Ribchester W.I

I recently performed for Ribchester W I performing music from The Book of Anon by the Author David Widdop. (Who is also my husband)

(David is currently writing his third book which we hope to publish early next year along with some more musical tracks .Unfortunately David  is not well at the moment and was today diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism ( A blood clot in the Lung) Get well soon David x

I will be performing in leeds next more news shortly

Harp cleaning

Started on the task of cleaning 37 harps today .
It takes several hours to clean each one so will probably take at least a month to
clean all 37

Busy with weddings over the next few weeks

Fion Katie

Dusty Harps and a New Kitchen

Finally after several months of hard work and good old honest graft my kitchen is nearing completion.
In January following the heavy rains first one crack appeared in the floor then another and then one morning we got up to find part of the kitchen floor had dropped so Dave decided to investigate and before long pretty much all of the floor was up!!
So we decided on a kitchen revamp or rather rebuild ,this included replacing the Rayburn Oven which was 60 years old with something a bit more economical that burns wood and does great chips !!
The trouble of course with doing any DIY or work is the amount of dust an harps do not like dust but they certainly act like magnets for dust and are a nightmare to clean once they get covered and with great gusto I have begun the task of giving them a jolly good old fashioned clean using plenty of elbow grease, several feathers and dusters to get in between all the strings.

Thankfully it will probably be another 50 years before the kitchen needs such a major revamp again and who knows the harps may well still be around then but hopefully it won't be me doing the cleaning of all 37 of them!!!

Bookings continue to come in and a lovely lady from the local newspaper has asked if she can come up  to do an article on me I will keep you posted on that one ..

Pop back soon

KT

Website Update , Harp Lessons , and other stuff

As you will see over the next few days we are having some major changes done to the website.
As well as the changes going off on the website we have made a decision no longer to work with the agency called Alive Network this is due to a difference of opinion and also because Alive Network does not consider me for work outside of Yorkshire  -( I do actually cover the whole of the UK.)

Booking me direct is also cheaper as you do not have to pay the commission that the agency puts on top and I have no hidden extras my prices are clear cut .

I have insurance through the Musicians Union and I am fully insured as well as CRB checked .
I do not just perform at weddings I also perform in schools, workshops, concerts, fund raisers and in addition to this I also offer Private Harp tuition and I currently have over 35 harps which is probably the  most harps owned by one person in the UK.

If you have ever fancied learning the harp , or would perhaps like to purchase one of my cd's then please do not hesitate to get in touch

i am also currently working on a exciting project with the Author David John Widdop performing works from his book  The Book of Caris and his latest book The Book of Anon which was released late last year

I hope you will enjoy the new website and will continue to support me as many of you have in the past

Fiona Katie x

going bananas

I have just seen an advert for turkeys for Christmas - free range apparently (the legal definition).  Our turkeys are driving us bonkers at the moment.  They are very free range and fly amazingly well.  We were woken by the dogs barking.  On shining a torch out the window we could just make out sillouettes of the birds balancing on the ridge tiles of the old stable. It was snowing gently, there was fresh, untouched straw inside their shed but these daft birds insisted on balancing precariously on a steep slippy roof.  As the dogs were going mad wondering what was going on above their heads we decided to throw my old shoes to scare them off.  I got dressed and armed with a stick tried to herd them back to their shed. They chose the tiniest saplings to roost on, the trees bending almost to the ground with the weight of these birds - anything but their warm, cosy shed.  I gave up.  Next morning it was clear from the muck left behind that they had spent the night on the greenhouse roof.   They have a .lovely life though, at the moment they feast on windfall apples and walnuts.  Dodge,the donkey's favourite is ... bananas!  He eats up the whole lot, skin as well.  My website is being updated at the moment so sorry for any glitches.  Next concert with Eddie Lawler on 23rd November, 7pm.  Tickets £8 from us 01535 642581or on the door - in aid of the roof at venue - Oxen hope Community Centre-

sam hain

For the first time ever we lit our bonfire last night - the festival of Sam Main.  (The computer now insists on spelling it with a 'm' instead of a 'h' ... grrrrr.  Anyway we got a beautiful evening.  This morning on checking the hens, they were surrounded by burnt out rockets stuck in the ground.  Eggs as normal though so no worries.  We are in the middle of recording at the moment.  So far we have picked up every noise imagine able ... but no 'clean' recording yet.  We will keep trying as once we have a proven method there will be no stopping us!  Dave composes ever more amazing melodies to go with his books - and we are only 2 books into a trilogy.  TheBook of Caris is at Oxen hope Community Centre on 23rd November and The Book of Anon is at Poppies Cafe in Settle on 6th December.

whispering voices

The rain is coming down the walls ... on the inside! Just in a couple of places! We are renovating fast so this is just a tiny blip. For the first time in years the windows are painted a d the heating works, so much so that the harps are playing up (whoops, didn't mean that pun). When the temperature drops strings break. As I have over 30 harps this means quite a flurry of work at this time of year. I love Autumn and found literally hundreds of beautiful large red and white spotty toadstools hiding in the woods just behind a wall next to a busy footpath. I have never seen anything like it before in such quantity. Last night I tried to finish off the latest CD to go with Dave's new book. I took the memory card up to Dave to listen with him. At the beginning of one track, running over the start of the music, was a whispery woman-s voice. It was difficult to hear but seemed to say she wanted me to wait until she sat down as she was tired... incredible! This is the third time we have recorded something.