Is it me?

This will be a photo light post as I've lost my camera. I've no idea how that happened as we are usually inseparable. It hasn't been a good week - my computer died in the week so I lost everything. Recovery is not looking good so I have invested in a laptop. I haven't even taken its plastic wrap off yet!

Last night I went with my Mum to see the Grimethorpe Colliery Band. I know - I should have checked the dress code in advance but I forgot and dressed up - I was going with my Mum after all! I felt as if I was drowning in a sea of greige ( a Laura Ashley shade name which adequately describes that colour between grey and beige)! I hadn't realised that a cardigan was obligatory topped with an anorak. I also had neglected to check out the minimum age requirement which must surely have been 70. Now I know its not that far away for me but I am determined not to let colour disappear from my life as I get older. Why do they do that?

We sat down (in the stalls as Mother doesn't like heights)and I had a delightful view of 60 brilliantly polished black shoes and grey trousered legs but not a lot above that.

Grimethorpe Colliery Band were the band behind the fabulous Brassedd Off film released some years ago. My mother grew up playing the cornet as the only girl in an all male band with my grandfather, a euphonium player, so I confess to having always enjoyed a good brass band. (There's lots of normal music I like - honest!)

The conductor arrived, the band struck up and I was enveloped by the wonderful rich tones of this fabulous band. My foot was tapping and I had a broad grin on my face. (Rather different to seeing David Bowie or Eric Clapton where I'd be likely to embarrass anyone with me!) I know its not everyone's cup of tea and is very much a northern "thing" linked to the pits and the large employers but their professionalism, skill and absolute pleasure was clear to see. They put on a fabulous performance and I loved it. I know it brought back precious memories for my Mum too. I admit to losing several tears when they played "Danny Boy" with the lights down and wearing their pit helmets with the helmet lights on - except they were brand new shiny white helmets which had clearly never seen a pit. And while I'm glad that we no longer have thousands of men suffering the daily toil of the pits and the resulting dreadful lung diseases I can't help but be sad for those who are still struggling with the fall out from the closing of the pits - especially in Nottinghamshire where the impact lives on...

So I have questions - why don't brass bands attract younger people? Have these bands had their day? What music would you go to with your Mum?



Hope your Christmas preparations are going well!

Love Wend

Part of my large library pile. I must be the library's best customer. Whenever I see a new "must read" book in the shops I make a mental note of the title and reserve it. It costs me all of 25p each time. Two calls from the library told me I had reservations to collect. So included in the books by my bed now are



Cath Kidston's "Sew". I've been wondering whether to buy this so I look forward to taking some time to browse it thoroughly. Will I make anything from it or will it sit on a shelf alongside several other such books which seemed like a good idea when I bought them?



Julie Myerson's "The Lost Child". Julie was in the year below me at school (although I don't remember her being there). I've read all of her books and enjoy every one. Culture vultures amongst you will have seen her on many late night culture shows on TV. Her books are always thought provoking and this one in particular caused a stir when published this spring. It's a heart rending story of motherhood and Jeremy Paxman called it "the most controversial book of the year". If you haven't tried her yet I can strongly recommend her. (Its a little weird though for me sometimes as while I'm blithely reading she drops something in from her youth which immediately transports me back to mine - today there was a reference to her being called into see the head at school. I could immediately picture the scene - I'd lived it too, right down to the description of her looking like "the Queen, with her little black dog". I haven't thought about the dog for years but remember him being called James and how everyone wanted to walk him at lunch time. (Actually it was more about having the chance to get out into the Arboretum where the boys from the school across the road hung out rather than any desire to spend time with the dog with 4 inch legs!) (Apologies to all dog lovers - I wasn't James's biggest fan!)

Her book "Not a Games Person" was full of similar references: to wooden horses (which always provoked something akin to a panic attack in me!), the cellars in which we changed for gym - "smelling of rubber and feet" - I can smell it now! She remembers the Miners Strike when there was no heating at school and certainly no games as it was too cold to get undressed for anything, and Mr Jones,the caretaker with the purple nose - I'd forgotten him and his nose until I read this book! Isn't it funny how somebody else's memories can bring back images that were buried so long ago?



This book about trademarks is a fascinating read giving the stories behind many of our famous trade marks.



I thought I'd found the secret behind the gentleman on my darning thread card but then realised that mine is a different man from the man in the book - Cardinal Wolsey: the man whose name became synonymous with unshrinkable woollens and socks!



Thrifty Chic seen on many a blog keeps coming home with me - I have it out for a few weeks, return it and pick it up again a month later. I love the ideas in here and am filled with inspiration every time I browse the pages.



I think I'm in denial. I know how much there is to do before Christmas but keep procrastinating. I have had to accept it's well and truly on its way and spent more time than I would have liked finding the old Advent calendar - made of small brown envelopes and pegged to a string. It's past its best and something of an embarrassment as it was hastily put together some time back. But Gorgeous Girl is something of a traditionalist, (and to her a tradition can become such after only a very short time) so it has had to go up! It was speedily assembled a few nights ago and I was in deep trouble on Thursday when the third envelope was found to be empty! I'm severely lacking in the Festive department and although GG is nearly 17 she's still a little girl at heart. Recently I found a note atop a carrier bag on the stairs which said "If you leave my presents on the stairs I will find them!" When I told her I had found her note to Santa she told me it was to me, not Santa, as he wouldn't be so stupid! She has a point -if a little rudely made!



So now I have to make a concerted effort to find all those vintage baubles I've picked up for pennies at car boots etc over the last few months and do something lovely with them.




Hope you're having a good weekend,

Wend