consider the story

​Winter saw the emergence of my latest CD consider the story, beautifully designed by my son Seán, and with wonderful performances from so many different musicians I have worked with over the years. So far, it has been well received, not least myString Quartet ‘Kalavrita’ of which John France wrote “It does not matter whether you regard this work as a threnody for the massacred or as deeply disconcerting absolute music. This is the masterpiece on the disc, one of the finest pieces I have heard from Purser’s catalogue.” (MusicWeb-International,12.12.2021). The Brodsky Quartet give the piece every chance.
 
News on the croft is that the cattle are being fed the hay from the east of Scotland which comes in small ‘square’ bales, easy to manage. We started feeding in January. Julie is due to calve any day, and Dedee is also in calf but not due for a few weeks yet. It’ll be Julie’s first calf and as she is not the brightest of our cows it’ll be interesting to see what she makes of her responsibilities. If she has any sense, she’ll hold off until the weather improves. It has been mostly wet, windy, grim and miserable for months, with only the odd decent or half-decent day, and the sun too shy to put up much of a show. At least the snowdrops are in full bloom and a thrush is beginning to announce impending spring from various treetops. There is hope.
 
This month I became an octogenarian. I am told this is about right as my body feels like 90 and my brain like 70, so the result splits the difference. Family came up in relays and I was overwhelmed with love, gifts, superb meals and general indulgence. Now it is time to revert to good old Purser Baptist values; tighten the belt, fit a truss round the slackening morals, and continue in the never-failing holier-than-thou approach which has served me so well over the decades.

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