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November 2009
Well I did have two lovely Golden pheasants until the middle of the October holidays until we got visited by a polecat. The bloody creature dug a hole about ten inches away from the cage and managed to get in and wreak the usual havoc that they do. I was not at all happy especially as the pair of them had settled down and got shall we say very friendly? Needless to say I shall not be getting any more pheasants as it was just too sad for me. I just went to let the chickens out today and noticed a hole had started to be gnawed in the bottom of their house floor so I could only put a large brick over that and remember to keep an eye out. I am at present in the process of building the new chicken run which will be like Fort Knox, though that has been hindered slightly by the fact that I hurt my back and hip and it was so painful that I ended up going to the doctors, which is something I don’t normally do as a habit. Actually bad backs seem to be in fashion at the moment, neighbours all around me afflicted in varying degrees, some worse than others. I can safely say that I am heartily sick of Diclofenac, an analgesic anti-inflammatory which has some side effects.
Famous last words is a useful little saying. At first I was saying to folk well the holiday weather has not been too bad but then the last weekend before the schools started back, there was some horrendous 30hr trips on the ferry with high seas at five or six metres high. To be fair the ferry company relies on the weather experts and this change in the weather conditions was difficult to predict. Apparently a sofa was thrown through a plate glass window, not by an aggrieved customer I hasten to add but by the force of the jolt of the waves. People were thrown out of beds and it was by all accounts lucky that there were not more serious injuries. We have started having more inclement Shetland weather now with some high winds but it is the incessant rain that is the pain! I need to get started on my chicken house before the cement runs out of date! I have also started to build a small wind break on the front of my property as I am going to grow some shrubs and flowers so want to protect them.
Mmmm, 70kg of fresh local beef in the freezer. At least this time it was all frozen and we didn’t have to sort it out in a power cut and howling Force 11 gale outside like we did last October by candlelight. I have become quite conscious of the waste of food in supermarkets and each day you go to one you see all the reduced price goods in the fridge section or bread or vegetables. I did ask one of the staff whether they manage to sell most of it and she said surprisingly they do so there is not too much waste which is probably true compared to what it must be like on the mainland. Having seen a consumer programme on television I now always look at the offers especially the ‘BOGOF’ ones and it is often quite true. They are not always good value and you end up paying more. Still you wonder how much does end up in the bin don’t you?
I have been working hard on my Christmas concert, which we are filming this time so as to make a DVD which we will sell to parents and relatives and put some of the proceeds to charity, as we will have to pay for the costs of producing the DVD obviously, but hopefully there will be some left over. It will be in the style of a documentary and hopefully it will be rather good. The pupils in my classes have been working hard. A young team called Maddrim Media, made up of individuals who take part in the Shetland youth drama scene, have had some experience of making films and filming events but have never filmed a ballet performance before so, no doubt, it will be a challenge for them! I am already looking forward to 2010 when I shall be rehearsing Splinters, in January, for their Drama Festival performance, this is the youth drama group based up north in Brae who I have worked with before. They are a very talented bunch and a pleasure to work with. I can’t say too much about their piece as it is a surprise as it is their 30th anniversary as well so they are pulling all the stops out.
Again we, Brinna Players, have been gathered in by the formidable Elma Johnson for rehearsals for our festival play which is a dialect comedy though even though, once again, I am playing a bizarre character I will not be wearing a wig or any prosthesis’s thank god!! I have a few other little projects on the go as well but nothing firm yet. Just have to wait and see how it all pans out.
Once again it was Halloween. We did not have many callers this year thankfully as there was a party on somewhere so no incessant procession of badly dressed B-grade horror movie rejects knocking on the door. The 3Cs went out and any money they were given I had suggested that they give it to charity which they willingly agreed to so the Children In Need collection box at Bigton stores benefited from something like £12.00.
Top C made a lovely chocolate house for one of my older pupils whose birthday just happens to fall on Halloween so we visited her with said choccy house which was greeted with open wide eyes. It is far nicer sometimes to make something rather than spend vast sums. The 3C’s had to use melons for Jack O Lanterns as the shops literally had ran out of pumpkins. They made one out of a Neep which looked quite sinister! Elma had one of her ’Aboot Da House’ the next night so they were used for that rather than go straight in the bin, well actually I hope Elma put them in the compost heap!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMu2inEfkqY Now you must have a look at this. I have always wanted to go to Foula and then someone had this link on their Face Book site “Fiddlers Bid playing in Foula”, a well known fiddle group who play all over the world but this is special as it shows you something of the splendid scenery on this little island which is just 27 odd miles off our coast line, from our living room window. Fiddlers Bid are also a pretty amazing group so hope you enjoy that too.
Well I had better post this as I have had one query as to where my blog was? Been busy that is what. Had to take Middle C to physic for his finger that he broke as it is still swollen and needs exercising. The specialist said that it would grow out properly but it still seems to look a bit odd. Anyway fingers crossed! More next month…..
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