Wow, another big week
Justin had his welcome on Thursday
Followed by a fancy catered lunch at home with the Danes, and Karen & Tom
And then there was the Festival of Small Halls...
Yep, it was finally happening
Justin had drinks on Friday night after work - so we didn't leave for Inglewood til around 7pm.
Helen and Michaela were already there - and had obviously eaten before we got there
Justin and I warmed up our dinner - and ate in the kitchen. Helen and Michaela stayed and chatted with us - no TV that night
Saturday morning, and Helen and Michaela set out around 7am to find the platypus in Bridgwater - no luck yet again.
Breakfast in bed for Justin in the morning, and it was my first day in a month of not wearing my boot....(brought it with me just in case)
Went across to the Town Hall at 11am with Helen and Michaela to set up the tables and chairs etc
Tenar was already there to help, and Justin and Enzo also came across a bit later
Didn't take too long which was good
We set up 8 round tables - with 8 chairs each. Decided against table cloths - would just have to wash them. Looked pretty good as it was
At that stage we had sold 67 tickets - and were expecting more to be sold at the door (sold 75 all up). Would have loved 100, but 75 was pretty good
Went back to the house and started organising for lunch around 1pm. It was a lovely day, so thought we'd have it outside. Michaela helped me set up. I set it for 12 9weren't exactly sure when everyone was coming)
The Danes, Foxes and Schomburghs rolled up around 1pm, and we set out a feast on the spare table, as it was, we were 10 for lunch
Very pleasant
The kids - Mad & Hughie, and Nick & Courtney arrived after lunch - and picked at some of the food, as did Bruce and Sam when they dropped in
All up we were 14 staying in the house - me and Justin, Chris & Jo, Deb & John, Stacey & Geoff, Mad & Hughie, Nick & Courtney, and Helen & Michaela. Put the "kids" in the Bee room - brought our queen inflatable mattress which Nick and Courtney slept on, and Mad and Hughie were on the couches. Helen was in the Music room, and Michaela in the little yellow room. All worked out well
Courtney, Mad and Michaela before going across to Small Halls
Around 5pm I started getting ready to go across the road to the Town Hall - to see that everything was in order
We all went across around 6pm to get our pre ordered paella from the Little Sangria Food Truck and ate them on chairs set up in a circle on the lawn.
I had wanted to set up some critical mass across the road - to rev up some interest - and I think we succeeded - as a few groups set up and ate
Dave from Black Wallaby Wines was all set up inside - with his wines plus some beers and soft drinks that our Town hall Committee had bought
And I went upstairs to take a photo of people starting to fill the hall
Everything was going like clock work - apart from the Welcome to Country by a local Indigenous Group - they couldn't make it - so Enzo as MC did an acknowledgment of Country
Given that I was setting up the hall, I reserved 2 central tables for us (we were 16 people all up) - and another for David S's group
So we were in prime position
And then at 7pm - the Ruminators (Justin & Chris) were up on stage for their 15 minute opening set
And they were great, sure our two tables were very vocal in our appreciation, but other tables also clapped and cheered/took videos etc. In fact, towards the end of the evening, one young boy came up and asked Justin for his autograph!
Next up was Lucy Farrell a sweet voiced English folk singer who was living in Canada.
There was an intermission after Lucy, and people flew to the bar - as it wasn't open during the sets
Headline act - Hat Fitz and Cara were last - they were also very good
Justin took a great photo of Cara - which was a reflection of her in the window
And then there was an encore, and they asked both Lucy, and Justin & Chris to come up and join them
It was a great night - everything went smoothly. The Smalls Hall people were very professional/well organised
And then back to our place - it wasn't late - around 9.30 - and we invited the Small Halls people back with us - but they didn't come. We did have a couple of others though - Sue & Chris
Given that the dining room table was fully extended, and that we had a blow up queen bed set up in the Bee room upstairs - there wasn't that much "public" space available
Hughie brought down his big speaker - and we all started dancing around in the downstairs hallway - it was uproarious good fun. Madeleine took some videos also - which are hilarious
Madeleine and Courtney having a sit down
Justin and co relaxing in the dining room
Turned the music down around midnight - and I went to bed soon after - slept very well.
Breakfast was slow in the morning....people came down at various points in time, and Bruce and Sam also dropped in
Everyone left before lunch
Alex had contacted me yesterday to say that he and Jane were thinking of driving up this way on Sunday, and maybe they could drop in for lunch - so I said yes of course
They arrived around 12.45, and we had some delicious leftovers from yesterday supplemented by some new tit bits from today
All very pleasant
After Alex and Jane left a friendly magpie came and said hello
Below is the photo I took of it
And the photo that I took of Justin taking a photo of the magpie
Finally his photo of the magpie
