Wednesday 24 December 2014

arts & style



something quite beautifully scratchy off centre and dusty as anything to send as a festive gift to all you lovely folk that pop around now and then... keep those feeders filled and seed scattered and gin plentyful... here's to you

phyllis dillon - love was all i had

x

Friday 28 November 2014

two blooms



scream for justice scream for peace scream for a slightly cheaper nespresso machine... hang down your heads for sorrow...

here the ginko's last leaves left are a luminous golden joy i would keep as a treasure to last my whole life long...

we've had these before but their world brightening powers are still bursting out all over... show me the way...

jon lucien - who will buy

mark lester - who will buy

x

Friday 21 November 2014

keep on tripping



all that day outing reminded me it was was way past time to watch the fishing party again so i did and here it is for you too...



x

Tuesday 18 November 2014

trip advisor


postal joy this week petals when mrs i like's new book plopped through the letterbox on just the dark and gloomy sort of lunchtime when sunny daytrip dreaming is just the very thing and cheese on toast at the kitchen table poooofs into a knickerbocker glory at the harbour bar scarborough the soggy leaves of the magnolia go topiary brilliant and i'm lost in the rhubarb triangle... 


buy northern delights a guide to the hidden joys of the north of england by anne ward

£6.99's worth of gloriousness


sergio mendes & brasil 66 - daytripper (live at expo 70)


x

Tuesday 11 November 2014

a dancer



a quick swish around the floor to get in the mood for saturday's 99p souling. emma's run off with this already and i can't say i blame her...


x

Friday 7 November 2014

spotting


a little while ago (about last tuesday) this* lovely new to me (i know i know the gaps in my records that really need to be heard list are getting deeper longer all the things gaps do) record sang out and then went what next sailor? where do we go from here? so i sent something i hoped might suit right on back and it only turns out this was going on all over the gosh darned place so as now there's a blinking whole mess of connections to work out a kerfuffle full of whys and whats and whos... i'm buggered if i know any more than a couple so far but then i'm only up to marty robbins... if you get any do let me know now won't you dears...

*allen toussaint - go back home

so listen along you clever clever people and get spotting...


Thursday 30 October 2014

thankyou thursday


and so gosh darn it we finally finish alliterative week... it's been one of your modern 21 day weeks but what the heck... go us...

this lovely treat popped through the post box all birthdayey a little while ago from the always generous and kind white and winsomes and really is quite the very thing... i suspect the wee cherubs thought the dashing cover snap was gift enough but i'm really very taken with dickie's extended play all round... ta ever so petals

from them to me to you...

dickie valentine - all the things you are

dickie valentine - i wanna be around

dickie valentine - cock-eyed optimist

dickie valentine - once in a while

dickie valentine - i can't get started

dickie valentine - day in day out

dickie valentine - there will never be another you

x

Friday 24 October 2014

flying friday



alliterative week went shockingly i'm afraid but we'll get to thursday soon i promise... in the meantime it's 99p soul time soon and i'll be playing this (if emma doesn't get her lovely mits on it first...)

robert parker - i caught you in a lie

i do hope you can pop along petals

x


Tuesday 14 October 2014

torment tuesday



a tears over teatime special for the always delightful cooking up a quiet storm

i've been sending folk this tape since oh crikey postcodes and postcodes ago since an awful long time since heaven knows when since i first clapped eyes on gene's big sixteen and swooned...


x

Monday 13 October 2014

modal monday



let's see if we can manage an alliterative weeks worth shall we... deep breaths...

mike westbrook - waltz

x

Thursday 9 October 2014

hello again



sorry it's been such a while (again) but what with comings and goings and oh all those things you know here's just not really been somewhere i've ended up and when i've been just round the corner or caught it out of the corner of my eye or almost waved at it from the top of the bus it's almost always been with the thought that it must be about time to put the closed sign in the window the winter opening at the very least but then here i am again all golden anniversaried all how to be a good old ladying all checking the woolens for nibbles and most especially all grateful as anything for the lovely lovely people these tatty pages have brought my way that mean i really must try to at least give the old thing a little stroll around the boating lake and chips on the way home before her knees give out entirely...

i love this record*... it does such terrible things to me every time but oh my oh my...

joni - chinese cafe/ unchained melody

x

*i say record but it's off of one of the tiny pile of compact discs i've ever bought. the whole of travelogue is a true wonder so do get if you're without.

