[quote ]
A surprise (two day early) birthday party organised secretly by my wife and family . [/quote]
How lovely! Happy Birthday for two days hence!
[/quote]

Glad it went well for you Gerald. A little birdy told me about it, but I was sworn to secrecy too! Hope you had lots of musical fun! x

messed my quote up!

I'd love to be able to do it, unfortunately, I wasn't not blessed with a physicists brain, and therefore do not enjoy it

Played at a wedding today : it went well

Cool: Glad to hear that. What did you play?

What's made me happy?
I was the big bad wolf and woodcutter in a puppet show at a friend of my son's birthday party - (who is also the son of a local lovely Russian lady who is also the Concert pianist who I've previously mentioned) It went well. The kids enjoyed it and the parents were impressed too...

....It was even suggested we take it into the preschool

And my friend was very pleased and grateful too.

Flute : some nice wedding-y things, like Pachelbel's Canon, Greensleeves, some Bach things...

Nice!! I've still to hear Barry play flute!!

That's true : and poor nicki_flute has been waiting for 4 and a bit years... : hopefully that'll be rectified at the Birmingham forum concert...

Sending videos of old silly Eurovision entries back and forth between my friend and I

Do you play flute to the same standard as your clarinet? Did you learn them together or pick up flute much later? Just interested....

Definitely not : I'm very much a clarinettist who plays other things!

I'm probably around grade 8ish standard on flute : though I've had lessons, I've not done an exam in flute. But I've done a lot of work on flute in various capacities, and have had invites back, so I guess I can find my way round the thing

Started clarinet at eight, saxophone at 16, flute at 16.

Ah right. So there's hope for me yet - so long as I manage to find the time
But all my time goes into improving my clarinet-ting at present and I can see the pay-off.

It's where most of my time goes to, still...

A really wonderful Trinity Sunday service at a very seldomly used but nonetheless beautiful church in York. The choir made a lovely sound - in front of the mayor and everything!


At a different church this morning there was a gorgeous nine-month old baby. He was sitting on the floor after the service so I went over and he held up his arms for me to pick him up. It was absolutely lush! He was trying to eat a biscuit and he got it *everywhere* Matthew trying to clean his wee hands afterwards was quite funny... I wish I was 5 years older so that it would be an appropriate time to be acquiring one of my own. (How does that happen again? Oh yes, the stork. )

The vet being open!

One of my rats was all snuffly so went to the vet on Friday, and she got antibiotics but hasn't got much better and this morning she was a quite a bit worse.
So I phoned the vet at 8.32am to get their message that 'surgery opens at 9, please phone after 8.30 to make an appointment'. So I tried again at 8.45 and got the same message. Darn, I thought, they're not opening today. Still it gave the number for the duty vet, and I thought I could at least phone the duty vet for a chat and if necessary we'd meet. But I waited until 9am, just in case, and phoned again and a person answered! They said 'how soon can you be here?' and I said 'about 10 minutes' and they said for me to come straight down. So I did, and now I have extra antibiotics to try on top of the existing ones. Tomorrow morning, if she is the same or better, then good. If she is worse, then, well, return to the vet for a final visit.

But I am delighted to discover that my vet opens on bank holidays (9-10am only), and that the vet saw us and thought in all honesty yes it was worth trying adding more medicine in and not just ending things now - since the rat is very perky, just not breathing very well and a bit gaspy at times.

Not that I wouldn't have called the duty vet and paid the fee to have them open the surgery, yes, I absolutely would have paid that - it's just made me very happy not to have had to

Hope your rat makes it Maizie.

^ yes

Aww, thank you both for your wishes.
I'm not hugely hopeful, she is an old girl, but I am muchly relieved that the vet didn't think that trying some more medication was either futile or forcing her to hang on.

I shall keep the fingers crossed...

Yeah me too. I remember those times well.

Finally booking a summer holiday!

OK, so we're going to the Loire Valley for the 6th time in 11 years, but we do like it so much!

