Happy Betwixmas my lovelies!
In case you missed the previous three posts, it's been 10 years since CBC and I got married and I wrote blog posts every day of Christmas from my first year of marriage!
I thought it would be fun to share them but I left it a bit late so I will share two each day until twelfth night!
However, if you weren't party to the original posts, there was a slight hitch in proceedings! Don't hate me!
I'm writing this at almost midnight, so forgive me if I am incoherent! My dear love's surprise for me today was exhausting but truly wonderful.
On our honeymoon, we'd been to watch an amazing percussionist called Martin Graubinger and his drumming and percussion ensemble at a music festival in Lucerne. We absolutely loved himand his amazing latin rhythms!
My dear husband had only gone and managed to track down this Swiss-born musicians's one and only gig in the UK! It was an open-air performance and was jolly cold. Good thing I had on all the winter essentials! He and his ensemble of 10 other drummers performed a stream of different pieces ranging from chilled out vibraphone melodies to frenetic latin beats and a manic 11 drummer showdown!
Luckily, being outdoors, it didn't seem so loud but they really had the crowd going- whooping and cheering an enthusiastically clapping along to that awesome set! The cold was actually bearable when you're jumping, whooping, clapping and attempting to do Salsa hips! I'd better leave it there because I am literally dropping off to sleep but it's been a BRILLIANT evening!
On our honeymoon, we'd been to watch an amazing percussionist called Martin Graubinger and his drumming and percussion ensemble at a music festival in Lucerne. We absolutely loved himand his amazing latin rhythms!
My dear husband had only gone and managed to track down this Swiss-born musicians's one and only gig in the UK! It was an open-air performance and was jolly cold. Good thing I had on all the winter essentials! He and his ensemble of 10 other drummers performed a stream of different pieces ranging from chilled out vibraphone melodies to frenetic latin beats and a manic 11 drummer showdown!
Luckily, being outdoors, it didn't seem so loud but they really had the crowd going- whooping and cheering an enthusiastically clapping along to that awesome set! The cold was actually bearable when you're jumping, whooping, clapping and attempting to do Salsa hips! I'd better leave it there because I am literally dropping off to sleep but it's been a BRILLIANT evening!
I confess to feeling the back to work, oh-dear-I-have-so-much-to-do feeling as I woke this morning but luckily, we were going over to visit my Dad's house, so I had little time to get too stressed. We had a really nice visit with my Dad, enjoying lots of food, presents and sharing of Christmas tales.
When we had returned home, however, the fear and shock of returning to work reared its ugly head. As my husband and I sat down at the table with heated bowls of Glorious Soup's 'West African chicken and peanut' soup, he slid across a thin rectangular package to me, which could only contain one thing. CD's are hard to disguise! Why is it that CDs are also SO hard to free from their cellophane prisons? The CD was entitled, Pipe Major Jim Drury's Highland Bagpipes and featured 12 tracks of Scottish piping favourites including The Flower of Scotland and Amazing Grace (can be bought here)
Excellent, now I can have a ceilidh in my own front room without having to play my People's Friend Christmas Ceilidh CD which my husband really dislikes! As I placed the CD player into the player and we whirled around the living room to the airs and reels in gay abandon in this last day of flashing Christmas lights (haven't you always wanted to write of doing something 'in gay abandon' or is that just me), reflected that my Christmas and ephiphany could not have ended on a more bright way and I could scarcely have believe that the return to work would finish so joyfully! So to summarise my Christmas treats: On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: a partridge in a pear tree (or roast partridge in pear sauce)
On the second day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: two turtle doves (with a ribbon loop to hang on the Christmas tree)
On the third day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: three French hens (three rather cute porcelain hens bought on holiday)
On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: 4 calling birds (A super singing act at a Swing-dance night, singing Andrews sisters classics)
On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: five gold rings (a set of stacking rings in graduating shades of gold)
On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: six geese a laying (knitted egg-cosy geese, 'laying' upon goose eggs)
On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: seven swans a swimming (technically two- knitted onto a jumper, not swimming)
On the eigth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: eight maids a milking (myself and 7 other ladies learning the traditional art of milking in a barn in Northumberland)
On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: nine ladies dancing (well, nine weeks worth of contemporary dance lessons in Martha Graham techniques- ladies only!)
On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: ten lords a-leaping (A guided tour of the house of Lords at 10am in which I was required to leap into every subsequent room visited)
On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: 11 drummers drumming (a Swiss percussionist and his 10[ -piece Percussion ensemble in a riotous open-air concert)
On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: 12 pipers piping (well, 12 tracks of Pipe Major Jim Drury playing bagpipe classics!)
Oh how lucky I am!
When we had returned home, however, the fear and shock of returning to work reared its ugly head. As my husband and I sat down at the table with heated bowls of Glorious Soup's 'West African chicken and peanut' soup, he slid across a thin rectangular package to me, which could only contain one thing. CD's are hard to disguise! Why is it that CDs are also SO hard to free from their cellophane prisons? The CD was entitled, Pipe Major Jim Drury's Highland Bagpipes and featured 12 tracks of Scottish piping favourites including The Flower of Scotland and Amazing Grace (can be bought here)
Excellent, now I can have a ceilidh in my own front room without having to play my People's Friend Christmas Ceilidh CD which my husband really dislikes! As I placed the CD player into the player and we whirled around the living room to the airs and reels in gay abandon in this last day of flashing Christmas lights (haven't you always wanted to write of doing something 'in gay abandon' or is that just me), reflected that my Christmas and ephiphany could not have ended on a more bright way and I could scarcely have believe that the return to work would finish so joyfully! So to summarise my Christmas treats: On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: a partridge in a pear tree (or roast partridge in pear sauce)
On the second day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: two turtle doves (with a ribbon loop to hang on the Christmas tree)
On the third day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: three French hens (three rather cute porcelain hens bought on holiday)
On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: 4 calling birds (A super singing act at a Swing-dance night, singing Andrews sisters classics)
On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: five gold rings (a set of stacking rings in graduating shades of gold)
On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: six geese a laying (knitted egg-cosy geese, 'laying' upon goose eggs)
On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: seven swans a swimming (technically two- knitted onto a jumper, not swimming)
On the eigth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: eight maids a milking (myself and 7 other ladies learning the traditional art of milking in a barn in Northumberland)
On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: nine ladies dancing (well, nine weeks worth of contemporary dance lessons in Martha Graham techniques- ladies only!)
On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: ten lords a-leaping (A guided tour of the house of Lords at 10am in which I was required to leap into every subsequent room visited)
On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: 11 drummers drumming (a Swiss percussionist and his 10[ -piece Percussion ensemble in a riotous open-air concert)
On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: 12 pipers piping (well, 12 tracks of Pipe Major Jim Drury playing bagpipe classics!)
Oh how lucky I am!