A relief to see my father-in-law on such good form today. Clearly enjoyed our visit and interacted with the kids more than he has done for a long time.
It's as if he is coming alive as spring approaches, just like his amazing garden. Everywhere flowers are coming out of the sadness and cold and into early bloom. Only simple things like crocus, snowdrops and primroses - but together they present a blaze of early colour. There was a bumble bee floating about (what an exceptional year for these. Early sightings have even made the national news in recent weeks!) and birdlife all around the place. I'm not sure I recall ever hearing Skylark singing in mid-February and while its refreshing and inspiring to hear, all this does show quite clearly what a mess we are making of the seasonal extremes we used to get.
It really isn't cold very often these days, or for very long, and nature is showing signs of its confusion all around us.
There are at least two pairs of Robins at the farm, scouting for nest sites and in just half an hour this afternoon we had Blue, Long-tailed, Great and Coal tits on the feeders as well as Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Robin, Hedge Sparrow…
He commented on the lack of House Sparrows he's seen over the last couple of years, showing that while some species are clearly coming back (Lapwings, Skylarks and Bullfinch - two beauties in the hedge before we left) others are in serious decline. I haven't seen a Bullfinch for a few years now such is the distant between me and the birding world these days.
I've noticed this with Spadgers too - as older houses and barns are pulled down and replaced by Legoland newbuilds (why do ppl buy these low quality cheap shit that is costing the earth??), the birds have less and less places to nest.
And then, in two years time when the cracks appear in the rubbish houses and the boilers go wrong etc the houses don't sell because, lets face it, who wants a pre-owned 'new' house? The people that like new properties want NEW. Maybe that's when they should stand idle and become overgrown for a few years.
Ivy and Virginia Creeper could move in, colonising the cul-de-sacs and re-establishing wildlife again...
The houses crack and sweat because they don't breathe. Insulation has gone mad.
Without the nooks and crannies for Sparrows, Starlings and spiders there is no life in them.
Rant over...

We left earlier than usual today and stopped at Fleet Services for a meal on the way home, which has worked out really well all round. Kids in bed now and we still have an evening. More often we have to wake at least two of them up from a sleep in the car which means they are awake and grumpy etc for an hour or so until often well after 9.

A relief to see my father-in-law on such good form today. Clearly enjoyed our visit and interacted with the kids more than he has done for a long time.
It's as if he is coming alive as spring approaches, just like his amazing garden. Everywhere flowers are coming out of the sadness and cold and into early bloom. Only simple things like crocus, snowdrops and primroses - but together they present a blaze of early colour. There was a bumble bee floating about (what an exceptional year for these. Early sightings have even made the national news in recent weeks!) and birdlife all around the place. I'm not sure I recall ever hearing Skylark singing in mid-February and while its refreshing and inspiring to hear, all this does show quite clearly what a mess we are making of the seasonal extremes we used to get.
It really isn't cold very often these days, or for very long, and nature is showing signs of its confusion all around us.
There are at least two pairs of Robins at the farm, scouting for nest sites and in just half an hour this afternoon we had Blue, Long-tailed, Great and Coal tits on the feeders as well as Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Robin, Hedge Sparrow…
He commented on the lack of House Sparrows he's seen over the last couple of years, showing that while some species are clearly coming back (Lapwings, Skylarks and Bullfinch - two beauties in the hedge before we left) others are in serious decline. I haven't seen a Bullfinch for a few years now such is the distant between me and the birding world these days.
I've noticed this with Spadgers too - as older houses and barns are pulled down and replaced by Legoland newbuilds (why do ppl buy these low quality cheap shit that is costing the earth??), the birds have less and less places to nest.
And then, in two years time when the cracks appear in the rubbish houses and the boilers go wrong etc the houses don't sell because, lets face it, who wants a pre-owned 'new' house? The people that like new properties want NEW. Maybe that's when they should stand idle and become overgrown for a few years.
Ivy and Virginia Creeper could move in, colonising the cul-de-sacs and re-establishing wildlife again...
The houses crack and sweat because they don't breathe. Insulation has gone mad.
Without the nooks and crannies for Sparrows, Starlings and spiders there is no life in them.
Rant over...

We left earlier than usual today and stopped at Fleet Services for a meal on the way home, which has worked out really well all round. Kids in bed now and we still have an evening. More often we have to wake at least two of them up from a sleep in the car which means they are awake and grumpy etc for an hour or so until often well after 9.

Last night (this not sleeping thing has its advantages!) as well as work up a couple more media pieces, I found some great things:

An interview with Warren Cann on the Electrogarden Network
A piece of Leigh's art from a digi-gallery in New York
Two book cover illustrations that are hitherto unlisted
Two recorded interviews with John from 1980 on the Metamatic singles.

Everyone is so obsessed with Google. I do use it most of the time, but you really need to learn how to search effectively. Who needs 1000s of returns?? I narrowed it down to about 600 and supplemented with Yahoo and then spent THREE hours actually checking most of the links that were unfamiliar. Most I'd seen before or were in a 'language your computer doesn't recognise'. The recorded interviews are real gems. Wrote an email to the guy listing them on his website (among skwillions of UK 80s band boots and stuff) and expressed suitable interest. He has offered to send me a copy - just like that.

Most people I've tried similar tactics with during this project have been similarly fantastic. Even musicians. Tahnks to Eddie Reader, The Psychedelic Furs, HMK, Astrea Redux, Martyn Ware, Miles Copeland.The only exception is those directly involved that are proving rather more difficult to get hold of. Not that I've tried. My interview template is coming together but I need to be ready and not make a complete arse of myself.

Blimey - that all sounds very egocentric!
But I do find myself constantly amazed at how relatively easy it is all being and it baffles me that no-one has done this before and got the information together. People are asking for it ALL the time, but, it appears, they are not willing to look for it. I get emails asking questions that can be answered by spending just an hour or so on the net, or down the library!
Its like everything else tho really - you have to be prepared to do it properly to get the best results.
No compromising on time or expense.
If a result is worth achieving, surely its worth working for?
Mind you - I'm actually quite happy that people don't do this particular thing for themselves, otherwise there'd be less of a market for the result in the first place!!