UK - Part I

Here we are in the UK, one week in. We’ve played a string of very nice, very fruitful gigs filled with ale-drinking, wellie-wearing audiences singing along like trained choirs. It’s wonderful here, from a show standpoint. And the scenery doesn’t leave much to be desired either.

Through green pastures in Lewes, UK
Photo Credit: Sue Passmore

We arrived at Heathrow on Monday the 17^th of June. While in the past we have flown to London on the red eye from Toronto, I elected to switch us to the daytime flight. Mostly I was filled with dread at the thought of a sweaty restless baby on my lap overnight. Even without a baby, that UK customs line is a blur after a sleepless night in flight. I was worried for my sanity.

That being said, I think it may have been better for all of us to have tired ourselves out on the night flight. We arrived in London at 9pm, and then headed on to stay with friends in Lewes (near Brighton). When bedtime came, none of us were sleepy. Annie included. We put ourselves down for the night at about 1am, and I shifted restlessly until 4:30 am. If I wasn’t nursing I would have popped a Melatonin. Alas, another drug I can't take for the time being.

Atop Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh. I hiked this while 6 months pregnant last year. If I'd only known how easy it was compared to now...

Plane travel has changed for me over the last few months; Annabelle is no longer a placid baby-blob, quick to sleep at the hum of a plane. She is now completely distracted by the lights, the intercom, the aunties. She has also become a little wriggler, and resists quiet lap snuggles. She wants to move!

So move we do. Up and down the aisles when it’s safe to do so, smiling at each passenger as she wobbles on her feet like a tiny drunk person. It’s kind of like Baby Trashes Bar. It’s amusing, but a bit tiring.

Up and down the aisles we go
Photo Credit: Kerri Ough

Many of Annabelle’s firsts are taking place on the road. Not surprising, given that so much of her life is spent on the road! Case in point; on our first transatlantic flight, she pulled herself up to a stand for the first time. On my airplane seat, egged on by Daddy and the Aunties while I stood in the aisle.

We’ve had some new challenges on the parenting front this week. Don’t get me wrong, Annie’s still so generous with being carted around, but she’s letting us know, more and more, what she doesn’t like.

First week challenges:

• Schedule. It’s whacked. Completely SCREWED. There is no schedule. There are no “feeding” times, no “nap” times. Just approximations; she sleeps when she wants to and eats when she wants to. There’s a lot of whining happening around here, and as Colin says “Nobody likes a whiner, Annabelle.” (On that note, after a week we’re almost over jet lag, but we’re still lagging round the green pastures.)
• We are all in a big tour van together which makes me very conscious of stops. Especially for the sanity of the rest of the band and our amazing tour guide while they are stuck waiting while I try to nurse the baby in a bathroom stall. It’s an awesome feeling. (On that note, we’re experiencing a bit of “Breast Refusal”. I didn’t make that up, apparently it’s a thing. I googled it. Check it out here. More on that next week. (You lucky readers, you!)
• For the first time, Annabelle tried to get away from me, reaching desperately for Auntie Kerri, who is way more fun than Mom. I’ve become the enforcer, the evil lady who sticks her in her car seat. And wait til she's a teenager.
• It is taking a lot longer to get her to sleep now.
• Travelling with solid food. I’ve been dealing with this a few months now, but as she eats more and more solids it’s become a challenge to manage healthy homemade food. Again, more on that in the weeks to come.
• Mornings. They’re a pain in the ass. They always have been, but add jet lag, and needing an hour and a half to get ready to leave the hotel....ugh. Frigging babies.

On the plus side, I LOVE having Colin on the road. From a personal standpoint it’s been great to have Colin here to put Annie to bed while I head out for shows. Nice for her because she isn’t forced to stay awake until I get her back to the hotel, and nice for me because I can concentrate 100% on the show. AND, nice for Colin because they get some good one-on-one Daddy-Annie time. It’s a win-win-win.

Baby & Dad.
Photo Credit: Kerri Ough

The epic first week is done, with 5 shows under our belts. We’ve had some lovely adventures along the way so far; hikes in green pastures (Lewes), a show in a big top tent (Mylor), and walks through the picturesque back lanes of Edinburgh.

Oh, one more challenge we’ve been having? Taking the baby to cool pubs, which means my poor friends are stuck drinking cask ale in “family friendly” establishments. How boring.

Til next time,

Caroline

Farewell, Midnight Sun!

So long, beautiful Arctic.

We have just spent the better part of a week in Inuvik. This is the furthest North we’d ever been, even with previous trips to Alaska, Iqualuit, and Dawson City under our Good Lovely belts.

Arctic sightseeing.

We went up to the Arctic Circle to play a show for folks at the Inuvik Petroleum show (former Environmental Studies colleagues, cue finger wags). We stayed the week to also play a Fundraiser with Shaun Majumder in support of the Inuvik Community Greenhouse. This is an amazing facility, which provides locals an opportunity to get their green thumbs dirty during the short growing season up North. It also gives the community a chance to have fresh, affordable produce. After sighting a bag of apples for $8.69, I understand the need.

With a few days off, and time to spare, we were able to settle in and do some sightseeing. I was reminded, all week, of what it’s like to live in a small town; to be conspicuous, especially walking around with the wee smiley babe strapped to me. Annabelle draws attention like nobody’s business, smiling at strangers and beckoning a response.

