singing - with no music!

The choir I sing in is doing a concert tonight. It's going to be a momentous occasion because this is the first concert we'll have done where we are not allowed to have any music to hold. Scary!

Having said that, as long as we don't think about things too much, we're fine. If we stand there thinking "I can't remember what comes next" then we don't remember what comes next and we end up fluffing things.

But, if we just listen to each other, watch the conductor and just sing, we do absolutely fine. Let's hope we manage that tonight - with all 22 songs! Don't think about it, Anne. It'll be fine!

I made some new bow ties for our men to wear. I've made 2 sets for them before but these ones are by far the best yet.

what I've been sewing

I've been busy sewing the top of a baby blankie for Jo's friend Lizzy who's expecting her first baby in July.



I call it a Sudoku quilt because each of the squares are made up of nine fabrics and, like a Soduku puzzle, none of those colours appear more than once in any line or square. That's a bad explanation but hopefully it makes some sense.

Next I'm going to attach the top to a piece of fleece and then add some binding around the edges. Not long to go now!

April Day Out

Last Wednesday we went gallivanting around the countryside. Yes, I realise I'm way behind in sharing the photos but better late than never. :o)

First of all we headed for Melrose Abbey.

First things first - snack! My strawberry and cream scone - fuzzy photo but VERY yummy! :o)



My cup of tea -



Douglas's mug of hot chocolate -



Jo's cappuccino - with her strawberry and cream scone in the background -



Melrose Abbey -











The "grave" where King Robert the Bruce's heart is buried -



Some of the graves -



You know, I was thinking as I read some of the hundreds of gravestones at Melrose, that I've always had a fascination for graveyards. Not in any ghoulish way. I love to read about the love people had for one another - "beloved husband", "much beloved wife" and so on. Love endures - even death can't take it away.

There are also stories there that you never know the answers to. For example - there was a stone for a young woman who died one day and the very next day her toddler daughter died. How sad.

Anyway, on with our day.

This is Abbotsford where Sir Walter Scott did his stuff.



One of the gardens -



The front lawn -



We had lunch at Abbotsford but I forgot to take photos of my scrumptious mushroom soup with fresh bread. It was soooooo good. :o)

Happy St George's day

This is google.co.uk's banner today - St George and the dragon.



Happy St George's day to anyone living south of the border!

I was always sorry for the dragon in fairy stories when I was wee. Why did they always have to be the baddy?

Shrek put that right for all of us dragon-cheerers! LOL

Meg's biscuits

I did some baking this afternoon. I made what we call Meg's Biscuits.



The recipe came from my Auntie Meg - one of my mum's 5 sisters.

MEG'S BISCUITS

1 cup SR flour
1 cup porage oats (rolled oats)
3/4 cup sugar
4 oz marg
1 dessertspoon golden syrup
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp hot water

Heat the oven to 160º - 180ºC

Mix flour oats and sugar. Melt the marg and syrup together and add. Stir well. Dissolve the soda in the hot water and mix in. Spoon into small balls, put on trays and bake for approx 15 - 20 mins.

Talking of mum's sisters, my cousin Christina kindly sent me my late Auntie Mary's recipe book for me to copy. Auntie Mary had so many fabulous recipes, I can't wait to start making some of them!

volcanic skies

You may have heard that the skies over Britain are silent. No aeroplanes are flying because of the volcanic eruption in Iceland. The ash and smoke from that eruption headed our way and, as of yesterday, all flights were cancelled because of the danger to the jet engines.

I can't say I've noticed that there have been no planes but then, we're not exactly on a flight path. It is strange, though, to look up and not see the white trails in the sky where the planes have been.

I took some photos of the sky over us today to see if I could see any evidence of the ash and smoke but I can't say that I noticed anything. See if you can see it.

Looking north -



Looking south - okay, it would be south if you could see over the roof! LOL



Looking west - I don't think the lightness at the bottom was dust - I think it was sunshine!



I see that, this afternoon, some flights have come into Scotland and Northern Ireland but the rest of the UK are still no-plane areas. How awful for all the holiday makers trying to go away - or come back!

