Jottings 22nd November - getting outside

 A while ago I announced my intention to join in with Splodzblogz one hour outside November challenge - but a few days of dampness at the beginning of the month sapped my enthusiasm. Throughout this year doing anything has seemed like so much more effort than normal, add in inclement weather, and spending all day reading or doing online jigsaws seems like a great idea. 

It isn't really though. During May/June my Fitbit was registering only 1000 steps per day (!), and since then I've been taken deliberate steps (lol) to get more exercise. It's harder to plan days out at the moment, but on Thursday we headed out to Shipley Country Park, and I'm trying to pull in a short evening walk every day, only 15/20 minutes in length (I often put dinner in the oven, and THEN go out, as something ready to eat as I come back in is great)

There are more reasons than exercise for getting outside though, even pottering round the garden gives a change of focus and improves my mood. Apart from one day when I did some pruning, I haven't actually been doing anything practical but a few minutes outside generally turns up something interesting, from a flock of long-tailed tits coming to join the resident pigeons, to the amazing winter jasmine now in full bloom.

Undoubtedly the garden looks dull at this time of year, but there are still quite a number of flowers around in odd places, hanging on despite the shorter days and colder nights.

There's maybe just one disadvantage to all this pottering around outside. After last week's attempt to ditch the baggy black trousers, I was back wearing them again this week, because sometimes something a bit more practical is needed.

Evenings have been very busy - first watching The Crown, which I find more fascinating than the Royals themselves (perhaps because their fictionalised lives have a story arc that messy real life lacks), then, for a distinct change of pace, the last series of The Bridge. Binge-watching a boxset has a major drawback, a single series always feels too short, and I'm already looking for something new to watch. It's also time, as nights draw in to rekindle my enthusiasm for console games, so Lara Croft is off on her adventures again. If you've been reading this blog long enough you'll know that I'm a great fan of this fellow Derby woman.

And one evening I slipped in to an open mic Zoom event at which my youngest daughter was playing. I miss going out to gigs, but since my daughter moved up to Manchester I've missed hearing her play. This was almost like old times of going out to pubs and music venues with her, but without the alcohol and sticky floors.

This week's new meal was 'pork chops on a bed of sweet orchard apples' from the Abel and Cole Cookbook. Flavoured with rosemary and cider vinegar this dish tastes very different to pan-fried pork and apples (and sometimes kale). Apples and rosemary came from the garden, and I served it with potatoes and cabbage from the allotment, and carrots given us by another allotmenteer. There may not be any such thing as a free meal, but this comes pretty close.

And the week ended on a cheerful note, thanks to my back garden birch tree. It's the last of my trees to still have leaves, and the last few days have seen them turn to this glorious gold.

Jottings - 8th November weather

As of Thursday we're now back into a second lockdown, but with care and planning it doesn't really affect me on a day to day basis. I had one last chat with my elderly neighbour in her garden, I've got the click and collect shopping sorted - though I still tend to accidentally buy too much - and I can still go out walking. I prefer walking at places where visitor numbers are limited by timed entry, National Trust parkland, and Chatsworth's huge garden have become my favourite places to go this year. After a slight panic-booking of a trip to Chatsworth it turned out that gardens and parks will be allowed to stay open for exercise (but not presumably for anything frivolous), so I needn't have rushed. 

I've realised these jottings seem to be acquiring a personality of their own; this week has to be about the weather. From glorious sunshine, to rain, fog and frost, with an added rainbow or two, we've had quite a range of it. 

Monday morning started with a rainbow, which seems like a good omen, and it seems to have been a good week. After an early supermarket dash, Monday was a quiet day spent at home, with a little pottering in the garden, though there's not much that needs to be done right now.

Our visit to Calke on Tuesday started in rain, but that cleared away to sunshine, with another rainbow.

On Wednesday at Chatsworth the sun shone constantly, and the garden there is perfectly situated for late afternoon sun. I'm trying to build up the distance I can comfortably walk, and this week proved that I still have some way to go. Two days out left me exhausted with aching muscles, so I need to find ways of finding more time to walk near home.

Clear evening skies mean dipping temperatures and sparkling frost next morning - the first of this autumn. 

By weekend the weather was beginning to warm up slightly with early fog, but this blackbird came along to cheer me up.

