IVFDF 2009 - Friday
It was generally a good IVFDF this year and involved meeting lots of new people and not being recognised by lots of old ones (it seems having shorter hair is a good disguise), even if it was sandwiched between busy weeks.
They even recognised my fame and put a photo of me in the programme :-)
Friday pre-IVFDF
Woke up (luckily early enough to pack) on Friday morning to find the power finally had gone off at 6.20 (dug out camping kettle for tea, so it didn't make a lot of difference not having it).
Remembered why it had been nice to walk everywhere all week when I arrived at Heffalump & Castle to find the Bakerloo line wasn't running. Walked to Waterloo (was heading for Lambeth North until I hit a cycle route to Waterloo and decided to follow that instead) and picked it up there instead. The only other time I'd used public transport all week was Thursday evening when I got the train down to Croydon to go to Ikea to buy plates and there had been a fatality on the line delaying all the trains back then too, so I think I'm definitely better off on foot.
Returned Gold card at Paddington (it's been very confusing not having it, I have to buy tickets again), so should hopefully a refund soon. Although, it did seem prudent to buy myself one of the £1 network railcards first.
Cheap first class tickets meant lots of free tea in the first class lounge and then even more on the train, so hmmm_tea had a very pleasant journey to Exeter.
Once in Exeter, I followed catmint_1984's advice and went to explore the Cathedral. Arrived there 5 minutes before the daily tour, which was convenient (especially as the lady at the desk let me leave my bag so I didn't have to carry a weekends worth of cloths and sleeping bag, etc around with me). It was very pretty, especially the little angels playing instruments in the minstrels gallery.
Some of the other people on the tour and the tour guide criticised the organ in the middle of the cathedral for spoiling the view down the building, but it was a very elegant instrument and I found it broke up the building nicely. Obviously no crosses on display, but there were lots of random paintings instead. Apparently last year they'd been really abstract, which would have been fascinating to see (even if the tour guide didn't like them).
Obviously it can be taken as read I went and found more tea after looking around the cathedral and then went on to explore the city centre.
I managed to resist the urge to buy an Emu in Hawkins Bizarre, but failed not to buy the coffee table in one of the charity shops.
The list of things not to bring on the IVFDF 2009 website was:
So clearly a coffee table was an ok thing to bring.
Also had a quick explore of Exeter Castle and the gardens around it, before heading up to the university to dump bags and collect tickets. Where I met atreic, Jacob, Dora (who I only vaguely knew and still only vaguely know), jinglebellafeed, Roseanna (who I only vaguely knew and who seemed to spend most of the weekend with a spoon balanced on her nose), Rachel (another person I only vague knew, who seemed very bouncy and huggy even when Will was holding her upside-down), Ed, Ignatious (who I only vaguely knew and who seemed a lot quieter then I've seen him outside of folk), other Emma (who I'd never met before and who very wisely seems to like salty liquorice), Sigs and probably a few others I've forgotten.
Eventually there was a Helen and a Daisy (who I'd also never met before and who seems to develop a huge grin in spins) and we headed for pre-IVFDF Friday food at the local 'spoons.
IVFDF Friday Evening
After dinner headed over to the Kate Rushby concert with Helen and Daisy, where we were joined by dancin_dan (who'd missed his train from London).
I'd not heard her before, but she was very good and in general it was a good concert. The highlight of it, wasn't the music though. At one point, Kate had to tune up her guitar, so handed over to Andy Cutting to talk to us and keep us entertained, so he gave us a recipe for cooking carrots.
After the concert, headed over to the Stomp ceilidh, briefly met Adam, Ruth and Ella on the way there as they were leaving and bumped into Emma, Jameson, Hamish, Michelle, Alison, Tom, thethirdvoice, Will and Alicia in there.
It was unfortunately very packed (probably in part due to the fact all the people who had come out of the concert had headed that way and the hall the concert was in was bigger). Wondered down to the bar downstairs for a bit as the queue down there was more non-existant (did seem a strange place to put a bar when it wasn't really near any of the evening events), which allowed time for the numbers in the ceilidh to settle down to a more sensible level.
It was generally a good ceilidh, the venue was a bit of an odd one (long and thin with a low ceiling meaning the callers in there couldn't see the bottoms of the sets), but there wasn't really a lot that could have been done about that as the only other hall was the one that had been used for the ceilidh.
Late Night dancing happened in the same place and was quite fun even if I was exhausted from carry my bag around Exeter by that point.
Decided to head off for sleep at about 2pm, but was grabbed and put in a cage before I could make it out of the hall. Had a fun dance in the cage and as part of the cage before finally making it to bed.
