I did it, I had a shower, a real shower, standing up. It wasn’t perfect because I’d forgotten to plug the boiler in, so it didn’t quite make it to the end. Also, Suze the painter had to tape a plastic sheet to the left because otherwise, it’s water straight onto a newly painted wall. We’re getting a glazier in to assess the possibility of putting a piece of glass there (tiles were also discussed) but until then, it’s still a building site. Suze and Hayden were here painting when I arose, Greek blue cabinets in the kitchen, green in the guest toilet, and then a lot of taping for the next stage. Mafalda has been here late two nights, so she could take Friday off to go camping but guess what…

Yep, today it rained. I was shocked when I went out of the door, completely unprepared. I had to go back and find my umbrella, but it was ‘wavy rain’ so it seemed to hit you despite protection. I was taking my Dry Cleaning album back to the record store because it’s warped and they were replacing it for me. I felt sorry for the tourists, come to Porto in July and get rain, but then again it seems better than the scorching heat in Greece and Spain where people are dying. The rain seemed to take people completely unawares, as if the thought that it could rain here in July was beyond any possibility. Consequently, there were lots of people sheltering in doorways, just waiting, looking down at their shorts, flip-flops, and T-shirts and wondering what happened.

Tubitek has a 20% sale to celebrate their ninth anniversary, so I took the opportunity to pick up some titles that suddenly seemed more affordable. The problem these days is that whatever people say about the resurgence in vinyl sales, everything is very limited, if you miss it, good luck finding it for either a reasonable price or at all – the first Aldous Harding album is a case in point.

I had a sesh with Fred in Minneapolis after having moved all my studio from one room to another so that they can get into the room where it was to fix the floor. I’ve got it down now as far as wiring it up, but one plug socket works and one doesn’t, so it’s a pain. We have an electrician coming at the end of the first week of August. He’s very busy and apparently so good that despite being Portuguese, he’s on a job in France. It’s probably a good thing because, by the time he’s here, we’ll have the painting finished and have an idea of what needs doing. I just got a message from BJM Ricky who is coming to Portugal to play the second week of August. But then there’s the Ariel issue, we might have to go to England on a rescue mission around that time. More on that and the latest developments soon.

Music today has been Suzanne Vega’s second album, aka the breakthrough album, Solitude Standing (1987). The one with Tom’s Diner and Luka, as if you didn’t know that. She really writes lyrics and with Luka, it wasn’t exactly the material you would imagine for a hit. She once came down to The Archive in Penzance.

Music Of The Daze