Letterbox - Julie's Virtual Advent Calendar Day 1

I almost squealed with delight when we passed this cafe yesterday in Ponteland in the Cheviot Hills I finally know where the Cheviots are now - just in case I ever go on to The Chase!).

Not only was there a big red letter box outside it, but look at the name of the cafe.  We were en route to our last gig in Denholm last night so we only had time to stop for a take away coffee, which was excellent.  But it was as pretty and inviting inside as it was outside.

This is Day 1 of Julie's Advent Scavenger Hunt - a post a day (more or less) from now until the 24th.
You can join in here for the details of the prompts and the list of who else is playing.

November 2017 Scavenger Photo Hunt

It's the end of another month - the year is passing fast - and it's been so good to be back out on tour again.   I'd forgotten what hard work travelling and performing each night is, but I'd also forgotten the sheer delight of being back on stage.  So all my photos for this month's Scavenger Hunt come from this trip through England and the Scottish Borders.  

Thanks as always go to Kate at I live I love I craft I am me for hosting this delightful bloghop each month.   As well as the fun of finding photos to match the words it's also a chance to get a glimpse into friends' lives in other parts of the world.  

So here's mine.  

1. Blue

The mining museum at Woodhorn near Ashington in Northumberland.   The sky was so blue - perfect early Winter weather, freezing cold but thankfully dry.  I loved the architecture of the wheels against the sky and the museum, which has an interactive mining experience as well as an exhibition of the Washington Pit Painters, really brought alive the tough tough life of the miners and their families, from the earliest days right up to the Miners Strikes in the 80s.  Very interesting and sobering afternoon. 

2. Me

Well wrapped up and freezing cold at the Christmas Market in Chester.

3. Starts with a ...... W 

The Pit Wheel at Woodhorn

4. Rainbow

Driving through the Lake District last week this beautiful rainbow popped up - right on cue.

5. Arch

The ruins of Jedburgh Castle in the Scottish Borders - how about that for arches..

6. Toy

Every folk club holds a raffle to help with their funds and for nearly 30 years Tom has been buying raffle tickets - at every club we play at.   When he won his first bottle of wine years ago we reckoned it probably cost him about £200!!  

The raffles are always fun - whoever wins the box of chocolates or sweets has to share them around, usually under the nose of the singer , humph

This was the result of his winnings one of the nights this trip - a Kinder egg!  which produced this crocodile when opened and put together - "Don't forget his fish!" was the retort behind the drivers wheel! 

7. Swirl

Isn't this lovely?  We went to a folk club concert early this week and the singer was playing this guitar...  I thought it fitted perfectly.   Some of you may have seen him - Stanley Accrington.   It's the funniest evening I've spent in years.   A real belly laugh.    Stanley's a hoot - a clown, a jester and a very clever wordsmith.  A comedic commentator on life and all its anomalies and quirks, skilfully dropping in some very poignant thought provoking songs that kicked our emotions back into touch, and then rescuing them again with some hysterically funny observations.  

8. Brush

I love these everything shops - whether you need a brush or a beach ball, an egret or a lampshade, this is the place to find it.  You might even find a pair of leggings !   A heater would have been top of the list this week - this pic was in Jedburgh.

9. Nail

Back at Woodbury - these are Dog Nails (spikes) - large headed thick, mild steel nails for fastening rails to wooden sleepers.  

I have to confess this prompt had me stumped and after searching for weeks looking for a really impressive and imaginative photo for nail, this one arrived just in time.

the exhibition followed a young lad of 13 becoming a man and going down the mine for the first time, the experience of going underground, the ribald humour of the men, the desire to get the top job of the hewar - a man who basically stayed crouched down in a space smaller than one metre high for his entire working day and working life.   What a life!   When it came to reading about the strikes in the 80s which I remember very well, I felt so sorry for these people who's lives were totally controlled by the establishment and the strength with which they fought back.  

But, in spite of the lack of jobs, I'm sure there's very few would wish to be back underground.  

10. My own choice

A guy was making huge bubbles at the Christmas Market in Chester last weekend - I managed to catch this one before the children burst it.  What is it about bubbles that makes everyone smile - such a simple delight.  

