For One Night only The Man in Black was Back.

So, I had a fabulous weekend (almost!) It started on Friday night, as all good weekends should. We went along to the good old Civic Hall Theatre in Bedworth, they had a Johnny Cash tribute night with the old 60's Rocker PJ Proby singing as the big guy. After our last visit to the good old civvie Hall our expectations were not truthfully very high (We saw a very ageing group of guys calling themselves the Bootleg Shadows a few months back, who were so appalling they were funny!) However this show was just fabulous, PJ was like having The Man in Black back. He used up the entire first half and part of the second half being Cash and then for the last part of the show he was himself. Despite being of undetermined years he could truly still rock (I can see how the trouser incident happened). A very good show for very little money £13 each, a bargain!

Saturday morning arrived along with the rain, typical. I was a little trepidatious (is that a word?) as I headed out to the new stables I where I was to ride. I had a warm welcome from the owners a married couple about the same age as me. The office was in a warm barn with a huge fireplace with an enormous open fire, I was offered coffee and they chatted away about how the lesson was going to proceed. I was fitted out with a body protector (nobody rides without one at this establishment) and introduced to the tutor, Alex. Now Alex was not a spotty teenager earning extra pocket money teaching people to ride, but a fully qualified instructor easily in her 50's who oozed confidence and set me three goals for the day. 1. To get in the saddle again. 2. To get Toffee to obey my commands. 3. To get a decent rise and fall trot going. Nothing more, nothing less, I was not to worry about style, legs or hands, just do it! And I did. Toffee thought he would try and take the Mick at first, horses always sense a nervous rider, he wanted to go back to the middle of the school where we mounted and stand by his yellow pole. He is a lazy boy and just wants to stand still given half a chance. Once I got tough with him he gave up and trotted nicely round with just one nip back to the middle, which I quickly corrected. The good news is that I get to go up a class next time.

The last few days has seen me very well acquainted with daytime TV as I somehow along the weekend picked up some very nasty tummy bug, not in the least pleasant in any way or form!

Rocking and Riding

Well... we went to our first Ceroc clas last night in Nuneaton. Strangley BJ insisted on driving, I can't think why!

It was the best fun on two legs I have had in a long time, I am going to be hooked on it I think. We hardly danced together at all, as you constantly swap partners, this is a great way to learn. We had to throw Ballroom rules right out of the window along with our Jive moves. Ceroc is an arm led rather than foot led dance, the feet can do anything they like! You can dance to any rythm, you just set the pace and rythm of the dance to the music. Weird, but it works.

After the lesson their was 25 minutes of free style dancing before the next class, people just come up and ask to dance with you, it is considered rude to refuse so off you go having only learned four moves to do your worst!
One guy came and took me onto the floor and told me he was not going to be doing the moves we had learned and just to follow him. Hey! I did and the ballroom training paid off as I am used to a man leading and me following. It was great, I was doing some pretty amazing moves with him and just about keeping up. Not so easy for BJ as of course he could only lead in what he had just learned. However they have 'Taxi' dancers on the floor who are part of the training team and they come around and dance with the begginers so he got a few 'Taxi dances'

After the free style the begginers went into a separate room to recap on our moves for another 25 minutes and then you can go back on the main dance floor.

Total absolute FUN!

Riding

I realised that I had only been riding once since my rodeo audition, I had been keen to tell people I had certainly not lost my nerve but was just too busy. Time, I think to stop kidding oneself! I decided to ring another school and have a chat, they were very sympathetic and understanding and have booked me in to ride a quiet boy called Toffee on Saturday! I totally love being in the saddle, trouble is I am keen to remain in the saddle for the whole ride and not end up on the deck!

Overheard
Shopping in Tesco's, I was in the biscuit aisle pondering whether to buy chocolate covered ginger thins or low sugar, low salt digestives, when two elderly ladies dawdled past.
Coversation went:
"How's it going between you and 'im now?"
"Well, not to bad except he gets all excited when I go in the house and wants to get on top all the time"

My mind was definitely boggled, I do hope she has a dog!

(The chocloate covered ginger thins, by the way!)

A criminal at large! But she is only two..

Picture the scene... An activity class for children age walking up to two years old where they are encouraged to climb safely, balance and generally be physical little beings. Two little girls decide they want to climb up a trestle to the slide at precisely the same time, one lashes out at the other as only a frustrated 18 month child can do. The other child gets a little scratch on her face, the sratchers Mum immediatly apologizes and remonstrates with her little one. The other Mother spurns the apology and rushes out of the room. The class tutor tries to cool the situation but the Mum has left the building leaving the childs shoes and coat behind. An hour later the Father arrives to collect the left belongings and accuses the other child of abuse and informs the Mother he is on the way to report the incident to the Police! I would of loved to have been a fly on the wall at the police station as he tried to get a toddler arrested.

The Cat is back.

No... not one of my four footed friends but he who now calls himself Yoosef Islam, in my youth he was Cat Stevens a great sixties folk singer. In fact it was his version of 'Morning has Broken' that inspired me to have the hymn version at our wedding. Well he disappeared from the pop scene when he converted to Islam, gone but not quite forgotten!

