Checking my bank account on line and noticing that the lump sum relating to the pension of my previous career has been paid in - on April 1st!

All agreed with my husband that we are going to London tomorrow...to the Early Music Shop... New recorder to come home with me

Have you been to their new premises yet? I think you'll be impressed. Enjoy

Wonderful, hope that you have a great time - well I am sure that you will.

Not getting up this morning! I'm still in bed- using laptop! Had a busy term!

Waking up at 7.30, only to realise I didn't have to be up for school! I did, however, get up and drink a fruit smoothie which was delicious

Snap, although still there now

Really must do something soon.......

Looking forward to hearing/watching the performance of the winning finalist of the recent Leeds Piano Competition.

I only had access to BBC4 via the iplayer. My laptop ceased up just before that last programme and so I couldn't even download it when it was originally broadcast. When my laptop returned from its 'servicing' the programme was no longer available!

Last week my laptop suffered a similar ignominy - it would have been on the Scream Thread, had the laptop worked!!

Now Sofya Gulyak is waiting for me to have my lunch, to play Brahm's Piano Concerto No.1 just for me!

Incidentally, on both occasions my laptop seized up when, whilst listening to a composition on Sibelius, I brought up a spreadsheet and tried to move columns! Never again! (Although that's what I said to myself last time! ).

Sleeping until 11am and starting to feel just a TINY bit better after two and a half weeks of a vile and painful chest infection...

You're getting better : great news! Hope the recovery continues C

The aforementioned smoothie, and a gorgeous day in town with my boyfriend and best friends

Had a lovely day with Mum and my youngest sister. We played upwords - and I won!! we had Mum laughing a lot, was almost just like the days we used to have before she became so very ill.

That sounds lovely, ET-hope you have more like this

That's good, ET I used to like Upwords : it's good how the 'Q' tile came with its own inbuilt 'U'.

Yes that is right, I much prefer Upwords to Scrabble, so much more interesting, except when the tiles get up to 5 and are dead!! The board today was quite an awful board as we just kept building up on the first 2 words and before we knew it nearly all those letters were dead. It was nice for me to win for a change as Mum usually pips me to the post.

I went to a lovely performance of Stainer's Crucifixion in our parish church tonight. Superb organist and soloists, and the choir was excellent too. My ideal Good Friday evening!

My parents went away early this morning and I wasn't particularly looking forward to spending today on my own, but a rather lovely person, who as of today is my boyfriend, turned up out of the blue and spent the day with me The best bit being, I get to spend the whole of next week with him at orchestra camp

I got one of my photography pieces featured on an amazing artist's page on deviantArt

Awwh, that's lovely, DevilFiddler hope you enjoy orchestra camp!

Call me a sucker for romance, but hearing 'I love you' still makes me go weak at the knees.

It's my Wedding Anniversary - 45 years and still going strong .
I got a lovely anniversary card.
I got a big Cadbury's chocolate Easter Egg.
I have just had a hot cross bun.

[You can throw up again, Solari ]

Feeling better for the first time since this chest infection started nearly three weeks ago...

Happy anniversary!

Finally getting a photo back on my profile. My old one disappeared and I couldn't upload a new one

Aw Are they your dogs?

Yep, that,s Patch and scamp

Hello, Patch and Scamp!

They said "woof!"

I'd have been a little concerned if they said 'hello'

Concerned, I'd be rich!!

Good point!

Watching the new Dr Who. Matt Smith was brilliant. The whole thing was funny and scary though not at the same time. Loved it.
Dora

Oh wow! Congratulations you two.

Happy Anniversary, hope you have had a lovely day.



that is good to hear, glad to hear that you are on the mend.

Not watched it yet....


Mine's spending some time with some old friends we've not seen in an age..... (close on 2 yrs)

I was a HUGE Tennant fan, so wasn't expecting to be impressed...however, I was most pleasantly surprised!

I've watched my recording : and I'm afraid I'm not at all sure yet. Matt Smith seems nice enough, and did an OK job, but he doesn't for me seem to have the charisma that Tennant had. He may in time grow into the role, but, for me, the jury's out at the moment...

