Summer on the way!

Hi everyone, I have been really ill over the last couple of days , I appear to have caught the cold from hell and felt so rough that I took to my bed this afternoon and slept.
Yesterday my sister and her husband came over for lunch. It was a beautiful day, warm enough to open the patio doors and sit outside in the sunshine all afternoon. It does make a difference to have a garden again, I can just imagine how gorgeous it will be in the summer. Of course the clocks went forward this weekend and now the days are getting longer and longer with the promise of good things to come.
It's Gerald's birthday this week and we are heading off to a spa hotel for some long overdue relaxation and pampering. We are having a treatment called Heat and Ice, the mind boggles, I like the sound of the heat, but am a coward when it comes to cold water of any kind. I hope we're not going to be sprayed with those giant hosepipes! I'm really looking forward to going actually, we've never really done anything like it before. Of course we've stayed in hotels, but not quite like this one. I love hotels, especially luxurious ones, there's just something decadent and romantic about them.
I've just heard Gerald pull into the driveway, he told me that he is feeling rough as well, looks like we'll be convalescing, not chilling!

Still Freezing

Still unbelievably cold, although the snow flurries have gone today, temperatures are hovering just above zero and there is a chilly breeze. Gerald is not very happy as he was even cold in bed, don't ask me how when he has me cuddling him all night, but I know what he means, even though the windows are closed , we still get a cold breeze on our faces , don't know where it all comes from.
Went for a lovely walk yesterday, we found a footpath over the fields, far away from the noise of the motorway. It was so muddy, the kind of sticky mud that clings to your shoes and won't come off, before long we looked as if we had big , brown snowshoes on and our feet became so heavy it was like walking with weights. The fields are all green now, as opposed to the brown barren fields of winter, the sky looked so big on the horizon, lazy clouds sailing overhead. In the distance we could see where it was snowing, but fortune was kind to us, the wind dropped off entirely whilst we were walking and we could even feel the warmth of the sun on our faces as we trudged back. I wish it would warm up today!

White Easter

This morning we awoke to the beautiful sight of snow falling in the garden, it's the first time I've ever had a white Easter. I love the way everything looks so clean and white. I had to venture out to feed the wild birds who were waiting patiently in the conifers and also the rosebush had collapsed under the weight of the snow and I had to staighten it up again. Looking up at our roof and the sky, it was just white and now I shall be looking froward to driving through the forest on my way to London, it is going to look stunning. I wish I was staying at home today because then we could light the fire and snuggle up on the sofas and watch the snowflakes dancing in the breeze. I don't know how long it will last though, already as I write it seems to be easing off a bit and will probably all turn to slush, but I'm hoping it will hold out because tomorrow we are going on another country walk and I've never walked in a snowy forest before.
We have so much chocolate in the house now with all our chocolate eggs, Gerald gave me some lovely irresisatble truffles as well, can't wait to get stuck into them. Happy Easter everyone!

Happy Easter

Hey everyone, hope you all get lots of yummy easter eggs this weekend. My local supermarket ran out yesterday, so in true country fashion, I have to drive 7 miles to the nearest town to buy some, that's what happens when you leave eveything till the last minute.
The flowers are waiting for springtime, but the winter is incomplete, it's really cold and windy, not much fun for the poor old Easter Bunny.
So it is a time that signifies death and rebirth, I would very much like to say goodbye to some negative habits that I have, infuse myself with positive energy and emerge from my chrysalis, stronger, motivated and focused on where I want to be, moving closer and closer towards my goals.
I will leave you with a profound thought from an ancient Greek philosopher:
Even in our sleep
Pain that we cannot forget
Falls drop by drop
Upon the heart
Till in our own despair
And against our will
Comes wisdom
Through the grace of God

One of those days

It was one of those days yesterday. Continuing the saga of my car , when I collected it the idiots had parked illegally and I had been issued with a ticket which I promptly took into the showroom. Before I could demand to know what the meaning of this outrage was, the sales assistant took it out my hand and said they would take care of it. I still thought it was a cheek to be fleeced of all that money and then come out to find a ticket on the windscreen. Gerald on the other hand thought it was hilarious , so at least something good came of it.
Nyo has not been well, she had two seizures yesterday and then injured herself on something, I think she broke a feather and there was blood all under her wing. Of course it is impossible to pick her up and examine her properly and then she wouldn't stop chewing at it, as animals do to wounds, and she seemed to be making it worse. I was all ready to take her to the vet this morning, but she seems OK and there is no sign of any more bleeding, she can fly and everything , so she is under observation. I must confess that I even brought her to sleep in our bedroom in case she needed me in the night.
Today I am going to meet my sister for a coffee and try and do some shopping as well whilst I am out. I've invited my sister and her husband over for lunch in a couple of weeks time, I haven't told my Mum yet because they fell out with each other and don't really get on that well anymore. Of course neither of them will tell me what it is all about, some ghosts from the past no doubt. It puts me in a strange position as I am in the middle. I have tried to get them to make up many times, but it never seems to work out. I'm sure one day they will get along again!

