Writers....

I know that many of the bloggers I visit regularly are talented authors.

My wee brother is also a writer - and has just set up a website showing some of his work. Whilst it will blast my anonymity out of the water, I bring you:

www.duncanheaney.co.uk

Cairngorms

This weekend we had a trip to the Cairngorm mountains near Aberdeen for a friend's wedding.

We went out on Friday for my friend's birthday. It was good fun, and as the designated driver for Saturday morning my boyfriend was supposed to stay relatively sober. I had to take him home after he started to doze off in the bar.... the weekend wasn't starting well!

We left Sat morning at 9ish - and were hoping to meet an old university friend of my boyfriend's before the wedding for a drink. It takes about 2.5 hours to travel to Braemar, and at one point through the hills I seriously thought I was going to have to get out of the car and walk, as we dropped gear, and dropped gear and still slowed down to a crawl up a particularly steep slope. We made it in the end though!

When we arrived we tried to check into the Youth Hostel, but it was not open. Instead they had left a sign saying it reopened at 5pm. As the bus was due to collect all guests from a square in the village at 1pm to take us to Mar Lodge, a beautiful Victorian house and hunting lodge on a country estate, I rang them at about 5pm to ask when the hostel closed, as we were at the wedding and hadn't been able to check in. The lady said not to worry as the doors were open all night.

The wedding was perfect! Location was stunning, wedding was lovely with some funny moments (such as asking the bride if she would take the groom to be her 'lawfully wedded wife!), food was great, speeches were funny, band were fab and most folk danced all night in the oddly decorated slightly gruesome lodge! (photo below of ceiling!)

The bus picked us all up to go back to the village at midnight, and we then walked back to the Youth Hostel. The door was indeed open, but there was nobody up. We had no key to the rooms, or any information left for what dorm we were to stay in. My boyfriend had an explore and found a dorm that was open. It was a bit smelly but at least had beds and blankets. We crashed there - then got up early as I had a rehearsal in Glasgow at 11 on Sunday. There was still nobody about in the hostel, so there was nowhere to pay.... so free accommodation.

We stopped in Glasgow at 10am for breakfast at my favourite restaurant. It does Sunday brunch which is always fantastic.

I then had the rehearsal - which was mercifully short. Then had an hour or so to stoke up on caffeine before starting a run of Copacabana at 2pm. The band call was fine, and they had a dress rehearsal for the show at 8pm which made for a REALLY long day. There's only so much that coffee and diet coke can do (even when you add tablet into the mix... anyone who hasn't tried tablet should - it's sugar, more sugar, condensed milk, and sugar, melted together and then set into little delicious squares of pure instant energy).

Today I got up at..........12pm.... after a long but rewarding weekend!

Thursday Thirteen # 14

Thirteen fittest UK TV celebs... 1. Myleene Klass 2. Rufus Sewell 3. Charlotte Church 4. Richard Armitage 5. Emilia Fox 6. James McAvoy 7. Denise Van Outen 8. Tom Chambers 9. Holly Willoughby 10. John Simm 11. Billie Piper 12. Rob James Collier 13. Patsy Kensit So I go for dark hair...... and since this was a joint effort this week it seems my boyfriend goes for boobs....? !

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun!
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Thursday Thirteen

Every single week it gets to Thursday morning and I then realise it's a Thursday... which means Thursday Thirteen.

I like this meme, but on a Thurs morning when I'm already 9 mins late (therefore have missed the bus) I like it a little less.

This week I'm hoping to get some snaps up as I like to look at pics on other blogs..... so yet again I'm gonna have to postpone this for the evening (after panic practise - underprepared for gigs coming up & not enough days left!).

Anyway - should be spending this 9 minutes walking in the cold Scottish morning air, so I'll be off now.

The Aftermath

Well I'm tired. Hope you all had a great Easter - I did!

My sis arrived on Saturday afternoon. We chatted over some wine, then went out for dinner, then on to a bar before heading home.

Sunday - I had a gig at 9am in Edinburgh so had quite an early start (up at 6!). After I got home it was already quite late, so we stayed in and made a roast for Easter Sunday dinner.

Monday we went to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum - very cultured, eh!? Then my little sister drove home. She hit traffic jams twice, but managed to get home in about 5 hours so it wasn't as bad as it could have been!

Anyway - was lots of fun. Hope she comes again soon!

A Royal Visit

Today is another BEAUTIFULLY sunny day here. I'll be off out to plant a clematis (last thing I can do before my seedlings are ready) shortly.

I then have to tidy the house as my wee sister arrives for a visit today! HOORAY!

I like her.

She normally refuses to visit if I have gigs... which happens quite a lot... but it seems that my playing at 9am on a Sunday morning will not have much impact on her trip so she's happy to come. She's started working in the music industry so perhaps that has helped her to become a bit more understanding of the 'gotta take the work when I get it' aspects.

Since Thursday I've not done much really. Went to work at the garden centre for my boyfriend yesterday morning. Then came home and tried to do some tidying and practise but didn't get much constructive done as I was so tired.

