Bet you thought I'd given up on blogging what with missing a few days. Nah, not at all, just not been about. On Friday I was over in Hartlepool (North East England) for a friend's funeral. It was really strange as a matter of fact. Cath, the lady whose funeral it was, had rung the bell at that particular church for every funeral there for the last 30 years or more without fail. On the day of her funeral there was a problem with the bells and they couldn't be used... The first time ever! The vicar was telling me about it before the funeral and I thought it was extremely poignant. Very apt indeed. Went shopping with my mother afterwards and had a real laugh going around the shops showing each other up.
Saturday was yet another day in the garden, no less. I really enjoyed myself. I was saying to some friends today (all of whom are several years my senior) that I must be hitting middle age nowas I've begun to enjoy pottering. Martin and I sat in the gardel for a long time while just enjoying the day for what it was. The weather was very nice indeed and there we sat, drinking wine and just passing the time of day. It was very nice indeed.
Today (Sunday) some members of my choir and I went across to the Sage, Gateshead (It's a concert hall venue. What a wonderful time we all had. There was a three hour rehearsal of Mozart's Coronation Mass and Handel's Zadok the Priest and then off we went. There were about 400 people taking part and who should I end up sitting to but Fred Laing, a very old friend of mine from when I lived in hartlepool. I've not seen Fred for a little while and it was great having a gossip with him throughout the afternoon while talking about "old times". I also bumped into a lady who I'd played the piano for MANY years ago. She looked at me, I looked at her and both made the connection. There were six of them had come up from their choir and it turns out that their choir have a concert in Carlisle in October so I'll have to find myself there to support them I think.
Today was very successful indeed and the feeling of singing with a very good professional orchestra and being surrounded by others that are passionate about music was extremely addictive.
Well, I'm tired now after a long day so will tell you more on tomorrow's blog.
Night, night.
xx
Sunday, 11 May 2008
Thursday, 8 May 2008
Cragside 8/5/08
Yet another lovely day weather-wise. Will wonders ever cease?
We'd initially planned to go to the Metrocentre with our friend, Jane. However, she rang up and cancelled as she's not been too well of late so we went along to Cragside (about 30 miles north of Newcastle). What a fascinating place to visit. It is the first house in the world to be lit by hydro-electricity. A very nice pad indeed. Some beautiful rooms with lots of the Art Nouveau influence with tons of gorgeous Pre-Raphaelite paintings which are really up my street. Even William Morris wallpaper in most of the rooms too.
The gardens were extensive (1000 acres on the estate) but mainly set in a deep gorge that was a bit of a bugger to negotiate. In the end, we went back to the car and drove it around to the other side instead of walking!
Well, so far I've not received my monkey puzzle and apple trees - yet I was told to expect them today. Of course, the day's not over so he could still drop them off but I'd guess it'll be tomorrow now.
I hope my car's ready to be collected by tomorrow. There was a MAJOR problem with it that is costing me about £2,000 to get put right... And that was the cheapest garage I approached too! Don't get me wrong, it's a very nice car and relatively new so it's worth spending it but it's a hell of a lot of money. Nearly made me cry having to think of spending that kind of money and not having something pretty a shiny at the end of it... Excluding the car, that is!
I hung the picture I'd had framed. She's one of the pictures along the wall that the piano's against. She looks great. I've called her Floella. She looks a Floella to me.
Having a day across in Hartlepool tomorrow. Shouldn't be too bad despite going to Cath's funeral. It'll be nice to see lots of other old friends who'll be there too. I'll have to get up early though what with the funeral being a 10am. It takes two hours to get there from here so I'll have to be left by 7.30am at the latest. Needless to say, I'll iron my shirt and prepare my suit tonight rather than in the morning. Speaking of shirts... I don't iron mine until I need them. Is that usual? I've found that I iron them, hang them up in the wardrobe and when I need them they're creased to buggeration and need a pressing again. When I lived at home and my mother used to wash and iron my shirts I'd ofter wear two or three a day. Now I do my own I can make one last three days if I put my mind to it. How people change!
We'd initially planned to go to the Metrocentre with our friend, Jane. However, she rang up and cancelled as she's not been too well of late so we went along to Cragside (about 30 miles north of Newcastle). What a fascinating place to visit. It is the first house in the world to be lit by hydro-electricity. A very nice pad indeed. Some beautiful rooms with lots of the Art Nouveau influence with tons of gorgeous Pre-Raphaelite paintings which are really up my street. Even William Morris wallpaper in most of the rooms too.
