All for the cat

You would not believe how much work he has created ... He isn't even a big cat, about 3/4 in size. He is, however, such a thief. He can get the screw caps off milk bottles, get cheese out of celaphane, open tupperware boxes and tins and will knock anything off a shelf to see if it breaks so he can get in that way.

A couple of weeks ago some walkers took him back to their hotel because they fell in love with him. Luckily I had been round the vets and pet shops and left our number. I'm wondering if he stole all their chocolates in the night before they decided to hand him in!

Dave has spent all day sealing up every tiny crack and hole around the pantry. I lock the door and a couple of hours later find the cat locked in yowling madly. He has squeezed through the tiniest holes around the central heating pipes. He has even chewed a cat sized holes in the platerboard.

There is now a brand new door across the corridor outside the pantry and wooden cladding all around the holes. Finger's crossed!

On the harp front I spent an enjoyable week playing to nursery children and special needs children. We took a vote and they have decided that 'happy dance' music is better than 'sleep' music. They settled quietly with lots of drumming, bells and a good beat!

I am playing at Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle on Sunday 11th March between 10-4 pm for their Wedding Fayre.

Mending the Tractor

A year last November we had a massive storm and a huge pine tree came down at the corner of the garden. Luckily it missed the house by inches but managed to land straddled across the tractor. We had to saw off each branch carefully to get to the tractor. Most of the glass broke and the exhaust snapped off but apart from that it was okay. Well we have not managed to do any work on the tractor itself since then and suddenly realised that plants were growing inside! It still starts okay and runs fine so we bought some perspex and started cutting yesterday.

I have just bought 3 tubes of black silicone and the sun is shining so we can stick all the panels in again!

To continue the theme of nursery rhymes I sat next to a lady at a luncheon I was speaker at the other day and she told me about Jack Horner. He was supposed to collect all the deeds of properties for King Henry VIII but kept one ...

'took out a plum and said what a good boy am I' !!!

Our barn was apparantly sold in the dissolution of the monasteries in 1540 as it was a Tithe barn and there was a large vegetable garden walled in at the front and the back was open to the valley for sheep. Now there is a 17thC Manor House built next door and they took the walled garden. The land nearby has lots of different herbs still growing wild as they used to be skilled herbalists.

My next concert is on March 23rd but I will be playing at Bowes Museum in Barard Castle on Sunday 11th March. In the meantime I have lots of private bookings for parties and as a speaker.

sledging and schools

We escaped lightly with the snow but I honestly think most of it blew down into the valley! I went into Haworth this morning and it was still chaos. Every side road was 4 inches of solid white ice and every time you drove past a road end you had to watch out for out of control cars skidding out into the main road.

The harps sound superb (they love it cold!) and the phone has rung and rung this week so that's brilliant. Suddenly I have a lot of school bookings again. I still get big grins and 'you're the harp lady aren't you?' when I'm shopping. They never forget and it's lovely.

Well I made potato salad today with the tops of the chives poking out of the snow, I then struggled with cling film to try and get my masterpiece of cold meats and salad prepared for my husband's dinner tonight. Never again! I made a completely useless mess of it and had to use sellotape to rectify the edges! I then went upstairs to paint the skirting board and knocked the paint over ... arghhhh! I am hoping this break gets me in slightly more sensible frame of mind!!! Here's hoping... (Hope you're keeping warm)

Following Tom Thumb

I was asked to play at Tattershall Castle in Lincolnshire yesterday. Whilst I sat freezing in the great hall playing the harp Dave and Jack were left to explore the village. They started with the Church and found Tom Thumb's grave. It never occurred to me that he really existed. He died in 1620 aged 101 and was 47 cm high apparantly. There is a lovely photo of 'his house' on Tattershall village website - it is perched high on the roof of another house so small you can hardly notice it from the ground!

The castle itself was impressive but the moat was dry. It is normally fed from the river but they have had to close the sluice gates because of lack of rain ... (YES!) no such luck here!!! I am fed up of squelching everywhere in wellies and getting stuck. Anyway I might go back - the knights (booked to fight outside) and the National Trust were very impressed and took cards.

We are catching up slowly after a horrendous year. The harp 'Mystical' which did its first gig in May last year continues to amaze me - it sounds absolutely beautiful and multi-strung harps are like wine - they improve with age. I will never hear it at its best which I reckon to be about 100-200 years from now.

You have to look after harps though - a warning - I have collected 2 harps with central heating damage this week. The wood dries out and every joint comes apart and the harp is damaged permanently. If you have musical instruments in a heated house leave them well away from heat - they like CONSTANT TEMPERATURE. Leave WATER in a dish somewhere near for moisture.

The lost Bell

I have lost a bell ... and ... yes ... I do think that Father Christmas borrowed it and forgot to give it back! Bells are extremely difficult to get hold of. A few years ago hand bells were in every Christmas catalogue but not now alas.

This particular bell was my lament bell. These bells used to be wrapped in linen to dull the sound at funerals. I shall keep looking and will have to improvise until I find it!

I am performing at The Square Chapel tomorrow (Friday 20th January) - starts at 8 pm. I have an amazing set of people who follow my music and I love the fact that music brings together people together.

Nearly the entire set has been written by my husband, Dave. (In true spirit of: 'If you can't beat 'em, join 'em'!) We start in Ethiopia, 3,000 years ago ...
Come and listen - see you there?

scared of the dark

Our young lad, Jack, is scared of the dark. Has to sleep with the light on. Every night our two donkeys come into their warm and dry, cosy, stable for the night. The last two weekends the weather has been atrocious and some days we have left them inside. (Donkeys are not waterproof so they need to have decent shelter.)
They pestered us to let them out this weekend even though the rain and sleet blew in from the West. Every night Jack and I had to take the torch and squelch through the mud to bring them in. We have a long narrow field that heads down hill by the side of a deep goit. (When I was a child the word goit meant a ditch but round here it is much bigger - a ravine.) Half way down is a Roman wishing well called a Keld and quite a lot of trees. The donkeys, however, decided the most sheltered place was right at the bottom where the stream comes out of the ravine but the field takes a steep dip.

The mud is so deep in places that Jack's wellies get stuck. Of course your legs keep on walking so he ends up taking a very cold step before he realises. I don't use a torch because I like the dark and the moon but Jack takes the biggest torch he can find. This gives shadows and it has taken him two trips before he realises that its best to walk without ... and that the dark is not as scarey afterall!

When Flossy comes up the hill she wanders in zig-zags and knows exactly where it is driest. We tried to lead her but she was adamant and now she leads us. We are always followed by the kitten, Stix. His white paws show up in the dark and his bell can just be heard through the howling wind.

the cat hat

I managed to stall the camper van in the middle of a busy roundabout and the very next car to pass was the police .... arghhhhh! I was stressed and they very kindly asked if I was okay. I said yes and willed the camper (called ginge) into action. It stumbled across and promptly stalled again but this time I made it look like I had parked it and the police drove off. Then I realised I had my birthday hat on. Dave actually said 'if I knew you were going to wear it I would never have bought it' ... hmmmmmm. It is made out of leopard skin fake fur and has large cat ears on top lined with pink.

We have had a change round so I am sat at a newly-donated computer (thanks Dave). I have promised not to ever place magnets anywhere near it so this means I can catch up.

I have finally managed to clear out some of the kids stuff which was hoarded all the way round the house. I cried as I went through school books and toys and the memories flooded back! All in all though it HAD to be done.

I have some very exciting news about the new harp but it can wait until the next ...
HAPPY NEW YEAR.