From Oink to Vroooom!

Well from a dead pig really, so dead it's been cured, sliced and vacumed packed as bacon! It was the quarterly farmers market in Woking today. Which of course had to be investigated and tasted for all it's scrumptious delights!
Came away with home-made piccalilli, rhubarb & ginger jam, bacon, two flavours of sausages (beef & guinness and pork & sweet chilli), sundried tomatoes, chilli & garlic olives, hot cross buns, onion focaccia and last but not less scrummy, Chelsea buns!
Then it was off to a VW Campervan show at Sandown Park Racecourse. Managed to get there after an hour in one looooong line of traffic - it should have taken 25 minutes! Was wonderful wandering round looking at all the different types. Also had a gander at the ones for sale.. I very much like the Karmann Ghia's! There was a lovely pale blue soft top that I very well could have driven away with - if I could drive of course!
Of course it being an English spring, it started raining halfway through the day. Ah well, at least it meant getting a good look at the campers outside instead of trying to peer through loads of people!
It was then back home, via a supermarket for the food necessities (like fruit and muesli bars), for putting the new tv stand together and doing some of the house cleaning.. ahh, what a day!

Satin & Fur, Ties and Braces

Well what a funky birthday celebration for Miss S!
It's always a bit dubious trying out some place no one has ever been before and with a dress code that no one is quite sure of (a strict no jeans policy! Dang!). Though in this case it was excellent!
We went to a basement venue on Dean Street, Black Gardenia... red velvet seats, wall paintings of beautiful women (one wearing a skirt of bananas!), mood lightening and wonderful rockabilly music that I haven't heard in years!
It was G&T's all round, great conversation (especially about the meaning of the bathroom names - Snakes and Fishtails) and people watching... satin, fur, short skirts and dresses, cords, ties, leather trousers and braces!
Oh, there was live music too! Guy playing Jazz on the piano when we arrived and then a band, though not quite sure what style they were, though did sound good!
Then it was off to find a late evening snack, me realising that I had to run to catch a train and missing out on the carry on, hope it was a good carry on Miss S!

You can check out more info of Black Gardenia at http://www.myspace.com/blackgardenia93 though please note that there is adult content!

Vibrating Chest, Cottonball Ears and Sticky Feet!

What a wonderful evening! Meet up with Miss S for a scrummy pre-concert dinner at Satay Bar in Brixton. Delicious cocktails (gotta love happy hour!), scrummy food and great conversation.
Then it was off to The Goose pub (the usual meeting point for those heading to Brixton Academy) to meet up with everyone else. It was packed and the fridges virtually empty! At least there were no queues to the bathrooms though!
Then it was onto the evening's main event... see my first ever Levellers concert, woo!
We caught the arse end of Alabama 3 (literally - I can take this band or leave it and was in a leave it mood), then Dreadzone came on, wicked! Had everyone bouncing round, clapping and waving their arms in the air and I even recognised one of their songs!
After they'd finished and the usual roadies doing their thing it was onto the main attraction.. what a way to start... the fiddler standing on the speakers playing madly, then the bass vibrating your chest, lights flashing, awesome! Once again, only recognising one of the songs they still managed to keep me foot tapping and bouncing the night away, well wicked!
Can't wait until the next one, yeah!


http://www.brixton-academy.co.uk/
http://www.alabama3.co.uk/
http://www.dreadzone.com/
http://www.levellers.co.uk/