Why can't life be like Animal Crossing? I am rich in Animal Crossing. I am up to the biggest house which is tastefully furnished. I have over 200,000 Bells in the bank and I basically swan about all day collecting fruit, shells and fish then selling it all to Tom Nook. Occasionally I buy an outfit or a painting.

The only slight downside is that I haven't worked out how to get that mad muppet in Shampoodle to give me hair colour that isn't blue, green or pink. Life is so hard ;-)

But sadly, life isn't a Wii game and there is absolutely no point shaking all the trees in this neighbourhood, money is not going to fall out of them. Several cats might, though.

For the first time in a very long time I've run out of money before I've got paid. Being hard up against my overdraft limit is my own fault for running to the store at the drop of a hat every single day for at least the last month and not planning and writing a menu plan. My account doesn't have that much in it each month and several weeks of living a hand-to-mouth existance in the grocery department have cleaned me out.

I'm an idiot.

And now to embark on 'lets ferret about in the freezer and see what we come up with' time.

Wonder what you can do with six rashers of bacon and half a tub of Ben and Jerry's Phish Food...

an upstart couple of girls from who knows where, were in the UK charts singing that they'd 'Rather Jack, than Fleetwood Mac'.  Well, Reynolds Girls where are you now eh?  Perhaps Stevie Nicks ate you for breakfast...  I do hope so.

First things first...

All these photographs are Pip's (fireflies_uk)  and thank you to her for letting me use them to illustrate this.  Please don't right click and save without asking her first.

As Edward once said to Bella in the film version of a certain book;

This is a VERY rare picture.  This is my natural hair colour - mouse.  Not blonde, not quite brown.  After 25 solid years of dyeing it, it needed a break and I can't be forking out mucho spondulicks every 12 weeks to get it done and save to go the US next year.  It's shorter at the moment as Kevin has cut out as much as possible.  I don't like it short, so now we're at ground zero as it were, I can start to grown it again.  However, I am very pleased to have got the age of 39 and not, as far as I can see, be in possession of a single grey hair!

The other point to posting this picture is to tell you about my Fireflies friends, and the utter joy they are to be around.  Fireflies UK is a Yahoo group that was started by Pip, Gem M and Gem B in 2001 as an email group for fans of Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham in the UK and Ireland.  Over the last eight years, a band of us have come out from behind our keyboards and become firm friends.  These days we're not so much emailing each other as Facebooking, having all migrated there.  The last time I saw Sarah (on the left) was about 18 months ago at Pip's house.  Lisa (right), I haven't seen in years - she moved from Birmingham to Devon, which is slightly less convenient for our preferred congregation point - which is the Robin 2 at Bilston near Wolverhampton.  Being in the same room as them and meeting up with a previously un-met Firefly - Sarah W, was like breaking the surface for air after being trapped underwater.  They are SUCH good fun to be around, it's physically impossible to be glum around them.

Pip, Gem M, Gem B, Sarah, Rob, Lisa Ca, Wendy, Lisa Co, Steff, Jon, Sara, Char, Jennie, Aine, Mike, Jo, Alex, Jude, Paul, Neil and Louise have become this network of friends dotted up and down the British Isles, of all differing backgrounds and ages but what ties us together is our love of Fleetwood Mac.  I should also give honorary mentions to our friends in tribute band Fleetwood Bac, especially Lisa, Matt and Paul and to our very few honarary International Fireflies - an honour bestowed on those who a) make the journey across to the UK to see the band and meet up with us at gigs and b) are not the scary, freaky, shouty nightmares that you can get on some Stevie lists  hehe ;-) - of which Christy (wondergirl9847 ) is one.  The other major Mac fan hangout is The Ledge - I don't really class myself as a Ledgie as I haven't posted there in years, but if you want to know anything about the band or whatever, that's the place to go. 

Fireflies as an email group is not what it was, when at its height we were posting over 3000 emails a month, (inbox log jam was a common side effect), the conversation has, as I said, moved on to Facebook, which we find more suits our needs now there's really not so much Mac news to discuss.  But once a Firefly, always a Firefly...  And I love them all dearly. 

