What Katie Did

The cute one at the back

There is never a dull moment in our neck of the woods, especially in the summer. Geoff, usually to be found with a pencil behind his ear in the workshop with a bit of wood, has branched out into a new career as a dancer. Yes - you couldn't make it up.
We have a dear friend who is a dancer, choreographer and thoroughly all round nice person. Tim. He has put together an amazing dance performance at the English Heritage site at Belsay. Rehearsals have been in full swing for months with several different groups coming together for three performances, the last of which is tonight.
There are professionals from Dance City

dancing in the amazing library room
A group of performing arts students from a local school in the dining room

wearing my kind of colours
Then, in the central pillar hall, columns and stone and cold,dark high walls lit up by a community group of dancers of all abilities - some with learning difficulties, partial sight and professional dancers - amazing piece this one. The audience view this piece from the balcony above. This is such a joy - to look down on the Hall as the dance unfolds, with amazing music to accompany all of these separate performances.

Then, of course, the children, little bits of fizzing energy buzzing around the place in vibrant silk!

They were wonderful. The weather has been crucial for this production and thankfully, the rain has held off for their outside performance. I have been stewarding at this event and have loved shepherding people round the complicated room changes and outside/inside nature of the way Tim has used the space.

Here are the kids in the Quarry Garden completely absorbed in the sequence of their dance. Parents, grandparents, sisters and brothers in the audience catching a glimpse of their own little treasure. Lovely!
Another dance sequence took place with the Hall as the backdrop

Last night, bursting with pride, I whispered to a member of the audience - 'guess which one I am married to?
'The cute one at the back?'
Yes.

Felt Making with a difference

Last Friday I was invited to take part in the Summer Festival at our local MENCAP college, a residential college for people with learning difficulties. I was the Felt Maker.

Here is my trusty 50p suitcase full of colourful fibre. I made a base of all the greens I had with me while the parade was getting underway and then when visitors and residents were arriving I invited them to make a heart shape to felt onto it.
 
This is Sharon - she really got the hang of the process . Other people made felt balls and I brought home the 'work in progress' to complete.

A few beads to add a bit of sparkle

and the odd sequin here and there

and now it is all ready to hang in the college!

I really enjoyed this project. Here is some of the students felt on sale

and this lovely clay lady who had to come home with me to sit in the shed

The sun shone, the felt was wonderful and I had a thoroughly wonderful day - disabled my foot!

Owen seen here beside my new rowan tree

Woolfest 2008

The Wool Event of the Year has come and gone and did not disappoint the Wonderful Knitters of Hexham. Anne says that if you do something three times it becomes a tradition - so the raspberry porridge and apple pancakes at the Village Bakery are now part of a tradition.
This year, I think there was more felting than I remember from previous years with much more fibre for sale. Some of my old friends were missing - Pavi Yarns for example and Laughing hens and Web of Wool - all absent, but plenty to keep us all entertained nevertheless!

These Estonian Lovelies seen here showing their rare breed sheep's wool in an interesting way!
My hit of the day was the Natural Dye Studio stand. I really love the way all the colours blend together

so, after much deliberation, I bought some DK and signed up for their blanket project. I risk derision and ridicule from my fellow knitters, but I have plans to make something like this

but maybe with a green background and lots of pink. I love green and pink! And maybe not so big?
Yesterday was the last day of Art Tour in my shed and luckily, one of the visitors was able to help me decipher the pattern! It is a spectacularly easy pattern, but I was having a problem with half trebles and trebles. When you read a word often enough it starts to look unreal. This had happened with 'trebles'...treble treble treble treble ......and I stopped understanding! Help was forthcoming and I am back in the saddle so to speak! Watch this space for progress. I have to do it now that I have told all of you!
Lots of really lovely visitors to the shed yesterday including Ellie and her kids and friends. Ellie is a wonderful felt maker with an amazing house and workshop in the north Pennines. She does great courses too. And Jet and her kids who is about to rescue some battery hens so came to have a look at my girls.
I will miss Art Tour, though it will be good to have the shed back to a work space rather than a shop! I have plans to open the shed here in the virtual world, so another 'watch this space' project!
And here is another - knitted bunting - just the best thing!

