August Bank Holiday weekend

Friday 24^th

The beginning of the Driffield Folk Festival (not quite up to the standard of Cambridge…or Beverley….or anywhere else to be honest), but a good excuse to wander into town for a few drinks and some live music. We started at the Blue Bell pub. I had forewarned James that the venue was a little tacky and shabby and the clientele may be more like a Derby and Joan club. In his usual optimistic manner, James hadn’t quite believed me, so was a little surprised when he arrived. I re-assured him that the music should more than make up for the venue, but it seems I was wrong! We missed the highly entertaining and very talented Gibby MacNaught (who I saw last year) and instead heard a young girl who jokingly said her friends referred to her songs as ‘music to slit your wrists by’. They weren’t wrong! Then we were treated to the ‘Wold Folk’ who were 2 men and one woman probably in their 60’s with a couple of guitars and a song sheet. They obviously decided it wasn’t worth dressing up for the occasion, or putting on any type of professional show, or singing very well! When James said that the beer wasn’t very nice, we decided that was the last straw, and left to see what they could offer instead in the other pub taking part in the folk festival, The Tiger. I had never been into The Tiger as the only time I had peeked inside the door I had seen a handful of elderly men, smoking heavily, and so it hadn’t really felt like ‘my sort of place’. However, enticed by some live music, and VERY IMPORTANTLY – THE SMOKING BAN (allowing the majority of the public, ie., non-smokers to enter a pub and not be choked to death or stink of smoke - Yipeee). Not only did they serve a very drinkable (apparently) guest bitter from a local brewery and Pinot Grigio in chilled miniature bottles (yummy), but the band were great (well, the musicians were great and the singer was a bit dodgy, but they did quite a few songs we could sing along to so most of the pub was joining in). Hoorah! James is a bit of a music fan, and had played the saxophone and a bit of guitar in his youth (I’m yet to hear any proof). We met up with James’s brother and his girlfriend who live in a nearby village, and had a fun evening.

Saturday 25th

I popped over to Beverley on Saturday morning to see off my sister, Mia, who had been staying with mother for the week while visiting us all. It’s the last time I will see her before she is off on her long travels to infinity and beyond……..ok, Canada.

Then, spurned on by the fun of Friday evening, James and I decided to drop into The Tiger again on Saturday afternoon. They had a stage set up in the pub garden, and a hog roast. It was warm and sunny and the perfect day to sit in a pub garden with good food and drink and listen to some live music. When we got there, we had just missed Gibby, and were then treated to The Wold Folk !!! Noooooooooo…..Same songs as the night before, possibly a little worse? But as I said, we were sitting outside in the warmth and sunshine (definitely a novelty), feeling relaxed, so never mind! There were a few more bands that were ok to listen to but still nothing spectacular. Still, we’d had a very pleasant afternoon.

That evening, James and I decided to try our luck again with more folk music. A third venue had joined the circuit – The Spread Eagle. We walked in and found a few elderly people and with a couple of guitars sat in a little annex off the main pub area. The standard of music was worse than the Wold Folk (if that’s possible). James and I vowed that next year we would enter as the J&J band as we couldn’t be worse than what we’d heard so far! The Spread Eagle had decided it was ok still to have distracting images flickering incessantly on the huge screen TV, and also to have pop music coming through the speakers !!! I suppose the fact that the only wine was Chardonnay should have been a warning to me, but we decided to quickly move on. So, back to The Tiger…

The Tiger was packed full of people (a good sign), and despite that, we managed to squeeze into a couple of seats very close to the band (goody). The band consisted of a couple of guitar players, a banjo player and an Irish fiddle player. They had only just met, and weren’t actually a band at all, but played very well together – especially the fiddle player who was fantastic.

Is that what it was like in the old days? People getting together in a pub, bringing instruments, having a bit of a sing-song. What a fun way to spend an evening. Shame it’s not like that every weekend!

Sunday 26^th

After our relaxing Saturday, we decided to be a bit more energetic and go off for a bike ride. I was planning to offer James my sleek ladies bike, when the neighbours took pity on him and lent him a bike. We packed a picnic into a backpack, took a map and headed off towards Little Driffield and then further north, ending up along a beautiful country lane and into a field of cows….where we decided to stop for our picnic. Sunshine, no people, no cars, a few cows. Salad, fruit, some wine….perfect. Then a bit more cycling. Up some hills, hard on the legs but the views over the Wolds were fantastic. We could see the Humber Bridge (20 miles away) and even as far as the power station at Immingham, Lincs. That view and the journey downhill made it all worth while. Down to Nafferton and then back to Driffield. Approx 15 miles. Fantastic! (although a little bruised due to hard saddle!).

Then, we came back and decided to defrost the fridge/freezer. And then take off the doors and reverse them (a 5 minute job which actually took about 2 hours!)

As if that wasn't enough, we then decided to re-organise the loft. Everything came out, all the rubbish sorted, including a full flat packed kitchen that was there from the previous owner, and then shelves put into the loft space, good stuff to be kept (ok a bit of dubious historic stuff I couldn't bare to throw away - ie., freddy frog) and then all put back neatly - thanks, James! - and job well done. Eventually finished by about 11pm at night and left an enormous pile of junk brought down 2 flights of stairs in lots of small batches to be taken to the tip for the morning, and a sizable pile for the charity shop too. We slept well that night!

Monday 27th

James managed to load all the rubbish into his car – quite a feat as I reckoned there were about 3 car loads (he must be fantastic at logic puzzles) and prepared for that most popular of Bank Holiday activities – taking rubbish to the tip.

After all that excitement, and with the promise of the good weather continuing, we set about having a lunchtime bar-b-que. Yummy. The clouds came over, the wind got a bit stronger….it must be a bank holiday.

We decided to relax for the afternoon, and re-organise the kitchen cupboards. James and I certainly know how to have fun!! Actually, very satisfying.

Blimey….I’ll be glad to get back to work for a rest!

(only kidding. It was a great weekend. Doesn’t work just get in the way of life??)