He is back with a great new single and album, (it's on my chrissy list, folks) He does a wonderful cover of 'Don't Let me be Mis-understood' so very appropriate. I heard an interview with the great man on Sunday, what a sensible, grounded level headed man he is. A great asset for the Muslim community, they need more folk like him to be a spokesman for the true non radical side of their community.

Letting the Side Down,Girls!

Sorry Girls! but I let the side down big time for lady drivers this weekend!
With the mileage I do in a week I consider myself a reasonable driver able to cope with city driving, Motorway miles and country lanes. Nothing much fazes me behind the wheel I just get on with it. However on Saturday I almost brought the whole of
Nuneaton to a grinding halt with a little bit of ‘blonde’ behaviour!

We had decided to check out where the co-op social club in Nuneaton was located as we are going to start a Ceroc dance class next week. (Ceroc is a cross between Jive and Salsa). There is a brand new modern multi storey car park in Nuneaton, which it seems, follows the fashion of having shiny stainless steel sides, great, it looks clean and modern! However with a low bright winter sun beaming down and glinting of the shiny sides is enough to completely blind an unwary driver. As I drove into the unfamiliar entry road the sun duly dazzled me so much that I could see nothing! I then spotted a bit of roadway which I headed towards, only to crash, crunch and bump my way over decorative kerbstones and a narrow pavement straight onto the exit slip and with a car just coming out! The drivers face was a picture! She was confronted with a mad middle aged woman heading up the wrong way of the car park exit road, with an even madder middle aged man in the seat beside her remonstrating strongly and wishing he was anywhere on earth than beside his wife on an unexpected roller coaster ride. I then had to try and reverse the car back the way I had come over the pavement and decorative kerb edgings watched by an army of bemused shoppers and irate car drivers who where waiting to either get in or out of the car park!

Not my finest moment!

An Unexpected Pleasure

What an exciting evening I had on Tuesday, along with my Sister and her Hubby. My wonderful Son and now very favourite Nephew of my Sis had been assigned some complimentary tickets to see Cliff at the NIA. Now my Sis is a lifelong fan and devotee of Sir Cliff, his music and his beliefs, she has a Cliff calendar in almost every room! So I made the phone call, not really thinking she would make the trip up at short notice and during term time. However she had two lieu days due and went into school and begged and pleaded with the headmistress who was extremely sympathetic and personally offered to take her class for her! Hurrah for her.

Annie was beside herself with excitement when we eventually met, secretly so was I! I am not really a great fan, but I admire the guy he has stood the test of time, looks great, has a great faith, and yes every-one still sounds great!

Rob met us at the stage door entrance of the NIA, he looked really handsome all suited and booted and wearing his new glasses, he kinda looks like Elvis Costello. We were treated like royalty from here on in! Rob escorted us to the Olympia Suite where he served us Champagne, no running the gauntlet of public bars and loo’s for us. Various people came to say hello, one lovely man, a wine waiter came to shake my hand and tell me what a lovely boss Robin is, he told me he thinks Rob has lovely manners. I bristled with pride at my gorgeous, handsome and polite! Son. I always believe it pays to be nice to people and it seems maybe Rob does too. It was amusing to watch Rob working, being very sweet to the ‘grey brigade’ in their Cliff T-shirts and offering varying amounts of money in bribes to meet the great man.

The concert was fabulous, I was very surprised at how enjoyable it was. It was a great mix of old and new, rock and ballad. He can still walk the walk and talk the talk. Boy does he look good still, think I must pop out and buy some Ginseng later.

I felt quite moved when he sang ‘The Young Ones’ as I remember it first time around and BJ and I went to see the film in early days of courting. Now I had a young one of my own who had given us a night out that money could not of bought.

Thanks Robster!

Boo to BJ who decided not to come, he missed a terrific night.

Lost in Translation

The radio has been a constant scource of amusement this week, probably as I have, as usual spent a lot of time in my car travelling to and from visits.

Fire advice from the Scottish Fire Board

A leaflet was produced by Scottish fire brigades in several ethnic languages advising what to do if there is a fire in the home. Advice for if you really need to jump: 'Use a cushion to break your fall from an upstairs window.' However when produced it was realised that the word cushion had not been used instead it read 'Use a Donkey to break your fall from an upstairs window.' This made me laugh out loud. Imagine the scene! and just where are you going to get a donkey from in the middle of Glascow?

Next news item that made me laugh. A lady in America was very upset when her deceased pekenese dog called Billy received call up papers from the Army and was told to report for a medical examination bringing with him identification papers and Swimming trunks! Do you know if the dog was still alive I would of loved to have taken him along for the appointment!

These stories reminded me of a report I heard way back in the seventies during the miners strike, at the same time a space flight and moon landing was happening. The news reader first gave us an update on the latest moon landing and then went onto talk about the miners where a union official had announced the government 'was looking for spacegoats!' Well of course I new he he meant scape goats, but for one lovely moment I had this glorious mental image of astronauts seeing little goats floating by.

