Ooops! Catch-up.

Oops, have neglected this shamefully this year. Mostly due to having way too much fun stuff to do and being either far too knackered or off to write anything inbetweentimes.

Shall try to recap.

Festivals I Have Been To.

Holmfirth - Great fun. Spent most of it hanging around with Stone Monkey Rapper who are lovely and saw, amongst others, Belshazzar's Feast, Rachel McShane and Pete Coe who were all brilliant. Got hugged by a morris dancer who was dancing on (took me a second to work out who it was!) and had a great evening in the session at the Cricket Club.
The Big Session - Just as awesome as last yeareven with the pouring rain on the Friday. Oysterband were brilliant in both their gigs, Chopper's solo stuff is lovely, Alan's stuff was great fun again. Saw the Proclaimers and realised a lifetime ambition I never knew I had (to hear them sing '500 Miles' live), really enjoyed Cara Dillon's set (which was a surprise since I can usually take or leave her stuff), loved Kerfuffle, enjoyed dancing to Whapweasel and discovered Megson and the Moulettes.
Ely Folk Festival - Blazingly hot weather, lovely little festival. Thoroughly enjoyed myself. Oysterband, Faustus, Demon Barbers, The Woodshed, Beckleberry, Chris Sherburn and Denny Bartley, Colvin Quarmby and John Tams and Barry Coope were all amazing. Met loads of people I knew, had fun at the French dance workshop and got thoroughly freaked out by how flat the land is there. Awesome weekend.
Whitby Folk Week - Amazing week. Hung around with Snark Rapper, played my fiddle in the beginners' sessions, learnt some cool new rapper figures, danced my socks off, loved the Dance Challenge between Chiltern Hundreds and Snark rapper, had an awesome night with all the sword dancers at Beck Hole, got to watch sam Sweeney and Hannah James while stewarding and had a really good time at the Northumbrian Ceilidh.
Shrewsbury - So much fun. Saw and loved Bellowhead, Belshazzar's Feast, Kerfuffle (last gig!), The Young 'Uns, The Wilsons, Kerr and Fagan (with and without Rob Habron), Fay Hield, Karen Matheson, Tickled Pink. All brilliant! Managed to play my fiddle through the Beginners' Session and loved John Kirkpatrick's 'Playing for Dancing' workshop.
Bromyard - Fun despite the rain. Belshazzar's Feast and Mike Wilson and Damien Barber were probably my favourites (both time both bands played) but Show of Hands, James Findlay, Fay Hield and Tri were also great fun. Whapweasel's ceilidh was lovely and I took my melodeon out for the first time for Issey Emney's workshop.

Concerts

Belshazzar's Feast - Saw them in Settle. Absolutely brilliant and so funny.
Spiers and Boden and Saltfishforty - Saw them in St Andrews. Enjoyed both of them as duos and they all played together really well in spite of the differing styles.
Mozart Festival Orchestra - Saw them in The Royal Albert Hall. Music was fantastic and the costumes were lovely. Might have accidently threatened to kill (and it was an honest accident) some german tourists beside me who would not stop talking (well, they did afterwards)
Bellowhead - Got an invite to the launch of Bellowhead's new album 'Hedonism' down in London. It was brilliant! They were so good in such a small space (and it was scary just how much of the audience I knew!) The new album is brilliant and they played it all the way through.
Spiers and Boden - saw them in Berwick. Really lovely weekend (got stared at by the seals off the pier) and the music was lovely and hilarious.

Rapper

Been a bit of a quiet year for rapper since DERT. We had one tour down Rose Street in the summer (fun but the football was on which dampened things a little.) We danced at the Anstruther Lifeboat Gala and then finished with a tourette in St Andrews which was good fun. We had a good day of practice for the DART team at The Village where I had another go at tumbling. Still not quite there but getting closer and I'm not giving up. We also had another soiree at The Village. Little more subdued for some reason than the previous one but still fun before we ended up at Trina's for mystery cocktails (which, is suspected, mostly consisted of vimto and slivovitz!). Apparently our team went down well in america at DART and I'm not jealous, not jealous at all.


