Life is rich beyond measure!

Blogpost No11 November 2022

It’s been a full and expansive month. The Children Of The Sea songs are now fully mixed and mastered and will now lie in wait while the next phase of the project comes into being: a beautiful book to accompany the music with stories/inspirations/lyrics and art work as yet to be created! It’s a very exciting prospect and the Universe seems to be conspiring to bring it into manifestation. I will, of course, keep you up-dated as and when these vital components come together.

Here’s a snippet of the final track: Slane Lhiat:

On November 1st at 11.11pm I became a great-auntie! My incredibly inspiring nephew Connor and his amazing partner Niamh became parents for the first time and are now in love with and dedicated to the most gorgeous little girl: Adeline Esther Rose. My little brother Colin and gorgeous sister-in-law Rachel, have become grand parents for the first time and they are, of course, head-over-heels in love with Adeline, as are the rest of the family. She has brought immense love into the world! I couldn’t be more proud of Connor and Niamh or more delighted to welcome Adeline into all our lives. She is loved so much already!

In between all this excitement there were 4 rehearsals and a gig to fit into what was an already busy month. I performed with my fabulous Friends at the Centenary Centre Peel (Isle of Mann) on Saturday November 12th to an almost full house. It was an awesome evening filled with delight, warmth and generous appreciation. Here’s a selection of song snippets from the first half of the show … thanks as always to Bob for filming as much as he could on his phone (I love technology - when it works!). I managed to grab most of the first half on my phone at the side of the stage but failed miserably with the second half but there may be enough with Bob’s camera and a bit from Christy DeHaven’s phone which she managed to set up at the back of the stage … it’s an “interesting” angle! But not sure the sound is good enough. We’ll see. Next month I’ll share whatever I’m able to edit together. Wish me luck.

In a year where 2 gigs is all I have to look back on, I cherish these moments even more than if I were on tour constantly. I do hanker for a time when touring is possible for me again. For those of you who ask “When are you coming to my neck of the woods” … the answer is: as soon as humanly possible but please do extend your patience a little further. Thank you!

Dipping has been an even more deeply nourishing experience this month. I have dipped in the near dark, at first light, dusk and full glorious sea sparkling daylight. Some of the highlights have been with dear mer-pals and an assortment of seals! And being in the pink light of dawn and a full bright pearly moon is a simple joy I can not describe adequately. These moments are huge blessings that make life beautiful beyond measure. I am truly grateful.

In celebration of November dips and dog walks byt the sea here's a wee video accompanied by one of the tracks from Feminine Logic: Like A Mermaid ... coz yer know I am!

Thank you as always for stopping by. I really do appreciate you! Till next month dear reader. Stay well and keep rising above the turbulence.

All my love

Christine x

Autumn's golden light

Blogpost No10 October 2022

Another whirlwind month has flown by! These offerings seem to clamour for my attention quicker and quicker. So here we are in October … can you believe it? I love it when we get deeper into Autumn. The change in the light and the leaves on the trees is nature's magical performance. Colours galore! Here's a seasonally appropriate song from Collister&Fix's North&South:

I've been dipping at twilight most of the month and the sea has been a feast for the senses. Sometimes balmy and welcoming but nudging now into freezing cold and turbulent … the waves seem to be asking the question: “are you sure you want to be here?” Yes is the answer! Yes!

Children Of The Sea is still in the mixing stages. DAM studios have been otherwise engaged these last few weeks but Wednesday and Thursday next week are ear-marked with the hope they will glean the final polished mixes. The art and written word side of the process will then have my undivided attention. It’s all very exciting.

In keeping with revealing a glimpse of each of these new songs, here’s a snippet from song number 8 “The Sound Of Infinity” and this is the inspiration behind it:

“On Dalby mountain the old Manx people used to put their ears to the earth at ‘Sheean ny Feaynid’ (the Sounds of Infinity), to hear sounds which were like murmurs. They thought these sounds came from beings in space; for in their belief all space is filled with invisible beings.”

