Photographing Phlox paniculata Barci, our best Phlox, and was delighted to see a Hummingbird Hawk Moth. We often have them in the evening, but I've not seen one flying during the day.

Nobody told this Ipomea, or the Begonia, that they shouldn't be growing out of a gap in the paving.

Rosa 'Raymond Carver'.

I usually select a record I want to listen too and that suggests another, and so on. This weekend I just randomly pulled out some records to play whilst I was in the kitchen. These be they. I'm hardly ever near my 'proper' record player these days; like everything else it's most unsatisfactory.

I just bought this. Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders, Neil Charles, and the very underrated Cleveland Watkiss. This stuff is the heppest of the hep man! My God am I going to enjoy this. Such a great label, tremendous Tubby Hayes stuff. jazzinbritain1.bandcamp.com/album/dark-d...

iPlayer Ken Russell's 'Scottish Painters' doc about The Two Roberts in their £1 a week Suffolk studio. Usually referred to as 'forgotten' they were a terrifically interesting pair. Roger Bristow's book, 'The Last Bohemians' has the full story- as much as could be found. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...

Enjoying the sound of the extremely loose compositions on this tape. I may just fill the bedroom with sand and knock up a campfire- I'll okay it with Claire first, obviously. Get it while it's fresh. infomation.bandcamp.com/album/the-li...

Some Penguin Modern European Poets. Probably picked up quite a few of these at Skoob Books when it was in Sicilian Avenue. Osip Mandelstam 85p. Yehuda Amichai was a highlight. Another world, another life.

Ela Laboriel 'Sin Final' ('Senza Fine) a jaunty version on the Mexican Musart label. Peggy Lee does it best and her version is quite the most beautiful of them all, but this little 7" is still a treat. A version of 'Call Me' on the A side so it's win win. #nowplaying www.youtube.com/watch?v=71Sg...

Doing a spot of Afro-Rocking in this kitchen- temp 85 of our UK degrees.

Mossy Tapes delivering the goods again. mossytapes.bandcamp.com/album/dedica...

Today it's the ironing so Arsenio Rodriguez is spinning on the kitchen floor. It's exciting stuff but there are also some deeper ballads which I especially like. I also have a bread pudding in the oven and it's my good fortune that Claire cares not for bread pudding. It's all mine! #nowplaying

Cal and Stan keeping me company during the dreary business of washing-up. Also in the group 'Scotty' La Faro, Billy Higgins, Vince Guaraldi and, please, lets hear it for Eddie Duran on guitar. Lid down after the photograph, of course; I'm not mad, you know. #nowplaying

In God's name when is someone going to make a solo Octobasse record? It will need to be on 360gm vinyl and probably a 4 record box-set. Also needs to cost around £540. www.youtube.com/watch?v=12X-...

Frank's only LP and one which Rare Groovers used to dig for the track 'Safari'. For me the two Ari Brown compositions are where it's at and Ari himself was not the most prolific cat on the block. Henry Threadgill's on here too. We all like Henry don't we? Frank should have recorded more #nowplaying

When I hear the words 'Pump Organ' I reach for my wallet- CD natch, but there are records for you millionaires at old style prices actually. benmcelroy.bandcamp.com/album/elkwort

Absolutely timeless vocal music, from the Ivory Coast, with Balafon and Kora accompaniment. I've always thought the music sounds just how the cover looks: light, airy, rooted in time for all time.

I strongly suggest you pick up the new Tubby Hayes Quintet 'Antibes 62' CD from Jazz In Britain while there are still 8 available. Firstly it's the Tubby Hayes Quintet, secondly it's the Tubby Hayes Quintet live, thirdly...you don't need a thirdly, you shouldn't even need a firstly.

"Having Amina perform and record my compositions for piano is a pleasure beyond description. The shapes she has given them, for me, are definitive". Amen to that. Amina Claudine Myers 'Poems For Piano. The Piano Music of Marion Brown'. #nowplaying

Pleased that our hedgehog made it through the winter- appeared three days ago. Ignore those dates and times I'm just to idle to reset the camera after changing the batteries.

Late arrival at the vernacular cover art festival. The Human Arts Ensemble 'Poem of Gratitude'. A very relaxed, free set from 1972 with Tenor and Alto Sax, trumpet, voice, and numerous 'small instruments'. A beauty.

Mention earlier @folkpolice.com about Alan Stivell's version of 'Sally Free and Easy' reminded me of Moira Kerr's charmingly ramshackle version on her 2nd LP. Groovy guitar fills, droning organ, clattering drums, and a sweet-sweet voice. A real favourite here. The whole LP is a perfect delight.

I bought the Hardy first, music & arrangements by Arthur Keegan. Fantastic, I must hear more of Lotte Betts-Dean. I looked about and found the Stuart Macrae which is easily worthy of her beautiful voice. Two stunning collections of English Song. Very sensitive treatments of voice & instrumentation.

Jazz in Britain are selling their last few Tubby Hayes 'No Blues-The Complete Hopbine '65' double CD for £10. A total bargain for total brilliance. 17 minutes of Tubby's 'Night and Day' is hardly enough. jazzinbritain1.bandcamp.com/album/no-blu...

