Mab of Dream

*bounces like a mad bint*

Back and spiritually renewed. :-D *bounces again and happy dances as best I can on a dodgy ankle*

I'm going to try and write it all down, so I don't forget it all (though the amazing bits will always be there)

Wednesday:

FT Kate woke me up at 10 to 6 in the morning and we were at Ian's for 8am and on the road at half 8. Naturally this put us smack bang in the middle of the rush hour traffic, in the pouring rain, in Brum, which is always a git to drive around regardless of the time and weather. I finished listening to a audio version of 'The Alchemist' by Paul Coelho, which Andy Charnell had given me, and then got onto my car tape; still driving was hard work. The lorries kicked up spray, the rain came down and the further we got, the more my neck and shoulder hurt (from the whiplash).

I pulled into the Abbey carpark, in Glastonbury town, just before 11am, and Ian and FT Kate had only just that second pulled up themselves. Timing! Ian needed money, so we parked up and while he was at it, I nipped to Witchcraft Limited, to see Trevor, but the shop was closed, the lazy git.

We didn't hang around, but drove off to the Festival in Pilton. There was a lot of traffic and we had to wait at temporary traffic lights as part of the control system. None of us minded that at all, as it was necessary, however the sign-posting was downright crap. We always park in the west carparks, so we can camp on Pennard's Hill, but the signs didn't make it clear which was the entrance for them. In the end, Kate asked a steward, who sent us right around the other side of the festival (we knew we were wrong when we passed through Pilton village itself, but a steward there waved us on). Fortunately the stewards over on the east were a little more savvy and directed us back to the west. In the end, we drove into the 'drop off and pick up' entrance, simply to ask there, only to find out that that was the entrance to the west carparks!

We were in carpark 22 and driving over the field jolted my shoulder even more. I was in agony by the time I parked Rebecca and got out, but Kate had put so much thought and time into ensuring that I wouldn't get hurt by attending this festival that I didn't want to make an issue of the fact that driving to it hurt me. (We're encouraging Ian and Katy to learn to drive so that Kate and I do have the option of not driving in situations like this...)

We loaded up the sack carrier and all should have been well, except that the rain had turned the track leading to the entrance gates into a quagmire. Within ten foot of struggling down that track, it was patently clear that I could not handle the sack carrier without causing a lot of damage to myself. I would have struggled on anyway, but Kate refused point blank. That left a situation where Ian and Kate were having to carry the camping gear for three people (plus Katy's tent) for over a mile, through ankle deep mud, in the pouring rain. I felt so bloody guilty! Also, by the end of that first track, my sandals had both snapped at the straps. The left one came away completely, while the right one was left dangling by one side. I took it off in the queue going in and the Oxfam man put them in the skip for me. That left me barefoot in the mud, which I quite enjoyed. :-D In the queue, as in the carpark, Kate was humming a tune from an advert, which got in your head and stayed there. We kept hearing it all over the festival for the entire time we were there, and I hold her fully responsible!

We all had that Dunkirk spirit, laughing and joking, with me surrepticiously taking things off the other two to carry, when they were so battered down by the conditions that they didn't protest. There was one moment when I managed to get the sack carrier back, with Kate saying, 'I'll have it back off you if it's too much'. It was too much, but I wasn't saying that! I'd seen the effort on their faces getting us that far. However, Ian took one look at my face and said, 'It's hurting her, she's lying' and it was taken off me.

Two seconds later, I slipped off the metal trackway on the mud and felt something go PING at the back of my ankle. It turned out that I'd strained my Achilles tendon, but no-one noticed and it was Saturday before I got round to mentioning it. I figured that after the whiplash and the effort that took on everyone else's part, that I had no leeway left for an ankle in pain. Needless to say, the others had words to say about me not mentioning the ankle.

Eventually, we were all set up on Pennard Hill. Bob and Loz, with their gang, turned up just as we were putting the tents up, so we got to camp together. There was Harry, Joseph from Texas and Chris. During the next couple of days, our gang grew to include Katy (Ian's sister), Andy and Ellie, Andy and Mick, two others whose names I never got, Bruce (who gave me a bandage for my ankle on the Saturday) and two ladies with a baby named Connor.

We went on a wander around then, in search of cups of tea and wellies. Well, Kate wanted wellies, as I had my boots on by then. It was so exciting to be back! *happy dances in memory* Everywhere was just setting up, but all of the stalls were in place, though not quite open yet. Somehow, we managed to lose the others, so Kate and I went wandering off to the Pyramid Stage area and discovered the She-Pees! Of course, we had to try them out! They are female urinals, but we didn't know that there was a funnel to be had too. We just crouched and used them. Very posh.

I can't remember anything else about the Wednesday.

yours
Mab
xxxxx