Day 25: Two Gigs in One Day

Selfies with Graeme

Two gigs in one day; not bad going eh!? One in many respects was a work related gig (if that's what you want to call it) and the other was for my own enjoyment but nevertheless two gigs is pretty good! For once I willingly got up at a fairly decent time for a weekend, I think the milder weather has certainly had a positive impact on me and pain wise things have been a little easier hence why it's easier to get up in the morning at the moment. Mum made us buttermilk pancakes for breakfast which is always a good thing if you ask me. Afterwards, I had a mad scramble round the house as I had to be at the local record store for 1pm and well there's only so much you can fit into a short space of time. But I did learn that I'm a pretty decent multitasker and can almost apply makeup and curl my hair at the same time. Close enough anyway!

I was going to be doing an interview for the local record store's website with a musician who was performing in store yesterday (Sunday). Unfortunately, I the timings didn't quite work out as he got held up in traffic as some of the roads were closed but I'm still going to do a wee concert review. Potentially, I could have grabbed a few minutes at the end however, I had tickets for Graeme Clark's gig in Glasgow later in the evening and due to the roads being closed we'd have to leave early in order to get there on time. The gig itself was a fun experience and of course, it's great to support the local music scene and see others doing the same. I must admit that I had a good old time to myself browsing the shelves before the gig even started although for once I left emptied handed which is a surprise!

The local record store

We headed back home for dinner and before long we all set off to good old Glasgow taking an alternative route to avoid disruptions thanks to the road closures. Fortunately, we encountered little traffic and arrived in Glasgow with plenty of time to spare. We even managed to find a parking space in a side street just along from the venue-how often does that happen!?

With it being the West End Festival, the area was absolutely buzzing. All of the surrounding restaurants and cafes within the area were filled to the brim with people, it reminded me a lot of London where I spent a lot of time as a child due to hospital. In fact, that's one thing I really miss about my visits to London; the city buzz and quirky vibe. There's something really special about it!

Siempre Bicycle Café was just a short walk away from where we had parked so we took a leisurely stroll admiring this cute little plant shop on route. The entrance to the café was up this little side lane where a small queue for the gig had already began to form. My Dad ran ahead to check it was the right place before heading off to meet up with a friend who lives in the area. As we waited in the queue we could hear the sound check taking place which sounded amazing! It was  also lovely to chat with everyone in the queue as we waited, everyone was so sweet! That's one of the reasons I love going to gigs, you meet so many lovely people!

A wee glimpse inside the café

Following sound check Graeme popped out to say hello and chat with everyone before heading off to get ready for the gig. Just a short while later, the doors were opened allowing everyone to make their way inside and find a seat. It was such a cute, quirky, little café where you instantly felt at home.

Again, I'll refrain from saying too much about the gig itself as I intend on writing an actual review at some point in future-I have a list of things to do! However, what I will say is that it was an amazing gig! I loved hearing Graeme's new material from his new album 'The Thought Collector'. Honestly, you guys need to go check it out-you'll absolutely love it! The two highlights of the gig for me personally, was Graeme playing a bit of 'A Hard Day's Night' by The Beatles during one of his amazing songs named 'Heart of Stone' and hearing his new song 'Do Those Things To Me'; that song in particular really caught my attention. As soon as I heard it, I instantly loved it! 

Following the gig I waited a little while before going up to briefly speak with Graeme. Graeme has been a really great support to me with my blogging, media & journalism aspirations and is always so encouraging towards everything that I've been doing. Like I said before, it meant a lot that he agreed to let me to interview him for my radio show on 3TFM (which by the way I'm airing the first part of this Thursday evening between 7-8pm). It was a big deal for me as it was my first ever interview. I was pretty nervous but I couldn't have asked for anyone better to chat to! I'm going off track a little but it was really lovely to chat to him after the gig and of course take another selfie!

