A Busy Seventeen Days Since our Return from Holidays

Well here I am on Wednesday 31st October, sitting at the computer keyboard and idly tapping away in my usual two fingered manner. Maybe I should rephrase that before someone takes offence - let's try -  typing away using one finger of my right hand and one finger of my left hand. Yes, that sounds less aggressive!

It hardly seems two weeks and three days since we returned home from our holidays, but my, how has the weather changed. We were blessed with some lovely sunny weather whilst we were away on holiday, but the minute we returned home it was damp, grey and miserable. Then when we put the clocks back on Saturday evening the weather took another turn for the worse, and we got rapidly dropping temperatures as well as darkness at 5.00 pm.

As I mentioned previously I purchased a large number of CD's, DVD's and books whilst we were on holiday, and these should tide me through the cold dark nights!

It's pretty quiet in the house at the moment. Dot has gone off with Hannah to York for the day. Ruby has been at the Vets since 9.10 and has been spayed, so there will be no Ruby pups. The girl in the vets phoned me at 11.00 to say that she had just gone under the anaesthetic, and again at 1.25 to say that the operation had gone well, and Ruby was groggy, but coming round, but that she had been sick, so instead of collecting her at the pre arranged time of 3.00 pm, could I now call for her at 4.00 pm. She has also had her booster injections which were due.

So what have I been up to since we returned home. well, as usual life has been a bit hectic.

At the moment the church are looking to purchase another organ - the present one, installed in 1960 (second hand) and only maintained when there was an emergency is showing signs of coming to the end of its useful life, and a report on it by Harrison & Harrison, the well known Durham organ builders suggested that to get it back into A1 condition would cost in the region of £250,000 (yes, you are reading that correctly  - two hundred and fifty thousand pounds - is it less painful to say a quarter of a million pounds?)

Obviously the church doesn't have that kind of money floating around anywhere, so it has to be a replacement digitally encoded electronic organ. I have already been in touch with three well known electronic organ builders and had quotes for replacement of between £25,000 and £100,000. Considerably less than the quarter of a million! I have met with all three Managing Directors in church, so that they could give me a fairly accurate costing, and am now in the process of visiting their workshops to play examples of the instruments, and also visiting churches where their instruments have been installed.

The week we got back from our holidays I had a couple of bookings to talk on My Kind of Music, a celebration meal for a colleague at Skipton TIC who was 80, a choir practice for the Confirmation service at church on the following Thursday, a service to play at the local crematorium for one of the local funeral directors and a wedding to play for on the following day.

Last week was no different. I was appointed to feed next doors cat (whilst they were away on holiday in Paris Disney World), I had to have an X ray on my left knee , which has been playing up for some time now, (on Monday morning), a Confirmation Service to play for on Thursday evening, and a wedding to play for at Hazelmere Castle near Tadcaster on Friday.

I have managed to read the odd book or two, which I purchased whilst on holiday..........

 The above book (Molaise of Arran) had caught my eye some years previously, but had gone out of print. Whilst we were on Arran this year it had been reprinted. As we stay in a studio cottage which looks out onto Holy Isle, (with a similar view to the photo on the front of this cover) I purchased this book.

Bamburgh is an ancient settlement, with the fishing village of Seahouses just two or three miles down the coast. It is from Seahouses that you can sail to the Farne Islands, famed for their multiplicity of bird life as well as Atlantic grey seals.

This booklet on Bamburgh was produced after numerous archaeological digs in and around the castle, and gives an excellent insight into the development of Bamburgh from earliest times.

I used to play the organ for David Adam when he was Vicar of Holy Island (Lindisfarne) [Not to be confused with Holy Isle off the coast of Arran]. I lost touch with him when he retired, but imagine my surprise when four years ago I discovered he was living next door but one to the property we rent at Waren Mill near Bamburgh. David has written numerous books on Celtic Spirituality and Celtic Prayers, and I usually purchase one of his books when we are on holiday in Northumberland. This is his latest book - partly autobiographical and partly pleading for people to see the goodness God all around them.


At present I am reading.........

This is a very interesting book which deals with all manner of mysterious objects and beliefs relating to the Isle of Arran.

I have also been busy cataloguing all the CD's and DVD's and Books I have purchased!

On a rather different note, [pardon the non intended pun] I am in the process of closing down Eldwick & Gilstead Male Voice Choir. I am their Musical Director, and was their accompanist before that. Like many of the local male voice choirs, we have been struggling with a dwindling membership over the last year or so. When we were due to re convene after the Summer Holidays (in September) it was decided that we would approach one of the other local male voice choirs who are having the same problems, with a view to combining. Sadly this has not been possible, so over the next week or two we have to hold an extraordinary general meeting to decide what to do in relation to the disposal of our assets. These include a piano, a library of 500+ copies of male voice songs, a music stand, three music cupboards, various minute books, photographs and records of choir concerts and some monetary assets.