Sorry it is a football post today!

A long day out yesterday in the North East for the F.A. Cup to St James’ Park Newcastle; I had seen the mighty Luton at the other St James’ Park Exeter earlier in the season. We along with nearly 8,000 Hatters went with hope in our hearts. Sadly a couple of mistakes in a poor nine minutes saw us 3 down. However, a spirited fight back saw us get one goal, the ref then wrongly disallowed a goal for offside and we hit the bar. If the second goal had been allowed it could have been a cup epic! It is the hope that gets you. proud of my team and our loyal  following.  The pictures below will give you some idea of high we were!!! Almost suffering with altitude sickness-7 flights up!

Could call it a cultural couple of days for us. On Wednesday we went to the delightful Swan Theatre at Stratford to see Imperium. Clare was keen to see this having read the trilogy of books only problem was there was only one seat available from mid December when we booked till the run finishes mid-February! However there was a standing ticket up in the gods also available. So I was chauffeur and felt like I was consigned to the servants section! However, there was a seat free by Clare so I moved down after the first interval. Excellent play, simple but effective set making good use of below the stage. This was Clare’ s special event to mark our wedding anniversary. Read about mine later in the blog.

Last night we went to Workers Gallery at Porth in the Rhondda to see my brother performing his poems with music provided by his pal Paul. Delightful evening with Chris and Gayle who run the Gallery talking about how it has evolved. If you are ever in the Valleys go and have a look.

Start back on the Story Telling Road next week with two very different Gigs.

Any of you in the local area I will be performing with Dan Everett a superb singer songwriter on Friday February 2nd from 7.30 at Kingshill House in Dursley. Should be a good evening will keep mentioning it over the next three weeks-it is free!

Finally my wedding anniversary treat is tomorrow and the F.A. Cup. I am off to St James’ Park Newcastle, really looking forward to a great day out. Not many people can say they will have visited two St James’ Park watching their team in a season. I hope you know where the other one , a clue the two grounds are opposite ends of the country!

First proper ride for a while. Hard into a strong wind but needed to be done. That is nearly 4,200 miles for the year and pushing towards 200,000 feet of climbing. Both those figures helped by the Pyrenees and the Coast to Coast and back again.

I think the Bob Dylan song title for today is appropriate with today’s football score, what happened to my boys? “Biting through our defence Wind” would of been a better title but it hasn’t been written yet!

Planning to get down to a few writing projects next week.

Happy New Year to you all!

I hope all of my loyal readers have had a great Christmas. My goodness the weather is all over the place one minute really mild (wore my shorts on the bike) and today ice everywhere. I think that is why I have had my first cold for two years. Hopefully a good walk later.

Read an inspirational article in yesterday’s Guardian about one of the schools that visit us at Wick Court. The school is called Surrey Square and it is a school I visited on my Blunderbirds tour in 2016. They are doing wonderful things for the refugee families who use the school that the state has sadly neglected.

Boxing day was a treat with football at Swindon so not far to go for a change. A five nil away victory and it could easily of been more. Had to pinch myself to check I wasn’t dreaming. You just hope this wonderful run keeps going.

A short seasonal blog. We went to see my brother Mike being Scrooge on Friday night in Cardiff. A delightful evening and I was really proud of Mike who was excellent. Dickens was certainly a wonderful writer and many of his stories resonate today as Food Banks grow and more people are homeless.

Yesterday went to Luton to see the mighty Hatters go four points clear at the top. I am hoping the great form continues till May!

Anyway Merry Christmas to all the loyal readers who read my incoherent ramblings. Have a peaceful and happy one!

I had a wonderful Bird Survey yesterday morning. It started slowly but my goodness did it develop! Many Lapwings over the river and 400+ Dunlin were highlights. Towards the end of the survey a Short Eared Owl was flushed and flew around us for a while, a Marsh Harrier was hunting over the Reed Bed also fairly close to us. the final highlight was a Merlin shooting into the Reed Bed. Also had good views of a Kestrel hunting. What a morning! The others also saw a Peregrine. What a morning!

I have done a few miles on the bike, the roads are mucky so the bike needed a good wash down. Have delivered a few copies of the book while on the bike as well.

Oh dear!!! The Ashes certainly have turned to dust. It has been depressing listening through the night to the action Down Under. With the batting struggling I still didn’t get a call! Talking cricket I met up with my Test Match pals for a seasonal drink last night. We are going to two Tests and a One Day International next summer.

I am enjoying reading Neil Gaiman’s book on Norse Mythology, it is well written. Last week our Book Club met here at my house for an “Art Evening” with our usual high standard of wonderful food. Each one of us had to talk about a piece of Art that meant something to us. It was a remarkably diverse and enjoyable evening. My pals never cease to amaze me with their imaginative ideas. Back on a Book theme in January.

To start with it has to be football hence today’s title. For me it was my nearest game I can go to as the Hatters were at Forest Green. The mighty Hatters were certainly under par and a very poor ref certainly favoured the home team. However, we were too strong and won comfortably despite the ref. At least I can walk around at home without a bag over my head! Top by two clear points now! Forest Green certainly set up to prevent us from scoring making it difficult but 3 points are three points and our second goal was comical!

On the Story Telling front Thursday proved to be a tough day. My regular gig at Wick Court went really well later my gig. Later I found my next gig a challenge because the voice was struggling and I had a wide age range.

Finally sales of the book are going well!

A new band for today’s title, Fleet Foxes, I nearly went for Springsteen but we have had him a few times. Certainly a different sound. Had to be a reflection of the weather! I wrote yesterday about my Saturday and the book. Well wasn’t I lucky we had snow all day yesterday but not as bad as the hills around. Dreading tonight supposed -10 to -14 ? Big decision in the morning do I cycle to Wick Court, think it might be safer than the car but will need to wrap up well! I hope the children have plenty of layers on for our Bird Watching.

I have been getting in touch with half a dozen local schools offering my services on Story Writing in exchange  for the opportunity of selling the books in school. I’ve already had a couple of schools (many of them closed today) book me for early next term.

Obviously couldn’t resist that title! Picture of the cover below. I have actually sold a few books already, plenty more to go! A busy week ahead on the Story Telling front with a few Christmas stories to tell and then a spell off!

Busy going over a couple of my other stories and tidying them up for maybe publishing. Had a thought about one of them which I may talk about it in the future.

I went to football yesterday for the League 2 top of the table clash. It ended up a draw, we couldn’t quite cope with the physical approach of Notts County so took a while to get going.