Me and my Narrowboat, 'Cosmos'

You spin me right 'round baby....

2009-08-21T03:43:00.000-07:00

Well after years of boating with nothing stuck round my prop so seriously as to make me have to stop and weed it out from the hatch, I get 2 incidents within a couple of weeks....the last one was my fault - my back rope went into the prop...DOH!

....and earlier in the month I became closely acquainted with this keepnet...or what had been a keepnet.

Random hacking with a sharp knife did the trick eventually, though the metal parts took some time!

Video Of My New Band's Very First Public Performance at The Middlewich Boat and Folk Fest 2009

2009-07-07T07:06:00.000-07:00

And this song's called "HumanKind"...

My band playing at the Boat & Folk Festival!

2009-07-06T07:09:00.000-07:00

Middlewich 2009, in the acoustic tent, watch waht is also this bands first ever gig playing "HumanKind" here

Middlewich Boat and Folk Festival

2009-06-10T01:31:00.000-07:00

I've been neglecting this blog mainly because of the increase in the amount of time my musical career is now consuming. Well I can combine my boating and musical life this month because of my appearance at one of boating and music's foremost summer events...

The Middlewich Boat and Boat Festival is in the top Ten music festivals in Britain (The Guardian) and is possibly the most family-friendly one as it has many other things going on besides the music including craft stalls, historic boats, boat horses, face-painting, floating gardens and so much more….see http://midfest.org.uk/mfab to give you some idea or you can see some piccies I took at last years event here.

I’ve been going to the festival as a punter on and off for many years and am really chuffed to bits to be playing for the first time this year. The schedule is as follows…

Midddlewich Boat & Folk Festival Appearances

Friday 19th June 8PM - Acoustic Tent, Main Field
Saturday 20 June 1 PM – Kings Lock, Lewin Street
Saturday 20 June 6 PM - Acoustic Tent, Main Field

My music website is here.

In addition;
Emma Burgess and Simon Taylor from the band may be playing with me at some or all of these shows…..stay tuned.
I may also put in an appearance in the open sessions at the White Horse on Sunday the 21st.

Be folk’n there!

J xxx

Feeling Drained ?

2009-04-02T02:58:00.000-07:00

I don't know if this is by accident or design....but it's interesting to look at;

and yet more snow!

2009-02-06T05:32:00.001-08:00

What a great winter we're having!

S N O W !

2009-01-07T05:43:00.001-08:00

...and no it's not cold in winter.

Christmas Walk

2008-12-26T14:15:00.000-08:00

Christmas usually means some walks in the familiar territory of my home village of Tarvin in Cheshire. The so-called “Roman Bridges” are an essential part of this, though in spite of being a long way from the boat, I am still strangely drawn towards the canal, this time the Shropshire Union in Waverton.

Frosty The Snowman...

2008-12-26T13:35:00.000-08:00

The effects of a frozen mist being gently blown across the canal.

2008-12-08T05:42:00.000-08:00

It's been a while and as you can see by the foliage this is a shot from a few months ago but it's the gorgeous steam boat Emily Anne

New Bike

2008-09-24T03:51:00.000-07:00

A boat without a bike is like a spaceship without a landing pod.

My old bike is somewhere in the bottom of the canal near Wheelock if anyone fancies their chances with a grappling hook!

Rain is good for the 'Garden'...

2008-09-09T01:52:00.000-07:00

Very Much Alive....

2008-08-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

Still here....and I have boatie pics to upload eventually. In the meantime check out some of my newish and not-so-newish songs here.

At risk of generalising.......(oh dear)...I'm assuming the average boat-blog reader might be a little middle-of the-road in their outlook so go for "Pleasure Machine" which is kind of Doorsy or bluesy and/or "Jewel" which is a kind of love song to the Earth.

(If not...try "Taught" which is kind of about the rape of the planet, among other things....and not so cheerful).

The start of the Macc canal...

2008-07-08T05:02:00.000-07:00

The Macclesfield officially used to start at the stop lock, Scholar Green (from the footbridge)...

...and looking the other way (Cosmos getting a drink)...

Ramsdell Hall from the boat...

Finally on my way to my favourite canal - The Macclesfield!

2008-07-04T03:49:00.000-07:00

This is somewhere on the way out of Rode Heath me thinks....

....and yes I've been playing with the negative facility on my camera/phone again. The gardens of Ramsdell Hall on the canal at Kent Green.

