The Wrigglers of Wormery Hall

Wiggly, Wriggly Babies!

 

McGonks are wee, furry eco-warriors and they love nothing more than to forage for their own food, go beach-combing, search in forests, woods, coves and caves and make use of anything they find. In the land of Frugaldom, the McGonks have a massive estate filled with friends of all shapes and sizes, each with their own little community where nothing ever goes to waste.

The Wrigglers of Wormery Hall were Beag's favourite neighbours, he loved going to visit them, taking them table scraps, shredded papers and even the occasional teabag! It's been a few months since the Wriggler family moved into the lands beyond Thrift Cottage and there was some initial concerns for their safety. Hens, ducks, hedgehogs, badgers, blackbirds and even frogs and foxes love nothing more than a slurpy, tasty worm snack!

Wormery Hall managed to keep the Wriggler family safe without much of a problem. I guess it helps that the worms go into a kind of sleepy hibernation mode when it gets too cold, so the McGonks hadn't seen much of them since the beginning of 2013 and not a sound has been heard. It's now April and it's still minus 5 DegC in the mornings. The ponds are just thawing and there's still so much snow lying that tidying up the garden has been left to the ducks. But it must be warming up, as we met our first lizard this evening, who seemed to be out for a stroll but wih only half of his tail. Curious creatures!

This past week has been sunny and it is beginning to feel rather springlike, especially seeing the lambs playing in the fields. Wormery Hall was stirring into life and calling us to visit!

Carefully, we opened up the door and the McGonks peered inside. Then a squeal of delight! Their wiggly, wriggly friends were giggly! Not only that, hey were all safe and well, busying themselves at work and preparing stock for summer distribution. What. may you ask, might a worm be able to do? Well, the Wrigglers of Wormery Hall have their own little factory where they recycle all those lovely household scraps into 'worm juice'!

But what do you think was the biggest - or you may even say smallest - surprise of all?

Can you see the little red rectangle at the top of the first photo?

This is it enlarged to show you what we could see during today's visit to Wormery Hall: worm babies!

There are hundreds and hundreds of tiny, white baby worms, all eagerly learning how to help make the magic worm juice!

How exciting is that? The McGonks were eccstatic!

Beag McGonk's Port to Fort Challenge

Beag's Big World

Isn't it funny that 'Beag', which is pronounced in similar way to 'bug', is Gaelic for small?

 

I love the name, it's so apt for the tiny Beag McGonk! He's only about 6cm tall, so there's no problem in taking him anywhere he wants to go...

 

The trouble is, he wants to go here - Cafe Beag . It's a very long way for a very small McGonk, as Port William is over 200 miles from Fort William. In fact, I'm sure he's mixed up his ports with his forts, hence the reason he discovered it in the first place. So, to satisfy his tiny need for huge adventure, we have promised Beag the trip of his lifetime - a trip to Cafe Beag for the holiday weekend in May.

 

BUT there are conditions to be met!

 

Can you guess what they might be?

 

1. Beag must be fit enough to make the trip
2. The trip must be frugal - there's a budget of only £150
3. Once there, Beag must make it to the top of the hill behind Cafe Beag, and it's a big one!






Ben Nevis

Foter / CC BY-SA

This is what towers above the tiny Cafe Beag... it's not only the highest mountain in Scotland, but the highest mountain in the United Kingdom. If Beag wants his cuppa in Cafe Beag, he's going to have to climb that mountain and fly the flag for Frugaldom!

It's going to be a huge adventure, so the Challenge began yesterday, on January 7th 2013 - 140 days to the day that Beag should be homeward bound after his enormous challenge.

Meanwhile, we're eagerly awaiting news of his fellow clan member who took off from Gatwick Airport (London) yesterday and was making his way to Egypt.

2013 is shaping up to be a rather exciting year for McGonks, so there may be quite a few tales to tell as Beag and his buddies prepare for their adventures. I hope you will join us and follow their exploits.

If you happen to be lucky enough to adopt a McGonk that you'll share your photos on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/ClanMcGonk and join us on Twitter www.twitter.com/McGonks.

