Missing a party (or 6)

...... a lot of my family are on the Isle of Bute at the annual jazz festival. For numerous reasons I'm not there.  I have (hopefully) chicks hatching on Monday (although in truth I'm not expecting much)  I have a new website which is supposed to be Beta testing from today - although apparently I'm supposed to be able to retrieve the details of where it's held and how to get into it by psychic ability as I haven't heard from my webguy since 2pm when he told me he was uploading it? I'm also being taken away for two nights in a couple of weeks for my birthday (oooooh yes!) and we are going to Dove Holes jazz festival instead anyway. So I shouldn't complain really (and I'm not exactly.....sort of...... much)

But all of that doesn't make me feel a bit like i'm missing a party (oh hell yeah, I AM missing a party - in fact 3 a day and one or two all nighters probably)  So I am planning a weekend of crafting to make up for it. (Assuming I don't  attain the web beta login details by some form of  supernatural/clairvoyant brain surge).  I had ordered yarn to try to make this on the machine, but it hasn't arrived (I left it late, I knew it was unlikely - this is down to me mostly not having known what day it has been for much of the week).  But I am already handknitting Laika as I showed the other day, and I've done the body and 3/4 of one sleeve, so I reckon it's totally possible to finish at least the lace work over the long weekend, 1 1/4 sleeves and a hood, how hard can it be? (in 4 ply!). Especially now I have my yarn bras so don't have to chase 2 balls of yarn all over the place. (Have I told you how flippin' awesome they are? - no?  well that's all you need to know, they're flippin awesome!), or pick dog hair off them (you really don't want to know!)

So that's me for the weekend. A new audible audiobook will be chosen with great care (as much for length as for content as it has to last 3 non working days!), and I will settle in my newtome chair: (which has been cleaned since I got it and took this photo) and I will knit and watch the birds in the garden and cuddle spot and probably put a little TJ Johnson on the Ipod and whilst my family are there jiving away to the real McCoy, I'll be swinging my own little party here.... and loving every minute!

Sundays

Sundays are normally reserved for F1, but today I am missing THE LAST RACE OF THE SEASON (you have no idea how hard that was to type - like it's a reality now or something).  I'm going to see TJ Johnson and his band up at Ronnie Scotts. It's a sell-out which is so exciting for him, and I'm thrilled that they're doing so well. (even if it does mean missing the F1)

And as for the race - well personally anyone but Alonso would do! ;-)

Sooo much to tell you....

I had so much to tell you, and then my internet connection went westward! Isn't that always the way!!  So starting with the most recent and working backwards here is a quick summary of what's been happening in the last couple of weeks.

Last week we went to hayling Island. It was a bit of a last minute decision (sorry Lin, I know I need to bring down those bookeeping files for you, but we'll be there again soon) But it was such a beautiful sunny day and the tide was out at a good time. I went to the huge Tescos just before you get on the island too, and also bought a sack of potatoes from a farm shop I go to on the island, so a very productive day all round.

The Sunday before that I went to see the Fantabulous Sheepwash Playboys at the Preston Cross hotel in Bookham. They have jazz there most Sunday lunchtimes, but I can't afford to go every week (shame!) but I can never pass up the opportunity to see the Bennett Brothers in action. They just lift your spirits and make you smile your biggest smile. Fantastic fun, and flippin good music to boot!



Then, the week before that I went to Ally Pally for the Knitting and Stitching show. Now up until this year I have only ever been interested in the knitting part of the affair. But this year there seemed to be a bit more patchwork and fabric about, and I got lulled into a false sense of security ambling along looing at all the pretties....... and then BAM!

I'd bought a sewing machine!!! - obviously then I had to go back around and buy fabric (oopsie) and now I have a whole new obsession!  Here are my other Ally Pally purchases:

A subscription to The Knitter and Simply Knitting (purely for the free gifts - one of which was the Cath Kidson sewing book on the left) A pack of Rowan Wool Tweed from Black Sheep and three bundles of fabric - 2 packs of 5 x Fat Quarters, and one roll of 5 x 1/2 metres.

