A week of musical eclecticism!

Pushing the boundaries of music was the hallmark of this past week!

The Drop and The Skints - Manchester Academy
First up, The Skints....
Roots-rock-reggae delivered with passion by London band The Skints....

 

 Ably supported by another excellent London-based reggae combo the Drop .

If you're a reggae fan, check both these great bands out. We'd lost touch with the whole reggae scene in the last few years (to give you an idea how long it's been, we used to be regulars at the International and International 2 - both great Manchester venues now sadly long-gone). Reggae Fridays at The Band on the Wall (thankfully still going from strength to strength!) were also a firm favourite. On which note, a big thumbs-up to the Band on the Wall who've sent us freebie tickets to another reggae gig featuring Manchester dub-reggae band Jeramiah Ferrari and former Specials frontman and co-founder of Fun Boy 3 Neville Staple.

(This is a bit of a longer post than planned so for part two see next post!)

3 show round-up part three - The Wool Experience

Another show first for us, this lovely, relaxed event organized by Black Sheep Spinners at Blaze Farm in Wildboar Clough (Nr Macclesfield) was most enjoyable. The weather was unexpectedly kind (after wild rain and winds earlier in the week) and we had a great day. Lots of spinners were on hand, including Diane demonstrating her prowess with the walking wheel.

The shearing demonstrations were very popular, although possibly the most popular "shearee" was one of the young lads who was having his head sheared for charity!

I confess to succumbing to a fleece (I really did need a Leicester Longwool - no, really!). Look out for it in Fibre Adventure Club parcels in the near future as it's a beaut.

And I can't mention Blaze Farm without a hearty recommendation of their first-rate ice-cream. So good we had to have two.....(oops) - but they are calorie free if you eat them when you're working, right?

3-show round-up part two - Woolfest

Just realised these posts are out of sequence, but not to worry.

This year's Woolfest was the biggest ever with new stall areas, more visitors and the usual great atmosphere!

It didn't escape the grotty weather with new "water features" in the form of rain running so hard down the steps it looked like a waterfall! But, like Fibre East, it takes more than a bit of the wet stuff to deter the enthusiastic fibre-lover!

Not many photos as we were rather busy (in a good way) and thank you to everyone who braved lashing rain, storms and floods to get to us. See you for sunshine fit to crack the flags next year!

3-show round-up! Fibre East

Gosh, looking through my photos and realised there are 3 shows I haven't even blogged yet!

First up then, Fibre East.

There's no getting round it, the word that cannot be avoided is wet. and wetter. and wettest. Yes, definitely the wettest show we've ever done. Emergency welly purchasing wet. Traders abandoning shoes and going barefoot wet.

Okay, I've got that out of my system now, thanks for bearing with me!

On the (non-wet) front, lots of lovely visitors gamely turned out (it takes a lot to keep a fibreholic from his/her fix!),

 cheerfully paddled round the stalls

and staunchly refused to be deterred by the unseasonal conditions,

so a big, big thank you to you all! A big thank you, too, to the organisers, volunteers and the farm staff who worked tirelessly to keep the show on the road.

And Sunday did produce some nice sunshine, there were some super hands-on mini-workshops and, of course, lots of lovely things to buy.

 Oh, and weather forecasters take note: We've booked two full days of sunshine for next year ;-)

Art for Health and Wellbeing - The Exhibition

 Good news - I passed the Arts for Health and Wellbeing: Becoming a Practitioner course! 20 points towards an MA nicely in the bag :-) (Only 100 more to go!)

There's more about my pieces on my OCA blog, but I wanted to share some of the work of my fellow students here as it's just awesome :-)

Setting up (more work than we thought!)...

And individual pieces from...

Steve,

Suzanne at Skybluesea,

Gill (aka the Fimo Lady), at Gills Clay Creations,

Julia at Dot and I,

Dani at Art For You,

Nicola at Add Some Sparkle,

Patricia,

Chloe,

Tony,

Danielle at Rubbish Revamped,

 Jules,

and Jenna,

(There were a couple of pieces I didn't manage to photograph so if anyone can complete the set, do let me know!)

It was fantastic working with such a great bunch of people, so thank you to everyone, including all our wonderful tutors, Bolton University and the course sponsors, Bolton Primary Care Trust, Bolton Council and Bolton at Home.

We're hoping to keep in touch as a group so there may be more exhibitions to come. Watch this space....