Kamishibai Boo-boo.

A while ago I completed a set of story cards for Jackie Kerin, for her Kamishibai box, made by Ted Smith, master craftsman. It was the story of the Princess and the Pea.
The project was finished, cards are out in the world now. I had patted them on the head and called them a success. Jackie has been telling the tale to young and old, from various kindergartens to the Williamstown Literature Festival. I was feeling a bit too clever by half.
That was until this morning. Jackie had a gig at Everlasting Books, Yarraville. She was showing the cards to Dharma, the lovely proprietress...............










Was Dharma the first one to notice? Were people just being polite? Did anyone else notice that the prince has six fingers?

You would think I would have noticed while I was drawing it!

Not sure what to do, do I;
a) re-draw the whole thing?
b) leave it as a 'spot the boo-boo' thing?
c) claim it was a statement about the Royal Family?

Any suggestions?

Happy Mother's Day!

A big Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful women in my life. Thanks for all your support in good times and bad. Thanks for all the laughs, hugs and slaps over the head when I've needed them. (Metaphorical slaps of course).
And a huge thank you to my own gorgeous Mum. Mother of eight, grandmother of thirteen, and now a great-grandmother. On a miniscule budget she fed and clothed us all. This pint sized lady was a tower of strength.
A fabulous cook, years ahead of her time she could cater for any crowd. Skilled in drawing the best from the farm, garden, chooks and the shops. Any windfall gain, like the lovely fish she is holding in the photo, would have been cooked up into something really special.
An op-shopper before it was fashionable, she fitted us all out in the very best. She encouraged us all individually with what we were good at. That often included having a kitchen full of kids making candles, scones or whatever. She refereed our fights and praised our efforts. My kids share these memories. Going to Granny's was always a treat.
Mum is still with us, but now in the advanced stages of dementia. It has been devastating for all of us. I miss her so much every day. But I am so lucky to have had her in my life. In conversations with my siblings, it seems to be a common theme that we hear her voice, say things that she would say etc. I see her face when I look in the mirror.
What an amazing life!

Canberra National Folk Festival.

Arrrgh!!! This computer is so slow, and it keeps freezing and eating my writing!!! This posting was for over a week ago. It seems like forever now. And its refusing to load most of the photos. Anyway, I've written it now so I hope you all enjoy it out there in blogland. I will try to upload more pics when possible.

What a week! Fun and festivities coming at you from every angle!
A simple walk to the shops could involve dodging Morris Dancers all a-jingle, leaping about through the crowd, hankies flapping in the breeze. Or you could be led Pied Piper style into a nearby tent by some fabulous tune.

Workshops galore! Ever wanted to learn Appalacian Clogging? How about Broom Building? Choir, Percussion, Dance, Yoga, all manner of Arts and Crafts from Blacksmithing to Oragami. Brush up on your Fiddle Skills, learn some Swing Guitar, improve on the Bits Between your Songs or maybe Stage Craft is your thing.

Buskers, busking at every turn. Acrobats performing deadly acts, street performers, giant seagulls pinching your chips, little kids trying out their newly learned skills, groups of teenagers having a sing-along with their favourite tunes, an assortment of choirs, dance troups, poets and musos. Even the Newport Bush Orchestra strutted their stuff and drew a crowd.

And speaking of NBO, you could catch us everyday at 2pm at the Stockman's Camp. It was a fantastic gig.

There was plenty of eye candy at the instrument makers exhibition . We got to drool over some beautiful, hand made instruments. You could chat to the makers themselves about the finer points of constructing their wares. They even let us play them.

A huge circus tent dominated centre arena. This hosted a variety of shows, including a late night Not For Kids Kid's Show. We were treated to some acts of absurdity by balloon blowers, contortionists and the like. Plenty of ooohs and ahhhhs and ouches coming from the audience.
The session bar was just a bit too much fun. A huge human soup of all kinds of people, sporting every concievable instrument. Dancers leaping about, singers singing. Too many of us made the tragic error of going for one last quick stroll through on the way to bed. You would be dragged into the maddness, and before you knew it, you would be performing solos to an appreciative, but slightly sozzled audience, dancing on tables etc. until they threw you out at the crack of dawn. And then you had to find your way through a sea of tents, tripping over guy ropes, making lots of apologies, (sometimes to the people that you woke up, sometimes to lamp posts).
Then you had to chip the icicles off your tent, quickly put on every piece of clothing that you own and get into bed. Those Camberra nights are freezing.

It was all great fun. The best bit of all for me was the comeradie. There were plenty of Newport Folkies at the festival, and in true NFFC style we soon constructed a small community. Some of my favourite moments were sitting around the camp site, sharing food, a cuppa, a bottle of wine, a conversation and some music. I had so many belly laughs that my ribs were aching.