My other blog

I'm now blogging here as well on a page that is dedicated exclusively to my new handmade crafts business "Homespun Gifts".

That blog will be for craft related stuff and this one will be for music.

Hollie
http://homespungifts.blogspot.com/

For the last three months I have been mostly...

• Looking after new kitty Belle, who is a gorgeous little thing and likes to bite me
• Starting a new business in handmade gifts
• Feeling a pain in my stomach
• Running a little local shop called "Homespun Gifts" to sell said handmade gifts
• Feeling an extreme pain in my stomach
• Staying in hospital

Long story short, the pain was due to Crohn's Disease, which is not life-threatening but it means my life will be different from now on. Due to the extended stay in hospital and the chronic nature of Crohn's, I lost my little shop. It was only open for about a month before the illness really knocked me down and I couldn't manage to go there.
Not to be beaten, I'm planning on rebuilding my business as an online shop. So I'm working hard at coding HTML and editing pictures as well as creating new handmade gifts. I'm going to turn my summer house into a little workshop so I can have a distraction-free place to work in the nicer weather.
On the music front, I'm going to continue to write meditation and relaxation music so I can sell some CDs through the Homespun Gifts website.
Luck has been in short supply for me lately so please wish me some.

Baby Belle

The new kitten has arrived!!

Her name is Belle, so her nickname is now Baby Belle. She arrived late Thursday evening in a very sleepy state, and quickly settled down for the night. Friday she spent the day with her Grandma, Saturday she got to know Brian and I a little better, and Sunday she and Dusty were properly introduced. I'm startled at how well Dusty is taking it. I expected nerves, aggression, jealousy, etc. But no, every time she sees Belle she trills and runs off, inviting Belle to chase her. It's lovely.

Here's a few pics of Belle:

Baby Belle on her first evening with us, playing with toys

Love this one - she's actually yawning but looks like she's laughing

The clearest pic from Day 1

She looks a bit scared - poor Belle!

Just before we got Belle she had a last snuggle & feed with mummy cat.

Cuddles with me

Playing with Uncle Craig

Belle is VERY young - only 5 weeks - and needs a lot of attention. So over the next few weeks, I can't promise to deliver a blog post every weekday like I have been doing.

To gig or not to gig?

These days, major recording artists make the bulk of their money from gigging.
It's even more important for us wannabes, because to catch the attention of the record companies we're supposed to make a name for ourselves first - to prove we have that special "something" that draws listeners in. And to prove that we know how to work hard.
But I've always been a bit of a hermit when it comes to gigging. When I think about why that might be, it occurs to me that I've always been a bit of a hermit when it comes to going out at all. It just isn't my thing. I prefer to meet friends at my house or theirs, drink a little, watch a film, have a meal, maybe play a little Trivial Pursuit. I think people that enjoy my type of music prefer that way of doing things too.
So maybe I need to work out what the "Trivial Pursuit" version of gigging is. Perhaps it's daytime gigs - something on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Perhaps it's intimate gigs in lower capacity venues. It's something to think about.
www.holliesheard.co.uk

Meditation music

I've been writing relaxing/soothing/meditation music lately. Got about half an hour done so far - nearly an album. It's quite an enjoyable little side-project, but... I've probably only been doing it to avoid the dreadful commercial cut-downs that I should really be working on.

I suppose I'm avoiding it because it sort of feels like an admin task rather than actual creation. After all, the compositions are already composed; I'm just chopping them up and trying to force them to make sense in their new, shorter forms.
Really, I ought to just get it over with, and if I want to, I can work on other projects when I've finished.

*slaps own wrist*
www.holliesheard.co.uk

Six birthdays in one week

My husband has exactly three family members (close ones, anyway), and all of them have birthdays in early November. As does our mate Craig, as do I, and as does my Grandad.

No, I'm not that old.

That's six birthdays all within one week, and I have a feeling my bank balance will have something to say about that. Last few months, I don't know where all the money's going. I think everything's just more expensive and it's taking its toll. If it weren't for my bits of theatre work here and there, we'd have gone under. I don't even want to think about that awful thing that happens at the end of December. Let's celebrate "managing to scrape by".

www.holliesheard.co.uk

Getting a kitty

Isn't she gorgeous?

We thought it was time Dusty got herself a playmate. Hope they get along! Just have to wait till baby cat's old enough to leave mummy cat.

www.holliesheard.co.uk