Vacation day!

Well, we actually had a day off today... mind you we had to drive from Maine to New York! Véro and I took full advantage of this! We stopped in Old Orchard beach because it was a beautiful, HOT, sunny day. Then we went to the outlet store in Kittery and did a bit of shopping. I am so tired now but we had a great day and some great food! Hectic schedule from tomorrow morning on. We play at the Old Songs Festival near Albany, New York. Each day we have several performances (workshops and shows) and we start early tomorrow morning! I am off to bed but I couldn't resist adding four photos today.

Caroline, Louise, myself and Véro having a fun supper next door to our hotel in Albany, NY. Note for my sister Joanna... I just had the best seafood alfredo ever and totally wish you were here!

A picture taken from the pier at Old Orchard Beach.

One of our sound tech guys, Andy caught this giant toad outside the Skye Theatre where we were staying. (He and Véro also chased a mouse out of our apartment... and Caroline's room.

Gadelle on stage at the Skye Theatre.

Skye Theatre

We are at the Skye Theatre in South Carthage, Maine! It is nice to be here because this is our home base for four days. This means that we don't have to drag our suitcases to a new place every night! We arrived here on Monday and have been driving to the gigs from here but tonight, we play HERE! We just have to go downstairs for the show. I hear the sound is a treat in the theatre and we have 2 fun sound guys, Arthur and Andy, who are following us around for four shows. This part of the tour was set up by Phil McIntire, our kind host here at the Skye.

We have internet here but the bandwith is limited. I hope my photo uploads (the photos may be smaller than usual) don't get me into trouble! :-) We have been doing a lot of driving and there is a fair bit of construction on the roads. This is not so fun in a 15 passenger van! The gigs that we have been doing were all over an hour away from where we are staying. Friday we drive to Albany, New York. It is about an 8 hour drive.

Pictures, pictures...

The first, Outside the Franco-American Heritage Centre where we played last night in Lewiston, Maine.

Second, we spent a little time in the cute downtown of Farmington, Maine yesterday. Nice little shops and we met Morton the moose! A stranger saw us being silly and taking photos and asked if we wanted him to take one of the four of us.

And third, I did some laundry in the sink in my room and went outside to hang some clothes on the balcony. I noticed a lot of bird activity and when I looked up in the eaves just above my head there was a nest with four baby birds! Mom, I'll take a picture of the Mama bird and you'll have to help me identify it. I don't know what kind of birds they are.

June tour #2

Original title, I know! We are in Ellsworth Maine this morning and playing in New Hampshire tonight. We have wireless internet here today but who knows for later so I thought I would update again.

We had a fun show last night, we played half a show then played for a contra-dance. There was a real caller and the dancers danced 4 or 5 dances even in the heat! We did a 5 hour drive yesterday to get to the gig and today we have about 4 hours driving total including finding the place where we will stay for the next 4 days. Yay, less suitcase hauling for a few nights! It is a 10 day tour so the suitcase is pretty full!! I hear the next place where we will stay is really nice, we are being hosted by Phil McIntyre at the Skye Theatre and there is an apartment above the theatre where we will stay. I have heard about the place from lots of friends who have stayed (and played) there in the past.

The first photo is of Steve's house where we stayed last night. He is a rocker dude with all kinds of rock and roll paraphernalia in the house! He is cooking us breakfast right now!

We are in bible country it seems as you can see by the sign on the picture of Steve's neighbour's house.

And lastly Helen relaxing in the yard, lots of green!!

Have a great day everyone, Anna.

June tour

Well, I don't know how vigilante I will be. It might depend on the internet connection but I will try to update on this tour. I am on tour with the band Gadelle who I am playing with for the summer. We are playing in Lille, Maine tonight and we have the most wonderful host Don Cyr who just put out a fabulous spread for us for supper!

The border crossing was ...interesting. We were fingerprinted and photographed! The drive in the van to get here was about 7 hours. I kept myself busy by listening to my current audio book “The Book Thief“ Excellent book!

We play tonight in a big beautiful church restored by Don, our host. It is called Notre Dame de Mont-Carmel, ironic since the church next to my house in PEI has the same name! I will stop here and add a few pictures to my post. We play in an hour and I need to get ready! I'll try to wtite again soon.

Picture 1, Helen and Caroline relaxing on the step at Don's Place.

Picture 2, the Gadelle-mobile.

Picture 3, the church where we play tonight.