Good Morning
 Bit of a duller day here on the rock this morning so thought would put up a few more pics than yesterday to brighten things on as well as show you a little glimpse of the beautiful island where I live. Even in this the 21st century with the  internet, social media and all the technology supposedly bringing the world closer together, it is amazing just how many people, even in the U.K[which we are not in over here by the way, even though we ARE in the British Isles] still don't know where exactly we are and confuses us with various other island e.g the Isle of Wight, around the British Isles. OR, they think we are just some little uneducated backward collection of house with no modern shops but completely made up of millionaires escaping paying their bills,lol! WRONG! If the island only had millionaires and you needed loads of money to live there, then I haven't a clue how I do,lol!
     I had a very 'interesting' conversation with a lady of a certain age, about seven or eight years ago at a craft show I was attending in Doncaster. At the show as well as exhibitor stands there were what you might call mini craft workshops that were called 'Make and Take' tables. Now at each table sat about eight or nine people who were led by a top crafty person representing one of the top craft brands, in making a project, and they are lovely to do as you get chatting as you are crafting. Anyway we all got chatting and the subject went on to where each other live. I told them that I live on the island[ by the way just in case you wondering which one as haven't mentioned, it's the Isle of Man] and that I love living there as so much to see and how just love discovering little places to stop for bit when out and about. Now you must know that at this craft show people travel from lots of different places in not only the U.K but further afield so various people on the table said where they lived as well. Then this certain lady who was sat next to me piped up ' Oh, we went there once and didn't think much of it. We did it all in half an hour, there's not much to it'! Well you can imagine my face being a proud manxie! So, I thought' stay calm, take deep breath' and simply answered ' Well, I have been living there all my life, all 40+ years of it, and Im still discovered places I haven't been too and you mustve just stayed  around the capital!' I did think that was quite polite for what I could've said,lol! Another lady only couple of years back, thought we were in England and we were English[We are not we are Manx] and was quickly silenced in her train of thought on that by me showing her my passport which is different to a u.k one, by speaking a little bit of our Manx gaelic to her, by showing her some manx money and by telling her that the manx parliament is the longest continuous running parliament ANYWHERE in the world!  You see, as a manxie, we may be comparatively small, but we have a big voice and we are not as small as a lot of non islanders think!
    On the island we of course have our own crafty slant and those great volunteers and members of Manx National Heritage who man our traditionl open air museum called Cregneash do so to try and help pass on the knowledge not only of how life used to be like for islanders but to pass on the old crafts of dying wool with plants and herbs, thatching, weaving, turnip carving, and many more. The traditional thing for the island is not Halloween but Hop-Tu-Naa which is more based in the non Christian festival that celebrating the on coming of winter and celebrating the harvest that had been that year, not the not so great influences that are connected with Halloween. Turnips or Moots as they are traditionally called, are carve, not Pumpkins, with a result because of the welly needed to carve them by hand, is probably why a lot of manx people have strong arms or may not so, because of the effort needed!
  A lot of people craft in various ways on the island. I suppose it harks back to before aeroplanes as when there weren't the big ships that brought materials, food stuffs and building materials over, and the people had to do for themselves and be a lot more self sufficient. The trend for handmade has made a big re surface over the last few years and the old make do and mend  is back in vogue. An in this climate threatened world that is such an important thing to be able to do ,in order to reduce waste and help the enviroment