Celtic Festival April 2010

In a small town in the Ardennes near Liege (where I live at the moment) every two years there is a Celtic Festival where hundreds of people come, dressed up in various costumes and disguises from various periods and mythological stories. There are also musicians who play ancient songs with ancient musical instruments and who also tell stories about the past. Of course there are lots of food and drink stands but the wares are all either ancient foods or celtic, coming from Ireland, Scotland and Brittany (a Celtic region in France). I've posted a few photos of the various things I saw this year - they are getting better every year I must admit, and luckily this year, the weather was great! The Festival lasts for 3 days and during these 3 days there are concerts held throughout the town in large covered arenas - all the groups play different types of Celtic music and some of them are quite famous, both here and abroad.

The town where this festival is held has many buildings which date back to the Gallo/Roman period and these are protected and some which are in disrepair are being carefully restored. This aspect gives a fantastic background to ancient Europe, and thus the costumes and music

YEAR OF THE TIGER - 2010

It's the year of the tiger, my year, and I found some super paintings of tigers which I'd like to share with you..............

It's the year of the tiger, my year, and I found some beautiful paintings/photos of tigers which I'd like to share with you.

I'm Back

Thanks to Elliott, my nephew in New Zealand, I've decided to get back to blogging. It's been a while and I've learnt a lot about computers so I should be a bit better than the last time. He's started a new blog and it's so great to be able to keep up with what he's doing, and his latest interests....now he's getting older.
I just hope I've got enough time to be able to post any little adventures on here.

Music in the blood

When the summer arrives in Belgium (Liége) it seems like all the musicians have to go out and party. There is one music festival after another here as soon as it's June.

I'm not complaining of course! I think it's wonderful! Right up my street!

But it's quite exhausting for a girl of my age! These guys don't get going until about 10pm when other normal people are just settling down to a quiet night and tucking themselves into bed! I hate to miss the action...particularly when I'm a spectator of great talent.

It starts with a music festival with musicians playing in little and big venues all over the town for a long weekend. That's all free! Then there's a Gaulish village (Village Gaulois) beside the Cathedral where the square is completely taken over with delices from France (and of course local produce!) and on the stage every night, some local artist or group entertain the masses! It's fantastic! Towards the end of this event, in a village just outside the town, is a festival of Country and American music where everyone just gets down and boogies....bluegrass, country, Dylan, Springstein, etc with square dance lessons and plenty of space to do your own thing. When the sun shines (which it did most of the time this year/and last...it's fantastic!) With only a couple of days of rest, it all starts again in another little town on the edge of the Ardennes (about 30km from Liege) near the Francochamps race course - Spa - and this is the Francofolies festival of music. The name says it all - all French music permitted. And there is such a variety it's amazing. The whole town is taken over for 5 days so I wonder how anyone who lives there gets any rest. Just as this festival finishes, the Jazz festival starts in the region, again held in lots of different venues with even a conference hall being taken over for the jazz people to sell and share their wares and accessories.

Apart from all these festivals, there is a basic music industry here where every week night and weekend there is a concert or jam session in a choice of dozens of places...restaurants, clubs, bars, piano bars, concert halls, conference centres, hotels...etc. There is no excuse for anyone to be bored.....if they enjoy live music.

And I'm very fortunate to have met some of the best musicians here, who have subsequently become famous in their own right, playing for the bigger, internationally famous stars. Some of these guys are now solid friends, even though they know that my expertise on the strings isn't that great...I appreciate their sounds!

Its a city that really grooves.....wouldn't you say? That's why I always looked exhausted!

Happy Memories

This is quite funny really. I was looking through a magazine the other day (won't tell which one) and I saw this advert for an exclusive holiday resort in Jamaica! Doesn't sound amusing I know, but wait! When I was 20 I went there with my brother and his girlfriend for a week!! Talk about being a gooseberry!! Actually, it was really great! Wonderful beaches, food, weather, games, etc...and even a few nice "single" blokes! BUT just look at the price now for a week!!! It's incredible! Thanks bro!

Trousers down

There must be something in the air at the moment....everyone's (slight exaggeration) trousers are falling down. It just that some things happen at one moment, and then not for years!

I went to the theatre on Sunday evening to see a little Russian comedy because a friend of mine was in it. During the show, a quite serious moment, a rather large man was chatting to his on-stage wife when his expression dramatically changed, he looked down to watch his trousers falling down to his ankles. Of course, he bent down and quickly pulled them up, and tried to carry on with his discours, but we, the audience, were howling with laughter, and he just couldn't continue. These hysterics lasted for about 20 minutes, tears streaming down everyone's faces. It was evidently very difficult to get going again, but they managed eventually. It was probably the high-light of the show!

Then today as I was waiting for my bus, a man walked past me, talking to himself (which made me look at him) but when he had passed, I noticed his trousers had fallen down and his bum was completely exposed! Another lady at the bus stop and I couldn't help ourselves from giggling uncontrollably! Of course that's terribly silly, but it's not often you see a bare bum out on a main road!! Strangely, he didn't seem to notice it until he had gone about 10 metres but then promptly pulled up his trousers...a little too far...get the image? Yuk!

They say things come in threes, so I wonder what's going to happen next! Hope it's not me! (It's not me in the photo!!)