Well it had to be Bob song for the title this week didn’t it after the Nobel Prize for Literature! I was actually playing Blood on the Tracks a few days ago for the first time in a while.

I’m now back home after an exhausting three days of Story Telling in three different parts of the country. It has been fun and what I have been asked to do has been varied and challenging. On Wednesday I was in Beckenham delivering stories on an environmental theme following the Laudato si (the Pope’s environmental message from last year). I had the challenge of learning three new stories; one was a pretty lengthy one. There were a couple of lovely moments to treasure I just finished a story for the Infants about the Cracked Pot when a child asked a wonderful left field question that virtually undid the point of the story-that young man will go a long way! Another moment was me doing the Rabbits and the Elephants story and I had the whole group pretending to be elephants and they were all making “Trump, Trump sounds-so I said it sounded like a Republican Rally!

Thursday was back for my residency at Wick Court telling stories to a group of children from Peckham. I did a couple of old favourites and also went back to the Shadow Cage which I will continue to develop for Telling.

Today I was doing a combination of performing some stories and then I ran a four -hour workshop with the children getting them to be Story Tellers.

Today’s title was inspired by going to a talk by Doug Scott last night talking about the 1975 Everest Expedition (Doing it the Hard Way). I remember going to two talks by different climbers in the aftermath of the expedition. He has changed physically from that Hippy style climber from back then. He had a an enthusiastic and dry humour style.

Today we went to the Cheltenham Literature Festival and listened to Edna O’Brien. She was excellent and her honesty shone through. She has tackled many difficult issues in her books that are always thought – provoking. Her warmth for her fellow human beings was evident throughout particularly when talking about the refugee crisis.

I did work on learning my stories on the bike last week. I always speak them out loud as I pedal which can cause some embarrassment on occasions. The moment of truth will be in the Gigs this week.

The song title for today has no link to the blog today but I’ve just been listening to it! I have at least 4 versions of it in my collection and I love it as a song.

I am furiously learning new stories for Gigs next week with mixed success. I usually find I need to try them out loud on a ride, the best way I find of embedding a story in my consciousness. I had better get out on the bike!

It is a busy week ahead with quite a bit of travelling, sadly because of the distances involved  it won’t be on the bike!  Sadly I have had to turn down a couple of Gigs because of clashes, if you need me for a Gig it is always a good idea to suggest a couple of dates.

Finally had a lovely bird watch last week (on my own!) I saw a Hen Harrier  a rarity for England because they are so persecuted by game keepers it is sad to see the way vested interests are taking on the RSPB over their outspokenness on this. I also saw a pair of busy Stonechats that always make me smile as they flutter upwards in a brisk wind.

What a beautiful Autumn day. The old chaps went off on their traditional first Sunday of the month cycle ride this morning. A wonderful ride through our beautiful county, climbing Stouts Hill and gradually working our way across to the Severn Vale. Our target was the delicious cakes provided for cyclists by the talented ladies of Hill. When you look at tables festooned with colourful cakes of all sizes groaning under the weight you think you are in heaven! It acts like a magnet for cyclists who converge on Hill, particularly groups from Bristol. We didn’t need to worry about the calorie intake because we did do over 40 miles altogether.

Yesterday I chose to go by train to Cheltenham to watch my football team. Of course the train was rammed full of rugby supporters going to Gloucester. The football wasn’t great especially from my team who settled for an under par point but we did enjoy an idiosyncratic pub where we met up with many old friends.

Back to normal (whatever that is) after last week’s jaunt to the smoke. I was tired especially as we had a busy weekend. Yesterday I was back to Wick Court doing my bird watching with the young people. One group saw our old friend the Little Owl which is encouraging.

Just back from a marvellous ride over the hills including the climb up into the Slad Valley.

Back to my Story Telling residency tomorrow afternoon. A busy time ahead with a couple full days booked.

Off to Cheltenham on Saturday for footie. I thoroughly enjoyed last Saturday’s pulsating game at Luton not good for the nerves though!

Cos I’m tired and want to go to bed!

Back safely in Frampton after a wonderful week mainly in London. The “Blunderbirds” evolved during the week with many extra little bits encouraging more participation. We have learnt much about the schools that visit Wick Court and the challenges they face.

At the end of each session we gave the children the opportunity to ask questions about Wick Court. We had a wide range of questions ranging from the life cycle of a bee to can we take ipads to the farm! One frequent question in all the schools is the Mollie Story true; flying talking sheep?

Lovely finish at Ashmead School in Aylesbury for me as a birder. While in full flow telling Mollie’s story I could see several Red Kites twisting and diving right in my eyeline behind my audience. Of course while performing in London I often had the sound of parakeets echoing around.

Much to do to catch up but off to the bath now and off to bed……………………zzzzzzzzz

Today’s title reflects our visits to Waterloo station yesterday and today. Also the way our bodies feel after so many performances and many miles cycled; Sunset seems appropriate!

A couple of navigational hitches today and a near miss! Our performance has evolved organically with each day seeing something new added. Participation has also increased as a result.

Looking forward to getting home and we have been royally looked after by Laura and Gareth.

It had to be! We cycled back today over Wimbledon Common after another positive day yo-young across London. Another full on day visiting some amazing schools here in London. I have been reassured by meeting some amazing dedicated teachers who grapple with some really challenging circumstances, a million miles from this government’s latest crazy idea about grammar schools.Enough of the soap box!

Our performance has significantly improved . A hiccup today is that we arrived in Kingston 24 hours early. You just can’t get the staff can you it was our mistake! The Robin Hood Primary School were brilliant and certainly impressed us in how they adapted and welcomed us. Thank you Robin Hood School a truly wonderful school.

Keep checking for photos hopefully I will insert a few on Thursday night

Apologies for not getting the blog out last night technical issues no WiFi. I hope to add a photo to the blog later. Excellent day yesterday doing 3 schools and covering nearly 30 miles on our trusty bikes. We are gradually adjusting to riding in the capital and being more assertive in our riding. Almost one mishap when I nearly ploughed into Brian. A few navigational issues when we went North of the river!

Lovely to see old friends who had visited the farm the especially the children. They had obviously had a super time at Wick Court. We are learning much about the schools as well.

Finally the performance has gone up a notch. We added quite a bit of extras during the day. More hopefully later and photo.

Well the Blunderbirds started their London Tour with two gigs one in Dulwich and one in Vauxhall. We cycled without getting lost and using the Super Cycle Highway. Brian’s reckie a week ago paid off so we arrived at our first Gig early. Bikes were taken through the school to the bike shed! It was interesting when we left having to negotiate our bikes through the hall past the Infant lunch time. Lucky that we avoided getting any spaghetti on our bikes and no child got an oily chain in their lunch!

Performance wise we are getting better although we probably need to get slicker on timings. We both learnt much about the schools and their catchment area. Vauxhall Primary we found out had won the TES award for national school of the year. We were both impressed by the enthusiasm and dedication of our contact teachers in both schools.

3 schools tomorrow!