-17lbs and Shakespeare at the Priory

I thought I'd better get another weigh in onto my blog before my holidays.  I've now lost 17lbs, the diet's still going well, the weight's not dropping off fast, but slowly but surely it's happening and I'm happy with that.  I'll have a blip when I'm on holiday, I don't do dieting when I'm away, part of my breaks is enjoying good food!  But I will go back to it when I get back home.

I had a good weekend, after the excitement of U2 at Glastonbury on Friday, Saturday saw me enjoying some Shakespeare.  My friend and I saw The Merry Wives of Windsor at Lanercost Priory,  it was part of the yearly Lanercost Festival.  Before the play we had a meal in the restaurant there, I had fish and chips and a strawberry Eton mess, (yes I know it's not diet food but I'm already in holiday mode LOL!).

If the weather is good the play is performed outside beside the walls of the Priory, but it was wet so the play was held in the Dacre Hall, part of the Priory's cloisters and refectory.  It was an amazing room, original brick walls, the original oak-beamed vaulted roof and a huge 12 foot wide stone fireplace.  You could feel the history.

I'd never seen The Merry Wives of Windsor before, and I really enjoyed it, full of trickery and people getting their just dues.  In the interval I was in the toilet and I heard an English woman saying to her American friend that she was enjoying the play and that it was rather like a Carry On film.  Then she had to try to explain what a Carry On film was LOL!  But she was right, it was a bit like that.  Good fun.  I love Shakespeare, he can make you laugh and cry and everything inbetween.  He had such an understanding of human nature, and after centuries that's still the same, just shows people don't change that much.

So now it's not long until I go to Canada for a holiday and U2 so there'll be a break in my posts here for a while.  But I'll be blogging all about it once I get back, bye for now!

U2 on Fire at Glastonbury

Last night I sat myself down in front of the TV with a bottle of Errazuriz Merlot (delicious!) to watch U2 perform at Glastonbury.  I love Glastonbury, it's different from other festivals and the eclectic mix of performers is always great.  It took U2 30 years to perform there but at last it was on!  It must have been quite nerve-wracking for the band as there was a significant anti-U2 vibe about them performing there.  So when they came onto the pyramid stage I had my fingers crossed for them.  I needn't have worried, from the start they were brilliant, and within a short time had the crowd very much with them.

They started with a medley of Achtung Baby songs, Even Better, (accompanied by a new video by Damian Hurst on the screen behind the band) The Fly, Mysterious Ways, Until the End of the World, One, and I drifted back in time almost 20 years to the mad Zoo days.  Even some of the video on the large screen behind the band was from those days.  They were crazy, but good times and it was a treat to hear those songs again.  The rain was pouring down, you could see the drops on Bono's glasses and at one time as Edge stamped on the stage the water from little puddles on the stage.  But hey, this is Glastonbury and that means rain and mud!

Then, a nice touch, Bono sang Jerusalem acappella, very appropriate as William Blake's words refer to the possibility that Jesus and Joseph of Arimathea visited Glastonbury.  Whether that is true or not, Glastonbury is a special place and some magic was happening there last night.


Jerusalem segued into an uplifting Where the Streets Have No Name.  Then it was I Will Follow after which was I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking for, the crowd singing a verse on it's own, amazing if you think that this is not a U2 audience, something Bono remarked on - "We haven't played to people who are not our audience for a very long time, so it was just overwhelming for our band."


Then came Stay which was wonderful followed by Beautiful Day which had a pre-recorded introduction by astronaut Mark Kelly in the International Space Station.  Then there was a medley of high energy songs, Elevation, Get On Your Boots, Vertigo, Sunday Bloody Sunday.  Suddenly the high energy stopped and those familiar opening notes that always send shivers up my spine rang out - Bad!  It was a huge surprise for me as they haven't done Bad live on the current leg of the 360 Tour.  I have to admit the tears were running down my face during this, it always gets to me, and this version was fabulous, I was in heaven.  Bono added a few lines of Jerusalem to the lyrics:

Bring me my Bow of burning gold;
Bring me my Arrows of desire:
Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold!
Bring me my Chariot of fire!


This was followed by Pride, which isn't a favourite but has to be done in a gig like this.  After a short break the band did a encore beginning with With Or Without You, during which Bono took UK and Irish flags and laid them across speakers on the stage.

Moment of Surrender followed, still not one of my faves, and it seemed as if it was all over, then suddenly they launched into Out of Control, another surprise!  Written when they were ordinary kids of 18, and now here they were, world famous 50 somethings, the best band in the world who definitely still have it!  That's pretty amazing.


Though I'm still a fan I've often been critical and cheesed off with U2 over various things in recent years.  But live they are brilliant, never let us down and are simply the best.  And I can't wait until I see them live again myself in Canada very, very soon!

The Cumberland Pencil Museum

My cousin Janet and I went to Keswick for a day out last week.  Though the Lake District is so close to where I live I don't often go, and every time I do go I say, "I must come more often" but don't.  Anyway, we pottered about the town centre which was busy but not heaving with tourists so it was quite pleasant wandering around.  I saw a man with a gorgeous standard wire-haired dachshund and just had to go over to talk to him.  It brought back memories of our very first dachshund, Kim, who was the same type.

