Way To Blue

Last night we went to a concert. A much awaited evening that didn't disappoint. An evening that moved me to tears and has left me feeling very emotional. An evening that touched me with its beauty in a way that I hadn't expected. I have always loved the music of Nick Drake and was slightly hesitant about hearing it being performed by others but I was so wrong, it was one of the most beautiful and moving concerts I have ever been to. I had never in my wildest dreams expected to see Green Gartside (Scritti Politti) and Robyn Hitchcock standing side by side on stage singing his lyrics nor could i have imagined Lisa Hannigan's version of "Black Eyed Dog." I'm not a critic and I can't even begin to describe or do justice in words to the beauty of last night. The beauty, tragedy and poetry of Nick Drake and his music were allowed to shine. It was an evening of such specialness shared with some very special people. If you get a chance to, go and see it please do, and listen very very carefully to the haunting words of "Fruit Tree"...
Have a lovely weekend

PS Here's a link if you want to find out more - it's a minute or so into the broadcast.
x

Mr Rose's Big Day

Well Mr Roses! What a very big day indeed! Happy Happy Happy Birthday to you from all us Roses, we love you lots and lots.
x

Winter's Wonderland

What a mixed start to the new decade we've had. January for us began, not as the expected bleak midwinter, but as a beautiful clear night in our friends' home overlooking the sea, watching fireworks from the beach and Chinese Lanterns filled with New Year's resolutions floating upwards into the ether.



The first few days of our New Year were crisp and bright. The kind of weather that beckons you from the sofa to pile on those extra woolly layers and venture out into the winter sunshine. Long walks to clear the head, unfurl from your Christmas hibernation and to take strides, great strides, into the fresh year ahead.



The winter's sunshine can be as dazzling as that of summer and, unlike the haze of summer which often bleaches the colour, these rays only seemed to intensify the gorgeous hues of our wintry backdrop.



Majestic trees loomed high against a bluebell coloured sky



The romantic greens of moss and ivy entwined along an old flint wall



A village church that has stood for years and years witnessing many a new decade and century, looking idyllic in its setting



Yet January has more than one side, I awoke this morning to a monotone landscape - all colour leached from it by the falling snow. A silence falling steadfastly across the greys.



As beautiful and as inspiring as its technicolour version just a few days ago. For me it is a chance to love the unpredicatable, a chance to breath out all that has gone before and embrace all that is to come.