Here we are finally with another Newsletter and almost half the year has disappeared. We are at home at Buderim now putting the finishing touches to Paul’s concert tour in the spring. It’s certainly nice to be here during the cold weather. We did stay on at the farm for a few weeks after the Hartwood Campfires & Country Music Festival and sanded and painted the farmhouse bedroom. After Mother’s blue, glossy paint it is a pleasure to the eye and has made such a difference. We are keen to get in and do some more painting and renovating now and spend more time there. Paul had a nasty experience while painting the outside of the window when the ladder collapsed under him and he ended up on his back with white paint all over himself. After making sure he was ok I just had to get the camera … it was quite a sight!
Since the last Newsletter Paul and Peter Horan completed their Queensland and NSW tour last year, travelling as far north as Townsville where they actually used Shannon Noll’s sound and lighting. It was lots of fun travelling together and we shall certainly miss Peter on this coming tour.
Since the last Newsletter Paul and Peter Horan completed their Queensland and NSW tour last year, travelling as far north as Townsville where they actually used Shannon Noll’s sound and lighting. It was lots of fun travelling together and we shall certainly miss Peter on this coming tour.
The Hartwood Festival was again blessed with great weather; a little rain beforehand greened and freshened everything up. Everyone had a wonderful time. A local helicopter and photographer flew over taking some aerial shots and thanks to Kevin McIntyre who went up and took some movie film.
A special treat this year was the magical experience of Stephen R. Cheney’s Tribute to John Denver held on the Saturday night under the stars with projection screen setting the scene for the songs. At the last campfire night people rose to a standing ovation as Tom Maxwell wound up the festival for this year and we all are looking forward to celebrating our 21st Hartwood in 2008.
It was good to see the campers take advantage of the extended campgrounds and extra facilities and spread out a little more which allowed the garbage truck easier access. Additional work will go into the campgrounds again this year with further extensions and extra facilities so please invite all your friends to come and enjoy the celebrations for our 21st year.
Paul is performing solo again this spring (look out for the new pink jacket on the telly ads!) in an effort to keep the prices to a minimum. Some concerts are a little dearer where booking fees apply and of course, the cost of theatres make those tickets a little more expensive. Note also that Paul will not be in Tamworth next January which will be the first time for 25 years.
The sad news this year is we don’t have our dear Chloe the cat any more. Chloe passed away in June last year but left us with lots of lovely memories. I do hope to adopt another cat and a dog sometime in the future and if Paul’s plans come to fruition, it will mean settling back at Hartwood permanently and THEN I would like a Llama, 2 alpacas, my mini horses, chooks, ducks, geese and maybe a pig … ssshhhh don’t tell Paul!! Meanwhile I am enjoying the kookaburras coming in each day.
Since we have been home we have been fortunate to catch up with a few artists as they have passed through. Craig and Roz Giles called and had lunch with us. It was good to be able to have a chat without having to rush off. We also caught up with Rodney Vincent at Maroochydore. Rodney is looking forward to coming back to Hartwood next year. Don Costa lives here now so we will be catching up with him and his family shortly. Also, we recently had morning tea with Shirley and Charlie Gow from Shepparton. It was lovely to see them and have a chat.
Lots of people have been asking when Paul will have a new CD. Although he has some new material and would like to record again, he is not sure if it will happen. If it does, unfortunately it won’t be before 2009. We hope to see the Victorian and South Australian people on a concert trip later in 2008. Meanwhile we hope to meet up with a lot of you all again on this next tour.
Keep well and happy, until next time …
Love and Best wishes from Paul and me,
Hele
