Sidra

I was recognised in the supermarket today—a couple stopped me and said, You're a singing person! which I had to agree was the case. Most amusing. They recognised Beast, too, but did not say which particular concert they might have attended.

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Poor Sable. Last night we were watching the final episode of "Altered Carbon" and there was a very loud crash coupled with a flash, and she levitated and scrabbled across my coffee table, leaving an overturned water glass and an upset coffee mug in her wake, and fled to hide. I don't suppose the surround sound helped.

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I'm contemplating what to knit next. It's time to get a fancy shawl into the drawer ready for next time I'm asked for a raffle prize. I'm thinking this one:
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/tilia-5
in a soft green/blue, lightly sparkly mix which will be very pretty. But I'm also a bit distracted by this one:
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/wingspan-3
I have a graduated cake in a red/yellow colourway.

Opinions?

Another event over, and that's the last one I'm supposed to be organising for... a while, anyway. Phew. Considering it rained ALL DAY, I did quite well for visitors for my Macmillan Coffee Morning. I'd done flapjacks (vegan, GF), spiced apple cake (GF), tiffin (GF) and Millionaire's Shortbread (all the bad things, with extra sugar), and Colin from up the road brought some dairy free rock cakes and Eccles cakes with frangipane, so we were well set. I did do some cheat cupcakes, a Betty Crocker mix made with Fanta instead of eggs and oil, with a plant-cream-cheese topping, but while they were okay, they weren't up to much. But we have polished them off! We do have cake still available for my mixed chorus next weekend, which is handy as I have done enough baking for a while!

I bit the bullet yesterday and took my hand-painted mugs off to Oxfam. A set of Avengers plus some random florals. I've brought them out for three or four years in a row and not sold any, so it's time to get them out of the house and hope they find their customers with a wider pull.

I did sell two or three suncatchers, a scarf, and an avocado plant, which is good! I really ought to cull my plants...

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Well. Chorus is now gathering momentum towards Convention at the end of the month. Our rehearsal this week was in the dance studio at the college, which was (I thought) a little bit disappointing as a venue. The mirrored wall was a bit inadequate, and we had to take off our shoes, which we'd not known about in advance. I was, fortunately, wearing nice warm turlough-made socks, but some people ended up barefoot, and the floor was not warm. Still, it was probably a useful experience, being able to look at ourselves to gauge whether we were doing enough. I am not afraid of looking at myself in the mirror, since I do it four or five times a week at the gym anyway, but a lot of people hated it.

Well, the weekend is over, phew!

Dinner last Friday went off very well. The restaurant/hotel was splendidly organised, and our tables were ready when Beast and I arrived at four thirty to check in to our room and get started. My lovely assistants also arrived early, and between us we had the roundels hung on the side sconces and the table centrepieces sorted *and* the flags alphabetised by six, so we went back to our room to change. At six twenty-eight I realised I had forgotten to pack my pills, so I drove back to fetch them. Was back by... I think five to seven, to find lots of early guests milling about and table places being claimed with flags—the restaurant had splendidly arranged napkins into fans, with an addition paper napkin in gold, very fitting, and an excellent place to set up a flag.

Dinner was tasty, service was better than the usual style we get, which involves waiters trotting about brandishing dishes and asking who wants them: this lot went round and made a list of each course for each table, using the flags.

We had the entertainment session after dessert, as usual. My chorus sang well, and my quartet—one whole week after our first rehearsal—acquitted ourselves nicely. I was the MC (as well as chief decorator and arranger of fun stuff), but it worked out okay, and I also read my Modern Day Matilda poem. It was, in fact, a very pleasant evening, pretty much everything worked as intended, and I think my augmentations of asking them to wear something gold, actual themed decorations, fun little certificates to be given out, including Best Dressed Gent and Lady, and even the meal-choice flags, all added to the atmosphere. Thank goodness!

Even one oblivious chap rolling up five minutes after the set dinner time, without having signed up in advance, picked his menu choices, or paid, didn't matter, because the restaurant staff found him a seat and food without any difficulty. Excellent stuff.

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On Sunday, we both attended the 50th Anniversary Charity Concert, which was mostly Fine City Chorus (men) but a little bit mixed chorus as well. They guys sang beautifully, and it raised a little over £1,500 for Emmaus, which was an excellent and very satisfactory result.

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And this week I am running a belated Macmillan Coffee Morning. Wot I could not possibly have coped with last Friday!