I'm spending a month on a dairy farm on the banks of Loch Lomond doing some voluntary work.  I'm living in the January snowy mountain scene of a Scotland calendar.   Mostly I get muddy and shovel things (manure, hay, silage), sometimes I milk cows and do other things like dig trenches or ride around on diggers:  the wee boy in me is living his heart out.  There are many good things about being here and the timing has been perfect. 

Since coming back from my pilgrimage I've been wading through a whole load of emotional heavy shit and it's been almost too hard.  One of the not so good things about being a sensitive singer song writer is being too bloody emotional - all the time!  Yeah I know it makes good songs but especially in the middle of a marriage split it can get a bit much.  Hence the farm and getting away from my life for a while.  Cows are much simpler than people and definitely more giving and selfless.  I love cows, always have despite the fact that they weigh about 500 kilos and I tend to be nervous of large creatures (I think it's sensible to be wary of things that could kill you).  One day I have a wee dream that I’d keep a few cows of my own and make cheese.

I've been here for two and a half weeks and it's not been sunny once but it's so beautiful it doesn't really need to be sunny.  The farm in near Balloch (not too far from Glasgow) on the South East of the loch and it's just glorious.  The view is almost as good as Iona (but not quite).  I keep looking out at the islands on the loch and wondering why the see is so calm!  The farm is an interesting wee family run project.

 http://www.portnellanfarm.co.uk/

I'm writing songs - lots of them and unusually for me they are mostly on piano.  There's a slightly out of tune grand piano on the farm and my finger picking is kind of out of action for a while: I slammed one of my fingers in a barn door so finger picking is a bit dodgy at the moment and I really don't like strumming.  Not surprisingly the songs are sad and beautiful and haunting but also there's trust and some hope in there too.