In other areas, have got rid of Roger. There was too much too fix and parking was becoming an absolute nightmare. In one way it's incredibly annoying since I now really have to think hard before I want to go places again but in another way, it's a huge load off my mind. I managed before I got him, I'll manage again.
Attended the wedding of some reenactment friends at Craigmillar Castle. Lovely day, they both looked lovely in their medieval gear (ashamed to say I was in civvies since none of the kit I have is fit to be seen in nice places and I haven't had a chance to do any sewing this year), the company was good and there was a barn owl to drop off the rings.
Only managed one re-enactment event this year but it was a fun event in Inverness (where I managed to get quite a nasty sunburn despite linen coverings and factor 50 suncream!), multiperiod event at Fort George. Lovely to see the other time periods and nice to see the rest of the group as well.
Spent 2 weekends with Freaks in the Peaks. One was a normal dance weekend with blazing hot weather, and some fantastic sessions and the other was the canal trip which was wonderful. I ended up on the boat with Triskele rapper and we had a huge amount of fun on the gin slum as our boat became known. Some good fun dances (including the somewhat drunk gentleman who ran through the middle of a set with no trousers and only his hand to hide his modesty (as was pointed out later, he didn't really need the whole hand...) and some lovely scenery.

Lots of stuff coming as well. Will actually try to keep this thing up to date from now on.

Melodeon Love

Love the melodeon! Love the melodeon lots!!! Could actually get a reasonably recognisable tune out of it first go (am still working on that with the fiddle!) Not that I'm stopping with the fiddle by any means. I like playing it and I realise it's an instrument that takes far longer to get to basic level and I'm fine with that, it's just nice to have something that I can possibly get to playable level faster in the meantime. (And it is as fun to play as it looks!).

Speaking of which, fiddle class tonight. Have been praticing lots but not entirely sure it's improving. Will see how it goes.

Was looking at the Folkworks site last night. I quite fancy the week long summer course that they do. Haven't time to do it this year but I may start putting money away for next year (which also gives me time to decide whether I'd want to do dance or fiddle, assuming I'm a little bit more up to speed with the fiddle by then. Fingers crossed!)

Aim to try and clear the bed tonight. I've got a wedding to go to in Stirling on Saturday and I'm considering going along to Dot's gig on the Sunday which sort of limits tidying time at the weekend. I've got a notion that if, I get the bed clear, I'll find the rest much easier since I won't actually be living in the sitting room. Or I might just play with the meodeon and try and learn the morris tunes for Freaks in the Peaks!

Freaks in the Peaks

Well I didn't quite manage to get my tattercoat finished in time and managed to be 2 hours late picking up Trina due to various silly stuff and happenings (which might or might not have involved me getting lost in Edinburgh) but we finally set off to the Peak District. Journey down was easy enough (although there is still some impressive snow up on the Snake Pass which, up till this weekend has only been a name heard on the radio. Usually in travel reports saying that it's still shut because of snow!). Got down to Hathersage for around 21.30 and headed to the pub where we had a nice evening chatting to folks and listening to the session before heading back to the hall. I meant to go to bed but had a sudden urge to sew and managed a bit of my coat (while chatting to a castles expert which was nice!) before heading to bed (and I will say again that that airbed is probably my best buy of 2009!).

Saturday morning was spent practicing the dances (which was a good deal of fun) interspersed with mad bouts of sewing which meant that my coat was finished by lunch time! Huzzah! (Although, even as I was finishing it off, I was thinking of all the ways I could improve it, so there's still work to do!) Trina (who seemed to be supplying a small army) fed me lunch and then we were off to the Little John Pub where we danced a few dances before heading to the Scotsman's Pack to do a few more. dances went well, the pubs were nice, the weather was lovely and I got to wear my coat and hat for the first time. (Must remember that the hat makes me a couple of inches taller when swinging hankies round my head!). After this, we went and danced in front of the Gent's public loos for reasons best known to ourselves and got probably our largest audience of the day before retreating for tea. Trina and I retreated to the Little John Inn and had some fantastic bangers, mash and gravy (in absolutely huge quantities!) before heading back to the hall for a nap. This was when Trina apparently mistook me for a matress and tried to lift me up by my ankle! I think I should be worried about this!
The evening ceilidh was fun with all sorts of dance types attempted and we were treated some of John's fantastically funny and bizarre songs (including the one about breeding soft toys again!).

