Well, I cannot believe that it’s two years since I wrote a post. So much has happened to me in that time, not all good, but I seem to be coming out the other side now a slightly different person, hopefully stronger, kinder and better. So a rainy Sunday afternoon and the right mood has prompted me to get back to my blog.

The first thing I notice today, is what have they done to the WordPress editor? Normally I’m a fan of minimalism but this will take some getting used to. I’m guessing someone who uses a Mac is involved here; anything remotely technical-looking has been hidden. We’ll see.

No Landy stuff for a while

I’m afraid there has been very little work on the Land Rover in this time, so apologies to my fellow Solihull soulmates. There’s nothing worth writing up at the moment. During my infrequent front-gardening sessions I’ve had three people offer to buy her, like hopeful (but always pleasant) vultures sensing the imminent death of a love. But no, Dilly is not for sale and I will return to sunny days with spanners in the spring. Things will be easier next year, financially and otherwise, so I will be able to cut down on work and at least get some weekends off. More on that later. I will then start blogging all things Landy again. I have big plans for her.

My life has been taken up recently with work, work and more work, jobs on the house, legal issues, musical turbulence, a rogue builder, a neighbour from hell and an incompetent architect, then a bout of ill-health. Chronic eczema of the hands was the first barrier to working on the vehicle, but I have recently found a miracle cure and after 6 years I am free of it.

What to expect in the coming posts

I will share some guitar / amp / music projects – failures and successes, reviews, some reminiscences. There’ll be some cycling, river stuff, nature and anything else I can think of.

Mental health

I will also write about my recent totally disabling encounter with mental illness, the likes of which I could never have imagined. I will be frank and share my experience with the sole aim of giving hope to anyone else who may be suffering from anxiety and panic.

Coming up soon:

Musical instrument and amp stuff, bands

• Getting sacked and finding pastures new
• Hofner shorty travel guitar review and conversion project
• Ibanez Soundgear SR500 bass refinish
• Sessionette 75 guitar combo thoughts, restore and tilt-back stand
• Local musician encounters

My house

• How my roof was permanently wrecked by a negligent neighbour, blundering builder and arsehole architect. (How not to do a loft conversion and the Party Wall Act 1996)

That’s me done for now, back soon. Thanks for your patience.

I can see what’s been done to WordPress now, loads of javascript going on but it’s quite intuitive after a few minutes. I think it will work, it’s just a jolt to the system.