The Buddhist Nun, the Ghost Dog and the Pineapple Upside Down Cake

I have never tried to write a blog after eating a full English breakfast, so let's give this a whirl shall we. If it suddenly becomes incomprehensible half way through, or just stops, you will know that I have either a) nodded off due to over consumption of meat or b) decided to go and have some more.

And so, here we are in the Trough of Bowland, a beautiful, wet, green, rolling hilled corner of Lancashire, ready to perform 4 shows today. Well, I'm obviously not ready just yet. I've got an awful lot of digesting to do before I'm ready to be that physically close to 5 other people. Last night, we arrived in Joni the campervan at The Parkers Arms, a beautiful pub restaurant tucked away in the hills and were greeted so enthusiastically I felt like an old friend. When you walk into a pub and the landlord shouts 'LAURA! COME IN! LOVELY TO SEE YOU!' even though he has never met you before, you know you're in good company. (NB-this would obviously be weird if your name wasn't Laura)

Since I last updated this blog, I have travelled many many miles. After flying down from Edinburgh to Cornwall (MUCH quicker than driving, just for the record) and spending a whole week doing nothing but eating and looking at the sea, we then drove IN ONE GO to the Wirral. I then performed the show in Salford, outside the Lowry, and now we have returned to gorgeous, cheese filled Lancashire, for the last few days of Running on Air in the UK. As always, if I were to write about all the adventures we'd had, I'd be here all day, so here are a few of the memorable moments:

1) On arriving at our little camping spot right by the sea in Cornwall, we were greeted by a 10 year old boy named Kelly, who climbed into Joni to demonstrate a selection of unsuccessful magic tricks. It didn't matter one bit that none of them worked, as he preceeded each 'reveal' with the phrase 'now then, things around here are about to change.'

2) There is nothing better than camping in Cornwall, nothing better at all. Our little camping spot was a bit of a secret spot, somewhere that isn't advertised, and somewhere we found completely by chance. Waking up in the morning with a view of the ocean, then drifting off to sleep with the sound of it lapping against the sand is something that will never fail to make me happy.

3) Whilst in Cornwall, Tom and I visited a country fair. We looked at some pictures of birds, we saw a man doing something strenuous to some granite, we missed the sheepdog trials, we were tricked in buying some cheese. We also happened upon a second hand clothing stall, at which I bought a 'St Ives Lifeguard' red hoodie. Only now we are out of Cornwall do I feel brave enough to wear this new purchase, as I was so scared I'd get myself into a position of having to rescue someone from some deep water that I left it in my bag until we were over the border. I do have my bronze swimming badge, but this only means that should I be unlucky enough to fall into a canal wearing my pyjamas, I'd be able to swim towards the edge, possibly picking up a plastic brick and swimming through a hoop on the way.

4) Whilst by the sea, I did a bit of 'surfing.' Now, I've put that in inverted commas because what I basically did was to lie on the board like a seal while Tom pushed me and I went 'weeeeeeee!' What I did discover, however, is that EVERYBODY looks cool in a wetsuit, holding a board. It's a sport unlike others, in that you don't have to really do anything at all apart from walk around on the beach, looking thoughtfully at the water, nodding your head and saying 'dude' every so often.

5) Whilst doing the show in Falmouth for a week, after the seaside retreat, we got to see lots of friends and family, and that made me really happy. They came to the show, they celebrated my birthday with me in a seafood restaurant where the food left your clothes smelling like they'd spend 4 years on the inside of a crab, they invited us into their houses for tasty food, proper showers and lovely chats in the garden. Should we ever end up in Cornwall, we'll be amongst champions.

6) During the drive from Cornwall to the Wirral (yes, that is an EXTREMELY LONG WAY) Tom started to feel a bit poorly, and we had to keep stopping so he could have a nap in the back of Joni (one of the great advantages of owning such a vehicle is the ease of being able to go to sleep at virtually any point in the day). By the time we reached our campsite, neither of us felt particularly brilliant. Without going into too much detail, what followed was a night-long double-whammy food poisoning extravaganza on a campsite with no toilet, an experience that heavily tested the romance element of our marriage. You really do know you've found the right person when they continue to look you in the eye, and indeed still love you, after seeing you vomit into a field at hourly intervals whilst wailing 'I just don't understand how there's anything left.' Good times.

7) Somehow, some way, we managed to recover for the next day, however, and we headed for the wedding of two lovely friends of ours. I'd like to make it clear that we drove to another campsite that morning, where we managed to have a shower. Nobody likes a wedding guest with sick in their hair. The wedding was a real treat, full of smiles and ice cream and bunting and dancing. Take THAT, food poisoning.

8) After the first day of shows at The Lowry, Tom and I stayed with 2 super friends of ours in Manchester. We were tired, they presented us with a dinner consisting of only cheese. I need say no more about how much we love those guys.

9)Yesterday in my shows, I performed to my own mum (a natural on the slide whistle) a Buddhist nun (very good at the marracas) and a 6ft5 man who was one of the loveliest presences I've had in the front seat. Another treat from yesterday was the lady who announced towards the end of the show 'I'm terribly sorry, I've just realised that my top is on inside out.' We left her on her own in Joni for a little while after the show, to rectify the situation. Barbara, you made me smile a lot.

10) As requested, our arrival at my parents house on Wednesday evening was filled with snuggles, the best spaghetti bolognaise I've ever tasted, and a pineapple upside down cake. The combination of Team Mugridge and a retro feast made me really happy to be home.

11) Last night, whilst eating the delicious feast prepared for us by the chef here at the Parkers Arms, a huge white dog made his way right over to Tom and started to stare at him intently. The moment at which Tom realised this was happening was a joy to watch, as Tom had momentarily thought it was a ghost, which scared the living daylights out of him., making him screech like a tiny girl.

And so, another day of shows awaits. Sunday night will mark the end of the tour in the UK, as we then head off to France to perform it there. At some point I will be attempting to translate it into French, but right now I'm far too busy meeting the characters of Lancashire, and, let's not forget, digesting that full English breakfast.