Pancake Day!

I came of age today, at least a lady of a certain age! I was called for my first breast screening. Boy does it make your eyes water. First one by one they are put on a metal plate then another metal plate is pushed down extremely hard squashing the poor 'Pammy' as flat as possible. They then turn the whole caboodle round and squash the poor boob sideways. I sure know how a pancake feels. Still it is a very worthwhile operation.

Not a Boy, Not a Girl, but a Sharon.

Some of the children in nursery had started potty training, some of the boys were very keen to tell me they were wearing 'big boy's pants' I told them how impressed I was and got into a conversation as to who was a boy and who was a girl after one little girl also told me she was wearing 'big boy's pants. After they had all told me whether they were a boy or a girl I asked if I was a boy or a girl. Ethan looked at me and said 'silly, you're a Sharon!'

I used my old forgotten trick of getting a smile out of a sulking or sad child today.
Try it.

'Oh no what's happened to your lovely smile, have you lost it? oh no here it is hiding in my pocket! ready..... catch' and pretend to throw it towards the child. They just cannot help laughing! They all then try (and fail) to have sad faces so You can find their smiles in the your pocket. Magic!

Talking of magic, on my way back from nursery I noticed the car in front of me on the A46 (a Four x four) had the number plate 'MAGIC' I was intrigued and as I passed it saw the logo on the side announcing 'The Paul Daniels Magic Workshops' and low and behold Debbie Magee was driving with Paul her passenger. I liked it, not a lot! (To my USA friend, that's his catch phrase)

Jolly Holiday for Dog

Hurray! I am going to spend a whole week at home sleeping in my own bed. The last three weeks has seen me away for at least one night out of seven, last week it was two. I sure am making up for lost time in the career stakes. Not that I regret for one minute the time I spent looking after my family it was time very worthwhile. Anyway I still managed to run a franchise business not once but twice during this time so I was not a total failure in the career stakes.

Funny moment at Nursery spot!

At the end of my session the children get a little sticker relevant to one of the activities done, this week it was 'I Can Balance', I always talk about what we have done and ask the children to tell me 'what can you do' they then say what the sticker says to get the much coveted item. Abbie has recently joined my 2-3 year old class, she is very much the baby of the class with limited vocabulary but plenty of spark. She listened very carefully to the other children getting their stickers, I left her to last so she could watch and get the ghist of what was happening. I came to her and asked "and what can you do Abbie?" she looked at me and said "On the bus"! Soooo... she got the sticker of course! She knew something had to be said, there were the correct number of syllables and one word began with 'B' so no problem!

Day at the Seaside for Dogger

As I had a two day trip down south visiting a Franchise in Bexley one day and Broadstairs the next, I saved the company money by staying two nights with my Sis in Herne Bay. I decided to take the Dogger with me! He managed to throw up twice in the back of my car (carseat covers are now on my christmas list)I managed to shut him in a small box accidently, thank God the RSPCA did not see, and he encountered water that chased him, much to his amusement, on the beach.

The box incident happened as I was coming back to Herne Bay from Broadstairs, I stopped at Argos to buy my Mother a new shopping trolley. She no longer can manage her pull along one (so she say's) and thought she would like one of those big square push along ones. I think myself it is the latest 'must have' among the cronies in her retirement flats, but hey! she has a birthday coming up so the item was duly purchased. The said shopping trolley came in an incredibly long flat pack that I pushed and shoved into the back of the car. I then rushed into the next door store, a sports shop to look at trainers, luckily I was not more than ten minutes. I got back to the car and could not see the dog ANYWHERE! Oh my God he's been stolen, was my first reaction. I excercised calm panic for a moment until I noticed a little black nose poking up out of a small box of retuned Items from a Franchisee, he had obviously jumped into it for a nap and I had then covered it with the long flat pack from Argos. He was very laid back and just gave me a disparaging look as if to say'why did you DO that?'

I felt I owed dogger an apology so I stopped off at an area of beach that dogs are allowed so we could have some quality time together! He was very startled at first to see water coming after him and spent a few minutes trotting down to the water line to sniff the strange smelling fluid, he then had to trot backwards at an alarming speed when the strange water chased him back. He was very funny, he soon decided it was a game the water was playing and decided to join in with gusto, first chasing the receding water then running away when it turned and chased him back! We then had a great game of stone thowing and chasing into the waves. He then discovered seaweed! and decided it was the most delicious item ever discovered by dogkind and I had a little battle of wills to get the smelly stuff away from him. I reasoned that I had quite enough of dog vomit for one trip thank you!
All in all we both had a great trip, I managed to combine business and pleasure. I earned brownie points with Mum as I cleared out an incredibly crammed cupboard for her AND bought her the much coveted latest modelall singing and dancing shopping trolley. I saw Sarah (my neice) and spent a lovely time with my Sister laughing, chatting,reminiscing and probably drinking a little more wine than was sensible.

Dog had a great trip despite the box incident, he was made up because he has to sleep in my room with me at Annie's house and despite having a blanket on the floor always hopped up onto the bed once he thought I was asleep!