie!

Sunday's weather was scorching hot and many people took shelter in the shade of our trade stand.  Friends joined us, bringing along their cool cars, company and ensuring that the music played on.

The few photos I took on Sunday need little explanation apart from the winner of "Best VW T4" which was conceived and created by its Welsh owner, Jon Power.  The attention to detail was phenomenal and the entire build took him six months.  I loved the copper bar with its soft close fuel can drawers and of course, the occupier, Evie.

Back at home, garden wildlife is everywhere to see.

Fledgling Blackbird

Speckled Wood Butterfly

Nosey Wood Pigeon

Green Bottle Fly

But this has to be the most spectacular mini beast I've ever seen.  I say "mini beast" but with a wing span of around 10 cm, this Hawk Moth spotted resting on our water butt on Friday night, looked as if it could take on the world.  Surely, this is a "festival ready" insect if ever there was one!  

This week will be all about preparing for our long awaited mini break.  For those of you who know me well, will know that I would rather put needles in my eyes than fly.  However, life is short, this place looks pretty special and there's really only one way to reach our chosen destination.  We're also hoping to catch up with the Glasto Queen at the airport before we leave.

So where are we going?  Ending on a song, here's a clue.

INXS - Never Tear Us Apart (Official Music Video) - YouTube

See you soon!