STUDIO

This is B's soundproof lair at the top of the house. I'm sure there are more guitars in here than last time I looked. That 12-string acoustic is a new acquisition, swapped for a bass amplifier a couple of days ago, and tomorrow we're driving up to a car park in Gateshead to meet someone and swap one of the basses for a different bass. B built most of the amps and cabinets himself, even the ones without his logo have got his amps inside. The walls you can't see are lined with his computers and gizmos where he mixes and arranges music, shouts at the radio, commands a submarine in the War of the Pacific, and gets into constant fierce Facebook arguments with people he's never met. As of yesterday, he's also sharing the room with a Small Tortoiseshell butterfly which has taken refuge somewhere there.

I've finally finished a big task that's been hovering over my head like a black cloud - hooray! - so am back to normal deadlines and rejoining Blipland.