Olympics

Well it's started! A disappointing beginning in Glasgow, after they showed the wrong flag to a very small crowd, but quite honestly the Olympics isn't really exciting us overly all the way up here. I received many emails asking me to take my youth group to see the football but I'm on holiday - and am enjoying it! No Brownies til next week.

Despite saying that I have been eagerly looking out for Olympians in my area after discovering we had some resident nearby in the run-up to the Games. Didn't spot any.

This morning I rang a bell in the car at 08:12 http://www.allthebells.com/ as did my other 1/2.

We will probably watch the opening ceremony, and he will certainly watch many events. I'll watch the odd one or two. I love the gymnastics.

Hope you are enjoying Summer.

Fun times

Getting a taste of what it would be like to only PLAY the trumpet for a living.

It's been a fun week so far - trio recital, school gig, baroque gig, symphony gig. Then from tomorrow I have 3 days of holiday!

Holiday?!

Whilst I love playing the trumpet, I have just started the school holidays... and I'm busier than ever.

I have lots of practising to do - and gigs are coming up soon.

It was my birthday on Saturday, so I took a weekend off. I saw the date today, and my stress levels just picked back up to quite a peak!

There is a lot of house sorting to be done too - this morning I have done about 1/5 of the kitchen clearout. I have to start the spare room next, as I need to use it for the practising and I need to find some music urgently (that's where it's stored).

Next week I'll be in Wales, or York... so holidays are a'comin. Apart from the bits of the trips that are work :)

Occasional Blogging

I quite like this occasional blogging... now I've got over the guilt that I can't be bothered most days.

At the moment things are quite good. I am a bit poor due to bad money-management, but it's something to work on and an incentive to generate some more playing work.

I have almost finished teaching - only 2 pupils to go I think!

Tonight we are having spaghetti bolognese for dinner, then we may walk down to the pub as the sun is shining. I have a new favourite hang-out.

http://www.stlouis-cafebar.co.uk/

Oh yeah - Brownies has finished for the term. We had a sleepover in Glasgow HQ - Elmbank Street - for our end of term trip and they LOVED IT!

We went by train - with their sleeping bags etc taken by car. They had to carry their own rucksacks.

The (loose) theme was Summer Holiday - we decorated banners and flags at Brownies... then I left the hall keys at home on the day and we couldn't collect them. Oops!!

On arrival they had a treasure hunt - to find letters spelling 'Summer Holiday'. They couldn't find the D (my husband had hidden that letter... grr).

We then organised bags - put them away and sat down to make Lei whilst the QM went to collect pizzas.

They changed into PJ's for a PJ party. Assistant Guider took over with music, dancing, games as QM & I put pizzas out.

They played games... pass the pillowcase with forfeits (stolen from Guiders.co.uk) and sleeping lions in the dark being a real hit (apart from the girl who cried because one of the others shone a torch in her eyes), which allowed me to set up a projector for Disney's The Frog Princess - set in New Orleans... the place I love!

They did their teeth and settled down to watch the film in their sleeping bags.

By the end of the movie most of the kids had dropped off. Awesome. Only 2 awake at midnight (because one was farting and the other was giggling).

In the morning they didn't want to wake up - they slept til 8am then had cereal and mini-croissants with fruit. They decorated t-shirts, then helped us clean and tidy VOLUNTARILY.

I think it is as TIRING as pack holiday, but is much easier to organise. I would definitely do it again.

Jubilation!

Hello - I have been having a lot of fun lately (and avoiding the very important job of Brownie Accounts, which I plan to tackle today).

On Friday last week I went to Wales, to see my family. I drove after work arriving around 11pm, had some supper and then a chat before bed. Woke early to go for a walk to the beach (3.2miles according to googlemaps). Walking along the bay at high tide in the sunshine Mum & I realised it was a good opportunity for a swim, so Dad picked us up and drove us back to get swimsuits and then we all went for a dip. Sadly the sun had gone in by the time we got there and it was REALLY cold. I managed about a minute of swimming with another 5-10 mins of hanging round at armpit level struggling to make myself dip my shoulders in! After going home for a shower we went shopping. Then my brother arrived. Yey!

We went rockpooling and we had a lovely dinner then I copped out fairly early heading for sleep as I had to get up and drive at 6.30am.

On Sunday I drove back to go to the Girlguiding Glasgow Jubilee Lunch - it was great to see all the girls and guiders having fun - and we had great weather in Scotland. I stayed for a while, met a Guider I needed to make contact with, then headed off to Balmaha to climb Conic Hill with a group of friends.

It was great fun! We had dinner afterwards in a huge swarm of midges at the pub. I counted my bites - 50. I look as though I have chicken pox now!

On the Monday we had a party - using our wedding present bbq.

