'Do I Wait' for Christmas

Really disappointed with the UK weather at the moment. I read somewhere that the gulf stream has shifted? Well it needs to shift back! Either way ..... it seems to be either bucketing down or blowing a gale, neither of which is conducive to getting out there with my binocs and camera - bad news and it gets worse for you guys who read this thing because that means I get my guitar out and sing!

oh yes and its CHRISTMAS so do have a good one everybody!

I intend to drink and eat far too much than is good for my body and then purge myself with a Boxing Day tramp somewhere where I can't see any tinsel, turkey, baubles or brandy ..... love some snow though!

Ok here's the music. Its a song by the great Ryan Adams called 'Do I Wait' and I'm planning on including this song when I venture into the open mike scene in York in the New Year so by all means tell me what you think.

'I hung my head' cover



I seem to have been thwarted by the weather over the past few days ....its either foggy, raining or both and when the sun eventually decided to shine this afternoon I find my route blocked in several directions by flood water! I can't remember a time when so much rain has fallen over the UK over such a sustained period of time.

 

With that most convenient 'should have' thought processes - hindsight, maybe I should have struck out on foot but I didn't get up till midday after being absorbed with the test match cricket from India from 4.00 this morning (yes I know, I'm bonkers!), so it had to be the car .... total wash out!

 

Not to worry, I plan to have 2 solid days birding next week with my pal Mark and with some strongish onshore winds brewing it could be good on the coast.

 

Meanwhile, I reminded myself that this is not just a birding blog and with no records to write up this afternoon I picked up my guitar and did a one take video of one of my favourite Johnny Cash songs 'I Hung My Head' ..... all a bit raw but with all the rigmarole involved with setting up sound, microphone etc in my front room I couldn't be bothered to record it again so here it is, hope you enjoy .... I don't think I've murdered it!

 

U tube Link here if the vid doesn't work - I hung my head vid

 

 

At last a bright sunny day in York.

At last a bright and sunny day here in Yorkshire. I got myself out of course but alas my time was limited due to getting up late after some impromptu music (plus alcohol) last night with my sister and Mark and to boot my chosen destination, Strensall Common, was also the destination of many others plus their dogs ..... hardly saw a thing. A few Goldcrests,  Long Tailed Tits, Redwings, a couple of nice Bullfinches and a Great Spotted Woodpecker. Nothing came near enough to photograph apart from this rather obliging and Common Pheasant .... no it's not stuffed, he's just posing!!

Judging by the local weather forecast I may have a few hours tomorrow morning before the rain sets in for any birding or photography, in the meantime I still have some goodies from Sri Lanka to post including good Brahminy Kite shots and with nothing I want to watch on TV until later I may post again this evening.

Two great gigs, Carcassonne and back to the Barn!

We're back at the barn! After 6 weeks on tour and an impressive 1080 euros raised so far with another couple of gigs to go closer to home, I think Cancer Support France will be very pleased with the cheque we hand over and we certainly feel as if we've done both ourselves and the charity very proud indeed.


Reflections on the tour are many and varied but on the whole it's been enjoyable, we've met many wonderful people and been to some wonderful parts of France. Carcassonne was one of the highlights for me and it's certainly a place I'll be heading back to to in the not too distant future because I didn't get chance to visit and photograph the walled city part, I really wanted to but on the evening I'd planned we got a gig in a local restaurant. No worries though, I've promised Gabrielle a trip out there next year and I'm thinking that Spring in that part of France will be outstanding ...we might fly out, we might be in a camper van, but whatever we'll be together and in truth not being able to share all of this with her has been the hardest thing to bear on tour.


Here's a pic I found on Google of the aforementioned walled city of Carcassonne and you can maybe see why why I need to get back there with the camera!


The slighter newer part of town is non too shabby either. Whilst we were there we were lucky enough to catch a bit of the city's annual music and arts festival and here's a clip of one of the free gigs we were at (just click the link) - Lucky Peterson - I believe I'll dust my broom


Our last couple of booked gigs in this neck of the woods were both marvellously entertaining affairs. The first of these was in a very isolated but totally awesome campsite called La Fargassa. It was way up in the mountains close to the Spanish border and the road trip up there was not for the faint hearted .... no wonder campervans are not encouraged! Such was the beauty of the place we ended up staying there for 4 days and the hospitality extended to us by the owner Madhu will live long in the memory - I took a shed load of photographs whilst I was there, partly due to Madhu asking me for some publicity shots for her site, but largely down to the fact that it was just a beautiful place to be in. Here's a sample to show you what I mean

 
Personally I love driving up and down mountain roads like this but Jane n Mark's van struggled for headroom on more than one occasion and apparently many campervans have been trashed trying to get to the site!!

