Half way...

Playlist
Various Composers - Classical Jukebox on Shuffleplay
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Splinterheart
Gabriel Faure - Nocturnes
Del Amitri -Hatful of Rain
Deus - vantage point
Eels - Meet the Eels
Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine
Rheostatics - Best of (2xCD-R)
The Divine Comedy - Victory for the Comic Muse
The National - Boxer
The New Odds - Cheerleader
The Olympic Symphonium, - More in Sorrow Than in Anger
The Stills - Without Feathers
The Violet Archers - Sunshine at Night
Various - Music From Zunior.com

Half the year away already, it's the last day of June...



To the dentist this morning...

A cyclist ran into the Cloudland Blue Mobile as I manoeuvred at traffic lights - luckily I was going at a snail's pace but, really, he shouldn't have been coming up on the inside - totally contrary to the Highway Code - and as for calling me a "wanker" and kicking the car - well if nothing else I suppose, it proved he wasn't injured...

Cyclists eh? Think they own the road...

Back home and, post breakfast, off and out to the Lammermuir Hills...



...and the Whiteadder Reservoir...











..then back to Gifford...



...for lunch at the Goblin Ha'...



...before heading home - via B&Q for a new lawnmower - to waste away the rest of the day, pottering about on the PC (me) or watching tennis (Anne)...

Until it was time for the gym/Zumba, followed by some TV...

Lights out...

Highlight of the Day : A trip to the country...

Learn the language...

Playlist
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Splinterheart
John Adams - I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky
Takemitsu - Piano Works
Haydn - Piano Sonatas
J C Bach - Quintets and Sextets
Alice Peacock - Love Remains
Dar Williams - Promised Land
Jason Lytle - Yours Truly, The Commutor
Jay May - Autumn Fallin'
Jonatha Brooke - Careful What You Wish For
KD Lang - Hymns of the 49th Parallel
Lambchop - OH(Ohio)
Lucy Kaplansky - Over the Hills
Mathilde Santing - Matilde Matilde
Nels Andrews - Off track Betting
Sarah Harmer - A Collection of Songs
Ther Violet Archers - Sunshine at night
William Fitzsimmons - Goodnight

To the gym again just after 7...

Breakfast at home then over to Fife to visit the small town of Culross (pronounced "Koo-ross" for some reason)...



This railway runs along the coast at this beautiful place...



We parked and walked to the centre...



...and visited the 17th century "palace" which has been fully restored by the National Trust for Scotland...



...the gardens behind the palace provided an excellent wee walk - the aromas of the herbs and plants grwoing in each of around nione different sections of the garden, laid out as they would have been four hundred years ago, were superb...



It was roasting as we walked to the Mercat Cross...





...where we viewed swifts which had alighted on telephone wires...



...on up to the Abbey - the church is still in use but the monastery is a ruin...



...then back down the hill and to the car, where we bought freshly made crisps from "The Crisp Hut", choosing seasalt and balsamic vinegar as flavouring...



Tasty...

We drove East for around an hour or so, eventually arriving in Anstruther (pronounced "Enster" for some reason) and took a walk around this ancient harbour town...









...before lunching on the world famous Enster Fish and Chips...



Heading back towards Edinburgh, we stopped off in nearby Elie...



...where we had a seat down at the beach, enjoying what was left of the sunshine...



...along with 99 from the local deli...



...pointless going to the gym this morning really...

In the evening, Spain beating a pretty bad Portugal failed to entertain although it produced the last of the last eight after Paraguay had beaten japan on penalties this afternoon...

Highlight of the Day : A trip to the Kingdom of Fife

Grave new world...

Playlist
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Splinterheart
Alice Cooper - 1969-2008 (2xCD-R)
Various Composers - Reconstuituted Classical Jukebox on Shuffleplay

Ok so, first things first, the new Cloudland Blue Quartet LP, "Splinterheart" is officially "finished" as of this morning, when I listened to the latest "final" version and decided that was it...





Out to the gym first thing with it on the cans - a quick three miles and then home to breakfast with Anne...

Deleted all the tracks from what was the not-listened-to-very-much Compilations Jukebox...

Then, leaving the PC loading 6,000 odd classical tracks to said newly wiped Jukebox, it was off to Craigies, a farm near South Queensferry, where we enjoyed the views...



Saw some cute chickens...



..picked two punnets of strawberries...



...bought provisions from their shop and enjoyed a coffee and a cake each...



Back home I started work on the preparations for the eventual release of the new LP...

Just purchased tasty stroganoff buffalo burgers nourished at lunchtime then, in the afternoon, we headed to Ikea for some much required boxes in relation to ongoing filing nonsense...



...not shown though are the new rock star/artist type socks and underpants which were also purchased - but not from Ikea...

In the evening, Annie was off to keep fit but, as I'd already kept fit this morning, I took to the kitchen to cook what was, frankly, the best Spaghetti Bolognese I've ever tasted...



Mmm, mmmm...

