The masks for my panto, The Rainbow Bird,  are finally finished and varnished and now it's time to give them to the actors so that they have plenty of time to get used to their avian personas.

The characters are, from left to right, Storm Bird (villainous through and through), Queen Crow (not as villainous as Storm Bird but definitely has her moments ... her favourite phrase is 'Peck their eyes out!'), King Swan (well-intentioned but basically a bit of a bumbling idiot) and Rainbow Bird (all-round good guy and pretty free with her crocks o' gold too).

I'll miss having them hanging about the place ... but it's definitely time for them to fly the nest!

Ronnie Heeps - Studio Visit

Adam and I went to visit our friend Ronnie Heeps' studio last week as part of the Open Studios at the Wasps Factory in Hanson Street, Dennistoun.

Here's Ronnie with Adam, standing in front of one of Ronnie's 'Kaleidoscope' paintings.

You can see the whole series of 'Kaleidoscope' paintings by clicking here.

Castle Hamster Mk 2 is launched!

Last week, in between panto rehearsals, costume-making, violin-playing and novel-writing I finally finished off Castle Hamster Mk 2 - the new-improved castle that FITS INTO A SUITCASE - yay!!! because I was invited to give a talk to the two Primary 7's of Kingsland Primary in Peebles.

Kingsland is a brand-new, state-of-the-art school and is absolutely beautiful, and the children were wonderful. The castle went down pretty well (even though this young man seems a bit baffled by it!) and I was pleased with its improved visibility and the fact that the hamsters have more space to manoeuvre. There were several comic moments!

Now it's back to the desk and the music stand, with The Faraway standing at 35000 words ... and two scales (D major and Bflat major) needing a LOT of attention! Though I have to say that, amazingly, having loathed scales all my life, I don't mind them on the violin.