Susie, our daily server in Inuvik!

Case in point: we got to know Susie (another Susie!) at the restaurant this week. We ate there several times. She quickly fell in love with Annabelle, and joked that she would like to put her into her money pouch, like a kangaroo.

That expression “It takes a village to raise a child” felt very real to me this week.

Due to the high cost of travel, we came to Inuvik without a nanny. To help out, an old friend in town arranged childcare for sound checks and during the show. Taking care of Annabelle soon became a community affair, with the staff at the library watching her as I sound checked during the day, and a few different ladies sitting her during the shows in the evening.

Really, the village was in full force this week.

The Inuvik Public Library ladies, tending to my wee Annie.

Also, during our CBC interview, the sound tech Mitch ended up doing double duty; linking us into CBC Yellowknife, and bouncing baby A. Suffice it to say, he was an excellent multi-tasker! These people make touring possible.

Lovely Mitch from CBC Yellowknife. Sound tech and baby entertainer!

Finally, the aunties. I sing their praises daily, and was afforded some sweet alone time thanks to them. Including a beautiful trail run along the Boot Lake Trail and some excellent exploring in town and beyond.

Kerri & Sue to my rescue!

The midnight sun offered some challenges, not entirely unexpected (read: sleeping). The nights are not nights at all. After testing out my black-out curtains, which were not black-out curtains at all, I put an extra blanket over the window to block out some of that midnight glow. The light affected us both; my own sleep light and unrestful, and because of my wee munchkin, 3 hours at a time tops.

On the plus side, Annabelle had some incredible naps, about two hours at a time, twice a day. I will blame that on the fresh air, party time with the aunties and the long walks outside. It was a bit like what we experience at the cottage.

The Midnight sun, literally. Inuvik at 12am.

Now we head to the UK for the next three weeks, with 12 hours at home to clean our clothes and repack our bags and see the Dad for Father's day, Colin's first. Thank you Inuvik for the beautiful experience. I hope to be back soon.

The Rounds

In the lead-up to a significant amount of time on the road, there’s added pressure to see friends and have quality time with Annie’s two families. The word “pressure” isn’t quite right; it’s wonderful to see everyone, and now that I have Annie, I want her to be familiar with our people.

The last few weeks have been filled with coffee dates, breakfasts, play time with Aunties and Uncles, a few visits to the cottage, and Sunday dinners with our families. Also, lots of Kerri Ough time. My best bud is moving to Newfoundland. Luckily Annie and I will be seeing lots of her on tour…but still. I’d be lying if I said I was okay with her moving to the rock (DAMN YOU ST. JOHN’S). Happy for her, yes, but still sad. Check out Kerri’s blog on moving here.

This week we even squeezed in a play date with Annabelle’s adorable British cousins, Toby and Peter who are in Canada for 7 weeks...arriving just in time for us to leave! You see, we are taking their place across the pond.

From top right: Annie B with her (jet-lagged) British cousins, Toby and Peter; My Dad, Fredrick, with his two grand daughters, Annie and Addison; and baby & her Dad on the dock in Muskoka.

On June 10th, we leave for a month. We are playing in Inuvik, for a private conference and then heading to the UK for three weeks. Great routing, right? Especially with an eight month old! FML.

It’s a crazy, ridiculous turnaround, from Mountain Time to London, England with 12 hours at home to do laundry and hug our Dads on Father’s day (Colin’s first Father’s day no less!). Good timing. I’m sure I’ll have a lot to say about this adventure. Especially about changing those nasty time zones with Annie-B.

The first portion of this trip, to the Northwest Territories, I will be doing without a nanny. It’s just Susie, Kerri, Annie and I - the girls. We have two shows in 6 days (don’t ask), so the work is on the light side, and we’ll have a babysitter for sound checks and showtime. The rest of the time, Annie and I will be buds checking out the local sights and writing new songs with the girls.

Then to the UK. I love our tours of the motherland! Hail the Queen mother! And this time around, I have a new reason to be excited; Colin is coming with us to take care of the wee babe. It’s been awhile since he’s been on the road with us, and I love his infectious excitement about being on the road. This makes my load so light: Annabelle’s Dad on hand for soundcheck walks and early hotel bedtime routines. Sigh. So lovely.

By the time we're home, we'll be moving the crib mattress a little lower for this monkey...

Another reason I’m really looking forward to the trip? Rebecca Kemp. Sweet, lovely Rebecca. The UK is the only place we hire a road manager, and we are so fortunate to have Kempie at the helm. She drives, she advances, she sells merch, she settles up. Basically, we just have to make music. It honestly feels like a vacation.

In addition, Kempie is also meeting us on our first day, with a pack and play, a stroller and a cooler for Annie’s food. This saves me carrying them across the pond. Oh, and on her list? A coffee grinder and three bodums for morning perkiness. Shit damn, life is good!

Keep posted for the travelogue. It’ll be colourful, that’s for sure. And if I didn’t get to see you this time around, we’ll be home in mid July. So long Toronto, it’s tour time. Bring it on.

Til next time.

Caroline

Also, I’m hoping I can track down Duchess Kate for a photo op of her bump and Annie.  No big deal, right?