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I thought that I'd wait until the last workshop of the year was completed before doing another post Yesterday was the last one , when we made some more splendid hares at Quirky Workshops . A big thank you to another group of lovely people , it was so nice to spend the day with you all ! As I mentioned in the last update , November was to be a busy month for workshops and after the two Quirky dates we took the show on the road , with two more dates , one at Masham and another one a couple of days later, about 30 miles to the NE of there in Stokesley where my hares and I were booked for a surprise birthday party , which turned out to be a lot of fun ! We based ourselves at Masham, in a very atmospheric old building which has been converted into individual self catering apartments . We were greeted by a smashing view over a field looking toward the village . There were four fine rams in the field , the breed of which I'm not sure , and they were accompanied by several pheasants who always seemed to be there , like all pheasants they seem to strut around as if they own the place , and then run away at high speed like the Roadrunner when disturbed. Very beautiful and funny birds . The Black Sheep Brewery could be seen from our accommodation , so after we had something to eat , and as you can probably guess , we called in to the visitor centre bar , where they serve nice coffee as well as their range of cask ales , of which Richard had a pint ( or was it two ? ) . The first workshop was at Artison , on the 21st of November where Herdwick sheep were the project for the day . It was nice to have Gaynor , who's one of the proprietors of Artison join us as part of our class, after a last minute cancellation along with her sister who'd booked on the workshop . Thank you to all for a very enjoyable day . The day went very well and we actually finished a little earlier than the time I had told my photographer , ( Husband) to come and get some photos of the fab ' flock , and their creators at the end of the day . He arrived however , as the last of you were leaving , so if anyone has any photos to put on the gallery page that you want to send me, I'll put them up . Below are just a couple . Aren't they splendid ?  That was on Wednesday . Thursday gave us a chance to go out for a walk and prepare for the workshop at Stokesley the following day . The weather was very grey and drizzly with the temperature barely above freezing , and at this time of year it hardly gets daylight under those conditions so we drove down to Ripon , put on our water proof gear and had a good walk down the canal tow path, which was at least dry underfoot . By 3pm it was starting to get dusk and we returned to Masham. We were up early on Friday morning and had a decent drive up to Stokesely, which is a very pleasant village on the Northern edge of the Yorkshire Moors . I was met by Ronda at the village hall which was a lovely building with plenty room for us to work in and good facillities . As Richard and I set about preparing the workshop materials and tools , Ronda and the other girls prepared the room for birthday girl , Sue who was unaware of what was happening. It was lovely to be involved in the surprise , and to see her reaction when she , and her other friends arrived for the workshop . I had a great day with really fun group of ladies who turned out some brilliant hares with some real characters among them as you can see in the pictures below. Thank you all for having me there as part of your special day , I believe that there was yet another surprise arranged for Sue at the hall that evening which I'm sure was very much appreciated too !  Looking back , 2018 has been an eventful and busy year . During the Spring there was the annoying inconvenience of stay in hospital with appendicitis which meant that I had to cancel and reschedule a workshop for the first time ever , but the rest of the year has been very positive with the high point , welcoming our Grandson Jesse , into the family , who is our first Grandchild ,and will be visiting us , all for his first Christmas . It has been a privilege to continue supplying our work to the wonderful galleries and shops in the various parts of the county please pay them a visit , they all have an amazing display of different artwork and crafts . It's been a busy year for workshops , and I've fitted in as many as I have been able to . I have enjoyed them all , and am very grateful to all who've attended and booked my services , and I hope next year , to meet any of you who were not able to get booked this year . I am learning all the time from the workshops , especially about how I can make them run as smoothly as possible . Some of you who have been to earlier workshops have noticed and commented favourably on changes I have made to the preparation side of things. The hare workshops are very popular and I think we've come a long way with the pre workshop preparation which gets most of the more basic but time consuming stages done leaving you to concentrate on needle felting which is what you are there for . The hare is of course, the more time intensive workshop , and because every day goes differently the workshop can and often does run over the approximate finishing time . With this in mind , we do mention this when the classes are advertised , However we've noticed during the year that some people may have arranged to be collected at the end of the day , or have made other commitments for early evening . For anyone who has had to leave before the very end, I make sure they have got to a point where they can be given the equipment and materials to finish at home using what they have learned during the day , but for next year's hare class we will advertise a later approximate finish time for the Hare . The workshops are very rewarding though in so much as, everyone leaves with a sculpture that is a credit to them and one that is as individual as they are themselves . A couple of people have even sent me photos of the hares they made and entered into their local craft fair and which won first prize , which is fantastic ! Don't forget , that for 2019 I am adding a Bunny, and a Hedgehog to the choice of workshops for you . As this will be the last update of the year , we'd like to wish you all Merry Christmas & Happy New Year and thank you all for your support .  |