I know what you mean, and my dad HATED him! I think the problem is that Tennant fitted into the role so impossibly perfectly, anybody who followed him was going to have such a tough job! I like the look of the trailers for future episodes, too

Congratulations!

Hope you've had a lovely day.

That's probably right : it's a bit like when Peter Davison followed the great Tom Baker. I don't dislike Matt Smith's performance, but, for me, he has a long way to go to hit Tennant heights...

Sorry but I stopped watching Dr.Who shortly after Christopher Ecclestone left... I find Tennant to be a bit annoying with his over-acting.

Anyway, Tom Baker and Jon Pertwee > *

I'm feeling quite upbeat today - no work for the rest of the week!

Also, found a "miracle cure" (not tablets) for a bit of a medical oddness on an alternative health website about a week or so ago - problem has now disappeared completely!

You may like Smith's performance then Sol : he's definitely more laid back than Tennant.

I watched the Christmas Special the other night on BBC 3, which was Tennant's last performance and thought that I'll probably give the new chap a chance Can't be any worse than Sylvester McCoy!

I know it'll probably cause uproar, but Tennant is one of my least favourite doctors. He's too gushing and over the top for my liking - this kind of acting might work in a theatre, but to me, it looks ridiculous on TV.

Today's Easter Sunday and the sun is shining; a cup of coffee and some chocolate - bliss!

(I do remember one year - I must have been 10 or 11 - asking for a whole pineapple, rather than chocolate! Why, oh why?)




Incidentally, whilst watching Dr Who has promoted a state of happiness, may I tentatively suggest that a separate Dr. Who/Matt Smith thread is developed. I'm sure there'll be need of it to accommodate views as the new series progresses. I shall be watching it too.

Good idea

*goes to start thread*



Done

We went shopping yesterday and came hope to find a disaster in the kitchen. a potted cactus kept on a high shelf was on the floor, earth all over the television, telephone and floor and no cats. We could only assume a strange cat had come in through the cat flap and caused havoc. Three cats returned, two in a very nervous state and refusing to remain in the kitchen. The third and youngest - not much more than a big kitten - didn't return. Since we have had three cats disappear in as many years we had a sleepless night and I was out early this morning scouring the village in rain, wind and hail.

We cancelled the Easter lunch and champagne and put the Easter egg back in the cupboard. We were very miserable. At ll.30 I went out to the dustbin and there was Domino, walking back across the patio. She was warm and dry but very nervous and very hungry. But oh were we happy to see her!!! We uncancelled Easter!

Glad your cats are safe and well. Happy Easter!

Thank you barry-iclari and a very Happy Easter to you too!

Hurrah for Aquarelle.

What's made me happy today is making a start on turning half my lawn in to a veg patch. And sowing some seeds in other parts of the garden, and so on.

What made me happy yesterday was going shopping in London. We got to the Early Music Shop at 10.45am and it wasn't open But the website had said 10-5. So we wandered around a bit and ended up in Chappells (who don't have a selection of wooden recorders to tootle on), and then I remembered in my handbag was an Early Music Shop carrier bag. So I phoned them up and said 'Is your London shop open today?' and they said 'Yes, 10-5' and I said 'um well it was closed at 10.45 and no lights on'. So he said he'd give them a call. We went back and it was still shut (about 11.30) so instead we went off to HMV (where I bought lots of CDs!) and then had some lunch. Then we went off to look for a suit for my husband.
Finally we decided to brave going back to Denmark Street. The shop still looked closed - their pavement sign wasn't out - but I could see the lights were on. So I was jumping up and down as we waited for the pedestrian crossing to change.

Anyway, as per previous shopping at Greenwich, I went with a recommendation (this time it was a descant I was after, and the recommendation was the Moeck Rottenburgh in the palisander/dark rosewood)...and ended up totally ignoring it and getting something, urm, probably way better than I need. I have the Moeck Steenbergen in box. I tried it in pearwood, which was a lot less in price, but it just sounded fuzzy; the boxwood one just sang and was very responsive.

So that made me very happy, spending silly amounts of money on a new recorder, especially when I thought I was going to not even have an open shop at one point!