So that was my month.   I'm writing this on the ferry heading homewards, head full of ideas and plans, and looking forward to this month at home, getting Singmarra ready for the village pageant and taking part in the various events that lead up to mid Winter.

Head over to Kate's blog to check out the other Scavengers and we'll reconvene in January sometime.

Back on the road

The star of light at Chester Cathedral

Thank you all for your lovely comments on the Positive News story - and apologies for not answering them all - we're back out travelling and delighted to be doing so.   After so much illness this year we're slowly getting back on track, although the body has been grumbling a bit lol

Our new songs have been getting a great response, especially the more political rants that we've both been writing lately - it seems that nobody is happy with politicians at the minute.

So far we've been in the Lake District, Redcar on the East coast, Hull, across the M62 to Bradford and further along the same motorway to Northwich and yesterday we spent the afternoon at the Christmas market in Chester - what a beautiful town that is.  And it was freezing cold, perfect weather for a Christmas market.

Have a great week whatever you're doing - we're heading back north now, to Yorkshire, then up to Northhumberland and finishing up in the Scottish borders, where apparently it's been snowing - yikes - hopefully we'll miss the worst of it.

Tentacles for Tinies #WATWB

It's coming to the end of another month and time again for the next instalment of We Are The World Bloghop where bloggers post positive news stories.  I've been loving the search each month for a heart warming story to share.  This 9th edition is co-hosted by  Shilpa Garg, Inderpreet Uppal, Sylvia Stein, Susan Scott, Andrea Michaels and Damyanti Biswas .

I truly believe that the way forward on our planet at the moment is the small thing that is happening locally .. but in the bombardment of bad news we often miss out on these wonderful stories which could give inspiration to someone else to do something similar in their own area.  

This story caught my eye recently.  

Tentacles for Tinies

These crocheted octopuses from The Rotunda Foundation and the Rotunda Knitters are helping comfort the premature babies in Dublin's Rotunda Hospital  Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.  

The tentacles of the crocheted octopus resemble the umbilical cord and remind babies of being inside the womb.

Read more here about the same initiative in the Neonatal Unit in Poole hospital in the South of England.

Every month since the We Are The World Bloghop started there have been wonderfully inspiring stories from all corners of the globe.   Follow along at the Facebook link.  Or better still, why not put up a story of your own.  

Photo Scavenger Hunt October 2017

I didn't get a chance to join in with you all last month for the photo Scavenge Hunt and really missed you all - but I'm delighted to get back to playing this month.

Hawthorn always come up with an amazing list of prompts to really challenge our heads, and this month there have been some real corkers ....  so here goes.  

Street

We have had beautiful proper Autumn days for the past few days and we took our visiting friend across in the ferry to Carlingford in Co. Louth.  Carlingford is a Norman Town and very popular with tourists... this is the pedestrian street and the arch at the bottom housed the town jail.

Empty

This is the jail - just tucked in to the left corner of the arch.   It is tiny and thankfully very empty.   totally open to the elements and only about 4 foot high - I couldn't stand up in it. but I"m sure it housed at least 3 or 4 men waiting for deportation in the 17 and 1800s

Starts with a ...... F

We stopped in PJs pub for a pint of Guinness and some lunch.   They're all prepared for Halloween and the fire was very welcome after the ferry crossing.

Neat

PJs pub is famous throughout Ireland - for many things.   For a start, it's one of the last remaining grocery pubs - they've made this a tourist feature now.   Plus the Guinness is very good and you don't have to pay Dublin prices for it, although it's still a price hike compared to here in the North.
But it is also famous for its collection of leprechaun clothes!!!
What a neat little man was Sean Og - these are his belongings.   Again, the pub was decorated for Halloween so the cobweb streak is masking his little jacket but you get the idea.   Every year, Carlingford hosts a leprechaun hunt in the mountains behind .   It also has a great Oyster Festival, if that's your thing.

Unexpected

This stone is new since the last time we were over in Carlingford and so interesting - for sure Kate is more familiar with the theme than I am.  Occasionally you see Ogham writing on jewellery and it's a huge field of study.   I loved this stone carving listing the trees for the different lunar months of the year - the year of course beginning on November 1st and ending on October 31st.   Apologies if this photo runs off the page a bit, but I wanted to make it large enough for you to read.

