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A master class in song writing and music arranging and performance. Excellent work guys.     

Cheers Father Piri
Your sermonizing is always interesting thought provoking well delivered and, on the mark, ( not to be confused with the gospel of Mark). Your words are good and find a good home unlike Father McKenzie In the song Elanor Rigby. Father McKenzie writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear. No one comes near. Looking back at myself at times I'm a bit of a Father Ted in that somedays I haven't got much to get hung about Strawberry fields forever.   If I am going to use Beatles lyrics, on chordie I should get it right.
And nothing to get hung about
Strawberry Fields forever
Living is easy with eyes closed
Misunderstanding all you see
It's getting hard to be someone
But it all works out
Thank you, John Lennon, for those lyrics now that's enough of me losing the plot.
On a serious note it is sad how methamphetamine use has spread all around the world even as far as quiet little towns away from the rat race. Here in NZ meth use is everywhere and the police are not winning the battle. It is hitting all socio-economic groups. Nationwide wastewater testing which covers up to 75 percent of New Zealand’s total population has picked up huge amounts of methamphetamine in all areas of this country. The main drug suppliers here are organized crime and gangs who are a corrupting influence that threaten the well-being and prosperity and safety of many of our communities. They exploit the most vulnerable people through drugs, violence and intimidation. Organized crime is also often hidden and therefore the size and impact I think could be underestimated by the average Kiwi person.

The street where Maree and I live is a quiet area but a few years back we had a house across the road from us that became a drug supply house. In the day it was quiet but at night it was bad with cars and noisy people coming and going all through the night. Eventually thank goodness the police started raiding them and they eventually moved out and we got our peaceful neighborhood back again. Here endeth my sermon.

There is nothing wrong with your songwriting Jim and its clever how you put the chords together and take the time to put them up on soundcloud.
This song holds up good like all your songs.     

Thank you Piri and Grah for your kind thoughts. Even though my hand and fingers are not up to it I gave a slightly rearranged very rough sort of musical version of the poem a quick run through on the guitar.  I will take it down after a couple of days. Here it is attached.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_sWJhocrvA

Grah, you do that song really good.     

Piri I agree with Jim that farmer came up with a brilliant way of getting around the system. To have an opportunity to perform at the Royal Albert Hall at an early age is something that would have inspired me to perform if that happened to me. Maree and I went on a guided tour of the Albert Hall when in London year's back and standing on the stage with just our tour group and no audience made me wish that I was a performer playing to a real audience.     

Jan, thank you for taking the time to comment and have a read.

Cheers Jim,

The gate keepers the tax collectors of your lottery in the States make a big financial windfall by the sound of it very interesting. According to mathematicians the odds of winning our NZ lotto is 1 in 3,838,380.         

I recently read a book about the  The Rebecca Riots over in Wales which took place between 1839 and 1843. They were a series of protests undertaken by local tenant farmers and agricultural workers in response to crippling levels of taxation. At that time there were many toll-gates on the roads in Wales which were operated by dodgy trusts which were supposed to maintain and improve the roads, with funding from roads tolls. The Rebecca Riots were a response not only against the toll-gates, but also other factors badly affecting Welsh farming communities. The toll-gates were chosen as the most tangible representation of the system the rioters so despised that could be attacked. The rioters were often men dressed as women as a way of disguising their identity a group which went by the name of 'Merched Beca' which translates from Welsh language as Rebecca's Daughters. Hope I got that right Phill would know better than I would.

The Rebeccas, also began targeting the landlords of farmers, after shifting their focus on tollgates alone towards more general grievances against the landlord class. They sent threatening letters warning the landlords to make reductions in the crippling rent for their tenant farmers. In the 1800s what attracted many British farm workers here to  NZ was the opportunity to eventually own the land their farm was on and not be subject to high rents charged by a landlord class.

Cheers Piri

The poultry farmer gets a poultry sum while the supermarket gets a good profit.

The farmer is often yoked to a system that means the price at the checkout doesn’t always reflect what is paid at the farm gate.     

Jeff that is brilliant what you have got going on this post. Happy New Year everyone.

We rode on push bikes down to Waikanae Beach.

Sat on a bench in the sand dunes.

Watching the waves and people in love hand in hand strolling on the sand.

No lovers embrace or holding hands for us.

Just an affirmation that we were true friends.

We will only be friends we said to each other.

Why ruin something good with romance we thought.

Riding our bikes amongst runners and strollers.

Some rich some poor and a couple of high rollers.

We moved onto a café sitting at our table without much talk.

Enjoying lunch after discussing our relationship completely scared conversation away.

Not knowing over forty years later a marriage and true love for each other wouldn’t go away.

A café and food for thought an uncomfortable memory of many years past.

A once terrified couple from years past thinking our relationship wouldn’t last.

Now sitting at a table at a café.

Waiting for our tea and hot scones to arrive.

We look at each other our souls purring loud like contented cats.

Good one Richard preforming live for the people. It was also good that your video catches the crowd applause which shows your skills are coming across good.     

Thank you Piri,  Grah and Brian, in the short term I won't be playing music but I'm hoping with help from the medical people that we will find a way to start playing again but it looks like that might take a while.