(More Than A) Saturday Morning Bike Ride

Tempting Fate...

1. I had a concert on Saturday. While chopping potatoes earlier in the week I thought to myself wouldn't it be awful to cut a finger before a concert... cue 0.5cm diameter piece of skin sliced off index finger of left hand. (I find the plasters marketed as being suitable for sensitive skin to be best for such circumstances - they stick well to the skin and aren't too slippy on the surface so you still get good contact with the instrument strings, so there you go...)

2. I was just congratulating myself on managing not to succumb to illness this winter... cue shakes, aches, shivers and sniffles - fortunately it all started on Sunday ie after the concert, I also seem to have had a fairly mild dose as others I know have been much more severely afflicted. I am having to miss orchestra practice tonight though which I'm a bit miffed about as we get the new music and next concert we're doing Brahms 2nd Symphony which is wonderful to play, here's a little snippet:-


Sigh...

Here's a bit of the poster from the last concert...

....to be honest, the programme didn't thrill me, the only redeeming feature is the second movement of Beethoven's 7th Symphony, part of which was used to great effect in The King's Speech, snippet here:-



Now to the bike ride photos. I wasn't feeling very energetic (the virus was probably there but biding its time), and the weather was keech (you'll need to scroll down a little), so it was a fairly short affair.

Tree silhouettes are always a reliable subject .

Wooo, a chaffinch, and I managed to get a photo of him.

Notice anything odd here? (the answer is at the bottom of this post)

Three tree mound views.

Looking back.

Three big puddle views.

You can tell it was a half-hearted effort!

On to more colourful things. Yes, it's all stuck together in one post. If I were a better organised blogger this would be three, possibly four, nicely segregated posts. Best I think just to include everything while I can, before the moment has passed...

Look, I made some muffins and took a nice photo of them, it seems to have been a sunny day.

A felt cat made by A. I sewed on the eyes and mouth and helped thread the needle (numerous times), otherwise it was all her own work.

The latest state of the diasies. I haven't done any for a while - too much crocheting makes my left index finger hurt so I tend to lay off the crochet if I've lots of bass playing coming up, and since being unwell I've just not felt inclined.

Earlier last week I did some charity shop rummaging...

Ten Small Thoughts On Charity Shopping:-
1. It's like going on a treasure hunt.
2. You have to look through a lot of rubbish to find the treasure. Having said that…
3. Everybody has “their things” to look for – mine are bric-a-brac and books.
4. Sometimes you're lucky, oftentimes you're not.
5. The fashion for "vintage" means that many more people are now looking, plus...
6. Charity shop stock has been adversely affected by Ebay
7. A very tidy shop is not a good sign
8. The small local shops are often the best
9. Sometimes what looked good in the shop looks plain awful when you get it home.
10. It's all for a good cause.

I've mentioned before how much I love Jane Ray's illustrations, so I was pleased to find a book of hers we don't yet own. £1.50.

This is a similar book illustrated by Susan Field, the illustrations in this are lovely too. 30p

Various, £3.50 the lot (except for the strawberries, they're "stylist's own")

4 x 25g balls of acrylic, not a great bargain at 50p each but I liked the colours.

Off now to dose up on some more Solpadeine (wonderful stuff, tastes vile though (I use the soluble tablets)) before going to help hubby with the children's bedtime - prompts another random thought: why do children cry/whine so much, or is it just mine... drives me bonkers!

Oh yes, and the answer is...
...there's a car on the road. I think it's the first time ever on my blog. So there.

Saturday Morning Bike Ride (and more!)

A slightly later start to my bike ride than normal - I don't set off till near 10am.

Earlier in the morning I took all our old baby toys and some baby clothes to a local village hall for their toddler group's annual sale. I drove there with the car loaded full of numerous packed boxes and bags and with the sound of gently jangling baby bells and rattles accompanying me on my journey. I then returned home empty and quiet, and actually feeling a little downhearted that now the toys are all gone! It's all right, I'm definitely NOT broody, it's just sometimes sad to see a little stage of life pass for good.

Anyway, off we go...

A bike shot at the top of the first big climb (any excuse to pause to catch my breath!)

Despite these rather ominous looking clouds it's a fine morning.

The farmer here obviously doesn't believe in part exchanging his cars! While I'm faffing about trying to get a better photo of his piles of rusty cars I become aware that I am being watched by, I assume, the farmer's wife who obviously thinks I am up to no good! I let her know that I'm admiring her views, which I am...

... and not just of the cars, this is what I see if I just turn my head to the left - beautiful Barcraigs reservoir.

I continue through the farmyard and up the hill. This is the view looking back down, the farm is still visible though Barcraigs is now hidden. Almost all the snow from last week's run has now melted though there are still little pockets of snow to be found on the higher ground.

Well, it's just a dead tree, but I thought it looked rather dramatic in the wintry landscape.

Another bike shot. Did you notice I've a new saddle this week?

To the very right of this photo, just below the trees can be seen the remains of a cottage wall...

...with a little window opening still intact.

It's quite a climb to get up to this area, but once here the ground is quite flat and the network of quiet roads with varied views is perfect for cycling.

Lots of sheep!

And some cows let out of their byre for some fresh air (though this one's face is rather close to another one's rear for the air to be anything but fresh I would have thought!)

