Weed attack

Wearing my new wellies (I gave in - the weather's been too nasty not to have them for the garden), I headed down to Nettlefold Hall to help the other volunteers clear the rose garden. I didn't even know that there were roses under there - that's how bad the weeds were. The place has been unloved for more than a year since the library and the adjoining Nettlefold Hall were closed after thieves stole the copper roof and rainwater damaged the building. We're hoping the Nettlefold Hall will reopen in August and, fingers crossed, the library will follow suit. It's crammed into a tiny, shared location at the moment, so not ideal.

Within two hours, the eight volunteers had cleared the weeds and rubbish (a discarded nappy, glass, sweet and crisp wrappers, cans, and much poo). It looks much smarter now. The local cafe, O Girasol, gave us free tea and we sat in the Greek cemetery to discuss our efforts and compare wellingtons.

In the evening, Fred and I went to see Queen with Adam Lambert. I was a little nervous as to what to expect, not knowing Adam Lambert at all. The concert was tremendous fun and, although Adam's voice isn't a patch on Freddy's, it's still brilliant for the Queen songs. Plus he was great with the crowd - a natural showman. It was a nostalgic concert - lots of old footage on the screens behind the band and plenty of Freddy, with him singing parts of the songs in some clever music/video/mic kind of way.

The real stars, however, were the fans, who were completely into it and, of course, knew all the words - the place was buzzing! This is really refreshing since most gigs I go to have people chatting from mid-way to the back of the audience, which really spoils the experience (why buy a ticket if you're going to chat through the gig?)

There were pyrotechnics, too - flames and fireworks!

Here are some highlights I've found on good old YouTube (those folks filming video on their phones at concerts are annoying at the time, but I admit that it's nice to see the videos afterwards):
Who Wants to Live Forever
I Want to Break Free and Another One Bites the Dust
Bohemian Rhapsody