Anway... cleaning to do!

Thursday Thirteen #14

To keep to a green-fingered theme:


Thirteen of our (me and the fella... as a botanist he's invited to participate) favourite plants...


1 laburnum


2 eucalyptus


3 daffodil


4 bluebell


5 forsythia


6 camellia


7 hellebores


8 aquilegia (columbine)


9 primrose


10 ajuga (bugle)


11 clematis


12 fritillaria


13 convolvulus




Pls see wikepedia for more info on all the above

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants


Thursday Thirteen Participants

1. Marcia 2. Susan Helene Gottfried

3. Miss Positive 4. Barb

5. CountryDew

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here
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Powered by... Mister Linky's Magical Widgets.

industrious

OK so I've been on the internet a few times but we have also today:


Mown and strimmed the back lawn. Border is still a work in progress but I have spotted lots of raspberry canes and flowers starting to poke through the soil.


Started to paint the shed..... but ran out of paint after 1 side. Not unhappy really as I don't like the green anyway. Wondering whether I could get away with making the shed two-tone...? It'll all go the patchy green colour when it's dried, so I could just paint over it. At least one side's weatherproof again.


Dug over the veg plot and planted potatoes & a new rosemary bush (old one died mysteriously overnight - turned brown really suddenly).

Cornett

This is it.... A McCann boxwood cornett - with mouthpieces that I prob won't be able to use as they look a bit frightening.

Tracks if you want to know what one sounds like. This is done on a resin one - hopefully the wooden cornett will sound a wee bit softer.

Simon the King

Sauny the Scot

Impatient

couldn't wait so paid the extra $50 to get it now... Woo Hoo!

nail-bitingly nervous

This is ridiculous!! I have been after an instrument for a while. Having contacted the makers I was informed that there would be at least a 6 month delay before I could get one.....

Then I spotted one on e-bay. Not gonna tell you any more in case anyone beats me to it.... But I've e-mailed the seller for a bit more info.

And I'm SO excited! Really excited that I might be able to get one soon - and hopefully before the gig I have booked after Easter.

I'm gonna have to badger the seller.. or perhaps put a bid in anyway but he said to check if it was an overseas purchase before bidding.

AAAAAAAGH want to know right now.

Tomorrow's gonna be a busy day for us here - I want to plant my potatoes (which I've been chitting for a while) so we need to dig over the garden. Could also do with mowing. Then I want to get a cat. But we also planned to go to the cinema. And of course I need to practise!

The Perils Of Alcohol

I went into the office today - doing some overtime in school holidays. Some people might just take some time off. No idea why I can't do this but last week I had three days off in a row. When I say three days off I really mean three days without the office, teaching or gigs, but obviously practise must happen in these days, and the huge assortment of admin (such as account keeping) that I rarely have time to do must still take place. I hated it. I worked, and did all the things I had to do, but felt lazy all the same... no logic.

I was a bit apprehensive, as Friday night had been a work night out, and I had drunk enough to forget exactly what happened after I got home. I was worried that I may have made a fool of myself.

Relief came quickly, as I soon discovered that everyone else who was still there when I left at 11pm(ish) was also drunk. And they don't seem to know just how bad I was.

Phew!

The moral of the story of course must be not to go out on an empty stomach for 6 hours mixing beer with wine with cocktails.

I'm sure there are several folk who disapprove... in fact some may even actively oppose such idiocy. Please see the following blog for more information about drinking and the perils thereof.

http://www.hangoverremedyblog.com/

BRASS FLOURISH

THANK YOU TO BOND !!!!!!!

It's decided... Brass Flourish (trumpet ensemble)... decided by me without any consultation with either of the other players. Nice.

Gig was great - we are fab though so it's not a surprise. Not been paid yet though.

Update: 11:36am... turns out I was paid last night. Only I was drunk and forgot all about it until I just spotted cash on the sideboard. Oops.

Thursday Thirteen # 13

My boyfriend will crack up if I do this formatting now:

So I'll just post the list.

Thirteen Suggested/Previous Names for my Trumpet Trio

1 Wonderbrass
2 Brass Necks
3 Celtic Brass (also a group in Cornwall)
4 Scotia Brass (exists in nova scotia)
5 Brass Tacks
6 Brass Hats
7 Brass Monkeys (cheers boyf...?!)
8 Cerelann Brass
9 Fanbrastic (mum again)
10 Scotch Brass
11 Brass Scotica (nah)
12 West End Brass
13 Alba Brass (can't use this)

So as you can see - many thanks for your suggestions - it's quite a big list. But mostly of names I can't use or that are funny!

I'm still mulling... gig tonight!!


Get the Thursday Thirteen code here! The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

Trumpet Trios

Like the pic? It's a view from Gleniffer Braes - in Paisley where I have been teaching lately

I've been playing in a trumpet trio on and off for a few years and we have always picked a name on the day of the gig... and it's usually been a silly one (Brass Knockers, Wonderbrass -all girls, Brass Necks etc).

Now we have decided to get a bit serious and need a serious name to reflect our new direction.

