earlier in Easton

Arriving back near the coast yesterday we did our shopping in the Wickham Market co-op ... it was so calm and unhurried compared with the Hackney Tescos near Chelmsford ... ahhhh (we thought) nice to be back ... on the back road to Easton we dodged two hatchbacked mums with hectic lifestyles and a flying post van ... Suffolk eh? (we thought).

♫When we visited a Rabble Chorus rehearsal in Easton three years ago we were impressed by Kirsty Logan's arrangements but there wasn't that many of them.  Now there's enough for a flash mob in the Ipswich John Lewis with Barbara Ann Spencer taking lead.  PS: This song and choir on the cd of last year's Maverick Festival.♫

Easton in the 1950s, a bowler hat being worn without irony in Stowmarket, that windmill in Thorpeness and Framlingham's Market Hill when the pharmacy was a chemist and had a flagpole ... clearly Fram's always had a flag fetish.

Charlie ♫Pilot of the Airwaves♫ Dore with the Easton Rabble Chorus in Woodbridge tomorrow week ... she was in The Ploughman's Lunch ... think our chum Steph Busby rather fancied her.

It's maybe a decade since we saw an Eastern Angles Christmas show in Ipswich but remember fondly Ferry Across The Waveney and a splendidly pneumatic guest appearance by Lara Croft in another Christmas show.  Peppery Prods who put on the excellent shows at Easton Farm Park have dickered a two for one offer for the three preview shows of Dial M for Murgatroyd, just say Peppery when ordering tickets.

Easton pre-school may be a bit confused about when they have an anniversary due but Friday they knew how to run a teddy jump raffle without that dour chanting Yellow one four six that too often mars a social occasion.  Despite threatening dashes of rain the teddies jumped triumphantly.  Possibly the liveliest pre-school near the coast it has a few vacancies, a new lunch club and now takes children from two years old.

Easton Pre-School agm 7:30 tonight in the village hall.

We went to Easton farm park Monday to see the Suffolk Exhibitions show and particularly liked the lino cuts of Helen Maxfield and (even though they are a bit scary) the felt vessels of Tracy Hetherington ... but got seriously distracted by the farm animals.  It's the time of year when everything's having young with Suffolk Punch colt Easton William the unquestionable star.

An attempted break-in sometime last weekend in Easton.

Easton pre-school is looking for a part time paid treasurer. 

♫ The Rabble Chorus who rehearse Thursday evenings in Easton village hall now have a second daylight chorus who rehearse Tuesday mornings in the St Johns Hall Woodbridge, contact Kirsty Logan kirsty@therabblechorus.co.uk

Easton Pre-School have an everybody welcome family photo shoot this weekend.

♫J udging by all the parked cars in Easton Saturday night Buddy Morlock (recordees of his songs include Garth Brooks, Nanci Griffith and Joan Baez) was being very popular in the White Horse.

Astoundingly the Easton pre-school second teddy jump was even more exciting than the first.  Behind the recently refurbished village hall very young motorists were savouring the anticipation by crashing into each other with a polite Excuse me!

With a council grant Easton village hall has new joists, new floor, raised ceiling and a paint job that altogether makes it a much more pleasant space ... plus a mountain of new stuff for the pre-school.  At today's pre-school open day the almost overwhelming amount going on included manicures, no really, manicures, yoga with the children surprisingly engaged and guinea pig petting.  When we left three new families had joined but still space for children from 18 months upwards.

Juliet Dearlove lives in Easton and her first book Atlantic Children is available on Amazon.

Working lemon cocker spaniel called Scramble has been missing from Easton since Saturday afternoon.  Info to ... too late, doggy's back home!

Easton today and the only gay in the village is already trying out for Suffolk Pride in Ipswich this Sunday.

Police are treating yesterday's cottage fire in Easton as arson with intent to endanger life.

Letheringham church fundraisers have organised an opportunity Monday to meet Meg Rosoff author of How I Live Now in Easton Village Hall.

