woke up to the sounds of dawn rising this morning... have seen dawn a number of times over the last few days, this morning was slightly different though, as I awoke to sounds of lorries turning, pulling up and parking .... I was in South Mimms service station, just off the M25, having stopped there late the night before as I was just too tired to drive all the way home from Glastonbury... so simply curled up on the back seat under my sleeping bag and fell immediately into a deep sleep... finally got home at about 7.00am this morning!

What a weekend though! Glastonbury improves with each visit.... maybe it's because I now know all the back streets of this particular urban/rural jungle or the fact that there are loads of lovely people there, many now really good friends.. but each year the treasurable moments increase exponentially... it is just magical!

There is certainly an atmosphere there that is remarkably full of kindness, generosity, caring, supportiveness and one of overall enjoyment but it is an enjoyment that is inclusive, it is not to the detriment of others... everyone has a really good time and is happy to share it with everyone else... I cant really put it into words but there is something luscious about the feeling...

special moments were numerous... I arrived in the company of good friends and was really happy to discover three people I had met last year were also back again... and S & R had got tickets too and it was lovely to see them again.... loved S's reaction to the bins... she is a hardy festival goer but hasn't been to G before and got really, really excited about the number of colour-coded bins that are liberally spread around every bit of the festival in an attempt to keep it as clean and tidy as possible ...there was no climbing wall this year but instead it was a triangular high ropes course... platform 2 became my home and saturday evening I was up there, Brian on platform three, Nigel on platform one and we were all dancing to music from the Jazz world whilst working and thoroughly enjoying every moment of it... had one or two minor rescues but generally everyone that had a go, even the ones that looked absolutely terrified, said they really enjoyed it....

didn't really do the rushing around to see loads of bands thing this year at all and the bands I did see were more by accident than design. Must admit though to being really impressed by Coldplay which was a bit of a surprise as I have always thought of them as a bit too mellow.. but it sounds like the new album might be a bit raunchier than previous ones so I might be tempted to purchase it.. loved their version of Kylie's 'can't get you out of my head' too!! and Brian Wilson!!!!!!!!!! the set was perfect for a sunday afternoon in the sun at G!! Good vibrations indeed!

oh yes I seem to have forgotten to mention the rain....! Bloody scary lying in a tent alone watching massive hits of lighting bounce around the sky, hearing thunder that actually made you cringe and blasts of noise that indicated direct hits and having what felt like a continuous stream from a very powerful hosepipe, turned on full, aimed at the top of my tent, which incidentally didn't let in a drop of water!!, and all the while desperately wanting to go to the loo!!! When the bladder finally insisted that enough was enough I donned poncho and wellies put my feet outside and realised there was what appeared to be a stream flowing all around! The ground was just totally unable to absorb the vast amount of water that had been thrown at it so lakes, streams, ponds, even minor oceans changed the landscape of the site quite dramatically!

Will add photo's later!

wandered around the greenfields a bit, drank pear cider, talked with friends hearing stories of climbing exploits, exchanging snippets of life histories, sharing moments of discovery of similarities of experience until daylight arrived and we had to disperse to various tents and catch a bit of sleep before starting the next shift... ate an inordinate amount of healthy food.. to the extent that I feel in need of a good re-tox of cake, biscuits and crisps!!! Felt more and more confident in my own climbing abilities too which was great. Lost Vagueness lost its appeal but the little garden in the greenpeace field became a favourite spot... and the sun returned with a gentle breeze and by sunday the wellies were put away and it was possible to get around the site in sandals... so many magic moments my head is bursting with it all and I could cry!!

The face is bright pink again, my back aching loads but today I am a happy woman... passed my Level 2 powerboat assessment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ok so my 'holding off' wasn't that brilliant but boy did I do my man-overboard thingy well!! So now I hold a usefully recognised paper qualification in boat skills!!!! Hilarious really!

Plus I have taken up the sport of slacklining!!!! and I can see it becoming an obsession... I am even going to buy my own slackline so I can set it up wherever I am and practise!! Maybe a bit of description is required.... ok you have heard of tightrope walking... where the ummmm rope is very very tight and you errrr 'simply' walk along it, well imagine that that tight rope is a ..... slack line! It wobbles like hell!!!I could only manage 4 steps on my first go!!!! and that was after about two hours of getting to that point!