February 31st

I wanted to write a blog entry for every month this year and would have already messed it up if my watch didn't say today was the 31st February. So here we are.

The photo above (taken on a panorama setting which would have featured the side of my wife's head if she hadn't stepped back at just the right moment) is a good metaphor for my February. There's been light, darkness, highs and lows, as well as a lot of trees.

We went for a week away in the Wye Valley, a beautiful part of the UK on the border between England and Wales. We walked in the woods close the house we stayed in, but we also visited Puzzlewood.

Walking in Puzzlewood felt like walking on another planet. At first I thought this was down to the intense colours and slightly surreal landscaping. Then we found that scenes from Star Wars: The Force Awakens and one of my favourite episodes of Doctor Who were filmed here. Either way, it was wonderful, and they had a nice cafe.

We also walked from England to Wales for a pub meal, getting lost on the journey and accidentally making a two miles trip seven miles long. To get there we crossed Biblins Bridge, which has a sign asking you not to run or jump as you cross because it might cause damage. While reading this sign I was aware of a dad and his two young children, jumping and running on the bridge, just before we crossed.

 

We survived and so did the bridge.

Since getting home there has been a lot to get on with. The most exciting for me has been the band's plan to finish our album. Not by completing the tracks we had started already, but by spending a day in the studio and recording the whole thing live. Today we had a rehearsal to tighten up arrangements, agree not to change anything and make sure we could remember all the important bits. It went well. What was even better was some of us having a post rehearsal visit to a cafe that sold slices of cake so big I had to take half of mine home and give it to my daughter.

So, next month's entry will feature exciting pictures from the recording (possibly) and maybe some reference to my upcoming, significant birthday.

In other news: I rediscovered my love of TS Eliot's poems, found a lovely etude by Moto Fukushima (in 5!) to play, and discovered at  least one of my wise and wonderful friends reads this.

See you in March.