The Sound Hunt

This week I had the pleasure of working with the new Primary 1 class in Strathblane Primary School. We read JoJo and the Sound Machine and then had our own sound hunt in the classroom. We also enjoyed making sound effects using only our mouths and had a sound quiz. Would you recognize what a zebra sounds like? All round good fun. Here is the sheet for the sound hunt, print it off if you want to have a go with your class or youngster. It’s great when you hear something you have written for young folk being enjoyed …phew! Job done.

A Gnome Cake

While I was in the school I caught up with the Primary 2 class who gave me quite a bit of help with my book last year. So we celebrated with what else … a gnome cake. Yum!

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  100th Blip - Ragged Robin
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  Stamps in Hawick
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  Just Pallets
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  A Govan backstreet
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  Westend Boys

100th Blip Day

I can’t believe I have reached 100 consecutive blips! I feel like I have done the equivalent of a Duke of Edinburgh award sticking with something over a period of time, just because I wanted to. If you don’t know what BLIP, is well it’s a site where you post a picture a day and a few lines, which sum up either the picture or your day. So who is on there …well all kinds really. There are mums recording a year in the life of their children (including the tantrums!), older folk taking a gap year, serious amateur photographers who talk about F numbers and even a few folk who photograph their dinner (but not as many as on Facebook!). Interestingly there are quite a few professional photographers who use the site and post just for the joy of taking photos! For most it’s about the photos, but for some it’s all about the journal entry and the tales they tell. Let’s face it we all know other people’s lives can be strangely compelling.

So why do it (a) It’s remembering the small things, as you look back at the pics (b) Seeing other people’s perspectives … literally (c) People are very kind …no sniping on blip …it’s a very positive thing, so the keen amateur can gain confidence, get ideas and share. Why not do it (a) Obsession …you start looking at the world through blip-obsessed eyes. Walking down the street the other day a friend did comment, as I was clicking away with the iPad as we walked, “You’ll be blipping then”. (b) The sense of ‘panic’ as you realise at 5pm that you have forgotten to take a photo that day. (c) The sadness of looking at something in the house and thinking “I’ll save that as an EB!” (EB = Emergency Blip). So will I make 200?  Well I have spotted at least 3 EB’s in the room so far …so bring on the 200^th Blip Day!

PS Blip 100 was the wee scruffy looking robin.

Hedgehogs in Hawick

This week I met a great chap who works in Hawick Museum, called David, who in passing conversation mentioned his pet hedgehog. It was one of those moments where you thought you hadn’t picked things up properly. “You have a pet hedgehog?” I questioned, …”Yes of course…” There then ensued a whole hedgehog conversation (a first for me), which proved quite fascinating, as David belongs to The British Hedgehog Preservation Society.  It turns out that David is one of the people, in that part of the world, to go to if you find a sick or injured hedgehog. He then nurses them back to health (if he can) and releases them back into the wild.  He has also run sessions at the museum where younger children can learn about these fascinating creatures.  These were my top hedgehog conversation facts: 1/ Hedgehogs shouldn’t be fed milk… the food of choice when being nursed back to health is dog food. 2/ They are the gardener’s friend hovering up slugs and the like. 3/ They are heading towards being an endangered species as pesticides and the like are reducing their numbers. Picture of Furzy David’s hedgehog attached. You never know Furzy might just end up in JoJo Gnome’s garden one day.

Sound Hunt

Next week I am heading into our local primary school to do a sound hunt with Primary 1 class looking for sounds like JoJo Gnome does  (JoJo Gnome & the Sound Machine).

Happy Roald Dhal Day

Friday 13th September is Roald Dhal Day and celebrates the birthday of that wonderful story teller. My favourite story has to be Charlie and the Chocolate Factory …for obvious reasons!

Christmas is coming

Almost there with the drawings for the Christmas book (JoJo Gnome & the Smell of Christmas – out in November) and I am spotting things Christmas creeping into the shops. In a local shop they had a deal on Christmas mince pies today (even a bit soon for me!).

Paper boats are go!

What a great day it was last week with the launch of the paper boats in the Clyde in celebration of the Scottish quirky artist George Wyllie (sadly no longer with us).  The event took place outside the very impressive Beacon Arts Centre in Greenock. There was singing, bagpipe playing and a bit of speech making but a for me one of the highlights was an unexpected visit from the Waverley Steamer which was on it’s way ‘doon the water’. Hundreds of paper boats were then taken on board a wee tug and set adrift in the middle of the Clyde. It was a wonderful sight when the wee tug sprayed water high into the air. Have a look at the slide show to get a flavour of the day.  Also catch up on how JoJo Gnome fared when he was set adrift in his very own paper boat. A really fun event.

The Postie & the Princesses

It struck me that I mostly write with boys in mind, so there’s not a lot of girly stuff in my stories. So after seeing two tiny princesses floating round Tesco complete with tiaras I thought it was time to engage with those female royals. I did a set of story tiles a while back about a Postie …so I sent him off on his travels again, this time to deliver to the local castle (doesn’t everyone have one!).

I started with the story and then came the poem. Most normal folk would do the pictures and progress to the tiles …but it’s me so the tiles have come first. They have been through the bisque firing stage and I am now glazing them. My teacher, George, has taught me always to write down the exact recipe for glaze…but I can’t resist improvising…as a result what comes out of the kiln could either be a gem or a disaster, but either way I will probably never get that colour again. Painting on glaze is like no other kind of painting I have ever done 1/ It’s like painting with cornflour 2/ The colour you have on the brush bears little relation to what it turns out like . So it’s brush in one hand and the other hand has fingers crossed.

Christmas Book

The words are back from Mary who corrects all my spelling and grammar …sadly she doesn’t do it for the blog!!!! (I would have to remove at least 3 if not all 4 exclamation marks). It’s wonderful to have someone who is good at ‘attention to detail’, I am sadly lacking in this department. I still have several pictures to draw and will get these done over the next few days. Planning a launch event in Scottish Book Week in November which should be fun.

The Sound Quilt

Things are getting under way. The back has been finished with oil sticks and quilted… . Sew far sew good (sorry about that one!).