The weekend before that had been my Grandma'a 90th birthday party! A surprise party of 100 or so guests (and I was related to every last one of them - WOW!), pie n mash for lunch, and a jazz band led by the inimitable Gentleman Jim Mcintosh. Mama (my Grandma) led the dancing pretty much all afternoon.... she is an incredible lady. There was an umbrella paradefor the kids too (a jazz tradition, I have no idea why but maybe someone will tell me?), and Mum had bought special little umbrellas for them all, and the mothers had feather boas (so the kids didn't have to do it alone!), and our final dance/song was a big round circle holding hands and singing "When the Saints" (sooo many childhood memories in that)

Lastly, and by no means least, When I had just returned from Scotland, I went to see Stephen Fry at the Royal Albert Hall.  He took questions from twitter and made a whole evening of story-telling around them. A true raconteur in the same way as Peter Ustinov used to be, complete with voices and jokes. Very, very funny and a little serious too, A very generous man, by which I mean that he shared his lifetime stories with a "no-holds barred" attitude. A lovely evening.

So there we are about up to date. I  have completed Girasole too, and started sewing my window quilts that I bought last year, but I'll pop photos of those up tomorrow or sometime this week. I really must get on with my work now! ;)

Bit of a catchup! - Abersoch Jazz Festival 2009

Well I have realised that I neglected really to tell you about our holiday in Wales.  So just a few bits to share about the jazz festival!

Our main reason for choosing Abersoch again was the jazz festival – 2 of my favourite bands were there – Jim Mcintosh and the Jazzaholics (no weblink cos he still hasn’t done a webpage) and TJ Johnson. Jim’s band  was a riot! – They play together with such enthusiasm and energy – James Evans is supreme on the clarinet (especially this year’s addition of an electric box of tricks to electrify said clarinet – fantastic) Jim himself on banjo, Baby Jools and Annie Hawkins make up the back row , and Mike Pointon and Denny Illet on trombone and trumpet completing the line-up.  Jim also entertained and amused during Saturday afternoon with his “party” – a kind of Jam Session with skits! – Here follows a photograph – not for the faint hearted - of Adrian Cox, dressed as a naughty nurse having a lot of trouble playing his clarinet over his rather over enthusiastic bust!


Also “Baby Jools” and Jack Cotterill doing a drum duet as Laurel and Hardy – On one drum kit!!  – now that really rocked!  (Photo hopefully to be inserted here if I get permission from owner)

I should also mention the wonderful TJ Johnson band, slightly less along the mainstream Jazz lines but more of a rhythm and blues band in general, but delighting the crowd with everything from gospel to country as well. TJ’s voice seems to get better and better, he can melt your heart with a gentle rendition of “Just a closer walk with Thee” and a few minutes later have you laughing out loud (and dancing) to Willie the Weeper.  Along with Adrian Cox on the sax (and the first time I have seen – the guitar!), and Jamie Lawrence on Double Bass and Jules Fenton on drums this band is a must-see for those who aren’t into trad jazz as such but like a good all round band that will have you dancing for sure.

For anyone fancying a weekend Jazz festival – Abersoch is a great one to try. The location is truly beautiful, the festival itself is chilled and relaxed with plenty of time to enjoy your surroundings, not like some others when you find yourself at a slow trot moving between one venue and another.(!!) Many young musicians are booked as guests which is fabulous to see. This year Amy Roberts, Jamie Brownfield, Jack Cotterill, and Kate Browning all guested with most of the other bands. – Jonny Boston was also there as a guest although I don’t know if he can be classed as “young” any more???!!! (tee hee!) ;-) , although I have to admit he certainly rocks with the best of them, and his version (during Jim’s party I think ) of Running Wild was awesome! The younger musicians bring a new dimension to the shores of trad jazz, and stroll gently off the beaten track now and again, with an energy and vibrancy that has you clapping your hands and stamping your feet!

So with great thanks to Jan and all the organisers who work so hard for the whole year to get the festival together, and my dear friends in the bands – you all gave us a cracking weekend and we loved each and every minute of it.

Jazz in Hastings

This is a ridiculously useless photo of last night’s brolly parade at the 1066 Jazz club in Hastings, where we went to see Gentleman Jim McIntosh and the Jazzaholics.**

Taken on my phone cos it hadn’t occurred to me to take a camera.  It’s a fair old way for us to travel – over 2 hours to get there and 1 and a half back (no traffic on the M25 at midnight!) but it was a lovely fun evening.  The regulars had dressed up in all manner of fancy dress, and there was even a little girl there, probably only about 2 or so, who had her very own lacey umbrella – a really tiny one, it was so cute. She out-did everyone by dancing almost all night – from 8 to 11pm!

So that’s about it for jazz for a while – the next scheduled outing is Feb 15th at the Preston Cross to see the Bennett Brothers.

**If you have landed on this page by searching for Jim’s Jazzaholics or varations on that theme, then I am sorry that he STILL doesn’t have a web-page  , despite me telling him that I get quite a few hits on my blog as a result of having seen him around and about.  But if you are looking for gigs or CD’s then leave me a comment with your email address and I will pass your details on to him

A night out and old friends.