A wee pic of the gig itself

After speaking with Graeme, I went and found Mum and Laurel who were patiently waiting on me (nothing ever changes haha!). Once organised we called Dad to let him know that we were ready to head home. Walking back to the car we couldn't help but stop in our tracks noticing someone's gorgeous house which was filled with twinkling fairy lights and this amazing dreamcatcher hanging on the wall. As you can probably imagine my eyes were absolutely glistening at the sight of it-it was my dream house!

Once we found Dad, Laurel begged him to find a chip shop as she was feeling a little peckish. We've become a bit accustomed to having chips and curry sauce as an after concert snack. We stopped in at a local chip shop and Laurel popped in to pick up the order, I really didn't want anything although I managed to sneak a few chips from Laurel's box as it did look rather delicious!

Well, that brings us to the end of yet another blog I'm afraid. A busy day indeed! But totally worth it! I'll be back very soon with another post so pop back soon to check it out!

Love & Peace,

The Hat Hippie xx

Day 24: Meeting Jake Clemons in The E Street Lounge

Jake Clemons & I

What a day! I've mentioned it on at least a few occasions but yesterday, I went to see Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band at Hamden Park in Glasgow. Hopefully, I'll get round to writing an actual review of the show itself but I'm absolutely run off my feet these days so might take a few days. In the meantime I thought I'd tell you about the day itself, I have vlogged my day as well but again, it'll take some time to edit and upload it so please bear with me!

Firstly, Mum and I headed into the town after dropping Laurel off to pick up something and decided to get some breakfast as due to the time we needed to leave for the gig there wouldn't be a lot of spare time to grab a bite to eat. We headed back home a little while later where I spent quite a bit of time getting ready for the gig. I mean I had my hair to curl, makeup to put on, my bag to organise with everything I needed to take with me and of course a video blog to start-you know how it is!

I waited at home whilst Mum went to pick Laurel up early from school. There was so much to do I thought I better take full advantage of my time before Dad got home. Just after two o'clock, we set off on route stopping at my lovely friend Heather's to pick her up as she was coming to see Bruce with us. It was Heather's first ever Bruce gig and my third time seeing him (my first Bruce gig in Scotland though) so it was pretty exciting! I don't know who was more hyper to be honest.

We arrived at Hamden and Bruce was in the midst of sound check by the sounds of it. It sounded like he was playing 'Girls in Their Summer Clothes' which is one of my Mum's favourites, I don't think she's ever heard him play it live before so that was cool.
I'm not gonna lie though, it was a bit of a nightmare at Hamden to be honest. Firstly, trying to find the disabled paring at Hamden was fun and games and no one really seemed to know exactly where it was. Surprise! Surprise! And when we did find it, the steward didn't really listening to us and was about to send us away saying we couldn't park there until he saw the disabled badge and changed his tune.

Our E Street Lounge passes

We'd all been given passes from Bruce's management for The E Street Lounge; a backstage area for guests of the band to hang before the show so the first mission was to find the box office to pick them up. Whilst my parents and sister picked them up, Heather and I paid a quick visit to the merch stall and just a short while later left with a bag of merch consisting of a T-shirt each, a programme and audio download card for the Glasgow gig. Heather put me to shame only buying a t-shirt hehe! I can't go to a gig and not buy a programme and I love the fact that you can actually buy a live recording of the specific show you attend so it had to be done!

When we met up with my parents again we were given our passes for the E Street Lounger which I stuck on me jeans. It's pretty cool having a pass and they look rather cool on my jeans too-oh I'm so sad aren't I!? The next question was 'how did we access the lounge?' We asked numerous stewards who passed us from pillar to post, none of whom were particularly helpful and never listened to a word we said. One in particular was particularly rude and unhelpful and only showed interest in the situation when he later discovered that Heather had the personal number of the head of security. Funny how that changes things. I'll not go into full details as we could be here all the day but yet again, more wheelchair access issues! Thankfully, one decent steward eventually came to the rescue and got one of the supervisors to come help us and eventually he got us inside the building and to where we needed to be. So a huge thank-you to both gentleman!

