Another Busy (but Fun) Weekend

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Hello, I hope you're all enjoying your weekend. I've been enjoying the lovely weather and the opportunity to get out and in it. On many a Saturday, I'll not know what to do with myself. I've not had that problem recently as I've been doing different things. This weekend, I've been immersing myself in culture On Friday, it was opening night for a show at a newly re-opened local venue (first night of the venue opening to the public). I thought I was going to be volunteering behind the bar. I was quite annoyed because I'd been told several times I'd have information about the training but never got said information, I'd been looking forward to doing it and had been given the impression that I would be. Anyway, because I was supposed to be doing that, my son was going to watch the show with my sister (she'd bought two tickets). Once I realised I wouldn't be volunteering, I asked my son if he was going but he was elsewhere and I think he'd forgotten. I ended up going with my sister to watch the show. The show was a dance thing by a local children's dance academy. My sister and I aren't great fans or children or of watching other people dance. However, it's supporting an important venue at an important time. The show wasn't terrible The night went pretty much glitch-free as well. I'll be looking forward to seeing more shows and (hopefully) more volunteering and, eventually, getting involved with the setup of a new youth theatre. On Saturday, my sister and I went to a big park in the city for a Caribbean Reggae Festival. On the way in, we saw one of our cousins. She asked us who was playing which confused us. I assume one or more of her children were there to play football. We weren't aware of any football as we were there for the music and Jamaican food. When we got in, it didn't seem like much was happening. There were a few fairground style rides and stalls, but they were just being set up. We did have a go at throwing balls at cans, though. I did alright on my first throw but went downhill from there. My sister's aim was terrible from the start We wandered around to see what else was there. They had two music stages, lots of food stalls, a few charity things, a couple of stalls selling tat, and an exhibition that was just setting up and we forgot we said we'd go back when they were ready! The event was held in a couple of fields at a big park in the city. We had to come in and out a few times to go to the toilet. They did have port-a-loos but they're disgusting and don't have sinks for handwashing. Anyway, going to the toilet did take up a fair amount of time because the closest ones were closed and the others were about halfway across the massive park! We got some food. There were loads of food stalls but not many advertised their prices. The one we went to was expensive but their clearly priced board was a deciding factor in our choice. We both had some plantain (because it's delicious but not available in many places around here). My sister had some dumplings, and I had curry goat with rice & peas and pickles. I also tried some banana ketchup on my plantain because I hadn't had banana ketchup before. It is nice but hotter than I expected. My sister had a drink of mixed slush, and I had a non-alcoholic piña colada served in a pineapple (I didn't care what the drink was, I just wanted to drink out of a pineapple ) We sat under a tree to eat. We were about halfway between the two stages so could hear both of them. We must have been hanging around for a good couple of hours before anything started happening on either stage. One seemed to be for local artists and DJs. I'd been looking forward to seeing a singer (Marcia Griffiths - I don't know how famous she is around the world but I knew of her as half of 'Bob and Marcia, who sang a song called 'Young, Gifted and Black'. Anyway, she had cancelled. However, there was a band called 'Legend', which is a Bob Marley and the Wailers tribute band. We went over to the stage they'd be playing. Whrn they came on, the singer was chatting with the audience. He pointed to me and my sister and called us beautiful women. I don't know how long we listened to them but it was a while. We sat on the grass. The weather wasn't really making up its mind what it was doing, but it did stay dry and fairly warm. I was wearing a dress (which is unusual). It was a TARDIS dress. My sister was carrying a Doctor Who themed bag. We did have various comments, including from one of the security people who talked to us about Comic Cons and things. I think she was quite excited about chatting to fellow Whovians/geeks After the music, I was going to go shoe shopping. My sister enjoys that sort of thing whereas I do it because I need to. I wanted to get some new footwear for my holiday. We walked from the park to the train station. We thought there was a shoe shop at the station but there isn't. There are lots of other shops, but not shoes. We popped in to a nearby cafe and then my sister asked her other half to come and get us. We'd intended to get the train home but I wasn't too well (which is also why we didn't go into the city centre for shoes). Sister's partner came to get us, he took me home to my husband and youngest son. Once at home, my husband looked after me (he's good like that). He and son had pizza, and son made me a cup of tea. I didn't like the pizza they were having but was still full from the Jamaican food! I watched a bit of TV and did some phone games with my husband. Today (Sunday), I have done last night's dishes (Husband usually does them but I don't know if he forgot or was too tired), I've cleaned the bathroom, and I've been faffing on my phone. I do need to go to the shop, and I might do some writing later. I did some in the week, knowing I had a busy weekend. I have one thing I really ought to finish today, and another that I'm finding hard to piece together to a point that it can be published. Next weekend, husband and I are going out for a meal with his best friend and wife. We're going to a local pub. I'm sure that will be OK. I won't say too much lest I rant! The meal will be on Friday. I will then probably do my shoe shopping on Saturday. The weekend after, I'll be getting ready for my holiday. My husband has just been to change some money. I'll have to make lots of lists, including instructions for the youngest son as he didn't want to come with us so will be home alone. I'm sure he'll be fine. He's 19 and perfectly capable of looking after himself. It's just that he's not been on his own for more than a night or two before. The main things will be taking care of the cats, keeping on top of housework, and making sure he eats some proper food (he can make meals but he'd probably live on pizza and beans). Next weekend, there are also two family birthdays. One is on Friday. We've sent a gift card. The other will be Sunday. That's our youngest granddaughter's birthday. We've sent her present and will try to facetime with her. My husband was really happy because he'd put something on Facebook about being a sad granddad blowing kisses at the granddaughters on his screensaver. Daughter (their mum) replied saying they love him and send him kisses. I should probably get going now. This weekend has been tiring and I'll probably need a nap before I do anything else! How has your weekend been? Do you have a regular weekend routine?