Ukulele Festival of Great Britain...

Ukulele Festival of Great Britain...Yes thats why we were in Cheltenham over the bank holiday. I had intended this post to go up a bit sooner but I was quickly felled by a yucky sickness bug that I am still getting over so this has been written, a little at a time over the last week or so.

Anyway, we were in Cheltenham to attend our very first Ukulele Fest, ok, I know I don't play but the man himself does so I agreed to go as long as I could take my own toys..hehe . Cheltenham was all dressed up ready for the Jubilee celebrations, bunting accross the streets, union flags in the shop windows, red white and blue just about everywhere.

We arrived late on the Friday night but still managed to grab a drink and a uke down at the designated festival pub before retiring for a good nights sleep .

By morning we were intent on finding our way to the Cheltenham Town Hall to meet the other musicians and have a wander round the stalls.

To say that there were ukes of all shapes and sizes was not really an exaggeration!! These are just a few of the ones on offer!!
During the afternoon there were performances in the theatre and workshops running in the other rooms, as Ian was taking a workshop with Manitoba Hal I made myself comfy in the cafe area where I could hear what was happening in the theatre and do a little people watching. You could tell who had just been in a workshop as they would sit and go over and over the same technique until they had got it nailed.
Did I mention that I took my own toys? of course! as usual I had a few people watching me as well as I sat in the corner with my spinning wheel. Usual question was why bring it to a uke fest..answer I don't play uke :-) certainly provided interest for many of them.

 The wheel was returned to the hotel late afternoon with a decent amount of merino/silk on the bobbin and we headed back to grab a meal and find seats for the evening concert with the other members of the Nottingham Ukulele Orchestra.

 The theatre was dressed for the occasion

 amongst the many acts appearing were the re-entrants who this time played a selection of rock classics although I sort of wish they had played Lady Gaga as well.


I had had chance to speak to one of the guys in the afternoon....yes they both remembered me from a gig on Nottingham where the sight of me spinning on a drop spindle sort of brought things to a halt!!that gig had turned into a long night out chatting to them before and after the show.

This is Manitoba Hal who lead the Blues workshop in the afternoon.

 

And these are The Hot Potato Syncopators...this video is by our very own BikerTed


The finale seemed to involve throwing a lot of paper aeroplanes around !!

to be continued!

weeds or flowers in the wrong place?

Festival in Cheltenham

We recently attended a festival in Cheltenham....more about the actual festival in the next post. However I did manage to grab some spare time and have a wander round with my camera. I love looking round somewhere new, often focusing on the buildings and statues. This time it was the statues and art that caught my eyes,  from the Neptune's Fountain which was made from Portland stone in 1893 by a local sculptor R. L. Boulton and depicts Neptune being drawn by sea horses.........

............. To the graffiti found at ground level near the church.

The clock in the shopping centre reminded me of something similaar but for the life of me I can't think what!! OOhh , I've just looked it up and it was designed by Kit Williams which will be why I thought it looked familliar.
And it says 'Weighing in at three tons and boasting a mechanism 14 metres long, the Wishing Fish Clock is thought to be the tallest mechanical clock in the world. It's also very popular. Every year, over a quarter a million visitors watch its amusing hourly cycle, which culminates in a 12-feet fish blowing bubbles at the onlookers to the sound of "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles"
I didn't get to see it blowing bubbles though...sad face !

In another arcade I found a bronze bust of Brian Jones if the Rolling Stones who was born in Cheltenham in 1942. The Sculptor is Maurice Juggins.

Cheltenham folk certainly like to put artwork in their shopping arcades, I found this horse statue in one.

 I found this information on the Internet....

 The sculpture was made by PJ Crook and cast by 3DEye. The decoration and embellishment was applied by Carrie Reichardt and Nick Reynolds to turn it into a masterful Trojan horse. Its head has been transformed into a skull and the body is covered in intricate mosaic telling the history of the horse including thought-provoking facts about how people have used and worked with horses in the past.

And how about aeroplanes ???

 The plaque states ' Britain's first jet aircraft, the Gloster E28/39 which had its maiden flight on 15th May 1941 was built on this site. Dowty-Gheltenham's largest industrial group-supplied the landing gear.

Model made and presented by Apprentices of the Dowty Group.

 OOps, nearly forgot the The Minotaur and the Hare, a sculpture by Sophie Ryder.

There were other plaques and inscriptions dotted around the town but these were the ones that really caught my eyes on a cold and wet Bank Holiday here in the UK .

More about the actual Festival in the next post.

Have a good weekend x

Short and sweet

Hi, just a quickie....

A young friend of mine has started blogging as she ventures out into the great big textile universe.

Here is her blog, The Sewing Box If you have time to drop by and say hello, please do xx

Sue

back again

Hi, I bet you thought I had fallen off the edge of the world!! not quite but family has taken me away from my blog temporarily. Still I have some photos to share, news of a new venture which will probably be the next post and some general nonsense as usual.

Spinning, well we have been as busy as ever:-) getting out and about, this time to the Frameworkers Museum where we appeared as part of a workers playtime event on MayDay.

 

We started all very organised in a gazebo in the garden at 10 o'clock and at 11 o'clock we made a rapid retreat into the Hall to avoid the pouring rain.

 

Pete aka Wikkidknitter provided a display of hand spun and hand dyed fibres for the public to admire and ended up selling some of them much to his surprise.

 

The previous day I had attended a spinning session with the Woolly Outlaws based in the North of Nottingham where there was also a Medieval Market taking place. I had to explore...I did and found a sweet little spinning wheel which after a bit of gentle tinkering span very nicely. So, so tempted to take it home but just don't have the space. Even Biker Ted asked why I hadn't bought it !!

 

this morning.........

I checked my email....

looked out of the window ...

remembered that I still had some shetland to wash.........

so put it in a bucket, my favourite big blue one.....

so being outside I looked at the spring flowers.......

and the spring weeds.......

and the spring blossom......

checked up on an old biker friend..........

inspected the new fence......

found evidence that something else may be living with us!! foxes tend to bring us presents, usually children's toys and shoes although one time it was a working blowtorch for which we were very grateful!!

tried to find the pond which I suspect is hidden below this.....

Spring is definitely in the air so its going to be a bit of housework followed by a bit of socialising, hope you all have a good weekend :-)

Mondays Baby

cute photo time

Yes, its that time of years again, the spinners are well wrapped up and inside a damp marquee. The reason? Spring Lambing at Clumber Park.

which do you want to see first? sheep or spinners?   OK Little lambs win !! 

  

And here are the spinners from spinnotts and woolly outlaws.

 

and the amazing Woollyelly :-)

Mystery fleece

This post is especially for Araignee who wants to know what is in the bucket, Well , its this.....no idea what it is though!

at £1.04 plus postage for over 500 gram it is worth a gamble !!

Non fibre fun

Now, some of you may know that my hubby plays in the Nottingham Ukulele orchestra so some of my time is spent watching and listening to them play and today was no exception. The venue, however was a little different as they were playing in a beer tent at a steam rally!! I LOVE steam, always have ever since my Dad dragged me down to the Great Central Railway in the  early '70s to see what was left of the stations.

So here are the Orchestra sorting themselves out ready for the first of three sets to be played this afternoon. I stayed and listened, did a little spinning then ventured out into the damp outdoors to have a look at the steam engines and the railway.

It was a murky day which added to the atmosphere.

 

Did manage to find a bit of colour though....

 

and a bit of heat :-)

 

all in all a good day out inspite of the dampness, now back home and about to sort out a mystery fleece soaking in the huge bucket outside.