I’m not talking about the mess that clown in the Oval Office is making! I wanted a title that reflected the past and this song certainly did that. The history I’m talking about is last night and our pub gig. It went really well and people have been in touch throughout today commenting on how much they enjoyed the evening. Not sure how much we took in the collection for Farms for City Children but will let you know. Picture below is me telling a Gloucestershire Story with the bar firmly behind me! More later this week and a picture of the book!

The book has arrived!!! Will post a picture later this week. So I will be selling it from now. First opportunity tonight in the Three Horseshoes. If anyone wants a copy it is £5 plus postage -what a bargain!!!!! If you are local I can always drop it in!

Book hasn’t arrived yet! I was promised it for tomorrow. Fingers crossed it arrives so I can sell some tomorrow night in the pub. Don’t forget from 8 onwards in the Three Horseshoes Frampton. Feeling nervous until I see the book in my hand.

Fingers also crossed for the cricket tomorrow morning highly unlikely but you never know. At least we are still in the game it certainly didn’t look like that yesterday!

Only the beginning of December and I had to assist Father Christmas in Berkeley last night. My cricket club do it every year, the man in red on his sledge being pulled by a tractor with Christmas music being blasted out. We knock on doors with charity buckets. The club get a donation from the Round Table for supporting this. Young people come out in their droves and it is lovely to see. Of course I cycled there!

As I write I am getting depressed listening to the cricket, at least it is raining there now!

I am Story Telling later today at a party! This evening I am off to see Martin Simpson perform. I first saw him when both he and I of course were young men!

Looking forward to the pub gig on Wednesday night hopefully with the book to sell. Don’t forget 8 p.m. at The Three Horseshoes Frampton.

As the publication of the Book nears I thought I would mention the second story in the book. Although as a writer I feel more satisfied with the first story “Don’t Look at Me Like That”, Mollie has been told by me to hundreds of young people and she has attained celebrity status. Mollie is an idiosyncratic sheep who performs a heroic act which surprises everyone concerned. I have to tell this story every Thursday as part of my residency at Wick Court.

If you want to order the book please contact me either by my web site or phone me. Should have it next week!!!

Don’t forget our pub gig at the Three Horseshoes Frampton starting at 8 p.m. on Wednesday 6th December. It is a mixture of music, poems and of course stories and it should be fun!

I have been pleased with Clare’s progress-our house is turning into a flower shop!

A lovely bird watch with young people from Grimsby today, it was cold!

A Neil Young song for today’s title because it sums up my week. I have done my usual volunteering work and my Story Telling residency. I have also been Nurse Bill and will be for a while looking after Clare who had an op this week. The good news is she came home this morning! I also attempted to keep up with the first two days of the Ashes-managed to get a log in on my lap top so watched the first session of the match and part of Day 2. It plays havoc with your sleep patterns.

I am also learning two Gloucestershire Stories for the pub gig on the 6th December. I feel I need to develop the vocabulary for one of the stories so will be working with a Thesaurus this weekend. All are welcome to the Three Horseshoes in Frampton we will be starting around 8 p.m. ish and I will keep reminding people in each blog!

Excuse the rather pedestrian alliteration in the title- not sure about a hot hurricane. However, I can’t let Saturday’s wonderful performance pass without a mention. For those of you who don’t follow football my team set a football league record on Saturday by being the first team to score 7 or more goals 3 times before Christmas! Amazing stuff. Two of the goals were stupendous, one from nearly 70 yards! So I have been waxing lyrically all weekend.

Storytelling Blog will be resumed later this week as the antidote to the Budget!

A busy week on the entertainment and social front. Also been involved in three bird surveys this week, one was my usual at Wick Court with the children. The children saw a record number of species including Golden Plover and Lapwing from our Hide overlooking the river. The other two surveys was my monthly one in Frampton and a Winter Survey for the BTO in Cam. Highlight being a Short Eared Owl having a dust up with a Buzzard in Frampton.

We went to the Everyman this week to see the Wipers Times a delightful story about producing a newspaper that poked fun at authority and especially the idiotic top brass running the war. (It was set in Flanders during WW1.) It was written by Ian Hislop.

I also went to Cheltenham yesterday to see Ned Boulting one of ITVs presenters of the Tour de France. A sideways look at Bikes, bike people and racing! Good fun.

The late lamented Janis Joplin gives us today’s title. I feel it is an ode to the wonderful pub in Cheltenham called the Kemble Brewery. Many of us packed into the pub on Saturday lunch time to lubricate our throats before the football. Still wondering how we didn’t win by 3 clear goals the number of chances squandered in the game. A last-minute undeserved equalizer for the home side left us feeling numb!

Lovely meet up with all the family on Sunday. both my sons inform me they are coming to the Three Horseshoes gig on Wednesday 6th December- no pressure then! Anyone reading this it is a wonderful old fashion evening with poems, music and of course a story from yours truly so please join us from 8 p.m. in Frampton. I am currently learning two stories for the evening.

I have had some exciting bookings come in for 2018 in the last week or so.

Only using the Bob Marley title for today’s blog because on Tuesday when I was Bird Watching with children from Peckham in the pouring rain one child pointed to the telegraph wire and said look “Three Little Birds” and it was the cue for the rest of us to burst into song. The birds were Goldfinches. I was drenched by the time I came home. It was a surprise we saw 24 species during the day as it never once relented.

Good discussion last night at Book Club. The book was Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler. First time I had read one of her books and thought she has much to offer and will read more.

Story Telling in the Round House at Wick Court mainly sticking with some old favourites.

We were underwhelmed by last Sunday’s gig apart from the fantastic fiddle playing, felt the band fell between two stools. Next week have the theatre (Wipers Times) and a humorous talk on cycling to look forward to.

I have just read through the draft of my talented brother Mike’s next book of poems. Excellent! Will write some more about this when it is published.