I can't stand the waiting

Every day I'm waking up early with butterflies in my stomach. It's the not knowing, in limbo state that I can't stand. No wonder it is said that moving is one of the most stressful things and that's before you've even started packing. I just want to know really whether we have got the house or not. Then when you try to call the agents to ask them something, they always happen to be out! Wouldn't be so bad if we didn't have to give notice to our present landlord, who is going to be ringing shortly to renew the lease! How on earth am I going to stall him for a few days?
Good news is that we have another gig in November, we are just waiting to find out when our slot will be, but it is a three day event, The Tunnel Vision Festival, Breen Sands, Burnham-on -Sea, Somerset, 23-25 November. More details to follow..
So that's good news, also we have just signed a distribution deal with Kudos, the biggest and best distributor in the UK, which we are very excited about as they don't just take any old band on!!
Hope you are all gearing up for a fabulous weekend!!

We've found a home

Good news folks, a couple of days ago we found our dream house and providing all our references go through OK, we will be moving soon, instead of going to Zimbabwe, and my Mum is going to come over here. As soon as we saw this house we both just knew it was the one for us, so I am praying really hard that it all works out, it will be lovely. It actually reminds me of a Zimbabwean house, it is an old fashioned bungalow with lots of space and character and a huge garden to go with it. Fingers crossed!!
Nyo had a nasty turn yesterday, I held her little body in my hands as she trembled with these strange seizures, we knew she was better though when she tried to bite me again, all I kept thinking was that she mustn't depart from this world now that I've found her a garden!
Woke up early this morning, kept thinking about everything and worrying that things are going to go wrong, I will be pleased when all the formalities are over and it's official!! Gerald just carries on calmly as usual and comes out with all spiritual advice, like it's my choice to worry but it's not going to change anything. So I might as well just let myself be over the moon and enjoy it!

Will my Mum leave?

It's a blustery Monday morning, kept getting woken up by the howling wind and the rain lashing at the window, it was quite a violent storm. Looking outside now, it seems dark and cold, a big change from yesterday when I was roaming around in a t-shirt, I even saw some Sunday shoppers wearing shorts!
Not long now till we are supposed to go to Zimbabwe, I still haven't even booked the tickets because of the uncertain situation, but we will have to make a decision soon. How much worse can things get in a few weeks? How much longer can we be attached to the memory of what a country once was and what it could be? That place has broken my heart enough times. I hope my Mum has decided to come back with us, I don't think I can go there again and then leave her there this time, I don't want to get on the plane without her, it will be terrible to leave her there, I can't. Yet she is so stubborn, like a typical Leo, and in a way I do understand, she loves that country, she was born there and has lived there all her life, so it's difficult for her as well. We don't need any more tragedies!

Saturday

Hi everyone, I've been spending a bit of time on Facebook, it's fun , but you can get carried away and stay on there for ages. Another electronic playground. I haven't worn a watch for ages now, only because I never get around to fixing any of them, but it's amazing how good you can become at knowing approximately what the time is. I wonder if anyone has sundials anymore, there used to be one at one of my old schools and I remember learning all about them, they are supposed to be more accurate than anything. I was always fascinated by the Ancient Egyptians and also the Mayans, they were so advanced in their ways of thinking and what they learned has endured over the centuries.
Trying to learn how to play some songs on the keyboard, I bought a new book to assist me, but for some strange reason I'm finding them much easier to play on the guitar . I complained to Gerald that the book was too hard for me, but he said I was talking rubbish and that I mustn't be so negative. I like those children's books that I learned how to play from, ha ha.
Found a potential house that I want to go and look at, but when I called the agents, they were like the lettings prevention officers and now I have to wait till Monday before I can even speak to anyone about it. Honestly, the way some people do business! Have a funky weekend!!

Consumer Society

Hi everyone , the weekend is here again, but in the Cling household it is business as usual as we scout for more gigs to get ourselves out there. I am also trying to find a photographer to do some new photos of us. Gerald was working on the new song till about 0500 this morning, so here we, are as determined as ever. Never give up.
I must sort out my winter wardrobe , I need to get a pair of boots and some other stuff, I am so into recycling I have given most of my other clothes away. The other day we went to the dump to get rid of all our stuff that was broken or just junk. Gerald said it was a lovely feeling as he was throwing everything on the tip. When he threw our hoover away, the one that blew up last week, he said he saw several identical ones there already, obviously their owners had the same misfortune as us, won't be buying that brand again. It's incredible what people discard, the amount of TVs and computers was quite staggering! Shows how much of a consumer society we are, in my Mum's time a hoover would have lasted for years and if it did break down it would have been repaired, not callously chucked away!

