Star struck

The boys may not sleep tonight. They are soooo excited.

I took them with me to the main concert of the Hexham Gathering tonight at the Queens Hall. The Gathering is an annual celebration of youth music, dance and song.

The concert opened with a group of very youthful performers going by the name of Tam Lin. There were 6 fiddles, a guitar and a harp. The fiddlers were excellent.

Then a set by Niamh Boadle. We were in the front row and the boys thought she had a wonderful voice.

Kathryn Tickell and the Darkening were the main act. Kathryn came to my notice years ago as a very talented young player of the Northumbrian pipes. She is also an excellent fiddler, singer, composer and arranger. She is arguably the most famous Northumbrian folk musician and tonight she agreed to have the boys in a photo with her. What a good sport!

Earlier in the day, Ray finished fitting the kitchen, although there are a few things that still need to be done next week.

I started washing the new ovens and found two defects in the oven wall of the microwave. After a long 'phone call to John Lewis - who have just about the worst muzak on while you wait - I was told I needed to send photos to Samsung. I've done this and I'm hoping/expecting a new microwave to arrive asap. We'll see.

Right, time to tell the boys to settle down and stop talking about lovely Kathryn!!