Designer Garages

Up bright and early with the larks today, I had to drop my car off at the garage for a service and then they phoned an hour later to tell me loads of things were wrong with it and now I have to pay mega bucks to fix it, I can't believe it, just when you think that you're going to have a bit of spare cash, something else comes along to mess it all up. I'm asking myself what's great about it? I'm getting it valeted for free!!I've come to the conclusion that now my car is getting a bit older I will take it somewhere less ostentatious for servicing. It seems nothing is built to last anymore. How rancid, I'm still reeling from the shock. Gerald bought his car for less than what I'm paying today.
Still, it was lovely to see the forest in the early morning, the leaves of the trees are just beginning to turn green in time for spring.
I got a large and delicious Easter egg yesterday, we devoured some of it in front of the telly last night. Watched ever such a good film about a man who was receiving messages from his dead wife, a supernatural thriller. My mum is trying to console me and even offered me some money towards my car, Bless her heart.

Reviews

Greetings everyone, most of my aches and pains have gone now, I think I just needed to catch up on some long overdue sleep. It happens, you have to look after yourself and make sure that you don't burn out. Yesterday, I was in the mood for cooking , so I made loads of things, spinach pie included. I love spinach pie and fortunately for me Gerald didn't like the look of it and my Mum looked a bit wary as well, which means I can devour it all on my own.

You may have read in some of our bulletins that we are asking for people to do reviews of our music on WE7. Reviews are really important to us, we love to know what you think of our music and also they are a good way for people who have never heard of us to discover Cling. You don't have to write an essay, a few sentences will do, so if you have a few moments, here is the link http://www.we7.com/public/albumDetails/Sonic-Spells?albumId=61657

Have a wonderful and inspiring day!

Just a little windy

Have an awful pain in the neck, I didn't say anyone or anything was a pain in the neck, so I don't know why I've got one! It was so bad last night that I had to take Gerald's mega strong painkillers that he got for his trapped nerve and they just stupefied me for the whole evening, I think I fell into the twilight zone. It is what I imagine being a zombie is like. I must have a lot of tension, that's why I love running, it gets rid of all that negative energy, you can almost feel it sweating out of you.
My Mum said something so amazing yesterday, it was so typical of her and reminded me of all the things she has taught me throughout my life. She said that every day that she lives in England , her life just gets better and better. I just thought it was a wonderful way to see life and I'm really happy that she feels that way because she deserves it. She feels free for the first time in years.
The wind is really fierce today, it is blowing crazy patterns along the grass, and the trees are bending over double under the strain. The kind of day you don't want to come out the hairdressers with a perfect hairstyle. I suppose I shall brave the elements when my Mum gets back..

The joys of daughterhood

The garden is quiet today, the lull after the storm, all the trees seem to be bracing themselves for the next onslaught which is meant to be tomorrow. Yesterday my Mum made me go out twice with her in the middle of the storm, when she wants something done , it has to be immediately, no matter what the consequences. She ignored all my advice about dressing properly and taking an umbrella with her and then she ended up getting soaked, and so did I. She had to have some passport photos taken and had to use one of those automatic booths, I secretly peered through the curtain and instead of sitting nicely on the stool to have them taken, she stood up and pressed her face right against the glass. Needless to say the photos were a disaster, but she insisted they were OK, again ignoring all my advice. Then when we went to drop her forms off she was told that the photos were totally unsuitable and had to have them taken all over again. I just shut up, but my nerves were to be tested once again. Upon my return home, I spent ages filling out another form for my mum, only to get to the end of it and discover it was totally unnecessary to do so, I just wanted to scream.
On a good note though, our music has been accepted on WE7. so that is very good news for Cling indeed and cheered us up immensely.

