Hay on Wye

My absolute favourite..so far.  But here are some snaps from my  May 2006 photo journal which I hope capture some of its distinctive character:

Well of course, there's the thousands of  book shops, bargains and Tall Stories, which leads to

husband on book buying spree alert

Some non-bookish areas: not all Hay types are desk-bound all the time, the sartorial code for Hay and dare I say, who knows what goings-on in the Writers and Sponsors tent?

Much  hugging, as you probably guessed (Peter Florence plus X, a well-known gliterati -i.e. not me) but  I can recommend the champagne jelly.

The Welsh Poets contingent: 1) IwanLlwyd, Christine Evans, Nigel Jenkins; 2) that joke didn't seem to go down too well; 3) note to self,  'Relax'.

1)Poet and friend from my Carno days, Chris Kensey. 2)  Ruth Bidgod. Much admired poet and a great honour to be on same platform with her.

To end, you may have heard about the wind, rain and mud? Not too bad in 2006 - festival field still mainly green  but note on our B and B's door, shows they take no chances.