Home Again

On Monday we made the final arrangements for storing the trailer and truck, which we hope are going to be safe and secure over the hot and humid Florida summer. Dear Paula very kindly took us to Orlando Airport, where we duly boarded our plane, flew back to Manchester overnight, picked up our car and were sadly back home by about midday, with many happy memories and a big pile of washing.
Oh, and some plans in our heads for our next trip in the Fall.

Hope you have enjoyed being with us on our journey. This blog will return ........

The Party - Day 3 Sunday

Sunday morning in the States is chill out time. No less so at the Harpers Hide-a-Way Party. A great breakfast buffet had been assembled by a great team of cooks. By now the numbers at the party were assessed as 69 Units and about 250 people. Connie had organised to feed them all brunch. The menu was almost endless. Sausage, bacon,fruit, pancakes, muffins, biscuits, hash browns, juice, coffee and the amzing DIY Omelet, organised by Jim! How do you cook omelets for 250 people? Well Jim can. I will reveal the secret now. A big bowl of egg, smaller bowls of whatever you want in the omelet. Ziploc bags. Ladle the egg in, add your fillings, seal the bag, write your name on the bag. Hand it to Jim. He places the bags into a large water boiler. The omelet cooks in the bag. Voila, a perfect omelet. Jim your a genius.
After a very liesurely breakfast we all sat round in a circle for a Gospel Hour (or two), this was a lovely time of sharing and singing.
Lunch followed, well it was really a continuation of the breakfast buffet, and then the inevitable, it was time to say goodbyes as people packed up to leave.
What a wonderful weekend we have had. Connie and Jim are the most amazing hosts and all round wonderful people.

The Party - Day 2

Today was a time for everyone to sit around and talk, or get out instruments and play. Connie provided lunch and a large number of deserts. In the evening we had a 'Pot Luck Supper' where everyone brought a 'covered dish' to share, this was a great time for people to join together. Unexpectedly, Marilee had approached me at lunchtime and asked if I would play guitar for her band, which was performing at the evening concert!! The Saturday Evening Concert was when the proper bands got the chance to play for everyone. Now I was happier doing this than the Band Scramble, as I could stand on the back row, and wouldn't have to sing. I could probably fake the guitar playing bit and we had time to practice. So in the afternoon we had a bit of a practice. Marilee had assembled some really good musicians and we were called The Front Porch Pickers, as we were an offshoot from her band The Back Porch Pickers. Unfortunaely Marilee's idea was that I would sing with this band and even have a guitar break. I was intent on helping make this band sound as good as it could be, so having played around with Amazing Grace in practice, Marilee and I started our performance off with a slow harmony version of Amazing Grace. At the end of the first verse the mandolin and banjo came in over the top with a double time rendition and Fred's great voice really raising the tempo for the rest of the song. That went down really well. At the end of the song Marilee and I returned to the original tempo to really hang out a harmonious repeat of the last line. It sounded great and brought the house down (I kid you not, though the great banjo, mandolin and fiddle may have had a lot to do with it). We followed this with a great version of Foggy Mountain Breakdown - always a favourite with audiences. In all we played a set of 20 minutes. I really enjoyed it, as I felt compfortable in that setting with such good players around me. When we had finished we got many compliments many of which said we were as good as anything they had heard at Sertoma. I think that being in vited to play with the Front Porch Pickers was one of the highlights of our time in Florida this Spring. (I still keep thinking "We really did fool them this time").
The concert was a great success, helped in no small measure by Connie's Strawbery Shortcake at half time.
After the concert some of us again assembled on the porch to have a bit of a jam. Another great day at the party.

Friday - The party starts

Friday - Today the party starts. People rolled in all day, until by the evening there were about 50 units on Connie and Jim's fields. After a meal the first event started. This was to be a Band Scramble. Six pots have been put out. One for each instrument in a bluegrass band - Bass, gitar, mandolin, fiddle, dobro and banjo. Put you name into whichever pot you want. Names are drawn out - this makes the band line up. OFtn you have tie to practice, but not at Connie's. Its straight onto the stage and play together. This was a nerve racking experience. Terry was in a band with onother six people. The only problem was tahat none of us had much experience of bluegrass performance!!!!!! Still we did our best. Dorothy sang tall pines, Jim sang. I can't remember what I sang, it was a crazy blur, I think it was 'Will The Circle Be Unbroken'. Then we ran from the stage. People very kindly said they enjoyed it. I think they enjoyed seeing us squirm and suffer on the stage! On reflection the scramble was a great success as many other bands sounded really good. Following this we sat on Connie and Jim's porch and played into the night. That was fun.

The Day of the Party draws near

Today is Thursday and activity has hit manic proportions. There are a number of peopl who have turned up early to help. Some are preparing meals, others setting out the pole barn. We are working hard to clean the trailer and make it ready for storage. I didn't see Gandalf, so I figured that there would not be firewaorks at this party.