Blogpost February 2017
You’d think I’d have the hang of time by now however… it rolls along so quickly these days I simply don’t see it snapping at (or oiling) my (w)heels. One of the lovely things about being Grandma Crispy (there too many to count) is the lovely reminder that children … my grand daughters are five and a half … have absolutely no concept of time. But they’re constantly trying to capture it and keep it in some sort of memorable order. It’s a thread that keeps us in disarray our whole lives … obviously!
This question is a daily occurrence:
“Grandma …”
“Yes sweetheart?”
“How old are you?”
“55 …”
“Are you older than mummy?”
“Yes darlin’ …”
“Are you older than grand dad?”
That question is often a source of hilarity as Granddad often says he’s 27, 48 or 16 or some other age not necessarily correct at time of printing… and they simply accept his various answers. It’s his entertaining way of dealing with the repetition and it really doesn’t touch the sides of the girl’s ability to wrestle with this unfathomable concept. Often the question is turned into a statement:
“Grandma …”
“Yes my darlin’ what it is?”
“You’re older than Granddad …”
“I suppose I am …” is the only answer I can think to give. It so matters and yet doesn’t matter at all when you’re five and a half. And I don’t mind being … ahead of the crowd. Now if only I could adopt that attitude to everything else that simply isn’t graspable. C’est la vie!
All that and so much more to comment on this month. February has been a delight with several wonderful shows under Collister&Fix’s musical belt plus, a ten day trip to Perth to see my brother Paul. So much to squeeze into one Blogpost … here we go.
There were extreme weather conditions all over Australia the first few weeks of February, with ridiculous temperatures reached on the eastern and central states – 47.6C in places! – while over in WA – where we were till February 17th – the skies were regularly grey and it rained a great deal. There were floods south of where we were staying and dangerous conditions all over the State. However … Joondalup was just soggy. Drizzle was the order of some of our days … we felt right at home. Even golf was a no-no for a time. Not that that bothered me … Bob and Paul still managed to pack in as many games as possible. And there was still plenty of sunshine in between the rain. We had a fabulous time … as always.
On our return to the east coast Michael Fix and I had two shows back-to-back … at the Intuition Music School Tuggerah on the Central Coast NSW Saturday 18th Feb and Petersham Bowling Club (Sydney) on Sunday the 19th. Both shows were wonderful though very different beasts.
Tuggerah was just a half hour drive north of our last show in Woy Woy and our delightful hosts from that memorable gig had very generously offered us a place to stay. Thank you Ina and Michael … you really do rock! Plus, Michael had organised for us to have a photo-shoot with a fabulous friend of his: Glen Hannah who just happens to be married to Felicity Urquhart. She is one of Australia’s leading country singers (i.e. she’s FAB!) who also hosts the online ABC Country show. We grabbed the chance to record an interview with her, performing two songs, which was broadcast last weekend … our bit starts one hour in: HERE! We had an amazingly creative and very productive day …and night. The results of the photo shoot are surprisingly good … the experience (especially for two people who dislike having their picture taken) was actually fun. Who knew?
At Tuggerah alone, I met several people who will now be a permanent part of my life … true friends I will call upon again and again. Life is strange, mercurial and often outrageously generous when it comes to making connections to wonderful people. Yes … I am grateful!
There was a truly wonderful review of that show which can be found HERE … it seems Michael and I are having a positive influence on our audiences 🙂 and in the interests of sharing, here are some fab photos of the event taken by the concert organiser, a gorgeous human being if ever I’ve met one 🙂 HERE!
Unfortunately there are no video/live recordings of the event … in our excitement and joy … we forgot!
On Sunday we made our way to Petersham Bowling Club … scene of an earlier show in April last year which had been a surprising success. While this concert was, like before, a great gig with a truly appreciative audience, there were maybe half the numbers of last time. It makes us wonder if performing in cities is somehow counterproductive? It’s hard to know how to reach people when there are so many to get through to and many more events for them to choose from. It’s a question only. I’m sure we’ll come back to Sydney … I wonder if there are places that LOVE the kind of entertainment we provide? We’ll just have to wait and see what the universe brings us next time – any suggestions gratefully received (Via FaceBook). However our reach and popularity in the lesser populated areas seems easier to fulfil and makes more impact than in the more crowded portions of the country. I don’t know … sometimes things just don’t make sense. Like time!
Last week Bob and I took our time driving north to the Gold Coast with a stopover at Coff’s Harbour en route. There was a fabulous – sold out! – show to enjoy in a fairly out of the way town called Nanango (further proving my query above) on Thursday night and several days spent in the delight and generosity of family and friends either side. Some lovely photos HERE! And Charlie Spagalli very kindly edited this video for your delectation how very kind … thanks Charlie:
On our way back to Sydney we accepted an offer of accommodation from two of those new friends we met in Tuggerah. Fran and Jim are sister and brother-in-law to a dear friend I met on my Egyptian trip in 2015. They only found out about our show the week prior to the performance and came along solely on the recommendation of Asta who lives in Ireland. How fantastically our lives weave around us. So we found ourselves in a very quiet corner of the world on Sunday night enjoying delicious food and truly inspiring company. Crowdy Head is a gorgeous headland with very few inhabitants … it’s blissful! We felt loved, cared for and truly inspired by our visit and plan to return … as soon as humanly possible. What a trip!
HOT OFF THE GIG PRESS NEWS DESK: There are now in the diary … as of this morning … four confirmed shows for Michale Fix and myself in the UK this October! Having mentioned in passing that he had a week between shows in Europe available … Michael agreed I could see if there might be the chance of us dong a few gigs in the UK between October 23rd and 29th. I got onto Daphne’s fab agent Jil Barke straight away. We now have gigs in Sheffield (Weds 25th); the Isle of Man (Friday 27th); Kirby Stephen (Saturday 28th) and Stoke-On-Trent (Subday 29th) confirmed – hurrah! What a wheeze! So excited to bring this show home! Will fill in the details as and when they come to me so you can book your tickets as soon as possible. It’s been 4 years since I did anything under my own steam … to play with Michael in the Uk will be so exciting … bring it on!
And to honour that joyous news here’s a video/song highlighting our delightful musical connection. Taken from our first and, for the time being at least, only CD Shadows & Light … with imagery from this Australian trip … here’s our version of Richard Thompson/Tim Finn’s gorgeous collaboration “Persuasion” … enjoy.
As always thank you for taking the time 🙂 to drop by and connect with my fairytale life. I so appreciate it! Till next time when we will mostly be visiting the State of Victoria with concerts in Melbourne, Port Fairy Festival, Wollongong, Canberra and Cabargo! Phew … we do get about. Bye for now.
Endless blessings as always
Christine xxx
Christine Collister 