I still feel that the new year has just started. Can't shake the feeling. Started quietly enough, considering the schedule of last autumn, touring Germany, playing Holland, then the UK. Then the build-up to the Death Valley trek for the Mines Advisory Group.

Some experience, that. I was surrounded by a terrific group of people, all ages, all backgrounds, all with at least one common aim: to achieve a personal goal and in so doing raise funds for a worthwhile cause. Everybody succeeded, from what I saw. The girls from MAG, Harriett and Julia, were splendid leaders and good company. The professionals were bang on with their management skills and knowledge. Almost 300 miles across desert terrain and tarmac, up to the passes and down into the valleys we pedalled. I believe a figure of over £70,000 may be raised when the counting stops. And it isn't going to stop for a while: the Paul Horton original painting, "Onward And Upward", is ready to go "Live, on auction" at any minute. Pre-auction, a bid of £4,000 is already registered. Paul and I have signed a Limited Edition print run of 195.

Many fans (I say fans, meaning some known to me, many not) helped my own funds for MAG. Each of you has my thanks. My own friends and contacts were very generous, some exceedingly so. John Giddings, Juliet Solomon and Nathalie Hayes and her mum and those at their company, and my friends at Barker-Gillette, and Paul Evans, too, all donated sums which answered my call with the generosity of saints. But every pound counts as well as any other pound. The sum will go a long way in south-east Asia and Angola.

And then my poor mother died.

Ten years of suffering invasive surgery to remove (benign) growths got to her in the end. These dreadful invaders might in themselves not have been fatal, but they grew and pushed against vital organs and nerves and caused great discomfort lately, and complications set in after the last removal. They kept her on a life-support machine for me to snatch a few moments alone with her before her life expired. I will always be grateful to my family for organising this, and to the doctors in Denia, in north-east Spain, for their efforts. Many cards came to me from (again) fans and strangers, and I've seen the many messages on the Guestbook. You know I was touched.

Back to the professional side, it's clear we won't be playing many shows this year. You can't keep going to the well, and besides I plan to finish a new studio album by the Autumn, so maybe next Spring we'll hit the UK and European roads with a vengeance. And this summer I will be treading the legitimate boards again, for the first time since "Marlowe". Can't give details yet, but those interested in obscure Beckett work with pathos and black humour (think "Waiting For Godot" for guidance) should keep a night free between July 10th and 16th. It'll be a short run, but it's the West End, and I love an adventure.

SH