Autumn's here

Hi there everyone, it's looking like autumn outside today. Yesterday I was running through carpets of brown and orange leaves, squirrels scampering everywhere. I love the distinct changes of the seasons, something you don't see in Africa, there it is only summer and winter. Imagine how beautiful it is in the forests now.
Still scouting around for more gigs, it seems in London people ask you to play in the most obscure places and then they want you to take an audience with you as well, and sell the tickets! The cushy life of promoters.
Was disappointed yesterday as I went to my orthodontist and my tooth has only moved a fraction, I know he said it would take a long time, but what happens if it doesn't move? I will have to consider train tracks on my teeth, or just pull them out altogether. I told him that I would have to go and rescue my Mum from Zimbabwe and he was horrified. I did speak to my Mum yesterday, I seem more worried than she is, I tried to get some sort of commitment out of her, told her to think about coming back with us, before it's too late. Watch and wait.

Famine

Watched the news in horror last night, it was all about the collapse of Zimbabwe, I feel afraid for my Mum for the situation is getting desperate and I don't want her to be stuck there if things shut down completely. Apparently there is some sort of evacuation plan for UK citizens, I really need to get her out before it comes to that. Everyone is trying to flee the terrible situation, I never thought I would see children crying for food in a land that was once so plentiful. Now Robert is being compared to Idi Amin, is it only a matter of time before he tells his army to kill all the whites that he hates so much? A country on the verge of famine and still the rest of the world sits by and would rather pretend it's all not happening. I don't understand, never will.
To change the subject completely, I had a can of WD40 in my car which somehow leaked out everywhere, the smell is so overpowering that when you get in the car it is like solvent abuse on a massive scale, I've never come across anything like it, it actually stings your eyes when you are driving. Is my middle name lucky I wonder?

The things we do for friends

It's Monday, I always start off very disciplined and then by the week's end I am normally so exhausted that all my good intentions go out the window. So that will be my challenge this week, to stay focused! I found one of my old friends, RB, from Bulawayo on FaceBook. His sister was my best friend at school, they lived on a small farm just outside Bulawayo and I was forever at their house. RB is gay and it didn't always go down too well in the macho, narrow -minded society that we grew up in. I used to hate the way people were so horrible and I had quite a few gay friends so I knew how they got treated. Anyway, once I entered the Miss Teen Queen competition and had a good chance of getting through to the finals. On the night, it was packed as it was quite a big event in Bulawayo. All the contestants had to answer a question, who would we take to Victoria Falls if we won the competition? All of them had so far replied with very sweet answers, most of them said their Mums. I grabbed the microphone and said "I would take my boyfriend, RB". There was an audible gasp from the audience, they were so shocked, obviously I didn't get anywhere in the competition , but it was worth it as it caused such a scandal, people talked for days. My other friends thought it was unforgivable that I had deliberately blown my chances, but I didn't care, I was happy that I'd done it, I think I've always lived by the rule that any publicity is better than no publicity.

Creativity

Good morning everyone, it's another lazy Sunday, we have been languishing in bed , it's a wonderful luxury! Isn't it amazing that Zimbabwe thrashed Australia at cricket, not that I follow sport or anything, but I thought it was wonderful. All the other news that comes out of there is heartbreaking. I bet you that despite all their troubles , the people are still smiling though.
Nyo has commandeered the sofa now and constructed a nest underneath the throw. She is very territorial and cheeky, we still can't have visitors because now she attacks you if you go anywhere near it. The other day I was merely standing next to it and she flew onto my leg and started biting. I think that she is going a bit senile. I always seem to end up with the craziest pets.
Thinking of lyrics for a new song, the creative process is fascinating because it never follows the same pattern. Inspiration can strike at any time and it's wonderful when it all starts to flow and fall into place. Sometimes I'll have the whole song together except for one line, then that one line will take me ages to think of. Once I did write the lyrics for a whole song over the course of an evening, that was amazing. If I am stuck, I always try to take myself back to my childhood, for I had such a vivid imagination, I would escape into my own world in my head for hours and hours, never needing any company. I was very fortunate though to be in such beautiful surroundings, always outside and close to nature. The African garden is spectacular, the variety of insects alone is enough to keep you entertained for days, there was always something interesting to observe and learn about. Wonderful times. It's much more fun to see the world through the eyes of a child.