Last night I went out to the Preston Cross hotel for a one off jazz night. They always have jazz on a Sunday afternoon, but it's not the most convenient time of day to give up, so a Friday night is perfect.

The reason I went is that the band playing (The fantabulous Sheepwash playboys) is made of (among others) two brothers, Richard and Russell Bennett who I have seen play for many years, but recently haven't toured the UK to the extent they used to. Consequently this is the first time I have seen them in well over 2 years..... and oh it was so good to see them again. The pair of them front the band playing trombone and trumpet - and it's a bit like watching a musical Morecambe and Wise show!!! I can't find any samples of music with both of them, but here is the kind of thing - featuring Richard Bennett on trumpet



I tend to forget how very much this music changes a day's mood! - I went out in a typical Friday mood, needing a bit of a pick-me-up and this was it. We chatted, laughed, sang, and jiggled!!!

..... and I'm still smiling!

Gentleman Jim Mcintosh and the Jazzaholics

Noo's Knits & Other Bits: Where to start??

If anyone was interested in the CD as reviewed in the above post. It is now available on eBay, just type Gentleman Jim Mcintosh in the search box........

Where to start??

Well it's been a while my friends - I do hope you'll forgive me. I have so much to tell you so you'd better grab a cup of tea!!!

I'm going to start with last night's dinner! (I seem a little food obsessed lately, but this happens to me in the autumn as I love re-kindling my passion for cold weather comfort food) I had some puff pastry left in the freezer from last weeks game pie, which has been calling out to me ever since I put it in there! - So last night I found this recipe for Chicken & leek pie. It used up the last of my farmers market cider and some leeks I had in the fridge, so was a perfect recipe. It was absolutely delicious and I'd recommend it to anyone!

Still vaguely on the food theme. The 2 newest girls are laying well. However they are turning into proper bullies and one of them is feather-pecking the others. I have tried making their run more interesting, but she just seems to have a bee in her bonnet. I'll leave it for a while and see if they settle..... I'd hate to lose her as she's a fabulous layer, and is a very friendly little thing to me! - I think she just hopes that everything in her path is food and pecks it accordingly! I've let them out in the garden this afternoon and that definitely placates them! So much to do and so little time!!!

On to knitting now!

I steeked the cardigan - and I "think" it worked OK! I've knitted up the button bands and it all still seems to be in one piece which is a promising sign! - I haven't done the sleeves yet, so I must get a wriggle on with them!

I am also knitting an Irish Hiking Scarf for a lovely friend of ours. It's done in Garnstudio Karisma Superwash on 4mm needles, and because it's a bit thinner than the original yarn used I added a pattern repeat on to the width, otherwise it was in danger of becoming a cravat!! The colour is much deeper than it looks (why do digital cameras never photograph a true red?)

The sock yarn blanket is also coming along ... although still a way to go! (excuse the dog biscuits and general mess please!) I think I might edge the bottom of it, and then give it to my sister to use for the time being, then have it back next summer for elongating! Otherwise she will miss having it for the winter, which would be a shame.

I also have had the absolute pleasure to receive a swap from (I think the blogless) craftylady on the forum. I was so lucky and felt very spoilt indeed. 2 balls of opal rainforest (in snake!) some wonderful mint cream chocolates, and a selection of glove and scarf patterns for the yarn. The sock yarn has already found it's way into a couple of squares of the blanket, so the gift will be shared family wide!!

Also I won a competition on the forum! - This one was frankly hysterical. It was to guess how many WIP's the delightful (also blogless, but then she hasn't time for a blog) Pictish has on the needles at the moment. - I guessed a raucous 76..... and won by being the closest to the answer of 68! I won this.....

Yarn yard sock yarn in pink for October which I believe (although am happy to be corrected) n dyed last year to raise money for breast cancer awareness.

I also sent my copy of yarnforward magazine to another forum pal, as there was nothing in there that inspired me this quarter...... and looky what came rattling back through my letterbox: Fyberspates in colourway "Heather" - it's gorgeous and was totally unexpected and very naughty of her. I will find something beautiful to knit with it to put it to good use.

I also received a raffle prize from Terri, who had run a raffle to raise funds for her Great North Run. Unfortunately I can't find the photo I took of the whole prize which was a felted bag book, and 7 balls of Jamiesons shetland yarn, but here is the yarn!