There's less fresh produce from the allotment now (though still plenty stored in various ways) but I still found enough for a salad of cabbage, red onion, apple, and chioggia beetroot. Much is said about the desirability of eating seasonally and growing our own vegetables means this is something we do without really considering it, though there'll be tomatoes and runner beans  from the freezer to bring a touch of summer throughout the winter months.

This week's new recipe was from Pinch of Nom again. A tuna pasta bake made without the usual cheese sauce, but a lighter version with low fat soft cheese and stock. I wasn't impressed, as I definitely missed the cheesiness of the familiar dish. 

It's been a week of listening to new music; first two guys that I know. Gecko released a new album last week, with a launch on Attila the Stockbroker's Facebook page, and an appearance on Life and Rhymes, a spoken word programme fronted by Benjamin Zephaniah on Sky Arts, but his song about Laika, the dog sent into space by the Russians, made me too sad to listen to the whole album in one go. Then Tim OT, a guy I first saw playing in front of a pub dartboard (very brave), decided to take up the government's call for creatives to retrain in other occupations, by re-training as 'a musician who actually releases music', so his new band Morning Crush have a single out and hopefully there'll be more from him before long. And on Friday I spotted on Twitter that a band I follow there -  Tom Lumley and the Brave Liasion - also had a new track out. I've not got as far as seeing these guys live, but one day, maybe next year (fingers crossed) I will.

I've also caught up with last week's video from North Cornwall Book Festival. This time gardener Anna Pavord talking about landscape - its influence on us, our influence on it. 

And evenings have found me glued to Netflix series, The Queen's Gambit, based on a novel by Walter Tevis about an orphaned girl who becomes a chess prodigy. I never realised the game could be so fascinating. 

So far, lockdown2 hasn't been bad. I just hope it's all over in time for Christmas.

Timber - music and more

I've already written an introductory overview to my weekend at Timber, and about the enlightening, inspiring side of the festival; today's the turn for the entertainment - and what a lot, in so many guises, there was. 

Field Notes tent 

First up - music. You can't have a proper festival without it. There may be some out there who try - food and drink festivals, those dedicated to fast cars - but a real summer festival needs to have live music.

Star from Ivy on the amazing Elemental stage

There were a couple of changes from last year at Timber. The large Nightingale stage had gone, combining forces with the Field Notes tent as a large stage with undercover seating during the day and raised sides giving the audience space to spill out onto the grass. The smaller Eyrie stage remained as before, hidden amongst the trees, and these were joined by a new, tiny stage - Elemental - a marvel in itself as it appeared to be a converted horse box or lorry which opened on one side to reveal mics, speakers, etc




I'd spent a couple of days beforehand planning my festival trip - who I would see, and when. Of course, it didn't quite pan out that way. Listening to a talk, eating lunch, browsing the stalls, I'd hear music coming from a nearby stage and wander off to investigate. I think it's probably a better way to fully immerse oneself in the festival mood, but it did mean I missed some acts I'd intended to catch.

Thom Ashworth on the Eyrie
stage

For some reason this year I found myself drawn towards the folkier sounds on offer. I started the weekend by catching Thom Ashworth on the Eyrie stage singing traditional songs,

Bella, Polly and the Magpies

and found myself drawn back there for more artists - Bella, Polly and the Magpies with a mix of traditional and newly written songs, Alison Cooper, playing as Maghupi, with original work inspired by Lancashire folk tunes,

Rishii Chowdhury and Roopa Panesar

and Lucy Steven's musical response to the dawn chorus performed by Indian classical musicians Roopa Panesar and Rishii Chowdhury on sitar and tabla, respectively.

The Trials of Cato

I saw a lot of acts on the big Field Notes stage but my favourites were the unexpected 'finds' - three-piece folk band, The Trials of Cato, with Irish jigs, and songs in Welsh and English, but especially their all-purpose protest song (good for any number of things you might be angry about), Muha with a blend of Ukrainian folk and Indian Kathak sounds, and Another Sky with haunting lead vocals from Catrin Vincent.

Daudi Matsiko

Wandering past the Elemental stage, Daudi Matsiko's slightly melancholic sound caught my attention and I stayed to listen. On Sunday I headed back there drawn by the heavier rock sound of Star from Ivy.




Nearby was a curious audio visual installation - Seams - inspired by the coal seams which run beneath Feanedock forest. The recitation of the names given to the geological make-up - stony bind, black bat, dark clunch - acquired a strange other-worldly quality, mesmerising and meditative.

