A few random thoughts occur: Christmas has just passed, according to my head-clock. That’s weird. Weird, because soon after, on New Year’s Eve, we rolled into Holmfirth for a belter of a celebration. Was a great way to end a good year, and ring in a new one. Am sending thanks here to all who sent Christmas cards and gifts. More than I deserve surely. Somme guide will come in most handy when we visit Poperinge in August. Thank you, m’am.

Seen movies “The Way Back” (touching but turgid and overplayed by an actor or two); “The King’s Speech” (spot on and Geoffrey Rush is beyond criticism); “True Grit” (every bit as good as the original, though darker – an improvement really); “Brighton Rock” (another re-make, also very close to the original. Where are the script-writers these days? Good film, though, and my good mate Phil Davies is, as in all his work, a scene-stealer in every shot featuring him).

Took a few of the band to Oslo and recorded Live with a symphony orchestra. Fantastic. What a privilege. Thanks, Finn. What a gas! Sebastian in its full glory.
Leeds Irish Centre – good old-fashioned rock venue and a pleasure to play again for promoter John Keenan, who really must lose weight, because we like him. Then on again with the 3-man acoustic sets. Burnley Mechanics – great venue, too. Terrific northern crowd who have always supported me well.  Lots more to come from Thursday onwards. Played the last couple (Portsmouth and Chatham) with a big swelling on left thumb. Slipped on tiled bathroom floor in hotel, landed thumb first. Difficult to grab the guitar neck for my favoured fifth and seventh position chords with open 4ths and 9ths. Much ice employed hour after hour, even in the Discovery on the road. Ibuprofen, too, to help cool the fearsome heat. Still, it gave me an opening to a decent inter-song thread. We use every item of interest we can get our hands on up there!

New T-shirt in pre-production, so to speak. Testing size of motif on front – don’t want it too large for the wee women’s shirts, but not too small for the XL chaps’ ones. Interview by phone with an Athens newspaper today. Playing two rock band shows in Greece in April, and the thrill of it – taking train from Athens to Thessaloniki, five hours along the Aegean coastline. And they ask me if I intend giving up touring! When that’s on offer, who would?