A good day...

Highlight of the Day : Hmm, out and about with Annie, prep for the new LP, return of the Classical Jukebox, home made Spaghetti Bolognese - it was all good...

It could have been eight...

Playlist
Cloudland Blue Quartet – Splinterheart
Alice Cooper – 1969-2009 (2xCD-R)
Vaughan Williams – 3rd Symphony “Pastoral”

Again, up very early...

Worked on the remix of “Hurt Heart Hardened” and that would seem to be that...

Annie did some gardening as I musicked....





In the afternoon, as predicted, the woeful England team were thrashed 4-1 by an "very average", "inexperienced" Germany...



And 1966 was finally laid to rest with an England “goal” that was a good metre over the line...



...being waved away and play continuing – it would have made the score 2-2, with England’s two coming within the space of a minute – but I believe Germany would still have come out winners...

As Alan Hansen said “It could have been eight”...



The fortnightly family tea was followed by some Vaughan Williams on the headphones as we watched Argentina despatch Mexico...



Highlight of the Day : Erm...

the bunny that plays kraftwerk and the cheeky girls...

Playlist
Cloudland Blue Quartet – Splinterheart
Alice Cooper – 1969-2009 (2xCD-R)
Philip Glass – Solo Piano Music

Up at an unfeasible 5am this morning and working on the new LP – tweaking stuff here and there and performing a full remix of “Here They Come with the New Machines”, featuring a gradual fade up of the backing track and the whooping backing vocals in the second half of the piece...

I also had the idea of revamping “The Cage of Expectation”, adding some of Peri Urban’s work to it and seeking and finding an artificial voice programme from an American University to convey the recently abandoned lyrics...

Both these now sound a lot more complete but something wasn’t quite right with the album as a whole though, despite all this work...

And I noticed last night, when I went to pick Anne up from Fife, that I seemed to have “done my back in” somehow – this morning the pain was horrendous...

It was yet another scorcher of course...



Despite the back scenario, we went out for lunch to Café Citron, where we endured disappointing service and very rude fellow customers...

It was just too busy and no-one wants to see a young teenage boy lying full length on a sofa in a small packed coffee shop, playing with a gameboy as his parents sit in front of him on the same sofa talking pish very loudly...

Over to Jane and Bobby’s to pick up Jane as she and Anne were off plant shopping this afternoon...

Young Kitty was going to one of the many parties she attends and Uncle David took a detour to deliver her to the sparkly dressed chum who was hosting today’s excitement...



As you can see, Ollie wasn’t going to a party...

Off went the sisters on a shrub hunt while your correspondent returned to his studio to resume work on the latest Cloudland Blue Quartet masterpiece...

I realised what was missing was one more track to open proceedings and I duly conjured up “The Apple of Your Eye pt 1”, with the previous Bach based version becoming pt 2...

Pt 1 features the Ginestera loop abandoned earlier last weekend, along with some more soundscapes from Peri Urban...

Originally, I added in the vocal from what is now pt 2 but it sounded just slightly too odd, it being in a different key and having different timing and so forth...

So I quickly recorded a new vocal – the lyrics are exactly the same - and, all of a sudden, there it was, quite possibly finished – in fact so sure was I that it was indeed finished, that I burned a copy to take round to Alan and Penny’s for this evening’s get together at Castle Brodski...

I also re-saved the backing tracks which had been changed over the last few days and burned a new “Live backing tracks” disc and sang along to it – it sounded quite good and I imagined a full show with dancers and films – no, really – of course that’ll never happen and I’ll no doubt just end up playing a few of the songs badly on an acoustic...

The trip to the Brodskis’ place, which included two walks and a bus trip, was a struggle re the back pain but it was still beautiful and sunny...



...as we arrived right on the agreed hour of seven, whereupon a very enjoyable and entertaining evening got underway...

Much drinking and carousing took place and I was drawn to jump the 40 feet or so down onto the grass from the balcony but managed to resist the urge...



...while Brodders smoked and drank beside me...



A tasty tuna steak salad...



...lovely home made cakes...



...and beer and wine nourished, as the sun continued to blaze...



We were entertained by the Internet bunny rabbit...



...and Alan’s recorder playing...



...as we wondered how this lovely wee boy...



...could have turned into this ranting monster...



...it’s actually Alan demonstrating his reaction at finding that his prized vinyl copy of the Beach Boys’ “Surf’s Up” had been warped by the sun when he left it on the parcel shelf of his car, not long after Anne and I brought it back to him from Massachusetts in 1999, after searching high and low all over the east coast of the USA for said LP...

Around 1am, I remembered I’d brought my CD for Alan so he put a couple of tracks on and gave some pointers re the mix on “Hurt Heart Hardened” for me to work on tomorrow...

So it’s not finished after all...

A taxi at 2 brought us back to Crispycat Towers...

A very enjoyable (apart from the back pain) 20 hour Saturday...

Highlight of the Day : A visit to castle Brodski...