Things get busy at Home

The weekend after our trip to Cornwall, the now world famous Machynlleth Sign was positioned once more on the mountain behind the house ready to greet the thousands who flock into town each year for the Comedy Festival.

Peter and our good friend Huw of Huw's Taxis worked flat out picking up and dropping off all the extra people who had flooded into town and the surrounding area for the weekend.

As a one man operator, Huw was suddenly having to turn work down as he simply didn't have enough hours in the day to both work and sleep. 

He worried that the locals were going to suffer during the day as he simply couldn't drive twenty four hours.

Peter was working all the shifts he could and had enough to do, so, as my Hackney licence is up to date, I offered my services to help out.

Three days later John called by the house to ask if I could help out in the shop as he and Sanne were having no time off together since I had left...........

and then CAT phoned to see if I could do any extra shifts now I wasn't working in the shop!!!!

I looked at my diary.

I had planned to use my first month at home to build up stock for my Festival shop but yes there were a few dates I could help out with.

I wrote in all the Festival dates, adding the getting to and packing down days to them.

Peter added the dates of our two week break for us to have our alone time, then John filled most of the spare bits with a week here and a week there at the shop.

Soon the rest of the diary was filled with extra evenings shifts in CAT and anything left Huw got so he could have some time off to spend with his children.

My five months of unemployed summer changed into five months of back to back work!!

It was wonderful being back in the Taxis and as everything I did was a bonus to Huw, there was no pressure. 

My kitchen quickly turned into little workshop as saris were sewn into skirts and bits of wood were turned into stock. 

When the phone rang I did a taxi job, when the phone was quiet I made stock.

During my first week helping out in the Workshop, I worked until 5pm for John and then spent another two or three hours working for myself but using the workshop tools and space.

By the time Fire In The Mountain arrived I had boxes and boxes of things ready to sell. 

(I cant find a picture of 2017 so you have to settle for this one!!)

In 2016, after, if I do say so myself, my amazing job of organising the paperwork for the Healing Area at Fire In The Mountain, I had been asked to become Core Crew for the 2017 event.

I roped Peter in to become part of the crew on the build team and the children were bought tickets but were also told they would be working for their meals.

Three days before the festival's official opening we all moved onto site. Lady Sage was parked up. Camp was established and the job of building the Healing Area burst into action.

Turf was lifted for the fire pit, wood was collected into piles or used to make decorative structures. 

My stall was put up as reception plus shop and the entire area was cleared of brambles and other such things.

The festival passed in a blur of activity.

I worked twelve and fourteen hour shifts as Peter and the children ferried food down to me but it was worth it.

The shop did tremendously well, customers plus healers complemented me on the smooth running of customer care and bookings and when I had all the money and book work finished by mid day on the Sunday, people looked at me in amazement!

By the time everything was over I was officially Core Crew for 2018 plus Peter and the children were booked to work in exchange for their tickets in.

This had also been Peter and the children's first experience of Festival life and they had thrived on it.

I suggested to Peter that we could do more festivals together but as my next two festivals would be during school time, it was decided they would only join me for Kaya and the Cider festival as these were both during the summer holidays.

With our two week break to go to Scotland plus some festivals together the year seemed to be turning out to be a family time after all!

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A small foot note here about the very end of Fire In The Mountain and the other side of festival life – on the Monday morning, now that the festival was officially over, Peter and I, having dropped the children to school, were due to pack down the shop even though it had rained constantly throughout the night. 

We arrived at the stall to find even though everything was dry, a HUGE pool of water now hung dangerously low in one corner of the roof. Our attempts at pushing it off ended in disaster as the corner of the roof, in virtual slow motion, gave way covering my entire stock with rain water!!

Peter and I looked on in horror as water continued to pour in, each of us unable or rather not trusting ourselves to say anything for a good five minutes. With the roof's entirety of stored water now in the shop, we fixed the roof and looked at the damage.

Rugs, throws and stock were gathered into piles, water was emptied out of boxes and subdued we packed everything the best we could into the trailer for the journey back up the hill to where Lady Sage was parked. 

As the rain continued to fall and with the trailer already full, it was decided to leave the frame where it was, I would come back in a few days once the rain had stopped to fetch it. 

My plan had been to stay the Monday night for the Crew party but as Peter drove away with all the camping stuff and my wet rugs I looked at Lady Sage in dismay. 

I weighed up my choices ....... a wet party in a muddy field sleeping in a van full of damp stock or a hot bath and sort out. 

An hour later I followed Peter home for the hot bath and to start the drying process. 

It took three days to dry everything out but by day four everything was repacked, the sun was shining and memory of the rain had passed. 

I was now ready for the next one!

Oh the joys of Festival Life!!!