I've mentioned before that some of the roads here are blighted by fly tipping. Usually I wouldn't sully my blog with photographs of such ugliness (and lazy stupidity!) but this box of dolls made rather a poignant image.

That's better, a clear road. This is probably the highest point, it's downhill (almost!) all the way home now.

And to finish off the run, a new farm sign for my collection. I should have enough soon for a little farm sign photo mosaic, bet you can't wait!

Later that afternoon I'm back off out...

... for the concert (phone photo taken before we go on for the 1st half)

I'm now spoiled! It's been sooo long since I've played in a section of 6 basses and it was fantastic. The "other five" were all Academy students (or recently graduated), so knew what they were doing and made quite a decent sound(!) Overall, an excellent concert - great program, great soloist and the orchestra did OK too!

(By the way, thank you to all who left heartening comments on my last post - I was indeed feeling a little apprehensive, but it all turned out fine!)

Now to Sunday. It's another nice morning and as it's Mother's Day hubby decides to forego his usual Sunday morning outing with the cycling club, so we ALL go out for a little run.

I mentioned I have a new saddle. Well, it hurts and I moan!

But the sun is shining and the loch is sparklingly lovely and I have a strawberry cornetto in the cafe.

However, I still moan again, even more, on the way home. Hubby promises not to get rid of my old saddle just yet!

eek

A quickie today! I've a concert this weekend...

...and we've a rehearsal tonight with all the extra players including 5 new bass playing buddies for me! It will be rather a change from being on my own as has been the case at every other rehearsal, I think I'm looking forward to it(!)

Enjoy your weekend...

Easy to Make Festive Tin Tealight Holders.

Ta Da!
Well, this is what I've been eating up my mushy peas for.

I got the idea for the design from this photo taken from a Christmas magazine...
...and the method from this book, plus I've also seen a version in this book.

It's very easy...
1. Collect 4 tins the same size (I used mushy pea tins as I like mushy peas! I also like the fact they're narrower than standard sized tins)
2. Remove the labels. Fill each tin with water and pop them in the freezer till frozen. The frozen water inside the tin maintains its rigidity while you...
3. ...Use a hammer and a large nail/screw to hammer holes into the tin. I drew the pattern on first with a non-permanent pen. I aslo laid the tin on a towel to stop it rolling around while I was working.

The first time I made a tin tealight holder was just before Valentine's day, so I did a heart design (sorry, don't have a photo handy) and found that varying the size of the hole through the design gave a nice effect. You could also turn your tealight holder into a lantern by making two diametrically oppostite holes near the top rim and attaching a looped wire handle.

For something so simple they're quite effective though perhaps a little "rustic" compared to the manufactured version. The room does need to be quite dark for the candle light to show clearly. I think they'd look nice placed outside, perhaps weighed down with some pebbles.

Changing subject completely... we had such lovely blue skies today, a pleasant change from the rescent soggy greyness.

It was cold and frosty all day.

A made a portrait of me using pebbles, so now you know what I look like!

I've quite a busy week coming up. A's nursery fair is on Saturday so I have homebaking (including tablet - will try and remember to take photos!) to make, plus some decorations to sew for selling at one of the stalls. I'm also playing in this concert on Friday so we'll be doing Christmas carols at rehearsal tomorrow night. I think this is the fifith year our orchestra will have been doing this show. It is usually an enjoyable night though I wish the concert was nearer Christmas - it always feels too early for me. Our proper concert is on Sat 12th if anyone fancies a riveting night out!

whoom whoom whum

Grrrrr! Just had a few rather frustrating days though not for any particular reason other than the general inability to "get things done" that comes with having a 1 year old and a 4 year old around.

Above are flowers from the garden that A picked so that we could press them in the flowerpress she unearthed while untidying her room earlier. Sounds like a pleasant task but I'm afraid I was rather grumpy about it all. Anyway, the flowers are now being well squished so we'll see how they end up.

I managed to grab some flowers from the garden too for my little jug. It was indeed a grab, I had to remove a little boy from round my leg and run out then back in before he got too upset. They're just plonked in the jug (recent boot sale buy!) and put on my new shelves which are the only part of the house I seem to be able to keep tidy.

I did get out to play last night though. Orchestra practise has resumed. A friend at orchestra gave N a belated first birthday present which was this book

N's not really too interested yet, but A and I enjoyed it, it's great fun. I particularly liked it because...


... page turn here!...

... it has a double bass playing bear, yeah!

I actually took my bass out its case today though have yet to practise but did take some photos of its bits:


Nice to be back playing. We bass players are a fairly rare breed. I do recomend it as an instrument; it's rare that we get the tune (very!) and we're often taken for granted but there's just something about being able to produce those lovely low notes, mmm!

Just finished reading this:
Urban Gardener by Elspeth Thomson. It was a charity shop buy. I enjoyed it so much I bought this:
from Amazon marketplace, which is the sequel, A Tale Of Two Gardens. Looking forward to some more pleasant bedtime reading.

I lost my camera at the weekend. I was going potty trying to find it - I had the case and the memory card so knew the camera itself couldn't be too far away. Turns out a little person had stashed it away at the bottom of one of the toy boxes.

Went for a walk with said little person shortly afterwards, the weather was pretty dismal so just this berry photo to show for it.