The Last of the Summer
Caim decided to prolong their summer by travelling to Ontario, Canada for the last week in August and not content with glorious sunny days at the Muskoka Lakes tried for even more sunshine in Florida the following two weeks.
Canada was catch up time with our agent Ian Davies and family in London, Ontario and then a week with Ian at his family cottage at the Muskoka Lakes. While there we sang at Bannockburn Presbyterian Church, one of Muskoka's summer churches.
One of the highlights of our visit was an unscheduled private tour of Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary, a rehabilitation facility for injured and orphaned wildlife. Over 1000 animals per year are helped at the sanctuary - some, who can't return to the wild for one reason or another, stay "on staff" to help rehabilitate newcomers while as many as possible native animals are prepared to re enter their natural wild habitat. This is no zoo - each animal has as much space as he or she needs - in some cases, like the wolves and bears, acres of bushland and forest that they can shelter in and hide from prying eyes.
Holiday and rehearsal time over we headed to Florida via a long day in Newark airport through a missed connection. Our Amtrack rail journey to Tampa was cancelled due to huricane warnings on the route to Florida through North Carolina so we hired a distinctive little orange chevrolet car which our host family in Tampa thought was "cool". Nothing else was cool though - we had achieved our summer - 95 degree heat!
As always one of the perks of Caim touring is making new friends and visiting old - in Tampa and in Gainesville, this was still the case. Lots of singing to do but also time to socialise and sightsee.
In Gainesville we returned to the very first venue we had sung in in 2001 - the university chapel. This time with a new minister - but still a Rev Nancee! Our Habitat for Humanity fund raising concert was a great success there, largely due to the publicity work of Habitat organiser Peg Iwata who did a wonderful job for us in a very short period of time. Thanks to Peg. Habitat Alachua are also helping with sales, not only of Caim CDs but with my late husband's forthcoming CD "Full Vision". This was special, as Al had helped with the building of a Habitat house in Gainesville and had his own fund raising concert for Habitat when he was last there in 2003.
Plans are already underway for return visits by Caim to Canada, Florida and also North Carolina in October 2009.
Meanwhile our friend Colleen Sutherland is working hard for us in Wisconsin, USA and bookings are starting to come in for our tour with Dunkeld poet, Kenneth Steven, in April 2009.
Closer to home, Ciaran and I have a couple of Music in Hospital tours coming up in the north of Scotland and in Ciaran's native Belfast. Ciaran and I will be joined by Jacynth of Caim for our concerts in Northern Ireland next month.
The weekend prior to the start of the Belfast tour Jacynth and I will be singing at a fund raising concert in Devon for Christian Solidarity Worldwide. (See above photo - villagers fleeing attacks from the Burma army)If you live anywhere near South Brent please check out the details on our gig page and support this event. We're still hoping to travel to Thailand in the early part of 2009 to sing at the Burma Refugee Camps and I'm busy organising a fund raising ceilidh in my village and a Caim concert at St Catharine's Centre, Blairgowrie for the end of November.
If you'd like to support Habitat for Humanity by ordering Al's CD "Full Vision" please send a cheque for£10 UK, $15 USA or $20 Aus and make your cheques payable to Al Ponting Charity Account, c/- Right Real Records, The Studio, 32 Browning Road, Rotherham, South Yorkshire. S65 2NS. UK. We'll send you a 3 track preview EP "Part Vision" free of charge until "Full Vision" is released.
If anyone wishes to donate to Caim's tour of the refugee camps please make your cheque payable to CSW Refugee Camp and send c/- Jacynth Hamill, 101 Galwally Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland. BT8 6AG.
Finally - Caim's single "Healing God" has reached number 6 in the US Christian Country and Gospel Charts while Al Ponting's "Valley of Love" is close behind us at number 8! How cool is that!
Till next time....Heather
Canada was catch up time with our agent Ian Davies and family in London, Ontario and then a week with Ian at his family cottage at the Muskoka Lakes. While there we sang at Bannockburn Presbyterian Church, one of Muskoka's summer churches.
One of the highlights of our visit was an unscheduled private tour of Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary, a rehabilitation facility for injured and orphaned wildlife. Over 1000 animals per year are helped at the sanctuary - some, who can't return to the wild for one reason or another, stay "on staff" to help rehabilitate newcomers while as many as possible native animals are prepared to re enter their natural wild habitat. This is no zoo - each animal has as much space as he or she needs - in some cases, like the wolves and bears, acres of bushland and forest that they can shelter in and hide from prying eyes.
Holiday and rehearsal time over we headed to Florida via a long day in Newark airport through a missed connection. Our Amtrack rail journey to Tampa was cancelled due to huricane warnings on the route to Florida through North Carolina so we hired a distinctive little orange chevrolet car which our host family in Tampa thought was "cool". Nothing else was cool though - we had achieved our summer - 95 degree heat!
As always one of the perks of Caim touring is making new friends and visiting old - in Tampa and in Gainesville, this was still the case. Lots of singing to do but also time to socialise and sightsee.
In Gainesville we returned to the very first venue we had sung in in 2001 - the university chapel. This time with a new minister - but still a Rev Nancee! Our Habitat for Humanity fund raising concert was a great success there, largely due to the publicity work of Habitat organiser Peg Iwata who did a wonderful job for us in a very short period of time. Thanks to Peg. Habitat Alachua are also helping with sales, not only of Caim CDs but with my late husband's forthcoming CD "Full Vision". This was special, as Al had helped with the building of a Habitat house in Gainesville and had his own fund raising concert for Habitat when he was last there in 2003.
Plans are already underway for return visits by Caim to Canada, Florida and also North Carolina in October 2009.
Meanwhile our friend Colleen Sutherland is working hard for us in Wisconsin, USA and bookings are starting to come in for our tour with Dunkeld poet, Kenneth Steven, in April 2009.
Closer to home, Ciaran and I have a couple of Music in Hospital tours coming up in the north of Scotland and in Ciaran's native Belfast. Ciaran and I will be joined by Jacynth of Caim for our concerts in Northern Ireland next month.
The weekend prior to the start of the Belfast tour Jacynth and I will be singing at a fund raising concert in Devon for Christian Solidarity Worldwide. (See above photo - villagers fleeing attacks from the Burma army)If you live anywhere near South Brent please check out the details on our gig page and support this event. We're still hoping to travel to Thailand in the early part of 2009 to sing at the Burma Refugee Camps and I'm busy organising a fund raising ceilidh in my village and a Caim concert at St Catharine's Centre, Blairgowrie for the end of November.
If you'd like to support Habitat for Humanity by ordering Al's CD "Full Vision" please send a cheque for£10 UK, $15 USA or $20 Aus and make your cheques payable to Al Ponting Charity Account, c/- Right Real Records, The Studio, 32 Browning Road, Rotherham, South Yorkshire. S65 2NS. UK. We'll send you a 3 track preview EP "Part Vision" free of charge until "Full Vision" is released.
If anyone wishes to donate to Caim's tour of the refugee camps please make your cheque payable to CSW Refugee Camp and send c/- Jacynth Hamill, 101 Galwally Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland. BT8 6AG.
Finally - Caim's single "Healing God" has reached number 6 in the US Christian Country and Gospel Charts while Al Ponting's "Valley of Love" is close behind us at number 8! How cool is that!
Till next time....Heather
posted by cluniemusic @ 11:05 am
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