A radio interview

I had a phone call a couple of days ago from the producers at BBC Radio Cumbria asking if I would be interviewed, live on radio, about Blogging.

Of course I would  :)   But, the last THREE times they have phoned me I have had a cold!  One of those times I had to refuse as I lost my voice completely   :(

Anyway, this time I only had a bit of a snuffly, and had a good nose blow before the "live" button was hit  :)

You can hear the interview HERE, if you scroll in to about 01:13:00.

Last time I actually went into the studio and helped wrap some Christmas pressies.  You can find that blog post HERE if you fancy reading about it.

Yesterday's interview was about blogging, why people do it, when people do it, do people even read it?

Do you do it?

If you do please comment with a link so I can go off and have a read.

A guest slot on BBC Radio Cumbria

This morning was invited to do a guest slot on BBC Radio Cumbria to talk about wrapping Christmas Gifts.

It was loads of fun, even though I still have a really croaky voice after have a nasty winter virus.

If you click on the link below, press the 'play' button and scroll forward to around 38 minutes in.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02csynk

These are the wrapped gifts we discussed on air.   

The bottle of wine wrapped in fabulously fluffy socks.

The children's handkerchief wrapping a beaded bangle.

And the chocolate bar, sewn into brown paper.

I then went off to the Radio gallery to wrap the Golfing Umbrella and Potted Plant that you heard mention on the podcast.

At 01.08 I was back on air with my wrapped gifts.

At 01.32 you can hear how I got on with wrapping up the producer Tom - yep, I wrapped a bloke!

You can view the video HERE if you like :)

I just thank goodness I was not presented with a bicycle to wrap!!

An interview on local radio

Today I was asked to go, as a Hobbycraft colleague, to the Radio Cumbria studios and do a little chat/demo on Zentangle.  An art form of doodling if you like.

As I did a series of Blogs for one if their features a few years ago, I was quite happy and excited to go again.

Blimey, it was nearly four years ago!!   Doesn't time fly.  You can check out my blog about that one HERE.  (Ahh, and that jumper mentioned at the bottom, it never did get finished)

So I did plan to do a nice photo-full blog about it... and as often happens, the best ideas never go to plan.

I parked by the castle, which looks lovely in the sunlight.  Sometimes when you live in one place all your life, you forget to appreciate some of the beautiful things that your area holds.

Across the busy dual carriageway from the castle are the BBC Radio Cumbria buildings.  You have to go under an underpass to reach them (or over the Millennium Bridge, but the underpass is so much more interesting)

In the underpass is a glass brick wall, and behind it is Tullie House Museum.  And that big boulder thing right there is the Cursing Stone  (whoooooo)  I walked right past it, seemed friendly enough to me  :)

You can kind of see into the Museum, just enough to get you interested to go in and have a look around, which you should,if you get the chance.

On the other side of the pass are artefacts embedded into the wall.

And here we are.   Let's go in....

Now, this is where the photos stop, because as soon as I got into the studio I found out that the interview was going out LIVE !   Huh?  What?  Live?  Now?  Me, on Radio, live, now?

Panic!

Actually, they gave me no time to panic, I was shown a seat, microphone turned on and the questions started.

But I forgot to take any more photos  :(

You can hear the interview HERE, although it is only available for 7 days from today.  Click 'Listen Now' and you will find it at 02:33 minutes in  (that's 2 hours 33 minutes).  (Drag the bar to get to the correct time.)

And I said that Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas were from the UK, of course they are not, they are from the US.

BBC Radio Cumbria

I was asked to provide a week of short blogs for Radio Cumbria. Five days with 150 words a day, just simply a snippet into my life.

On Sunday I went to record them in the studio in Carlisle, I have never been in a radio studio before so it was quite exciting, I managed to complete it in a couple of takes too :)

Monday found me curled up on the kitchen floor cringing in embarrassement, don't you just hate the sound of your own voice? I am sure that person who didn't finish the words off properly, and used slang, was not me !!!

In case you are interested and missed the programme, here is the blog I wrote:

Saturday
I promised myself a day of glass play, and for once I got it, which is unusual as I am usually side-tracked by work, friends, teenage children needing a taxi and various other things.
My project today was a stained glass panel, all in blues, with swirls, curves and nuggets. Designed to hang in a window to catch the sunshine for extra sparkle.
I have been glass working for a few years now, fusing, melting, cutting, painting, but Stained Glass is a new style for me, and this was just my 2nd piece.
I start by cutting the glass, then grinding it, adding copper foil to the edges, and soldering it all together. It is time consuming, but very satisfying, I just wish I had more hours in the day, or even more days in the week.

Sunday
For a while I have been planning to take photographs of Talking Tarn for inspiration to use in my glasswork. Ideally I needed the four seasons, so when the snow made an appearance this week I jumped in the car and got myself up there with my camera.
It was splendid, the Tarn was frozen, except for a little patch in the centre that the ducks were taking advantage of, and there was a layer of crisp white snow everywhere. It was difficult to see where the path ended and the iced Tarn began.
The view was monochrome, breathtaking and so so still. It was almost disappointing to turn around and see the coloured covers of the docked sailing boats on the shore.
On leaving the car park the sky exploded into an amazing hue of oranges and red, the sun was setting and the sky was on fire.

Monday
Work - - - always busy on a Monday. When you are self-employed, and your business premises is attached to your home, it takes a lot of self-control not to nip out and catch up on the emails. Instead I torture myself by watching them mount up , I try not allow myself to switch on the computer but I just can’t help checking from my mobile phone.
Technology, a must for an online business like mine, but sometimes I despise being tied to the computer, it is like a ball and chain. It gives me a tiny snippet of information, bait, and then it reels me in. The long walk in the Lakes, the phoning and meeting up with friends, the gardening – it all gets forgotten when the computer calls.
In 2010 I vow to spend less time with the computer and gain some real life back.

Tuesday
Snow, why does it arouse such excitement I wonder. It’s cold, damp, slippy, and you never can tell just what is underneath the big handful you have just scooped up ready to form into a missile. Yes, even at 41 I still get the urge to throw a snowball, although these days I only throw one and remember how long it used to take to thaw out frozen fingers.
I also remember sitting in school with my coat on, shivering. The classroom door would be left open as one teacher supervised three or four classes as the other teachers had not made it in. I can never remember school being closed, or being sent home.
Today I am the proud owner of a large igloo type building in my back garden, built by my 19 yr old son, see? You’re never too old for snow.

Wednesday
Knitting is back in trend, lots of people I know have picked up the knitting needles again, myself included.
How soon you forget though, the sore fingers from pushing the knitting needle through. I believe this is why there are two rows in regular knitting – knit row and a purl row. The knit row hurts your index finger, which you allow to recover while you do the purl row which hurts your thumb. Or perhaps I am doing it wrong.
I decided on a baggy cardi, I started with the back panel, as this is usually the bit I get bored with and leave unfinished to re-discover years later. I have an added push this time though, a friend stated that I would never complete it, she knows me too well, but my competitive nature has taken this as an insult, and so the challenge is set.