Splinters In T.I.M.E: July 2016

Saturday, 30 July 2016

Dolmen Grove Tribal Dreams day 2

Today was another amazing day. We spent most of it in the company of Keith & Helen Lowe and their wonderful kids. It was so lovely getting to know them better. I took time out to participate in a Nuada Sun Ritual

The evening commenced with a fantastic fire ritual:

Shenanigans were had to the wonderful sound of The Dolmen (with a brief stint by me on drums at the end)

There was more round the fire drinking and chatting to close things off :)

Friday, 29 July 2016

Crow Dancers @ Dolmen Grove Tribal Dreams

Gig number two for Crow Dancers and this time at the Dolmen Grove Tribal Dreams camp. This one improved on out debut at 3 Wishes Faery Fest and we took it to another level. So much energy is locked within this group of musicians it is unreal!

Dolmen Grove Tribal Dreams day 1

Today Toni, Zoe and I headed off to Weymouth to attend the Dolmen Grove Tribal Dreams camp. We got there with enough time to setup our tent and to have a brief chill out before I had to hit the stage with Crow Dancers. That piece of the weekend is covered in a separate post. After the gig there was lots of time spent around a beautiful camp fire.

Thursday, 28 July 2016

Meal out together

Before we started packing for Dolmen Grove Tribal Dreams Toni and I decided to make the most of an opportunity to go out for a meal together so we popped round the corner to Rishta. It was lovely to get away and have some chill time together.

Monday, 25 July 2016

Farewell to Pam

Today we said farewell to Pam and wished her all the best on the next stage of her journey.

Here's my tribute to her that I read out:

Pam coming to live with us was a life changing event. There were highs, there were lows and it wasn't always plain sailing. If I had the chance to go back and do it all again I most definitely would.

As well as supporting Toni in the fantastic care that she gave Pam I decided it was my job to make her laugh. She had a fantastic sense of humour. She would often say to Toni that I had such a wit. If you know the saying you'll be able to guess what followed that statement.

She shared so many stories that were full of humour, often irreverent showing how much she loved to live life and didn't give a monkeys what anybody else thought.

I loved seeing her smile and laugh. I did everything I could to try and make light of things. I told bad jokes. I exaggerated movements on her walking frame or at the end of her bed. I did silly voices and I sang well known songs and changed the lyrics to any nonsense that came to mind. Even when she had no idea what I was going on about she would still laugh and smile.

There are so many things I could share but I like one little hidden gem from Pam that came to light after she'd gone. I was routing through all her things looking for various bits of paper work and I found a brochure for Co-op Funeral Care along with other funeral companies as she'd been shopping around. Written inside the Co-op brochure were the words, "Spoke to a man who had no sense of humour. I told him that too."

My fondest recollection though is something that always resonated with Pam and made her smile whenever Toni and I had to move her on the bed to make her more comfortable. Rather than just do a count to get the timing right I took a couple of lines from the first Blackadder series and made it more fun. She knew when it was supposed to happen and would look at me expectantly to say it.

"We're going on a journey my Lord. One, two three......"

...and she's on to the next stage of her journey now......