Book Week Scotland

Posted on November 27, 2014 by Hannah

library_love_lettersIt’s Book Week Scotland this week and across the country there are lots of events and fun things to get involved with in celebration of books. Pictured above are love letters by Little Owl and I, which we have sent off to our local library. It’s a super idea from the team at Book Week Scotland. You go here to print off a template for your love letter, fill it in, and send it off!

Little Owl and I have lots of love for our local library. When we moved house in April it was a great way of getting connected. We went along to Book Bug rhyme sessions, plugged into local groups advertised through the library, and most importantly, spent lots of time there reading books!  The staff at our library are so enthusiastic and friendly. Over the summer they put on craft sessions with an array of activities for the kids to try out. Little Owl made a flappy, fire-breathing dragon that flew everywhere with her for about two weeks. She also did the summer reading challenge, which culminated in a fun party (with visiting tarantula!) for all the children who had completed the challenge.

If you’re in England you can go here to tell the world how special your local library is via the Guardian website.

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Danny, the Champion of the World

Posted on November 22, 2014 by Hannah

Urban Winter. Illustration by Hannah Foley. All rights reserved (www.owlingabout.co.uk).The hills that form the southern boundary to Edinburgh are called the Pentlands. On Friday they appeared purple and glamorous, wearing a peplum of rolling fog. Travelling in that direction to visit a friend, and eventually gaining enough height to be out of the white gloom, the sky above the mist was a bright crisp blue, streaked with oranges and golds by the low winter sun.

Car journeys are currently accompanied by an audio book of Roald Dahl’s Danny, the Champion of the World. I can picture Danny and his Dad waking up in their brightly coloured caravan and opening up the filling station on just such a morning. It’s a perfect autumn story. Although, I have to resist the temptation to listen on when Little Owl is not in the car or she tells me off.

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#StopTalkListen

Posted on November 19, 2014 by Hannah

Screen Shot 2016-05-25 at 20.25.33Last week I was in Perth at the Scottish Centre for Conflict Resolution Youth Event entitled Stop Talk Listen. My job was to document the event in sketches and to help facilitate group activities, the output of which would be expressed in illustrations. As always with my work for the SCCR I was both moved and humbled by the vital job they do and by the stories of the young people at the event. I’ll be able to post up some of the documentation work here as it gets finished over the next few weeks.

The event marked the starting point of a national campaign entitled Stop Talk Listen, all about raising awareness of conflict resolution amongst young people. The illustration above is one I did for the campaign and you can see it in situ on the Stop Talk Listen site here. As part of the campaign the SCCR are looking for people to send in their most common arguments. It’s a bit of fun and a great way of getting the conflict resolution message across. Do head over to add your argument – it’s a great cause.

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Cake and Pie

Posted on November 13, 2014 by Hannah

Photograph of a hand written poem by Mark Haddon.I haven’t done a recipe for a while, have I? These are two tasty ones we have tried recently. The fact that they are both from supermarket magazines sums up a lot about our lives at the moment – menu inspiration needs to be quick and accessible these days! Anyway, first up is a Sausage, Apple and Leek Pie from the Waitrose magazine. I don’t know why but I find the idea of apple in a savoury pie irresistible. Essentially you cook the sausages, chop them up, then make a leek and apple cheesy sauce, which you mix up with the sausages and stick in a pie dish. The recipe says to top with puff pastry. I find pie topped with puff pastry like this bizarre but Big Dreamer loves it so we went with it. Next time I think I’d do a proper short crust base and top. You can find the recipe here.

Next is a Marmalade-glazed Apricot Loaf from the Tesco magazine. Normally I don’t bake cakes like this. Would it make sense if I said I’m an ‘everyday cake-baker’ rather than a ‘fancy cake-baker’? So to me that means I bake things like tea loaf and flapjack, things that are easy to do with kids, don’t cost much to make, and last the family all week. It means I actively avoid a piping bag and candied peel is considered a bit of a luxury. I know, I’m boring and tight. Anyway, Little Owl has no truck with that sort of attitude…she loves baking and the more extravagant the better. This cake was a pretty good compromise. It uses ground almonds and flaked almonds (I may need to sit down), but is well worth it. This is not one you can freewheel so I can’t give you vague directions for you to work your own magic, you will have to look it up here.

The picture here is from my room on my writing course. Yes, it is hand-written by Mark Haddon. Having me reflected in the glass sort of spoils it but nevermind!

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A bright moment of calm

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Hannah

Photograph of a climber against a window pane by Hannah Foley. All rights reserved (www.owlingabout.co.uk).As a mum and freelancer the inside of my head most often resembles a tumbling, teeming ant hill; to-do lists and piles of dirty laundry marching to and fro as far as the eye can see. A new baby and family far away means it can sometimes feel like we’re only moments away from total meltdown. So when an opportunity came my way to attend a residential course on writing for children, funded by a helpful grant, I jumped at the chance. But by the time I was trundling my little suitcase through the autumn leaves to the station I was having some serious doubts. Who on earth did I think I was? Writing? Spending a week being tutored by some wonderful, experienced children’s authors? Me?