The website is being developed at www.mcgonks.com where you will find links to all of the above along with any important updates.

We'll be back soon to bring you more news of McGonks' 'Port William to Fort Wiliam' preparations challenge, now dubbed our 'Port to Fort Challenge'.

McHaggis McGonk's ADVENT-ures

A Gingerbread ADVENTure for McHaggis McGonk

As Christmas approaches, the McGonks have all been getting more and more excited! They couldn't wait to get the tree decorated and then all crowded around to have their photograph taken.

Excitement is probably too tame a word to use at this festive time, as there have been so many things happening, some of them HUGE!

Several McGonks have now left on their Christmas travels and we've sent one to Aberdeenshire, where one of the relatives seems to be partying just a bit too much!

Shortly after the above photo was taken, little 'Beag' disappeared! He is such a naughty micro-McGonk! We searched high and low, until we finally found him in the most obvious of places... Beag loves to climb trees!

The biggest international McGonk news is that 'Duncan McGonk' (#I) has set off on his exciting adventure that will lead him to EGYPT!

The name 'Duncan' derives from the gaelic word meaning 'brown warrior', so I do hope he behaves himself and doesn't get into any confrontations with camels or the like.

Duncan McGonk

Duncan McGonk is going to live in Egypt, so watch out for future tales of his trips along the Nile or visits to the Pyramids, Imagine that! A little piece of Scotland all the way out there in Egypt, by way of a Galloway McGonk. How exciting!

But that wasn't the only excitement of the past week or so, oh no, not by a long chalk!

We also saw the arrival and departure of McHaggis McGonk, a rather dashing chap who received news of his mission earlier this week.

The gingerbread Nativity

McHaggis McGonk has, since, been whisked away to Wigtown, Scotland's national book town. This is him standing guard over the beautiful gingerbread Nativity, during his big ADVENTure. McHaggis has gone to live in the Manse and will be helping *Renita* with her storytelling and entertaining the local childen. Hopefully, he'll be introducing them to 'Frugal Fun' in Febrary 2013...

Well, that was the simple plan, but then we were alerted to a rather alarming misshap that had occured while McHaggis was watching all the delicious gingerbread making and decorating! He decided to go for a swim in the frosting and has had to have a bath and a blow dry! Oh dear! I am so glad we opted to fill him with lovely fluffy stuffing rather than shredded paper, otherwise he could have been trying to play papier mache McGonks, especially if he'd been near flour! We hope he recovers very soon - perhaps he thought it was snow and wanted to go sledging!

Chilli McGonk

As if all of the above wasn't exciting enough, Clan McGonk decided to put their heads together to come up with something unusual for someone local who has a passion for chillies! She kindly brought us a jar of her luxury *Galloway Chilli Jam* ... and we absolutely love it - with absolutely anything and everything!

However, being inhabitants of Thrift Cottage, living within the lands of Frugaldom, the purchase of such luxury items doesn't fall within the reaches of a thrifty spender, so we called upon the help of one firey, Scottish red head - Chilli McGonk! Hopefully, he will be attending the Wigtown Christmas Fair as an ambassador for Frugaldom. Of course, you can guess what this all means! Can't you?

It means that this Saturday, there will be both (Mc)Haggis and Chilli McGonks in Wigtown and that could make for a very interesting combination if the two should happen to meet. Perhaps we'll leave that one for closer to Burn's Night!
(Edited in: Chilli McGonk stayed with us for Christmas, so didn't make it to Wigtown.)

That's it for now but stay tuned for all the latest McGonk news and updates. We've now introduced the new 'About' page along with a 'Contact' page. These should provide any information you require.

Until next time,
Ruaidhri 'the red king' McGonk
www.mcgonks.com

*You can find out how the children and Renita made the gingerbread Nativity by visiting www.facebook.com/RenitaBoyleBibleTalesAndTunes

** You can see the actual Galloway Chilli Jam logo by visiting www.facebook.com/GallowayChillies

How to... Make a Tam o'Shanter for your McGonk

Scottish Clan McGonk 'How To...' Guides

Now that you have your wee frugal friend, the Scottish McGonk, you'll need a Tam o'Shanter (traditional Scottish hat), so here's the instructions for an easy to make and very frugal version.