Worth the effort though, this is a superb wooded mountain range with some beautiful streams that you can swim in, in the high valleys. 

 Safely installed and though the mountain streams were inviting it's practice first as always!





And now for that swim!!!

Here's a few before, during and after our splendid gig on the Sunday eve ... such a great atmosphere that night with neighbours from the adjacent valleys present, lots of kids and animals too .... all up and dancing through the night (apart from the animals)

Our wonderful host at La Fargassa, Madhu, making a charity call

The campsite is very eco orientated, child & dog friendly and is run with the help of several overseas volunteers who stay free of charge in return for managing the site and associated farm. If you'd like to sample this wonderful place here's link for you to explore - La Fargassa campsite & gites it comes highly recommended but DON'T take a campervan!!

Our last event on our tour we took as paying gig because we had reached our target for Cancer Support France - we ummh'd and arghed a bit about this but felt justified in this since we had taken very little in the way of expenses throughout the tour. It was at a campsite just outside the town of Trebes which is on the Midi Canal and just 10k from Carcassonne so an excellent location. Thanks to Guy, the campsite owner we again enjoyed 3 nights free camping, all our drinks and 150 euros for the gig which was perhaps our most enthusiastic audience ... 3 encores and still they wanted more! Not sure about this but I think any audience with plenty of Dutch folk present is a good one, especially if they're a bit piddled ... and we had both here in abundance and if they could they would have gone on all night!!

Sadly not much in the way of pics but here's a great one of Guy with my guitar and a random Dutch guy getting it on after the event.

Once again, a great site and highly recommended here's a link La Commanderie

OK time to wrap this blog post up but I have many photographs still to sort through after 6 weeks touring Southern France plus a short hop into Spain so will be putting these together in due course.

  

Bums n Boats!

Well it seems the busking tour is pretty well taking over from my normal postings on 'baggins abroad' but this is not a bad thing. July and August are the 'pants' months for birds just about anywhere and, music apart, we are passing through some stunning parts of France as well as meeting many interesting and diverse people.

A couple of weeks ago whilst busking in a market place we were approached by someone who wanted to book us for their campsite..... free drinks, free accommodation and food. Agreed we said! Slight catch, depending on your outlook on life, the campsite turned out to be one of those where all involved do their camping with no clothes on!

Undeterred, up for the crack and determined not to turn the other cheek, we 3 busking troubadours, clad in nothing but our clothes, strode boldly into a place of nude people at Le Couderc naturist site, a Dutch run establishment (why are we not surprised!) and were immediately disarmed when we had to ask directions to the reception from an octogenarian naturist. Funny thing, it was us that felt embarrassed ....it's not at all sexy, just a bit strange to see so many people going about their activities without clothes on! Further discomfiture ensued when we were shown around and taken to the bar for a drink .... faced with 3 sets of  male bum cheeks leaning against the bar its really tricky to make the right sort of conversation or know where to look. I think we ended up admiring the beams in the ceiling!

Joking apart, I have to say that the owners made us feel very comfortable, provided us with a chalet, food and all the booze we could drink. There was no pressure at all for us to do the naturist thing and for our gig in the evening all the campers were dressed. It was a good gig, we raised a decent amount for the charity. Sorry folks, no pics were allowed of the naturist thing, shame because those three cheeks at the bar was a picture dying for a caption but here's one of us playing the gig and some blond geezer with a guitar who didn't mind being photographed!

After that experience we've headed further south and after a small but very enjoyable gig at the 12 bar in Hure (nr Bordeaux) we've picked up some very lucrative gigs in the bars along the Midi Canal where it runs alongside the Rivere Garonne. The canal itself links the the two coasts of France, the Atlantic and Mediterranean and is a quite magnificent piece of engineering. Constructed in the 17th Century by a chap called Pierre Paul Riquet, it was commissioned as an alternative waterway route to the dangerous and long trade route around Spain. After falling into disrepair after the 2nd world war it has now been given a new lease of life by the tourist trade and judging by the multi-national make up of the boating folk - Australians, New Zealanders, Dutch (of course, they get everywhere!) and Brits as well as many French boats, its certainly thriving with the several ports along the way providing great meeting places as well as good places for us to busk and make great money for the charity!

The canal was an excellent place for taking photographs, not just because of the gaily coloured boats and barges but also because there was so much going on, with lock gates opening and closing and well, you know boat folk .... if their not tying knots or scrubbing the decks, their usually just showing off! Anyway, boat photography is a new genre for me so here's a few selected pics I thought captured the feel of the place.