Wednesday 17 September 2014

outings


old ladies skipping to good soul music... it'd be lovely to see you there flowers

x

Wednesday 20 August 2014

day by day



so on we troll a little shoddier now gin lagged creaking drowning out the traffic a months worth and counting  of let the sideshow begin hurry hurry step right on in humming still kitchen stepping to new to these ears marvin how ace for there still to be new to these ears marvin thankyou ever so mrs white & winsome...

marvin - where are we going

x

Tuesday 5 August 2014

quiz of the week


i do love a pop quiz duckies and there's a smasher going on round at cooking up a quiet storm... all the colours of the 'bow... just guess those titles you clever little things and no looking up now...

 

x

Friday 1 August 2014

troglodytes troglodytes



the tiny wren has been turned up all the way the last couple of days not it's usual get off of my land song but a constant get off of my fledglings bawl with the young uns chirping feed me feed me feed me along just  as sweetly as any miracles imperials pips romantics vandellas the whole gosh darned lot of them... and they reminded me of this old thing from back ooooh whenever it was i did for the lovely caught by the riverers with it's glorious matt sewell wren cover... i'm sure they won't mind if it makes a short reappearance here and a go on the mixcloud whatsit for good measure... good luck you baby birds

birdsongs volume five (zip)


 


x

Thursday 31 July 2014

ghosting


it's our old pal davy's birthday today and seeing as there's no ghost post this year we can wave our greetings to him at i thought it'd be nice to wave to him from here instead... yooohooo... many happy returns dear thing

this popped up in the very first days of the ghost of elecricity and it was only on my recent back issueing that i heard it and the rest of the lp what it's off of... wonderful unexpected stuff and this is oh my... devastating

paddy mcaloon - i'm 49

x

Wednesday 30 July 2014

Friday 18 July 2014

tomorrow people


chaos reigns right here as the record rummaging for some new old things to play tomorrow gets into it's small afternoon livener phase... it's not pretty... to cheer us along and properly set the mood for saturday's summer 99p soul special here's four treats from the rob ryan box of astoundingness... do pop along if you're that way...

jackie jason - please mr sun

joey irving - don't throw your love away

little melvin & the boleros - jealous lover

soul commanders - a castle for you and me

x

Wednesday 16 July 2014

business today


there are some right rotters selling records out there proper stinkers foul fiends but this email from the lovely people in america i bought a £4 copy of ocie smith's everybody but me off of more than makes up for all those disappointments and dodgy deals done bad... thankyou glenda 1870...

"Your record was shipped today 1st class international mail. We have refunded you completely for this record as we found a problem. We initially thought it was lint but upon a wipe-down found that it was ingrained in the record on a small spot. We felt that since it was our fault that we should still pay to ship the record. One side is in excellent condition and the other has the spot towards the end. Sorry for the problem but you get the record free and that's all we know to do."

ocie smith - everybody but me

x

Thursday 10 July 2014

still craving inky fingers


the suburban quest for a bottle of blue black quink is finally over children the dismissive newsagents and their bottle of what? fountain pen ink? ink for a fountain pen? ink in a bottle? in the stationary area? are you mad woman? what is this evil potion you seek witch? can stick it up their jumper stick it right up... you wouldn't believe the looks i've had really you wouldn't and all for the pitiful attempt at slightly better slightly more legible handwriting... and it's still not a proper victory what with me having to go to bloody staples. staples people. not the eight oh yes eight different newsagents stationary areas but sodding staples. the world has gone and got very strange...
anyway the twisted reasoning behind this tragic mess was that i wanted the postcards i like to send to look a tiny bit nicer show a bit more care a bit more love for the crumpled greetings from oh who knows where popping through the letterbox which leads me to return to the long put over there till later plan for a postcard push a bit more niceness in your mail a wouldn't it be nice if you write on something and put a stamp on it and send it and i write on something and put a stamp on it and send it sort of thing... if you'd like a postcard or would like to send one drop a where you'd like it sending or where you'd like to send it to to mygoodgawdatyahoodotcodotuk and hopefully all manner of ephemera will cheer a posties wet wednesday...


