Rock of Ages Festival

Well... it wasn't really a festival as you'd normally imagine a festival to be. To me, a festival is something brightly coloured, sunny, outdoors, daytime and crowded. This was quite possibly the exact opposite.

After picking Aaron up on my way home from work and meeting Keith in Nandos for dinner at the O2 (again!) the three of us trekked off to Canning Town in search of this Rock festival.

We've been to the nicer parts of Canning Town. Its got a nice modern tube station on the Jubilee Line. It's one stop from Greenwich. It boasts a massive exhibition centre, The Excel.

But head off in the wrong direction and you find yourself in dimly lit industrial areas on the Thames, with junk yards, a variety of stenches and roads full of pot holes, which don't deter the buses from speeding through at a rate of knots anxious to be far from there. It was this side of Canning Town that the three of us found ourselves wandering through looking for the elusive Bridgehouse 2 venue.

It was so well hidden we took a couple of trips around the block and were on the verge of giving up and going home before we noticed a tiny sign tucked away announcing that the upstairs of a small building was to play host to this event. We were cold, somewhat uncomfortable being out on the streets and tired of wandering about, so we headed off up to the top floor.

What we found was free tickets for the rest of the weekend because the band we had come to see (SPiT LiKE THiS) had pulled out, a crowd of abut 30-odd people, mostly band members and small bar.

The festival had more of a local pub feel to it, which actually was quite nice. We perched ourselves on some bar stools and settled in to be entertained. We had time to see three bands before having to succumb to "last train" mania and rush back to the Station. There are reviews and pics on Keith's blog.

First up were Trashtown Thrillers, who were a fun, earthy, energetic band to get things going with.


I liked all the bands we saw but my favourite of the evening had to be Cato Street Conspiracy, who were up second. They took forever to set up (which Keith and I got a little grumpy about) but were definitely worth the wait.


Couldn't help but think their lead guitarist was a relative of Rimmer (Red Dwarf).



Last but not least were Kitty Hudson, musically good, visually odd! You could be forgiven for seeing on Bass guitar, The Kurgan (Highlander), lead vocals a short, young Paul Weller, drums, The Big Show and Guitar, Neville Longbottom of Harry Potter fame.



It was a fun night even if the venue was in a dodgy area. Not convinced we'll use the free tickets for the rest of the weekend, especially as we are heading off to see Dragonforce in Southend tomorrow night.

Tooth Fairy!

Gemima started the morning off grumbling about her wobbly tooth. She continued to grumble about it throughout breakfast, then halfway through her bowl of soggy Oatibix, she raced up to the bathroom to look in the mirror.

She came back down, pleased as punch, tooth in hand and gap in mouth, announcing that last time a tooth had come out at her Dad's, the tooth fairy left her £5!

Sadly the tooth fairy who visits here has less resources so she's only getting £1!

Busy, busy, busy... and nice dinner surprise!

Feeling a bit more human today. Talked with Keith and Aaron and went to bed feeling less crappy and upset last night.

Today was insanely busy. My supervisor and her line manager were both out on a course in the morning, so I was pretty much left to my own devices. It was a good learning experience - lots happening on my cases and I think I dealt with them pretty well.

Got a message from Keith during the day saying he had changed his mind and was now going to the Cryogenica gig in Islington, so we arranged to have a very quick dinner at the O2 in Greenwich.

Rushed off after work to pick Gemima up from after-school club before heading off to meet Keith in Nandos, where dinner was on the table waiting for us! We got to chat and eat for about 40 minutes before Keith had to race back to get the tube.

It was a nice surprise. Didn't have to cook AND got to see Keith! Result!

Spot the Common Denominator...

I am feeling a little flat today. Could be tiredness. Could be the early arrival of the decorators, come to give me belly ache and backache.

Most likely its because my son has chosen, yet again, not to come home but to stay at his Nan's.

So, lets work this out...

My eldest daughter doesn't want to live with me.
My son doesnt want to live with me.
My youngest daughter only lives with me part-time.
My boyfriend doesn't want to live with me.

In fact, no-one wants to fucking live with me!!!!

Am I really so bad?

Two Years Today!

Happy Anniversary Keith!!

Love you loads

xxxxx

...and The Other Thing ...

I didn't feel I could just add this into the previous post. I thought about posting it retrospectively, as though I had written it on the day but didn't feel that would be right either.

