Yesterday I woke up to a little girl bursting in to the bedroom yelling "HELLO MUMMY!".
As that kind of killed my plans for a lazy Sunday lie in, we decided to head up to our local car boot sale and have a mooch about.
I picked up another picture for the living room and some pretty plates because they were cheap and we need new plates. New to us is new enough.
Then we headed in to town to watch some music. When we got our entry stamps, Pip immediately put her hand out to get one too and spent the next ten minutes comparing her hand stamp to ours.
Is it silly to be proud of this?
Great music. From left to right: James off of The Magic Lantern, Marianne off of Hot Feet and Sam off of..well, Sam Brookes. Check them out if you like folksy, rocky music.
I think I may have just made up a new genre there, but seriously do give them a listen if you're a music fan. There was a lot of talent in that tent today and I'm so glad we go to go and fill our ears with it.
Time was a little short after that, but we managed a quick wander along the river before I had to shoot home to finish up some sewing. It was nice and quiet as Dan and Pip had a hot play date in the park. What a day.
I bloody love this city.
And before I forget, the Facebook giveaway has finished and the winner is........
When I hear a song I love I become obsessed with it and play it over and over and over. When I start getting bored of listening to it over and over and over, I'll then listen to the album. And if I love that too I'll start playing that over and over and over.
The downside of course is that I'll eventually grow tired of it and put it down as soon as the next ear crush comes along, but the upside is that further down the line, when I listen to the song/album again, it conjures up vivid memories of my life as it was when the music grabbed my attention. It's different from looking at a picture and remembering things, music can make you feel memories too, just like tastes can. They can momentarily transport you back to the past.
But I digress. This post was only meant for me to share my latest ear crush with you all so I'll shut up now and get on with it. For the next few weeks it's going to get played A LOT.
A little light hearted fun for a Monday evening. I was tagged by the lovely Fritha of Tigerlilly Quinn.
The Rules
1. Post these rules
2. Post 11 random things about yourself
3. Answer the questions provided by the one who tagged you
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag
5. Go to their blog and tell them they've been tagged!
Eleven Random Things About Myself
I am pretty short, 5ft nothing to be precise.
One of my favourite ways to accessorise is to paint my nails. However, I am TERRIBLE at it, even after years of practice.
I hate my teeth, but feel too old for braces.
After living in Wales for 21 years, waay out in the sticks, I thought moving to London was the best thing ever. I then spent the next two years dreaming about moving back to the country, surrounded by trees, birdsong and greenery. There's just no pleasing some people.
I have my father's eyes,
And my mum's cheekbones.
I don't believe in god, Jesus, the devil, heaven or hell, but will use them as swear words. ALL the time.
I swear more than I should.
I can't do anything with my hair.
Despite hating it with a passion, I can't bring myself to delete my Facebook account. Or stop myself from checking it every day.
I love Twitter.
My Questions from Fritha
1. What is your favourite food?
This is going to disgust a lot of people, but the truth of it is that my all time favourite food is a good old greasy donor kebab. With some cabbage and lemon juice. Lush. I don't eat too many though, for obvious reasons!
2. What makes you happiest?
Cuddles from Dan, crafting, listening to good music, sitting in the sun with a cup of coffee, feeling that you've got all the time in the world.
3. What was is your current obsession?
Pregnancy I'm afraid. I'm due in a few weeks so I'm desperately trying to get myself organised and it's just not happening.
4. What was the first gig you went to?
Red Hot Chili Peppers, which is interesting seeing as I can't stand them.
5. What was your worst job?
Without a shadow of a doubt, it was working for a company selling international phone cards in London. The hours were horrible, the commute was long, the people were mean and I was very unhappy. But I was young and inexperienced so I took a lot of crap before I eventually plucked up the courage to leave.