This is about as busy as it gets!

Love the composition on this one and I think my mum will like the name of one of these fine vessels!

Here's Hilda May's back end!

One of many grand old barges moored up

Guessing this is newer but no less grand!

Could this be a French rival to the Grand Canal in Venice?

Deck guard!!

No photo collection of canal life would be complete without at least one lock pic so here you go .... small boy and 2 cyclists thrown in (not literally of course) for good measure!

We made many friends and acquired some great contacts during our short stay along the various ports along the Midi Canal and the Beyond the Gap tour will be back there on our way up North. For now though we head for the Pyrenees and since my blogging is way out of date here's a bit of pseudo time travel for you .... we've already done the Pyrenees gig (went very very well!!) ... I've been to Spain and back and by now Jane n Mark should have sampled at least one stage of the Tour de France. Oh dear .... much catch up blog posts to do!!!

On Tour ... Dordogne magic!

On tour still with the band and although we've played just 3 gigs and a couple of busking sessions we've already netted over 500 euros for Cancer Support France.

We're all loving the performances but the actual touring, travelling from site to site and living on the road, is predictably hard work for 3 fifty year olds but the sun is shining and the wine is flowing so we're all in good spirits.

We're in the Dordogne at the moment and as luck would have it seem to be tracking the river itself ... its a truly beautiful setting and although I've past this way a couple of times before I can easily see why so many English folk choose this part of France to either settle or holiday - its like a quieter version of Devon!

The bar we played at Mauzac last week (le barrage) was right on the banks of the river and in between practising, playing and sound checks I managed a few trips out with my camera. Not much going on birdwise but this Grey Heron perched on some kind of waterworks structure made a good picture

As did these flying Swans at the same location

A little further down the river there was a good example of one of the many fine aqueducts to be found all over France.

Back to the music tour and worth mentioning the charity we are supporting again - Cancer Support France (all info on our facebook page http://www.facebook.com/BeyondTheGap) and some of the work we're putting in here! For sure, most of our gigs are fun and well received but some of the busking is hot, hard work ... just look at the blood, sweat and tears we shed in the name of music at this market venue in Lalinde -

I'll be diplomatic here and just say this was a 'learning experience'.... but 19euros for 3 hours playing in the heat of the day was not what we expected from French market goers!! I might as well have worn the hat rather than put it down ..... spent more than that re hydrating myself!!

You live and learn.

Our first gig raised 320 euros .... wow!!!

Ok, apologies for scant posts of late but blogging and touring in a band at age 50 plus is at the very limits of my multi-tasking abilities!!!

Here's a short clip of our first booked gig on the charity tour of SW france ... it was hosted by Le Barrage at Mauzac, a lovely bar on the banks of the Dordogne and many many thanks to Amanda, the owner of the bar, for contacting us and arranging what turned out to be a fantastic evening for all concerned. Everyone had a great time, we raised 320 euros on the night for Cancer Support France and we got a paid follow up gig later in the year .... such fun!!

Beyond the Gap Summer Tour .... all for charity!

Rain permitting, the band Beyond the Gap (that's me, Jane & Mark) should be setting off on our Summer tour of SW France today. The plan is to head south to the Dordogne and perform our stuff in various bars, campsites and open markets there and then doing pretty much the same further south in the Languedoc, Aquitaine and the Pyrenees ... hey we've even thought about heading into Spain, but hear the busking laws are pretty strict there so it might just be a cheap fuel stop! In any event we have to be back for the 29th July because we're booked to play Lascaufest

We have several booked venues along the way but our thinking is that most of our performances will be of the busking variety.The whole tour is in aid of Cancer Support France with all profit going to them and we have a 'just giving' site set up if anyone reading this wants to contribute.

You can also follow us via our Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/BeyondTheGap), we'll be updating most days and we're also in cahoots with AngloInfo (http://france.angloinfo.com/) who have agreed to give us free advertising in return for promoting their websites.

This our main promo pic that goes on any posters for booked venues ... me and Mark looking suitably moody!

















And here's a couple of pics of our vehicles all 'stickered up' with Jane having a celebratory drink before the off ...... Ribena she said!

So, all ready for the off ..... weather to be honest is not looking grand for busking but we need to go because I'm picking my fiancee up from Bergerac airport on Wednesday .... yipeee!!!

France is Rockabilly mad ..... DOCKABILLY'S TRIO

Have to say I've kinda missed decent live music since being in France and although I'm sure some decent acts get to the larger towns and cities, out here in the rural heart of things it's a case of make your own music or get to like ROCKABILLY!