It's the Easton Pre-school agm 7:45pm this Tuesday at the village hall.

The Easton Rabble (what a great name, you're already on their side) are a comparatively newly formed choir but already have some 30 turning out (including half a dozen blokes) and last night were laughing a lot and making a wonderful sound to these ears.  New singers of course welcome (don't have to read) and to get some stage time the choir will cheer up your event for free. ♫

Suffolk Coastal have made Easton their village of the year because of its inclusive community spirit ... yeah, Coastal would know a lot about that ...

♫ Yesterday at the last day of the Maverick Festival in Easton the ... more Maverick

♫ The Ukulele Orchestra of GB who in the last couple of years have played Easton, Snape and Arts Fram are playing this year's proms in a large town near Chelmsford.

Be warned, trailer thefts in the Dennington, Easton and Sweffling areas.

Live music at the Easton White Horse tonight.

♫ Now that really is regrettable.  For five years Peppery Productions have been bringing pleasure and a little bit of life (not too much mind you, this is Suffolk) to near the coast but Sunday afternoon will be their last gig at the Easton Farm Park shed.  Topping are Slovenian band Terrafolk supported by Sargasso Trio.

Sunday week charity duck race at Easton Farm Park.

Impressively Easton Pre-School has been running since 1974.  This afternoon they had a barbeque followed by a Teddy Jump off the church tower.  As usual at ted

jumps the teddies were extremely brave but also as usual displayed a certain bloody mindedness, willfully getting stuck in all sorts of places and one even naughtily moving the big hand on the church clock.  Though this pink ted (well monkey actually) hanging on to the gutter was funny it wasn't funny to the little girl who owned him.  Fortunately a resourceful bloke with a big stick solved the problem and getting your teddy back is always nice.

A giant of English traditional music Eliza Carthy will be at Easton Farm Park this Friday.  It'll be a quartet with drums and bass so don't let your musical prejudices get in the way, she kicks botty.

♫ There were enough musicians last night in the Easton Shed to field two football teams, indeed Fiona nearly ran out of bottled water for them.  Goldmaster Allstars had more guitarists and wittily encored with the theme from Get Carter (we found it irritatingly familiar and had to ask to put a name to it).  Ska Cubano were Cuban(ish), more show biz and we almost fell in love with Megumi Mesaku doubling alto and bari but felt we must remain true to Miss Olga.  Lots of lovely woofy electric double bass from both bands and again a thoroughly good night but like Kasaï Masaï  there could have been a few more of you in the audience.

The Easton Farm Park Farmers' Markets are usually held on the fourth Saturday of each month but are earlier in December because of Christmas.  When we arrived  around midday Saturday things were starting to pack up (well Suffolk Smokehouse had sold out of  chicken) and we'd missed both the brass band and Daddy C ... but the children were still enjoying the rides and the adventure playground, and the staff were getting pretty involved too.

The Easton White Horse has got one of those attractive you run it! signs just like the Stradbroke White Hart... does seem to show a certain desperation.

♫ At Easton Farm Park last night Kasaï Masaï had people up dancing by the third number and  just about everybody on their feet by the fifth.  Delightful tumbling, intricate guitar swimming in  echo, offhanded bass which you don't quite know where's it going next, a good hearted stage act and knowing use of repetition to build tension make KM compulsively danceable.  Fiona said They're really nice blokes and earlier in the day they'd given African drumming and dancing lessons to local youngsters.  The Shed could have used a bit more audience but whose fault is that?  YOURS!  Get on the mailing list at Peppery.

Having dismissed the Uke Orch as good but own up, it's really only one joke... no, we were wrong; they were excellent, very funny and we adored their version of Shaft and Teenage Dirtbag in the barn at Easton farm park. ♫

Easton White Horse  des' dinners 3

Attendees just Andy and NaTCH.  Andy was particularly impressed by his unusual stir fry.  A bit expensive.  (first visit  subsequent lunch  previous lunch)