Bacheldre Watermill Braided Bread

Braided Bread

Having baked hundreds of loaves in the past, you’d think I’d be a confident bread baker by now – but I still feel insecure without instruction. So, on to the computer I went, looking for that perfect recipe for a nice challah loaf. . .But page after page and I couldn’t find any that seemed quite right (too much of this, not enough of that, unappealing picture, vague descriptions. .). So, in the end, I felt it must be the time to bake without a recipe. Once I started, my hands seemed to remember what to do – which ingredients to combine first, when to add what, how long to wait. The dough kneaded smoothly, and I returned two hours later (after wandering nearby fields and talking to uninterested sheep) to find it had expanded like the throat of a giant bullfrog. On with the punching, rolling, braiding, shaping, and into the hot oven. . . . . .Not so bad in the end. . .(I have learned to trust my hands for the next time!)

arugula from america

Posted by grant at 3.20 PM on 13/Jul/2010.

Storytelling Projects: The live telling of a compelling tale

interactive storytelling

Once upon a time, a very long time ago, there were no storytellers.

Today, as millions of people upload video-diaries and self-publish books, articles and blogs, you might think the World was overflowing with storytellers. This is not the case. However, the result of all this activity is an abundance of raw story material that we storytellers use to evoke our rich tapestry for the community’s entertainment.

The Storyteller's skill is to gather threads from many sources and weave them into yarns thereby keeping the Oral Tradition alive and updated. By audience participation, we make a valuable contribution to the self-confidence and personal motivation of learners.

Each Storyteller evolves a style of storytelling.

My personal style of storytelling often incorporates fresh elements and storyline suggestions from the audience as living tales evolve. This gives my audiences a degree of control over story direction as it flows. My natural manner, part-improvised, comes from the earliest oral tradition of community life – when people met, stories were told.