Well, the traveling was grueling but the gigs were great. I chalked up about 10,000 miles (roundtrip plane, car, train, ferry, etc...), did dozens of interviews, ate lots of scones, saw lots of sheep outside the car window, and got away with only having to change my guitar strings once! Now, if I could only get all of you that came to the gigs (just over 3,000) to charter a fleet of planes and fly over here to a NYC gig, I wouldn't have so much packing and unpacking to do! (Hmmmm...).

Speaking of which, I do have one more gig this year in New York City at a cool little venue called Makor (35 West 67th Street NY, NY) on Thursday, December 18 at 8:00pm. ORDER TICKETS.

Anyway, it's good to be home, even if it did take two weeks to retrain all the animals to leave enough room for me on my side of the bed. (The cats still walk over me in the middle of the night though - no respect. ) I've still got a zillion things to do in the studio and on the website, but I did manage to take a few days off to recouperate from the road and I even found time to get a few shingles up on the roof of the Treehouse. I even framed a skylight! Slowly, but surely...

By the way, thanks to everyone that came out to support the tour and especially those of you that brought along friends. And thanks to those brave media folk in TV, radio and newspapers who granted me access to the big old media stew, helping me to spread the word about the tour. It all makes a difference.

The first snow fell last night - nothing much, just a light dusting - but enough to announce that winter is upon us. A few weeks early, in fact. The squirrels and chipmunks are especially busy gathering nuts and adding twigs and leaves to their nests. And they seem to enjoy scampering across the partially completed Treehouse roof. It makes a handy surface for breaking apart acorns and hickory nuts. And I'm sure they wonder what I'm doing hanging out in their tree, making all kinds of noise with my hammer and drill.

Got the cars inspected! Now we're driving legally. Still have to replace the bushings on the leaf springs, though. Imagine that! It sounds like something to do with frogs on a lily pad, but it has to do with the rear suspension, which has been sounding clunky.

I've got more songs to write and an album to record in the spring (don't worry, I didn't forget ;-)).

Oh, and here's a tidbit that some of you might find interesting. Towards the end of my Fringe adventure, this August, I managed to videotape two shows - a grownup show and a kids show. In just a few days, I'll be releasing two concert DVD's - 1. Dean Friedman - In Concert - Edinburgh Fringe and 2. Dean's Silly Song, Sing-Along - Edinburgh Fringe. It's a three-camera recording of two solo gigs. The footage looks pretty good and for anyone interested in a DVD concert video, you'll be able to order them in a few days. (Still in time to ship to your home for the holidays!).

So, anyway, that's all for now. I'm off to hammer in some more shingles.

Everybody, be well and talk to you soon!

Dean