Personal

Step two

So that finally happened.

We locked our front door in Maidenhead and left the key with the estate agent. It's been eleven months since we put our house on the market, and three months since we agreed a sale.

There'll be things we'll miss. Mostly I'll miss my daily walks to Windsor and back, always checking in on a few of the neighbourhood cats I've given new names to over the years. But really we're ready for what's next.

Step two starts in earnest now: find somewhere else to live.

Gig

Over the Rhine, Union Chapel

Ever since I first saw them in about 1993 I have taken every opportunity I can to see Over the Rhine play live. And at the Union Chapel? Who could say "no"?

These songs have provided the soundtrack to my life for a very long time, and judging by the sneak preview of new songs tonight, I imagine I'll be carrying them around a while longer yet.

Gig

Bruce Cockburn, St Pancras Church

Right now I'll take any opportunity I can to see Bruce Cockburn play. His long career means he suffers from an obsessive fan-base who all want to hear their own personal favourites. I'll never call mine out, but I was delighted to hear one of them today, Bone in my Ear from his massively underrated 1993 album Dart to the Heart.

Cockburn's probably best known as a political singer, but that I hold that collection of songs of love more dearly than any of his other work.