pen and ink

I have been writing stuff in my Moleskine hence no posts.
Recently new car, national trust membership, tarot cards and trip to the kur. Oh and more RAM.

stairlift catchup

Mom still in hospital. Up and down…still swollen from excess fluid and trouble breathing. They are checking her heart next, why they don’t check her kidneys is beyond me. Another 3 weeks of antibiotics and then the knee put back in. If she is well enough, not sure she would survive another operation at the moment. Dad told me he was thinking of getting a stairlift, then my Mom said he had been MITHERING about a bungalow. She thought I had been on at him. I hadn’t, he had thought of it all by himself. About time.

We went to Tewkesbury’s Medieval re enactment day. A very interesting set of stalls; leather, skins, leather belt bags. I was hoping to find a Utilikilt tent but no such luck. The idea to sell kilts at fairs and festivals has come up again. The re enactment went on a bit and we were all cooked by the humidity and sun. I had expected a warm day with lots of rain.

On hospitals and holding tight

Missed the crossroads with Jo. Try hoding tight for a change…expect love and honour in return rather than feeling I have to accept pain.

Mom still in hospital. Touch and go for a while as kidneys packed up. Now the metal knee is out and the infection under control thanks to antibiotics. talked to Jo about my experiences of all the time I spent as a child visiting my Gran as she had more and more of her legs amputated.

Went to B’ham on the bike; me nearly doing my usual trick of backing off. It was GOOD. Thunder and lightning and lots of rain. Flood in Harborne.

It may be sinking in that I can be me.

poison knee

Trip to Salisbury has caused me to think about phtography again. I went through my prints and put some up in the living room. I will order more film and paper soon, spend the summer sorting out my darkroom technique and start more photo project;
Portraits with people holding captions (answers to random questions)
Jo’s feet
120 film in the old kodak (to stop my holga itch).
Took Jo to visit S at KL on the bike. She read her play and I brought her home again. Onset of colds and buying of buffs.
My mom has been taken in to hospital as her knee has become infected. Both knees have been replaced but this is the good one that got fixed 10 years ago. This has brought up all the old concerns about my parents blinkered view on how they will deal with their ageing.
My beard has grown all the way round now. Still get a feeling of freedom from not having to use a razor.
My desire to learn Aikido has surfaced again. Something I may investigate in the future.

Missed weeks + Salisbury

The weeks between Easter and Whitsun are a blur. Walking on Sundays became the norm…Clent, Malvern, House near Shrewsbury. Fish and chip supper + catherine Breilliat and Performance whilst t+j at the pictures.

Trip to Salisbury. We stayed at the White Hart Hotel which was a stones throw from the Cathedral and the town centre. Salisbury seemed a bit sad on first inspection. Bank Holiday Monday evening, 6pm. But we found the centre of town and after looking for places to eat found the Strada, an Italian restaurant with 70’s decor, the most delicious garlic bread and very tasty food. Broad beans, pesto, artichoke and pasta.

Hotel was fine, firm beds, white sheets. Breakfast too. Tuesday…wander round the shops eventually to the Cathedral just in time for Cl to ring Jo and say she was having a nervous breakdown. Cathedral was impressive but depressing. A sad museum but chilling when the posh lady said prayers over the tannoy and everyone joined in the Lord’s Prayer.
Still full but needing to eat we happened upon a mini Wagamama. More distress from Claire fixed with much texting and an abortive attempt to find an internet connection.
Hotel for a sit down then off on a tour to Stonehenge with a very knowledgable and enthusiastic guide. After a drive past Old Sarum via Sting’s house we visited Woodhenge then walked over to Durrington Walls. Then onward to Stonehenge. We walked away from the henge to look at the nearest barrows then to the cursus ant then up the avenue to be confronted with Stonehenge.
Then into the middle of the stones after most of the other visitors had gone. Lots of description and explanation as to current theories of the whys and wherefores. The sun setting and nearly frozen ( May but only 13 Deg. with a vicious wind) it had felt like a pilgramage. Back home the next day. Time and space compressed…away for years.

Post Easter

Garage door is now black with our address in Jo font.
Tom’s Birthday happened with wagamama the day before.
Realignments…Erishkegal has a consort…Nergal.

Family Easter

Corinne and Claire here. Lots of chalking on the blackboard painted table.
I painted the garage door. Obsessed about making tank panniers… this has calmed a bit and I will wait for the right bags to turn up.
Camping with Jo is not on the cards for a few years but that is ok. The V-Strom will be painted black by then.
Much teaching of Biology and Maths. New Eee for Jo.
“Jar City” Icelandic film…police drama set in Reykjavik and Grindavik.

red dwarf retreat

New episodes of Red Dwarf has meant Jack has watched ALL the episodes without sleep!

Jo has done mixes of Sodium and Echo; she is much better at Mixcraft than me… she can create much more atmosphere and feeling.
She got me because she is everything I ever wanted in a woman. She thinks about every sentence she utters; she is quiet and deep and has been to places I never have …this makes her much wiser than me. She also feels things so acutely …it all matters so much to her. All the things I am do not depress or upset her and she can walk the same speed as me.

Bike and camping too. In the future….
I will make tank panniers out of the old bicycle panniers.

ivor

The bmw was collected at 8 am by Ivor and his co-pilot. The bike started and ran a bit so it qualified for £150. It was sad to see it go but I definitely could not have got to Devizes and back with Jo on it so it has served it’s purpose very well. There is room in the garage now. The pull to go on the bike somewhere…anywhere with Jo calls louder and louder. A trip around the coast of Britain. How long, how much, when….who knows but I like the idea a lot.

Next is test out the bags on the bike and see if they catch fire on the exhaust, sheepskin on the seat and find a lockable, low profile top box.

Recorded another mixcraft after playing using the regenerator and the delay.

regenerator

Vaguely guilty as I wanted to ride to Birmingham and spend money. The call of the motorcycle shop was upon me and the ever so expensive, ever so cool Kriega bags.
After wise words from Jo and a rude awakening by a bee getting stuck in the window I ended up in PMT….Jand S was shut as it was a Tuesday(!?) and Heine Gericke meant that when I saw the Kriega bags in the flesh….they were just bags and I have many already.
In PMT I got a Marshall Regenerator pedal…lots of swooshing; then went and got proper Karabiners after the S-biners let Jo and I down. The Fall have had a big effect on me or rather the words from the Fallen…
” he was a poseur….he was a fucking musician”.

In ever want to be a musician but I do want to play loudly and repetetively. Book time with Tom in a rehearsal room and write some songs.