Wednesday 28 May 2014

Rushing too much

This month seems to have just gone, I am sure I last looked at the start of May and now its coming to an end. This month is too short, and I have so much still too do. I am enjoying my writers course on future learn, my skills are increasing noticeably, but I am not brave enough to put work up here yet, maybe a poem or two after my trips away early next week.

This week and next I am doing much travelling, I shall be in Dundee by the end of the week at the Cilips Conference and I can't wait. There is always so much to see and do, and I get a bit flustered trying to do all of it at once :-). So I will be either blogging from there or blogging about there for next week.

My latest plan it to write a piece for the Scottish book trusts Home challenge, it has made me think about what is home and why I choose to call somewhere home. I have something written but I am coming to understand that I can spend time and draft and redraft to make my work better, so I am going to revisit my piece next week when its not fresh in my mind, I know what I want it to say but I am not sure it says it.

I went to the Highland Wool Festival at the weekend and I had so much fun, I planned ahead and booked myself workshops to keep me entertained, and I am so glad I chose well. The first was a bag making course, which we turned up slightly late for, but I still got my bag made and it is very professional too. All lined and fulled gusseted, and better still the right length for my body to carry it and not get it on the floor! This Christmas will be bag making gift time! :-) The workshops were a new idea and the venue and even the time of year was new and it all worked so well, I would have liked more money to buy things but that was my only real complaint!









The first shot is my half made bag, while the rest are the stalls and all the goodies, and the final shot is the decorated 'coo' that greeted us on arrival at the mart in Dingwall. I didnt stop all day, I chatted and did and made and spun and learnt and played and saw and so enjoyed myself. The next is due to be in October in Eden Court again so unlikely to have workshops but I do like the stalls and the sheer fun folk have at it.

I am now sorting for a meeting tomorrow all day and then my desk for Friday then packing for Dundee and back to my desk for Wednesday! Either next weeks blog will be stuffed or missing :-).

Friday 16 May 2014

Summertime

Many Years ago my father used to listen to old records and he had a very wide range in music. One he had on vinyl was Porgy and Bess, and from the listing, the one I enjoyed the most was Summertime. I would sit on the floor by the fireplace listening to the rich voices and wonderful lyrics rolling out of the speakers, humming and swaying along eyes often closed imaging I was there, I was part of the story. My love for story came from my dad, he would read to me and my brother at night when he was home, he would tell us stories as we drove round Devon, and I spent years watching the Forestry Commission land for the wolf! Always felt the tall pines were much ore likely to have wolves than the normal woodland.

Sadly I cant even hold a tune in a bucket, in fact at school where choir was compulsory and the lengths some kids went to avoid it were quite extreme, I was looking forward to it. The day the auditions note went up (to decide where you sang in the choir) the teacher stopped me and said to not bother coming, he had heard me in the corridors singing and didn't feel it would be fair to turn me down in front of the rest. At the time I was a bit non-plussed, but over time I have come to regret not going anyway. I wasn't the only child who didn't get sent to choir but we were very few. For all that I love listening to good music, and I esp. love stage music and big music.

My Dad's collection ran to Under Milk Wood, and quite a bit of Gilbert and Sullivan and well as the likes of Bizet's Carmen. My growing up was full of noise and music, of voices from all over the world with accents and rich tones that I didn't hear in Devon or at Grannies in Liverpool. I wasn't into Duran Duran, more Tom Jones, which made me a bit of an oddity when they talked pop at school. I bought Smash Hits to try and keep up and one week it had a poster of a girl all dolled up which I pinned to my study door cause I liked the image. I doubt I read the magazine and I found her on the cover I must have just taken out the poster and handed the magazine on. I like the image, didn't find out for months it was Madonna!


My 'to work to' playlist has all sorts of music from skyfall, to siggur ros and many more, which I enjoy when I get a chance. I occasionally add bits but very rarely take any away, it is a very fluid thing. I started this thinking about the sunshine and blue skies but all it has done is blow all day so much like my song that started this the day has been bitter sweet. 

A less reflective mood for next week.