Christmas Bookings.........

You may well remember that a couple of blogs back I made mention of the fact that at this time of year my life becomes rather chaotic due to the number of engagements I have to take on board.

I have just finished sorting out the engagements for December, and the final plan looks something like this.......

Between Dec 1st and Dec 31st I have sixteen church events I am required to be present at. I have various other activities at church - 4 weddings, a Carol Service for the Alzheimer's Society, and a couple of appearances as Father Christmas.

Then I have a wedding to play for at Rudding Park, a talk to give to the Bingley Janus Club, three funerals to play for at Nab Wood, an appearance as Father Christmas at the Cottingley Pre School Playgroup and a service to play for at the Toddlers Praise Group. If you total this lot up, it is 30 events over the next 31 days!

I have had to give back word on another Father Christmas request and accompanying the Nativity Play at one of the local Primary Schools - sometimes there just aren't enough hours in the day!

The one good thing is that we are booked in to the Kings Head at Masham for a couple of nights after Christmas. It will be an escape from all the Carols and Ho - Ho - Ho - ing.

Next year I plan to hibernate!

Ark Building, Flooded Roads, Books and This and That

The weather has not been particularly kind over the last few days. It has poured with rain, but thankfully we have not had the flooding that has taken place in Devon, the North East and various other parts of the country. Although we did have to take a diversion due to flooding on our way to Harrogate yesterday. I had planned to call at the Blue Barn to pick up a sack of dog food for Ruby, but when we got into the centre of Otley there was a sign in the middle of the Pool road saying ROAD CLOSED. This meant a trip via Leathley then back along the Harrogate - Pool road to Pool. All this water prompted me to emulate Noah and think along the lines of building an ark.

Then the weather changed for a couple of days and it became extremely cold. We even had the gritters up the road on a couple of occasions! This in itself created a problem. Should I build an ark or an ice breaker? As I type this, the rain has stopped and a strong winter sun has appeared in the sky. Oh, well, maybe I'll shelve the idea of ark building (or ice breaker building) until later.

Due to the the nights drawing in, and the dark weather, I have spent quite a bit of time reading. I have finished the book I bought on Arran whilst we were on holiday [Mysterious Arran] and have just started one of Maureen Lipman's collections of short essays, articles and the like. I think it is her latest book. It is called "I Must Collect Myself - Choice Cuts from a long Shelf Life", and as usual it has lots of very funny tales in it.

Let me give you an example.........


A blonde is on a flight to Toronto when she suddenly gets up and goes to sit in first class. She is spotted by one of the stewardesses who approaches her and points out that as she only has an economy ticket she will have to return there. The blonde replies, "Look honey, I'm blonde, I'm beautiful and I'm staying in first glass till we get to Toronto so fetch me a drink!" Worried the stewardess goes to tell the senior steward, who immediately goes over to reason with her. The blonde stretches her fabulous legs, flutters her eyebrows and says, "Look honey, I'm blonde, I'm beautiful and I'm damned if I'm moving from this seat till we get to Toronto!" Several other stewards and stewardesses try to get her to move, but have no success. Eventually the pilot of the aircraft is informed of the situation. The pilot says "Leave this to me, I speak blonde!"

He hands over the control of the aircraft to the co-pilot and goes to the seat where the blonde is sitting, and whispers something in her ear. She immediately leaps up out of her seat, thanks the pilot and returns to the economy section of the plane.

The stewards and stewardesses gather round him and ask him what he could have said to get her to return to her economy seat so easily. "Oh, it was simple really. I asked her where she was going and when she said Toronto I said I was very sorry she hadn't been told this at Heathrow, but the front part of this plane doesn't go to Toronto!"

Some of her chapter titles are wonderful - like the stories she tells about her mother Zelma - they are just not quite right!!

West Side Glory                          [West Side Story]
Dr Who's Who                             [Dr Who and Who's Who]
No Smoke without being fried       [No smoke without fire]
Mugger All                                 [Bugger All]
Barkless up the wrong tree                [Barking up the wrong tree]

I've only read about twenty pages so far, but have already had a good chuckle.

As the late Lance Corporal Jones would have said "DON'T PANIC!"

I don't want to cause a panic, but do you realise that it's only another 41 days (NOT SHOPPING DAYS) to Christmas!!

