knicker elastic

Well, I'm just about managing to write this blog once a week! So much going on but mostly very mundane. I have however managed to produce this amazing-sounding harp after making all the treble strings. The sound improves with every week that goes by. The next step is to hang the tubular bells inside the strings. I am looking for some very strong and very thin elastic - hence the title! Don't worry I intend to buy it from the market, not raid the knicker drawer... It is not going to be easy but I am aiming at having 6 bells on each of the quad harps.

I will eventually have a separate carrillon that will work with foot pedals on the floor. Alot of the music has been arranged to include the tubular bells and my husband's research has proved that there were such harps around at least a couple of thousand years ago. Much more on this when my husband finishes his book and I am not bound by copyright!

The oldest harp came from Ur being 2,500 BC. They still play the same design in Ethiopia today and I have just added a tune from that region to my repertoire.

I played at Phoenix School last Monday. Everything was going well until someone brought in the School's percussion trolley ... It only takes one extremely noisy drum and everything is drowned out and alas, this is what happenned! Eventually our 'drummer' got bored and wandered off and we played native American songs, South American and Irish Jigs, not forgetting Manuel Flavia's wonderful tune from 1492. It only moves one note at a time so all I have to do is make sure everyone starts on the same harp string and knows which way is 'up' or 'down' as I shout out 'commands'!

water in my wellies

I was well known for my walks - I would set off following a well-defined footpath and suddenly without warning it disappeared. Many a time my daughter and I scarmbled down almost sheer drops or battled chest-high bracken or thistles! This time, however, it was Dave ... We had 2 dogs with us and his son, Jack. The hills and valleys around our farm are covered by conduits. Amazing Victorian Engineers connected all the reservoirs and they follow the contours of the hills and provide brilliant (unofficial) footpaths. Every now and then they cross roads, including an impressive Roman Road and every now and then they have home-made ramps so that any sheep that have fallen in can climb out.

We got stopped by had a very impressive iron gate to stop the sheep going in - but it stopped us in our tracks! We had to clamber down the 5' slippy,steep side, negotiate the 12'' of sludgey water and figure out a way of getting out the other side. The two dogs decided to swim for it over the reservoir corner. Jack was hoisted up but Dave and me had very wet feet!

Fantastic sunny day though so they dried eventually. Not so when Dave asked me to 'check the cut-off switch under the kitchen sink' (which he had just mended but not fastened onto the tap). I got a blast of very cold water and didn't have time to change ... hmmmm ... very funny Dave !!!! He is still telling everyone how I was daft enough to check it :)

rain, rain go away

Well, we have decided to sell our beloved camper van, Ginge. Since we decided it has not stopped raining so we cannot take photos ... Wonder if Ginge is behind it all! The reason is not that we are giving up our 'wandering' lifestyle but simply that we have an old caravan that needs renovating. It is quite rare as it folds down into a trailer but has solid sides. Dave was amazed when he saw it go up this summer. It has been parked in the corner of our yard for so many years it has sort of blended in, the white roof is now covered in lichen and nettles hide its sides! It is in nearly-new condition inside but the wheels need some work!

I am enjoying playing Ang-Al (Angel) since I re-strung it. It is tiresome work - every day you have to tune it up a tone. As you tighten the strings you wrap more round the pegs and every now and then you have to un-wrap it, pull the spare string through the hole, cut it off and re-tighten it ... The bass strings are too thick to go through the pre-cut holes on the pegs so you have to hammer the end of the string flat, cut a thin sliver off and thread it through.

Patience of a Saint is required!!! ... the good news is though ... multi-strung harps are perfectly balanced so once in tune they are good for about 10 years - just need a bit of tuning now and then with temperature changes. I needed to play an old harp last month which I hadn't played for about 4 years - it took me no more than 10 minutes to brush up the tuning ... WOW!!!

Dave's book

I gave Dave's book a HUGE 'plug' on the radio today, trouble is he hasn't actually finished it yet ... ha ha!!! It's getting close though. I played 'Hand-Al', (the 3/4 size portable harp)- it is still not finished either! I am at the stage of polishing - loads of layers of wax polish. It does not make much difference to the sound but the patina is coming along nicely. Every week there is an improvement in the sound as it settles in. I was asked if it was made from a special kind of wood, (brilliant! - plywood, in case you are wondering).

The strings I was making last week are a complete success so I am thrilled. They are for the large performance harps. I have a couple of harps to re-string now ... Luckily it is only in the treble and I can change them round a couple at a time and carry on playing.

On the animal front the turkeys have been very naughty and were escaping every day so I have locked them in their shed whilst I re-do their fence! They do not realise it is for their own good! If turkeys mix with hens they get a disease - hens are okay - it does not affect them.

Talking of escaping - the bunny has been an absolute nightmare and has escaped out of her run 3 times this week! It was too hot for her so the coolest place for her was downwards! She even managed to get the wire mesh off the bottom of her cage. Dave's son and me searched and eventually found her at the bottom of the wood laid in an earth trench/burrow she had made. It was a very elaborate capture plan involving carrots, a dustbin and a fishing net ... and a lot of patience!

Check out the BCB previous broadcasts for Wednesday 5th October 2-3 pm, presenter: Janet Davies