6. What is one song you feel most connected to?
Easy! It has to be "Go Your Own Way" It's a song that I've loved with ever since I found my mum's old Fleetwood Mac record. And I am absolutely stoked that Lissie has released a cover which is simply awesome. It's going on Pip's playlist for sure.
7. If you could live anywhere where would it be?
Vancouver in Canada. It's such a beautiful place, full of some of the friendliest people you could ever meet.
8. What inspires you?
Music, crafts, other people's blogs and the countryside.
9. What's your favourite way to celebrate?
Eat some good food and drink some good plonk!
10. If there was one thing you could tell your 16 year old self what would it be?
"Hold on. It all gets better. And be nicer to mum"
11. What would your super power be?
To fly! I dream sometimes that I can fly and when I do, it always leaves me feeling really peaceful and free. I get quite annoyed when I wake up and remember that I'm stuck on the ground with just my little legs to get me about.
Eleven Questions For Those I've Tagged
1. What would be your ideal job?
2. What's your guilty pleasure music-wise?
3. What's your favourite way to pass the time?
4. What's your biggest pet peeve?
5. Facebook or Twitter?
6. What makes you laugh?
7. Describe an ideal day.
8. What's your biggest achievement to date?
9. Dresses or jeans?
10. If you could create a new law, what would it be?
That is, my ears have a new crush, not I have a crush on this guy's ears. Anyhoo..this song is called The Fear, it's sung by a blokey called Ben Howard and I'm a wee bit obsessed with it at the moment.
He's playing in Bristol at the end of February and I'm thinking of going. I'll be due a couple of weeks later though so will be pretty mahoosive by then. But we've been to the venue before and there plenty of places where I could safely stand and watch while getting a decent view at the same time so maybe..
And I'm rambling again. It really is a great song, if you play it, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
As I mentioned in my last post, I went to Glastonbury on Sunday (this is my last Glastonbury related post I promise). Why the hell was I worried about it raining?? I woke up this morning with sun burnt shoulders that are now hurting enough to remind me why sun factor is my friend. When we arrived it was warm and sunny, but still muddy and I lost track of the amount of times I nearly lost a welly. But as the day wore on the mud dried and we were able to sit down in most places. I only had to queue for the loos once and even they were in pretty good shape considering. I even remembered to take some photos through the day..
This was what we arrived to, mud and lots of it. It was already beginning to dry, but at that point it was thick, sticky and really hard to walk in.
This chap's called Dan Mangan and he was ace. He got all excited when he saw an ice cream van and at the end someone actually bought him a huge ice cream. He was chuffed to bits. He also had the second best beard at the festival.
Some more mud while we waited for Sea of Bees
Quick pic together. Dan took it and I think he did good considering he could barely see a thing!
Sea of Bees and that girl's voice was so damned beautiful. One of the best performances of the day in my opinion.
Would you look at the stage sign. I mean, just look at it! Wow.
The dreaded 'long drop'. They actually weren't that bad if truth be told. Hats off to the poo parade.
That little white dot on the Pyramid Stage was Laura Marling. I didn't stay that long as it was too hot and crowded. It was a shame because I had to leave Sam Brookes'set after just one song and run across the festival to get there in time (completely lost track of time).
Ahoy there matey!
Ok so I didn't stay to watch much of Laura Marling, but while Dan and I were sat in an open mic tent, who should run in and jump on stage, but her friend Emily Woods! So I sat there and watched her set instead and she was fab.
Waiting for Queens of the Stone Age. We checked out Beyonce later too, but didn't stay for long. She was putting on an amazing show, but I dunno. Just not my thing I guess.
The only down side of the day was the litter. Don't get me wrong, there's always litter, you have to accept that as part and parcel of the whole thing. I just couldn't shake the feeling that this year there was more of an "ah to hell with it, that's what the litter pickers are for" attitude. Also, I think the sheer number of people there overwhelmed me at times.
Oh and I must share this with you, we caught this guy when we were on a cider hunt. Check out the moves!
