Skimming stones across the stilled waters of a restless mind

WORDS once SPOKEN now CAPTURED

Nov. 17, 2024

The Days of No Shadow (... and then a deer barked)

Send us a text Recently, Britain experienced a blocking high pressure system, leading to an extended period of ‘anticyclonic gloom.’ Such are the conditions in which myths are created and, as the story of Blodeuwedd and Lleu…
Nov. 3, 2024

"Stretched into Tales that Leave a Mark"

Send us a text Two rather wonderful things have happened recently which has prompted me to take a reflective look back at this podcast and the journey we have taken together. One of these was being sent some excerpts of essa…
Oct. 6, 2024

A Touch of Autumn (Apple picking time)

Send us a text Join us on the narrowboat Erica on a moonless, star-filled night as we celebrate autumns, real and imagined, present and remembered. Although October (at the moment) is far from 'golden', it is apple picking t…
Sept. 8, 2024

It turned a bit wet (Afloat in Hiroshige's rain storm)

Join us tonight as Erica a wends ‘snailward’ home through a heavy rain storm - recorded, aptly enough, during another heavy rain storm! Hear also about our adventures with a drowning pigeon. Journal entry : 3rd September, Tu…
Aug. 11, 2024

Holiday Interlude (& the Cap'n's Dad)

We’re on HOLIDAY! And so, a rather truncated and spur of the moment podcast tonight. However, join us as we enjoy a spot of tranquillity canal-style. We also hear a lovely story from one of our long-time listeners and lock-w…
July 14, 2024

Spun by Wonderment (above Hemel Hempstead)

There are times that can touch us deeply. Very often they are not about finding a place of peace or somewhere outstandingly beautiful. It is something else. Something beyond these things. It is about encountering something w…
June 30, 2024

Living inside the Seasons

This episode was inspired by a sentence in Beth Kempton's Wabi Sabi and explores how calendars can connect us more closely to the world around us. Join us tonight as we explore the year through the eyes of some Japanese poet…
June 16, 2024

The Children of the Children of Lir

Join us on a wet and windy night as, tonight, we listen the strange and untameable tale of Fionnghuala, Oadh, Fiacra and Conn, the children of Lir, and meet up with our own (children of the) children of Lir who share their o…
June 2, 2024

A Sunday Morning in May

Sometimes episodes have a mind of their own and take you to unplanned places they think you need to go. This is one of those episodes. One ‘soft’ Sunday morning in May in John Clare country. Journal entry : 31st May, Friday …
May 12, 2024

First Impressions (On canal life)

In tonight’s episode we meet a couple of beautiful spring flowers with some fearsome reputations and go about spring cleaning a very messy and cluttered boat with the help of Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows . Journ…
April 14, 2024

Just shadows on a summer lawn

For us the river of the year has, so far, been roaring and fierce. It is difficult, at times, to see the bank or to even know whether we are floating or sinking. However, that is only one small part of the picture. What foll…
March 10, 2024

On Surveys and Winter Warmth (Listeners' questions - 6)

As the slow march of Spring travels along the canal and towpaths, tonight I answer two more questions: How do we keep the boat from freezing when we have to leave it unattended, and how long does it normally take to buy a na…
Oct. 29, 2023

Autumn Forest

I am not sure if it is just me, but so far autumn doesn’t feel quite so ‘autumny’ as it usually does. Therefore, I think that it is a perfect time to savour a reading from one of my most favourite childhood books, Brendon Ch…
Oct. 1, 2023

Under the ghost of a Harvest Moon

A week of serious problems with our internet has meant that I have been unable to record the episode answering listeners’ questions. However, join us tonight to enjoy a special meeting under the ‘ghost’ of a harvest moon. Jo…
Sept. 10, 2023

Home thoughts of a Pilgrim (Chasing the wind)

It's a hot sultry night in the late eve of summer. Join us tonight as we spend time with the gentle words and wisdom of a friend of mine. Journal entry : 6th September, Wednesday “This evening The wool of traveller’s joy has…