Music & Raspberries!

I blogged earlier about how Laura and I harvested all of the cherries from our parents' cherry tree. Well, we've also been harvesting wild raspberries.

There were lots of wild raspberries along the edge of the field where Laura and I used to walk in Blenheim, and our neighbours there have some in their back lot which they let us harvest. I helped Laura to find the best berries and I kept the bugs away from her while she was berry-picking. (I am a good bug catcher!) The best raspberries, however, were from our own garden in London.

Last month, Laura had to take out half of our garden so that people looking to buy our house could see where the car parking was. We were sad about that. Especially because most of what Laura had to remove were wild raspberry canes with lots of blossoms on them.

Our raspberries were a gift from the birds the first summer Laura had this house. We let the rapberry canes grow in our driveway because we don't own a car, and every year they invited more of their friends to move in so that every year Laura harvested more raspberries than the year before. Last year she had enough raspberries from her own garden to make her famous Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake!

Then, this year: the big cull. Half of our raspberry plants sacrificed to appease potential home buyers with motor cars. But the raspberry patch obviously forgave Laura because this year we harvested 8 cups of raspberries from our own garden!

Laura made a raspberry pie out of some of the raspberries we harvested in Blenheim. The raspberries from our own garden, however, are waiting for our next party (or three!) so they can contribute to cheesecakes again. In the meantime, Laura has been posting some of her raspberry recipes on The Polyphagous Dragon so if you have your own raspberries, you can try some of these yummy recipes out without needing to wait for our next party. (We still don't know when that will be.)

First thing this morning, I helped Laura harvest the last of our raspberries. Then we headed off to the Home County Folk Festival.

Remember how Laura's dragons were always complaining that she never took them to any music concerts? Well, dragons are kind of big and scary and, well, crazy, but I am small and cute and everybody loves me, so I got to go to the music festival with Laura today and hear all kinds of wonderful music!

At the first concert, we heard Tannis Slimmon, Mark Reeves, Mae Moore and Valdy all sing, accompanied by a famous guitar.

I love Tannis' music. Laura has one of her CDs which we listen to all the time. I hope that Laura gets a new job soon so we can buy more CDs though, because Tannis just finished a new CD which we don't have yet, and the other musicians were really good too!

Our friend Allison was at the first concert too. Not playing. Just enjoying the music this weekend like me and Laura. So Laura and I got to sit with her, and I met Allison's Mum & Dad and lots of other people who wanted to come and talk to me (because I am so beautiful and I am a princess, after all).

At the next concert, we got to hear the Sirens (a wonderful London band that Laura has known for a long time) and Sarah Burnell (a Celtic singer & fiddler). Then there was a performance by a cool band called Twilight Hotel. (I really hope that Laura gets a job that pays a LOT of money, because we have a lot of new CDs to buy!)

After the Twilight Hotel concert, I went to get my picture taken with the famous guitar. They wanted lots of people to pose with the guitar to make it even more famous, and I figured a photograph with a princess would be a real boost to that effort. Plus, the lady who was helping to look after the guitar and organize the photo shoot was really nice to me, so I consented to the photo-op.

While I was waiting to have my picture taken (when the guitar people send me the picture, I will post it here so you can all see it) it was very hot. A nice lady came and shared her water with me. (Laura brought water to the festival for us, of course, but Laura's water was all warm by this time and the nice lady had beautiful cool water.) The lady told us all about her dog that helps her to garden, and Laura told her how helpful I am, and I gave her the address of my blog so she can read about my adventures. (Hi Deborah!)

After photos, it was time for more music. This time with Mae and Tannis again (both beautiful, beautiful people - I hope that we can get their new CDs soon!) and Treasa Levasseur. Oh! She was good too! Laura got to hear Mae and Treasa play last summer in Owen Sound, and Tannis she has known for a while and heard many times, but today was my first day hearing any of them live!

For my last concert of the day, the Sirens came back, this time with their friends Tanglefoot. Party time! Tanglefoot were a little bit loud for my sensitive princess ears, but they sure were fun! I didn't understand why none of the people got up to dance (Laura says it is a common failing of London audiences) but when another dog arrived on the scene, I decided to mix it up with him a bit. The other dog didn't want to dance with me, however. He went and hid under some of the sound equipment, and one of the guys in the band made fun of us. (That's okay though. Princesses can laugh too, and Tanglefoot were funny!)

After the other dog declined my dance invitation, a little boy came to play with me. He stroked my ears and scratched my bum and was generally a pretty good kid -- except for when he tried to lie on top of me. (I am a puppy dog, people, NOT a pillow!) He was nice though. So was Tanglefoot's fiddler Sandra. She came down off the stage to talk to me after their set.

After the Sirens/Tanglefoot jam, I went home. It was a hot day, and I have to save some energy so I can greet my adoring fans at the festival again tomorrow. Sure did get to hear some great music today though. Folk festivals are fun!