We’re moving out of the cottage tomorrow. Just the big stuff. Everything else has already come over. I’m glad we’ve finally sold but I can’t help thinking about what a faithful friend that little cottage has been to me. It's where:

• I found a 1-caret diamond in the carpet the day we were moved in and I don’t know to this day where it came from
• I ran to when life in the City got too crazy or too ugly
• We brought our first child just a week after she was born to slowly get used to the idea of being parents
• We enjoyed wonderful family Christmases with my parents and brothers and their families
• I heard Princess Diana had died
• We camped out in the garden, falling asleep under the stars and to the sound of the waves (until it started to rain)
• I did the whole Artist’s Way thing
• I got my head in shape for running three London marathons
• Ross came to audition potential new artists when he came to stay with us
• We had to cook the turkey a couple of years ago when the oven in our kitchen here broke down on Christmas Eve
• My Mum & Dad used to pop in on their way to the Lobster Pot to listen to my latest demos
• We spent long nights comforting Poppy when she was teething
• We nestled around the flickering flames of the open fire as winter storms lashed and whipped up the sea less than 100 yard from us
• I had my studio for 4 years, demoing, producing and mastering, often working through the night before cycling back home to do ‘beverages’
• Sue and I wrote some wonderful songs in the writing room when she came to stay with us
• I opened the box of my first ever Mac and had my first video cowrite
• I studied late into the night with Berklee Music School
• I asked to be taken by the limo that picked me up at Heathrow airport after being caught in Boston on 9/11
• We ate curry on Friday nights watching Morse
  
• I cowrote with several local writers and artists
  
• I remember thinking so many times that I would not want to be anywhere else on the planet but there, at Seaside Cottage.

S.

Yesterday I heard my nephew and Godson, Keith Hawkins (aka Unreal), has been offered a producer/writer contract with one of Timbaland’s producers in PA. We’re using my Nashville entertainment attorney to iron out the wrinkles, tax issues, PROs etc.

Can’t tell you how proud I am of the big fella.

Does that make me a ‘d uncle?

S.

Back by popular demand… Poppy's dancing.

This time to Montgomery Gentry’s ode to Sue’s missing blog which is somewhere out there in cyberspace. And with a little help from Moo.

Sue’s cool new blog is here:

http://www.writeaboutjesus.com/Sues_Blog/Blog/Blog.html

Bookmark it!

Hope this cheers us all up a little.

S.


  

What a great week. I’m on the train from Gatwick after about 24 hours of traveling.

Looking back from our grey English skies and rain it hardly seems possible that yesterday I was in a forest in Indiana with 40 wonderful writers, waking up to a beautiful warm cloudless day. The drive down to Nashville went quicker than I thought – so quick that I managed to get to Fellowship Bible Church before my flight. The flights were good – upgraded to 1st class on the flight to Charlotte and I managed to sleep most of the long leg of the journey.

So what was the final score? 10 songs over 4 writing days. That’s in line with my my record (21 songs over 9) but it didn’t seem like hard work. And they are all great songs. On one or two we're still working on melodies. And I'm sure there will be some tweaks, rewriting, re-worktaping as well. But they are all great.

Thanks to all my cowriters - Sue, Kenna, Barry, Phil, George, Wendy, Ed, Chris, Allie and Karen. And to Joel for organising the retreat in the first place... he did such a great job.

In about 10 minutes I’ll be at home... I'm itching to see them all. It’s a bank holiday here today so the children aren’t at school. Should be able to spend today together before life chases us off in different directions tomorrow. Unless I zzzzzzzz

S.

What’s with the “turn off electronics” thing they do for take off and landing on US Airways? Flying over this time I noticed staff getting so aggressive about this… creeping up on zoned-out, half-asleep passengers and screaming at them to put away their music players in the overhead lockers. You can’t even leave it in your hand without the media gestapo jumping you. What's their problem?

The Airbus A330 is basically a 200 foot, 185 ton steel firework carrying 100,000 litres of fuel. It has four engines that each deliver 70,000 pounds of thrust. That's more than enough puff to blow my house down.

Are we saying that some kid can control that with his iPod? Like, Apple have slipped in some widget that turns my Nano into a TV remote for planes?
 
Someone should post the instructions on the internet. I’m sure between us we could get that machine in the air a lot quicker than the pilot. At least I'd be able to turn off his crazy choice of music.

S.

I’m just a little bit overexcited.

Last year, for very good reasons (the birth of our third child), I wasn’t able to make the writers’ retreat that my friend Joel hosted. I was itching to go but just couldn’t. Of course it was the right decision. Barts, who celebrated his glorious first birthday last week, is a treasure.

But this year I get to go. And right now I’m at Gatwick doing my regular 20-hour trip to Nashville before driving up there on Thursday morning. It’s difficult to put into words how that feels but to give you an idea it’s towards the top end on the ‘feeling rubbish/feeling like I'm about to pass out with happiness continuum’.

Still, at the same time, it seems like the larger our family grows the more difficult it is to leave them at home in England.

S.

After taking the two boys swimming today, Sandra decided to have a family quiet time while Barts was asleep. She was reading to Moo about the Israelites wanting to leave Egypt. She read a little, then asked questions, just to see if he was still awake (swimming does that to us boys).

Sa: So why did they want to leave Egypt?
Moo: Because the Egyptians were making the hippopotamuses very hungry.
Sa: Hippopotamuses?
Moo: Yes Mummy, you know, the ones that wanted to leave Egypt
Sa: Oh yes, that’s right, the Hebrews were being made to feel very hungry

He’s plenty of time to discover the difference.

S.

This is so sad <click here>

I met Dottie four years ago at GMA Week. She graciously spent time with me answering a bunch of questions I had about the craft, the songwriter’s journey and the business of Gospel music. It struck me then what an incredible lady she was.

Dottie was more than a legend. To end her life this way seems so unfair.

S.

Over the weekend Felpham turned into micro-heaven… clear baby blue skies, warm caressing sea breezes, angelic birdsong, the heavy scent of summer fills the air, children dancing in the splash pool, bluebells and tulips rejoice from colourful English country garden borders, roller bladers zigzag the promenade, sailing school boats weave through the waves until dusk, long evenings over supper and a crisp Californian ‘Grigio on the sea terrace, our faces painted by burnt orange sunsets, the gentle tide softly sings us to sleep…

These all make memories of sleepless nights and storms quickly fade. And make a broken planet somehow seem less fallen. Make us feel blessed to be here when winter finally turns.

S.

There was way too much alcohol in the air on the train home from London tonight. Thought it was the hot weather at first. Then I realised it was the Russian couple sitting opposite me. You could almost see a petro-haze in their breath, like when you fill up your car.

All I can say to Mr & Mrs Rusky is:

“Rennnid ym ffo em gnittup era ouy”

That’s Russian for “You are putting me off my dinner”. Cause you were my chunky little red friends.

S.

I bought Sandra the latest Gaither Homecoming DVD for her birthday – track 2 is “Livin’ in the Rain”.

When Poppy saw it she thought that Bill Gaither was Willy Wonker.

S.