Fortunately, they're not all like that!

Our band, Long Meg, doesn't do the number of public ceilidhs we would like, so we do a succession of private parties, fundraisers and weddings. Weddings are either great fun, or a total pain, but either way, they take a great deal more time and trouble than the average village hall do, when you turn up at six, set up, sound check, play for three and a half hours, pack up, and leave about twelve thirty.

Setting up in the pretty white marquee beside  Coniston Water

The cake was bang on theme with red and white spots and checks

Most weddings have what band leader Paul calls "the embuggeration factor": you turn up at any time between one and four, try to set up, negotiating with caterers, hotel staff, best men, mothers in law, nervous brides and drunken friends; get told that you are contravening the venue's health and safety rules; be told you must not make that terrible noise (sound check up the spout); be unable to play for several hours while speeches take place and fifteen courses are served; have to play the bride's mother's favourite song through your PA, and finally get to play for a couple of hour if you're lucky; pack up and leave at about one, tripping over the cables of the disco man they've neglected to tell you they've booked in case their younger guests don't like your music! (In fact it's usually the other way round: young people love our mix of traditional tunes with blues/rock rhythms, and older people often like old pop music)

Fortunately, not all weddings are like that, and sometimes they are wonderful: you feel caught up in a happy event and share and contribute to the joy. yesterday' was one such.

OK, so we turned up at four- after a long drive- but we did drive through some of the most beautiful long and winding roads in England, to the heart of the high fells by Coniston Water and The Old Man, where  a marquee filled with light- and red and white bunting- waited in the afternoon sunlight.

New Long Meg line-up- Liz, Neil, Mike, Paul, Joe

This could have been a sad gig for us, as it was the last for our drummer Joe. However we got caught up in the joy of the afternoon, and were surrounded by the enthusiasm and warmth of Liz and Lucy, and their family and friends.

After our other veteran band member, fiddler Pete Crofts, recently retired, we thought we'd never find the sound again, but Liz, seen below with guest fiddler Neil, makes a great sound, gutsy yet precise. So Long Meg is still Long Meg- but a bit different!

We are still sad that Joe has left us, but also confident that we can lure him back for the odd gig or two. We wish him luck and look forward to his next exhibition: Joe is a talented artist, as you can see from his website.

All things simple and good: pretty table settings, sunlight on trees, good food, good music, good beer, love and joy

 Good luck, long life and happiness to Liz and Lucy; ave atque vale-  Joe and Pete; the sun on all our paths!

The World Premier of my Radio Play

My short Radio Play Words Worth Hearing will be broadcast on local radio on Thursday 23rd December between 9.30 and 9.50 am, 6.00 and 7.00 pm, and on the late evening show between 10.00 pm and 1.00 am. It is one of five plays accepted for broadcast by Radio Cumbria, and written by North Cumbria Script Writers. We had great fun recording them with some talented local actors and directors. The five plays were  produced, recorded and edited by Belinda Artingstoll. You can hear Radio Cumbria streamed live or listen again.

The Launch of Trifolium Books

This is one of those inevitable things- a decision which just about made itself. The publishing industry seems to be going the way of the music industry, and all our efforts to get Kathleen Herbert's stunning fourth novel published in the traditional way have come to naught. So, inevitably, we have said "A plague on all your publishing houses".... and set up our own.
Some notes on the reasons for this:

Publishers are very reluctant to take on new books for good reasons. Here is how the money paid for a book divides up between the parties:

Publisher’s net profit               5%

Publisher’s overheads             9%

Distribution/marketing    8%

Manufacturing                15%

Author’s share                8%

Retailers’ share              55%

Figures from The Writers' and Artists' Yearbook Guide to Getting Published: The Essential Guide for Authors (Writers & Artists Yearbook Gde) Harry Bingham

• Because there is now so little profit in publishing, publishers and agents are taking very few risks. (Agents make their money by charging authors 15% of their royalties: given that an author makes 80p per nominal £10 book sold, it’s not surprising that agents are even more reluctant than publishers to take on new writers. (And publishers usually only take on authors who have already persuaded an agent to represent them)
• My perception is that there are now many more people writing novels than perhaps 10-15 years ago
• Adult fiction constitutes only 26% of book sales
• Despite what looks like a huge profit margin for retailers, most of that is eaten up by overheads, discounts to overseas buyers, discounts to customers, and the fact that they take up shelf and storage space etc.
• For all the above reasons, books by celebrities and by already well-known authors are snapped up, and quality is hardly considered either by agent or publisher; saleability is what matters (see Kate Mosse, and dare I say it, Dan Brown)

Parallel to the problems with mainscale publishing, there has been a huge growth in self publishing/indie publishing (interestingly reflecting what has been happening in the music industry)

People are still buying huge numbers of books, but I have the impression that they are written by a dwindling number of authors.

I have had both support and interest through various historical blogs, and through researching the books and authors mentioned, I have come to realise that there is a community of independent authors and very small, often specialist publishers- or rather there is a plethora of communities mostly interlinked. 

Trifolium Books will join that community in 2011; please support Kathleen and Trifolium by checking Get it Written for dates and places, tell your friends, and buy a copy of Moon in Leo when it's published.