The E Street Lounge

Once inside the building things were a lot better and the staff in the lounge couldn't have been nicer. The E Street Lounge was empty when we arrived so we had first digs of the tables to sit at. We had an amazing view of the stadium from the lounge and watched as it began to fill up when the doors were opened. It was absolutely scorching outside so it was so nice to sit inside in the cool and have easy access to bar for cans of ice cold cola!

As we were chilling out, taking photos and charging our phones using the sockets in the lounge, Dad noticed a familiar face enter the lounge. It was Jake Clemons, who plays saxophone in The E Street Band for Bruce. We're all big fans of his Uncle Clarence who played sax in The E Street Band up until a few years ago when he sadly passed away. But I love the fact that Bruce asked Clarence's nephew Jake to join the band.

Anyway, I had a quiet moment of excitement as Jake was up there alongside Bruce as members of the band that I'd like to meet one day. Dad went over and did the fatherly duties to ask Jake if he'd come over and say 'hello' to which Jake replied 'yeah, of course'. He shook hands with us all and happily posed for a pic. Somehow, I even managed to ask him if I could take a selfie on my iPod which turned out even better than the photo on the camera so I'm extremely chuffed! Let's face it, I was buzzing! We said goodbye to Jake who had to go as I think they were getting ready to hit stage just a short while later. But seriously, that was so cool! My day was made!

We initially thought once the show started we'd have to leave the lounge and go find our seats/an space in standing area. However, on the staff members who'd been taking care of us appeared just before show time with two tickets for the royal box for Heather and I so she escorted us to our seats just as Bruce was about to take to stage. My parents and Laurel were able to stand at the other side of the box and could have access to any spare seats if they wanted them after half an hour into the show. However, they decided they were quite happy standing at the barrier and dancing-haha!

My amazing friend Heather & I sitting in the royal box

Seriously though, it was so cool to be seated in the royal box! We had a pretty decent view of the stage; no one was in the seats in front of us and the sound was pretty good! Although, we got when we saw how much the seats were worth! Ricky Ross and Lorraine from Deacon Blue passed us in the lounge and were seated in the row in front of the box I believe (so my parents told me anyway). Normally, I'd have wanted to go say 'hello' but they're just normal people there to enjoy a gig so there's no point in pestering them!

The concert itself was absolutely amazing but then again would you really expect anything less from Bruce!? A man of 66 years of age performing for around 3 and a half hours nonstop with no support act is absolutely incredible! His energy is absolutely amazing! We had a great time singing, dancing in our seats and clapping along-didn't we Heather!? One of the stewards we'd spoken to earlier in the evening stopped us both after the gig to say we'd kept the stewards entertained during the show with our antics-hehe!

Jake, Bruce & Steve

After the gig we spent a hour hanging in the lounge to avoid the rush of people leaving the venue and the build up in traffic. So instead we just enjoyed some refreshments from the bar area and watched the stage being dismantled. There was at least four large trucks driven into the stadium after it had been cleared and within the hour so much of the stage had already been dismantled-it's unbelievable to watch!

Once we left the venue we made our way back to the car by which time we all were pretty hungry and the temptation of all the food vans were getting a little too much. So in the end we all ended up munching on a few boxes of chips before heading back home. A great gig and a great night!

Day 22 & 23: Scottish Sunshine

Hello My Friends!

Wow! We're almost at the end of May already, how on earth did that happen!? It's flown in! It's been a very busy weekend with numerous things happening and I've been working a ton of things so sadly, I've had to leave blogging for a couple days or I wouldn't have been able to get anything else done. But back and I'm here I am now to tell you all about my day. So sit back and relax for a short while whilst you read.