(source: William Cashen’s Manx Folklore (1912)

Next Thursday evening my Friends (Lindsay, Steve and Callum Rowe, Jo Callister and Christy DeHaven) and I have our first rehearsal for our upcoming show at The Centenary Centre in Peel - Saturday November 12th! Tickets now on sale via the website; Celtic Gold in Peel; Corlett’s The Jewellers in Douglas and the Travel Agency Port Erin and … should you see me around and about I have a few on my person I can sell to you directly ;-). It should be a delightful evening - we’re excited. I hope many of you here on the island can come along. I have no idea if we’ll be able to livestream any of it for those of you not on this tiny piece of geological perfection but if we can we will!

Bob and I had a lovely experience this week when a dear friend of Bob’s came to the island to see us (for less than 24 hours!). Bob and Leo met many years ago now when they both lived in London. Leo's originally from New Zealand and now lives in Western Australia and came all the way to Europe ostensibly to attend a wedding this weekend but couldn’t justify flying all this way just to go to one event; so he made plans to see as many friends "topside"as he could, in a relatively short space of time. He’s already been to Portugal, London, St Albans and after seeing us, made his way to Leominster then onto Scotland for the wedding then onwards to Sweden before flying down under once more. What a heady trip! We definitely showed him a good time however short his visit was … he fell in love with mum! We took him to Peel, Niarbyl, The Sound, Port Erin, Port St Mary and Castletown before dropping him off at Ronaldsway on Wednesday afternoon. What a joy to spend time with good friends and share our love of this place, for the time being, we call home.

This weekend sees me clearing out the greenhouse. There are a few tomatoes still ripening but they’ll continue that process off the vine and I’ve had several bright yellow capsicums present themselves this week which has totally thrilled me. There are also … a clutch of green pointy peppers (very technical) starting to glow red - it’s a minor miracle! However the majority of grow-bags and whatever organic matter they still hold, will be added to the compost heaps that Bob diligently attends. There are still pots with growing seedlings, mostly purple sprouting broccoli and a whole host of fabulous garlic bulbs fattening (I hope:) in their separate containers. There is great satisfaction in tending to all growing things.

Next month I should have footage of our Centenary Centre show on November 12th but here as a reminder of our love of performing together is a reprise of the first half of the Christine Collister & Friends show at the Erin Arts Centre in July.

Thanks as always for taking the time to drop by and take a look at what’s been going on over the last month and have a sneak peak into what’s coming ... up ever-so-quickly! I really do appreciate you.

Endless blessings you gorgeous beings of light!

Till next time … stay well and keep rising above the turbulence.

Christine x

Mellow fruitfulness

Blogpost No 9 September 2022

I’m always stumped when faced with a blank page each month … where to begin? There’s so much going on!

A momentous decision was reached earlier this month to augment "The Children Of The Sea" project with a book filled with the stories/inspirations around each song as well as the lyrics and … to have it all accompanied with beautiful artwork, with the CD fitting neatly inside the book. Who knew? It was an intuitive thought process but once the idea formulated it seemed the most natural thing to do. The fact that I’ve never thought of such a thing before is a bit daunting but despite that, the possibility has already started to take shape.

I’ve spoken to numerous people in the know about such things and have found some of my collaborators already. A sure sign that this is in deed a good idea! My dear friend and record company collaborator over several decades David Suff, is the Lynch pin in this process for me. He has a wealth of great experience and his expertise in creating music and art books alike gives me confidence that we’ll be able to create something beautiful that compliments the music perfectly. I’m aiming to work with artists on the island and have been in touch with the local college to see if there’s a way to work with some of the animation and art students. I’m exploring all avenues - it’s fun. There’s a huge mountain of learning on my part yet to be climbed but I’m properly excited and eager to get going. Wish me luck!