All in all we had a great time at Glastonbury. That said I think Dan and I are going to take a break from it for a while and focus on the smaller festivals instead. The next one being the Beacon's Festival in August which we'll be camping at. And if the weather turns out to be sunny, I will be using my factor 50!
Usually for my music posts I upload a video of a song I'm a little in love with, but in the lead up to Glastonbury I thought I would do something a bit different and share a playlist with you all instead. Everyone on the list are bands and artists who are due to play the festival this year. All very talented and none on the Pyramid Stage.
And it is this that I love about the festival the most. You've bought your tickets, the line up is released and horror or horrors, there are no names you like or recognise. So festival ruined yes? Not even close. In my experience the only thing that can ruin Glastonbury is rain...or forgetting your tent poles, but if I'm honest the stress caused by both experiences scenarios is temporary There's so much else to do and see that you can spend the entire time taking in the sights and discovering new music without so much as going near the main stages, unless you have to walk past them in order to get somewhere else of course.
So in the spirit of discovering new music, have a listen to the playlist. Maybe you'll find something there that will take you somewhere else for three or four minutes.
Ok so granted I've already blogged about Sam in the past, but he is such a talented bloke and well worth checking out as his voice really is something else. At least, in my defence, I've posted a different song this time. In Weeks has been released as a single and if you're interested you can buy it on iTunes and Amazon.
Right, musical pimping over. I'll leave you to simply listen and love now.
Here is my latest musical offering. I heard this song on the radio a few months back and it was one of those songs that broke through my chain of thoughts and made me stop to listen.
Her voice is just gorgeous and I find myself humming her songs all the time. I'm not over keen on the video to be honest, but her music is delicious.
She has an album that I can listen to on a loop and her music has a definite Fleetwood Mac feel to it which just makes me love her all the more. This here (if you haven't already heard of her) is Lissie and here's a clip of her singing 'Everywhere I Go' with Ellie Goulding.
It's been a weird kind of week. I had a tonne of things I planned to do and didn't get any of them done. I'm blaming this on catching some kind of bug. Last night was the first uninterrupted nights sleep I've had in a few days and I feel a world better for it.
So, now that regular service has resumed once more, here's another video clip, this time of a song I love by Caitlin Rose (Myspace page here). She was on the radio this morning and although I love her music, I have to say I was pretty underwhelmed with her interview. To be fair, she's also ill and probably jet lagged to boot, but still. There were moments when I wanted to shout at the radio "oh for God's sake love, at least pretend that you want to be there!".
But please don't let my little rant put you off having a listen. This song is just lovely and she is a very talented young woman. If you enjoy this song even a little it, then I would seriously urge you to check out her other stuff.
Last night we went to see Band of Horses and I still can't find the words to describe it.
Beautiful, fantastic, amazing..none of those words do it justice. They just blew me away. The music was loud and beautiful, the guys were in good spirits, the atmosphere was buzzing and it was just a fantastic night.
The title of this post is a line from one of their songs, "Neighbor". It's one of my favourite lyrics. We get woken up in the morning quite a lot by this song so I always associate it with feeling cozy and safe and this line sticks out. If you're interested, I've added the video below. Go on, have a listen!
They're playing a few more dates in the UK over the next few days and I believe will be back in the summer to play some festivals. If you have the chance to see them live I would thoroughly recommend it.
This here folks, is Sam Brookes. Now I know what you're thinking, "yeah, yeah, yeah. He's amazing, he's the next whatever until I listen to him and realise that he's actually shit", but you'd be wrong!
He really is as good as I say he is, so don't bloody argue ok? Seriously, give this clip a shot and you'll see what I mean. It looks fuzzy in the still, but it's not so don't worry your sweet heads about that.
He's playing at the Uni tomorrow and I'll definitely be popping down to watch him which will make it the fourth time in three months...shit.
Does that make me some sort of crazed super fan/stalker?
