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

Green wheels, Harp and A performance for the BBC

Well what a interesting week it has been
On Wednesday I had a appointment in Keighley so I was unable to go with Kate and since I had a broken leg I got a friend of mine who is a Policeman to take me to Keighley.
Meanwhile Fiona Katie had to dash off to Leeds , fortunately we had persuaded Alberts Fiona Katies son to help take the pressure off so he arrived in his silver VW and much to my suprise he had painted the wheels bright green!
Somehow he managed to get the harp and Fiona Katie into the car and they drove off for Fiona katie to perform as part as a showcase for the BBC
I got back home about 5pm myself and I did not see Fiona Katie till late on and I was in bed when she came home.
Seems she had a great night but did not want to go to the after party! shame I had a broken leg optherwise I would have gone along with her well more weddings lined up over the weekend lets hope the weather holds out for the couple and this wind dies down a bit ------- dave

new website and dates page updated

well I have finally done it after saying I would update the page on F.K's website I have finally done it and have also started to change the overall layout of the site which can be accessed from here http://www.tripleharps.com
Got a busy week over the next week the garage are coming to collect my car in the morning for the MOT on Tuesday Albert Fiona Katies lad is coming up to take her to the BBC project she is working on during wednesday evening.
Fiona Katie is also playing at the Wuthering Heights pub on Tuesday night along with our good friend Eddie Lawler. Tuesday nights performance is free of charge and all are welcome to attend we hope to see you there.

Things atrt hotting up for the wedding season at the weekend and details of the dates that Fiona is booked to play on can be found on the updated dates page of the website

The new harp Daval

Finally after months of hard work and delays I have managed to make a start on finishing the harp Daval.
As I write this I am in between coats of laqher, in order to give the harp added strength it is necessary to apply this 15 seperate times and each time the harop is to be given 5 coats with a fiteen minute interval in between. by the time it is finished this means the harp will have received 75 seperate coats of laquer this seems a lot but the coats are applied so thinly so to prevent sagging.

I have had to revert to spraying the harp in the barn for two reasons after days of hardwork installing the wood burning stove in the stables I lit it and it failed the woodburner is beyond repair and damaged further than initially thought rendering it useless and I nearley burned down the stables in the process dropping everything to get the Donkey out then going back in to throw a bucket of water over the rayburn .
Tomorrows job is to remove the rayburn from the building and to put it in the scrap pile!!!!

Now desperately seeking another wood burning stove that will not be in such a bad state
The idea is to warm the stables through for when flossy the donkey has her foal..

OK back to spraying

The Spa Theatre

Gosh! - I thought when I saw the size of the theatre at Bridlington. I needn't have worried as there were very few seats left. It was far too hot but the harps coped. First we pulled up at the back of the Theatre and the sea was crashing up against the wall sending spray over onto the cars. I used to have covers for every harp but gave up a few years ago as it is a lot easier to carry them and also when they are stuck up inside the car its a lot easier to see through them and drive safer!! The point of saying that is ... I can get the harps out of a hot car, get them sprayed with freezing cold surf, put them backstage - and they don't break a string (that's good maths/design for you). Thanks to everyone who came ... and clapped and cheered ... I had a fantastic time too!

I have kept Mystic-Al and Hand-Al in tune and they are doing fine. I have not, however, attempted to finish all the decoration. Too much plaster dust around! We are getting there slowly but there is still one room left to plaster and until that is done I'm not risking any painting!

I made a load of Crabapple jelly. Our resident poltergeist has been throwing apples around all week so that's put a stop to his games! I was teaching on Thursday and we kept hearing bangs against the door. When we came out the floor was absolutely covered with apples!

A Symphony for Yorkshire

Well, we just heard it full blast on the computer (where everything is heard these days)! I am looking forward to actually seeing it again next week - Benjamin Till has huge creativity and sensitivity, not just for music and his ability to include a whole multitude of musicians and make them feel special - but wait till you see what he does with directing a camera ... You will see a steam train puffing in time to the music - done in one take apparantly! A beautiful girl with such a sense of fun blowing through her thumbs in perfect tune - on top of a bus! a surf board dancing in the middle of Sheffield .... Everytime you will see something different.

Things are tough for a lot of people out there at the moment, we are hanging on by a thread it seems but this will make you want to dance!!!! Looking forward to watching it next week - see you there!!!!

chicken rescue at midnight

In the corner of our field by the wood all overgrown with nettles is an old caravan. It has been taken over by chickens and last night Dave was locking them in when he heard a sound. Sadly, a dying hen - maybe a fox attack or mink. He was about to come back in when he heard a tiny squeak and out from under the caravan rolled a chick.

It took 2 car jacks, an awful lot of nettle stings and a neighbour's help but eventually he passed out the chicks and then the eggs and I rushed back to the house. The eggs were cold and one of the chicks had 'done the splits' and wasn't moving much.

I stuck the box into the oven of the Rayburn - (and left the door open!) Found the incubator and turned it on in the living room. It took about an hour to heat up and all the time I had to monitor the oven temperature by leaving the door wide open or closing it slightly again ... but ... amazingly all the chicks were soon jumping around and cheeping loudly and the eggs were 'chipping'. This morning we have 9 beautiful bouncing fluffy chicks and one egg still to hatch - a 'blooming miracle'!!!

Thank you so much for the 'comment' - so funny and thanks to Circus Envy for the mention on yr blog - all the best to you all