A bits and bobs catchup

I'm going to get paid for the first time in what seems an age.

Bizarre really - I have been doing stuff and managing to have good times but everything seems muted until you know there will be dosh in your account.

So to things and news and stuff.:--

1) Boys birthday - nothing like your boys turning 15 (and growing taller than you!) to make you take stock. Gotta say, very proud of my lads who seem to have become very serious and focussed on their schooling and career prospects. Still prefer X-Box and paintball (well D'Uh) but growing up nicely, thank you very much.

2) Brother's birthday - popped over to the Low Countries last weekend for my bruv's 50th. Quick there and back on Cheap'n'UnexpectedlyComfy (I had LEG SPACE!!!). Now every country has their own little quirks, and the Dutch are no exception.
When, as a bloke, you hit 50 in the Nederlands, people put a large wooden statue of Abraham (yes him of Jewish Patriarchal fame) on your front doorstep. This is because, when you hit the big half century, you are expected to "have seen Abraham", and like Abraham, to know where the mustard is......

The Dutch are crazy man....

Also excellent to see family again - very good party.

3) Autumn is upon us once more in this land of mists and rain. Had the doggie this weekend so long walks were on the cards. Followed a path along the railway and had a series of mini adventures, taking photos as we went. Got the notion to populate the walls with our own photos. I'll pop a few up and see how they grow on me.

4) God help me - Jo won't stop watching the X-Factor - there is nothing more to be said!

Cheery-bye

New Irish Diddly

Hey Guys, decided it was time to get back on the communications highway. Lots of stuff has happened since my last post so lets just say we'll take it as read.....

Anyhoo, the focus of this post is the following fine example of Irish Folk excellence.

I saw Alan Burke at the St James Wine Vaults near the centre of Bath. Really nice local with a cosy little music venue downstairs. This guy did an hours set as part of the Bath Folk Festival. He's been going for years, is absolutely superb live but couldn't give a monkeys when it comes to self promotion. He was selling his CD's at the end of the session. I bought one out of his own hands, only to find it was his first. Due to "management issues" you can't get his later issues without huge effort.

Having posted this, I will make efforts to get back into blogging on a regular basis.

S'later...

ps - glad to see Simon is surviving earthquakes and hurricanes with such aplomb. You just can't beat the British abroad!

*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.