It’s been a tricky Spring so far. Bookings have continued to fall and I’ve been preoccupied with the exciting and more often terrifying prospect of exploring different ways of earning a living. I love playing and music has always been the central focus of my life, but never has there been a more challenging time in terms of bringing in paid work. I must’ve played 10 fayres recently resulting in no bookings, so I can’t help questioning if there’s something wrong with my playing. I don’t think there is but perhaps people pick up on my underlying despondent energy. I’ve come to the conclusion that fewer people are getting married and the cost of living crisis is truly taking its toll. This has in turn taken its toll on me.

I have a busy fortnight now and I’m deeply grateful for that. Of course, my car decided it was a good time to play up and it started to make a worrying grinding noise last week. I took it straight to the mechanic who said it’s the clutch. He can’t fit me in until next week. I found it somewhat unhelpful when he said it might do another 100,000 miles or it might just pop tomorrow and when he advised me to use it as little as possible. The car survived last Saturday’s wedding so if I can do tomorrow’s very local gig, Monday’s church ceremony and get to the hotel to play for the wedding breakfast, I’ll be delighted and my car can enjoy even more time off.

I took my mechanic’s advice and walked to all my meetings and appointments this week. 25 miles so far and I’m relieved my feet and body are still strong enough. I chose a good week to go carless:

Yesterday was the best though. Straight after teaching I walked to my appointment in Marsden:

The hills were alive!

In the words of Isak Dinesen “The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears or the sea”. Got 2 out of 3, and moorland water is a fine substitute for the ocean.