On Sunday, we walked across to the Tea Room at Grindleford (temporarily losing a large part of the side on the way!). You have to love a tea room that serves tea in pints!. Also saw the most labradors I have ever seen in one place. I was so tempted to steal one. I seem to have a soft spot for labs. (Fitting, I suppose, since labs do tend to be 90% soft spot themselves.) The walk itself was lovely with fantatstic views in the crisp, cold air even if we were vaguely knackered by the uphill climb.
We did a fair few dances at the Tea Room while dodging the traffic. I had a go at Lorenze's Butterfly and Twiglet, 2 of the more complicated dances, which didn't go as well as they had the previous day due to sudden memory blanks but I'm glad I had a go and think I will do better next time. We then walked back along the riverside (much flatter and just as nice) to an absolutely beautiful pub with an open fire that I can't remember the name of sadly and did a few more dances before heading back to the hall. We tried to help with the clearing up a little before we said goodbye to folks and headed back up North.
While we were crossing the Snake Pass, we came across a dip in the road where there was a deep puddle where cars had been splashing water up against the roadside trees which had frozen leaving them just covered in icicles and they looked absolutely stunning.

Made it back at around 23.00 where I had a bit of a nose round my green fabric coloured burrow before having a shower (and unknotting my hair which, due to a combination of me forgetting my hairbrush and having it under a hat all weekend, had tangled itself into a knotty mess that kept trying to eat the brush!) and slinking off to my (green fabric covered) nest on the settee.

I am now shattered, missing morris very much and saying 'ow' every time I try and walk. My shins really hate me! I do not think that my rapper stepping will go well tonight!

For some reason, I always think that morris is faster than it actually is (which is what put me off taking down the fiddle) but, on really listening during the dancing, I think I can actually keep up (what it'll actually sound like is another matter!) and I will have to play out some time and Freaks are a very beginner friendly side so next time I am definitely taking the fiddle or clarinet or both and, while I may not play for dances with audiences, I am definitely going to have a go at playing for practices.

Morris Excitement

Getting along nicely with my tattercoat. (Although I now have a blister on my thumb from using the pinking shears to cut more tatters!) Am trying to alleviate my excitement for the weekend by making lists of what I need to take. I always do this and I don't know why cause I never actually use them. Hope the weather stays nice for the walk anychance.
Really wishing I was better at using my sewing machine cause I would have had the thing finished by now. Handsewing a tattercoat is not fun (still, at least it's not as mindnumbing as handsewn boning channels. I still have nightmares about my first effort at replicating a late C16th pair of bodies. I've never worn them out (although they were a fantastic learning experience and, when I come to try it again, I'll have a much better idea of what I'm doing) but if I do find myself needing body armour (for whatever reason), they should be ideal!)

Found out that Sherlock Holmes and Avatar 3D will still be on at the cinema next week so have promised my self that I will finally get round to seeing Avatar and then I can go and see Sherlock Holmes again. Still, it's nice to know I'm getting my money's worth out of the Unlimited Card!

Fiddle class tonight and then will spend the rest of the evening sewing like a sewy thing. I've taken the whole of tomorrow off and I don't have to collect Trina until 1pm so I can sort out my stuff tomorrow morning, do some last minute sewing and possibly get some clarinet practice in.

After this weekend, I'm starting a health kick. I really do need to lose the weight I put on in the Autumn (and a little extra to be honest) and I could do with being fitter. Have bought a healthy diet cook book thing so will actually attempt to cook healthy stuff rather than living off my usual tuna, soy sauce, tomato and pasta mush. Must also take more exercise so shall have to get along to the irish set classes. (Am giving up on scottish country at the moment as, for starters, I have fiddle on the same night and it'd just be too much for one night and, also, my heart just isn't in the practices at the moment. I'll still try to get along to some dances this year (she says having already missed the Edinburgh one last weekend) but it's not the priority it once was.)
So there's that to do and the flat to finally finish tidying and rats to organise.

Random Finds

On the way home last night, spotted one of those strings of fake greenery for a £1. Bought it for no better reason than 'pretty' and 'I'm sure I can find a use for that' (which is possibly why there's no room to move in the burrow!). Anyhow, got it home and thought, 'That'll look great on my top hat!' and, sure enough, it does. So good buy, I feel. Also got some more work done on the tattercoat last night (It's actually starting to resemble something other than a shirt with scraps attached) It's going to be a close run thing but I might actually finish it in time for Hathersage! Also I found out that I've got a place on the Freaks in the Peaks canal boat trip so Huzzah!

Having not touched my clarinet since before Christmas, (much to my neighbours relief, I'm sure) I now have an irresistable urge to start again so I shall.

Also have a chance at getting a very good, very cheap rat cage so that is also very good.

Continuing to bounce about the Freaks weekend which isn't helping my sewing!

Bridge Collapse

Well, was about to put fiddle in new case last night when the bridge collapsed. Fortunately, it wasn't broken (just horizontal) so I managed to resite it and retune the thing but definitely going to have to get a new bridge the weekend after next.