Isn’t it funny, I want to tell you about the wonderfulness of that week…how my doubts were turned on their head, how I met such warm and encouraging people, how so much that had felt out of focus came into focus…but in the end, in spite of having been on a writing course, I have no words. So what can I tell you? Well, I’ve come back firstly with permission to write, and confidence in the quality of what I am writing. I’ve come away with the knowledge that there’s lots of work to be done but an idea of how to do it. And I think most of all, a bright moment of calm, where I stretched out my arms right to the fingertips and took the deepest breath I have taken for a very long time. That was worth more than I can say.

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Remembering

Posted on November 9, 2014 by Hannah

remembrance poppy in child's hand

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Christmas Cards

Posted on November 6, 2014 by Hannah

Christmas Cards by Hannah Foley. All rights reserved (www.owlingabout.co.uk)Little Owl was very busy the other morning before school. When I asked her what she was doing she said she was tidying so that Santa didn’t trip over when he came in with her presents. I didn’t like to tell her that she would now have to keep her room tidy for two whole months to make that work.

I have Christmas cards to sell! A pack of ten costs £7 plus postage. They are approximately A6 in size and come with a white envelope. They read Merry Christmas on the inside. Drop me an email if you’d like some to hannah@owlingabout.co.uk.

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Bonfire Night

Posted on November 3, 2014 by Hannah

Photograph of Fireworks at Hopetoun House by Richard Foley. All rights reserved (www.owlingabout.co.uk).Festivities and special days cluster around this time of year like a group of teenagers on a street corner. Then November stretches out in grey dreariness with nothing to break it up until the countdown to Christmas begins. If it were up to me I’d spread things out a bit. Surely we could move Bonfire Night right on up to the 20th? Who’s with me?

Our Bonfire Night celebrations happened on Saturday. I half expected to trip over some Trick-or-Treaters on our way out.  Muffled up in coats, gloves, and scarves we headed off to Hopetoun House for their annual display. Hopetoun is the historic home of the Earls of Hopetoun. William Bruce first designed the house in 1699, with remodelling by William Adam in 1721. It’s a magnificent place, right on the banks of the Forth. The festivities were located on the front lawn against a backdrop of floodlit house and surrounding woodland. The bonfire was probably as big as our house. Standing by the fire I was suddenly back at the farm, stoking our wood burner or feeding the fire bin for our own more humble Bonfire celebrations. It’s funny how a smell can take you back to a memory with such a bump. I keep going on about the farm, don’t I? There’s a reason. We’ve made a leap and it’s never easy to tell if it’s the right thing while you’re still in mid air.

Anyway, back to Hopetoun. There were fire dancers, a hog roast, and a rock choir. Finch beamed at us from inside his baby carrier, oblivious to the bangs and booms, his face sweetly squadged by a set of child’s ear protectors. The fireworks were set off from the back lawn so that they went off over the roof of the house. Ooooh, aaaah, went the crowd. There was even a firework that looked like a smiley face against the night sky. I’m not sure Bonfire Night gets more spectacular then this.

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Le Immagini della Fantasia

Posted on October 30, 2014 by Hannah

Illustration for 'November' for Li'immagini della Fantasia by Hannah Foley. All rights reserved (www.owlingabout.co.uk).I can understand our ancestors starting to light bonfires at this time of year. For me the change from October to November is full of images of lights glinting against the seasonal gloom. At going home time car headlights wearily process along main roads, mirrored in the black wet tarmac. Front rooms and kitchens are stage lit in the dim light of the early evening, illuminating interior life before the curtains are closed against the night, like hundreds of mini TV sets all showing different soap operas.

The changing of the clocks seems to suddenly accelerate the imminent approach of winter and always makes me feel nostalgic. It brings back memories of soggy shoes, cold-nipped fingers, steamy kitchen windows, and cosily conspiring with my sister by the gas fire.

Recently I was asked to illustrate a text that made me think of lots of those seasonal childhood memories. Twelve illustrators were invited to produce an image each for a text about Scotland through the months by the children’s writer Vivian French for a touring exhibition. You can read more about the exhibition here and pictured above is my contribution. I illustrated the month of November, which was about frosty mornings and warm porridge. The exhibition opened in Italy last week and will be touring Europe over the next year.

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Returning

Posted on October 28, 2014 by Hannah

Sketch of beach at Budleigh Salterton by Hannah Foley. All rights reserved (www.owlingabout.co.uk)We are back from a lovely week away in the southwest. Highlights included ice creams topped with clotted cream, walks by the sea, buying pollack on the beach for our tea (fresh from the fisherman who’d just caught it), sampling homebrew, cream teas, and a beer and beard competition. All of this was made all the more perfect by the company of lots of wonderful family and friends. You’ll be pleased to know the christening went off without a hitch but that does leave me with a dearth of funny stories. The vicar who conducted the ceremony was a seasoned pro and deftly deflected any attempts at disruption by my spirited little niece. And in truth I didn’t wish for any. It was a very precious day. I love these rites of passage. They are important still moments in busy lives. What a wonderful privilege to gather together to celebrate the budding life of a beautiful baby girl.

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