Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Staybridge

Staybridge Suites is our first stop in the US. At the moment it feels a bit like we are on holiday, the pool, the spa, the sun. Everything you could need really including internet access in our room. Willow seems to like it here too.



Along with the holiday feeling is knowing that we have to pack up and move soon though and even though it is great here I want to get to the train and settle in, especially now as I have seen our accommodation. Let’s just say I am really happy.


Things I have noticed so far:-

1) A loaf of sliced bread is like at least a foot long.
2) Everything edible comes in multi day-glow colours.
3) Baked beans aren’t vegetarian.

Anyone else noticed everything I have noticed so far has a connection to food. Hmm wonder how big I’ll be in two years time.

Declutter

The weeks before we left where a bit mad to say the least, we decluttered big time. We got rid of the van and all its contents months ago as well as the money we received for it. And the caravan went eventually (a blog all of its own). Everything else including the car became a bit of a nightmare, apparently trying to sell stuff during a recession and talk of credit crunches isn’t a good time. So bad timing for us, but great for the local charity shops, which actually started turning us away as we filled them to the brim.

It’s a really odd feeling when everything you own fits into a 70 square foot box. Though all we took with us were three large suitcases. I thought it would be a sad negative feeling but it has been the total opposite. It’s as though a big weight has been lifted; a weight I hadn’t actually noticed was there, like I said odd.

No house, No furniture, No clothes I pretend will fit again one day (lets face it I’m never going to be a size 8 again) And as for the boxes of memories we all keep for ever, I couldn’t remember what half of them even were, so not that memorable.

I am never collecting clutter like it again; from now on I’m travelling light as it not only clutters your home but also your life.

I guess there is truth in the saying ‘The more you have, the more you have to loose’.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Caravan 2008 Tour

This is a map of all the grounds Giffords showed Caravan in 2008. Really great to do small jumps and in such a beautiful part of the country as well.


View Larger Map

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Caravan 2008

The last Giffords show was less than a month ago and already it seems so long ago. I am amazed at how quite this year is going. Or is it just going quick to our count down to the States?

The 2008 show Caravan was amazing and ‘Joe Public’ obviously thought the same as nearly every show was a full house and quite a lot of shows would have sold out more than once. Many people came back more than once or twice and many people travelled hundreds of miles ‘just’ to see the show. I normally watch the show quite a few times over the course of the season but this year was different and I only sat and watched it 3 times as it was just so busy all the time. At Newbury the first ground, at Cirencester the last ground and at Marlborough Common when I was chatting to a friend and got stuck in my seat as it was so busy.



We didn’t quite start the season in a mud swamp but by week two at Hay-on-Wye it was very muddy, only to be matched by the mud at the last ground Cirencester. This is a first for me; yes I have been on muddy grounds before, very muddy grounds but not with Giffords. The mud is something we usually missed due to pulling out in May instead of March and finishing in September instead October/November which is the season for so many shows. Vehicles getting stuck in the mud in August, that just isn’t meant to happen but I suppose it sums up the English weather for 2008!


Willow working on the door and Ring doors with Roger

Willow had a wonderful summer, and tried her hand at various jobs. She did Pre-show mainly with the band La Fanfare Suivante and a few others. For half an hour, as the audience took their seats they played playground games in the ring from a long forgotten youth. She also liked helping out with the candy floss and in the shop. I think her favourite thing was standing on doors just before the ‘bear’ came into the ring and she could act scared and run away.


Last Night Party

It wasn’t all work and no play though. There where lots of parties, bands to watch, water fights and X-Factor style singing comps. Willow also loved being surrounded by all the animals with Roger the rabbit being her favourite. This years though I quite liked Brian the goose though I expect I am in the minority with that one.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Caravan - Giffords Circus 2008


This is a great short vid of Giffords Pre-show.
But if it makes you want to go and see the show, you are running out of time. There is less than 2 weeks left and they are selling out fast.

Its been a brilliant season and I should have blogged more but will try to update at some point.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Hay, what a wash out!

Maybe it has been for most people but not for me. I have enjoyed this year so much more than the last time I was here, when the sun shone. But I think it has more to do with me than the weather.

Yes it has rained, and rained and then rained some more. All the fields turned to swamps, the festival site had to be pumped out by the fire brigade and the River Hay was been churned up so bad it looks like the river in ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, unfortunately it only looks like it. But we are talking about a festival in Britain; you may hope for sunshine but let’s be realistic and come prepared, even if we are only talking about a pair of wellies and raincoat. OK, it does help when you are use to living in muddy fields and dealing with the elements more regularly. And you can think back to a time when ‘it was so much worse’; the ducks didn’t manage to swim up to my step. I didn’t run out of dry clothes; my wellies didn’t fill up with water and we didn’t have to call the army to pull the loads off site only for them to get stuck too!

Despite the weather we managed to do quite a lot of stuff, more than any other year, though that may have had something to do with booking before we got here. Tweedy and Willow didn’t just paddle in the river they swam in it, and not because it looked like chocolate. Daisy wasn’t impressed with being thrown in yet again, but it’s the quickest way to cool down a hot dog. And we found a tiny Stonehenge, but it didn't have the standing power of the original and someone had flattened it by the next day.


So what did I learn from the literary Festival this year? Well I now know the Gruffalo really is a big jessy, not just in the story. There are books I would like to read that I have never even thought about before such as 'When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr'. I also need to get more audio books for these long journeys.

Monday, March 31, 2008

Easter

We had a brilliant Easter this year at Folly Farm.












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Monday, February 11, 2008

Goldilocks

Baby bear was Willows favourite. This is her in part of the costume.

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Panto Land


Well the Panto season is over and we are back home after 2 months in Edinburgh. We have only been home a few weeks but already it seems so long ago.

The Panto, Goldilocks and the Three Bears was a great success and Tweedy had lots of fun knobbing about (and yes that is a technical term) and it was a really nice company which always helps. I even managed to get out and party a few times, shock horror. It was quite strange to see Tweedy going past on the side of a bus though.





Willow settled into school really well but seemed
to bond with the boys quicker than the girls to start with. Her temporary school once again where great and even managed to slot her into the Nativity. On the way home after though she said "during the dress rehearsal in front of the whole my skirt fell off, everyone laughed but I just carried on as if nothing had happened" It took a while for her to own up that she had done it deliberately just to get a laugh…


There really is no hope.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

My walk to school.

Normally it takes 5 minutes to walk to school but the school Willow has been going to recently (because her Dad was in panto in Edinburgh) takes about 20 minutes. But check out the walk.