The Backstory: How to Breed Sheep, Geese and English Eccentrics by Valerie Poore

I first met Val in 2005, when a small group of writers and artists developed into an online creative community after following Pete Townshend’s blog novella, ‘The Boy Who Heard Music.’ She went on to publish two memoirs: African Ways, based on her time in South Africa in the 1980s, and Watery Ways, which chronicled her move to the Netherlands and life on a barge in a historic harbour. She has also published The Skipper’s Child, a novel which appeals to both young and old. Her latest project is How to Breed Sheep, Geese and English Eccentrics, which is her second novel. Like all her work, it is based on her real-life experiences. Let’s have Val tell you how this quirky and amusing work of fiction came to be.

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Val: How to Breed Sheep, Geese and English Eccentrics. What on earth is this book? Well it’s fiction for one thing and it isn’t about to teach anyone anything really. Some time ago I read a wonderful book that suggested it was about maintaining Ukrainian tractors. I forget what it was called now, but when I read it I was delighted to find it was a novel about a family and the only connection to tractors was through the rather individual elderly father who was writing a book on tractor maintenance (I think). Anyhow, it really inspired me to give my book a ‘How to’ title, so there it is. I think it’s quite catching, but then I would, wouldn’t I?

The book itself is intended to be humorous, as I’m sure the cover will suggest. I hope it’s funny, anyway! In simple terms it’s what the blurb says it is, a story about a girl trying to help her mother hang on to her large and impractical country house by doing the self-sufficiency thing, but behind the fictional story is a lot of factual experience.

I grew up in both London and Dorset in England, and I did try my hand at self-sufficiency for a couple of years. It was a lot of fun and I just loved the animals, but I wasn’t very good at it. My sheep kept escaping and I really did have to go off and fetch them in my old VW Beetle. I looked after people’s horses, kept geese and chickens as well as a calf called Blathers because he mooed so much, and a couple of pigs that I was terrified of. The last two don’t come into the book. I don’t know why. I suppose I just didn’t get round to them. We also grew vegetables and generally did the sort of going back to nature lifestyle. Then I went off to South Africa for twenty years and learnt to be even more self-sufficient on a farm there.

That said, I will never forget all the experiences I had on the smallholding in Dorset. Some of them were so hilarious that when I started writing seriously, I knew that one day I would weave these experiences into a novel. My characters are completely fictional as is the plot, but the setting is largely real and the events concerning the animals are all based on truth. The opening incident that begins the book is also true. I really did come home one day and find my car cut in half, but I won’t say any more about it here or that might just spoil the story.

It’s the kind of life I would love to have again. If I could no longer live on the water, it would be the next choice. Writing and reading my book has helped bring it all back to me, so who knows? If I can make enough from writing, I’ll give it all up (my day job that is) to buy a small farm on the banks of a river so I can moor my boat there as well. Nothing like having your cake and eating it too, is there?

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How to Breed Sheep, Geese and English Eccentrics: Amazon | iBooks | Lulu

For information on all my books, including my memoirs about living in Africa and on a barge in Rotterdam, have a look at my author pages on Amazon.com and Lulu.com:

Visit Val’s blog for more information in her own words. Follow her on Twitter or Facebook. You can find out about all of her books, including her memoirs about living in Africa and on a barge in Rotterdam on her Amazon author page and her Lulu spotlight.

The Proclaimers at the CNE Bandshell in Toronto, August 16th, 2013

The Proclaimers, for those of you unfamiliar with this band, are a twin-brother-duo from Scotland. They have been described as folk rockers and nationalists, and are probably best known for their 1988 hit, “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)”. I love them because they sing in their native accent, which I find utterly charming, and because they are able to get me clapping and foot-stomping with nothing more than their harmonies, an acoustic guitar, and some great original tunes.

They played in Toronto at the CNE Bandshell on Friday night, and while it was clear that most of the Scottish ex-pat community in the city had shown up to the gig, the audience was also multi-aged, which continues to delight me as I go to see bands that have been around for more than 25 years.

The Bandshell is a great old tradition at the CNE fairgrounds, an outdoor venue just off the lake that is intimate and relaxed. Its only problem is that the park bench seats are old and uncomfortable, but that issue was resolved once a couple of fans ventured to the front of the stage and weren’t discouraged or sent back. Like many of the spectators, I decided that this was an evening best spent on my feet, and I followed many others. The light show was stripped down, although the colours did get altered to suit the mood of different songs; the jumbo television screens that framed the stage were largely unnecessary for such an intimate venue. The mood was laid back and light, and the standing crowd at the front grew until the area was crowded, but this was a happy and gentle group.

The two Reid brothers, Craig on lead vocals and Charlie on vocals and guitar, did not disappoint with their delivery of most of their classic songs and better-known hits. My cherished moment of the evening came when I heard the opening notes to “Sunshine on Leith”. It is my favourite of their entire catalogue, a beautiful ballad that evokes love and heartbreak with touching lyrics and a stirring melody. It is also, as we found out, the title of a new movie which the brothers will be presenting at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

The energy levels ramped up after that with “I’m On My Way” as we all sang along with our best “uh-huh, uh-huh”. Then, to top off the main set, it was time for what Charlie Reid called “the song that made all of this possible.” It was wonderful to be in the middle of a jumping pack to sing along to “I will walk 500 miles” and to do the great call-backs. The show ended with three encores after an hour and a half, and I left with a smile on my face and feeling on top of the world. What a great night out with some old favourites.