Monday 30th May, bank holiday Monday or in other words; an extra day off school or in my instance, tutoring! I knew I would have to get up early as the workmen were coming to fit a new radiator in my room but I thought I'd push it as long as I possibly could and stay cuddled up in the comfort on my own bed. But at around 9am there was a knock at the door; the workmen had arrived. I don't think I've ever got up as quickly in my life before Mum could answer the door. Quickly, I lifted a pile of thing consisting of my laptop, charger and iPod (you know, the necessities!) and made my way through to the living room whilst Mum let the workmen in. I sat there half asleep on the sofa and decided to make use of getting up early and do some work on my laptop and finish editing things on my laptop.

Within a short period of time, the workmen had finished doing what they were doing and no sooner than they arrived, they left. Mum made us a delicious cooked breakfast whilst I continued to work away on my laptop until it was ready. I think I spent a while chatting to my sister at the table which gave me just enough time to get dressed and make my bed before my Grandparents arrived at the house. We all headed out to TK Maxx for my Grandparent's to have some lunch. We'd already eaten a bigger breakfast so Mum, Laurel and I just had a drink, cake and a scone for me!

Due to the weather being exceptionally nice my parents decided we'd make the most of it and have a barbecue using the barbecue my Mum gave my Dad for Christmas at one of our old houses however, we never got round to using it because we moved to our old flat just a little while later. During that time, the BBQ was stored at my Grandparent's house. Now, we have a lovely big garden with more than enough room for the BBQ! So it was great to finally get some use out of it. Let's face it; how many days are we actually able to have a BBQ in Scotland? Once every blue moon! So we all were able to sit outside and enjoy the sun whilst my Dad and Grandad built up the BBQ for the first time.

Soon enough the food was on the grill and my goodness was it delicious! Yeah, things like sausages and chicken are extremely tasty but I must say the highlights for me anyway is corn on the cobb, red peppers and mushrooms cooked on the BBQ. They seriously taste amazing!

I've been working nonstop on various things of late so haven't had much of a chance to just chill out. So for once, I decided to put everything aside for a couple of hours and pull out some of my art supplies and paint. Not for school or anything, just for my own enjoyment. It's nowhere near complete and it'll probably be a while before the opportunity arises to finish it but who cares!

After we'd all eaten, it became cooler so my Dad and Grandad disappeared into the house to no doubt hog the TV. The bold Robyn is always the last one standing. I like to push it for as long as I possibly can so we all sat out for a while longer watching a dark cloud slowly approach in the distance. And yep, you guessed it! The rain soon began to fall so it was a mad rush to clear everything away and head back inside before it got any heavier. Good old Scottish weather at it's best eh!?

And that brings us to today, Tuesday in other words. Today, I've been bursting with excitement all day. Tomorrow is the big day! Yep, tomorrow we see The Boss, Bruce Springsteen in concert and I'm very excited to say the least! It's been three years since I last saw Bruce at Wembley Stadium and funnily enough, this will be my third Bruce gig and my first time seeing him live in Scotland. I've decided that I'm going to attempt to vlog my day and share it with you guys on YouTube so here's hoping I actually manage to do it! But put it this way, I think it'll be a pretty good vlog-trust me!

Anyway, we dropped Laurel off at school this morning when we got a message from my tutor who had to cancel my music session which was due to take place this afternoon as his first grandchild had just been born. So that's pretty exciting news anyway! And to top if off, I get a wee day to myself! We'd planned to head into town anyway but that meant we didn't have to worry too much about time. So we were able to have a proper look in some of the shops and pick up a few bits and pieces.

Next, we zipped in and out of the streets of the town I live in where there seems to be traffic jams wherever you go at the moment and eventually, made it to ASDA. We picked up a few salad items to go with the food we had left over from last night's BBQ as the weather was warmer than yesterday so we thought we might as well have another one. We also popped into the new M&S food hall next to ASDA. We got speaking to a lady and her dog 'Charlie' who were parked next to us, I'm a real sucker for dogs so couldn't help but have a wee hug and stroke-you know how it is!

