I know it's old news, but can we talk a bit about the world cup? Just a wee bit ... ???

There I was in Donegal on the first weekend of July. Two Irish friends (who certainly weren't supporting England!) and four Scots, all of whom were supporting Sven and the boys.

Sadly, the most exciting thing about the game was my Sven impersonation! Well, that and the fact that we were staying in a wee place with the beach for our front garden - pure magic! We even tried going for a swim and it was absolutely freezing ... even thought the sun had been out for days. But we braved it; Sven and all! (try to remind me to do my impersonation at the next gig - but of course I'll need a sudoku book as a prop, as it seemed that while those guys were out giving it large on the field, Sven and Steve McLaren were discussing where that seven should go).

We went into the wee town we were near for dinner the night of the France game - it was fun, loads of people outside at half-time for a cigarette - and me, the classy gal who kept leaving the dinner table and disappearing into the pub across the road to find out the score! What a great game it seems I missed. Zidane, when he was still a god - you know, before the head butt!

Then there was the Andy Murray game at Wimbledon; that was great fun too. He had a good run, except; he was just a wee bit on the moody side and nowhere near as sexy as his gorgeous opponent - Baghdatis!

So, apart from the wonderful food, company and weather we had in Donegal, it was also a bit of a sportsfest - wonderful!

When we got back home, it was Caitlin's birthday week ... I remember being wee and I had a birthday week too. Everything that happened the week of my birthday was made into a big special thing like - 'off you go to school, because then it will only be three sleeps till your birthday' or 'you'd better go to bed early, because it's Carol's birthday week' - like that was supposed to make some difference ... but it did! We'd go to bed all excited and just, well, you know - fall asleep! Good ploy parents!

Anyway, Caitlin's way to smart to fall for that, but it doesn't stop me getting all excited and thinking that she's only really four instead of 13. Needless to say, she's delighted (!) that I think that too - you know, just the way any teenager would be delighted to be likened to a four-year-old. Hmmm!

Anyway, for birthday week, we had some treats ready. We went to see Shakespeare in the Park at the West End Festival - A Comedy of Errors. I love to see Shakespeare done in different ways and this one was magic, totally engaging. Caitlin, I think, slept through most of it. Well, that was until someone from River City appeared on set! (Good old Glasgow soap opera by-the-way).

The big surprise was that we were going, on her birthday night, to stay overnight at a big fancy hotel and then go out for dinner to her favourite restaurant; imagine being 13 years old and having a favourite restaurant? I know I'm sounding all old and stuff, but that just didn't happen when we were young, mainly because there were six of us. Although, I do remember having Artic Roll in that wee café place upstairs in a place in Paisley next to where you used to get the bus up to Foxbar - I used to get the ice cream and pour some of my coke on it till it all fizzed up - ah, luxury lass, luxury!

It was a lovely Italian restaurant and I was informed by the owner that, should Italy win the world cup that Sunday, there were going to be fireworks ... well, they did and there were. In fact, Marco was in Italy at the time and he said the whole place was totally crazy - how great would that be in Scotland ... ??? Ah well, god loves a trier eh?

A few days after Caitlin's birthday we went to Malaga in Spain, Me, Judy, Caitlin and Amanda - this really was luxury. A friend owns a townhouse there and it was absolutely wonderful. Nothing to report, just some great laughs with the girls.

Mind you, there was no better laugh than the day we found a wee secluded beach that was a bit of a climb down. Now, I know I told you last time that Caitlin was prone to a bit of drama. Well, our climb down to the beach was pretty dramatic, pretty steep and hot and treacherous, but not so that we'd fall off the edge and die or anything. However, when you're wearing shoes-of-a-thirteen-year-old-drama-queen, that's exactly what you think is going to happen! Suffice to say, Caitlin wasn't too happy about the climb down and let us know, in no uncertain terms, how she felt - ALL THE WAY DOWN THE EFFIN HILL.

Still, thankfully she was stunned into silence when we got to the bottom and we discovered that we were on a nudist beach!!!

When we got home, I was happy to discover that the heat wave we'd experienced in Spain was pretty much Europe wide. It was great, so much of this summer the weather has been fantastic, sunny and hot (no, nothing like mid-summer's day in June!). I just think that when the sun is shining, there is no better place in the world than here in Glasgow.

Yeah, I know, Mexico's a close second!

And, speaking of which, my guest on my final FPR show, was the mighty James Dean - he'd just returned from honeymoon in Mexico and had had an absolute blast.

Since it was the last night of FPR, I had two guests. You know Greg Barnes who plays on my record and has done a couple of the recent shows with me? Well, he plays in The Lindsay Dolan Band. A couple of the folk in the band came into play a couple of songs on my show. Well, what a voice. She is absolutely phenomenal. If you hear of the band playing, go along and see them, from what I heard that night, it will certainly be worth it.

I don't know if the holiday was worth it though, because I felt the need to finish off July with another detox - mainly because the holiday was filled with too much of everything. I think that I should become a Buddhist or something. Or maybe my detox qualifies me for that. Either way, my organs were dancing at the thought of the break!

So that was July. I whiled away another detox week with dandelion tea and pulses and boring stuff. I needed some retail therapy - gadget retail therapy!

And so, at last, kicking and screaming (still) into this new millennium, I got myself a contract mobile phone, rather than the one where you pay as you earn. Don't quite know how to work it yet, but I'll get there.


August 2006

And then came August.