I''ve absolutely no idea why rockabilly (think Stray Cats or if you're old enough Hank Williams) is so popular in France but the scene is vibrant and there's many very decent French acts rocking their merry way through the bars here. One of best and most entertaining I've seen are a 3 piece outfit called the Dockabillys - they play regularly at the Commerce bar in Montmorillon (Henri, the bar owner plays in a similar style band and is mates with many of these guys!) and as well as playing good, tight songs they do this amazing trick where the singer and guitarist balances himself on the double bass and continues to play and sing! Here's them doing just that last week (pic right)

Yeah, I know not the best of photographs but I'm not used to mobile phones!

The Dockabillys have a more than useful following over here and if you ever get a whiff of them playing near you I'd highly recommend. Here's their site - http://www.myspace.com/dockabillys

And here's a good clip of some of their best tunes

Mad and Merry May!!

Back in the Vienne after a brief 2 weeks in the UK and, although it would have been magic to have come back with my darling fiancee Gabz, at least I've come back to warmth after such dismal weather in the UK!

So, 'tis the merry month of May and on all fronts, what passes for action around here is about to kick off!

'Beyond the Gap' have a summer tour to finalise and for any bar / campsite owners in southern France reading this ... you can still book us; we're playing for expenses only and any tips / money in the hat goes to Breast Cancer Research. Here's our promo clip again -

 
FUN is a big red word when we play...we love to entertain and get folk up and dancing. Wanna book us? Drop me a line on here or email us on beyondthegap@hotmail.com

Before that we have several visitors over from the UK this month to stay at the barn and on a personal note (F sharp maybe) ... I'm looking forward to joining up again with my mate Mark who's coming over for a couple of weeks for chat, wine, chill out time and a birding trip down to the Camargue. Just remembered I also have 15 Open University assignments to mark before the month end too ... pooh!!

Pink Campions by the river. Highly stylised but I like the effect!

It was a good morning for photographs today with weak sunshine and storm clouds brewing making for some good silvery light. Here's a nice selection of birds, flowers and a cracking damselfly from the past couple of days.

Goldfinch in the village ... where has he got that cotton wool from!

'Beautiful Demoiselle' .. yes that's this damselfly's English name and this one is a female of the species.

Singing Stonechat ... immature male

Orange Poppy? I'll come clean ... no idea what this is yet!

'Beyond the Gap' Summer tour promo clip

Band is complete, we have 50 plus songs ready n rehearsed and ready to tour this Summer ..... camp sites, local bars, hotels, festivals and anywhere else that will have us! We set off in June, still taking bookings and will update our tour dates as we have them!

Enjoy the clip - please email us at beyondthegap@hotmail.com for any booking requests

'Wagon Wheel' - Mark's big contre bass entrance!

The long awaited debut of our long suffering sound man Mark on le old contre bass and accompanying us on another of our favourite tunes 'Wagon Wheel'

Check out the clean cobble stones, recently hoovered by Janey Jane!

Gypsy

Jane n Mark are back and 'Beyond the Gap' is reformed! The way he's playing it wont be long before Mark will be performing with us on the old 'contre bass' but for now here's me and Jane doing one of favourite 'quiet' songs - Gypsy, originally penned by Suzanne Vega. Its a bit raw and totally unedited, the guitar really needs more treble but what the hell, we thought it was a good take!

Can I stay

Been a while since I posted a song on the blog so here's a cheeky but mellow little offering of another Ray LeMontagne song 'Can I Stay'.

Just a couple of notes for the attention of my dear father who I know keeps a keen eye on my posts but I gather has not figoured out how to listen to my songs! Just click on the white play arrow in the middle of the screen dad!

Oh and hope you got my birthday card for Saturday. Enjoy .... now you can scroll back and listen to all my songs, almost an album's worth for you to enjoy!

Nothing Ever Happens!



Been wanting to do a decent job on this song for ages and my sister and singing partner will crucify me for putting my stamp on the song before she can have a crack at it but couldn't resist a solo version (sorry Jane!)

New lens and 'Goodbye Girl'

I loved the band Squeeze, they were were a huge influence on me in my younger days and whilst I may well be biased, on repeat listening their music doesn't seem to age with time. I believe Glen Tillbrook and Chris Difford are still touring as a duo doing the occasional festival but their hay days with the band (including of course Jools Holland on keyboards) are long gone .... they don't get enough credit for my mind, so in my small way here's an attempt to revive a few memories - first of a couple of Squeeze songs, this is 'Goodbye Girl'

Hope you enjoyed that ... not 100% faithful to the original and that ending with a brief snatch of  'American Pie' just kinda happened and it sounded ok so stuck with it!

