OK, it's been a while, I admit, but getting back to normal after three nights under canvas when I'd sworn I'd never do such a thing ever again has taken some doing. I know I'm supposed to be some sort of cowgirl rancher chick, and you might think that as such I'd be up for kipping under the stars at the drop of my very expensive leather hat, but I invented this particular variety of cowgirl, and so I can say with some authority that British cowgirl rancher chicks don't do tents. Full stop. Period. Yeehah.

Anyway, forgetting the tent business and the strange weather and the fact that for a while we (M and I, that is) thought we had no means of boiling water and therefore no means of making tea, the festival was a great success from the performance side of things. Randy Moods went down a storm, new friends were made (including two lovely women who provided us with cups of tea at the time we thought we had no means of making our own, and who thus became known to us as The Tea Ladies, and who then came along to my performance), and CDs were sold. We did, however, pack up and head out on the Sunday evening, when another rain-soaked night under canvas seemed a night too much. Call us wimps if you must - though I prefer 'Ladies Who Like Their Creature Comforts'.

Moving on... yesterday I had occasion to chat to Ian Joules of Joules clothing and Joules Yard, a very funky cafe and live music venue behind the Joules boutique in Market Harborough. We talked of dogs and of music, and I really liked the laid-back, rather American feel of the place, so I shall be taking Joleen (my beloved guitar) along with me to the open mic there a week on Thursday (15 August).

There's another gig in the offing too - a fundraiser for the Hillingdon Women's Centre, somewhere I've driven past soooo many times on my way from London back to Oxford, but only ventured into last month when, following an audition for The Voice (that's a story in itself...), I found myself walking from Hillingdon tube station to the Oxford Tube bus stop. I got chatting to the centre manager, and as a result of that chat we've decided to set up a music night on either 21 or 28 September, with me and one or maybe two other female singer-songwriters. The details have yet to be worked out, but it will definitely be happening - so watch this space!

One other thing - I won something!! The Melange Factor singing competition to be precise. More precise than that I can't be as I don't really know any more than that. But it's nice to have won something - something where people had to vote on videos of our performances posted on You Tube. Winning may change my life... but there again, it may not. To find out if it does, once again, watch this space... ;)

Haven't got chamois jacket yet - had a mental blip and had the first one sent to the wrong address, so it had to be returned to sender, address unknown, no such person, no such zone. I then had to get a refund and reorder it and make sure this time it was sent to the correct address. I doubt if Calamity Jane ever had such a kerfuffle. Or Elvis. It had just better be worth it.

Meanwhile, I've been scouring the charity shops and have found a whole new look. I thought it looked pretty darn hot when I did a twirl in front of the mirror, but whether Randy Moods will dare to wear it all on stage is another matter. It does somewhat hinge on whether it goes with the chamois jacket. If it ever arrives. There are still 54 days to got till LFest so there's plenty of time yet - although it only seems days ago that I looked on the LFest website countdown page and thought how long 112 days seemed to be. Can't wait! :)