Back home, Mum was in the kitchen prepping our lunch to take out into the garden and I nipped into my room and just happened to be scrolling through my Facebook when I saw that Richie Sambora and Orianthi are heading back to the UK as a support act for Bad Company later this year. Funnily enough, I'd literally just mentioned them to Mum sitting in Costa a couple of hours earlier saying I bet they're going to head out on tour sometime soon. And then the big announcement came. I was bursting to say the least-I'm such a big fan of theirs!

We spent most of the afternoon chilling out in the garden, only leaving to pick Laurel up and then straight back outside again. Our house seems to be amidst the flightpath of the local airport as there was a constant flow of planes taking off and flying above the house. Seriously, another plane took off everything ten minutes or so-I'd never seen it so busy!

When Dad arrived home from work, he got straight into setting up the BBQ-think he might have been hungry! Again, the BBQ was pretty delicious! Mmmmmm! Here's hoping the sunny weather continues so we can have many more in the coming weeks.

Anyway, I really ought to go folks! It's getting late and I have so much to do before I head to bed! I'll keep you all posted on the Bruce concert tomorrow and like I said earlier, providing all goes well I plan on vlogging the day to take you guys along with me. So keep an eye out for that!

Until next time!

Love & Peace,

The Hat Hippie xx

Song of The Month May 2016

Well, it's that time of the month again where I pick a Song of The Month to share with you guys here on my blog. It's always a difficult decision as they are so many amazing songs out there and being a music geek it's a tricky decision narrowing it down to just one. But somehow I have. So I can now reveal that May's Song of The Month is.............................

Waitin' On A Sunny Day by Bruce Springsteen

As I'm sure I've mentioned on at least a few occasions now, I'm off to see Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band live in Glasgow this week (Wednesday 1st June!) and I am so excited! This will be my third Bruce concert and my first time seeing him in my home country of Scotland. Naturally, I've been gearing up for the gig by listening to his music and also throwing a few of his songs in here and there during my weekly radio show.

Bruce has so many amazing songs however, I decided to choose "Waitin' On A Sunny Day". It's a great song and I love hearing it performed live. Usually, Bruce picks a kid in the audience to sing it with him which is beyond cool and the atmosphere is always absolutely amazing! So here's hoping we'll be blessed with a sunny day in Glasgow this Wednesday and that Bruce might perform it live! But I'll keep you posted with everything that happens at the gig in a future blog post so keep an eye out for that!

In the meantime, enjoy listening to this fabulous tune and be sure to let me know if you're catching Bruce live in the next couple of weeks and what your favourite Bruce song is!

Until next month!
Love & Peace,
The Hat Hippie xx

Day 20 & 21: New Radio Slot!

Hello! Hello! Hello!

It's been yet another busy couple of days so without further ado let's get started shall we!?

Yesterday (all my troubles seemed so far away-sorry I just couldn't help it!), was to some degree a non eventful day as we didn't have the normal get up, eat breakfast, get dressed and take Laurel to school routine due to the fact that Laurel has come down with a sore throat. As much as I feel sorry for Laurel who's poorly, it was on the other hand pretty nice to get an extra long lie in my beloved bed until around 10am. It was around then when I slowly dragged myself out of bed and into the living room. I had a little time to spare before my art tutor arrived early in the afternoon so got my artwork out and continued working on it. Like I said in a previous post, I'm currently working on a collage piece so it's not the most natural thing to me. Give me a paint brush and a pen any day and you're on a winner! I decided I didn't feel confident enough to add anything else to the piece until my tutor arrived as I've grown up with the philosophy that "less is more" so instead opted to use my watercolour pencils to add a little colours to some of the black and white images already in the collage. That however, was like second nature to me.

At that point I felt like I was at a dead end and didn't have a clue where to take my work. It was nowhere near complete, that's for sure! However, my tutor arrived and worked her magic and within a short period of time helped me completely transform it using watercolours and a gradient technique in the background. It's amazing how different it now looks!

