G & S and Major Sortout.

This weekend was extremely busy. My Saturday started early in Richmond with a Barista skills course run in conjunction with Rosie & Java Tea and Coffee Merchants on Paved Court. It was great fun and very interesting, but most importantly, I now make a better Espresso and understand how to get the best out of my little machine. The course was part of my Birthday Present from The Man, so I have managed to make my last Birthday last three months, which is a result, particularly after the bad time I had over the previous one. And I am now a certified Barista.

I met some very interesting people on the course, not least of all a couple who are hoping to open an independent Cafe in West Ealing later in the year. They are really keen and seem determined to make a real go of it. I have asked them to let me know when they are due to open so I can let my friends around there know and see if we can drum up some trade.

No sooner had the Barista course finished but I was back in my car and heading for Hampton Hill Playhouse for a meeting about a show we are involved in later in the year. I was dreading the journey as there was an International Rugby match at Twickenham due to kick off at 4pm. Happily there was not too much traffic on the back roads, so I made good time and was only a few minutes late.

Oh how I have missed singing G & S, it is just such fun and even pieces I don't know well are a dream to sing. We had about an hour of running through the plans and some of the Choruses and then spent some time with the MD going through some solo pieces to give him an idea of what we can all do. Now we just wait to hear who has been allocated what.

Quick drive home and then off again, this time by bus and tube to the Hackney Empire and the all Male production of HMS Pinafore. The journey would have been quicker if there had not been engineering works on the Overground Line, but it was not too bad.

The production was extremely good, not quite as good as the Iolanthe we saw them do a couple of years ago, but Iolanthe is a better piece. The guys that took the female parts were amazing, particularly the Josephine,  who was hitting the high notes with such precision; I would love to be able to sing with that amount of gusto and ease.

Sunday was a day for sorting out. For months I have been saying I should sort out my Scrap Books. I don't tend to have much of a plan for which photos I use each time, and certainly don't have any plan for which book I put each page in.

Well I do now! After four hours of sorting I am now properly organised. I have gone through each book to see were the gaps are and have also gone through the photos I already have printed to see which I can already fill, to which question the answer is 'quite a lot'. So I now have a proper plan for what I am doing this coming weekend when I have three days at a local Crop. I just want to get started now.

The down side of all the organisation is that I now need some more Scrapbooks, so three new books have duly been ordered. I just hope they arrive by Thursday so I can take one with me to keep my work tidy over the weekend.

So a very busy weekend all round, with lots of variety. Now I can go to work for a rest; I wish!