Performance by Peter and Sarah Walker

Last Saturday at Christ the King Episcopal Church in Stone Ridge, singer and musician extraordinaire Peter Walker and his wife Sarah performed a musical biography of Lancelot.

It was amazing.

Peter plays several medieval instruments, including Celtic harp, bagpipes, hurdy-gurdy, and a stringed instrument called a citole.  He also has a magnificent voice and sings in old French, old English, and Latin.  Sarah, his wife, narrates in a clear, expressive, beautifully audible voice.

Together, Sarah and Peter presented the story of Launcelot du Lac, from Launcelot’s arrival at King Arthur’s court, to his spiritual demise and the destruction of Camelot.

And what a story it is!

I had forgotten the details of the Knights of the Round Table.  I read Roger Lancelyn Green’s book over and over when I was 11 years old.  Hearing the song and story of Launcelot brought it all back, with a little research to confirm my memory.

The story of Camelot, the Round Table, Arthur and his best knight, has every element of deceit, intrigue, and romance that one could want.

I’ll save the recounting for another post.  Here is Peter playing the harp last Saturday.

To learn more about Peter and his performances, go to his website at

www.peterwalkermusic.com

There you can listen to him play and sing, and see the schedule of his events.

It’s worth the effort!  What a fascinating and educational performance!

The Young Writers’ Camps given by the Hudson Valley Writing Project www.newpaltz.edu/hvwp/  offer a variety of writing experiences to children from second grade through high school.

And this week, I got to be a part of it!

Two amazing teachers, Nicole Smith and Rebecca Quackenbush, created an exciting week of writing activities for the youngest group of writers.  We had twelve children, including students going into second, third, and fourth grade.

The theme was Seven Wonders of the World.  We took virtual tours of some very exciting places: the Great Barrier Reef, Mount Everest, and Victoria Falls, among others.  The children engaged in related art activities and wrote about them and themselves in different genres.

For me, participating in this workshop would have been enjoyable enough, but I also got to speak to the group about my publishing process.  I told them how I’d first written the book that became Tangled in Magic for my godchildren.  I handmade a copy for each of them.

I showed the students a copy of the book I made.

The original title was The Three Seductions.  I had in mind Agatha’s quest to find her brother when I chose that title, because she was lured away from her quest by comfort, romance, and danger.

If you’ve read Tangled in Magic, you’ll recognize the two heroic birds, Archer and Carl the Third.  I drew the members of the two main families, mostly to keep them straight in my own mind.

It’s been such a fabulous experience seeing this book published.

Thank you, Tevin and Nicole of Handersen Publishing!

 

This person with wings outspread is my daughter, Anna Librada.  She is performing flamenco in Spain.  This accomplishment has been a life-long dream. I know, because she told me.

Over thirty years ago, that talented, determined woman was a stubborn little girl.  She knew what she wanted.  She began dancing at age five, moving from Marya Kennett’s Gymnastics and Dance Studio in Goshen, to Susan Slotnik’s dance classes in New Paltz, to studying and eventually performing with the Vanaver Caravan.  She made her way to southern Spain to learn the dance of her roots.

Now she continues to study flamenco and performs in Andalusia, Spain.

I am amazed and proud.  I would guess that not many parents get to see their grown children achieve such a dream.

You can enjoy Anna and other Hudson Valley flamenco talent at the upcoming Hudson Valley Flamenco Festival in August.

Tickets are available now.

www.hudsonvalleyflamencofestival.brownpapertickets.com

See you there!

 

Anika read Tangled in Magic, and passed on her drawing of Archer, the gyrfalcon.

Thank you, Anika, for your beautiful Archer.  She’s one of my favorite characters in the book.  I love her loyalty and her sarcasm.  I’m also very fond of Carl III, the raven.  He’s a little scatterbrained, but a brave and good friend.

Find the book at Amazon.com

Find me at http://www.Amazon.com/author/ellisk

 

Raven Howell and Kim Ellis

What a lovely evening we had getting to know each other!

Raven writes poetry and books for children.  We both live in the Hudson Valley.

Check her work out at http://www.ravenhowell.com/publications.html

One of RAVEN’S BOOKS

So You Want a Puppy?

Published by Handersen Books, due out 2019

A child celebrates love and learns what it means to have a puppy in the household through daily adventures, resulting in surprising both his parents and himself with a new request. This is the first one in a picture book series for ages 4 to 10.

 

As for my own work, Book II of the Karakesh Chronicles, Guided by Magic, is expected in September, 2018.

And I have completed the first draft of Book V!

Right now I’m working on an early reader book, and a young adult novel.

 

 

Get your tickets now at the link above: $15 is a bargain for all the talent performing at the Rosendale Theater.

 

Anna performing in Prado del Rey, Spain

 

 

Sanlucar prepares for Feria.  It begins tonight, May 29.  Workers are assembling the casetas–some around trees.

This guy was walking around on the ladder, like on stilts.

There were a lot of lights to string.

The Spanish ride mopeds.                            The interior of our favorite cafe.

  Pat feeds the pigeons.

 

Las Cabezas de San Juan

Pat and I took a drive, just for a change of scene.  The landscape is beautiful here. We continue to marvel at the wind farms, the solar panels, and the fields of crops. The land is golden, poppies and daisies edge the highway.

Of course we chose to arrive during siesta.  The town was closed up. We parked near the church so we could find our car.

Few people were out on the streets.

I like doorways. This one was pretty.

We asked a scruffy guy to direct us to a cafe. He pointed down the hill.

From the cafe we could view this park.  Pat had a beer, I had pineapple juice with seltzer and we shared a dish of peanutty snacks. Then we walked back to the car. I wondered why several buildings looked bombed out, with no roof and crumbling walls.  This one was actually an art piece.

So we said farewell to Las Cabezas de San Juan. We probably won’t visit you again.

Last Saturday, we spent the afternoon at the house of friends of my daughter’s. I am still amazed at the beauty and size of this house. Truly it was more like the family compounds we saw in Mexico.

In addition to the carport seen here, there were three other buildings beside the main house.  To the left of the carport was the “bodega,” that served as a hangout for the kids.  Next to that was a pool house. On the other side of the pool was a guest house where the mom works on her dissertation.

The kitchen of the main house was a traditional Spanish style, with tiled counters and blue stained built in cabinets.

 

Things Spanish that catch my eye:

  

Cafe on a Sunday afternoon………………….Citron Deux-Cheveaux

  

Interesting house in the neighborhood………..Pat’s favorite tree.

    Crazy Japanese chickens….

 Rescue greyhounds…

 

The most beautiful fruteria….

Horse at sunset….

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Thanks!