The blog has to start with last night’s football. had a lovely night back in Wales watching the Mighty Hatters. It was a very social evening going to the game with my brother and some good friends. Once again we met in the Chapter Arts Centre before strolling to the game. A good open game with some excellent goals. and we came away smiling!

The title is because today we took my grandson Owen on the bus to Pittville Park in Cheltenham. A real adventure for him and is grandparents! Of course we had to sing that song many times!!!!

Busy spell coming up learning stories for up and coming gigs! I also have to get down to some writing!

A busy spell. Had our Exeter family staying with us so have had the delightful Ellen to enchant us. Special day today we went to a park in Cardiff to meet with my brother, and nephews and nieces with their children with miniature railway. Pictures below of many of them on the train including my brother (you can’t really see Ellen who thoroughly enjoyed herself!)

Last Friday I saw a pulsating game of football where the Mighty Hatters were unlucky not to win. Need to take our chances- the encouraging part is we are now replicating  last season’s form. Tomorrow it is Cardiff so I will be visiting the city twice in two days!

I started the day with our monthly bird survey by the river- 160 Curlews , 23 Avocets plus various other waders on the River. Saw two Whinchats as well – picture above not brilliant quality but a great bird to see. Finished up with a Marsh Harrier just as we were about to finish.

Later I pedalled to Kingshill House Dursley to talk about a couple of future Story Sessions with very different audiences  I am doing over the next couple of months.

Finally my other son Peter moved today=phew!!!!

Well I attempted to put a video of the “Van Gogh Immersive” into the blog but you will  have to settle with a picture below of the recreation of his bedroom in Arles. Pity I couldn’t get the video to load!

We have had a quiet day after the bustle of the last few days and it has actually rained for a few hours! Good for the garden!

I have been working on the story I am going to tell at the Great Barn Festival next month. Good to knuckle down to some writing. We are supposed to be rehearsing later this week!

Short blog without pictures (might put one on tomorrow). Starry Starry Night is of course the Don Mclean’s song that refers to the famous Van Gogh painting “The Starry Night” . Yesterday we went to Bristol to visit the Van Gogh Immersive Experience.  We really enjoyed it and went with our good friend Dave. It really highlighted sensitively the troubled genius of Van Gogh and it was certainly “immersive”!

Today we have full on childcare looking after our delightful grandson Owen. Exhausted now!

A profusion of Apples have fallen off our Bramley so I spent time picking them off the ground and a few from the tree. So today’s offering was to stew them. Crumbles and Baked Apples to follow! It will be blackberries next for my favourite crumble! It reminded me of a poem I wrote a few years ago called a “A Really Great Apple” which was a tongue in cheek take on the apple that hit Sir Isaac Newton on the head. I might try and find it and put it on the blog. I did turn it into a short story for a competition which I might revisit at some point. The picture below went with the poem!

Great win today for the Mighty Hatters. The only thing that went wrong was being stuck on the motorway about 15 miles from home for two hours. hate to think what my mood would of been if we had lost!

Writing this on my new lap top. Gradually getting most things sorted although I am struggling to get this afternoon’s cycle ride onto Strava! In theory it should but the software seems to be uncertain!

On  the sporting front the cricket from Lords was disappointing.  Due to family commitments I missed my own cricket on Tuesday where we lost our knock out game away at Sussex. Misery has been compounded by a poor performance by my beloved Hatters on Tuesday night. I am off to Swansea with my brother tomorrow so let’s hope our luck changes!

I have a policy of not putting pictures of my grandchildren in my blog! However, as Ellen was in the following papers on Tuesday- Guardian, The I, Times, Daily Fail, and she was on the front page of The Western Daily News I think it is ok! Oh and she was with our David and some other bloke! This was in Exeter!

We have just been helping our Exeter family move absolutely exhausted now. Our Ellen is a sunny smiling girl a real ray of sunshine no wonder she was a hit with Mr Starmer!

Just had a spate of interest of booking me for the Autumn and beyond! One for November 23! It is for a real variety of venues and audiences to keep me on my toes! Surprisingly not heard from schools yet but that might change when schools go back next month.

The Two Severn Bores are performing at the Great Barn Festival in September where will be doing “River Journeys” a mix of what we did on the Severn plus a sideways look at other Rivers. We also have to bang her our heads together for coming up with a new show for a variety of venues for Autumn and Spring. I am hoping to adapt a couple of stories this week.

I did go to football yesterday and sweltered in the heat as my team succumbed to defeat! Don’t think they are far off getting it right just need to put the ball in the net!

I have been getting up early to get some rides in before it gets silly!

I have enjoyed watching House Martins flying regularly over our house while eating our meals outside.