The magnificent Sandy Denny.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, well, it's been a while. I try my best not to use my blog as a place for moaning, hence my absence but, hey, what the hell, it's this time of year it really gets me down. The lack of light, the shitty weather and the pre-christmas "do we really have to go through it all again?" just makes me feel miserable. This morning, whilst cycling, a huge lorry tryed to pull into me at the same time a van tryed to pull out on me. It got me seriously wondering wheither I'm invisible. It certainly feels that way and not just when I'm on my bike. Work is the same old same old, day in day out. The lovely people at the inland revenue have decided I owe them money, a nicely timed bill indeed and my video camera is broken (except it isn't even my camera) and I can't afford to get it fixed, so my new project plans have been neatly scuppered.

Okay I feel a little better after that.

In complete contrast here is a photo from the lazy hazy days of summer, the good old days when we were happy and could go camping and have lots of fun. It was taken just before I went to see the Who at the Leeds 02 festival with my lovely friends (without whom I'm almost certain I would disappear in a puff of smoke never to be seen again!)
PS. I've now entered the realm of the beta blogger. All appears to be well so I hope it doesn't make commenting difficult.

My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion

They tell us "Autumn's a comin' and soon everything around us will die
Only a fool believes that he is different from the birds in the sky
All those birds go chasin' some better sunny days
You can't hear them singing 'cause they've all gone away"

But this one bird didn't leave you
It stayed through the wintertime
You can't hear it sing but you can hear it as it flies
So don't you believe them?
They'll destroy you with their lies
They only see the obvious
They see the sun go down but they don't see it rise

This one bird didn't leave you
You can hear it as it flies
It's not very loud but you can hear it if you try
So don't you believe them?
Yes it's true someday everything dies
We won't let that defeat us
We can't hear them singing
But we can hear it as it flies

by THE FLAMING LIPS

In a bit of a hurry as I'm going to Birmingham this evening to watch the Flaming Lips. Seeing bands play is my most favourite past time and I've been doing pretty well recently, so well in fact I haven't been able to keep up with myself, blogwise. On Tuesday I went to see The Aliens, who were excellent. They really rocked out and were very sweet when we met them briefly after the show.(Geez, I'm just a groupy at heart!) I also caught BJM again last week, and it has to be said that they are one of the best live bands around. Incredibly powerful to watch. Their is a Youtube video of one of there live performances that I will post soon. But for now a little poetry.....


The Falling of the Leaves

Autumn is over the long leaves that love us,
And over the mice in the barley sheaves;
Yellow the leaves of the rowan above us,
And yellow the wet wild-strawberry leaves.


The hour of the waning of love has beset us,
And weary and worn are our sad souls now;
Let us part, ere the season of passion forget us,
With a kiss and a tear on thy drooping brow.

By WB Yeats



Softly we touch
here, and there,
as the current
of our life, flows
on its way.
How lightly we step on the
sand,
How soon comes the
Tide.

By Mary Barnes

Update: Unfortunately I can't embed the BJM video here as it has been disabled but if you fancy giving it a go you can watch it here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFM7dF6em2I Ta!

We had a lovely night on Saturday celebrating Bonfire night at the allotment. Everybody lit individual fires, so the whole place was dotted with little beacons of light, an awe inspiring sight and one that I imagine would have been seen hundreds of years ago as it was an old pagan folk custom to light bonfires across the land at this time of year. The light from the full moon and the warmth from the fire were intoxicating (the mulled wine helped too) and I decided that moonbathing is a benificial past time as it warms you from the inside out. I also decided, as we sat and watched millions of pounds exploding into the sky,that my parents were right when they would make us watch everybody elses fireworks instead of buying there own, it all seems such a waste.
(Photos by Mick)

The weather here has suddenly turned cold, bloody freezing in fact. That first harsh chill of winter always finds me perturbed and fearful, retreating to the security of my duvet. Without warning I'm overcome with the need to hibernate and simply waking up becomes a real trial of endurance.
And so the long haul begins..... I hate the thought of wishing my life away, but so often it seems the way, wishing it were the weekend, wishing it were Spring, it's a terrible state of affairs, as if time doesn't go fast enough as it is! I can hardly believe it is nearly Christmas, now their is a depressing thought.
On a brighter note, my good friend Sarah gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on Halloween. I went to see her in the hospital yesterday and what a cutey! My maternal instincts haven't really kicked in yet, whether they ever will I don't know, but when you look into the eyes of a newborn baby and see that little life shining back at you, you just melt. Such a beautiful little thing.
Everybody, I'd like you to meet Emily Rose...


To my new little friend,
May your life be charmed and joyful and may you be as cherished everyday of your long and happy life as you are today.