The gardens were extensive (1000 acres on the estate) but mainly set in a deep gorge that was a bit of a bugger to negotiate. In the end, we went back to the car and drove it around to the other side instead of walking!
Well, so far I've not received my monkey puzzle and apple trees - yet I was told to expect them today. Of course, the day's not over so he could still drop them off but I'd guess it'll be tomorrow now.
I hope my car's ready to be collected by tomorrow. There was a MAJOR problem with it that is costing me about £2,000 to get put right... And that was the cheapest garage I approached too! Don't get me wrong, it's a very nice car and relatively new so it's worth spending it but it's a hell of a lot of money. Nearly made me cry having to think of spending that kind of money and not having something pretty a shiny at the end of it... Excluding the car, that is!
I hung the picture I'd had framed. She's one of the pictures along the wall that the piano's against. She looks great. I've called her Floella. She looks a Floella to me.
Having a day across in Hartlepool tomorrow. Shouldn't be too bad despite going to Cath's funeral. It'll be nice to see lots of other old friends who'll be there too. I'll have to get up early though what with the funeral being a 10am. It takes two hours to get there from here so I'll have to be left by 7.30am at the latest. Needless to say, I'll iron my shirt and prepare my suit tonight rather than in the morning. Speaking of shirts... I don't iron mine until I need them. Is that usual? I've found that I iron them, hang them up in the wardrobe and when I need them they're creased to buggeration and need a pressing again. When I lived at home and my mother used to wash and iron my shirts I'd ofter wear two or three a day. Now I do my own I can make one last three days if I put my mind to it. How people change!
Wednesday, 7 May 2008
What's a Tarn? 7/5/08
Well you may ask, what is a Tarn? For those who don't know it's a mountain lake. ie a lake in a mountainous/hilly area rather than a lake that looks like a mountain. We've got one just three miles from our front door so, for the first time this year, I walked up there and beyond to Talkin (the village the Tarn is named after) where Martin and I met for a pint before we came back again. How civilised! It wasn lovely just walking along, looking at the sheep with their lambs, the horses with their foals and the tractors with their silage tanks. Ah, the smells of the countryside can't be beaten! It may be the carnivore in me but whenever I look into a really cute little lamb's eyes and it bleats gently at me, I can't help thinking that it'd be great on my plate with a couple of Yorkshire Puddings and some mint sauce.
The picture I took to get framed yesterday was ready today (how's that for quick service?) It seems that the framer was really excited when he saw it as he thought it was really nice and couldn't wait to do it so did it last night. The lady who also runs the shop told me that she couldn't wait to phone me this morning to tell me that it was ready. They really should get out more I think!
Oh, GREAT news. When I was walking back from Talkin Tarn I passed Tarn Road Nurseries and thought I'd pop in to get an apple tree (to plant in memory of my Great-Aunt Gladys who died a fortnight ago). While I was there I happened to ask in passing if they had any monkey puzzle trees (small ones, obviously) and they had! I've been wanting one of those for about 20 years but never managed to get one. Either they were too expensive (I've seen them for £200 for something less than 2ft tall) or the seeds I managed to get didn't germinate. Needless to say, I'm thrilled. Down side is that I've no idea where to put it and can't decide whether to plant it in the garden and let it establish itself or keep it in an ornamental pot. I'll probably do the first I think.
Also been busy today with my amateur architect hat on too. We've been thinking of moving house for a long time now and nothing has happened but we simply need more space so I've been designing ways of how best we could extend the house we're in at the moment. Luckily it's a bungalow so the main idea was to go up! I designed a full first floor layout. Martin thought that four bedrooms was a little excessive so I took one out... And that was it done. However, Martin's brighter than I'd realised because when he had a look he said "It's still four bedrooms". I said, "No, what was the fourth bedroom is now a home cinema." He didn't fall for it. Looks like it's back to the drawing board.
Got to get ready for choir parctise in a minute. I really love my choir. I'm so lucky to have such a large group of people that come along week in, week out for to sing with me. We're looking at a four part version of Gnarles Berkeley's "Crazy" tonight. I think it's really funny seeing lots of ladies of a certain age (in general) singing a song like that. It always makes me smile!
Catch you tomorrow and I promise more pictures too. maybe a few sheep and a tree if you're REALLY LUCKY. I bet you can hardly contain your excitement!
The picture I took to get framed yesterday was ready today (how's that for quick service?) It seems that the framer was really excited when he saw it as he thought it was really nice and couldn't wait to do it so did it last night. The lady who also runs the shop told me that she couldn't wait to phone me this morning to tell me that it was ready. They really should get out more I think!