Rapper was good fun last night. We got through quite a lot and even had a go at putting together a simple workshop dance. The bar staff gave us all free haggis, neeps and tatties as well. Anything to stop us dancing I suppose.

Tonight I plan to make as much headway as I can on the tattercoat while watching Sherlock Holmes on DVD. I had forgotten just how good Jeremy Brett was!

More Stuff To Do.

Well, Roger is now MOT'd and i am now on bread and water for the forseeable future. Passed on everything except his emissions and his brakes. Unfortunately it seemed the whole brake system had to be replaced (Apparently deep ruts in the brake discs. They were fine last MOT which makes me wonder if the increased grit use this year has had an effect. Ah well, so it goes). Still, at least I know he works. Must get his tax renewed now. Scary thing is, even with all this added cost, he's still been cheaper than any other car I have ever had. (This possibly means that I need to look closely at all my previous cars more than anything else!). No matter, he is set for going down to Hathersage and I am a little excited.

On the subject of Freaks, I made a start on bringing the tatters and the shirt into conjunction this weekend. (Nothing like leaving it to till the last minute). I reckon, if I work at it, I may get it finished before the weekend. Will have to see. Did a lot of fiddle practice this weekend too. Tried a lot of the morris tunes. Am really liking the tune for Twiglet. May even possibly be able to play it at weekend (albeit slowly and badly).

Snark rapper is coming to Edinburgh. Although we can't get a full Mons Meg team together to tour with them, a few of us intend to follow them around and take in the Snark experience. Also, it's rapper, you just have to!

Tried to get hold of the GMC on the phone but nothing doing so have e-mailed them again with a long and detailed explanation of what has happened, what is currently happening and what would like to happen. Will see what this does.

On a positive note, the washing machine behaved itself this weekend, (no doubt because I didn't go anywhere near it while it was on) so I may let it live.

Apparently Sherlock Holmes is still on at the cinema but I managed to go the whole weekend without wandering along which is a good thing but I am not allowed to go again until the tattercoat is finished (Otherwise it will never be finished, ever!)

Never managed to go and geet the fiddle's bridge fixed this weekend (mostly cause I was sat by the phone waiting to see if I could collect Roger) but I am waiting on it's new case arriving. It's original case sadly gave in to time last week and disintergrated on the way back from class, nearly dumping my fiddle on the road! Fortunately, managed to rescue the fiddle in the nick of time so it's still fine (apart from the bridge, obviously). Anyhow, new case is not exactly going to be state of the art (thougt process went, 'Arrgghh! Need something safe to put fiddle in it, what can I afford. Roger's MOT is coming up so probably not a lot. Oh look, cheap fiddle case on Amazon) but it will, apparently have a carry strap which would be nice since it will stop me nearly killing people with it when I have it in my hand.

Ooh, and we're entered in DERT!!!! Huzzah, let the nit-picking begin in earnest!

Weekend Plans

Didn't make it to Dot's thing last night cause I was completely knackered after fiddle class (where we're learning Auld Lang Syne in order to terrorise friends and family on Burn's Night!)

Getting increasingly nervous about Roger's MOT. Please let whatever he fails on be easily (and cheaply, but that's a more distant and subdued hope!) fixable, please.

Plan this weekend is to wander into town to pick up a couple of things, tidy the burrow, have another go at contacting the GMC, create the tattercoat, maybe go and see Avatar 3D (now that I can't be sidetracked into seeing Sherlock Holmes) and probably watch lots of Jeremy Brett Holmes episodes on DVD.

Have come to the conclusion that I can't remember how to do anything on Facebook (although that kind of assumes that I had a clue what to do with it in the first place!) May have to enlist some help in order to work out what to do with it. Other people have all these groups and photos and games and I can barely find the people I already 'friended'. I think I was meant for the age of steam at the latest! On that note, the washing machine has been laying low although this could possibly be because I've not used it since. Need to do washing this weekend. Will be operating the buttons with a long stick and then going to hide in the bedroom until it's done!

Freaks in the Peaks next weekend! Little bit excited now. Never been to Hathersage but have always known it as the home of Little John thanks to Robin of Sherwood.

Murderous Machines.

My washing machine went for me last night! I was standing in the little kitchen area of the burrow, minding my own business, when it suddenly leapt at me and tried to pin me against the fridge! Have never moved so fast in my life. I think it's seen what has happened to all the electrical equipment in the burrow and decided to get me before I can get it. Anyhow, shall be keeping an eye on it in case it starts to become like my Gran's old machine which used to chase dogs and children round the kitchen and you couldn't turn your back on it or it would sneak up on you.