Well, I bought another gadget thing on the net that would make my windows thing work with my Mac and of course it didn't, the only thing that happened was that nothing worked with anything and I was close to having the nervous breakdown that Caitlin had left in Spain!

You know, when its all working, its great, and when its not, its absolutely horrid!

So, as is always the case when my Mac gets sick, I was off to Mediaspec and the wonderful Mark and Eric. I spent the whole day there, had to cancel meetings and everything and sat quietly sobbing in the corner while Mark asked

'Have you ever dropped your Mac, or has anything ever been dropped on it'.

I was horrified! Didn't he know that I slept with my Mac, bathed it daily in goat's milk and administered French manicures as and when required.

'no' I said, with tears in my eyes

Then it hit me, I'd need to get a new one. I'd need to spend a fortune and get a new child! How could this be? Izzy (my iBook) was only new. No, I couldn't need another one, could I? A brand new fancy-nancy MacBook pro. All shiney and new ...

Then the panic. How could I? How could I be so disloyal to Izzy, after all, she's only a child. Outwardly, of course, I was just sitting playing with my new phone, but dear god Carol, how could you???

Then Mark came in and, and, yes, she was going to be fine. She'd live. He wasn't sure of her quality of life, but she'd live.

I brought Izzy home, made her a bed on the couch and a hot water bottle then switched her on ... she was going to be okay ... bless the MacLord!

But, as with any operation, there was to be a recuperation period. Lots of backing up and lots of reconditioning, and here I am, sitting and purring over my wee Izzy who is doing me proud. But then, every so often, I'm seized with thoughts of a shiney new mac, then the guilt ... good lord, the guilt!

But enough of the confessions of a mac-operator.

Mid-August saw me play a gig up in Inverness. I've just started working with a new agent - I think I told you, Donna Cunningham - anyway, she got this gig in a new venue up there and it was second-to-none. Ironworks in Inverness. It is a stunning new venue. Front-of-house was great, great PA. Stage monitors were brill, great lighting rig. Excellent dressing rooms. And really great folk working there. There was Cocoa on the lights, diner on the stage desk and, thankfully, Mikey on the front-of-house sound desk.

The best thing that happened though, well apart from there being lots of folk there and David and I having a great show, was that the sound guy, Mikey, told me that he'd worked with me about fifteen years ago in Eden court and that I 'hadn't changed a bit'! Get that? He reckoned I looked the same now as I did fifteen years ago!! And, he seemed sober and was right up close when he said it! Bloody marvellous.

Another great thing about this show was that it was Baby Noah's first ever gig. Well, first live gig anyway, that is to say, his mum was carrying him on the outside this time!

He seemed to be really loving it - he slept through the whole thing!

Next night, I got Caitlin all to myself for a couple of nights. We did some lovely things like, well, nothing really. We just hung out.

Actually, we went to the movies to see Nacho Libre which was a great laugh, although, I think I enjoyed it more than Caitlin. We also went one of my favourite shops - Staples the stationery shop! Well hey; I really know how to show a gal a good time eh?

I was shown a good time though ...

All the schools in Glasgow had to design a tile to be displayed in the Kelvingrove Art Galleries. Each child got to draw their tile and one from each school was chosen to be shown for ever more in the newly refurbished Art Galleries. Of course, my goddaughter just happened to be the child who designed the tile that was chosen to represent her school. I mean, what can I say? Go and see it, it's downstairs in the corridor behind the stairs. Her tile is at the end on the right-hand-side and is number 25.

I also had a wee shot of a yoga class in August, work permitting, I'm going to continue. However, I am constantly amazed by yoga. Well, not the yoga itself, but the yoga teachers - are they yogics? Or yogaists? I don't know, but I had a wee name in my head for this teacher. Its just so over the top,

'okay', says the teacher 'there's no need to compete in this class', she says, standing with one foot wrapped behind her neck. 'No need to be competitive, just let your body be a roadmap and know that no two roadmaps are the same'!

WHAT? I mean, I've got a degree in English literature and that, but my god, what does that mean? I KNOW it's good for me; I actually really enjoy it. But I just don't get the lingo!

And that was August! We had a great wee night with lots of children staying overnight. Things were just a wee bit crazy, especially when we went to the Art Galleries - again - to see Caitlin's tile! Connor was running about crazy and when I handed him a humungous bag of sweets, he looked with thinly veiled disgust, 'I'll be saving these till after my lunch, of course'! Eh? I thought to myself 'you're only eight, get stuck in, enjoy the sweets'. But no, they were staying firmly in his pocket till after lunch. That's as alien to me as a 13-year-old having a favourite restaurant!

Of course we also watched the finale of Big Brother, a programme that I hated and watched almost every night at 9pm!!

Also, I had the unbridled joy of being able to work Reason and Digital Performer on the computer all at once! (I know, I know, my body's a map and no two maps are the same!)

A sad thing in August too, an uncle died. He lived in Manchester and so, we weren't particularly close. However, the funeral, tragic as it was, was also a great time for catching up with family; and, that I did. In that respect, we had an absolute blast. Of course, all that happens on these sad occasions is that we all say, 'we only ever see each other at funerals and weddings ... let's not leave it so long ... ' So, upshot is, the Manchester branch will be in Glasgow in two months - funeral free! M-A-G-I-C!

In September, I intend to do what I meant to do in August. I will be writing for my new album, as well as looking at some old tracks and thinking about putting together a retrospective of old stuff that never made it onto albums.

I'm looking forward to a nice month!!! Hope you have one too.

Cheers and enjoy September

Carol