November - 1st to 12th
I was so enthused with the handbell successes last month that I decided to be uber keen and told Tim I was available any lunchtime, any evening except Mondays and Thursdays and all day Saturday and Sunday. In response I was put down for Fri evening and Sunday evening, neither of which were to attempt a peal! It felt a bit like a slap in the face, but at least it left me free to fix up the other stuff I wanted to do such as visit Lee and Emma, go to Exeter, meet up with Jackie, get Bill King in to do cupboards etc etc.
1st - Mike walked Suki in the afternoon which allowed me to get right up to date with this blog. I decided not to go and sing in the choir at the All Souls Service in the evening as I had a cold but I went along to the service and lit a candle when Dad's name was read out. The sermon by Andrew was very moving. We had a handbell practice afterwards in the hall. Then home and to bed for a nice early night.
2nd - tried out the Zumba today. Certainly a whole lot more active than the Forever Fit class! Went to David's in the evening and rang a handbell peal of Kent Royal with Mark, Rebecca and Chapman. It was somewhat of a struggle and we relied heavily on David's ability to keep everyone right, but it was a good effort for the newcomers (Rebecca's first peal of Royal and Chapman's first peal of Royal in hand).
3rd - Forever Fit class today. Got a message that pool is out of action for technical reasons - so not able to swim in the evening. Practised on Abel instead.
4th - went to see Keith, sorted him out with Morrisons online and went and did the usual gas card and Sainsbury shop. First GCU Messiah rehearsal in the evening. Journey was reasonably straightforward. I made a flask of coffee and purchased interesting baguettes from Pauls - forgetting that it was only half a rehearsal today! Ate my baguette on the tube back. Tricia didn't turn up - I saved a seat up until the last minute but the hall was so full not everyone was able to sit so I couldn't in all fairness keep it when asked for it. Had a really good sing - it's great to be so confident of the notes and the leads.
5th - Mike went to work and I went walking with Maryanne. It was very wet again, and I got very hot in my waterproofs. We met near Berkhamsted and did about 7 miles (I forgot to turn the recorder off again so my recorded route includes the car journey to the pub at the end!). We spent a lot of time wandering around at the start trying to find a particular path - hence the squiggles at the start.
We went to The Boat pub by the canal and I was treated to lunch by Maryanne. They were supporting national sausage week so we both had sausage and mash - three different sorts of sausage.
When I got home there were a number of parcels piled in the porch! - and a "signed for" letter through the letterbox for Mrs K Stirling! There were lots of cards too. Very exciting.
6th - my birthday and our Wedding Anniversary. Mike had left a bottle of sloe gin on the table with the presents, a lovely surprise, and then even more surprising whipped out a bottle of Drambuie from his rucksack! I was quite taken aback. I had a quiet day. Rang handbells with Steve in the morning - more Cambridge Royal with me on 3-4. Again we just about managed to ring a plain course after a couple of hours. Stayed in with Suki in the evening because of fireworks. Mike came home in time for a celebratory Drambuie before going to bed.
7th - Mike went out ringing all day and I had a nice quiet day to myself. The weather was awful so I didn't go to the Convent Christmas Fair. Lorraine was there helping - and so was Ollie. I got on top of the paperwork, scanning, admin etc, and prepared all the forms for the 2016 membership subs.
8th - Remembrance Sunday. Went to 8 am and then home for breakfast with Mike until time to go ringing at Chiswick. Then Mike went to 10.30 service and I sat in the car with my crochet and listened to the cenotaph service on the radio. Messiah run through in the hall at 12 and then we went to the George and Devonshire for Sunday lunch to try out the food there under the new management. It was quite expensive but very good. Then I went church sitting while Mike went home to walk suki. Shut up shop at 5 (there was no Evensong) and then there was a handbell rehearsal in the hall. Finally got home about 7 pm. Final episode of Downton Abbey on the TV.
9th - rang a nice QP of Stamford, Anabel's London, Bacup, Bamborough and Norwich at Clapham. Went to Chiswick with Mike and sat in car while they attempted QP - which they didn't get. Spent too long in the pub afterwards!
10th - did fitness class and then did the Zumba class straight afterwards. Quite hard going although felt very rewarding. However felt really tired in the afternoon and decided not to push it by going swimming in the evening. Finished off the admin instead. Lorraine flew off for a week in Aruba - she got a late availability ticket and went with Lisa, sharing her accommodation.
