27th August - Fourth Day of Greenbelt

As I made my way to the Grandstand this morning I heard some lively music coming from
the Underground venue. I went in and found out there was a lively worship service in there. We sang choruses accompanied by rock music - a good way to wake up ready for the day ahead.
When I arrived at work there were quite a few people in the Centaur foyer - they had just come in ready for the next talk and were looking at the exhibition. I had one odd moment when a man came over and offered me a doughnut to get me to mind his bags. I'm not all that keen on doughnuts, but I took it anyway.
When my session finished there was no-one to take over, but it was quiet so I went into the main hall to see the rising. Martyn Joseph was interviewing the lead singer of Duke Special today. I've not heard his music before but I enjoyed listening to his songs and hearing what he had to say.
I then decided I need some lunch so I made my way over to the Performance Cafe where I heard a few songs from Steve Lawson followed by Cathy Burton. I then had another look around the shops. I bought my seminar CDs as I get a free one for working and then went over to the G-source music tent to hear Martyn Joseph play a few songs from his new album.
After this I went back to work as we were supposed to be taking down the display. However I found that there wouldn't be enough people available to do that for another hour so I sat down outside and relaxed in the sun.
I then helped the two Steves to dismantle the exhibition - it was quite hard work - the stands are quite heavy.
I went over to the Sovereign Lounge for the feedback meeting. I heard all about the parts of the festival that I had missed, saw a few friends and had the chance to contribute my own ideas.
I then went back out onto the site for tea which was Japanese veggie Tempura and noodles- very good. I just about got to mainstage in time to hear the last few Ian Archer songs. Then came Duke Special - they were great. The drummer was crazy as you can see from the video below. I enjoyed them more than Delirious - they were so different from anything else - music was lively too.

After a few songs from Delirious I decided I was getting tired so I went to have another hot chocolate with whipped cream before going off to bed.
This has cetainly been a great festival. It was good to see so many good gigs and nice to see old friends too.

26th August - Third Day of Greenbelt

I met John and Fiona at the Tiny Tea tent this morning and sat with them whilst they had breakfast. We then made our way down to the mainstage for the communion service.
I had a look at the service sheet and noticed that the first part of the service was one that Chris from Nexus/Sanctus had used when he led worship at our church a couple of months ago. The most effective part of the service was the prayers when we wrote our concerns on baloons and let them go. We decided to share communion between the three of us. After the service they had to go off to work so I went and had another cheese crepe for lunch and made my way towards the grandstand. I was hoping to get a place in the tango class but it was full up so I went back downstairs where I met Steve who used to manage the seminar tapes team which I used to be part of. He said he doesn't work at festival any more because they have a child to look after.
I decided to go to Miller's farm so I crossed the bridge and went to the other side of the site. I headed straight for the rabbits as I found you could get inside their enclosure and I took a few photos - they were really cute. I then went round the farm to see the other animals - the geese, chickens and donkeys.
Later I returned to the main site to hear John O'Donoghue's talk on Imagination - the path of the Spirit - he is an inspiring speaker. After tea I went over to the CMS tent to listen to the African Spiritual Jazz. It was great - I really enjoyed the music. After the gig there was a salsa lesson with Chuli. This was a lot busier than the one I went to last year and Chuli found it more difficult to lead it. I did have fun though.
I then went on to Last Orders for an hour before going off to bed. I found a shorter route back to the halls of residence tonight via the back entrance near Centaur.

25th August - Second Day of Greenbelt

I woke up early this morning as I wanted to go to the Christian Aid morning worship at Centaur. I was pleased I went as they announced that the second service had been cancelled. This one focused on Christian Aid's Climate Change Campaign and included a thought provoking version of Matthew 25 which sought to show how God feels about what we do to the the planet.
After a brief wander around the grandstand, I went to hear Mark Yaconelli talk about "How to make sure your funeral is well attended". It's all to do with the way you treat others - that seems to agree with the funerals I have been to. Just like his Dad Mark gave us food for thought and he has a good sense of humour.
After lunch, I went to see the "Heaven in a box" exhibition. We were given torches and led into a dark room. The boxes were mainly stuck onto the wall - they included some interesting glimpses of heaven. Loved the jelly baby angels and there were quite a few boxes with chocolates in them.
I then went to work in Centaur. It was relativly quiet so I had a wander around the Forgiveness project exhibition myself - the stories are moving and challenging. Steve warned me that he would be a bit late for his session so I went at the end of my shift as I needed to get to the Simon Mayo quiz which was on the other side of the site.
As usual the quiz was good fun. I liked the Cross Idol round when they got vicars out of the audience and asked them to preach on random bible passages. Charades and "One song to the tune of another" were good too. I wonder if I will be singing the words to "I'll be there for you" when we sing "We plough the fields" at Harvest time.
After the quiz I decided to have couscous and various salads for tea - very good.
I then went over to the Underground stage to see Eliot Jack and Belljar. Saw quite a few friends at the Belljar gig - it was good to see Paul, Emma, John and Fiona. Enjoyed the gig - was amused when Paul lost track of how many kids he has and when he said "We've not made an album this year -all I'm good at is making babies!" We waited at the backstage door to see Paul and Charlotte. I think Fiona must be the group's biggest fan. We then went down to the bar for a drink and caught up each other's news. I then went up to the Soveregn Lounge to see Lies Damned Lies. As with last year it was the ideal way to round off the day. Music is very mellow - they ended with the track "Mercy, pity, peace and Love" which is one of my favourites.