I look at my calendar and always hope that there will be a bit of peace and quiet between now and Christmas Day. Why is it that from now until Christmas Day things seem to come at me thick and fast. I am convinced that time implodes and that there are less than 60 minutes in each hour.

Although I only have 6 more weddings to play for this year, why is it that five of them are in December, and four of those are in the last two weeks before Christmas - just when I need the time to practise the choir for the round of Carol Services, Christingle Services, Crib Services, Street Carol Singing etc?

Completely out of the blue, the Alzheimers Society have requested a Carol Service in Church on Thursday 6th December at 2.00 pm. I even had a phone call on Sunday lunchtime requesting my services to play for a funeral at Nab Wood!

At least, being an ex teacher, I am in the habit of working a few weeks ahead. Music has already been chosen for the Lessons and Carols Service. Next week I should have all the music planned and chosen for all the services up to December 25th, so that we can go into full Christmas Mode with the Choir Practices!

I have been pressed into starring as the fellow with the white beard and red gear for a couple of appearances at Church (both on Sundays and in addition to the organ playing!)

Christmas is Coming - and so are the Books!

Last week I was in the process of scouring the book catalogues for Christmas presents. The problem is that once I get engrossed in the catalogues I see books which I would like for myself. I do tend to read quite a lot, and not the latest popular "50 shades of" type of novel. In fact you will usually find non fiction on my bedside locker.

I have always enjoyed reading about the places we visit on holiday to widen my knowledge and experience of them. So it should come as no surprise that when my eyes came across books with such titles as:

Dryburgh Abbey
The Kingdom of MacBrayne
The West Highlands
Northumberland Strongholds
Castles - Scotland and the Border Country

I was tempted!

I have resisted the urge to read any of these books at the moment, although they are all sitting in my office just begging to be read!

Dryburgh Abbey is situated in Border Country. Whenever we do the "Border Abbey Trip" we usually visit Kelso Abbey, Dryburgh Abbey, Melrose Abbey and Jedburgh Abbey.

Dryburgh Abbey nestles in wooded seclusion by the River Tweed. It was founded in 1150 by the Premonstratensian Order (or White Canons as they became known due to their white robes.) Dryburgh Abbey never quite aspired to the heights of wealth and influence achieved by its neighbours at Kelso, Jedburgh and Melrose, and on the whole the monastic life was lived out quietly. The sound of war occasionally visited the secluded spot, most famously in 1322, when Edward II’s retreating army, on hearing the abbey’s bells ringing in the distance, turned back and set fire to the place.

Dryburgh Abbey is the resting place of Earl Haigh and his wife. Earl Haigh was the leader of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) from 1915 to the end of World War I. His name is associated with the Poppy Appeals.

One of the things I most remember about this building is the Chapter House, which you entered by going down a flight of about 12 steps, into a large vaulted chamber. This chamber was wonderfully resonant.

 

One of the names synonymous with early travel in the remote west of Scotland is David MacBrayne. He owned a fleet of coaches which travelled the highways and bye ways. He also moved into shipping, which were often the only routes to some of the more remote Western Isles. Even today, the name Macbrayne conjures up travel by the red funnelled ferries complete with a lion emblem, which serve some 24 Scottish Islands.

We have travelled on the following routes by Macbrayne Ferries:

ARRAN
Ardrossdan - Brodick
Lochranza - Claonaig

MULL
Oban - Craignure
Lochaline - Fishnish
Kilchoan - Tobermory
Finnaphort - Iona

OUTER HEBRIDES
Uig - Tarbert
Leverburgh - Berneray
Lochmaddy - Uig

The company is now known as Caledonian MacBrayne, and is usually shortened to CalMac.

This book is a series of photographs taken in the West Highlands. Some years ago we took a holiday by crossing from Skye to the Outer Hebrides and then on our return we travelled all the way up the west coast to Durness which is the western equivalent to John O' Groats.

If you want to explore castles and fortified buildings there is no better place to go to than the Border region. Northumberland is the county south of Scotland, so has more than its fair share of castles, peel towers, bastle houses and the like. The photo on the front of this book is of Alnwick Castle, with the Percy Family Lion stood on the bridge over the River Aln. It was in Alnwick Castle that many of the Castle Scenes for the Harry Potter films were filmed.

