Sanjeev Bhaskar appeared on Desert Island Discs last week and spoke with great wisdom. He talked of how we are always studying the past and projecting our hopes and dreams on the future but how rarely we live in the 'now'.

It's so important just to stop sometimes. Recently we heard someone speak of the delights of leaning on a farm gate for a while, just taking it all in. It's so easy and yet so difficult to do in this frantic world we live in. You have to train yourself to take these moments. This may be so much harder to do in a busy city but it may be a question of just looking at the world around you with new eyes. Or, listening with new ears. A while ago I found myself listening to my two daughters giggling together and was suddenly struck by what a wonderful sound it was. Sanjeev also mentioned a song by Susannah McCorkle which he found inspiring. Here's a link to You Tube which features a charming and heartwarming video. It certainly lifted out spirits today.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=twtp716Oa-s&feature=related

Sanjeev also mentioned the composer Jocelyn Pook, new to us, but a wonderful discovery. Check her out on You Tube. We especially like Song For Bassanio. Wonderfully stilling music.

Bengt and Lotta - Swedish design

I've long had a thing about Scandanavian design. I don't know what it it - maybe the simplicity of the lines, the unfussy patterns, the organic shapes. Recently, in little old Launceston in Cornwall, I discovered a shop called '@ home' stocking quite a selection of Swedish and Danish products. It just cheers me up to look at them.

http://www.bengt-lotta.se/

Dance Matt and friends

Well, we have finally listened to our wise neighbour, Spot (http://tamar-valley-life.blogspot.com/) and got our own blog going. Spot has vastly superior technical knowledge to us and it has taken us a little while to find our way around the intracacies of building blog pages.

This website is so worth a look - http://wherethehellismatt.com/?fbid=iljlCaYer5Y. We were having a black dog day one day (we get them in Venterdon occasionally, you know) and someone emailed this link. It is one of the most uplifting things we have seen in a while. Click on the 2008 video and see what we mean. It's got over 10 million viewings on You Tube now. The thing that gets us is the simple joy of travelling around the world and doing some crazy dancing with people you don't even know just for the sheer fun of it.

Just hearing the music start up makes us smile. Never fails to cheer us up.

Recently we've discovered a group due to appear at WOMAD 2008, Orchestra Baobab. Again, You Tube came up trumps and we came across this: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=aE6aCm41aPU&feature=related. It's so soothing and really helped to chase away the dreadful Cornish summer weather.

These guys started playing together over 20 years ago. After a break of several years, some members of the group wanted to reform. One of the lead guitarists had by this time established a successful law practice but was was hauled away to carry on making such wonderful music. Enjoy!