27 August 2022
We set off quite early and arrived in Southsea around 11:30. At Lynda and Dave’s house where we found John Penn, Becky, Ben and their children.
Lynda had made a fish pie and chilli con carne. I ate heartily from both offerings because they both tasted good. In addition I didn’t want to eat at the Festival. Naturally John Penn didn’t stop talking whenever possible, and more than naturally he became the centre of his monologue.
About 2:30 we set off towards the music. I thought we should move the car to the Waitrose car park. I took the car keys and Maggi carried on. After I fulfilled the job I entered the site and tried to call Maggi in order to connect. The communication system were hopeless. We couldn’t call each other and I walked around randomly for about 45 minutes. Eventually a text came through and we met up at the acoustic stage.
We then went over to the Castle Stage where we saw Baby Queen. The front woman performed her heart out.
I then returned to the house where I watched Arsenal beat Fulham 2-1. The gunners were less convincing than they had been in earlier games. Jesus not as devastating and Partey missing from midfield possibly causing the drop off in performance.
I had arranged a time and place to meet Maggi and everyone else at 8 pm back at the Castle Stage where Kula Shakar had their set. While the band were musically excellent I didn’t think much of their songs. I expected to hear more tracks similar to the one hit I knew of theirs called Govinda, which is a combination of rock and Indian music. Maggi and the rest of the crew didn’t care for the band so we set off for the main stage.
The headline act, Paolo Nutini, began their set at 9:30 so we had plenty of time to find a place to sit with our blankets laid out. I really appreciated his performance and he played a combination of new and old material. I particularly like Scream (Funk My Life Up) and Candy.
We stayed to the end and then strolled back to Lynda’s where we concluded the evening with a couple of bits of toast and a nightcap.
28 August 2022
Woken up by Annie coming into our bedroom and making mischief. She really is a cute little girl and very bright. After a croissant for breakfast Maggi, Lynda and I went for a walk along the front. Dave didn’t join us. He now has a great difficulty in walking any distance and he avoids it whenever possible. Lynda called Matthew to arrange for us to say goodbye.
We continued our walk via Matthews and Becky’s house. Matt opened the door shirtless and I saw the enormous scar down through his chest for the first time.
As usual Matthew greeted us with a great big smile and welcomed us in. We didn’t stay long and then walked on our way back to Lynda’s where Dave cooked us bacon, eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes and toast. A very nice brunch.
We left shortly after our brunch without saying goodbye to Beckie and Ben who had gone shopping in Portsmouth. Our next stop meant returning to London via Thames Ditton where Mel had agreed to hand back the keys to our french property. Martin as usual stood at the barbecue and did the cooking. I enjoyed the meat that he had prepared by marinating it in various seasoning which he explained at the time, but which I have subsequently forgotten. A very pleasant afternoon spent in Thames Ditton concluded at 7 ish with an easy run home.