Final installment from our musical shenanigans in May ...

Rob and I set sail ... well we Steam Packety boated it ... to Liverpool on Saturday May 21st and after meeting back up with Bob near the famous Liver Buildings, headed on up to the Lake District. Penny and Paul who run “The Acoustic Tearooms” in Kirkby Stephens, normally include delicious 3 course meals with their concerts but due to an unusually high volume of gigs in April and May, they’d put on a concert-only gig and hoped enough people weren’t music fatigued. With a last minute huge promotional push they managed to fill the place! Hurrah for hard working, conscientious promoters!

The Acoustic Tearooms - now held in the local Masonic Hall in Kirkby Stephen - was one of our first gigs in 2009 so we were very excited to make a return visit, not least because Penny and Paul make us all feel very welcome. We were still able to sample Penny’s delicious homemade food in the form of heart-warming soup before the show and enjoyed homemade cake after - what’s not to like?!

Kirkby Stephen Acoustic Tearooms from Christine Collister on Vimeo.

The show was great fun and everyone made us feel very loved ... believe me when I say the feeling’s mutual! The party atmosphere continued back at Penny and Paul’s delightful home above their “Antiques” shop on the High Street. Cake, wine and good company followed us into the wee small hours. Next morning after delightfully strong coffee and a quick look round the shop, Rob drove off in the direction of the Cairngorm mountains and Bob and I made for Gainsborough, Worksop and impending grandparenthood! Our next gig was in Scotland 6 days ahead.




Meanwhile we spent time with Bob’s sister and husband and we all made as many visits as possible to see Jo, Mike and their incubating twins. The level of excitement and anticipation was high to say the least. We even put bets on when the girls would enter the world ... which none of us got right! While we were soaking up the love of family and relishing looming big changes, Rob was lounging by the pool and enjoying quality time alone in the lap of 4 star Hilton Hotel luxury, via the generosity of our mutual friend, Paul Leitch. Paul’s been a fan of mine for many years and over that long stretch has become a dear friend who happens to be in the hotel management business. When we first met, he was manager of The Lamb hotel in Ely and then of The Sun Hotel in Hitchen - which is still home to Hitchen Folk Club, and for the last year or so has been back in his homeland Scotland, where he now runs the smallest Hilton in the world. He very kindly offered to accommodate us for the length of our Scottish tour - so called but which turned out to be 2 gigs ... it wasn’t for the want of trying; originally the plan was to do half a dozen dates but in the end after many emails and phone calls ... and stupidly thwarting circumstances ... it was whittled down to just 2 shows: Strathpeffer on May 29th and Edinburgh on the 30th ... with several days beforehand in Paul’s delightful company, hotel and breath taking countryside included. Life is good n’est pas?

Driving to the Cairngorms from Christine Collister on Vimeo.

The drive up through the borders and into the stunning Cairngorm National Park is absolutely gorgeous and even grey voluminous cloud cover and drizzling rain couldn’t dampen (pun intended!) our rising spirits the closer we got to Ballater and thesmallest Hilton on the planet. Apart from the delights of socialising with Paul and catching up on each other’s live’s, Rob, Bob and I had time to drive around and explore the delights of some local villages but our favourite experience has to be the local Royal LochnagarDistillery right next door to Balmoral Castle. Rob’s a bit of a whiskey nut and Bob hates the stuff ... I used to like a dram or 6 in my youth but haven’t drunk Scotch for many years, so we were an odd bunch to entertain however we all thoroughly enjoyed the tour and the anecdotes of our very knowledgeable guide. The best bit was the smelling test at the end, where we were asked to sniff a dram close to our noses and then again with the shot glass at chest level; we were informed we would detect the smell of apples ... WE DID! Amazing.

Before we left Paul and his 4 star friendship, Rob and I decided to do an impromtu personal performance in a cosy corner bar tucked away from the general hubub of the other hotel guests ... it’s amazing how quietly we can play when needed. Paul was delighted and we were happy to reciprocate a little and say thank you for his wonderful hospitality. Thanks Paul ... we’ll definitely be back!

Our gig in fabulous Macenzie House,home of Steve and Clancy Square Wheels House Concert production in Strathpeffer,is also home to several lovely cats, Bob couldn’t accompany us due to an allergy, so Rob and I left him watching football in another Hilton near Aviemore - bless. It was only an hour’s drive to the gig from there and we arrived in good time. Our hosts couldn’t have been more welcoming or helpful. We were joined by Rob Ellen, our PA provider for the night and the man most responsible for making anything happen this trip - I’m indebted to his diligence and enthusiasm.