The sun, the sky and the garden

I had occasion to go to Penrith yesterday and took the chance to visit my favourite bookshop - Bluebell

where they sell a wonderous collection of books and really nice coffee - that's a raspberry scone and a couple of lovely books to browse through.

The weather was magnificent and the light on the hills so beautiful

I love the way the clouds cast shadows on the hills. I took my time driving back home and saw so many things that I wanted to photograph.

and then this morning - a different kind of light. I woke with the birds at 3.30 am and this sky

completely magical.
Later, John and I set to in the garden to make a raised bed to extend my planting space in what I fondly imagine to be my rabbit proof garden. I think I am wrong about this unless this is a bird - maybe a pheasant? There are about 10 of my cabbage plants nibbled or pecked like this

What do you think Dad? (not slugs! the coffee grounds seem to be working!)
Anyway - this put the smile back on my face

A very long trench to plant out the courgettes. I really am going to miss John when he goes off travelling again in a few weeks time.

We had to improvise to get the levels right - this was our spirit level and very tasty it was too!

Noggin the Nog

'In the Lands of the North, where the black rocks stand guard against the cold sea, in the dark night that is very long, the men of the Northlands sit by their great log fires and they tell a tale.'

Three times this week I have had conversations about Noggin. The books were written in the 1960's by Peter Firmin and Oliver Postgate and made into wonderful TV animation. My children loved the books and we would read them again and again until they were falling apart.

stuck together with tape to withstand another few readings

until I discovered The Dragons Friendly Society and bought a new boxed set

including a few books we didn't know about. Oliver Postgate's voice was so soothing and rich, the stories are simple tales of good triumphing over evil, the evil being the Wicked Nogbad the Bad, Noggin's Uncle (boo hiss)

seen here throttling Graculus, the great green bird who was always my own personal favourite character.
You could say we had Nogmania

yes - I think you could
I am not very good at importing things - but if you click on this link and scroll down a bit you can play the You Tube thingy with an introduction to one of the stories.
As we approach midsummers day and the most daylight we are going to have this year it seems appropriate to send you off to the Land of the Midnight Sun for a look into Noggins world.

What a wedding!

The daughter of our friends was married this weekend and what a wedding it was - forget all that walking down the aisle thing and the concept of one or two bridesmaids - No - we're talking alternative wedding here - with processions and shared ceremony and 14 Maidens and 6 Men (Best Men). Poppy married Pablo with a three day event and several hundred people in a blaze of glory and celebration!
And this was 23 years to the day after Geoff and I did the same thing!
Pablo's Mexican influence was very evident and Poppy's family home was the setting for the best of parties.

Here are the Bride and Groom and 14 rainbow clad Maidens leading the guests into a huge circle dance, the Best Men were drumming. (The weather was kind!) (Two of the Maidens are about to give birth - quite literally - any day now - but my professional services were not required!)

Very happy people, lots of live music, children, dogs, all ages and colours of the rainbow

The Men...

The ceremony was elaborate, funny, moving and tear inducing in equal measure. My favourite bit was singing Bob Marley's 'Is This Love' with a tent full of people! Wonderful!

Mexican food in a Mexican decorated tent...

with Owen as Head Pudding Coordinator

Live music until 4.00 am - we gave in at midnight as we had another open studio day each to prepare for! After 23 years I feel married and after this weekend I think Poppy and Pablo do too!
Well done to everyone for an amazing celebration.

When I am with you we stay up all night.

When you are not here, I can't get to sleep

Praise God for these two insomnias!

And the difference between them

From the minute I heard my first love story

I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was

Lovers don't finally meet somewhere,

They are in each other all along.

