That’s your lot. See you on the flip side.

First a bit of leaver logic.

A No 10 source says a Brexit deal is “essentially impossible” after a call between the PM and Angela Merkel.

Boris Johnson spoke to the German chancellor earlier about the proposals he put forward to the EU – but the source said she made clear a deal based on them was “overwhelmingly unlikely”.

They also claimed she said a deal would never be possible unless Northern Ireland stayed in a customs union.

But Labour called it a “cynical attempt to sabotage the negotiations”.

Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said Mr Johnson “will never take responsibility for his own failure to put forward a credible deal”, and called on Parliament to “unite prevent this reckless government crashing us out of the EU”.

So much that has been will be lost…

So what have I been up to. Well not a lot to be honest. My last 3 gigs were at the end of last month and there none till November. The damp weather is giving my arthritic bits some grief. Way before I was a Civil servant or a pro musician I had a driving job for 17 years. Multiple drop stuff which was often quite hard on the back. Delivering print supplies, copier paper, mounting board, developer for large format cameras and always the heavier the items the more sets of stairs there seemed to be. So it’s hardly surprising this far down the line that there is some damage I guess.

n summer its OK and in winter when it’s dry its OK but when its damp and humid its a real nuisance.
Paradoxically when I am playing musical instruments it’s usually OK, but a couple of days after a run of gigs its a pain.

So the days go by in the usual mix of working on new tunes and recordings. Mostly solo stuff but I am starting some collaborations now have have sufficient space to work with other players at home. Last week Danny who is our percussion player brought his Kora (West African twin bridge harp) along and we recorded 3 tracks with Violin and percussion. Its very quiet instrument which we have just started using on Delta Ladies gigs quite successfully as it has a custom built pick up built in and sounds amazing when amplified.

There are other things in the pipeline too.

Apart from that I have been out locally exploring the many villages locally whilst the weather has been fine. I have also been having visits from Ralph, Vicky’s partner and we have been on trips out, I have known Ralph almost as long as I knew Vicky. Ralph is a very keen photographer and takes a lot of landscapes. Ralph also has along history in media related work having been at various times a Radio DJ, Pirate and BBC, a film news and documentary cameraman and reporter and was also back in the day involved with the original UK gay lib movement to name but a handful of stuff plus first trained as a cinema projectionist as did I . So very interesting company.

Its now 6 months since Vicky’s death, and some things are easier now than they were. The Delta Ladies are still going just about but there will be a lot less gigs than previously In part because its been very difficult to find anyone with same attitude and fairly comprehensive knowledge of music that has the availability. Also being able to find people in the local area.

So the Delta Ladies may well be a variable line-up from here onwards. I need to get out and start meeting people again but I have not been able to put my heart into it yet. It’s not easy for me to get to know people as I am not a natural with small talk. That could be a bit tricky I think judging by present progress.

A lot of what I used to do is not quite so thrilling these days one way and another. I suppose that’s just a natural part of getting older really. I have just been in the studio room making noises and putting a track together that will be a song but does not have a complete set of lyrics yet though. Its suggesting various things to me at present but all I really have word wise is a title so far.

This week my sister will be visiting form Colne for a few days. Hopefully the weather will be a bit better by tomorrow. I shall go to pick her up from Milton Keynes Coachway fairly soon if her coach is on time.