From little acorns Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd February 2006 First two days of ‘The big Project’… We haven’t really agreed upon a name for our project yet, we’ll be looking at all things Chinese; food, art, drama, dress and music. We are going to be based at Warsop Tudor Barn about ten miles away from the daycentre, every Thursday and Friday until July. The first day, Thursday, was hectic, trying to gather the group together. There are 14 students, 2 of whom are in wheelchairs. It took an ambulance and a minibus to get us there, arriving at the Barn at 10-30. Tea and coffee all around! We spent the rest of the morning getting to know the place. We set up the P.A. system and everyone had a sing along (including Dave!). We also looked at all our paints and materials and talked about what we wanted to accomplish over the coming months. Dinner was toasted sandwiches, crisps and more drinks. Friday was another hectic start. Everyone arrived at the Barn at 10-30 -ish, except… we’ve forgotten Lyn! I had been there since 9-00 to set up the room and prepare drinks. I also had chance to wander around and explore the far end of the building. We’ve been allowed to use the attic space for storage. There are also a number of other rooms, it’s like a big old rabbit warren inside. The Barn itself is a Tudor building, with heavy buttressed stone walls and an ‘A’ framed timber roof. There are traces of old doorways since filled in, brick arches giving away a few secrets. At the bottom end is a splendid minstrel’s gallery with a staircase. Friday morning we finally got started on an origami workshop, which was a crash course for me as well as the students. We all made a peace dove out of a large sheet of paper. After dinner we made jumping frogs and raced them along the floor. The day just races when you’re having fun!