Afterwards, I made a start on preparation for my radio show the following day. I like to have notes and a list of songs that help give me a rough basis for my show. Although, it normally develops and changes depending upon how I feel, what's happening in the world or sometimes I hear a song on the radio and think 'Oh! I think I might play that this week!'. I love the fact that I've become confident enough on radio to be able to do that. And just like every other night I sit down with my laptop to work on my Blog and edit my a little more of my radio interview.

So Thursday (yesterday); the busiest day of the week came and went. My tutor arrived at the usual time for my bass lesson and again, we revisited the last song I'd been working on 'Ruby Tuesday' by The Rolling Stones. I absolutely love jamming to that song-it's so much fun! I also started learning to play 'Under My Thumb' which was good but for whatever reason there was one note I kept playing a little longer than required. However, I'll persist with it until I get it right so wish me luck!

The mad Thursday rush soon pursued as I got organised to head out the door to make my way to 3TFM in time for my show. So a quick bite of lunch was in order as well as organised the CDs and note required during the show. 

When I arrived at the station, I received the exciting news that from Thursday 9th June onwards, I'll be changing shifts and will instead be hosting an evening show which I'd been hoping to eventually progress to. So next Thursday will be my last one o'clock slot and then it'll be the start of a new chapter! I have lots of ideas for my show that would work best in the evenings so it'll be great to finally put them into action. Ironically, I aired my first ever live radio show almost a exactly a year to date on the 11th of June so it'll be an anniversary show in many respects too. If you're about on the 9th, be sure to tune in and join me!

My show went pretty well which is always a good thing for me, the presenter. There's nothing worse than when a technical issues arises hehe! But that's showbiz for you I suppose! The show had a particularly good playlist if I do say so myself. And of course it was the fabulous Stevie Nicks' birthday so I had to play one of her songs as you all know how much I admire her. So Stevie, if you're reading this (if only!) I wish you the most amazing Birthday!

On route back home, Mum and I did the weekly supermarket shop and stopped for a quick refreshment in the café beforehand as I usually need something cold to clear my throat as I talk too much! Once back home we unpacked the shopping (everybody hates that job!) and put it away. Nothing exciting really!

Laurel has decided to go vegetarian and has been trying various vegetarian foods lately. Somehow, without thinking I've been followed suit to some degree and have eaten very little meat during the past couple of weeks. I am by no manner or means a vegetarian; I know for a fact I'd struggle facing a roast chicken and not being able to eat it. That would be my worst nightmare. Anyway, the long and the short of what I was about to say is; we both tried these amazing Mexican bean burgers from Sainsbury's with homemade sweet potato chips and salad and it was absolutely delicious! The burgers are definitely worth a try folks!

And just like every other night this week I ended the evening watching Britain's Got Talent, I can't quite believe we're almost at the end of this year's series! It's seriously flown in! At the same time I was working away on my laptop attempting to set up my Mum's art blog. I'm going to show how her to upload her posts etc and then she'll be able to start writing so I'll be sure to let you all know when it's live. You're going to love her work, she's an amazing artist!
I also order an exciting parcel, the contents of it will come in handy particularly over the next couples of weeks. I can't wait to try the mystery item out and use it here on the world of the internet. I really should have ordered it earlier but never got round to it, I was a little worried about whether it would arrive on time as it's a bank holiday this weekend and I really need it ASAP. So I decided to pay a little extra for one day delivery so providing all goes well, it should arrive on Saturday-here's hoping!

Anyway, I better go for now folks!
Love & Peace,

The Hat Hippie xx

Day 19: The Temptations of A Music Geek in HMV

Tuesday, a day further into the week. That's always a good thing! I can't quite believe how quickly the week has flown in! But I guess that means it's a week closer to the Summer holidays!

