Planting Trees, Eliza Carthy and SUNSHINE!

Yesterday I could be found with the Buckingham Canal Society at the site where the canal walks through wildlife reserve territory between Buckingham and Milton Keynes, putting faces to names and planting trees! Altogether we planted 100 saplings of buckthorn, blackthorn, hawthorn, dogwood, and others whose names I can't remember, that in time will (re)form the towpath hedge after the canal leaves Deanshanger. Photos to follow shortly!

Long lines of trees that I've been driven/driving past in the car all my life now have a new significance, being of course the location of the old canal, particularly visible at the Deanshanger roundabout, no more than fifty metres along as you come off the roundabout onto the road towards Milton Keynes. Whether or not the newly restored one will follow this exact route again seems to be the latest hot topic of debate!

On the sensible side of life, I sorted out another year's worth of membership to River Canal Rescue, which, despite being unsatisfied with their service on more than occasion, seems to be the only option for someone single-handing without expert mechanical knowledge. I know some marinas offer breakdown service, but how likely is it that you're going to break down near them?! And in all honesty, they HAVE saved Wils on a couple of occasions, so no complaining, it's done for another year.

A few nights ago my ma and I went to see the Eliza Carthy Band at The Stables here in Milton Keynes, now I didn't know much of their stuff before we went, but it was an extraordinarily good performance, the eccentricity and chaotic arrangement of Tom Waits meets English folk music - small enough to be intimate but big enough for atmosphere, the band was super-tight, and so into it that it was infectious! Any band sporting a 'headbanging-stand-up-and-dance-everywhere-whilst-playing' cellist is okay in my book! Amazing piano, double bass, drums and harmonies too. They get the Wilshamstead seal of approval!

*applause*

Here in Milton Keynes we've been blessed with three days of glorious sunshine, and the temptation to cruise today is overwhelming! Sitting in the cratch at sundown yesterday with a mug of Indian chai reading Walden made me realise what I like so much about living on the canal, it's the meditative, magnetic quality of the scene, few places I've been to have such a power to make you feel instantly sleepy... It's also the sky. Ice blue, crisp and bafflingly wide, and the water, which is essentially a second sky, it's trees glowing and firework birds! It's ropes and poles, rust and hatches, flames in the stove, animals EVERYWHERE, the smell of the coal, the feel of rugs, woollen clothing that you simply can't avoid in the winter, thorny hedges and sawn logs, materials with genuine textures, the natural encouragement to touch them, and a palpable invitation to activity! And to find just lying around me all the fuel I need to stay warm, some of the food I need. Not to mention the peace and quiet, the bustling activity at the summer locks - it's like I said a long time ago on here, spending time rather than spending money, not just to save money but rather more to actively embrace the time consuming jobs, collecting wood, lighting a fire, tying knots, weaving rugs, writing songs. It's most heavily a question of quality than a question of economics. I feel quite energized by the sun today! Can you tell?!

No, the weather is far too fine to be sat indoors typing this, meet me on the roof in ten!