Articles by Gina

And so the 2 weeks are up, and tomorrow I move on… talk about event density… we have sorted the contents of Fern House , the potting shed is bursting at the seams; Diana and I did our gig at the Village Hall; and I am the proud owner of a brand new Fylde mandola – what a beauty… quite the star of the show, even if I don’t really know what I’m doing yet… plus the day I went over to Penrith to pick it up I asked Roger Bucknall and his wife where I could go hiking around there and they recommended Aira Force, off Ullswater – fabulous ravine with a series of falls – a lovely day all ‘round – happy birthday to me…

the village hall concert was a great success – we had a good crowd, about 50 or so, any more would have been tricky with the purely acoustic set-up, so it’s just as well there was a coach trip to darlington that evening to see ‘Grease” at the Civic Theatre! It was mostly friends but some strangers, a good mix; we raised a bunch of money for the Hall and one and all had a really good time. Might try for an annual event… btw, the backdrop in the photos is a fabulous mural of the Balder viaduct, just up the river, that used to adorn the sitting room wall of the house next door to Saltoun (where lovely neighbours Jeff and Carol now live). It was painted by Maxwell Fry, a noted architect and old friend of the family from the Tehran days, who many years ago came to stay the weekend with my folks (along with his wife Jane Drew, also architect and generally mad-wonderful person) and they ended up buying and moving into the house next door! quite a flamboyant addition to the village and source of much gossip… after they died and the house was sold, the mural was rescued and put into the village hall – a wonderful memorial to Max and Jane and the perfect backdrop for an intimate “living room” concert…

The downside of the week has been that I did something seriously wicked to one of my knees moving heavy furniture on Friday and I am a total gimp at the moment – not ideal for traveling, but oh well… poc a poc… don’t want to think about leaving sam again, but I’ll be back, and sooner than I think, possibly, depending on the state of dear aunt Liz… diana went up to scotland this morning to face her old home – what a pair of yo-yos we are… god speed…

6 months away, I come back and it’s like putting on a pair of comfortable old slippers – it’s like I’ve never been gone… the weather is filthy, it’s cold and wet, the predominant colours are grey and green – but no sooner have I landed in the village than I run into old friends and neighbors … village life… the cottage is none the worse for wear, a bit cold and damp but no leaks, and sweet sam is looking fighting fit and so happy to see me…

but not all is fun and games… dear sweet Liz is on the way out, barely in the land of the living… the first days back we have good visits, relatively, with good conversation – her body has totally crapped out on her, she is bed-ridden, but her eyes and spirit are still totally there… but by today, her 90th birthday, she has to make a supreme effort to stay with us long enough for us to give her the gifts, cut the cake, and sing a couple of songs, before she has drifted off to the land of nod… I find myself wishing she would drift off to sleep while sis and I are singing and never come back…

the past few days been a ghastly whirlwind of going through her house and dividing up the spoils between the cousins – the house is all but sold – her decision, no blame attached – but what I need like a hole in my head is more stuff, and somehow it all seems premature, altho’ I know it’s not…. however, I – we all – want to honour her life and her memory by taking on the things of her life, giving them a home with us, a continuation of some sort – plus it’s all so redolent of family, of the grandparents and generations before… but the cottage is already crammed to the gills with things from saltoun…. what will I do with it all??

we went to the morritt arms anyway, the 4 of us, david, nepole, diana and I, where we would have taken Liz, had she been up for it, and had lunch in her honour, watching the rain pour down in torrents outside… and tonight we all went to have supper with moppet and johnny (cook-hurle), which was a whole load of fun, coming home under the light of a beautiful half moon and a sky full of stars – typical of this part of the world – dreary days and clear, crisp nights…

as I said, sam is sooo happy – he is a cotherstone cat, I cannot move him; angela is happy to continue feeding him with the hope that he will move in with her by next winter… so be it… if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it…

I’ve been back a month, and sure enough I’m starting to get itchy feet… but I am determined to try and stay put this time. (finances also play a large part…)

My new home (which I LOVE) is coming together slowly – trying hard to keep the clutter to a minimum (figuring out where and how the shelves will go is testing my carpenter’s patience) – and I am continuing to slowly prep both the Monteverdi and the Brecht/Eisler pieces. Spent the day with Karin last week doing Strangers And Other Angels – what a great and diverse group of people, all willing to freeze their asses off for the sake of really telling a story… Had a fabulous Mr. Wau-Wa gig at Barbes, one of our best – I so love that repertoire, and those musicians (Doug, Kenny, Marcus, Rinde), who do it better than anyone, anywhere… and it was a vintage Thanksgiving up in Nyack, with only 17 at table, the core group plus a few new (lovely) girlfriends – so happy to be back in the fold…

Sis Diana is struggling valiantly with a solo menorcan winter. We both have a large dose of the “grass is greener” syndrome and “what have I done?” doubts but also, hopefully, some wisdom, after this much time on the planet…. We are both determined to see this phase of things through, where we each are, and see where it gets us… I’m going to throw my solstice party for whoever is still in town, and thank my lucky stars for being one of the fortunate few…

It’s been two years since I started this, and I think I’ll sign off for now… be well, make music, perform random acts of kindness, and live in hope…