Roll on 6th August!

Starting to feel better for the first time in ages; feel as if I'm slowly becoming alive again!

A beautiful day in town with my boyfriend and best friends, then coming home and having a barbeque with my fantastic relatives

It made me so happy to read this.

Thanks, Celeste,
I've just started my detox today and am even starting to feel a bit better already; I think feeling so bad recently might have been largely down to the alcohol. Think the depression will be around for a long time, but...one step at a time I suppose.
Take care, Robert

Great to hear you're making your first steps back to normality All the best, fella!

Glad to hear this, MrBean-try to keep your spirits up, you sound like you're doing so well

Thanks Fran-piano and Solari.

We're off to Saumur in July - and we promise to leave the Loire valley in good order for you BM!

Thanks, stetenorve! It will be our first holiday for just the two of us since we had our first baby 26 years ago, and although I'm looking forward to it, there's a bit of sadness there too at the end of an era. We've always had to ration our chateau visiting, as the children could never stomach more than 3 or 4 during the holiday, so we're going to indulge ourselves!

By the way, if it's still there (we visited in 2004) the Parc Miniature Pierre et Lumiere at Saumur is well worth a visit. There are beautifully sculpted models of churches and chateaux of the Loire all done inside a cave. Very atmospheric - I loved it and am hoping to go again this year. If you go, be sure to take woollies and coats - caves are colder than you think!

All the best Robert, the forum I'm sure is all behind you.

Thanks, Barry,
The support from so many on the forum has been very encouraging at a difficult time; it is much appreciated.
Robert

Not having to go back to hospital till monday!!!! woooooo!!!! and being put onto fingerprick blood testing which is sooooo much better than proper bloods being taken!!! finally my bruises from all the needles and heparin might disappear!!

An hour's piano practice in school, followed by a most fruitful piano lesson and topped off with a further hour's practice in school again, this time applying some of the newfound wisdom imparted to me in my lesson.

Going to Durham to get the second fitting of my prom dress

The big sheet music sale at Banks in York. Bought over £20 worth for just £6!

Something very vain - my hair sitting correctly ALL DAY! It's a rarity.

It's not raining!!

last exam. Done. Sorted. Lots of time now for a bit of and a bit of

Spending a lovely day with my kids.

We've painted, walked, had a picnic, played in the park, played battleships and eaten tea outside.

Had to drive to neighbouring town this morning quite early, so I was amid all those who were off to work in their cars/vans/lorries. It made me grateful and happy to think that I'm able to work from home, and also just round the corner in school, so that I don't have to indulge in the morning rush hour.

Finally feeling like I'm getting somewhere with maths revision....

Blimey - there must be something going on with the alignment of planets, just cut a network link over to another site and it all worked fine first time...

I love it when a plan comes together

I wish you had been working for me before I retired from Telecommunications

Nice weather......... and fun.....

The beautiful weather - walking down to the train station this morning I felt that that bit in Mary Poppins where they go into the painting and everyone starts singing "it's a jolly holiday with Mary" and they all go dancing through the cartoon with all the animals skipping behind them. All it took for me to feel like that was bright blue sky and a single passing butterfly!

Also am dieting and as of today have managed to go a whole week eating totally healthily and going swimming every day (and hillwalking three times!). And two people have already complimented me that I've lost weight already. Never thought I'd find the motivation...

So YAY!

Reading gedall40's current signature

The fact that I was able to keep up in aerobics - I've never been any good at exercise and I'm horrendously unfit. My challenge to myself is to be able to walk up the Minster steps on ascension day next year, without feeling like I want to die.

after really not being in the mood; Opening the case on my clarinet and seeing her shiny keys calling and smiling to me like an old friend asking me out for a pint

turns out she was already drunk though and what we did today was far from music but it was a few hours with a good friend

If your clarinet was drunk, that means my 'cello will need a huge amount of headache pills to cure its hangover tomorrow morning