Oh, GREAT news. When I was walking back from Talkin Tarn I passed Tarn Road Nurseries and thought I'd pop in to get an apple tree (to plant in memory of my Great-Aunt Gladys who died a fortnight ago). While I was there I happened to ask in passing if they had any monkey puzzle trees (small ones, obviously) and they had! I've been wanting one of those for about 20 years but never managed to get one. Either they were too expensive (I've seen them for £200 for something less than 2ft tall) or the seeds I managed to get didn't germinate. Needless to say, I'm thrilled. Down side is that I've no idea where to put it and can't decide whether to plant it in the garden and let it establish itself or keep it in an ornamental pot. I'll probably do the first I think.
Also been busy today with my amateur architect hat on too. We've been thinking of moving house for a long time now and nothing has happened but we simply need more space so I've been designing ways of how best we could extend the house we're in at the moment. Luckily it's a bungalow so the main idea was to go up! I designed a full first floor layout. Martin thought that four bedrooms was a little excessive so I took one out... And that was it done. However, Martin's brighter than I'd realised because when he had a look he said "It's still four bedrooms". I said, "No, what was the fourth bedroom is now a home cinema." He didn't fall for it. Looks like it's back to the drawing board.
Got to get ready for choir parctise in a minute. I really love my choir. I'm so lucky to have such a large group of people that come along week in, week out for to sing with me. We're looking at a four part version of Gnarles Berkeley's "Crazy" tonight. I think it's really funny seeing lots of ladies of a certain age (in general) singing a song like that. It always makes me smile!
Catch you tomorrow and I promise more pictures too. maybe a few sheep and a tree if you're REALLY LUCKY. I bet you can hardly contain your excitement!
Tuesday 6th May
Peculiar day today! Once again the weather was a surprise as we actually had some! lol What a nice day it was. I went to visit my lady in Carlisle and that was good... Very useful (I'll leave it to your imagination what we do but it's not what you think... She must be in her 70s.) I was using Martin's car as mine's in for a service (funeral service I think judging by the amount of time it's taking) so on the way back I thought I'd put some fuel in and when I got back I told Martin that there was a gift for him in the car. He was obviously looking for a 12" square box with wrapping paper and ribbon on it. It took ages for him to work out what it was but he did get there in the end.
After lunch we went for a walkie-bike-ride. Now I'd better explain what this is. I love walking but hate cycling. Martin much, much prefers cycling so, in order for us to both get the pleasure of being out I set off for a walk and he sets off later and we meet (usually at a pub) a few hours later. Once again, I felt the benefit of the sun on my little pasty white arms and bonce. Now when I frown I get that tight and slightly sore feeling across my forehead because of the sunburn! lol
Contacted a friend of ours who's a pilot. I've been humming and ha-ing for ages as to whether I should arrange a lesson or not so decided that today's the day. I'll CERTAINLY keep you posted on this one.
After lunch we went for a walkie-bike-ride. Now I'd better explain what this is. I love walking but hate cycling. Martin much, much prefers cycling so, in order for us to both get the pleasure of being out I set off for a walk and he sets off later and we meet (usually at a pub) a few hours later. Once again, I felt the benefit of the sun on my little pasty white arms and bonce. Now when I frown I get that tight and slightly sore feeling across my forehead because of the sunburn! lol
Contacted a friend of ours who's a pilot. I've been humming and ha-ing for ages as to whether I should arrange a lesson or not so decided that today's the day. I'll CERTAINLY keep you posted on this one.
Monday, 5 May 2008
Monday 5th May
Hmm, a funny day today. At last we managed to get out and begin hacking our way through the jungle commonly known as "the garden". The weather here's been so hit and miss for months we've not been able to get out to do it... That on top of the fact that neither of us wanted to do it made it difficult to keep on top of! Spent a really productive 3 hours or so in the garden. Even managed to keep working for the most part although I did stop for about 15 minutes to gossip with one of the neighbours.
Had some sad news today. One of my friends has died. Although she was easily old enough to be my great-grandmother I'll miss good old Cath. I've known her since I was 17 and what a lovely lass. Oh well, there's another funeral to go to. That'll be the fourth in as many weeks. My uncle Tony, my aunt Gladys, my best mate, Steve's mum and now Cath. I just about know all the words to Abide With Me off by heart now! LOL
You'll be thrilled to learn that I worked out how to change the title of the Blog. All you've got to do is change it! Isn't that thrilling!?!?
