Starting a blog is a cool thing, but it actually requires you to sit down and flap your fingers against the keyboard to get something written.  So, I'll give it another go ...

I bought a harmonica today and Ian bought a banjo! The event that triggered this purchase was a recent trip to a community-run ski area in the north of Vancouver Island, called Mount Cain. The people who run that place are absolutely gorgeous because they are nice, inclusive, helpful, friendly and very good fun. They appreciated good apricot schnapps from Austria and they get together in the evenings to play music together. So on four of the six evenings we spent at Mount Cain, we listened to between 1 and 10 musicians at a time. The instruments ranged from a jar of peppercorns to a bass including guitars, violins, concertinas, mandolins and drums. People could just join in and come and go as they liked. Everyone was welcome and the music formed the basis of a strong sense of togetherness.

So, on the drive back from our holiday, we decided which instruments we were going to get and start learning, so that the next time (or maybe only next year) we go to Mount Cain, we can join the cool people who play music :)

Happy New Year, everyone.

I've been considering starting a blog a few weeks ago. I think I'll have plenty to blog about (mountain biking, ...   more »