It’s amazing how many people one can squeeze into what looks like a fairly small living room. The atmosphere was brilliant and we both felt very much appreciated. I hope we can make a return trip some other time and maybe string a few more shows together then.

Hello Scotland from Christine Collister on Vimeo.

Our last gig of the tour was Edinburgh city centre the following day. We didn’t hold out much hope for a big audience and we weren’t disappointed! A handful of people turned up to the show despite the last minute radio interview I did just prior to sound check ... it was worth a try. Despite the low turn out it was actually a good gig and the guys who turned up were delighted ... ah bless them. Thanks Edinburgh ... we’d like the chance to try again ... please bring a friend next time huh? We said goodbye to our “favourite nephew” Rob and drove down opposite sides of the country to reach our very different destinations - Rob back to Cardiff and Bob and I to Gainsborough once more ... where we waited ... and waited ... and on June 21st at 5.58pm and 6pm respectively, Isabella Roberta 4lbs 3oz and Chiara Anna 6lbs 7oz were finally born.

Little Isabella had problems breathing on her own and after several hours supervision was brought to Leeds St James Neonatal unit with mum and Chiara in another ambulance right behind and dad following in his car behind them ... both sets of grandparents left in Worksop and Gainsborough holding our own breath and silently praying for good news. We all arrived at Jimmy’s the next day to meet our grand children! What joy! Chiara is utterly beautiful and we were given her to hold as soon as we stepped into Jo and Mike’s tiny family room. It was hard giving her back to her mum so we could meet her equally gorgeous sister Isabella in the neonatal unit 2 floors below. Oh bless her little newborn self! She was hooked up to all sorts of monitoring equipment ... poor little mite. Because of her lack of oxygen in the first moments of life, she was undergoing a relatively new medical process whereby her tiny body is kept at a very low temperature for 72 hours with the necessity of being sedated to help her deal with the discomfort;the whole procedure minimises any damage that might have occurred in those first traumatic minutes of her life.



Without going into more detail, I’m delighted to tell you that she is doing brilliantly. As I type she is now 6lb 4oz and Chiara 8lb 4oz! And we are totally besotted with our beautiful grand daughters and our new role in life. We couldn’t be more proud or in awe of Jo and Mike’s love, fortitude, delight and sheer ability in their new roles as super parents! It’s a miracle any of us are here on this planet ... life is wonderful ... it’s a wonderful life!

Since becoming grand parents we’ve also been back to the Island in between cuddles with our lovely girls. I was very happy to take part in The Garden Party as guest backing vocalist alongside Christy DeHaven (who did a fabulous set on the Friday night) and Davy Knowles for Davy Knowles, which was a wonderful and exciting experience for all concerned. At the end of his set before an inevitable encore, he was surprised with a very special presentation by the crew of one of NASA’s space shuttles! Now that was a moment.

It's What You're Made of - rehearsal from Christine Collister on Vimeo.

Christy D! from Christine Collister on Vimeo.

Back to visit the wee ones a week later, we also used the opportunity to visit our marvelous friends Rob and Jo Selbourne at Prebendal Farm for a celebratory birthday bash in honour of their great friends Nick and Sarah ... I won't disclose the giddy heights of their combined years but it was well worth celebrating. With Helen Watson and I in the same place with a plethora of music lovers we were strong armed (OK it didn't take that much persuasion!) into singing a couple of ditties ... in between the bell ringing! Twas a very fun weekend. More birthday parties please.

Musical fun with Heleny Belleny Botson Swotson Watson from Christine Collister on Vimeo.

A couple of weekends later I performed with Rob Cross once more, at Folk in the Barn in Kingston near Canterbury. I’ve tried for a few years to coincide with their diary and this was the only date we were able to come up with unfortunately outside of our May touring schedule but it was well worth the wait. It’s a fantastic venue run by a brilliant woman with a small core of wonderful volunteers who all help to create a great atmosphere. I think I can say with some conviction - we’ll be back!

Folk at the Barn from Christine Collister on Vimeo.

That’s all for now dear reader. Thanks as always for dropping by and perusing my musical musings - I really do appreciate it. Next on the musical horizon is a tour with Dave Kelly and Pete Filleul starting September 14th! There’s a fair amount of song learning to do between now and then and I’m hankering to finish my Art Songs project ... watch this space. Right ... back to more baby cuddles ... watch out girls here comes Grandma! XX