Is grey the new black? Musings on the colour of underwear

Do you feel like this when you wear white underwear? No, neither do I, but it does look nice- at least for a handful of wearings. How long before it goes the way of all underwear and ends up the colour Ben Elton calls "thousand wash grey"? It all gets there in the end, but white has a head start, and black usually ends up round the ankles, all stretch gone, before it reaches the Nirvana of TWG.
While I'm on the subject, can we rename the sort of neutral colour that I often buy from M&S in the hopes of postponing the advent of TWG? Too many people still think of it as "flesh colour" (the actual colour of flesh is red- look in the butcher's window) I also like the story of a class of kids from a London primary school whose protest at the name of some coloured pencils consisted of them sending a large sheet of paper to the pencil manufacturers with dozens of colours which they had mixed: their message was, "These are our flesh colours"

Anyway, back to the name of the colour; I suggest Surgical Appliance Pink, as that's what it's nearest to. I wish they would do more of the sort of nice pinky grey colour I used to call mink. Perhaps I should just buy grey in the first plac?

Recent Paintings

 

Mike's oil portrait of the guide at the Laphroig Distillery

Watercolour version of the above

Steve Cleary by Mike

Con's Cover Design for Moon in Leo based on a photograph taken in Furness

Northern Fells Dyptich

Northern Fells

I am continuing with my semi abstract landscapes, and Mike is getting rather good at portraits.

Getting down to it (or rather up)

The garden has been neglected recently, due to Avril's shoulder injury, and our preoccupation with getting Moon in Leo published. However, we have started trying to do a minimum of an hour a day when the weather permits: unglamourous things like digging out the gutters and cutting back the climbers. Yesterday was sunny and dry, warm even, so I spent some soggy hours removing dead leaves and slime from the unseen places while Mike cut back the ivy.

Early morning on a beautiful day

Mike gets up to it!

The last few grapes

Tall grass seed heads catch the low sun

Cut back, the ivy no longer threatens the gutters and fascia boards

Photos, paintings, cake and drama- what more can you ask for?

We had the most amazing day out on Friday. It is difficult to credit how much quality there is, so close to home. The day was planned just for an art exhibiton, and to see the Quondam Theatre production which we had missed when it was performed locally.

First of all we went to the preview at Red Barn Gallery, Melkinthorpe. We were both really struck by the work of two painters: Jean Laing and Robert Newton. 
We followed with a great cup of coffee and delicious (in my case gluten free) cake in the restaurant attached to the gallery and nursery. (It was gluten free because there wasn't much room in it for anything other than chocolate :-)

The play was performed ten minutes away in the lovely village of Askham, which has an excellent pub, the Queen's Head. It has a welcome second to none, and again, really delicious gluten free food. One of the owners is Tommy Martin whose exhibition of photographs we saw in his gallery just opposite the pub.

Bellies and minds well fed, we went just next door to the village hall to see the best production I have seen yet by our excellent local theatre company, Quondam.

All this- and less than 45 minutes from home.

Ms Potter would approve: garden update

This cheeky little chap visits us every day, and is getting cheekier and more daring in his approaches to the house. Beatrix Potter gave them an undeservedly good press, but I have to confess I do find this one rather cute. He may be living a charmed life at the moment, so long as he sticks to eating grass, but he had better not start on our lettuces!

In the meantime, we are enjoying the novel pleasure of eating our own home-grown veg. Am I a very sad person to get excited at the sight of a cauliflower?

Freshly cut!

Swallow production line

Our original swallow wasn't too daunted by the intruder who built on his old nest: he simply started building a new one- on top of the seive! So, I had to buy a new one- sheltering wildlife gets expensive! The rather tatty nest in the eaves of the cabin from last summer fell down during the winter, but the swallows were still determined to rebuild, so we made it easier for them by nailing up a rough shelf. They kept up a constant shrill attack while we were doing it- a four syllable shout which sounds like "Get out the way!" They still do it now, whenever anyone goes into the cabin or the carport. However- they have good reason, as there are at least four babies in the carport nest, and three in the cabin, and so many mouths need a lot of stuffing!

Garden in Gear for Summer- just revving up

First swallow of the season

His nest has been built on by somebody else

Our first swallow arrived today, only to find that his nest has been taken over by squatters. I wonder what he's going to do?

Avril has been here today and started our new vegetable beds.  Can't wait to start planting cabbages and things!

Flowers are bursting out all over, and Daisy the dog does her best to distract us all and get us to throw her ball.

...and the fun continues!

 Avril made a "bug hotel" for the boys when she was here. Today they started to fill the compartments with different materials they found around the garden.

In the afternoon, we went to see the Snow Queen at Up Front Gallery Puppet Theatre. The boys loved it, but so did Gran, Grandad and Auntie Kate.

The Boys Are Here!

Ted and Daisy play football; Shay plays badminton

  

Ted and Seamus are enjoying a short stay at the Red House with Granny, Grandad and Auntie Kate. They had a great day playing football and badminton with Avril's dog, and another day admiring the horses at the lakeland Heavy Horse Centre.

Auntie Kate and Ted at the back of the carriage

Men and Women at Work II (+ dog)

Easter Sunday: cold but bright. A diminished family party meet at the Red House for what has become a traditional gathering of Wards and Jensens. This year, Anna and family were at a wedding, and Kate is due to come tonight with Ted and Shay while Anna and Martin fly to Tokyo for another wedding. Geoff and Amanda arrived on Friday with Ryan and Evie, Daniel working in a pub over the weekend.

Avril came, and everybody weighed in to help. Signs were put up (Ryan's ambition is to be the man who puts out the cones on the motorway), stones and logs were moved, with only a small amount of swearing, and various bits of anatomy were revealed!

Meanwhile, Evie was determined to read outside, despite the cold, and Amanda did a heroic job untangling a total scrow of wool I intend to knit (I did a bit too). If we paid ourselves the minimum wage for it, it would have beed cheaper to have chucked it in the bin and taken a first class train to London to buy some wool from the Queen's knitting shop! But once you start, it becomes obsessive, and Amanda's excitement as she wound the last few strands up was truly moving.