Amazon no longer allow you to link anything but stuff they sell in their wishlists, which is less than ideal, so here goes with a list of stuff I would really like.

I’ve broken the list into thematic areas and (roughly) into order of desirability in each of the sections (though not so much in the courses section).

Music and Streaming

This is the horribly expensive section. Sorry.

BlackMagic ATEM Mini Extreme ISO Switcher

This is an upgrade for the ATEM Mini Pro ISO that runs my YouTube streams, and it would enable me to do a lot of stuff that’s currently either fiddly or outright impossible. It has more buttons than you can shake a stick at. It’s a cut down version of the console that sits in a TV control room which the editor uses to cut from camera to camera, add graphics overlays, set up split screen displays and generally run the entire show from their desk. It also handles sending the live stream out to the internet and records every input channel, to allow for later editing.

I don’t need one of these – my Mini Pro has been doing excellent service since I bought it – but I really want one.

Ear Trumpet Labs Myrtle Microphone

ETL microphones look fantastic and are designed for the kind of music Emily and I make. In the US bluegrass and americana scene they’re almost the de facto choice for small ensembles doing the old school ‘bunch of performers around a single mic’ style of performing.

Since writing this, I’ve been able to borrow one of these mics and I think I’m even more in love with them.

A course of some description

There’s so much to learn, isn’t there?

Photography

I realise I’m never likely to set up my own darkroom, but I’d love to learn to use one so I can hire one occasionally. The Art House in Wakefield has a Taster Session, as well as a Darkroom One-to-One option that looks very tempting, and Wakefield’s close enough to Doncaster that their Darkroom membership looks pretty handy too.

Not quite a traditional darkroom process, but I’d also love to learn Photogravure, which is a cunning technique for printing photos on an etching press to gorgeous effect.

Music

On the music front, this Performance & Repertoire Skills with Maddy Prior(!) course looks amazing and absolutely up my street (though possibly a little short notice as a birthday present in 2024. If you do decide to go for it, could you let Gill know in advance.)

Cookery

I’ve enjoyed River Cottage pig related courses, and their fermentation or curing and smoking courses look very tempting.

I like to think I know what I’m doing with a knife, but a Knife Skills course would go down well.

Crafts

This Kitchen Knife making course looks fab.

I’d also love to take JoJo Wood’s Eating Spoon Masterclass course, but I’m not sure if it’s started up again post-COVID. Gill and I did a couple of her dad’s courses in Edale where we met and were very impressed by her.

Kitcheny Things

A Chef’s Knife by Michael May

Michael May’s a Sheffield knife maker who makes gorgeous knives. I have one of his pocket knives and it’s always with me. He recently started making a range of kitchen knives as well, and they’re spectacular. Any of his kitchen knives would be a delightful thing to have, but I’m an absolute sucker for a chef’s knife.

Even if you’re not thinking of buying one of these for me, check out the rest of the site and try to resist buying one for yourself – you never know when you’ll need a pocket knife that really cuts.

A Tormek T-1 Kitchen Knife Sharpener

I’m not denying that this is complete overkill, but I do like a sharp knife, and I would be honour bound to sharpen any kitchen knife you brought to me for the foreseeable future.

Almost anything from Sous Chef

I’m a sucker for a good cookbook. The chocolate and sweets collection is amazing, and I wouldn’t say no to a Microplane coarse cheese grater.

Almost anything from Chocolarder

When we lived in Cornwall, we met Mike, the founder of Chocolarder back when he was making small amounts of chocolate in his garden shed and selling them at farmers’ markets. I was a sucker for pretty much everything he made, but his Sea Salt Caramel Truffles were amazing. They still are. It’s a little harder to impulse buy stuff from them now we’re living up country again.

Stationery

There’s something about a good pen and the paper to use it on. Lots of lovely stuff at Cult Pens, including:

Kaweco Liliput Fireblue Fountain Pen

The perfect fountain pen doesn’t exist, but these are gorgeous and I’d love to have one in the pen loop of my pocket notebook. A fine nib, please – I’ll be using this with a small pocket notebook and writing small.

Opus 88 Mini

Another pocket fountain pen option. Fine nib, please.

Pilot Parallel Pen

Because sometimes, I just want to muck about with a really wide italic type nib

Rhodia Notebooks and Pads

Just the nicest paper for writing on with ink pens.

Ink

I’m still searching for the perfect sepia ink. Something that looks like it was written 200 years ago and has dried to the perfect dark brown. I have the horrible feeling that the only way to achieve that look is with some iron/gall concoction that’s then been left for a long time so the original colour vanishes to be replaced by the permanent colour that comes from the iron/gall reaction. Any colour but green, really.