Giorgio Agamben- Self-Portrait in the Studio. Surprisingly engaging book. Helpful to have hung out with people like Elsa Morante, and Heidegger of course. Very nice mix of text and photographs accompanied with a trip down a philosophical memory lane.

I do wish somebody would press this firecracker version of 'Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean' onto a 7". Ottilie Patterson is at the top of her game and Chris Barber's blowing up a storm too. www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EHU...

Cashback! Valentines day beer. I considered doing this for myself at Christmas, but money 'n all that. I obviously whinged about this within earshot of Claire because here they are. I had no idea what was in the box. Fancy crying on opening a box of beer. Reader, it happened.

Just a great, great, record. There's about 45 seconds of speculative, shall we shan't we, blowing/braying and then all funky hell breaks loose for the next 20 minutes #nowplaying

Mein Gott those first three Scritti Politti singles were so exciting. This is great footage. www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn4H...

Kick-ass Otis Clay track with the snare cracking behind him. I have quite a few Otis Clay 45s to go to, but I go to this one most often. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bzq5...

The excellent Mossy Tapes, who put out the great Water Shrews tape last year (still available pop pickers), have just put out 'Pond Life' by Tara Cunningham and Jack Cooper. Half an hour of questing, exploratory guitar duets to cheer your heart. mossytapes.bandcamp.com/album/pond-l...

Seriously neglected, seriously great artist. Good stuff from all his periods I think, some of it very good indeed, the equal of anything I have on my shelves. Complicated discography, but this is really his 1st, and only 'proper', LP #nowplaying

Nice little present from Claire a few years ago. Lovely airy playing with lots of space around it. I really like what bass player Tom Williamson does but he seems to have made just two records with Carter and Bradford and nothing else.

I expect the record label were pestering him to put a title, a name, a tracklist; "Put something on the sleeve for God's sake! How will anybody know what it is"? If I put together a box of LPs to grab in case of fire this would be in there. Jerry Jeff Walker "Five Years Gone" #nowplaying

Late Christmas present. Claire ordered it from @monorailmusic.bsky.social before Christmas but they didn't have one. They did know where they could get one and they would attempt to secure it and send it to us after Christmas. very hard to source in the UK so hats off to them.

Great record. I really like 'For Shame of Doing Wrong'. Linda Thompson has a beautiful, clear, voice free of vibrato. It's a great, plodding riff with a wonderful, limpid, guitar line snaking along at the end, which I think Tom Verlaine must have heard #nowplaying

Picked up a great Duo CD. Fantastic Cherryesque session with Phillippe Champion and Hamid Drake. 'Le Chant Des Pierres' had me hooked. Turns out it's 10 years old- where have I been! Info und soundz here for interested parties. www.ensemble-nautilis.org/creations/cr...

The local Stingo

Relaxed, melodic, bossa nova rhythms from a charming Norwegian acoustic quartet and female vocalist. Possibly from 1974. Lu-Mi was a Christian Label so there are presumably nods to The Lord on it but my Norwegian is very rusty so they don't intrude and the overall effect is delightful. #nowplaying

This CD fairly reeks of ripples from the past bleeding through to the present. One evening I was in a dark lane in the Black Mountains and it was as if I could feel the imprint of the people who had walked there over time This CD is like that. handdrawnhand.bandcamp.com/album/inbetw...

Flute action from Oliver Lake, Richard Martin on Guitar, Charles 'Bobo' Shaw on percussion, a bunch of other cats laying it down. Fiery Jazz from a golden age. Also bought during a golden age when US post was so cheap it was cheaper to buy from the US than the UK. Imagine that. #Nowplaying

Always good stuff from Glarc. Here's their latest, for those who like Harmoniums, and bells, and clarinets...that's everyone isn't it? Least that's all right-thinking people. glarc.bandcamp.com/album/lene-o...

Here are those critters on The Culture Show. Takes me back a bit. From the date I see it's the same time I was undergoing six weeks of radiotherapy and being fed through a tube in my stomach. At that time I wasn't sure I'd ever buy another record. Hurray for modern medicine youtu.be/0Bmuo5Inhik?...

I like these two The Whitest Boy Alive records. The first one is best and goes for mad money but the second is cheap. Nice airy pop music. I bought the first after seeing them on 'The Culture Show' on BBC2. Cripes who remembers that now.

Inspired by @thameschoral.bsky.social yesterday (whose post passed without comment) and mention by Bob Stanley of the reissue, I thought I'd get this out today. I think Mike Moran and Don Fraser should be commended for some beautiful arrangements on 'Beautiful Things' and 'Illusion'. Real quality.

I wonder If I'm the only person who still carries a candle for George Usher and his sturdy power-pop. I often pull one of his CDs off the shelf. Hashtag I haven't forsaken you George.

Birthday. The Lipatti set is currently the last word on the man. The Ngoma set is a triumph of archival scholarship and the Dagar is a 3 LP set which I wish had been a double CD. I think it's senseless to split the two pieces over 6 sides. Still Mrs Kestrelblazer and the kids came up trumps I think.