Naughty Parakeets

I sat on the sofa doing research for the musical for much of the day. The most important aspect of the writing process is nailing the plot line before I put pen to paper, pencil to manuscript or finger to keyboard. I have to be firm with myself on this front. The tendency is to get over-excited and start writing music, but that's a sure way to end up with a song about absolutely nothing which you spend the rest of the life of the project trying to justify because you've grown so attached to it!

We went to the gym in the late afternoon and then bought ourselves a bag of cherries and some grapes and went to the top of Parliament Hill, where Nathan knitted a pair of intricate gloves and I read another book. I'll confess. I'm a little bored of reading books. 

I was hoping for an epic sunset, but the sun dipped behind a dark cloud at zero hour and spoilt everyone's fun!

Still, it was rather lovely to be sitting at the top of the hill looking down over London. The air was incredibly still, and we could hear little snippets of conversation from some of the other people who'd gathered to watch the sun setting. There were a couple of young, posh girls talking about the possibility that one of them was pregnant, a largeish group of fifty-somethings were talking about theatre and a curious mixed race couple were making some kind of peculiar film which seemed to involve the girl (on camera) saying how uncomfortable she felt with what he has asking her to do. The camera would stop rolling and they'd start snogging. It was all a touch peculiar. Nowt so queer as folk! 

Parakeets, now a regular sight on the Heath, were flying in endless circles above us. Flashes of green in the bright blue sky. Screeching and screaming, making a proper racket. Lovely to look at, but apparently terrible for the environment. Paranaughties!