Alive

2008-06-25T05:49:00.000-07:00

There - I finally managed to get a Pearl Jam headline in. It was very, very strong tasting actually. I've started using more of it (in small pieces) in pasta and things because it flavours the rest of the dish so well.

I needn't have worried, acording to this article (which includes a recipie and method for chicken of the woods omlette) "This is an unmistakable mushroom and you will not confuse it with any poisonous species."

Sorry donkeys.

The last Post? Chicken Of The Woods

2008-06-24T07:05:00.000-07:00

Method...

First, sniff out and stalk your chicken Then, see if it looks how you remember it should.... mmmmmmm, maybe... Next, carry a bit back to your boat Then....I don't know fry it or something.
Then, await tasting to see if it really is Chicken Of The Woods or alternatively, hallucinations, symptoms and death's sweet kiss. Should be interesting either way.

If I've got it wrong, thanks for reading my blog (really though - get a life), leave everything to the donkey sanctuary and compost what's left of me.

Cheers.

(A few pics from the) The Middlewich Folk & Boat Festival

2008-06-23T05:58:00.000-07:00

Be careful how you say that after a few plastic-pinted "glasses"...

A family day out!

The floating gardens of Bollington

So long and thanks for all the folk.

Local Tele at the Middlewich Boat N' Folk Fest

2008-06-16T05:18:00.000-07:00

Nigel Jay's epic travels reach Middlewich (includes films). I'll post some pics from middlewich soon.

Middlewich Bound...

2008-06-10T07:05:00.000-07:00

Horse-Drawn and about to unhitch, Saturn on the way to the Middlewich Folk and Boat Festival pictured on the Shroppie between Audlem and Nantwich. I intend to take Cosmos to the event which I might even be playing at somewhere. I think the horse must be Bonny.

Part of the event is a floating garden festival. The official link didn't work when I tried it so here's what GB had to say about it.

I'm hoping to get some sort of compost so I can grow some more plants (maybe some edible ones!). Without a car things like compost buying can be a bit of a problem, although I know a garden centre in Sutton, near Macclesfield which is right by the canal.

OOOOOhhhh I miss the lovely Macc canal. Not been there for 9 months or more and will head slowly, inexorably and happily in that direction after Middlewich I think.

Ghostly, Big Cheshire Skys

2008-06-10T05:36:00.000-07:00

Just after I took the (negative) picture below, I was honoured to be in the presence of an enormous Barn Owl who silently apparitioned across my field of view, hovered, flew again, hovered looking down onto the ground and then flew over my shoulder. Five minutes later I watched dozens of fat pipistrelle bats dancing and hunting, sometimes playfully flicking each-other's wings. I was happy to be bait for the mosquitoes (I don't mind them that much anyway - many don't suck blood but live on nectar and other things and the ones which do are females who cannot become fertile until they have taken on mammalian blood) ...under a canal bridge because the bats were coming right to me....one doing a hand brake turn millimeters in front of my eyes while another tried to race the first one to the insect. As this was all going on, large carp were gulping under the bridge and two toads crawled out of the undergrowth towards the water.........E C S T A S Y !

Gorgeous Boat...

2008-06-02T07:41:00.000-07:00

Nice Surprise...

2008-06-02T05:53:00.000-07:00

Bumped into ex-blogger and fellow Green Nutter Carrie the other day...

Oh go on then here's my answers...

2008-05-27T15:24:00.000-07:00

(If you don't know what I'm on about click here)

1. The Macclesfield
2. Haven't got one
3. The lead singer from Bat For Lashes
4. Wild by Jay Griffiths
5. Evening
6. Grumpy People who moan about things which aren't really important
7. Now
8. I haven't completely, though I did have to jump in once
9. Formula One World Champion (!)
10...have to go for longer walks
11. ..either very conformist or very non-conformist, not many in the middle
12. Getting exceedingly drunk with friends
13...more wildlife friendly design, I'm forever rescuing chicks from sluices and things
14. Nothing, I'm sure he, if it is a he, has enough on his plate
15. Windows
16. Cassette
17. Never done rivers yet - don't know
18. In rehab
19. Winning the 2003 Crewe Clarion Wheelers Hillclimb Championship
20. You will get the idea if you see the 3rd answer

You're never far from a good walk on the canal network...

2008-05-27T14:04:00.000-07:00