I was telling stories today at a care home in Nailsworth. I finished with my own story Christmas Angels which I originally wrote a lifetime ago. I am very fond of it as a story it was originally written as a challenge with friends then developed into a story for telling in school. However it has been performed in the pub and to W.I.s throughout the county. It was ideal for the care home – we all sang “Hark the Herald Angels” as well! Last gig tomorrow in Cheltenham also a care home so I am doing the same three stories I told today – cuts down on preparation time!

Finally I caught a glimpse of a male sparrowhawk flying through the garden yesterday. Thankfully for my small birds in the garden it has been a while since I spotted one in the garden. Picture below of a previous visit!

We had an exhausting time in Exeter with that bundle of energy our granddaughter Ellen. Today has been catching up but I had a lovely Christmas lunch at Wick Court to thank us for efforts as volunteers.

Found I had a puncture on my workhorse of a bike which has thicker tyres so I had a real  struggle putting the new inner tube in! I was glad it wasn’t by the side of the road that I had to repair it. It took me a while! I am hoping if it is ok to cycle on it to my story telling gig (a care home in Nailsworth).

The picture below should make you smile it is Robin my youngest grandson wearing his brother’s Fat Controller’s  hat.

One piece of good news for us long suffering Hatters. The club have just got final planning approval for a new ground. It will be iconic also it will be in the centre of the Town unlike many new grounds and will incorporate a music venue.

Very short blog today from Devon. We are down visiting our granddaughter Ellen and tired out from endless games of hide and seek. Not sure she fully comprehends the game. We get told where we have to hide and where she is going to hide!

Yesterday we saw our two grandsons so it has been a tiring couple of days. Owen was 4 last weekend so we were trying out his binoculars!

I am sounding like Victor Meldrew today! Just got a parking ticket for being 20 minutes over our time and it is costing us an arm and a leg!!!! The irony is we used that car park because it was supposedly cheaper!!! Steam coming out of my ears especially as we were helping out on the day!

Did a longish cycle today and I am feeling it now. It is really hard to get clothing right at this time of the year. It is cold but you end up getting hot on a long cycle.

Not going up to Blackburn tomorrow for the football felt I have done enough travelling this week. Hoping our form on the road changes! However, they are the form side in the division. COYH!!!!!  

We went looking for starlings late afternoon -sadly it became quite misty so we only saw small groups. A sparrowhawk shooting past didn’t help!

I did my last storytelling of the year at Wick Court this evening. The fire alaarm going off made it an interesting evening. I am performing at a couple of Care Homes next week before I finish for a while.

Nearly had “Where has he been?” as today’s title as there hasn’t been a blog for a few days. So is today’s title about me? Possibly- some might say right! No I just read the review of the new Bob Dylan film of that title with Timothee Chalamet playing Dylan. Not on release here till January but I will go and see it.

So where have I been since the last post? On Monday I went for a lovely walk on Minchinhampton Common  with a friend and I was treated to lunch.

Had a shortish cycle to do some shopping yesterday morning- filled up the panniers. A highlight was a flash of blue as I pedalling along The Green and a kingfisher shot by me lighting up the gloom. ( a picture of one below not my picture!) Then foolishly drove on my own to watch The Mighty Hatters full of trepidation. What a difference  few days make- a much better performance and a much needed win!! We had to wait till almost the end before we scored our winning goal.

Today I could only do a short bird watching session at Wick Court with young people from Poole ( slightly embarrassed taking them out on the farm when I often go to their part of the world bird watching!) Had to curtail my time because we were out for a Christmas Dinner with Clare’s group of retired people from education called SP3.

This wind!!! I may try and pop out later to see if the starlings are gathering (the wind may spoil it) but I think I will be walking horizontally! Two fence panels down in the garden!!!

I did brave conditions yesterday to go football. Not sure it was worth it! The football was poor (conditions didn’t help) and the Mighty Hatters are lacking in confidence so look really disjointed! Both goals (for and against) were mistakes! Grateful we didn’t lose! Surprisingly the journey wasn’t that bad!

A fortnight ago when I went to football it was Storm Bert and now imminently we have Storm Darragh coming in! I hope our journey tomorrow to watch the not so Mighty Hatters is ok. Sadly if we don’t win tomorrow there is likely to be some stormy scenes on the terraces- the natives are restless!!!

We had a lovely evening in The Ship last night entertaining a small crowd (the weather last night didn’t help. It was very diverse with a few people performing poetry, songs and stories.

Special day for our Owen (our eldest grandson) he is four. He was born in the midst of covid so we were able to see him at six days old but not again till he was four months! We am looking forward to giving him his first pair of binoculars when we see him!

Last reminder that tonight in The Ship – Beer and Books (my Book Club) are providing entertainment. It is a mix of music, poems and of course stories.

We start at 7.45 – all are welcome- it is free! There will be a collection for Farms For City Children.

It is that time of year when the young Tawny Owls are either establishing new territories or the older ones are keeping their existing ones – so they are very noisy at the moment. Often hearing them at night around here. Here in the village we all knew a regular roosting tree that became a bit of a tourist attraction until the tree blew down. The picture below I took a few weeks before it happened.

My gig for Upton St.Leonards WI went well yesterday- they have asked me back for a third time next year! I told a new version of the story of Merlin and the Dragons – I am telling it again in the pub on Thursday night,

On a poignant note I went for a walk with one of my old friends  from school this morning remembering a dear friend of ours who we worked closely with. We told stories about her and we both laughed and cried. It helped us both come to terms with a really sad time. I had showed both of them the tawny in the picture on previous walks.