I'm thinking maybe something like 'Scotia Brass' or 'the West End Ensemble', but need inspiration. I know that bloggers are generally pretty good at this sort of thing and would really appreciate any suggestions you may have.

If they're rude suggestions though they'll have to go into the list to use on shop opening gigs only again...

oops!

In my excited blogging frenzy yesterday I missed an important event..... THE CLOCKS WENT FORWARD.

I had arranged to meet a pal for lunch at 1pm. When I looked at the taxi clock (was already running late hence taxi) it said 13:55. I asked the taxi driver if his clock was right.... He said it was.

Oops.

I phoned my friend to see if she had been waiting for long. She said that she'd realised about 1/2 hr earlier that I'm daft enough not to have noticed the time had changed & that it was fine coz her boyfriend was there too.

2 thoughts:
Why did she not phone me? I'd have been there a LOT earlier - didn't even leave my house til 1.45 new time.
Can she really not go for lunch with me on her own any more? Not that I don't like him - just hadn't realised it was a threesome rather than duet engagement.

Realise that both these questions could easily be answered by her - but I can't really be bothered to have the conversation that question two might trigger.

Update: 3.30pm I realised I had just COMPLETELY missed 2 pupils lessons.... because it was actually 4.30 and I STILL HAVEN'T FIXED THE DAMNED CLOCK! It's very embarassing having to admit to a parent that you've not turned up today for no better reason than you're an IDIOT!

Brownies

Ok - it's been about 2 hours ish since I got the internet working. I am so happy I can't tell you. I was so mad last night trying to get Orange to give me a straight answer I gave myself a headache. I was also pretty rude to the phone operators several times which made me feel guilty.

So - sorry to the people I probably offended!!

During my internet-less month I have been typically busy - gigging and teaching. This has resulted in my missing the last two weeks of Brownies - firstly for my junior wind band final concert, secondly for a gig which I couldn't get out of without losing a lot of cash.

The first week the other leader (Brown Owl) didn't get in touch so I assumed nothing went wrong. I'd provided the activities anyway to make it easy and contacted the division commisioner to arrange cover so thought no more of it.

Yesterday I had a call from the leader saying that a group of girls have been mucking about 2 weeks in a row (hiding in the toilet as little girls seem to like to do!). After being told off the second week the craft I'd bought was bat and ball sets that you could decorate for Easter... slightly random but looked pretty good to me. It seems that the ringleader (also our longest-serving Brownie) didn't like this, so rather than decorate her bat with everyone else she wrote 'Die Brown Owl die. And when you do I'll be happy@. on the bat.

The leader is obviously angry. It's rude. We are going on a Bowling trip - had it been my evening I'd have had her mum in and demanded an apology. Brown Owl hadn't done this - so as far as I'm concerned she's got away with it and is being rewarded with an outing. This in turn makes me angry.

So - not much I can do - I wasn't there so it's up to her to deal with it how she sees fit.

p.s. Could someone ask Mimi for me if there is a reason that her links don't work for me? It's really strange but I can't even comment on her blog and I want to ask about her latest peace globe thing.

back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello - I'm back finally up and running after much shouting... ok polite complaining... to Orange and much shouting.... really shouting.... to my fella!

I'll post later on but want to go and catch up with you all just now, so I'll be off browsing for a few hours this morning.

See you soon x

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Hello!

Hello, I'm at my wee sister's house in Leeds and she is letting me borrow her internet to check important work e-mails (snigger)....

Feels like loads has happened over the past few weeks but as I come to tell you about it I can't think of anything. Still busy with work but I'm not teaching much any more as I have gigs booked through til August which means I don't have to take any extra work.

Don't get excited about the gigs - they're not particularly exciting... not particularly bad either though so it's all ok.

This weekend I'm visiting my sis and my folks have come up for the weekend so I get to see them too. Today we're going house viewing as my sis is looking to buy somewhere. This will take up most of the day until we go to see Orfeo in the evening performed by Opera North (for whom she works). Should be a fine day all told.

Monday I'm back in Glasgow and will be launching into a show which will take up this week. The next week I have kept clear as it's my Brownie pack's big bowling trip (competition with all Glasgow west brownie units).

Hopefully I should have the new broadband at the end of next week, which means I'll be back to my usually regular posting....

Until then: I hope that you are all doing well and will pop round as many people as possible before my wee sis cottons on to what I'm up to. See you soon x

Still offline.... boo hoo

Hello -I'm still offline. It will now aparantly be a further 10-15 working days before Orange can send out my internet box etc. So I've found a pub with free broadband access and will be heading there of an evening next week to while away a few hours catching up with my friends.

Keep thinking I'll find it easier as time goes on, but there are so many thousands of things I used to use the internet for that make life more convenient that I am hating every single second without my connection. The major ones have been: I was an hour late for a rehearsal last week because I couldn't do an aa routefinder search and have no sense of direction.... I couldn't book train tickets to see my wee sister... although currently this is a good point as Ma and Pa booked them for me and I am therefore £50 richer (temporarily).

Missing you all!!!! Promise to visit you soon x