Rumi

Great Art Tour today too, I made Fairy Skirts!

from the same hens!

OK - who was it? was it you?

or one of you lot?

Art Tour 2008

What a glorious day. The sun shone, the people came, the shed looked magnificent and Annie and I had a very lovely day. The shed is my haven of creativity and a place to escape from the everyday world. It was so lovely to be able to share it with some like minded people.
some of today's images were taken by professional photographer Paul Harris during a visit to my shed for Art tour publicity - this is one of them - this is another

Here is the popular line - 'A Bag a Book and a Bar' which is fairly descriptive of what you get. A bag (made out of an old bit of curtain) a book that I have enjoyed - registered on Book Crossing and a bar of Fair Trade chocolate. The perfect treat!

More curtains this time for little girls and some necklaces and brooches

 
Something for everyone - well - except some less textile inclined men - but for them - there is Geoff's workshop, so there really is something for everyone!
If you are in the area, please call by - the Village Hall is hosting three very talented artists - Mandy, Mike and Jill and of course - The ever popular Garden Station, who ran out of cake yesterday because they were so busy! You can be certain that won't happen again!

Now I have to work out how to do the sizing of these photos on the new Typepad template - these look all over the place - but it is sunny and there is a rabbit getting into the vegetable garden - so finding the hole in the fence is priority!
Enjoy your week!

Redheaded doll for a redheaded sweetie

Here is a long overdue post. The Big Train Adventure posts got in the way of day to day blogging. Here are some pictures of the Wonderful Knitters of Hexham in good form. We decided to make clothes for a doll for one of our group's daughter. Not just any old doll though. I have loved Little Jenny Wren's Waldorf dolls for ages and so it had to be one of them. The best thing about having a doll made by someone as lovely as Jenny is - you get to choose the same hair as the recipient!
The doll arrived with fantastic knitted underwear and pyjamas

She seemed none the worse for her journey so a 'making meeting' was called

to assemble her wardrobe.

she has a coat (Catherine) a shoulder bag (Annie)

An apron (me) a duvet set (Sue) a bed (Annie's Geoff)

an amazing skirt/jumper/hat set (Pat) scarf (me - I do the easy things!)

a very trendy bit of kit from Dorothy - including shoes!
This little doll also has a beautiful quilt that my Mum made, a warm woolly blanket from Margreth, another great knitted outfit from Pauline, a futon from Annie (amazing!) a lovely dress (Sue) but I have no photos of them. (If the people concerned can send me photos I will edit this post to include them)
The new owner of this doll seems to like her very much. If you want to make a very individual present for a very special child, I think you could do a lot worse than head on over to Jenny and cast on a tiny jumper! 

Swapping and The Garden

Glorious sunshine today. I have weeded the peas and planted the cabbages.

I know all those Southern Gardeners will be eating their peas by now, and my brother and his wife in France are probably sowing a second crop! But up here in the Frozen North, we have to wait until the last week of May to be sure of frosts - and one year we had snow on June 6th. Its a hard life up here you know!!

I called by Cafe Nero today (home of the Wonderful Knitters of Hexham - Thursday afternoons from 2.00 - Hexham Branch only as far as I know??) I came home with all their coffee grounds to use as slug repellent. Not sure if it will work but worth a try.
 
It is a wonderful day for gardening.
Here are our potatoes - just popping through

the herbs are all thriving

flowers too

unfortunately though - so are these

so I am going to get the strimmer and the mower out and tackle them next.
Zoe organised a book swap - a very cunning one that has had me frantically reading pre 1960's books for knitting references. I was paired with Mary and her swap package arrived yesterday.

Lucky me!
I'll leave you with the hens free ranging in the wilderness patch in front of our house

Happy Hens! (Despite what Tash says - I still maintain there is very little room for a brain in there - a beady eye and a lot of instinct - but not much between the ears!)
and Geoff's arty supper last night - all his own work - the rest of us just had bangers and mash and peas