Probably going into Carlisle tomorrow morning. Supposed to be seeing a lady that I chat to once a month but I can't remember what time the appointment is so it'll be funny unless I ring first thing to find out what time my appointment is.
I've decided that I'm going to start adding more pictures of me and my escapades on here as time goes by. I think it'll be nice to see me in my holiday clothes for example. I think sandals with socks underneath is a style statement that not many can pull off.... I can (allegedly). You decide for yourselves and maybe you could tell me if I can. Don't contact me though unless you agree wholeheartedly as I'll have to cry... No pressure there then!
Tonight I've broken my tradition that I was on about yesterday about the "Blogging routine". Sorry to tell you that I'm sitting in the front room with my feet up with Martin sitting beside me doing his.... I can't tell you what he's doing as he'll fall out with me. I'll leave it up to your imagination but I guarantee that whatever you come up with it'll be far more interesting that what he's really upto. Really, we're dead sad in this house!
Weather was lovely today while we were doing the garden - 70 degrees! 35 in the morning and 35 in the afternoon! Ah, the old ones are the best!
See ya tomorrow!
Had some sad news today. One of my friends has died. Although she was easily old enough to be my great-grandmother I'll miss good old Cath. I've known her since I was 17 and what a lovely lass. Oh well, there's another funeral to go to. That'll be the fourth in as many weeks. My uncle Tony, my aunt Gladys, my best mate, Steve's mum and now Cath. I just about know all the words to Abide With Me off by heart now! LOL
You'll be thrilled to learn that I worked out how to change the title of the Blog. All you've got to do is change it! Isn't that thrilling!?!?
Probably going into Carlisle tomorrow morning. Supposed to be seeing a lady that I chat to once a month but I can't remember what time the appointment is so it'll be funny unless I ring first thing to find out what time my appointment is.
I've decided that I'm going to start adding more pictures of me and my escapades on here as time goes by. I think it'll be nice to see me in my holiday clothes for example. I think sandals with socks underneath is a style statement that not many can pull off.... I can (allegedly). You decide for yourselves and maybe you could tell me if I can. Don't contact me though unless you agree wholeheartedly as I'll have to cry... No pressure there then!
Tonight I've broken my tradition that I was on about yesterday about the "Blogging routine". Sorry to tell you that I'm sitting in the front room with my feet up with Martin sitting beside me doing his.... I can't tell you what he's doing as he'll fall out with me. I'll leave it up to your imagination but I guarantee that whatever you come up with it'll be far more interesting that what he's really upto. Really, we're dead sad in this house!
Weather was lovely today while we were doing the garden - 70 degrees! 35 in the morning and 35 in the afternoon! Ah, the old ones are the best!
See ya tomorrow!
Sunday, 4 May 2008
Sunday 4th May
So, what's happened in the 24 hours since my initial blog entry? What, you mean apart from realising that I'd spelled "thought" wrong in the title of the page and can't find my way around the site to change it? Well, not a lot really.
Had a very long lie-in this morning. Not really a lie in. Lie-ins suggest that they're deliberate to me yet I simply didn't wake up until nearly noon... And it were lovely!
Martin, (my partner) my mother and I are going to the Dominican Republic in a couple of weeks' time for a well-earned holiday. Without going into lots of detail we've (as a family) had a very tough year of late and it's still not good so we thought that getting away for some sun and mosquito bites would do us the world of good. We're now planning in the smallest detail what we'll need for a fortnight there. I'm like a walking pharmacy. I've got my own normal daily medication (two tablets a day) the malaria tablets, anti diahorrea tablets (is that how you spell diahorrea? If not I'll just put "stops you getting the shits tablets") as well as four cans of mosquito spray, two bottles of sun cream, a full (albeit, small) first aid kit and a partridge in a pear tree. We never have this much preparation for a trip to London I can tell you!
Pleased with the new speaker system. Watched a bit of La Vie En Rose on it at lunchtime (intil the DVD player jammed). The sound was wonderful. Although I've got to admit that I'm biassed because I love Edith Piaf. Her famous answer to a journalist when he asked why her young boyfriends kept crashing their sportscars... "Because I keep buying them sportscars!" I loved that line... If only I'd been her boyfriend. It'd have been worth shagging an arthritic ex prostitute if I were going to get a ferrari! LOL! Hmm, on second thoughts, maybe not.
So today was the corny Star Wars Day joke. You know, "May the fourth be with you". I laughed at that when I was 9 and never again! Ok, I lie, I still laugh at it.