Marilla Wex's brilliant "Lost and Found"—Flying Beaver Pubaret, Toronto, August 10th, 2013

One of my simple rules is that when a clever and funny person insists that I go see another clever and funny person, I take the advice. Last night, the recommendation took me to Toronto’s Flying Beaver Pubaret to see Marilla Wex perform “Lost and Found.” I was told to expect a moving and funny piece of solo theatre, and her one-woman show did not disappoint.

Marilla made a point early on to tell the audience that her two great loves were writing and acting, and she weaved her passions into a powerful display of storytelling. Her reminiscences were intimate and personal, and yet so universal that I found myself nodding many times because they echoed some of my own emotional experiences. Her observations about people, including herself, were brutally honest and raw at times, and I felt myself aching with her in empathy, and cringing in recognition of similar mistakes from my past. Likewise, I roared at the sharp, biting humour that made some of her anecdotes less painful.

It is no exaggeration to say that this is a performance that will stay with me for a long time. I wept with laughter one moment, and my eyes welled with tears the next. There was tenderness, bitterness, rage, and joy in this performance, and it resonated with the audience so profoundly because it took great courage for Marilla Wex to put herself out there. In sharing her journey from England to Canada, she reminded us that while we are all flawed as individuals, there can be a happy ending after years of doubt and sorrow. I hope she takes this one-woman show on tour so that others may appreciate just how moving and entertaining it is. If she does, you owe it to yourself to experience it.

You can find out more about Marilla Wex’s work at her website.

Short But Sweet—Bad Company at Casino Rama, August 3rd, 2013

Bad Company, celebrating 40 years together as a band, brought their show to Casino Rama last night. I am at best a casual fan of their music, although I have always admired Paul Rodger’s incredible vocal talent.

Seven years ago, when he took to the road with the remaining members of Queen, I watched him take Freddie Mercury’s place as their frontman. The Toronto show at the Air Canada Centre was the only North American sell-out date, and it was undoubtedly challenging for him to step into the shoes of a singer often referred to as the best showman to ever grace a rock and roll stage. I remember watching him that night and thinking how confident and powerful he sounded; he wasn’t Freddie and it wasn’t 1977, but he wasn’t trying to be and that impressed me greatly.

Last night, hearing him perform songs from his own catalogue, I was even more in awe of his vocal prowess. His style was relaxed yet strong, and he evoked a memory of Freddie only in that he initiated and welcomed the audience sing-alongs in much the same warm, inviting manner. The entire band sounded great together, and I enjoyed watching Rodgers at the harmonica, and at the piano and guitar as well.

The Rama stage is simple and the venue is small, two factors that often make for an intimate experience: the light show was pared-down, enhanced by a bit of dry ice during one number and a few basic pyrotechnics at the end. It was a rock show of modest proportions, yet highly enjoyable for its setlist that included all the big hits. I was hoping for the inclusion of ‘Alright Now’ from Rodgers’ days with Free, but could forgive the omission when he closed the show with ‘Seagull’. My only regret, which was by no means minor when you consider that the round-trip to Casino Rama from Toronto is close to four hours long, was that the entire performance lasted just one hour and fifteen minutes. Sweet to the ears, but far too short.

Heart with the Jason Bonham Led Zeppelin Experience, Toronto, July 23rd, 2013

I saw Heart for the first time in March, and what struck me those few months ago was the grace and power of Ann and Nancy Wilson, and the deep bond between them as musicians, bandmates, and sisters. Last week, I went to see Heart again, supported this time by Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience.

The Molson Ampitheatre opened at Ontario Place in 1995, replacing the old Forum, which had a rotating stage and where I saw many great acts in the late 70s and early 80s, including Blondie and The Romantics. The new venue sits at the edge of the water, with the Toronto skyline visible behind the stage and the lake on the opposite side. It seats about 16 000, and on a beautiful summer night, the uncovered lawn section allows you to lay a blanket on the grass and listen to the show under the stars.

The opening set was short, taking four of its eight songs from the fourth Led Zeppelin album. Jason Bonham invited the audience into rock history as well as his childhood with photographs on the video screens behind his drumkit, and the music was delivered with competence and passion from the entire band, incuding vocalist James Dylan. My overall impression, however, was that this was a superb Led Zeppelin cover band, and that the best was still to come.

Heart came out as the sun set for the night, giving rise to a bright full moon in the clear sky. Again, they started with many of the huge hits the band is so famous for, songs that I can take or leave if truth be told. However, the list was not identical to the one I’d heard in March, and the choice of deeper cuts was not as large as I’d hoped. I still got to hear my beloved Dog & Butterfly, was disappointed that Dreamboat Annie was cut, but was thrilled to hear Mistral Winds for the first time. Nancy Wilson proved what a underrated vocalist she is with a superb rendition of Elton John’s ‘I Need You to Turn To’, which she dedicated to local heroes Rush. That nod to her fellow new inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was a lovely gesture to the Toronto audience, and did not go unappreciated.

The encore set blended the members of Heart with Jason Bonham for renditions of some of the most iconic Led Zeppelin songs: The Battle of Evermore, The Song Remains the Same, The Rain Song, The Immigrant Song, Kashmir, and finally, Stairway to Heaven. All these classics were given the Ann Wilson treatment, and it hit me the way it surely did the thousands of others in the crowd—here was the best Led Zeppelin vocalist not named Robert Plant. Again, the ludicrous idea that women cannot rock was dismissed with the shivers that her voice sent down my arms, and with the majestic guitar work that her sister Nancy delivered with each song. I left the gig thinking how wonderful an entire evening of The Ann and Nancy and Jason Led Zeppelin Experience would have been. If you can, catch them during this tour!