October pub festival of dogs

Welcome back!  October has been a month of rather less travel for us two adventurers.  Well, Gail continues to drive cross-country on a regular basis, but we have pretty well stayed in Yorkshire. A few dinner dates, really nice nights in at friends places.  Thanks to Rob and Maria and thanks to Graeme and Kate (and Bentley) for some fantastic meals and wines.

So what else's been happenning you ask?  Well there was the Driffield Dog show at the Wetherby Race course grounds on a beautiful couple of days. http://www.driffieldchampionshipdogshow.co.uk/?pageid=229, We could only get to the hound day so missed the Great Danes. They for some reason are in working dogs, go figure.

I can't be sure but I think I got 11th place. (you can click on a picture and it gets bigger you know)

As you will remember from last months post we fare welled Jon and Kylie back to Oz last month and this month we also fare welled Karen Downie who is also going back, to Albury.  Gail is the only Aussie import in the company up north now, except for Ann but she's resident.  Here are some shots I remembered to take of the party. Karen has bought a home in the Wirral (near Chester/Liverpool) and that was the party venue before the tenants move in. It was a good Party, there was wine and many happy people.  We stayed the night.

 Gail is talking to Ann in the kitchen of Karen's home

some of Gail's workmates

 Karen, in red, with two of her friends whose names I forget but the stripey girl is going to contact us about something fun if I recall.  Gail may remember, I think she has a card of hers. It was a good party.

 I am trying not to talk down to Ann.  I never talk down to Ann, she's nice and much bigger than she looks.  It was a great party anyway and we shared a nice grilled English Breakfast with Karen, helped clean the place up and watched NZ beat some team in white in a World something rugby game.  And then we drove home.

You may or may not recall from years ago Gail and I went to a ploughing competition in Wetherby.  Well it was on again in October and this time I took some shots from the new bypass so you could see the scale of the competition. In case you thought such things were for just a few blokes and their tractors and horses.

And then the WETHERBY FESTIVAL for 2011 kicked off.  Gail was surprised I joined her in buying a ticket to listen to Harmony singing in the catholic church..... But I have become a Wetherby Lion and a couple of the Lion members were singing in the group.  Solidarity brother!  I still hate harmony singing.

 I felt like the guy at the top right.  You can tell by the audience and the general maturity of the choir there was little new music being delivered. , despite that though, for  a harmony choir , they did mostly do what the ticket said.  It was not a bad night all in all.  Gail's old troupe of ladies in the SydneyTownChoir were a long way better in their day.

I have referred to the Crypt under St James church before,

 It is in this cozy space Gail and I have had some of the most entertaining nights of our time here.  Gail didn't make the NIGHT OF STAND-UP comedy but Rob and Angela came with me.  We didn't talk much as we couldn't stop laughing.  The comedy acts were so good I have to say I have not had a better time at a comedy show ever.  The night was put on by the Kill for a Seat mob and again they did themselves proud. 

 The humour was nothing if not designed to shock and amuse and the one lass and three blokes provided a very diversified night of comedic style.  I promise I won't try and repeat the jokes and I know the photos are just photos but ........ Anvil Springsteen, a scousa currently living in the geordie capital of Newcastle, gave vent to many regional put downs, "Mum, why are your hands so soft?".... "Of course they are, I'm only 15!" And a hundred more fired off to prevent anyone telling him scouser jokes as he proved he'd heard them all. A quick witted professional he used prepared themes while responding with brilliant improvised material to heckles and interjections, to the crypt under the church location and to the fact everybody brings snacks to these crypt dos,  he decided to call the event the picnic club and we invented a password for future comedy nights...   Anvil was sort of the compare but really did four tight and linked comedy sets by way of introducing;

Iszi Lawrence, a funny bisexual, who'd a' thought? She gave a great start-up set based on student life, kitchen sink Jenga,  sexual angst about body functions and the trials of giving up smoking.. 

Peter Brush followed, an anx-ridden unlikely street gang member with a dead pan but perfectly timed delivery.

and the headline act Dan Bland,a bloke so dry he eradicates damp. He shared observations on his life challenges, he is not really ready for the committment required to accept a Bag for Life from Sainsbury's supermarket, he's ashamed to admit he holds a loyality card for one supermarket but shopped at another as the prices were cheaper.  So guilt ridden he went to the customer loyality service girl, threw himself on her mercy, cried it out and confessed.  She called security.....  "They take it that seriously"...

All in all a really great night of crude, rude and outrageous comedy pieces, the like of which should never soil these pages.

 

Oh, did I say?, I have started to do a few days pulling pints at my local.  Nicola, my new boss, is being very nice to me. Especially over the Halloween period. 

We have an arrangement,  I try really hard to get things right and she lets me fit my work days around Gail's days off, our parties, our travel plans, and my Wetherby Lion's and Leeds Savage meetings and duties..... Turns out I don't work that often.

The wetherby festival rolled on through the week and we went to see two plays, DH Lawrence's  'The Rocking Horse Winner', a really tragic psycho plot excellently produced and acted but to which we didn't take the camera.  And Laying The Ghost, an irreverent comedy with a strong script but a weaker level of performance, or should I say patchy.  Both plays however had so much enjoyment capacity we had  fantastic nights out. 

 And LOOK!!!!! A big Great Dane in our House!!!!!  Say hello to Bentley.  Bentley belongs to our near neighbours Graeme and Kate and we were allowed to look after him while they went out to York to watch Vince Fernier on Stage.  Graeme, not Kate, is a rather huge Alice Cooper fan and he has sort of been stalking the man on his UK tour this time.  I have a soft spot for 'School's Out'  and the stage show but not to that extent.  Bentley remains as yet unaffected by ancient goth rock but he is but a pup, barely one year old.

 He is not used to slippery bamboo floors.

 But is really cute, and thinks feet smell good

 But taste better

 And he can't get used to slippery floors

 but quite likes a hug.


And with those 'furry animal' shots the October blog is finished. 
November is shaping up quite nicely with some fireworks, but more of that all in good time.