Tuesday two friends who had stayed over helped me clear up a bit and then we played tunes in the music/spare room.... the room of trumpet.... until lunch was had - left over bbq food - and they headed home. I spent the afternoon doing a bit more tidying before meeting a friend at the train station with her dog for a walk so she could collect her car - left after the party.

I had been feeling a bit disheartened that with all my hill-walking (I climbed one 932m high) and other activity I was not losing weight - about 1/2lb a week max, but this week I have lost 3lb! woo hoo. So it's just a bit delayed.

I wish it were possible to spend more weekends as active as this one, but there isn't time in real life.

Anyway - hope all your Jubilee weekends were as much fun.

SUNSHINE!

It has been a while since my last post. In that time life has continued as usual.

Events of note:

This week I bagged my first munro!

Yesterday I helped at the Glasgow Rainbows' 25th birthday party - great weather and a very enjoyable day for the kids! (I enjoyed it too)

We've been to a Eurovision party - I was Germany and he was Romania.

Today my friend has come to stay as she's working up here for a week - lovely!

10K- Never imagined myself doing that!

We had a crunchie split between us at 6K and the promise of another at 9K (didn't eat it though).

Our target was to beat the time set walking by Michelle McManus! (we did)

I am so surprised by how much fun it is. You get a real sense of cameraderie and people were our all along the route cheering us all on. There were musicians too set at every 500m(ISH) which meant you wanted to carry on to find out what the next one would be.

I really enjoyed it.

For training we'd (my friend and I) been for a 10k walk the day before as well - which we did fairly fast actually. I really enjoyed that one too, but for very different reasons - beautiful countryside, seeing a train come under a bridge we were on.

Another fun weekend - I have a charmed life at the moment, eh!?

Westerton Woods

We have been to the woods with Brownies tonight. We got the train (always exciting) and went just one stop to Westerton where we met some friends who showed us their woods.

They had organised a treasure hunt and trail for us - which was absolutely brilliant.

On our way home, 22 very happy little girls chattered excitedly about the fun they had had. (One was picked up before we left - 23 came on the trip)

It was the first Brownie outing for 5 girls, and I am delighted that we were so lucky with the weather, and that the woodland group were so clever in their planning of the walk.

They made a secret code for us... I'd hate to let the secret out, but it spelled a very cool message for Brownies!

Weight Watchers

I have been doing Weight Watchers for a year.

Over the year we have got through Christmas, several parties and celebrations, and a long trip to America. I put on a few lbs but nothing disastrous.

I decided at the start of the diet that I was happy to do it, but would not do it at the expense of having fun with my friends.

It has been easy to work that out. Even when on occasion I've splurged - this weekend I went to a party where I drank FAR too much wine, then had a McDonald's Big Mac. Somehow the diet is still working! I tracked it and dug over the front garden to make up for it. I am being more careful today, but still managed to lose 2lb this week.

Love it.

And We're Back!

I am going to bore you a little bit with some holiday photos.  Can't resist!!

We started the holiday in Memphis - which was good fun!  We stayed in the Vista Inns motel - just off Beale Street.  I had read a few reviews about people feeling threatened in the 'dark streets' walking round the corner back to the motel.  We felt perfectly safe.... but we live in Glasgow and I wouldn't really wander round parts of MY city on my own unless it was broad daylight.

We went to Graceland - much better than expected!  I have more respect for the Elvis phenomenon having seen people's reactions to his home.

Memphis is a city that's difficult to visit without a car.  2 days there and we felt like we'd done everything we wanted to, but we heard good music and ate good bbq pork and enjoyed our visit.

After picking up the hire car at the airport we drove to Vicksburg.  I had been nervous about this part of the holiday, but I loved driving in the USA!  We stayed in Cedar Grove Mansion Inn.  I have linked it's website but it's a bit misleading so don't expect any of the extras.  It is a beautiful house and our suite was lovely - very old and atmospheric, a little creaky and full of character.  I woke early and sat on the porch watching the sun come up over the gardens.  The sounds were lovely and it was quite exciting for me seeing all the different birds & animals.

 


We left and took the Natchez Trace Parkway after a trip to the National Military Park in Vicksburg (really good - worth a trip).

The Natchez Trace Parkway made a much more pleasant drive than the Interstate - so I am glad we took that route.  We stopped a few times - saw a waterfall and the Sunken Trace which is where the path has been worn down by footfall.  It was lovely.  We also saw more new animals: wild tortoises, turkeys, hawks, porcupine... lots.

From around Natchez we headed across back to the main roads and drove directly to New Orleans.

New Orleans was as good as I remembered.  It is a beautiful city - unlike anywhere else I've been.  The pace is relaxed, the people are friendly but not intrusive.... it's just amazing.

