AYL - Sunday May 11th 2025

M had seen a mouse in the front room a few times but we weren't able to work out where its coming from. On Tuesday morning we discovered it had been nibbling one of the cookies Amy gave us on Monday which was left on the kitchen table in a plastic bag. We also found a few droppings in the some old bits of cloth in the cupboard next to the sink. As a result I went to BnQ to buy some humane traps. When we were in Devon Helen pointed out that a headlight on the car wasn't working. I had an MOT due just after we got back so didn't fix it just mentioned it when I took the car in. It passed and they didn't charge me for the replacement bulb. I then realised that was because they hadn't fixed it. Makes you wonder. Finally got round to trying to fix it but it looked like it was going to be tricky so took it to Halfords an they did it. Why is so difficult to change car bulbs? Ordered a new phone. its a second hand Samsung Galaxy A41 from a company called Back Market who James recommended. Got the train to Swindon on Wednesday and cycled back with Kelvin and Graham. They reckoned it was going to be about 60 miles but it was more like 50. Shed building started bright and early on Thursday morning. The ground screws had to go in first.

Picked up my new phone on later. They had tried to deliver it on Wednesday. Most of  what was on the old phone was recoverable. Had a band practice with Tony and Andy in the afternoon. The mouse problem had got worse by Friday morning as there had been one up in the bedroom at the top so called in a mouse man. Electrician came round to sus out getting electricity in the shed. They are making good progress. The shell is up.

I was on the merch stall in St Lawrence's for AYL in the evening.

There were 3 bands on Yaang, Mandrake Handshake and The Sprints. All pretty good. Quite a few of the usual suspects there. On Saturday morning Dariuz came round to replace a slate in the back roof. M went to a talk about Silchester in the town hall. I did wristbands for AYL in Market Place from 11 to 3. Got to wear a hi-vis. The first band I saw after that were Dog Unit in the church. An excellent 4 piece instrumental band. 2 electric guitars, bass, drums and quite a few pedals.Haven't seen a band like that for ages, the sound was good, they were on top of their game and I was right at the front. Great stuff. They recommended Human Interest so went to see them after in The Turtle. Another good band, just a 3 piece but they said they were normally 4. A bit poppy/rocky in the vain of The Pretenders maybe but the main vocalist was a bloke, bassist was a lass though. Great harmonies and dual vocals. I stayed on to watch Tucan. Belgian synth/guitar band. It was like being at a rave. They went down a storm, the audience were chanting their name at the end. Only their second gig in the UK. Next up were Coach Party in Sub 89 where I met up with Keith and Fiona. Another rocky/poppy band but I thought the sound the sound was a bit off. Too much kick drum and bass. The Big Special rounded things off in there and were really good. I popped into The Facebar on the way home to see Man Woman Chainsaw but didn't stay long as I was a bit knackered. JAMO came round on the bikes for a couple of hours on  Sunday morning. M planted up the sink we got from Mandy.

Had early evening drinks in the shed.