The natural hangout of a Firefly is down at the front of anything, they don't do seats in the 'gods' and the very notion of slumming it in some VIP area situated right at the back of the arena is a joke.  Down at the front is the only place to be.  So, to that end,  if I should happen to fall under a bus one day and need any sort of funeral thingy and you do decide to invite them; may I point out that they will assume they're front row, so just go sit somewhere else.  I won't mind, but sadly, you will have to lump it.  Fireflies blink and look at you oddly if you suggest something further back.  It does not compute.

I suppose I should get on and tell you about our evening out.  I told you you would need that coffee.


I met up with Pip, Lisa and Sarah at Pip's house and we caught the train down to Wembley Central.  When we arrived it appeared to have morphed into monsoon season in the space of 40 miles and we were without brollies, so we were faced with a dilemma:  Go to the gig or stay in train station to prevent Drowned Rat syndrome.  Girls, you know how it is  ;-)    Thankfully one of them spotted a lifesaving TK Maxx  across the road, so we legged it across and kitted ourselves out with an umbrella each.  Only minor hair damage was sustained in the effort.  Pip, being Pip managed to find one that matched her outfit ... as she does, whilst Lisa and I ended up with flowery efforts.  Mind you the most embarrasssing umbrella in the world is miles better than having to suffer the horror of wet hair. 

Suitably kitted out we then hunted up a bus - I never travel on buses these days, apart from Park and Ride - in Bedfordshire they're a bit rubbish and who wants to spend the best part of an hour getting to Bedford when you can do it in 20 mins in the car?  That means I'm woefully out of practice with buses.  To Londoners it comes easily... to hicks from the sticks like me... not so much.  A short ride got us to Sarah W's hotel the Ibis at Wembley - we can recommend this as a good budget place if you are going to Wembley Stadium or Wembley Arena - clean and well kitted out.  Both Pip and Sarah W have used it recently. 

Although Sarah W is on Fireflies, I haven't met her before. Amazingly (or should I say not amazingly, it happens frequently), there's more than just a Stevie connection - she is from my old stomping ground of Cheltenham and actually works at the University of Gloucestershire where I studied.  Sarah W slips nicely into this group of Fireflies friends - just the nicest people to be around.  Sarah W went one better than us and I am hoping Sarah B or Lisa has a picture of what she was wearing - Sarah  was dressed in a beautiful purple flowing skirt and top - and more of what she was wearing later.  I wish I'd got the memo that they were making a bit of an effort.  I sadly pitched up straight from work which meant I was not wearing anything remotely Stevie-ish.   

We tramped back through the rain to find a place to eat.  Ever the bunch of wussies we opted for a chain we'd heard of and pitched up at Nando's where we scarfed down some gorgeous food in double quick time and headed back out into the rain again.  We walked to Wembley Arena and by the time we got round to the front - despite umbrella's, we had wet feet and Pip and Sarah were several pounds heavier from all the water their skirts had picked up on the way.  Sarah W didn't have an umbrella but refused the offer of mine.  When we got there she simply stuck her head under the drier in the washroom for a few minutes and then smacked on a beautiful black top hat.  Rain ruined hair...? nope  Stevie piece de resistance?  yep!  That woman is so cool!

And off we wandered into the Arena...

I'm getting to the band bit...  Like I said if you just want to know how good the band played read a newspaper.

Sarah W had a front row seat.  Pip and I had second row seats.  Lisa and Sarah had fourth row seats, but this is completely irrelevant as actually sitting during a Fleetwood Mac gig would be unthinkable.  You want a front row seat and you want to sit in it?  What?  Does not compute...  Pip and I were on Lindsey's side of the stage so we decided to set up camp by his mike stand.  I spent two gigs five years ago in front of Stevie's mike stand grinning like a moron, so time to do the same to Lindsey... poor chap.  We're not the only ones who act in this way and I'm glad that it's not just us.  Other people think it's mad to go see a rock band and want to sit in your seats.  Of course I know that some people can't stand up from 6.30pm until 11.00pm, but then again... I've had years of practice.