Sophia Thakur

Another 'find' was poet Sophia Thakur. I was just exploring the Canopy area of the festival site while she was performing on the Eyrie stage. If someone had suggested going along to a poetry session, I probably would have said no, but her words drew me in.

The Baghdaddies

In addition to music on stages, there were 'strolling' musicians - Rimski and Handerchief with their pedal-powered piano and double bass, The Baghdaddies providing musical accompaniment for the Cardboardia procession and a band playing Appalachian flat-footing jigs.









One of the highlights of the weekend was Lost in Translation's production of Baron in the Trees which combined dance, acrobatics, trapeze work, and juggling. It isn't easy to describe, and my photos certainly don't do it justice, but the audience, from small tots to oldies, was completely mesmerised.

Appalachian toe-tapping
music

I'm not going to attempt to cover everything on offer for the smallest festival goers, although I did try some of the 'children's' activities - the huge marble run, and finding my way through a maze of living saplings -  and I don't imagine anyone would have stopped me if I'd wanted to spend the whole weekend learning circus skills, listening to campfire stories, discovering wacky science (I caught the end of an experiment involving, I think, exploding custard), or playing with the huge board games.

Something I didn't get to see at all was the outdoor cinema (I'd particularly fancied watching The Blair Witch Project in a dark forest) but, to be honest, by the time evening came around we were exhausted. We had a wonderful time though, and you can't do everything!

Muha

Timber 2019 - an introductory overview

We're just back from a wonderful weekend at Timber Festival, courtesy of WildRumpus.org.uk. It's an event which combines music and fun with serious discussions on nature and environmental issues. Music, discussion, comedy, circus-style entertainers - imagine Edinburgh Fringe condensed into three days, and held in a forest.









For the rest of the year the 70 acre site at Feanedock in the National Forest is quiet and peaceful, but over the last week or so volunteers have transformed it, installing stages, marquees, bunting, art installations, and the all-important 'facilities' - compost loos on the festival site, proper water-flushing ones and hot showers on the campsite (these amenities matter so much, so how wonderful is that?)









 I'm going to be following up with more detailed posts but for now here are photos which I hope capture the joyous feel of Timber, and the wild and delightful things to be encountered there.

























There were two main music stages, Field Notes and Eyrie, and a smaller pop-up style one, Elemental, for music, poetry and talks. The fun isn't limited to the stages though.

Walking round you might encounter a swoop of (puppet) swallows, giant woodland insects, poetry on trees, discover the Eyrie stage hidden in the trees, a willow 'Earth' hung with messages of hope, super-sized board games, a giant marble run, juggling and acrobatics, and a campsite in the woods with story-telling and music.

Music wasn't just confined to the stages as Rimski and Handkerchief toured around with their bicycle piano and double bass, and The Baghdaddies accompanied a procession of cardboard figures made over the weekend by volunteers and children.

The Shimmer Tree

My favourite art installations, to which I returned time and again, were the Shimmer Tree, designed by Dan Fox, and a simple circle of hollow bamboo poles, both of which responded to air currents to make music.

 If some of this seems a bit hectic, you could find your way through a newly-created living maze, relax in a hammock with a book, book a massage or hot-tub session, or do as we did and slip slightly aside from the festival activities to take in the quiet of the forest, listen to birdsong, and later watch the sun set through the trees and from the Hollow Way Lookout.

Everything takes on a different aspect after dark, and, as the sun set, the festival site transformed into a magical wonderland.

There were of course some mishaps - mainly involving our camping set-up and lack of  waterproof coats - though there were a couple of cancelled events (sad but inevitable) and a stall which had sold out of sausage sandwiches for Sunday breakfast; the world was saved when we found bacon elsewhere :)

The weekend left me feeling refreshed and inspired, though at the same time physically exhausted so despite our intentions to stay till Monday we took the comfy option of heading home late on Sunday night. I found a lot of interesting new bands, and heard new ideas, or old ones I'd neglected, which I'd like to incorporate into my life,  but more of these later ...

Timber - enlighten, educate, and inspire

            -  music and more

            - practicalities - camping, food, and festival toilets 

Dates have now been released for next year 3/4/5 July and earlybird tickets are available at TimberFestival.org.uk

Since writing this, I've seen other reviews of Timber Festival, mainly from the point of view of families, so here are some links. Let me know if you were there too

The Brick Castle

Hodge Podge Days

Marvellous Mrs P

Typical Mummy