Leading up we had a workshop with Chris and Catriona on the Saturday and a rehearsal on the Monday. We were then all set to perform the new tunes!

The tour started out in Box Hill on the Friday night, followed by a performance at Christ Anglican Church in Daylesford on Saturday and lastly Swanpool's famous cinema on Sunday. 

It was wonderful to have a 'harp section' and perform with Catriona McKay. I hope to do it again soon.

Chris Stout (fiddle) and Catriona McKay (harp) from Scotland joined with the Melbourne Scottish Fiddle Club for a weekend regional tour.

Spent a week up in Sydney at the 12th World Harp Congress. Never experienced anything like it before. It was wonderful to be around so many harpists. I had the privilege of performing in the 'Australian Highlights' concert with Jacinta Dennett and Melina Van Leeuwen. We performed miniatures from the 'Bloody Chamber' for harp trio by David Chisholm.

Another Scottish festival with Fiona Ross, and only a week after the last! Drove up on the Thursday night for the 'Port Campbell Satelite Concert', which was well attended. We then performed at the Camperdown Court House Friday night and Theatre Royal, Saturday. Great, freezing cold weekend with lots of lovely people.

The Fiona Ross Band played at the one off 'Battle of Bannockburn' festival to celebrate 700 years of Scottish independence: 1314 - 2014.

Music was just one aspect of this festival which consisted of Highland dancing, Jousting, Pipe bands, Scottish market stalls, Archery and to top it off; a re-enactment of the 1314 battle.

Been looking forward to this festival all year. It's always a calendar highlight, with this year's the best so far. I was fortunate enough to be performing with two groups: Fiona Ross Band and Classically Celtic. As well as being involved in the Harp Showcase Concert, Christian College Ceilidh Band and Feis Rois Project. Sure was one busy weekend!

Just to top things off my family band and I were made the 'Face of the Festival' for 2015! Next year just might be even better. 

After nearly a year since my order and 3 years working towards it... my starfish has arrived! It is a wee Scottish clarsach (harp) which I have instantly fallen in love with. 

FedEx was used to 'post' it to me. It took a week, with its journey tracked on my FedEx app: Scotland, London, Menphis, Hawaii, Sydney and finally Melbourne. I was a little worried when it turned up in America.

It took me an hour to get it out of the box and I couldn't help documenting each stage with a photo. 

Family road trip up to Canberra to perform at the National Folk Festival with Fiona Ross. What a great way to spend the Easter holiday and my birthday! 

Joined by Jim Green and Jack Wilson the Fiona Ross band performed at the Terrace, Flute 'n' Fiddle and Marquee. The festival attracts over 50,000 people and is held at Exhibition Park, Canberra. I ended up buying a trolley from Bunnings to help cart my harp around the different venues. Harps always make everything harder!

Found this snap on Instagram. Love the caption.

Playing 'Karla' 36 by Harps and Harps in the Musical Instrument Makers Showcase Concert.

Quick visit to the National Gallery Canberra. Fantastic installation: Skyspace

Classically Celtic kicked off 'Concerts at Coomalie' on Sunday to a sell out audience. This new concert series is held by my grandparent's, Ursula and Brian Blake at their self-built home Coomalie.

'Coomalie was inspired by the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright had an affinity for music and would sit at the piano improvising after working all day on his architectural drawings. Coomalie was built with stone from Fryerstown and 100 year old Jarrah and Karrie from Fremantle Wool Store - giving it excellent acoustic qualities for music. Its delightful garden setting beside Badger Creek boarders the Yarra Rangers National Park and is graced entirely with native plants' - Ursula Blake

For the past two months we has been rehearsing and preparing new repertoire for this concert. It's been really fun having a weekly rehearsal, working on new tunes and following this up with Sushi on a Wednesday night! So lovely to see it all come together for the concert and receive great feedback from the audience. 

This wedding season brought back some old favourite locations along with some fantastic new ones. 

To name a few: Darling Gardens, Melbourne Zoo, Melbourne Aquarium, Botanical Gardens, St. Ignatius Richmond, Jack Rabbits Portarlington, Daylesford Lake, Fairfield Boathouse, Point Campbell House Leopold and many more! 

So many weddings and such different locations. Here is a selection of photos.