Well it’s been a smorgasbord of a weekend. Simone’s daughter Tara arrived on Friday and her boyfriend Pavel flew in from Poznan around midnight just as the embers of our bonfire died away and the gluhwein and rum ran out. It was fantastic to see them over here for the first time since Simone Rösler moved over and Liam was … Read More

Back home after a couple of days in Karlsruhe visiting family and tidying up some business issues.It was the first time Simone had been back since she moved here with Liam at the end of July so quite an emotional return accentuated by the fact it was my lady’s birthday on Wednesday. It was wonderful seeing her daughters again both … Read More

There’s nothing like a walk round the garden in the morning after dropping off the laddie on the school run. Only problem is sometimes you see things you’d rather not see.   It turns out the fluffy wee bunnies cavorting down in the orchard are making forays into the kitchen gardens. I’d thought the tall raised beds would act as … Read More

In April this year I was approached by my German agency representative and good friend, Dominik to ask if I could play a show in Switzerland in September. He’d been contacted by another good friend , Norbert Mandel who runs the Z7 venue in Pratteln and who also promotes a festival just outside Basel.  Norbert needed a huge favour as … Read More

Another breakdown in communications between the removal agent and the crew on the road train who were scratching their heads in front of a monstrous black 19 metre vehicle stranded on the main farm drive. I’d provided all the information required on both properties months before and had told the agent that the farm road wasn’t suitable for a road … Read More

Early Saturday evening touchdown Edinburgh from blue skies.The approach over the Forth was special that day and I stared out the window at the river and the glorious bridges watching the toy town of Crammond growing ever closer and the fields zip past as we came into land. I’d been sitting on my own on the flight over as overbooking … Read More

We fell asleep to the last frog chorus coming from somewhere out in the darkness of the Aue. Our last night on the Balcony had been slightly hijacked by Simone’s ex sister in law, Monika who had previously rented the flat. She turned up with a bottle of wine, 3 Jagermeister miniatures and a screwdriver to take away the 2 … Read More

A few days ago I switched on my PC in the control room, plugged myself into the world and saturated my mind with weltschmerz over a sultry Sumatran coffee.I fed off my usual sources of choice; The Independent for nuts and bolts , goings on in the world and general ins and outs; The Edinburgh Evening News for things local … Read More

I was on my way to a funeral yesterday when I received a text announcing that Andy Newman had passed away at the relatively young age of 73. A highly innovative maverick and oft proclaimed musical genius I really got into his material through Pete Townshend who put together and produced his band ‘Thunderclap Newman’ back in 1969. I never … Read More