As I write I'm sitting here listening to the amazing Stevie Nicks up full blast in my headphones because what else do you do at half past twelve in the morning!? The night owl in me strikes again! Anyway, let's talk a bit about what I got up to on this fine day.

We dropped poor Laurel off at school this morning stressed beyond belief as she had part two of a big maths test first thing this morning. I'm absolutely hate maths (I'm completely useless at it!) so my heart really went out to Laurel and the rest of her class. However, Mum got a text from her a little while late to say she had done extremely well in the first part of the test. I'm so pleased for her as she works so hard-so a huge well done to my amazing sister! I'm so proud of her!

Tuesday is an afternoon tutoring session which means we have the morning free to do as we please. Usually, we go out for a bite to eat in order to save cooking lunch when we arrived home as it often entails a bit of a rush due to the times my tutors come at. I decided on going into town this morning and having breakfast at Debenhams as well as a look round the shops before they begin to get busy. I hate shopping when it's busy; it just isn't worth it in my opinion.

We had a wee nosy in Primark where Mum found a couple of lovely tops so decided to try them on in the shop changing rooms. As I waited outside for her I noticed that a chair had been placed in front of the disabled changing rooms (see photo above) and there was no staff on hand to move it. So unfortunately, any disabled customers would be unable to access the changing rooms independently. Normally I'd have given them the benefit of doubt and thought perhaps it had been left there during the night and no one had got round to moving it as it was so early on in the morning. However, there has been previous occasions in the same store where I've waiting on someone from my family in the changing rooms or needed to use it myself and noticed that clothing rails blocking the door or other customers have been encouraged to leave their shopping baskets in front of it. I can't say I'm terribly happy about it hence why I want to make use of my blog and highlight issues such as this one. It will also be something I mention in the next customer survey that they ask you to complete on the shop receipts. Rant over!

I decided to pay HMV a visit as I was well overdue a browse. Within minutes I found myself getting a little carried away. All I'm going to say is never let a music geek loose in a music shop! Trust me; it never ends well! They had an array of Prince CDs and vinyl that I'd only ever seen available online so my eyes were glistening with excitement! Somehow, I managed to muster enough willpower to refrain from buying anything. Although, I think I really have to give my Mum the credit for that; she had me out of there before I could even think about heading to the checkout. I know I'd regret it next week when I hit Bruce Springsteen's merch stall so really, it was a good idea in the long run.

Finally, it had reached opening time for Debenhams café (it always opens half an hour later than the shop itself) where I ordered a cook breakfast (as you do!). And my goodness was it delicious! Although, the highlight for me was the 80s music they were playing in store. The playlist included 'Sweet Little Mystery' by Wet Wet Wet which was quite funny to think that exactly a week ago to the date I interviewed Graeme, WWW's bassist for radio. Needless to say I enjoyed singing along!

Laurel's delicious Malteaser milkshake!

Two o'clock and music tutor arrived for my lesson. Again, carrying on with The Rolling Stones theme we once again went over 'Get Off Of My Cloud' and made a start on 'Ruby Tuesday'. According to my music book the bass parts are mostly played on cello however my tutor show me this technique where you strum the bass at the end of fret board to create a deeper cello/double bass sound. I've since become addicted to jamming along to it and spent most of the evening in my room practicing it. Being able to play an instrument is an absolute privilege and I'm so glad I've persisted with it and never gave up-it's totally worth it!

And that's it really, nothing more to report for today I'm afraid. Well apart from Laurel making the most delicious Malteaser milkshakes-mmmmm!

Love & Peace,

The Hat Hippie xx

Day 18: Befriending the Neigbhour's Cat

I'm afraid we're going to skip another day folks and instead just focus solely on today (Monday). It's amazing how whenever you set out with good intentions that everything crops up at the one time and trying to keep on top of it all is never easy. Slowly but surely I'm getting everything ticked off the list one by one and then hopefully it'll make it easier to write each day. Until then I'll just keep dabbling from day to day with a mixture of daily and combo posts. Thankfully, the Summer holidays aren't too far off and I'll have a little more time to myself to spend getting things done!