11th - did some exercise with music and new dumbells at home when I got in from walking Suki in the morning. Only a few minutes but it got the heart rate up. Went to see Keith - did some shopping and helped him fill in a form. He didn't want to go down to the village so I didn't push it. Messiah rehearsal in the evening - another good sing through. Tricia was there this time and had saved me a seat - and then Judy came back looking for a seat so she sat on the other side of me which was nice. We had our baguettes from Pauls when we got home.
1st - Mike walked Suki in the afternoon which allowed me to get right up to date with this blog. I decided not to go and sing in the choir at the All Souls Service in the evening as I had a cold but I went along to the service and lit a candle when Dad's name was read out. The sermon by Andrew was very moving. We had a handbell practice afterwards in the hall. Then home and to bed for a nice early night.
2nd - tried out the Zumba today. Certainly a whole lot more active than the Forever Fit class! Went to David's in the evening and rang a handbell peal of Kent Royal with Mark, Rebecca and Chapman. It was somewhat of a struggle and we relied heavily on David's ability to keep everyone right, but it was a good effort for the newcomers (Rebecca's first peal of Royal and Chapman's first peal of Royal in hand).
3rd - Forever Fit class today. Got a message that pool is out of action for technical reasons - so not able to swim in the evening. Practised on Abel instead.
4th - went to see Keith, sorted him out with Morrisons online and went and did the usual gas card and Sainsbury shop. First GCU Messiah rehearsal in the evening. Journey was reasonably straightforward. I made a flask of coffee and purchased interesting baguettes from Pauls - forgetting that it was only half a rehearsal today! Ate my baguette on the tube back. Tricia didn't turn up - I saved a seat up until the last minute but the hall was so full not everyone was able to sit so I couldn't in all fairness keep it when asked for it. Had a really good sing - it's great to be so confident of the notes and the leads.
5th - Mike went to work and I went walking with Maryanne. It was very wet again, and I got very hot in my waterproofs. We met near Berkhamsted and did about 7 miles (I forgot to turn the recorder off again so my recorded route includes the car journey to the pub at the end!). We spent a lot of time wandering around at the start trying to find a particular path - hence the squiggles at the start.
We went to The Boat pub by the canal and I was treated to lunch by Maryanne. They were supporting national sausage week so we both had sausage and mash - three different sorts of sausage.
When I got home there were a number of parcels piled in the porch! - and a "signed for" letter through the letterbox for Mrs K Stirling! There were lots of cards too. Very exciting.
7th - Mike went out ringing all day and I had a nice quiet day to myself. The weather was awful so I didn't go to the Convent Christmas Fair. Lorraine was there helping - and so was Ollie. I got on top of the paperwork, scanning, admin etc, and prepared all the forms for the 2016 membership subs.
8th - Remembrance Sunday. Went to 8 am and then home for breakfast with Mike until time to go ringing at Chiswick. Then Mike went to 10.30 service and I sat in the car with my crochet and listened to the cenotaph service on the radio. Messiah run through in the hall at 12 and then we went to the George and Devonshire for Sunday lunch to try out the food there under the new management. It was quite expensive but very good. Then I went church sitting while Mike went home to walk suki. Shut up shop at 5 (there was no Evensong) and then there was a handbell rehearsal in the hall. Finally got home about 7 pm. Final episode of Downton Abbey on the TV.
9th - rang a nice QP of Stamford, Anabel's London, Bacup, Bamborough and Norwich at Clapham. Went to Chiswick with Mike and sat in car while they attempted QP - which they didn't get. Spent too long in the pub afterwards!
10th - did fitness class and then did the Zumba class straight afterwards. Quite hard going although felt very rewarding. However felt really tired in the afternoon and decided not to push it by going swimming in the evening. Finished off the admin instead. Lorraine flew off for a week in Aruba - she got a late availability ticket and went with Lisa, sharing her accommodation.
11th - did some exercise with music and new dumbells at home when I got in from walking Suki in the morning. Only a few minutes but it got the heart rate up. Went to see Keith - did some shopping and helped him fill in a form. He didn't want to go down to the village so I didn't push it. Messiah rehearsal in the evening - another good sing through. Tricia was there this time and had saved me a seat - and then Judy came back looking for a seat so she sat on the other side of me which was nice. We had our baguettes from Pauls when we got home.
