Home is where I park it

I sorted out some admin stuff on the computer. We were going to go into Cirencester but it started pissing down & has done ever since :( It's now nearly 4pm so the days a bit of a wash out. We did sort the van out though as yesterday we just bunged stuff in cos we were later than we expected & had to get over to the warehouse with our stuff. Battery on the laptop is about to run out, it only lasts a couple of hours which is pretty crap but I'm looking forward to writing some of this diary on paper sometimes... it sounds so old fashioned lol. Hope to upload it from time to time :) Our 1st park up - Dad's drive!

We left the house & took the last of our stuff to the warehouse. On the way there it was really windy & the tarp on the roof came undone. We must have looked a bit like a drag racer trying to stop lol. The first time Simon tied it back on it came undone again, the second time was better but when we got to the warehouse we took it off. Went to Anna's & had dinner, Simon got Shephards pie & I had a salad. It was lovely to see them & king of Anna to feed us. I think she thinks we might starve on the road lol. Went to Dad's & stayed on the drive, seems a bit of a crap thing to do for the first night but it was late & dark & we couldn't be bothered to try & find a park up. We have to go to Longlevens on Thursday & then Cheltenham so need to stay in the area anyway. May as well stay where there is electricity & internet!

We've left the house! We are now officially on the road :) We will still be in the UK for about a month visiting family & friends on a long way round to Dover. This is the last picture from our house... finally leaving :) Will write more in time but for now thanks for looking :) xoxox

My Endorse-It experience is just as much to do with the friends, good vibe & general weirdness as the music. We had our friends Ian & Byron camped with us in the campervan field which was cool. As neither of them drove to the festival they were already well into the festival mood when they arrived! There was also other people I knew camped elsewhere or working at the festival. I was looking forward to catching up with old friends I had worked with at previous Endorse-Its, Flounder, Morph, Ffi, Alex and also people I had met over the years there, Chris, Duncan, Gary, Vinny & Sara. Also I was chuffed to be meeting Alan who I had as an 'internet friend' for many years after he kindly let me use some words & pictures from his book 'A Time To Travel' . This book is amazing, now sadly out of print you can get it as an ebook or keep an eye on Ebay! The Endorse-It site had some beautifully weird sculptures dotted around courtesy of the Wrekon crew who are mast...

Endorse-it in Dorset festival has been my favourite UK festival since I first went in 2005. There is always a great selection of music with a focus on punk & reggae but plenty of other stuff. It is a relaxed family festival with a great mixture of different people of all ages. This year was the first year I have been and haven't been working in one way or another so it was great to see the festival from a slightly different perspective. First a little about the bands I saw. Robb Blake - A one man Ska band from what I could see, he was ok at what he did but is in desperate need of a band if you ask me. Very weird seeing music like this played by one guy along to a pre-recorded track! I don't know who this guy is but he did a couple of sets with a guitarist. It was really good and if anyone knows who he is please tell me! Symarip - I had never heard of them before the festival but apparently they were one of the first Skinhead Reggae bands noted for '...

A great night was had by all at a recent gig at Klub 85 in Hitchin. Headliners Nucleus Roots now back to a full band line up pumped out some beautiful Dub/Reggae. Support bands New Groove Formation and The Defekters both played wicked sets :)  The Defekters New Groove Formation Nucleus Roots Thanks for looking :) xoxox