Van madness??

Perhaps the intimate space is getting to us.

Missing Orkney

Although we're thoroughly enjoying life on the road - freedom, creativity, change and meeting lots of new people - we are missing Orkney. Everything's fairly hectic down here and so many people, cars, shiney lights and things - so many things! Just spent the day in Shrewsbury (not too large a town in the grand scheme of things) and felt quite overwhelmed at points with all the people and shops. It's good, though, to be in a different space.

Back in Central Scotland

Great to see Tony and spend some time at his. He made us a great ad hoc studio in his loft and we got lots of leather bits done - of course John and Tony also got lots of music made too. A bit weird to be back where we lived for five years before moving to Orkney - it did feel that we've moved on (and up!) But good to see the Ochil Hills again.

fair trading #2

Yesterday we did a little christmas fair in a village hall in the lakes - Arnside. Managed to get a table at the last minute - i think our novelty value might have swung it. Spent the day chatting about Orkney (perhaps visit orkney should have us on a retainer?!) Also sold stuff and made some money - the table only cost us £15. Maybe small is beautiful in this case.

fair trading

The christmas fair at hexham last weekend was less than a blinding success - all a bit credit crunchy really! Plenty of folk but wallets remaining deep in pockets. and as the stall cost £100 we didnt actually make anything. Still, an intresting experience, chatted to other stall holders and seems craft fairs are a pretty hit and miss business at the best of times - and this isnt the best of times.


Surely John's vaguely Eastern-European-military look couldn't have had an impact on our sales success?

bangles, bangles

The sales tour is going well. The leather bangles are proving attractive to the craft and gift shops I'm approaching on the way down - good news.
www.en-case.com (En-case orkney website)

Orkney cat stuck up a tree - of course

The tree

After a couple of nights off grid around Inverness we decided to have a few on site at Glenmore, to get on with marketing stuff for Hexham on the laptop. And give Harry (fondly referred to as the monkey, due to playful naughtiness) a chance to run free. Of course he ended-up 70 foot up a Scots Pine - of course he did, why wasn't I expecting that?

John and i spent a few sleepless nights (as did Harry, I guess) shaking treats and calling, he called back but was pretty well stuck. The SSPCA (very supportive) called the fire brigade on day 2 - their ladders wouldn't reach and they tried to blast him down with hose (tarpaulin all spread-out to catch him and all). He danced around to avoid the spray and stayed put.

Day 3 he must have been getting hungry - and probably a bit bored - he started to make a supreme effort to get down.

Vertiginous hero

John borrowed a ladder from the local shop and bravely ascended towards the monkey (by now his plight was well known locally and folks were trying to find someone who could climb the tree.) Harry got so far but no further, John was in peril of getting stuck up there himself, through sheer fear, so descended.

Enter the heroic campsite manager who shinned up the ladder and grabbed the monkey by the tail, dragging from the tree and into our very releaved arms below.

Back safe inside, on the ground

Why did he chase up such a precipitous tree? What ever could have lead him to such an

ill-advised act?


The primary suspect