MATERIALS

• An offcut of tartan or tweed coloured material
• Pompom
• Scissors
• Needle
• Thread
• Glue

Tartan material always makes the best Tam o'Shanter

Cut a piece of fabric approximately 17cm square

Fold it into a triangle - 3 folds is usually enough

Trim from corner to corner with circular edges, like a slice of pie

Unfold the 'pie piece' and you should have a rough circle

Keep all your trimmings, as these can be used for stuffing

Find a pompom, or else you could make a tiny one from wool

I was lucky enough to have been given this pompom edging, so I have been cutting the pompoms from that to attach onto the tops of the Tam o'Shanters.

Stitch around the edge of the circle of material. Once you have stitched all the way round, draw the thread tight, so it pulls the fabric together like purse-strings drawing a money bag.

Stitch the folds together around the centre on the underside and this will give you the small, circular hat. Tie the thread off firmly and that's it - all that's needed now is the pompom glued or stitched to the top and hey, presto! A mini Tam o'Shanter for your newly made McGonk. You can either stitch it on or, as I do, glue it in place.

You can use any fabric at all for making the McGonk hats. I use a pastel shade or flowery cotton for the lady McGonks as this gives them little mop caps. (Tam o'Shanters are, or were, normally only worn by the men.)

Have fun making your McGonk and please remember to take a photo and share it with us on the Clan McGonk fan page on Facebook. It can be found at www.facebook.com/ClanMcGonk

Now you are all ready to join the fun in 2013, taking McGonks wherever you go and photographing them. Next year, we'll have an exciting set of competitions for McGonk owners as we follow the explouts of our furry, frugal little friends as they branch out and spread around the globe.

If you'd prefer to buy a handmade Scottish McGonk, I will happily make one for you and list it in the new frugal store, along with any others I have available. Check out the Frugal Shop at www.frugalshop.co.uk

Watch out, McGonks about! and they're hopefully coming to a town near you.

Ruaidhri McGonk
The Red King
www.mcgonks.com

How to... Make your own Frugal McGonk in 10 Easy Steps

How to Make a Frugal McGonk

 

Please remember that the McGonks are not toys.

Children should always be supervised when crafting.
 

Some people accuse us Scots of being mean, but we prefer to think of ourselves as frugal. We try to lead a 'waste not, want not' lifestyle here at Thrift Cottage, so every little bit of anything counts in the quest for frugal fun.

 

If you have anything left over that can be made into something else, then it can be rather fun getting crafty and making the most of what you've got.

 

This is the part 1 of 2, showing you in easy to follow steps how to make your very own McGonk using nothing more than bits, bobs, scraps and offcuts.

 

MATERIALS

• Offcut of fleece or furry fabric, approximately 12cm x 24cm
• Small piece of black felt, fabric or cardboard
• Small piece of white felt, fabric or cardboard
• Button for nose
• Oblong piece of firm cardboard for base
• Needle and thread



STEP 1 - Gather your materials together.

STEP 2 - Lay out your fabric then fold it in half, so the fur is inside.

STEP 3 - Stitch along both edges to form the body, leaving the bottom open.

STEP 4 - Turn the fabric inside out, this is the body of your frugal mcgonk.

STEP 5 - Prepare your stuffing - I just shred some old paper but you can use anything available.

STEP 6 - Stuff the body of the frugal mcgonk, leaving about 1cm at the end.

STEP 7 - Stitch around the edge and then draw the thread tight to pull the ends together before stitching this all flat.

STEP 8 - Cut your cardboard base into an oval shape - I include a nick in the middle to make the front edge look like mcgonk's feet.



STEP 9 - Glue the cardboard base onto the bottom of your frugal mcgonk so it stands upright on its own. (I use my hot glue gun for this but any glue should do.