Music oozes out of every nook and cranny in New Orleans.  We stayed in the Creole Inn in the Fauborg Marigny area.  It feels like staying in a village.  There are lovely cafes and bars, and the walk home from the city centre takes you past a variety of old colonial wooden properties, each one with a unique feature. I really love it.

We spent a few days seeing sights - we visited the swamps - we took a trip up to City Hall... And that's us married.

All in all - best holiday ever!!!

Trip

On Thursdsay we go to America!

Am I excited?? Just a bit!!!

We fly to Memphis on Thursday (10hr flight... sure it'll be worth it though...!).

We hire a car and drive to New Orleans with a stop-over night in Vicksburg on the 8th April.

We spend a week or so in New Orleans.

We fly home.

There are SO many things I want to see. SO many places I want to go.

I will post photos - no doubt about that!

What's been going on

Well if I needed any further confirmation that the Blogging magic has gone it is in my current situation.

I am angry with my mother. Because my blog is public - and the parents know of its existance I can't post about it here.

What is the point of a blog when you can't write what you want?

So the options are: start up a new one and don't tell any family (it was my bro that let it slip that I had this one)... or stop... or carry on as I am occasionally posting without any personal information or anything meaningful.

I don't know which I'll choose.

For now - I will be away for a few weeks and I will post on my return, perhaps.

Au revoir x

Visits and busy times

I have been working over the past 3 wks with very little time in the house and very little time online.

It looks as though this is to continue.

Update

I have been getting out walking more because we have had some stunning weather. Lovely sunshine. Still blooming freezing, mind!

These are from walks this week.

Last night I went for a walk in the dark (between dinner & concert) and almost trod on a frog. Didn't though - it's all cool.

There may be a chocolate tart picture too. Its in a cake tin because I don't have a tart one with a removeable bottom & it was a fridge recipe not a baked one. Tasted good!

Yum

Rundown of tonight's imbibements and the establishments in which I imbibed them.

The Finnieston - lager (Coors Light which autotexts to Footage colder course floral doors coordinate).

Korean Restaurant Shilya - lager (Hite) with food: dumplings, scallops, chilli chicken, squid & pork... Yum!

Brewdog - lager (77 lager) in a stinking bar with a contrived faux-warehouse decor. Not good.

Cafezique - coffee (no complaints - liked the place).

Jellyhill - white wine (good wine but not a sensible choice after coffee and beer) - cafe/bar pleasant.

Epicure - gin fix cocktail - awesome. Contained gin, lemon, elderflower liqueur. Delicious.

Now home with a cup of tea and tv on. Very enjoyable evening.

In other news;
I have messed up and have not got tickets for the county Thinking Day event (misunderstood instructions but didn't really think about it either as deadline fell over tax weekend. Might have queried/checked things if I had not been more pressingly engaged.)

It is only 6 weeks til we head across the Atlantic once more.

My sister came to stay and we had a great time culminating in a visit to the SECC to see Strictly Come Dancing's live show. Fun.

Ill

I am still loaded with a cold but the fever that developed on Tues has passed.

Gross and snotty now instead.

Oxford Street

I then walked along Oxford Street before the shops opened. It was very quiet and very pleasant.

At 9.30 when the majority of shops opened, I returned some items I had bought my brother which didn't really fit properly, and got a tube back to Victoria station, then a train (expensive) back to Gatwick Airport, then a flight back to Glasgow, then a taxi to my house as I was due to teach in 20 mins.

I made it home in time and taught one lesson. Unfortunately by this time, despite eating sorbet for lunch in the airport in an attempt to sooth my vocal chords, I had very little voice. It proved very difficult to teach voiceless, as the boy couldn't hear me when I tried to stop him (to correct a fingering for piano scales for example). If you wait until the end of a scale it is harder to correct, as you follow a pattern and if you can stop the pupil where the error occurs they can work out what they're doing wrong and then practise doing it right.

I then cancelled my remaining pupils (bar one whose phone number I had incorrectly in my phone after my phone was stolen - thought I'd recovered all contacts), had some chinese food and an early night.

I woke up this morning to find my voice is worse, so I'm off school too.

Expensive trip to London, but definitely one worth making. The snow topped it off nicely.

How considerate of the weather to make it fun at the weekend but clear up in time for all the Mon-Fri workers.

(S)wanky

Man at table opposite me looked like a businessman.

Man who came to join him looked like a businessman if you jumbled one up with a footballer: white trainers, suit, white decorated shirt, slicked back longish blonde hair in a ponytail.

Add people in overalls, delivery men and a chatty owner & this breakfast off Bond Street is very enjoyable.

Hampstead Heath in the snow

I got used to the size and volume of people quickly.

Then it snowed. Lovely!

Home tomorrow.

Arrived in London.

It's so big! I haven't been here for a while & found Victoria station a bit overwhelming.

Exciting too.