Meant to post long before this, but better late that never (and better never than early! as a friend of mine says)...

First order of business: I echo the thanks that have already (most deservedly) been showered upon Skipjack K8 (and Jane, his cheerfully long-suffering spouse) and EtV; they were the most graciously accommodating and conscientious hosts one could wish for. Also Les from Hull for the interesting & informative tour -- I was so impressed with Hull I went back & told my other half how nice it is; I think we'll be coming back for a(nother) visit one of these days... And the amazingly generous hospitality of Jo, landlady of the Six Bells, was surpassed only by that of Skipjack & EtV.

As a fairly new Mudcatter (since October-ish) I especially enjoyed getting to meet -- and hear -- the people that go with the names I've been reading. And to pick up some Mudcat-lore, such as "Make mine a bear!", "curry ship", and learning to pronounce "Oaklet" correctly (i.e "OakLEE").

Like Wolfgang, a high point for me was during the Sat eve concert, when Bill Sables played Rick Fielding singing Jerry Rasmussens' "Handful of Songs" (a particularly moving and appropriate choice of song as well). What a warm, rich voice -- and then there's his guitar playing! Even tho I haven't been on Mudcat all that long, I had heardread SO much about Rick; hearing him helped me appreciate -- at least in part -- why he was so special to everyone. Thank you, Bill.

Letty, you have my sympathies about the "tissue mountain" (Saturday was like that for me). What amazed me was that even with a sore throat, your voice was *gorgeous*! No-one would have guessed you had one (a sore throat, I mean... not a voice!). Also really enjoyed hearing KJ & CT... *brilliant* singing and playing! Noreen also was in *very* fine form indeed.

Fibs (great to get to talk with you for a bit on the train to Sheffield), as "scundered" had me totally curiosified, I Googled to see if I could find out what it means; the closest I could find was in the "Hiberno-English Archive":
scunner, // n. v. a feeling of disgust or loathing; to disgust
< origin obscure, but cf. ME scunneren, to loathe, avoid. 'She took a scunner to me as soon as ever she set eyes on me'.

(The most intriguing Google results included the following entry:
pamela stephenson nude - pamela stephenson naked - pamela ... Pamela Stephenson - pamela stephenson nude, Pamela Stephenson naked, Pamela Stephenson nude, Pamela Stephenson pic, Pamela Stephenson images, or Pamela ... and similar entries for "anna friel pics", "nude girl pics - hot nude girls - college girl nudes", "melinda armstrong pictures", and "sharon taggart nude"...   Go figure!)

But none of those really seemed to be*quite* the way *you* were using it...
I was about to give up & ask what the heck scundered means when (thanks to Wolfgang's post on the subject) I decided to do a Mudcat search for the thread he mentioned, and found (just in case anyone else was wondering) this: "I'M SKUNDERED. (Belfast for taking a reddener)"

Finally... I promised Oaklet I'd post the song I sang at the Six Bells session Sun afternoon, since it mentions his name (and he was fortunate/clever enough not to have been there to hear it):

To the tune of "On Ilkla Moor Bah T'at...

Where hast tha been sin I saw thee? (Sin I saw thee)
With Oaklet and Mudcat
Where hast tha been sin I saw thee? (Sin I saw thee)
Where hast tha been sin I saw thee? (Sin I saw thee)
With Oaklet and Mudcat
With Oaklet and Mudcat
With Oaklet and Mudcat

Barrow on Humber really swings (It really swings!)
With Oaklet and Mudcat...

Visit Hull's famous "curry ship" ("curry ship"!)
With Oaklet and Mudcat...

Tha'll die of eating curried whelks (curried whelks!)
With Oaklet and Mudcat...

Then whelks will come & et thee up (they'll et thee up!)
With Oaklet and Mudcat...

All only 57 quid!
With Oaklet and Mudcat...

Three cheers for Greg and Eric too! (& Eric too!)
With Oaklet and Mudcat...

====================================

Well, that's more than enough from me for now...

Cheers,

YY