They even recognised my fame and put a photo of me in the programme :-)
Friday pre-IVFDF
Woke up (luckily early enough to pack) on Friday morning to find the power finally had gone off at 6.20 (dug out camping kettle for tea, so it didn't make a lot of difference not having it).
Remembered why it had been nice to walk everywhere all week when I arrived at Heffalump & Castle to find the Bakerloo line wasn't running. Walked to Waterloo (was heading for Lambeth North until I hit a cycle route to Waterloo and decided to follow that instead) and picked it up there instead. The only other time I'd used public transport all week was Thursday evening when I got the train down to Croydon to go to Ikea to buy plates and there had been a fatality on the line delaying all the trains back then too, so I think I'm definitely better off on foot.
Returned Gold card at Paddington (it's been very confusing not having it, I have to buy tickets again), so should hopefully a refund soon. Although, it did seem prudent to buy myself one of the £1 network railcards first.
Cheap first class tickets meant lots of free tea in the first class lounge and then even more on the train, so hmmm_tea had a very pleasant journey to Exeter.
Once in Exeter, I followed catmint_1984's advice and went to explore the Cathedral. Arrived there 5 minutes before the daily tour, which was convenient (especially as the lady at the desk let me leave my bag so I didn't have to carry a weekends worth of cloths and sleeping bag, etc around with me). It was very pretty, especially the little angels playing instruments in the minstrels gallery.
Some of the other people on the tour and the tour guide criticised the organ in the middle of the cathedral for spoiling the view down the building, but it was a very elegant instrument and I found it broke up the building nicely. Obviously no crosses on display, but there were lots of random paintings instead. Apparently last year they'd been really abstract, which would have been fascinating to see (even if the tour guide didn't like them).
Obviously it can be taken as read I went and found more tea after looking around the cathedral and then went on to explore the city centre.
I managed to resist the urge to buy an Emu in Hawkins Bizarre, but failed not to buy the coffee table in one of the charity shops.
The list of things not to bring on the IVFDF 2009 website was:
- Electrical appliances - sorry, you won't be able to plug them in.
- Food that needs cooking - there won't be any facilities.
- A tent - Yes, we did say free camping, but that's indoor camping so no flappy guy ropes or leaky roofs to worry about!
- The kitchen sink - it is only two nights after all!
So clearly a coffee table was an ok thing to bring.
Also had a quick explore of Exeter Castle and the gardens around it, before heading up to the university to dump bags and collect tickets. Where I met atreic, Jacob, Dora (who I only vaguely knew and still only vaguely know), jinglebellafeed, Roseanna (who I only vaguely knew and who seemed to spend most of the weekend with a spoon balanced on her nose), Rachel (another person I only vague knew, who seemed very bouncy and huggy even when Will was holding her upside-down), Ed, Ignatious (who I only vaguely knew and who seemed a lot quieter then I've seen him outside of folk), other Emma (who I'd never met before and who very wisely seems to like salty liquorice), Sigs and probably a few others I've forgotten.
Eventually there was a Helen and a Daisy (who I'd also never met before and who seems to develop a huge grin in spins) and we headed for pre-IVFDF Friday food at the local 'spoons.
IVFDF Friday Evening
After dinner headed over to the Kate Rushby concert with Helen and Daisy, where we were joined by dancin_dan (who'd missed his train from London).
I'd not heard her before, but she was very good and in general it was a good concert. The highlight of it, wasn't the music though. At one point, Kate had to tune up her guitar, so handed over to Andy Cutting to talk to us and keep us entertained, so he gave us a recipe for cooking carrots.
After the concert, headed over to the Stomp ceilidh, briefly met Adam, Ruth and Ella on the way there as they were leaving and bumped into Emma, Jameson, Hamish, Michelle, Alison, Tom, thethirdvoice, Will and Alicia in there.
It was unfortunately very packed (probably in part due to the fact all the people who had come out of the concert had headed that way and the hall the concert was in was bigger). Wondered down to the bar downstairs for a bit as the queue down there was more non-existant (did seem a strange place to put a bar when it wasn't really near any of the evening events), which allowed time for the numbers in the ceilidh to settle down to a more sensible level.
It was generally a good ceilidh, the venue was a bit of an odd one (long and thin with a low ceiling meaning the callers in there couldn't see the bottoms of the sets), but there wasn't really a lot that could have been done about that as the only other hall was the one that had been used for the ceilidh.
Late Night dancing happened in the same place and was quite fun even if I was exhausted from carry my bag around Exeter by that point.
Decided to head off for sleep at about 2pm, but was grabbed and put in a cage before I could make it out of the hall. Had a fun dance in the cage and as part of the cage before finally making it to bed.