A mouse in da house!

I saw a mouse in our house, bold as brass he came running across the floor of the living room, I didn't even scream! Now is the time that we need a cat, I don't fancy laying traps or poison as then I would have to look at their little dead bodies. They are quite cute, they have really big eyes. When we were in Wales, we had a little garden and we used to take Nyo outside so she could enjoy the sunshine. Of course, it used to attract all the wild birds, they used to come for her seed , not her shrieking, and there was also the cutest little mouse that used to come, we would see him sneaking up through the grass. He had the loveliest, huge brown eyes, it was the first thing that I noticed about him, even though he was quite shy. I once had a pet mouse and I was very upset when he died, but he was different to the ones I have seen here. Shall I tell you the terrible story about my Auntie Gwenny's lovebird? A rat, not a mouse, somehow got into his cage in the middle of the night and devoured him, leaving only half of his little body behind.
To change the subject completely, a colleague of mine was knocked over by a bicycle last night, this is the latest in a string of disasters that has happened to her. No laughing matter, but she is always going around telling everyone that she doesn't believe in luck- obviously not!

What a racket!

Hi everyone, what gorgeous weather we are having, I think it's an Indian summer. Yesterday the vacuum cleaner blew up. I was annoyed because it is quite new and it wasn't exactly cheap, but unfortunately the warranty has run out. I always seem to have this problem with hoovers, maybe they can't cope with the high volume of feathers and shredded paper that Nyo creates. This week we've had to replace the kettle and the DVD player as well, doesn't anyone make anything that lasts anymore?
Good job that we're not trying to record any vocals today as the people across the road have decided to dig up their whole front drive and the noise is constant and very irritating indeed, I feel like going outside and pulling the plug on their drill, I can't hear a damn thing, not even the lovely music for our new track that Gerald was working on last night. Some people are so inconsiderate, and not a thing that we can do about it either, except go out. No wonder poor Nyo looks exhausted, I'm surprised that I managed to sleep as well, I must have been tired not to stir with all that cacophony going on. Anyway, someone must have heard me because at the moment there is temporary silence, what a relief, now is a good time to sabotage the electricity supply!

Oranges

Hi everyone, had a relaxing day yesterday, managed to put our rancid experience of Oxford behind us, and enjoyed the sunshine. In the park that we go to, there is a little kiosk where they sell the most delicious milkshakes and other goodies, so we always buy something from there and they have chairs and benches where you can enjoy your treats whilst overlooking a stretch of water.
Where I was born in Zimbabwe, there used to be a lot of citrus estates and they would have little kiosks on the main road to Harare, where you could stop and buy all the lovely fresh produce. Sometimes on a Sunday, my dad would bundle us all into the car and we would go for a drive to buy some oranges. We would always get a big sack of them, they were the plumpest, sweetest, juiciest oranges I have ever tasted, how I used to love eating them, sometimes one after the other, to the point where my sister used to complain that I was greedy! There was nothing better than getting out the pool after a long swim and lying in the sun afterwards with a lovely, refreshing orange to demolish. See how easy it is to be happy?