Paper

Thankfully the wet weather of the past few months has let up for a while and allowed the leaves to dry out.   I just love the smell and the lovely crunchy richness that looks and sounds like paper. 

The Fairy Glen

Vase

This vase came out of Tom's grandmother's house and it's being kept safe up on a ledge in the porch with last years' hydrangeas in it... that's actually a clay drum beside it - all the big items that we can't find a home for end up on that ledge, but then so too do the young swallows in spring if we don't keep an eye out.

Kettle

The seaspray in this photo is known as a Kettle around here, or the Carlingford Kettles.
At certain times of year, the wind whips up the lough  - they're like mini tornadoes on the water ... this was the only picture I've ever been able to catch of them.   It's something to do with the lay of the mountains on either side of the lough - the sprays of water go up to 20 or 30 feet high and then appear to run across the top of the water into shore.   Very exciting to see.  

My own choice

I spotted this one time in France - not because I love macaroons - I do :)  but because of the name.
I never use my full name - because our society here was so blatantly us and them, religious wise, and my name gave away my background like a stamp on my forehead I never liked it.   Being known as Phil people had to guess a while longer.
When someone shouts Philomena I hear nuns in my head usually with raised voices and usually attached to the feeling of having done something wrong .....
But there is one exception... when it is pronounced by a French man - how shallow am I!!  Philomène sounds so much more ancient and goddess like than Philomena ... to my ears anyway ... I'd nearly moved to France for that lol.  

Making ...

As I've been spending much more time knitting this year, my horizons have been widening to learn some of the wonderful new-to-me skills that are out there.   For the first time I joined in a Mystery Knitalong - which has me tortured - not because of the mystery (you don't get the full pattern at the start), but because of the blinking beads - there are about 800 of the little blighters on this piece .... never again.
Fine lace knitting is not something I've ever tackled before, and it's very annoying because you can't really see what it's going to look like until it's off the needles.   The last row had about 250 beads on it and I"m now on the cast off which is very slow.  
But it will be worth it when I'm finished.
For the crafters reading this, the yarn is a hand dyed Tussah Silk from Yorkshire I think - this was a first for me - beautiful yarn to work with - it is so strong, but still fine - this colour is called Mermaid's Tale - can't wait to get to the end of it to see what it looks like - once I have it finished and blocked I'll do a show and tell.    Repeat note to self: KEEP AWAY FROM BEADS!!!

So that's been my month.   Off now to have a look at everyone else's pictures for the month.  
Are you taking part?  What's your month been like?  

Bake Bread for Peace #WATWB

24th October each year is designated Bake Bread for Peace Day by a wonderful Donegal woman called Breezy Kelly.   I wrote about her initiative here a couple of years back.   She started going around houses baking bread and singing songs, telling stories about the old days, bringing people back to a gentler time - with the idea that when hands are in a bowl of flour they can't be out fighting.  Even on a simpler level, by gathering people around the table to have a cup of tea and some lovely fresh scones or hot buttered treacle bread and telling yarns, community is being held together.

Here's a more recent video of Breezy - if you're on Facebook, follow her page - she puts up recipes for different breads and is good fun to watch.

And if you can, share some bread with someone, home baked if possible and spread the peace.

This post has been edited to share with the We Are The World monthly Blogfest, spreading positive news stories.
Co-hosts for the thread this month are: Shilpa Garg, Sylvia McGrath, Mary Giese, Belinda Witzenhausen and Guilie Castillo . 

Follow along with  other stories from around the world at the Facebook link.  

On this day in history Oct 10

Edith Piaf died on this day in 1963.  She was only 47.  Piaf, the little sparrow, was a wonder and there are many fabulous singers still singing her songs.

Her funeral was the only occasion after World War II that Parisian traffic came to a complete standstill.  There were so many people at the event that allegedly several mourners fell into the open grave.  More than 40,000 saw her interred.  

I wonder what would stop the traffic nowadays.  

I'd like to introduce you to a colleague of mine who sings on the UK folk scene.   She is French and her name is Flossie Malaiavalle.   I'm honoured that she chose to record one of my songs - I Still Think of You.   When she appeared at our folk club recently I had the chance to finally meet up with her.  

Flossie sings many contemporary singers' songs, but also does a show of Piaf songs, so here is her version of La Vie en Rose.