x

Friday 4 July 2014

outings

and just in time the super smashers at kent have only gone and reissued saint jackie 's most sought after little number the one the housekeeping will never stretch to not never not even if it's lentil suprise no booze and hungry hungry ducks all week. it's not a proper reissue what with someone else on the other side and all but it'll do for me oh yes it will... the proper b side is a smasher too a big rowdy go at one of those things that have welled me up since i was tiny terror...

jackie shane - you are my sunshine

x

ps
find stand up straight and tall from ace right here

Wednesday 2 July 2014

and then...



how have i gone all these days without this? perhaps now is just the right time the time the record angels knew it'd be just the thing the thing that'd bring just the right tears the right gasps the right for gawd's sake why don't i have every nina record... thankyou girls on my mind i'm eternally grateful

nina simone - another spring

x

ps
listening again on the machine and seeing that it's exactly two halves oh nina we love you...


Monday 30 June 2014

off the bench


my word june whisked by didn't it and barely a bleeding thing done well some sitting on a bench listening to the tweety birds and the odd burst of carrot whispering but not a whole lot else frankly... oh and a fair bit of cooking up a quiet storm visiting come to think of it most especially mrs white and winsomes fresh from the fields go which couldn't be more just the my very thing... it's got this on it for starters and hearing new to these ears aretha is a marvelous treat even when the version i hum to myself somehow ends up with the string hook bit of i cry alone in it and something else i can't quite put my finger on but is very possibly something whitney... i know...

aretha franklin - one step ahead

x

Wednesday 4 June 2014

Tuesday 3 June 2014

torrential tuesday



woke up this morning with a noggin full of the long long car ride to cornwall the are we there yets the overheating engines the weeing behind bushes the radio cassette wedged between the front seats and this always...

john denver - sunshine on my shoulders

roll on summertime
x

Thursday 22 May 2014

in good time



a day of making do and mending catching up calming down... if i had a porch there'd be rocking and whittling patsy'd be playing on the wireless...

patsy cline - she's got you

x

Friday 2 May 2014

outing


because nothing says super double guest star soul special like an elephant doing some painting...

we're back in the basement saturday may 17th with brian 'majestic soul' baker and  steve 'mr fish' clancy playing records too...

here's a song from emma's go last time...


and the whole lovely set to take away where ever you like...


x

ps
it's still on mixcloud 


Friday 25 April 2014

take away



i worry about my favourite window those faded blinds that glorious yellow that string hung treasure... one day soon i'm sure i'll turn the corner onto clerkenwell green and oh i don't think i could bear it...

on a cheerier  note having sworn at crappy tecnology far too much these last weeks i thought it'd be handy to be able to take some of the magic mix thingies that've been popping out like i don't know what  home or out or any gosh darned where funny signal whatsit be damned starting with this weeks gardening records...

so take away and enjoy sweet pals

let's go outside - dustysevens

x

Tuesday 22 April 2014

step outside


a bank holiday trying to convince myself that gardening is a revolutionary act with a break from the bottle just long enough to cobble together a new mess of records for the don't they grow up fast cooking up a quiet storm darlings... head on over for an earful of back yard smashers...

i forgot about this one so let's have it now while the drizzle drizzles...

beau williams - outside love 

x

Wednesday 16 April 2014

some dusty


happy birthday dear dusty... i wish you could still feel the love...

an eternal favourite

dusty - where am i going

and a soul sensation

dusty - ooh child

x

Tuesday 8 April 2014

ghosting


my i miss the ghost of electricity ever so much so i've gone and started again from the beginning... thank heavens it's all still there (do keep it safe dear davy). i thought it might be nice to bring some of the lovely things i found there back with me so we can all have another go on them and keep the ghosty warm... step inside loves...

sandy denny - no end

x

Monday 7 April 2014

up and out



what i really want to do is sit by the window and watch the seedlings grow the two lots of tomatoes the peas the basil the nasturtiums all poking out in their pots now the sage still needing a bit more encouraging some growing songs played low but needs must and that whatever it is needs doing won't whatever it is needs doing with/to by it's self so rowdy me up lovely shirley and away we go...