A Bit of a Wallow in Filmic Nostalgia!

I mentioned a few blogs previously that I had visited a whole load of charity shops whilst we were on holiday, and as well as purchasing lots of CDs I also purchased some DVDs.

These were just a few of the ones I bought........

One of the classic Westerns, made in 1958, with theme music by Jerome Morross, starring Gregory Peck, Jean Simmons, Carol Baker, Charlton Heston & Burl Ives, it tells the story of a New Englander who arrives in the Old West, where he becomes embroiled in a feud between two families over a valuable patch of land.

The Original James Bond Film. I have fond memories of this as I was working as a cinema projectionist at the time (on my summer vacation) and we got a pre-release copy of the film, which played to full houses for two weeks solidly. I can still remember one of the reel change overs, when there was a close up shot of the centre wheel hub of the Aston Martin with a gun emerging from it! Because there was so much action and blur of colour it was a devil to spot the cue dots which told you to change to the other projector!

This is one of those typically gentle British comedy films, directed by Mike Newell. Lots of gentle humour and a bit of pathos too. It's incredible to think that it was made way back in 1994.

A remake was made of this film, but the original (the one above, made in 1947) was far the better of the two. A whimsical tale, it tells of a nice old man who claims to be Santa Claus who is institutionalised as insane. A young lawyer decides to defend him by arguing in court that he is the real thing. Just the right kind of light story which gets put on over the Christmas period!

This crime drama was made in 1954, and I remember seeing it in a cinema around that time. I recall that there were rave reviews about the film, but I came away disappointed, probably because I was too young to appreciate what it was all about. Since then, and having seen it again I can now appreciate the gritty realism of the plot, which tells of  an ex-prize fighter turned longshoreman who struggles to stand up to his corrupt union bosses.

Another one of those films which gets an airing at Christmas - the saccharine sweet story of the true life Von Trapp Family Singers told via the music of Rodgers and Hammerstein. I recall seeing this film in the Majestic in Leeds in 1965 and being very impressed with the stereo sound. In the opening sequence when Julie Andrews moves across the screen singing "The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music" it was incredible to actually hear her voice move across the screen with her!

Progress Report

Hi There!

It's Ruby here again, with a progress report. The day after I got back from the vets I took things nice and easy, but the next day I had got fed up with just sitting around, and when Her Ladyship and the Lord and Master decided to go out, I was at the back of the car like a flash, and before they knew it I had jumped in!


Ive actually got a picture of where they shaved me......

and must confess it looks a bit like a barn door in my side, but its healing up nicely now!

Major Operation, but I'm Feeling Much Better Now

Good Morning!

It's your canine chum Ruby here! As a special favour the Lord and Master has allowed me to get my paws on the computer keyboard. It's a little while since I did a blog and I thought you might want to know what has been happening with me recently.

Well on Wednesday I got up as usual, and the usual order of events is I go out to stretch my legs (and do other doggy things) and then come in and have my breakfast. This Wednesday it was different. I hung around hopefully but no breakfast came my way. Then at about 8.45 we went out to the car, and as usual I jumped into the back. Oh, I thought, so that's it - we're going for an early morning ride and maybe a walk.

But by the time we had gone through Shipley we pulled up at the Vets. Ah I thought time for my booster vaccination. I got out of the car and we went into the surgery, and I had my usual annual check up. The vet weighed me, listened to my heart, looked in my ears, checked my paws etc. and then gave me an injection, but then he put a lead on me and led me into the back of the surgery.

Sometime later he gave me another injection and I felt very sleepy.

When I woke up I was still feeling very drowsy and do you know what. I had had some of my fur clipped from my leg!

As you can see here I was still a little sleepy!

If you look closely you can see where the fur is missing from my front right leg.

Here's a close up of it.

Than I discovered that I had had a large piece of fur shaved from my tummy!

When Sarah and his Lordship called to collect me I was still very groggy and I must confess that I don't really remember wandering round to the car. Sarah and his Lordship lifted me in, then when I got home they lifted me out and I wandered groggily down the hall and fell asleep.

By next morning I was feeling much better, and ate a hearty breakfast. Now I'm just waiting to get out and go for a long walk with her Ladyship, but I've been told I have to take things easy and won't be going for long walks until I've been home for ten days!