Probably the biggest and most traumatic event to happen this year was finding Douggie, my step-father, dead in his flat.

I can't really think of a nice, gentle way to write about this, so blunt will have to do.

I was away for the weekend at Keith's. My Mum had gone to my Nan's. No-one could get in touch with Douggie and Mum called me worried about him on the Friday evening. She didn't call back over the rest of the weekend so I made the assumption that all was OK.

It was a weird weekend anyway. Friday was the 18th September and Saturday was a day I didn't want to acknowledge (nothing to do with it being Talk Like a Pirate Day). I don't recall much about Sunday but I do remember waking up Monday morning with a terrible feeling of anxiety. So much so that I even remarked to Keith while I was driving him to work that I had a really bad feeling about something but I didn't know what it was.

I got to work and got a call from my Mum who was at dialysis. She was still worried about Douggie and she and my sister were going to pop around to check on him when she got home at 1:30 that afternoon. My feeling of dread resurfaced (it had been simmering in the background all morning) so I offered to go with them as Mum has a dodgy heart and I really didn't want her to walk in on what I imagined she could be walking in on.

I left work early - explained my concerns to my manager and my colleagues and assured them that I'd keep them posted. I got home before Mum only to find that my sister now couldn't come so I would have to take Mum myself.

Great.

I couldn't let my Mum go in first. I'd rather she'd not gone in at all. I wanted to call the police to get them to check before we got there but she wasn't having any of it. She didn't want them disturbing Douggie if the worst had happened.

We got to his flat and persuaded the warden to let us in - we didn't have his spare key because Mum hadn't been able to find it in the cupboard. I managed to persuade Mum to stay in the hallway while I went in and checked.

I'm not going to go into detail. He'd died on either the Friday evening or the Saturday morning. It wasn't cold weather. It wasn't a cold flat. It was Monday afternoon when I found him. That's one memory I wish I didn't have in my head.

Anyhow, his daughter lives in Barking and doesn't drive so as the eldest step-daughter (and the only one present) I had the task of pulling myself together, phoning everyone who needed to be phoned and arranging the funeral.

I agreed the date with the funeral directors. I organised his cremation for 6th October, which was, unbeknown to me, his and my Mum's 25th anniversary.

Keith was good. He was there for me (after a minor hiccup). He came to the funeral with me and held me when I cried.

I arranged to have the Last Post played and the traditional Military Funeral music, the name of which escapes me now. It was a good way to say goodbye. My sister hosted the wake. I didn't feel up to socialising so I didn't stay for long. Keith and I left and went to grab something to eat at TGI Friday's on the way back to his house.

Douggie was part of my life for 28 years and now he's gone. I don't want to remember him laying curled up on the floor where he'd collapsed next to his bed. I don't want to remember seeing his false teeth which had rolled under the bed. Sadly I think that for a very long time those will be the first images I see whenever I think of him. For weeks afterwards they were the only images I saw every time I closed my eyes.

I don't really know what else to say...

New House, New Job, Same wonderful man...

Wow... its been long. So much has happened since I last blogged.

I have somewhere to live! Not a palace and not mine but a rented three bed place in Eltham, SE London. It's down the road from Mum's, its nice, quiet and calming and no little chavvy gits running about outside! It's not far from Nick so he is relieved I am not taking Gemima a million miles away and the kids get to stay in the same schools. I moved in on 12 October - had no credit history so had to pay six months rent up front - also had to buy most of the furnishings as I basically had bugger all. Bye bye savings!

I have a new job! My contract with LDT in Bexley was due to end early this month so a job hunt was necessary. I'm now working for social services in Bromley with older people. Been there since 26 October so the past few weeks have been mainly about settling into the new home and settling into the new job!

I went on holiday! Keith and I took Aaron, Gemima and Keith's Mum, Linda to the Isle of Wight for a week. It was lovely. Many, many photos were taken and blogged on Keith's page. We had a lovely time.

Keith and I are still going strong. Tomorrow is our official 2nd anniversary and we are actually celebrating it this year! We're off out to see SPiT LiKE THiS tonight - we seem to see a lot of them!

I've been out and about seeing more bands and events this year than I have in the last 15 years! I have been utterly lazy about blogging this year but now that I am settled (ish) that will change. I've bought myself a camera too!

Watch this space!