Talking of The Children Of The Sea, this month’s song snippet “Dear Sister” was co-written with my delightful Australian musical partner Michael Fix who composed the music and produced this beautiful track. On top of that, as if that weren’t enough, my dear friend and wonderful singer Chris While, is an integral part of the recording. She plays my twin sister Fand - she of Goddess of Mann fame - and I am her sister Liban who is an actual and bona fide mermaid. Type casting I know! The story behind this particular song is fairly complicated and begins where a well known tale, written in the Ulster Cycle of mythical history, ends. Basically Fand has fallen in love with Cu Cuchlainn, a warrior hero human who can not live in the Other World … plus they’re both married! However when push comes to shove and they realise the error of their ways, Manannin places his cloak of invisibility between them and a potion of forgetfulness it taken by all concerned.

However, though Fand no longer has the memories of what has happened she is still filled with a deep grief that makes no sense to her. She wanders the Isle of Man tormented by these powerful feelings, in a daze, not knowing why she feels so desperately sad. Her sister, Liban, feels her grief from a distance and comes to be with her till she feels more at ease with herself again. That’s the basis of the song. Have a listen and see what you think:

Mum was offered a week at the local Hospice here on the Island which meant from Tuesday afternoon through to the following Monday morning we were awarded space and time to ourselves. After two and a half years caring for mum - during many lock downs etc it was a minor miracle for Bob and I. For mum it was a special experience where she was given extra attention in luxurious surroundings with lots of kind, friendly people. We totally relaxed and found joy in the simple things … walking, hanging out with friends, going out for meals. We are now refreshed and filled with compassion and calm once more. Mum, bless her, has no recall of the experience at all. We are deeply grateful for the privilege. We can’t thank the Hospice and the Admiral Nurse service who connected us enough.

This month as an added bonus I’ve created a video of a song I demoed for a friend in LA - 6 years ago? “Come Back To Me" is taken from the hugely successful musical The Soldier Of Orange which is written by my good friends Tom Harriman and Pamela Phillips Oland. The song is a duet between Queen Wilhelmina of Holland and the love interest of the soldier of Orange, Erik Hazelhoff. They each sing of their love and concern as he sets off in secret to cross enemy lines bringing the Queen’s orders to her generals … and hopefully return with news directly from them. The musical is already a huge success in Holland and these demos were created in English in the hope a new production would be just as successful in the UK. Unfortunately Covid put paid to the work started to build a purpose-built theatre in London’s Docklands area. I truly hope that in the not-too-distant future that work will be completed. It’s such an exciting show! I sing the Queen’s part and Tom’s wonderfully talented daughter Julia Harriman sings the other. I sometimes keep incredibly brilliant company!

Here’s a little something I enjoyed immensely recently: Neil Oliver’s Love Letters To The British Isles on YT. This week he waxed lyrical about the Isle Of Man! See for yourself:

We’ve had spectacular weather this last month … real warmth and stillness punctuated by a fair few rainy days which means that the potatoes I planted in August are already flowering. It looks like we’ll have a fabulous crop in about a month. The cucumbers have finally given up and some of the tomato plants have done all they can. There are still a number of hard working vines ripening up nicely but the single French bean plant is no more, though its sisters in the grow bag along the shelf, are still producing a handful of beans every couple of days. The courgettes are amazing … they just keep giving. And the numerous peppers I planted from seeds I took from store-bought organic peppers look wonderful, though none of them have ripened yet. I’m not keen on green peppers … they repeat on me. I said … they repeat on me. 😝

I’ve enjoyed dipping early morning at Fenella Beach with mermaid friends weekdays and Sweep loves his walks up the hill or along the beach barking at the waves. All in all I feel incredibly blessed and deeply grateful. I wish the same for you.

As always thanks so much for taking the time to read my wee Blogpost it really matters. See you next month 🙏

Stay well and keep rising above the turbulence.

Much love

Christine x

PS: I’m thinking I might do another FB Live next month … maybe.