So, there we were...  Pip and I in front of Lindsey's mike stand and Sarah, Lisa and Sarah W in front of Stevie's mike stand (their tickets were that side of the arena).  Positions assumed, let the show begin.  Well, not before Pip had collared Lindsey's guitar technician for a pick for her daughter (she missed out the other night), and she got one for DD as well.  The irony is here that Lindsey gives out the guitar picks but he only uses a pick (plectrum) on one song - he doesn't as a rule use them.  But it's a nice keepsake for half a dozen lucky fans.

The house lights go down, the roars and screams start up...And on they come...
 

As I said we were right by Lindsey and during the first song I found myself with my nose less than six inches away from his boot...  I didn't know whether to grab his ankle and pull or lick it.  In the end I settled for moronic giggling and grabbed Pip's arm.  After all, if it weren't for her generosity I wouldn't have had the opportunity to be in licking distance of his footwear in the first place! 

I think I need better words to describe Lindsey Buckingham...  Oh My God doesn't even begin to cover it.  Why, when they reel off the world's greatest guitar players is he not up there in the top five because he is just incredible.  Watch him play and you know you are at the feet of the master.  He's mesmerising and such a great showman.  It would take only one over-eager fan to spoil it, but at the moment Lindsey makes every effort to interact with the fans - crouching down and letting them play his guitar with him.  I got crushed in the process more than once last night as a wall of blokes pushed forward to play along with their own real life Guitar Hero...  He's a quantum leap above and beyond Expert level.  And oh my life he did the album version of Go Insane... and I nearly flaming well did! 
 

Guitar Hero takes a break during Micks' drum solo...

And on the far side of the stage from me is that Nicks' woman...  Before Jesus there was Stevie Nicks.  I only became a Christian at the age of 31, but before that she was my religion.  Although I no longer worship the ground she walks on, she continues to be an inspiration. It just goes to show that you don't need to be on stage with your bits and pieces hanging out to be able to put on a good show and you certainly don't need to be an 18 year old stick insect.  Stevie is her own person, always has been, always will be.

It is hard to think about how special last night was, to hear her sing those songs.  I well up big time during Landslide now, even more so last night because she dedicated it to Christine McVie who was in the audience.  Stand Back is my 'go completely mental' song and she did Silver Springs at the end - again, tears spontaneously cascaded down my cheeks.  She does things to my insides that lady...

Earlier I commented that Sarah W had put on her own top hat, and when Stevie came out in hers for a song she acknowledged Sarah and her twin headgear - a nice touch!
 

This pic actually from the first wembley show, not last night.

I can't remember the exact set list, but from what I can remember, they did (in no particular order) :  Monday Morning / Go Insane / Stand Back / Silver Springs / The Chain / Dreams / I Know I'm not Wrong / World Turning / Sara / Storms (squeee!) / Tusk / Second Hand News / Gold Dust Woman / Go Your Own Way / Don't Stop / Oh Well / Gypsy / Say You Love Me / Rhiannon / Big Love / Landslide .  I may have forgotten one or two.

I danced, clapped, cheered, whooped, screamed and laughed through the entire thing, I loved it beyond reason and they are still such a class act.  I'm completely worn out today, my knees hurt, my feet are a bit sore but that is a small price to pay for such a great night out.  I'm so grateful to them for a great show, to my friends for being such great company and Pip, for getting me in lickable distance of Lindsey Buckingham.  I will be forever grateful!

And so the gig ends, the band take their bows and they go...  Hopefully they won't leave it so long this time before coming back again.  I hope we proved to them that the UK still loves FM.  But more importantly for me, it makes me realise that I still love FM.  'Time cast a spell on you, but you won't forget her...'  No indeed.. Long Live Fleetwood Mac!

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...ok, so no chance in hell, but can you blame a girl for trying?!  LOL!