*Full of bosk

Autumnal colours were the order of the day as we shoved the dog into the boot of the car and trundled of to Westonbirt Arboretum. Piccies are representative but do no relay the full loveliness of this really big park with lots of trees.

I noted it a truly middle class adventure. Lots of doggies dragging hapless owners through the timber but not a staffie to be seen. There was, however, a fearsomely aggressive Jack Russell who was been given beaming "He's such a softie really!" looks from his deluded keeper.

ps - Aren't camera phones great?

Mabel

I have a new toy!

When I was a little lad I used to wish I had a magic book that would open onto any book in the world. I think I may have read it in some fantasy pulp somewhere. I had probably by this time read through the entire local library - apart from the research section and Mills and Boon shelves.

And now I've got one.

I notice that this is my second recommendation but worry not, I won't be doing any more.

But my new Kindle is bloody fantastic. The screen is like a typed page; it has wireless and a book can be downloaded in 10 seconds flat; it can hold up to three and a half thousand volumes (which might just do me) and all in all, I really do like it, ever so much.

Sue bought it me for my birthday, but the demand was so much that I had to wait an extra two weeks for it to be delivered(I was, for a time, disgruntled of Bristol.) Then it came and we are inseparable.

All the classics and a large number of other titles available free and other ebooks are decidedly cheaper than their papery counterparts. Reading it is a joy and just as pleasurable as the real thing, you can just as easily lose yourself in the words.

It has many other nice little features and all in all is dead good.

Sorry for gushing but I really am really, really chuffed!

If you are wondering as to the title, that's her new name!

Working on the Sabbath

Yes indeedy - I have been to the house of fun.

The effects of poorly aligned guttering and cracked leading have been overwhelming chez-nous. Water pouring the inside of the roof have led to all sorts of things peeling, warping and other exciting behaviours.

This has led me, in the past week or so, to spend a greater proportion of my time up ladders, dangling from scaffold, mixing render and painting on roof sealant. I am filled with a sense of quiet achievement.

Of course when I went to the aforementioned repository, I took the other half, and now there is a longer list of labour intensive activities than I had heretofore expected. Hey-ho!

I would like to recommend Ronseal's roof sealant - it's like Kevlar in a tin. Good stuff.

Nasal twanging and songs about the pissed

Man, I am so folked up. Went to see this fella the other night. Wasn't too optimistic with the venue which is a jazz bar underneath a steak bar of a new hotel in town. Still, I'd already been to the pub (Crop Circle - nice pint, more suited to summer) and was feeling generally benign to all living things.

Now, I haven't been to a gig since last year when we saw the Hives at Colston Hall (Impressive sound and energy but the lead guitarist does come over as the archetypical knob) and I haven't seen a folk singer since before that.

Let me say that Mr Irvine is pretty darn good. He sings with Christy Moore and is in a couple of other bands that keep him entertained.

The events in the first song, to my eternal pleasure, DID happen in May, and involved a fair maiden.

There were also more modern themes, such as driving to Finland to see a mate, and drinking so much Akvavit that your head explodes - all good stuff.

Mr Irvine had bazoukis.

I met my mate's dad, a dry Scotsman with an encyclopaedic memory for the comings and goings of the British (folk centred) music world. He actually remembered and liked Marillion, my own youthful indulgence.

Had a lovely night.

ps. You may notice that I have taken the time to learn about inserts - much better

Bicycling Music

I have to come to realise, that in every man's life, there comes a time when he starts listening to Crowded House. I thought that this was something that other folks did. I thought that my varied collection of emotive and frankly bonkers wailing women songwriters would carry me past such shores.

Now I know that I am unwillingly bound, as Jason was bound to the mast of the Argo; bound to respond to the threnodies of lost opportunities; melodic rhapsodies in amplified acoustic soundscapes and other stuff that Neil and his brother have come up with. I blame iTunes with it's accursed Genius function, leading me down pathways best forgotten.

It's quite good really.

Things I might do when I get the time.

Play my guitar without wincing; visit a Zen Buddhist temple; fix the curtains in my bedroom; learn Mandarin; bungee jump off the Bristol Suspension bridge; clean the garage so I can park my car in it; clean my car so it feels at home in the garage; visit friends in the US; visit friends in Scunthorpe; do my online photo albums; develop at least one of my story ideas; get a decent family portrait done; other stuff - I really am talking drivel, aren't I?

Down and Up

Met a man again today. He told me a while ago that there were two things he would never sell - his motorbike and his guitar.

Today he sold his guitar.

Times are hard folks...

.......

I can't leave it like that. I told him he could have one of mine.

Just goes to show ... the weirdest things come up when you miskey in Google.

http://www.paradise-engineering.com/quotation/index.html

Selling Good Stuff

At work today, I was interviewing one of Britain's many unemployed persons - with the aim of helping him find work. His problem (and that of many, in this truly democratic recession) is that he was overqualified for pretty much anything available in the job market. His normal revenue options were closed with our national bastions of academe cutting and slashing staff in order to preserve the master's wine list. Other work in the private arena is similarly in short supply. (I ought to know - I is looking myself.)

Anyhoo - this educated gentleman had taken one of his pet hates, that of failing educational and cultural standards; and in front of my eyes tried to turn it into a self employment business option.

It must be said, I was enthralled by the challenge. He had no real concept, or approach, or target - but it was a great way to spend an half hour interview which would not have otherwise progressed his cause of a job. I started a thought map and gathered the components of his thoughts on paper. Really we could have done this better by means of three pints in a decent boozer but you have to work with what you've got.

In the end we had come up with a charity providing educational and cultural good stuff to tempt those poor sprogs being ground through our school system and who seem to gain all socially relevant content in the vast but shallow pools of YouBookSpace. He had a wealth of content, a useful number of contacts and a fair amount of enthusiasm.

I'll keep you posted as to his prospects. Normally I wouldn't credit the man which too much hope in the current economic clime, but hope springs eternal - and we could all use a little of that.

In Memoriam, Mr Badger.

A Sunday stroll along the Avon tempted us today. We drove to The Lock Keeper in Keynsham with the doggie in the boot. Took the river path towards Bath and again I was struck with the idea that life on a canal boat has much to recommend it. They were lined up in numbers along the banks. The missus doesn't place much faith in a boat's heat retaining properties come winter (and she doesn't do cold) but I note the new NASA inspired insulating products on the market - could be a goer. Saying that, the boys have just got their rooms to their liking - stereos, computers etc - don't quite know how the boys would feel about downsizing.

Anyhow - the walk was lovely, between the Lock Keeper and a bridge on the Bristol and Bath cycle track. The hawthorns are fruiting everywhere which gave me plenty to munch on. The elderberrys were also in full fruit but they are a bit weedy in flavour - saying that, elderberry wine might be worth trying next year.

The dog had a fine old time in time honoured tradition; chasing sticks, swimming in the river, being told to LEAVE THE COWPATS ALONE!!

We saw a kingfisher flash past in a dash of blue. The fish were literally jumping and the corn (if not the cotton) was high.

We didn't see Ratty or Mole and Otter was conspicuous by his absence. Unfortunately, we did come across Mr Badger. He had obviously been trying to get across the road between pastures but had misjudged just how fast cars tear through around here. He remains a sad little footnote to the day.