Cling on WE7

Hi everyone, it has been very exciting to release Infinity and we can't wait to hear all your feedback. It did get a bit manic because just as we were about to release it on Tunesquare, they wrote to us and told us they were having problems with their site and would be doing site maintenance for a while. This nearly left us in a sorry position, but never ones to be defeated, we came up with another plan. We currently have "Abandoned" available for free download on a site called WE7. This is partly run by Peter Gabriel and Sony records has just joined up with them to release free downloads as of next month. I am pleased to announce that Cling are currently in negotiation to get all of our tracks on there, so we can be up there with the big boys. Of course we will let you know what happens! Poor Gerald has become thin like a stick again with all the work he has had to do, and as for me, I have to recharge my batteries over the next few days.
I had a lie-in today whilst Gerald was making the coffee, I was listening to the sound of the storm outside, as gale-force winds batter the UK. Our garden is full of sunshine at the moment, but one of our rose bushes has been blown over and looks in a sorry state. I have to brave the elements and go up the road to the market. I can never resist browsing around there and lately we have been buying the most delicious fruit, sweet, juicy strawberries and the most delectable oranges I have tasted in a long time. As soon as I have finished my stuff online, I shall be on my way, that's if all the stalls haven't blown over. Have a wonderful Monday.

No sleep, yet again!

Currently listening to the wonderful sound of hammering and drilling as our windows are at long last being replaced. Never mind that I have had hardly any sleep, no gain without pain, I don't think my mum will be very impressed when she arrives home wanting her lunch and the kitchen is all in a mess. She will like fussing over the workmen though, making them endless cups of tea, they love it. Perhaps I will be able to siesta this afternoon, as soon as Gerald gets back we will go out for something to eat , then hopefully things would have quietened down a bit. Fortunately it is a bit warmer today, just as well with no windows in half the house and the heating off.
I quite often meditate in the early hours of the morning and do some yoga before going off to sleep. It is getting lighter earlier now, the sky turns a midnight blue. This morning I looked up, I had opened the curtains to watch the dawn and there were two blackbirds sitting outside watching me intently. Sometimes when Gerald plays music in the studio, lots of little birds all of a sudden start to gather, like they have come to listen as well. I don't think I have ever lived in a garden that has so many birds, but then we have a lot of trees, a whole row of conifers included, and that's where they seem to have all their nests.
When I was small, my Mum always used to leave big bowls of seed out for the little birds in the winter. In the early mornings, I used to wake up and watch them all arrive by the dozen, they were little blue and white birds and I'll never forget the sight and sound of them all jostling for food. Sometimes we would find mice in the swimming pool, and their little bodies would be almost frozen, my Mum used to put them near the warm oven and more often than not, they would revive and scamper off!
There has been a momentary lull in the proceedings, I think they have taken a break for lunch, the good old British workmen!! I must go and investigate...

Do you care about the animals?

It's turned really cold, so much for being spring, this morning there was small traces of snow in the sky and Gerald even made a fire for me before he went out, isn't that sweet of him? I have recovered from my nasty headache now and at least Nyo is being well behaved today and not shrieking the place down. There is a blackbird that comes to visit and he is very curious when he hears Nyo, he always stops whatever he is doing and puts his head to one side to listen, as if to say what kind of bird is that? I wish Nyo would take singing lessons from him as blackbirds have the sweetest voices.
I have been watching a series on TV about reptiles, each episode has kept me enthralled all the way through. Last night was no exception, it was all about reptiles with armour, like tortoises and crocodiles. They featured "Lonesome George", the only surviving tortoise of a particular species found on one of the Galapagos Islands. It is sad how so many animals are becoming extinct right before our eyes. In Madagascar the natural rainforest is being depleted so quickly that scientists say certain types of chameleons are becoming extinct as quickly as they are being discovered, some are probably extinct without having ever been discovered. My whole life I have watched the destruction of the natural world, sometimes plundered before my eyes. I am grateful that I have seen rhinos, elephants, cheetahs, leopards, sables , eagles and pythons in their natural habitat. I am grateful for the hours of entertainment I had as a child with the myriad of colourful insects in the garden, the huge butterflies and iridescent beetles, the giant ants going about their business, there was always something to learn, like being on National Geographic in real life. I try not to take anything for granted, one day I might wake up and there will be no birds to sing, or no trees to blow in the wind.

I am here, really

Hello everyone, I have dragged myself from my deathbed to write to you, nothing so dramatic really, I have been lying down as I have had the migraine from hell, it really is typical, I was extolling the virtues of moving further out and just saying how I never seem to get these headaches anymore, then what happens? This isn't the only reason why I haven't been online however, it was also because last week we lost our internet connection for a couple of days. Gerald had to make endless calls to the useless helpline, he ended up fixing it himself in the end which makes you wonder what chance to people stand if they really don't know anything about computers in the first place? Imagine me trying to follow all those instructions, I can't even type fast and once when I went on the online help it took me so long to write a reply that the bloke thought I had gone!!
Just thought I would mention that Gerald has created a masterpiece with Infinity, our new track. I will be thrilled when it is released on Saturday. It really makes my head go funny when I listen to it..