Embarrassed by my recent good fortunes I ran another competition on the forum. The question was - with all my recent acquisitions, how many balls/skeins of yarn do I have in my stash! - I was surprised to find that the answer was 59 (I didn't think it was quite that many!) so will not be entering any competitions for a while!!!!! (I did buy some of them - honest!)

So moving swiftly along!

I also received through my letterbox this week, a copy of a CD by a great friend of mine - Gentleman Jim McIntosh, which he sent me because he said I would be honest about it - good or bad !!! (Is this a good thing to be recognized for?? - I supposed it is?!)Gentleman Jim McIntosh and the Jazzaholics "Drying Out" was recorded live at Moreton-in-Marsh Jazz club on 27 July 2007.

Well there was no need for him to worry about my honesty! - The CD is fabulous. It is everything that a good jazz CD should be - toe tapping, uplifting, raucous. The musicianship is incredible, and the whole CD just puts one of those silly "Big Fat Grins" on your face from the minute it starts to the minute it ends. The pace is good, with plenty of scope for a bit of aerobic exercise should you wish, but also a couple of slower tracks to get your breath back. Also a couple of tracks that you should just listen to intently to appreciate the incredible talent of the band. If you've never jived I guarantee you'll want to by the time the CD is half way through! The sleeve notes say that there was a 30 minute encore - I can't say I'm surprised, you wouldn't have wanted the evening to end. Gentleman Jim plays the banjo, ukulele and harmonica on the CD (the harmonica being one of the tiniest little things you have ever seen in your life - I doubt it's longer than an inch - how he's never choked on it I'll never know, especially when you know he is prone to the giggles!) He is joined by Richard Bennett, Mike Pointon, James Evans, Annie Hawkins and Baby Jools, if you are a regular on the jazz ciruit you'll know that's a pretty impressive lineup. The CD is a mix of traditional jazz & gospel, and there is also a track written by the Jazzaholics dedicated to the memory of Railway George, who I was lucky enough to meet at the 100 club a couple of times. As yet Gentleman Jim doesn't have a website, but if you want to get hold of a copy of the CD, let me know. I'll also see if I can get his permission to put a couple of excerpts on here.

(A lot of people seem to end up on this post after googling good ol' Jim Mcintosh and his Jazzaholics - He still doesn't have a website, but he is on facebook - if that helps at all)

Well I think I'd better leave it there - the chickens need to be put back in their run now and given their evening tea! Spot is curled up in her bed with her nost under her tail (she looks sooooo cute) so it must be time I tapped the heating on for an hour or two.... and had a cup of tea!

Bonnie Scotland

Well, I have just spent the best week with my sis and her family. We drove up to Scotland on Tuesday, arriving late in the evening. She has not long moved into a new house which obviously I had to go and have a nose around! The pictures are the view from the front of her house - a view which once seen is hard to drag yourself away from. I can see why they put the conservatory on the front!!!!! Over the week we saw dolphins and seals, (hasten to add those links are not my photos just the type of thing we were seeing!) and loads of different sea birds 2 3. OH has the most amazing eyesight (of which I am intensely jealous) and is able to pick out wildlife from any landscape setting, if it's there he'll find it!!!! I have to say that I believe this to be one of the most beautiful bits of water in the British Isles. The water is clear, even way out deep you can easily see down, and there is so much wildlife - many an hour can be wasted spent, with binoculars to eyes watching for signs of movement in the water.

We also spent an afternoon walking round a fairly local loch, and saw geese and several varieties of duck (name of loch escapes me, but sure kind sister will add it in the comments!)

Little nephew was, as always, an angel. Although I have been singing three lines from "everybody wants to be a cat" for the last three days (memo to sister: please teach little man more words!!!!). You know when you go to bed and something is just going round and round in your head!!!! We played lots of hiding, and read loads of stories, and did plenty of singing and generally being daft (nothing new there then!)




On the final day, we went over to the Isle of Bute jazz festival. Just for one gig - Gentleman Jim's Party!! It's always a great couple of hours and I find some of the best music of the weekend. It's pretty much a slightly organised jam session, with some comedy and general mayhem!!!! Pictures above show musicians dressed for a performance of swan lake (Oh yes really!), and the second is Sky Murphy (of the TJ Johnson band) rocking and rolling with Gentleman Jim himself (of the Phil Mason Band) to You Never can Tell by Chuck Berry (which Sky was singing)

We left there and drove home that afternoon, as always it's a huge wrench leaving the family, and maybe even more so for the fabulous setting of their new home. To see a two year old already knowing the difference between robin red breast, blackbirds, and sea gulls is quite something, and I am sure given the location, he will soon be pointing out the dolphins and seals to his mum!!!!!