Gratitude aplenty!

Blogpost No8 August 2022

Where to start? It’s been a full and sometimes dramatic month. The first drama happened a few weeks ago one early Friday morning when walking Sweep up Peel Hill. We were joined by my delightful friend Izzy and her mum’s long-haired Jack Russel, Rufus. So far so good. It was a beautiful morning. The idea was to meet our lovely mermaid pal Christy at 7am for a dip at Fenella Beach.

At 6.50am I text Christy we were on our way down. Sweep and Rufus were getting on great guns chasing one another around and about … over the first brow of the undulating hill … they ran on to the second and final undulation before the last slope down to Fenella. As Izzy and I crested the hump there was no sign of either of them. No problem … we started to call out their names. Rufus appeared from the bracken on the left a few seconds later. No sign of Sweep.

What happened next was an hour and three quarters of frantic calling … walking up and down the hillside, me traipsing along the coastal path ( I stole myself to look over the steep sided quarry … no Sign. Thank goodness!) Izzy going all the way to Corrin’s Folly! Christy joined the search. Our good friend Avril Muller created a FB call-to-arms on the “Lost and found pets on the Isle of Man” page. People were very kind. Izzy had to bring Rufus home. En route we stopped at the Harbour Master’s office and asked if he could let the Coast Guard know in case they were out and about and they spotted Sweep stranded on a ledge somewhere. He was also very kind.

I dropped Izzy home and headed back to Fenella car park to wait for my sister Diane and brother-in-law David … they drove in from Onchan to swell the naturally depleted search party ranks. I was sat in the car talking to Bob: “I don’t know what else to do ...” I glanced out the window and lo-and-behold there was Sweep! I can’t tell you the wave of sheer relief. As I put him in the car Diane and David arrived. Smiles all round. We celebrated with a dip in the sea! Well David got in … Diane videoed the occasion for posterity which I won't be sharing!

We’ve been back to Peel Hill a number of times since … the usual 6.15 walk with a dip at 7am. Sweep is kept safely on the lead.

In news about The Children Of The Sea: I have written the last song on the album - hurrah! There is still a song lurking in the back of my mind but is eluding me. In keeping with my snippets to be shared, here’s this month’s: A Mermaid’s Song. This is inspired by my imagining the back story of “No One Knows His Name” which in turn was inspired by a story about “ … a mysterious man in a curious boat” which features on Daphne’s Flight’s “Knows Time, Knows Change”. So here we have our mysterious man as a young solo fisherman who meets and falls in love with a beautiful Mermaid. I'm hoping it sheds light on the mysteriousness of his much talked about haunting melody ... you'll need to hear the whole song for that revelation. I’ll be writing the story in full to be shared nearer the time but for now here’s a slice of that song:

I promised to share some footage from the second half of the show on July 2nd this Blogpost. Here it is:

I’m delighted to say that CC&Friends have another gig this time at The Centenary Centre in Peel on Saturday November 12th.

This week I started the exciting process of mixing some of the new songs. We have 8 finished tracks to bring up to their sparkling best with the ninth song in Michael Fix’s expert hands. Dave Armstrong (DAM Productions) and I go back a fair few years. He produced several songs on “Into The Light” and also produced “Home” and the DVD CC XX. He knows his stuff! I shared a wee bit of video on FB to mark the occasion:

I’ve harvested all my potatoes and planted a second lot which are already looking fecund (though not in the pic below ... that's immediately after planting). Peppers and chillies are now showing themselves off and the tomatoes are ripening up a treat and totally gorgeous. We’ve had lots of weird and wonderfully shaped cucumbers - each one crisp and delicious. The peas are still producing and the courgettes are out-doing themselves. It really is a time of plenty … and we are totally grateful for it all!

Here's a random selection of images that fill in the gaps of strange happenings this last month: Mum all dolled up ready to have afternoon tea with the Governor at his residence; a dead squid on Fenella Beach (there was a dolphin washed up on the shore too a few days later, very sad to see - no pics of that); an 8 week old Goshawk at Glen Wyllin this week who'd just had a bath in the river; mum mid eye test looking very Steampunk; mum again looking very cool in her sunglasses and finally a courgette that went rogue and turned into a marrow!

Next month we have more mixing and possibly mastering to look forward to and I will reveal my extra special guest vocalist on “Dear Sister” the song cowritten with Michael Fix. Who knows what adventures I’ll get up to with Sweep between now and then?

And finally, I received the very sad news that my dear friend John “Lovely” Martin, died peacefully in the early hours of August 2nd. His sweet, kind, loving partner Liz, reached out to let me know that he spoke of me with love. She and his 3 beautiful daughters and their extended families will be heart broken. John was Gregson&Collister’s manager all those years ago. He was a rock for me. His smile was bright as the sun. His quiet, steadiness a balm. Our friendship, rekindled a few short years ago, remains precious. He will be missed by many. Know you are loved beyond measure sweet man.

As always, thanks for stopping by, it really matters.

Take care and keep rising above the turbulence!

Much love and endless blessings!

Christine x