When I was out there taking photos, a couple of pigeons - who obviously didn't see I was there - came to mooch around the bird table to see what they could find.

the Links Market

Each spring, in the third week of April, the Links Market comes to town. It's said to have been started in 1304 as a weekly farmer's market. Now it's the longest street fair in Europe and last 6 days.

Douglas and Joanna went down for a walk-through tonight. I persuaded Douglas to take my camera with him. Here are the photos he took.

I think the people who go on this ride must be a bit bonkers!



Now this is more like it - I used to love the Helter Skelter.



More rides for the bonkers people - and some candy floss can just be seen in bags on the right.



I remember as a child being absolutely terrified of the ghost train. I don't like the look of this one either!



Yikes!



Double yikes!!

I remembered!

I just remembered the name of the pink and purple plant in my last post and I didn't even have to ask mum!

It's called pulmonaria!

Maybe now that I've written it down - well typed it down! - I might remember next year - but I won't hold my breath! LOL


And, Anna - those are daffodils down the side of the grass! :o)

yesterday in the garden

Douglas took a few photos of the garden yesterday.

The view of the back garden from the spare room.

I can't remember what this plant is called. I have to ask my mum every year what its name is. You'd think I'd write it down so I'd remember for the next year! I'll try to remember to ask her tomorrow and fill in the blanks!

Same plant with some primulas behind.

One of the primulas close up.

Some visitors - pigeons

Some screaming seagulls -

One quiet seagull -

And, our very own Rosie Posie

random blankie completed!

I finished the random blankie yesterday.

Here it is lying on the floor.



And on the seat it was destined to cover.



And the seat's most common occupier giving it her seal of approval.

my new Ka

I picked up my new car last night but as it was raining I decided to leave the photographing until today.



I love it! I love the colour - no matter how much Mark the salesman kept insulting it! And Douglas too! Silly boys! What do they know about cars? All they want is something that goes fast.

Me? I want to be able to find my car in the car park which is a lot easier when your car is not the same colour as every other car in said car park!

I smiled when I came out of the gym this morning because there it was - the only green car in the car park. Yay! It works! LOL

Talking of speed - as I was driving home the car beeped at me. Yikes! What was that for? Well, it was telling me I was going over the speed limit! Yep, each time I went over 70mph it beeped.

Now, whether I'll leave that or find how to switch it off is something I'll decide later. I mean, I only ever go over 70 when I'm passing some numpty who decides to speed up as I pass them - *sigh* - so it won't beep too often. In theory.

But beeping aside - I love my new Ka! :o)

Happy Easter!

it's been a real pain!

I hurt my back on Wednesday. It wasn't too bad on Wednesday night - just a wee bit hard to get comfy in bed.

On Thursday it got worse as the day wore on so that at bedtime I took painkillers just to be able to sleep. I can't honestly say they worked very well. Or, if they did, I hate to think how much pain I would have been in if I hadn't taken them!

On Friday morning I made myself go swimming hoping that the exercise and the water would do me some good. I must admit, whilst I was in the pool, it felt good. I could still feel the pain in my back but it didn't stop me swimming for my usual half an hour. I hoped that would be a good sign.

Nope.

As Friday wore on the pain just got worse and worse. I'm not a cry-baby when it comes to pain but OMG I cried several times yesterday. I couldn't sit at the computer for more than about 2 minutes at a time - I had to get up and walk around just to get some relief.

I couldn't cut out material for the cot quilt I'm planning. I couldn't crochet my random blankie. I could barely even read my book!

I sat with a hot water bottle at my back for most of the afternoon hoping that it would help - not much. Douglas and Joanna took over making the tea and made me go and sit/lie down.

By 10pm, I'd had enough and went off to bed. Douglas kindly rubbed some Deep Heat in for me - I cried again as even his very gentle rubbing was agony! I took more painkillers and finally managed to get to sleep. I woke up a few times through the night but did manage some sleep.

Today my back has been a good bit better. Not better enough to do all the things I planned to do today - heck, I didn't do any of them - but at least it's not making me cry any more.

All I can say is - I wish I knew what I did on Wednesday to hurt my back because I would NEVER do it again. Ever!