Mark's Journal

The family illness that has been overshadowing the start of this year has ended but not as we had hoped. My dear wife, Ann, finally succumbed to the brain cancer she has been living with since October 2020. It's been a very sad time but there has been a lot of love coming from all of the people Ann touched throughout her life. A gentle supportive soul, she reaped much more love than she sowed. It has been a mixed time for me and my family, suffering the loss of Ann and sorrowing for her and the early loss of her life, but having the support of so many lovely people.

 Looking back at the blog I realise that I missed February. We've been having a run in with family illness; so it's likely there will be a couple of gaps this year. Sunrise as seen by my Camp Snap Anyway, I have found a new camera to play with. I enjoy using an old film camera and I post a lot of random photos from film on my Lomography page ( it's here ). One of the fun things about film photography is not having a little preview screen to check you have the picture you hoped you were getting. You really have to think through your shot and set everything up correctly beforehand before you open the shutter. It could be weeks later that you develop the film and see what happened. The rest of the time I have a nice Fujifilm X-T50 which performs all of the digital magic you could possibly need. However, while this is one of the smallest digital mirrorless cameras, it isn't exactly pocket sized. I have a number of film cameras that are pocket sized and these are great, but ...

 And so we come to the end of January, the month that faces in opposite directions, the keeper of the door between the past and the future. There is hope in a new year with new beginnings, new phases of life to experience, but there is also the darkness that follows us from the old year, and one month of January is enough time for developments that flip our plans over and take the year in an unexpected direction. In Gàidhlig we call this month am Faoilleach, the month of the wolves. So beware and pass by these wolves in hope.

  It's Christmas, as the song goes. I hope my readers are managing to have a happy day and that you have someone to share it with. We're coming to the end of the feasting bit, which was delicious, and Simon and I had a great time last night, with Andy our drummer, as we lead the music at St John's Christingle service. Lovely to hear all those little voices singing along.   So, Nollaig Chridheil agus Bliadhna Math Ùr!

Bha mi 's Anna a' falbh gu Nirribhidh anns an t-Sultain agus lean Lochlannach beag sinne dhachaigh. Chunnaic sinn eun ùr anns an gàrradh. Bha brù-dhearg a' ruighinn gus do fuireach e don Geamhradh. Chuir e teicheadh air eòin eile gu luath. Bha e ag iarraidh uile biadh. An Dàmhair ràinig brù-dhearg eile agus thoisich spòrsail. Chuir fear teicheadh fear eile agus chuir iad teicheadh eòin eile. Bha e obair doirbh! À nis cha robh biadh ach aig an donnagan glas. Fhemaidh mi a' cuir an darna bord-eòin gus do bha biadh aig eòin eile. Ach bha feòragan air tilleadh ge-tà...

 I previously blogged about my son's band Sekoya. On Tuesday this week, they launched their new album Shuna ( you can hear it and get it here ). This time they were in the Rum Shack in the southside of Glasgow, a great wee venue, and they were promoted by Lay Low , the first time they've used a promoter.  A nice sized crowd came along and completely filled the venue and we were treated to some great music and a nice line in commentary and chat from the band. They also specialise in a unique merch table which has no music on it but it does feature tea, calligraphy and paper plates. They're an arty band.