Robz, The Oxford Urban Artz Joke

I'm sorry to say that yesterday we gave up our time and our talent only to be mucked around by some disorganised idiot, we actually did what any self-respecting artist would do and we just left. After getting up really early to be there on time, after all we had been told that we were opening the show, we drove 83 miles to arrive at the venue. Warning bells should have gone off then, Robz the Urban Artz Idiot was meant to come and meet us at the gate in "one minute". Fifteen minutes later we were still waiting on the road like melons, so we showed ourselves in, only to find that the stage wasn't even ready, they were still in the process of painting and construction. It soon became clear that Robz hadn't prepared the event very well, everyone was complaining, it was an utter shambles. The show was meant to start at 12.30, no chance, by 2.00pm, the stage was still not finished and not even one person had turned up to watch. Dear Robz had invited a cameraman from a tv station who also had the misfortune to show up and not even be able to film anything. Whenever we tried to ask Robz what was going on, he managed to evade us and run off somewhere else, he seemed more interested in organising children's activities. Never fear, he told us we could set up on the stage soon , the sound check was all to be done with our set cos we were going to be first on, whenever we tried to pin him down to a time however , he just pretended to be busy and ran off somewhere else. We went for a walk and when we came back, we noticed that all the other artists were doing their sound checks, mind you they were only singing along to backing tracks like karaoke, anyway we found Robz again, what had happened to our sound check? He asked me if I wanted to get up on stage and give it a go- no you imbecile we are a proper band and our equipment needs to be set up like we've been telling you in our correspondence for the last four months. By this time I really wanted to walk, it was nearly 3pm and he hadn't even had the courtesy to tell us what was going on or even offer us a glass of water, we had been there since 10.30! Anyway, we eventually set up our stuff, only to find out that the sound man didn't have a clue, as helpful as he was. I am used to singing with a wireless set up, but we were unable to use it in the end, I thought fine, just do it the old fashioned way, but even then we were getting a tremendous amount of feedback and I couldn't hear what I was doing over the monitors. Everyone was doing their best to sort it out, then Robz came over and had the cheek to say that things were taking a bit too long and we better get a move on. Dear Robz, did it ever occur to him that things were taking a long time because he had had us sitting around for four hours in the chaos that he had created, we asked for a plug board and it had taken him 45 minutes for him to get us one etc, etc. Then Gerald told him it was unlikely we could play unless they sorted out the sound and he just said "OK we'll go with that then." I just saw red, I thought you little bastard, making us wait all this time without so much as an apology and I just laid into him and gave him a piece of my mind, if he thought we were going to go quietly, he hadn't counted on me, I told him exactly what I though of him and his crappy show. As were packing up our stuff, I saw all 20 people in the audience coming in, Robz didn't even have anywhere for them to sit, they had to get their own chairs, shame. As we were leaving , the sound man came up to me and said he was sorry as he was really looking forward to hearing us, well I hope he liked rap music cos that's what all the other artists were doing, it's not as if we fitted in with anyone else anyway! I was glad that we left, sorry that we didn't play, but why should we be treated like that by a little w*****. Just put it down to a bad experience! Beware all bands of a person called Robz from Barton in Oxford.

Chilled Commuting

Only two days to go before the festival, starting to feel the familiar churning in my stomach, or is that just because I'm in the process of waking up? Everyday I closely examine my teeth to see if they have become any straighter, I know it's only been two weeks, but I'm impatient! For a few months now I have been doing something constructive whilst I am in the car- I put on some chilled out beats and then I chant until I reach my destination. I used to do my singing exercises, but Gerald put a stop to it, he said that there was no way I could concentrate on them properly whilst driving, very true. I like chanting though, it makes for a peaceful journey, I don't get half as irate as I used to. What do I chant, you might wonder? Long drawn out "Om's" are my favourite. When I go on the underground I just put my MP3 player on and meditate. Sometimes I do breathing exercises, obviously not when the train is stopped at a station , but when it is moving and making loads of noise, otherwise someone might think that I'm hyperventilating. Have you ever noticed on the tube how people always pretend not to notice each other and everyone avoids eye contact? Maybe one day I'll start doing headstands or sit with my toe in my ear...

Countryside and tube strikes

We had such a surreal day yesterday that in the end we were both so discombobulated that we just collapsed. In the morning we took a drive out to the country to view that cottage that I was talking about a few days ago. It was in a beautiful location, very rural, but there were a couple of drawbacks, one of which was that we were would have been far too close to the neighbours, right on top of them in fact. Sort of defeats the object of moving to the country. The other factor was that it was completely unfurnished, without even a fridge or cooker and we would have had to had all the wiring and everything done to install them, something that is a landlord's responsibility really. Plus the landlady sounded like a fussy old bat. I actually liked the property more than Gerald, but you have to be practical with these things and weighing everything up, we had to turn it down. I still feel sad. Anyway, I had to rush back and go into London, I went on the tube and by the time I wanted to come home they were all on strike, it's not easy to get home with millions of people fighting for places on buses etc, but I was very fortunate in that I managed to get almost all the way back without too much inconvenience. We sat down to watch a film and within the first few minutes I was fast asleep... By the way, we have a new page on Facebook, if you are on Facebook , please add us as a friend, we are under the name of Susi Lavender xx

Twilight

Twilight hovers over the ocean, I am swallowed by the purple sea, she comforts me as I float towards the fiery clouds, lost in the warmth of her tranquil embrace. The dreamy rhythm of the waves is like a lullaby, the water and the sky merge as one as I close my eyes and sink into the depths of my own consciousness, my soul contented.