shirley nanette - all of my life

ps
available now at honest jon's and elsewhere

Friday 4 April 2014

paradise gardens




here it's ducks on the roof crash landing eating me out of house and home then daredevil taking off again treat this place like a bleedin caff (which is fine by me) the first bats chasing the first bugs goldfinches greenfinches bulfinches blackcaps galore since the new niger/sunflower heart/black sunflower seed mix went up long tailed tits nesting in the bamboo parrots on the peanuts starlings in the bath woodpeckers on the buggy nibbles squirrels bouncing off of everything bounceoffable... soon it'll be grunting hedgehogs grunting up the night (which is fine by me)... and the magnolia is glorious and the peas are sprouting and the rocket is still rocketing like it has all year through... and we can't have spring without blossom...

blossom dearie - days of wine and roses

and what with missing a day let's have another...

quartette tres bien - days of wine and roses

x

Thursday 3 April 2014

dig deep


still destroyed by that tom paxton dears my it really does get me cornball as it is and the blackbirds are doing their very finest from their very highest spots and the gulls are following the river and blimey hold really really tight here comes dolly...

dolly parton - the grass is blue

x

Tuesday 1 April 2014

torment tuesday


gardening edition...

i've heard the news and it all sounds bad

but how i'd love a record of breezes...

tom paxton - whose garden was this 

x


Monday 31 March 2014

a hard row to hoe


my double digging is a thing to behold you know... there's a certificate somewhere to prove it... how's about a week of gardening inspirations ? 


x

Friday 28 March 2014

crepe


woke up this morning thinking about those suede thick crepe souled laceups all the dapper plaid shirted turned up levised argyle socked black and white genuine plukoed sorts trolled about the towns of my youth in and wandered where they'd gone and why i've not seen any for such a long while. the shoes not the sorts. i see them often thankfully. although come to think of it not the ones who favoured said footwear. hmmmmmm...

anways...

this has been hummed tunelessly as i've wandered...

jeanne hatfield - stop

x

ps
i favoured a plimpsoll

Friday 21 March 2014

la la la la lala la la la lala



well we had a gay old time at 99p soul last saturday... ta to everyone who popped along and sorry you missed it to everyone else... here's a souvenir...

my record of the night...

chris montez - the more i see you

and my dear emma's proper marvelous set ...



back again saturday may 17th

x

Thursday 20 March 2014

soul food


it's second sitting time over at cooking up a quiet storm and i've gone and pinched the head chef's bright idea from last time and spelled out a favourite dish... cheese on toast oh cheese on toast  i could very happily live on cheese on toast for the rest of my days well the days before the resulting cholesterol fueled heart attack but you know what i mean... any melted cheese on pretty much anything frankly. or under for that matter. beans preferably. but on toast with tomatoes and franks red hot sauce for total perfection...

you'll find tunes like this...


and the whole thing and a whopping lot more at cooking up a quiet storm

x

Friday 14 March 2014

tomorrow people


that time again for rummaging through the record box and making sure there's a healthy supply of tunnocks caramel wafers (not in the record box... oh for gawds sake...) anyway i shall be playing this... see you on the floor dear pals


x

Wednesday 12 March 2014

ooooh hoooo la la la



lovely rob ryan has gone and done another of his mixcloud whatsits... it's as marvelous as ever and it's got this on it  ...

jackson 5 - darling dear

the whole gosh darned thing just here...




x

Monday 10 March 2014

anticipations



a week of dancing records i think to warm me up for saturday's trip out... i've not danced anywhere but the kitchen since october for gawd's sake and not leaned on a bar hell even a handful of times neither so i'm rather excited... and there's this to play too ...



Friday 7 March 2014

hey hey hey


where has the month gone ? i mean really... sorry it's been a while sweetpeas there's just been oh you know... things... and whatnots too probably... anyway here we are again the spring is sprunging about all over and i've been murdering this lovely thing with my diabolical kitchen crooning along... you can croon along too


x

ps