Managed to empty Roger last night but I still need to give him a good clean before tomorrow so I don't think I'll be able to make it to Dot's thing tonight which is a shame. Still, at least I managed to get some fiddle practice in last night. (Here's hoping they didn't suddenly leap ahead to other tunes while I was ill last week).

Really keeping my fingers crossed about Roger's MOT. I know he'll need something doing, cars always do, but please let it not be anything major. All his tyres have been replaced this year (and if I find whoever keeps leaving old nails on the roadside then there will be blood! And possibly tetanus!) and, other than his mysteriously draining battery (which has been fine since New Year) and the dead bulb where his mileage should read, he seems to be running well. I think that this might be my last year with him regardless though. With increasing costs of fuel and my leaning towards folk dancing rather than reenactment (apart from The Borderers where I don't need to take much with me) I think a smaller car may be warranted. He's insured till November so that gives me some time to decide. That said, he's been great this past year and a half. It may take a while to get him going but when he goes, there's no stopping him and his bootspace has been useful.

Right, definitely tattercoat sewing this weekend otherwise I'll have nothing to wear in Hathersage (Other than everyday clothes obviously, cause that would be chilly!) and, damnit, I want my own tattercoat!

Have booked my ticket for IVFDF so at least that's done. Have ordered a purple hoodie rather than a T-shirt cause the last one came in really useful. (May investigate whatever T-shirts are remaining at the actual weekend). Have been looking at the evening stuff and I quite fancy the 422 ceilidh on the Friday evening and Vertical Expression contra, followed by Whapweasel (who are also playing at The Big Session this year) on the Saturday. Of course, also on the Saturday is the Northumbrian ceilidh so there may be a bit of lateral drift throughout the evening. No idea about the workshops yet but if there are any random musical ones then I intend to go and loiter in a corner to get tips. Really enjoyed the fiddle one last year (and one day I hope to be able to put it to use!)

Ian has put up some pictures of one of our early day rapper practices on Facebook. There is a very odd picture of me curled up on the ground. I'm still wondering what on earth I was doing.

Getting Nitpicky

Very good rapper practice last night. With DERT looming, I suddenly go from ever so slighlty niggly to outright obsessive (please don't let me start dreaming about Flying Pixies again, please!) about figures. DERT's not till April and we don't even know if we've got a place in the competition yet and I'm already off! Doesn't bode well. Still we picked up on a lot of stuff that we need to correct in our Number 1 dance and we've pretty much got the basic shape of the Winlaton but we really need to start on the details.

Getting fairly excited about the Freaks in the Peaks weekend down in Hathersage at the end of the month. I will have my tattercoat finished, I will!

Must remember to book my ticket for IVFDF while I'm thinking about it, come to that. Don't think I'll get the bus down with New Scotland but will meander down in Roger since it's only to Durham. May even contemplate the train or bus. Will have a think on it.

What's to Come..

Have to get myself sorted out tonight so I can leave for Buittle straight after work tomorrow since that's where I'm spending New Year and the roads could be a little dicey. This includes making sure that Roger is working since he's spent the last week parked and under layer of snow! Really looking forward to going though.

Also to look forward to are the Mons Meg traditional ceilidh thing at The Village Inn in Leith with possible curry beforehand, the second term of my fiddle class (Must get some more practice in before then), seeing the Imagined Village in Celtic Connections (Must locate my ticket and keep it safe!) and a possible rapper tour in Glasgow while Celtic Connections is on.

Have also booked my ticket for the Big Session Festival. It's in June so I really must find a safe place to put it. This is so organised for me that I'm still trying to recover! (Must also get round to booking for Whitby Folk Week as well!)

Am waiting on my landlord getting back from holiday so that they can let me know their final decision on whether I can keep rats or not. (They were all for it and then got spooked by a friend's story of nightmare tenants with a hamster). I hope they say yes since I really, really miss having a pet. If not, might have to go flat hunting which I could live without at the moment.

Currently trying to make a tatter coat for Freaks in the Peaks Border Morris side. Have got as far as dying the shirt green and collecting the fabrics for the tatters (May also have acquired a top hat which is ever so slightly too big and will need decorating too) so should hopefully get it finished before the next event at the end of January in Hathersage.

Last but not least, there is DERT to prepare for. Must get the booking form sorted.