Monday is never a favourite day of the week for me I'm afraid; the weekend has come to an end and Friday seems so far off in the horizon. Although, today wasn't all that bad. For a Monday it was surprisingly pleasant. Don't worry! I promise I'm not coming down with something!

Today was my longest tutoring session of the week which is mainly set aside for the John Muir Award however, with my health playing up as much I haven't always been able to use the sessions for that specific reason and instead had a longer music lesson. So today's music session was rather taxing I'm not gonna lie. I played non stop for a couple of hours and needless to say my hand was ready to fall off by the end of it.

Working our way through some of my music books, we focused on 'The Rolling Stones' section and revisited 'I Can't Get No Satisfaction' which I worked on the other day. This was then followed by 'Get Off Of My Cloud', a particular favourite Rolling Stones song of mine which I remembering enjoying when I was little. The Rolling Stones are actually high up on my bucket list of bands I'd like to see in concert and I hope that one day it'll actually happen. The closest I've ever got to seeing them was at their Crossfire Hurricane premiere in London back in 2012 where I heard them being interviewed on the red carpet and saw a glimpse of Mick Jagger's head. What a claim to fame eh!? Anyway, what a great band and being able to actually play long to their music is amazing!

My tutor also suggested that we work on a Bruce Springsteen song of my choice as I'm off to see him in concert in just over a weeks time. I had a scroll through the list of Bruce songs on YouTube and decided on a more unusual track 'Spirit In The Night'. It was the first time my tutor had heard it and I think he seemed to really like it. For those of you who only really know Bruce's biggest hits as well as the 'Born In The USA'/'Born To Run' albums; it's a completely different sound for Bruce. It has more of jazz feel to it, or at least that's how I think it's best to describe it. Seriously though, if you haven't heard it before go give it a listen and let me know your thoughts!

Enough of talking about music for now. After tutoring my Grandparents joined Mum and I for lunch at TK Maxx café (the usual haunt) after bringing some more garden stuff we'd been storing at their house for quite a while now. Again, it was great to take full advantage of my new wheelchair and push myself around in TK Maxx. It's great to browse at my own free will and take myself wherever I want to go. Honestly, words cannot begin to describe just how much of a difference that makes to me and I've only had it less than week.

Following lunch, a trip to the supermarket followed suit to pick up food for tonight's dinner or we'd otherwise starve not to be too drastic or anything! My Grandad wanted to purchase a new SD card for his camera so I took him to the techy isle and helped him decide on what one to buy. I'm a bit of a camera fanatic I must admit!

The afternoon always flies by and before you know, you're sitting outside my sister's school in the car picking her up. Where does the day go?! It's always nice to get back home and have the rest of the day free to do what you like. Although, I'm usually working on something because I don't think it's physically possibly for me to sit still with nothing to do these days.

The weather has been particularly kind to us of late and today was exceptionally nice so I did manage to spend some time chilling out in the garden. It's not every day you get to eat alfresco style in Scotland so why not make the most out of it? One of our neighbour's cats has decided to adopt us for whatever reason and won't leave us alone. Seriously, wherever we live there's always a cat who wants to befriend us and this house is no exception. My Mum isn't keen on encouraging it as it'll scare the birds however, it sneaked up behind me and I couldn't help but befriend it (guilty face). Its so cute though! I just couldn't help it!

After a frantic search around the house for the missing garden hut keys we eventually came across them-phew! And I spent the rest of the evening trying to help set up a blog for my Mum. It's taking a while as we purchased a cute template from Etsy and I'm 'attempting' to install for her. I don't whether it's just me or not but it's all rather technical-we'll get there in the end! I know for a fact that Mum's blog will look fab and she'll have some really amazing pieces of artwork to share with you guys. I promise I'll let you know when it's live and ready to read!
Love & Peace,
The Hat Hippie xx