24th August - First day of Greenbelt

Mum and I arrived at the station fairly early. We waited on the platform for a while, but we didn't see te train arrive. I went to speak to one of the guards and he said that the train had arrived at a different platform. We rushed over there but we were too late. So we had to go back to the enquiries desk and work out which train to get. Fortunately there was another train about half-an-hour later. I caught that one and eventually got to Cheltenham at about 1pm. I caught the bus to the racecourse and walked to the halls of residence where I was staying. I unpacked and then went over to the box office to pick up my wristband. I met Jude (the Arts team leader) and went over to the hub tent for the briefing meeting. I found out that I'm working on the Forgiveness project exhibition in the Centaur building - a collection of photos of victims of crime and people who had lost relatives as a result of terrorist bombings. They had learnt to forgive the people who kiled their relatives and their stories were challenging. I have found out that I only have to work 4 hours altogether so I have a very easy job.
After the meeting I went to get some tea - I had a crepe and treated myself to a rainbow cookie. I had a wander around the site and met up with Sue from 25+ at the Tiny tea tent. She was with a friend from London. After talking to her for a short while, I went over to the grandstand to hear John Bell's talk on "God and His girls".
As usual his talk was interesting. I learnt a lot about women in the Bible who are rarely mentioned, but have stories worth telling.
After the talk, I went over to mainstage to see "Over the Rhine". I managed to see most of the gig. They were quite good. Then came the Billy Bragg concert. He was great. At one point he asked the audience if they wanted to hear the Carpenters or Bob Dylan. We voted for Carpenters, but got a bit of both - it was good fun. He then got us to join in with his own version of Bob Marley's "One love" which had the chorus "Let's drop the Debt and it will be all right". The lyrics were thought provoking and we joined in enthusiastically.
After the concert I went over to Last orders in Centaur. I heard Jude and Andy interview Ann Morisey (the speaker for this Sunday's service) and Mark Yaconelli who is speaking at Greenbelt for the first time. Jude asked each person she interviewed various questions in order to determine their carbon footprint as this year Christian Aid are focusing on climate change and trying to make us more aware of the impact we have on the environment. By midnight I started to feel quite tired so I returned to the halls of residence. I have had an enjoyable first day and it looks like there is plenty to look forward to tomorrow.

18th August - Barbecue(?) in Halifax

Chris and Tim picked me up at my parents' house about an hour later than expected and we set off for Halifax. We had great fun finding the farm where Martin lived - had to ask a few people for help. We eventually arrived at about 6pm. We found that we recognised quite a few people there including Peter and Norman. The barbecue had been abandoned due to the weather so we stayed inside. We cooked the burgers and sausages that we had brought with us. We also had some of Martin's cake and biscuits. We talked to Peter about his forthcoming holiday in Romania - there's quite a few of them going - it all sounds quite good. We then went into the lounge where the kids were having fun on the karaoke. They were doing songs from 'Grease' so Chris and I decided to do some jiving.
People started leaving at about 9pm so we decided to go too. Martin's Dad offered to show us round the cattery before we left. They are looking after 13 cats at the moment. They were all cute and friendly. Martin showed us the quickest way to get back to Halifax and we had a much more hassle-free journey home. We were back home by about 10pm. I'm really glad we went - it was an enjoyable afternoon.

13th August - Modern Jive class at Prestwich

Just realised I haven't blogged about dancing yet this month so here goes.
The beginners moves tonight were Basket, side to side,Yo Yo and comb. There seemed to be a fair number of complete beginners there tonight -it's always good to see new faces. I had quite a few dances in the break between classes.
Intermediate moves included a back wrap sway and an Irish pretzel which lots of people struggled with althought the instructor reckoned it wasn't a difficult move.
They announced that the last Friday freestyle raised £400 for one of our members who has cancer so that she can have a weekend break. The next one is the last day of the month so I won't be able to go as the Chester Day is the next day.