Second Squeeze song comming soon .... just deciding which one to cover!

Ok, on to things photographic and good and bad news. Bad news is that my trusty Tamron 200-500ml lens seems to have stopped working with my camera body (Canon 550d), something to do with a communication error between lens and camera ... might be sheer coincidence but this problem seems to have developed since I mounted another recently purchased lens - another Tamron (18-200).

Currently scouring the internet forums for possible fixes but no joy so far.

Good news is that the new lens is fab! Took it out and about the other day and took some pics in Antigny (a nearby small village with a semi famous Lantern des Morte, more of that later) and then in and around Montmorillon.

These are the Antigny pics.

The first 2 feature the Lantern des Morte (Lantern of the Dead) which is situated in the middle of the village. There are several similar small towers across the middle of France and although this one is perhaps not the most attractive of its type it is certainly one of the oldest - 12th Century. The origins and purpose of these constructions are not entirely clear but most common wisdom suggests that these were used to light medieval burial grounds. They all have entrances at the bottom and an opening at the top so that lanterns could be hauled up to shine a light on the dead. Most are situated on or near old burial grounds but not all, giving rise to another school of thought which suggest that over time Lantern des Morte is actually a mis-pronunciation and that these are actually Lanterns of the Moors - reflecting some kind of Moorish history and meaning. Like I say, its not clear but some of them are very fine looking and I like the element of mystery surrounding them!

Later on in the day I took advantage of the great light and took another stroll around Montmorillon. I've taken similar pics before but with my canon powershot but think these are much better.

The first 2 are of the Eglise de Notre Dame, with the second one 'artfully' hidden!

Here id a fairly typical view of the 13th Century bridge LeVieux Pont

Here we see a view of one half of Montmorillon from the top of the the Cite de Ecrit.

















And lastly here is the 'very difficult to find any information on' statue of the Virgin Mary with Child - I don't think it's that old and certainly the base looks 18th Century. Any comments re this statue's history would be very welcome as I drew many blanks when attempting to research!

'Hold you in my Arms' Ray LeMontagne

Took so long to get this song right but I love it and glad I persevered! Its a beautiful song, one of Ray LeMontagne's best with his usual strong lyrics. As with many songs the words are open to interpretation but the song really chimed with how I've been feeling recently ... I wont go on, I do that enough in the clip!

'You've got to hide your love away'

 If you're a Beatles purist, you'll probably hate this - my take on 'You've got to hide your love away'

Born at the Right Time & a break in the weather!

I tried all afternoon and most of the evening yesterday to get this song and sound right and think I just about managed a reasonable result, in any case I'm not spending any more time on it! The song is called Born at the Right Time by Lindesfarne ..... a band I have to admit to having a bit of a blind spot to for years, thinking them a bit too middle of the road. That may still be true of course but as soon as I heard the lyrics on this tune I had to cover it, so apt I thought! See what you think .... if you're my age and fearing for the current generation you might agree!??

Depending on your allegiances the past couple of days have been very disappointing for sports fans with England somehow conspiring to loose the 2nd test match against Pakistan ... been following the match via free streaming sites on the net and for the bother that takes I wish I hadn't bothered! Andy Murray got us all hoping he would finally break his grand slam duck only to fail valiantly against that Djorkavic chap and then my team Manchester Utd lost against arch rivals Liverpool this afternoon in the FA Cup.

Better day all round away from the box and the settee that is gradually moulding itself to by resting position ..... its good to have my neighbours Pat & Clive back from Australia, they're both looking well and it'll be good to have someone to have a natter with and share a cuppa every now and again! Weatherwise, the gloomy skies seem to have departed giving rise to some brighter, albeit colder conditions outside and the ever increasing daylight hours are at least providing some hints of the Spring that's waiting to be sprung! This morning I saw a couple of Great Spotted Woodpeckers flying around together and what looked very much like courtship behaviour to me and this Nuthatch was singing at the top of a tree in the cold sunshine!

During a walk around some tracks near to the village of Pleasance yesterday(I was hoping to catch up with the Peregrine Falcon that got away a few days before!) and I stumbled on a church I hadn't seen before - such a typical French Church I had to snap it!

Finally, I've taken many pictures of the local Buzzards around here, and this is by no way the best, but there was something about  this one's purposeful and jaunty flight over the top of me that again had the hint of Spring about it ....  and I'll swear he was giving me the eye!