Just a normal Summer

It seems like it's done nothing but rain since the beginning of June right through to now, getting towards the end of August. But there have been brighter patches despite the damp and gloom...
One such was at the Bagpipe Society Blowout where along with the sunshine we had some great music from the `Daughters of Elvin' and the Swedish pipes of Olle Galmo and Erik Ask-Upmark with Goran Hallmarken on gorgeous sounding hurdy-gurdy.

And Estron - our band with me and daughter Danny on pibau cyrn with Micky on soprano ukulele (though Holly with her fiddle was missing) - had a chance to do a set in the sunday afternoon concert.

The next weekend was also fine and saw me driving up to Chester for the annual `Minstrel's Court' which re-enacts the giving of licenses to perform on the streets of the city.

Some of the `minstrels' playing in the entrance porch of
the church of St. John the Baptist, Chester.

Simon Pickard with the set of medieval
double-pipes he had from me at the Blowout.

The weekend after found us out with our Morris team - Heb Enw Morris - dancing at our local Steiner school's summer fete - another fine day sandwiched between the showers.

Danny pipes up for our version of Dilwyn with members
of the audience joining in.

Since then, well the rain really has stopped play and all we can do is hope for a dryer start to the Autumn and a chance to get some haymaking done on the farm...

New Chanter fitted to an old set of pibau cyrn for a customer
holly pipes in cherry stocks with brass ferules.

Stitching the seam on a bagpipe bag for a set of
`bacbib' - the veuze based loud Welsh pipes