I've got to come clean now... I've already set myself a routine concerning updating my blog. Usually at around 9.30pm I thing it's time to have a bath and prepare myself for settling down for the night. Well, I don't know about you, dear bored reader, but I tend to like to sit down in the bathroom for a little while before I get clean. Yup, you've guessed it... I fill my blog in while I'm on the toilet. (Oh the shame - but how's that for multitasking?) Is there anyone else out there in cyber-ether-land that does the same? If there is I'd rather not hear from you 'cos you're probably a minger like me! LOL.
Started studying Mozart's Piano concerto no.21 this weekend. Found it very easy overall. Luckily I'm a decent sight-reader but I'm crap at studying music as I rely too much on the sight-reading to get me through. I'll keep you posted on if I actually go back to it or not. If I find stuff too easy I tend to lose interest in it very quickly.
I've finished my you-know-what now so I'll sign off for today.
Had a very long lie-in this morning. Not really a lie in. Lie-ins suggest that they're deliberate to me yet I simply didn't wake up until nearly noon... And it were lovely!
Martin, (my partner) my mother and I are going to the Dominican Republic in a couple of weeks' time for a well-earned holiday. Without going into lots of detail we've (as a family) had a very tough year of late and it's still not good so we thought that getting away for some sun and mosquito bites would do us the world of good. We're now planning in the smallest detail what we'll need for a fortnight there. I'm like a walking pharmacy. I've got my own normal daily medication (two tablets a day) the malaria tablets, anti diahorrea tablets (is that how you spell diahorrea? If not I'll just put "stops you getting the shits tablets") as well as four cans of mosquito spray, two bottles of sun cream, a full (albeit, small) first aid kit and a partridge in a pear tree. We never have this much preparation for a trip to London I can tell you!
Pleased with the new speaker system. Watched a bit of La Vie En Rose on it at lunchtime (intil the DVD player jammed). The sound was wonderful. Although I've got to admit that I'm biassed because I love Edith Piaf. Her famous answer to a journalist when he asked why her young boyfriends kept crashing their sportscars... "Because I keep buying them sportscars!" I loved that line... If only I'd been her boyfriend. It'd have been worth shagging an arthritic ex prostitute if I were going to get a ferrari! LOL! Hmm, on second thoughts, maybe not.
So today was the corny Star Wars Day joke. You know, "May the fourth be with you". I laughed at that when I was 9 and never again! Ok, I lie, I still laugh at it.
I've got to come clean now... I've already set myself a routine concerning updating my blog. Usually at around 9.30pm I thing it's time to have a bath and prepare myself for settling down for the night. Well, I don't know about you, dear bored reader, but I tend to like to sit down in the bathroom for a little while before I get clean. Yup, you've guessed it... I fill my blog in while I'm on the toilet. (Oh the shame - but how's that for multitasking?) Is there anyone else out there in cyber-ether-land that does the same? If there is I'd rather not hear from you 'cos you're probably a minger like me! LOL.
Started studying Mozart's Piano concerto no.21 this weekend. Found it very easy overall. Luckily I'm a decent sight-reader but I'm crap at studying music as I rely too much on the sight-reading to get me through. I'll keep you posted on if I actually go back to it or not. If I find stuff too easy I tend to lose interest in it very quickly.
I've finished my you-know-what now so I'll sign off for today.
Saturday, 3 May 2008
First attempt
Saturday 3rd May 2008
I've not really been to keen to embrace the internet. Despite my relatively delicate age (31) I'm not that keen on technology in general. However, the last couple of weeks something very strange has happened... I've become a technophile. From buying myself the most up-to-date mobile phone (and getting a micro SD to go in it) to buying an entire home cinema system - complete with a 7ft wide screen that rolls down from the top of the front room window. I'm getting worried... Am I becoming a heterosexual man? Oh my God, my street cred' will plummett! Now I think about that it might be true. I bought an electric sander the other day - and a jig-saw thingy. How will I tell my mother I'm straight?
Yesterday was one of those days when nothing seems to go right. We waited in all day for a parcel to be collected and one to be dropped off and neither happened. Sometimes the fates conspire just to nark you I think.
I've got to ration myself to what I write. I do have a predisposition to go on a bit (as you've probably noticed already) so PROMISE you that I'll draw the line before I'm offered a book deal on the day's thoughts.
I'll tell more about me and my personal situation, home life, work life, aspirations and holiday plans as time goes on. I don't want to peak too soon you know.
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