11th August - Barbecue at Anya's

I met Brian at the usual place tonight - he was delayed slightly as he had finished work late. We found Anya's quite easily thanks to the good directions and the fact that I had been there before. There was already a good number of people there when I arrived including Alan who normally arrives later than me. Alan and his friend John were roped into helping with the cooking which they did very well. The food was great - there were burgers, chicken drumsticks and kebabs and sausages and a good selection of salads. I found plenty of opportunities to chat to people I haven't seen for a while. Julie and Vanessa were both sporting good tans even though they had only been camping down south. Karen had a new hair do which looked good. Kay says her holiday in Oxford had to be cancelled due to the weather,but she had had a nice rest anyway. I talked to Sarah about the weekend away and she says there are still places left for men which she may have to give to women if she has no response soon. I chatted to Phil about the York day. We have decided to park in the city centre to avoid a really early start.
I have found out that John W is working in one of the indoor talk venues at Greenbelt. Also found out that Sue P is going with a friend and staying in a B&B.
It looks like the festival will provide many chances for meeting up like it did last year.
We decided to leave at about 11pm. Alan helped me to get out of the car park as I was a bit blocked in. We had an easy journey home and I was back before midnight. In all it was an enjoyable night.

10th August - Meal at Golden Rice Bowl

For a change the bus arrived on time tonight so I went to meet Brian and Jonathan in the Waterhouse. There wasn't time to have a drink but I found time to check the list in preparation for later.
We made our way to the restaurant which was surprisingly quiet. Whilst we were deciding what to have Debbie rang to say she would be late and asked me to order her usual dishes. Luckily she arrived before the starters. I had chicken and mushroom puffs for starters - I got five of them and they were very tasty. Debbie had spring rolls, Brian had crab and sweetcorn soup and Jonathan had seaweed. Then came the main courses. Debbie had Lemon chicken, Jonathan had Aubergine and Bean curd with vegetables, Brian had Chili and garlic chicken and I had King Prawn with Cashew nut and vegetables. My prawns were plump and juicy. I tried a bit of Brian's dish and found that it had quite a kick to it. After the meal the waiter brought us a slice of melon and half an orange each. They looked after us well and even offered to take our photo when Brian brough out his camera.
We left the restaurant and returned to the Waterhouse. I decided to try the summer fruit cider which was quite sweet and deceptively strong. I guess I'm getting out of the habit of drinking now I do more driving. We caught up on each other's news. Aparently Debbie is now going to Social Circle meetings as Activities seem to be winding down. It was good to see everyone again - we must do this again.
We caught a taxi home and thanks to the cider I reckon I slept well tonight!

8th August - Tango class at Heaton Park Social club

You may remember that a while ago we had a tango demonstration during a modern jive night. We finally got round to trying a tango lesson for ourselves. Chris gave me a lift there and we found the place quite easily. The lessons were in the function room downstairs which had a good-sized dance floor. The teachers were two young women - Lucy and Andrea (who is Venezuelan). I was surprised to see that I recognised a few of the other dancers from Jive class. It took me a little while to relax and get used to a new style of dancing, but the teachers were helpful and showed me where I was going wrong. We stayed to watch the intermediate class and I was quite impressed by some of the dancing. We have decided that we will go back again next week. Andrea says she is going to be teaching at La Tasca from Sunday onwards so we may go there sometime.

4th August - Northern Lights Committee Meeting in Doncaster

Chris, Brian and I met up at my parents' house this morning and set off for Doncaster. Chris seemed to be familiar with the route so we discussed the agenda as we travelled. The weather was good and the roads were reasonably quiet so we arrived at Paul and Yvonne's house in good time for the meeting. Sandra, Paula and Christine were already there and Adele and Keith arrived at the same time as us. Yvonne had bought plenty cakes and biscuits so there was a good selection of things to eat during the meeting.
We started off by talking about the events we have planned for the rest of this year.
Keith says bookings are going well for the York Day - I think we have about 40 people going at the moment.We are also starting to make final arrangements for the November Dinner and Disco. This will be the last event that Paul and Paula will be planning as they are retiring from the leadership team this year. It looks like Keith is taking over as chair with help from the rest of the team.
We had a break for lunch which was carrot and coriander soup followed by more flapjacks and cakes.
We then discussed events for next year. We already have a quiz planned for April and we are hoping to have a couple of weekends away - one of which may be in Europe. Chris suggested a day in Liverpool as it will be city of Culture next year. We need to have something on our side of the Pennines for a change! I have been tasked with booking a West-End musical for some time next year.
At the end of the meeting Paula left to go to the theatre, Paul took Christine to the station and Sandra and Adele went home too. The rest of us ordered a Chinese meal for 4 (between 6 as portions are quite generous!) from the local takeaway. We decided to eat outside as it was still warm and sunny. There was a good selection of dishes including spare ribs, prawn and vegetable fried rice , chow mein and chicken with water chestnuts and cashew nuts. We also shared a bottle of Chianti which Chris bought with him - he still has several bottles of wine at home which were birthday presents.
When it started to get dark, we said goodbye to Paul and Yvonne and made our way back to Manchester. We had another good journey and decided to stop at a pub in Shaw near Oldham on the way. It was quite a modern Travelodge - though I'm not sure if we could have an event there in the future as we couldn't see a function room.
We arrived home at about 10pm. In all we had a pretty good day - I think I got to know the rest of the committee a bit better and we have quite a few ideas for next year's events.