STEP 10 - Cut two ovals about the width of a penny from black card/fabric/felt and two much smaller circles from the white. Glue these onto the mcgonk, along with a button for a nose. You can also use smaller buttons for eyes - this one has beads in the middle of its felt eyes for a good reason.

Hoots, maun, there's a moose, loose, aboot this hoose... and Owl McGonk has spotted it!

 

In the next part, I'll show you a quick and easy way to make your frugal McGonk friend a bonny Tam o'Shanter hat.

 

Until then, 

Frugaldom. :)

Clan McGonk Welcomes You All

Welcome to Clan McGonk!

Once upon a time, many years ago, there was a clan of Scottish gonks, many of them known as McGonks. As the years passed, new rulers and new rules came to the lands of Scottish gonks and this, in turn, saw the demise of these tough, hardly little creatures. In fact, many of them had to go into hiding! They searched out the darkest recesses, hiding out until long forgotten. For many, they found themselves confined to the realms of understair cupboards, boxrooms and even BINS!

McGonks were never meant to be toys - although there were gonk toys. McGonks, for me, were a token reminder (and very hard reminder, if inadvertently hit by one) of the hardy Scots and their tough ways of surviving a cold and, for many, inhospitable environment. Wastefulness was everywhere and the humans wanted bigger and better 'playthings'.

By the late 1990's, simply, frugal little gonks were a thing of the past - overtaken by the techno-furry, whizzkid known as the Furby! Now, once again, the fabulous techno-Furby has resurfaced, but we're ready for them this time!

Archie McGonk says,
"Fun can be frugal, fun can be free, you don't need a fortune to have fun with me!"

The ancient tribes of McGonks were never overly adventurous, that seems to have been their problem. Brave, yes, without doubt, but not as adventurous as our modern-day heroes. But nowadays, a McGonk can go almost anywhere, be it by horseback, bicycle, plane, train or automobile. In fact, once you have a McGonk as a friend, it will willingly accompany you almost anywhere you want to go.

Clan McGonk is ruled firmly, but fairly, by the red king. Being of Scottish descent, many of the clan names are of old Celtic or Gaelic origin, so Ruaidhri McGonk is well named. Ruaidhri ('Rory' to you and I) means 'red king'. He has set up home, along with many of his kinsfolk, in Thrift Cottage. His sidekick, Bhreac, is easily spotted and never mistaken. (Bhreac is gaelic for speckled.)

McGonks are very frugal - they hate waste and try to make the most of everything they find, recycling everything from bottle tops to buttons, scraps of fabric, cardboard and even shredded paper. They love recycling! In fact, they even have pet worms to help recycle the mealtime scraps into 'worm juice' plant food, which can then be used to feed the fruit trees and vegetable plants.

Thrift Cottage lies in the heart of the tiny kingdom of Frugaldom, which lies along an ancient hill ridge in the Machars area of Galloway, southwest Scotland. It is from here that they have succeeded in re-establishing a small clan of McGonks, one that is growing steadily, ady by day. Indeed, several have already left and are on their way to investigate other corners of Britain.

Right now, Angus McGonk is preparing to set off and amke his way even further afield... across land and sea, sand and surf, all the way to Egypt!

During the coming months, years and, possibly, decades, we will be following these adventures, recording the trials and tribulations of the various McGonks as they set out to conquer the 21st Century world. It's sure to be a rollercoaster ride but it is one in which ANYONE can take part. All you need is your own McGonk.

We have already set up the McGonks Adoption Agency at http://frugaldom.ebid.net but if you would prefer to make your own, then check back here soon to become part of our 'make a McGonk workshop. It will be online here, free for anyone to enjoy.

We'll be back very soon with more news of Clan McGonk and details of the free workshop. In the meantime, you can subscribe to this blog and come visit Clan McGonk on Facebook, where you can add your own McGonk photos and news. There's also a McGonks website at www.mcgonks.com that should make it easier for folks to remember where to find us.

Until next time x