Now to the Cumberland Pencil Museum.  Pencil Museum?? you may say, and yes it sounds as odd as the Currywurst Museum in Berlin, but you know, it was really interesting and worth visiting.

Anyone who draws will know of Derwent Pencils, they are known for their quality and are used by many an artist.  Well these pencil were made at a factory in Keswick for over two hundred and fifty years, the factory moved to West Cumbria in 2008.

Graphite was discovered in the early 1500's in Borrowdale close to Keswick.  Shepherds used it to mark their sheep which wandered freely across the mountains and fells. A cottage industry of pencil making soon developed.  Graphite became enormously valuable, costing around £1,500 a kilo in the late 1700's, it was transported under armed guard.  The UK's first pencil factory opened in Keswick in 1832, it became the Cumberland Pencil Company in 1916. 

The Museum was opened in the former factory canteen building in 1981. The famous Pencil Museum van, a 1954 Morris J Type, was found hidden under rubbish in the warehouse, brought out and restored, it now has pride of place at the front of the Museum.  The Museum has over 80,000 visitors a year.

You enter the Museum through a reconstruction of a graphite mine - which has seen better days! Then there are various display to look at.  I was fascinated by the top secret pencils that were made at the factory during World War Two. They were given to RAF servicemen before missions in Germany,  They contained rolled up maps and a compass where the eraser should have been.  The Germans never discovered this trick.  

The largest pencil in the world is on display as well as very inventive pieces of artwork made from pencils.  There was a room in which a film all about the history of pencil making ran which gave a good back ground to the exhibits. 

There was an artist giving tuition on using pencils for artwork.  Unfortunately we just missed getting into that as it was underway when we arrived.  The museum has regular free workshops on different subjects.  The shop was very good and had gorgeous pencil sets.  There were great bargains to be had in the sale, but alas, I'm still on my financial sensibility mode so I resisted.

The Museum isn't very big, and from the outside not very inviting - it's an old fashioned prefab.  But inside it is bright, lively and has a good atmosphere.  The story of the humble pencil is really fascinating, and this is a museum with the difference and well worth a visit.  

Visit the website Cumberland Pencil Museum

Paw Rest

My older dog Max is on paw rest!  I noticed this morning that he was limping a bit, so this afternoon took him to the vet.  She said it seemed to be a strain.  I immediately felt guilty as it probably happened as a result of the long walks we've been taking these last few days (£21 for a five minute consultation, I should have been a vet). Poor Max, but then he is 70 in human years.  He should be fine after having a little rest for a few days and no more very long walks.  So it'll be Pepsi and me hitting the road for the treks in future.

Glorious Summer and Memories

We've been having some great weather these past few days, very warm and sunny.  I was working this morning, but shortly getting home I went out for a walk with the dogs.  There's just something so relaxing about walking with dogs, you are kind of in harmony with your pets.  Plus you always get into conversation with some other dog walker you meet on the way as you immediately have something in common.  I've just got a new pedometer, one that actually works properly, and was using that for the first time.  I can't stand gyms etc, but need to exercise more, so I'm aiming to do a proper walk every day as part of my weight loss regime.

It was a lovely walk, the birds singing, happy as us humans to have the good weather, the hedges seemed alive with the chattering of sparrows!  The trees had that gorgeous, fresh green hue of early summer and buttercups gave a bright yellow hue to many of the fields.  On a summer day like this in England there's no better place to be - shame we don't get more of this weather though!

The area I walked in was around the hospital that I used to work at - the main Victorian hospital is gone, there are just a few parts left, now turned into exclusive apartments amongst newly built houses.  I often walk through there, but I must have felt nostalgic today because I was thinking of all the memories held in that area- where I spent much of my nursing career.  I must say they were mainly happy memories, I loved my job until red tape and staff shortages made it impossible to do the job as well as I wanted to.  It was slightly scary to think that the small boarded up building that was the "school", as they called it then, was where I began my training almost 34 years ago, yikes!!!

It's almost three years since I retired from nursing now, and I know I left at the right time for me.  I have a couple of small jobs that still involve caring, but there is no stress, and I have the time to enjoy other things in my life, like walking 1.6 miles with Pepsi and Max!

Hitchhiking.....

An amazing story, I can just imagine Bono sitting in the back of the car with the dog! LOL!  Read about it
here

You Aint Seen Nothing Yet.....

U2 peeps will know this is typical of Bono LOL, so funny.  My next 360 show is only 38 days away and I'm loving the set lists of this leg, it makes it a very different show to what we saw in Germany last year. Roll on!

Dachshund Lost In Tornado-Related Wreck Found 5 Weeks Later

Just shows how resilient these little dogs are!

The Long and Short of it All: A Dachshund Dog News Magazine: Dachshund Lost In Tornado-Related Wreck Found 5 We...: "With tornadoes devastating much of the United States this spring, it's awesome to hear a story of hope when there is such despair. Excerp..."

Relaxation

Yesterday my cousin Janet, our friend Linda and I went for a pamper day at High Head Spa at Ivegill on the edge of the Lake District.  It's part of a place called High Head Sculpture Valley, there's a working dairy farm, a great cafe, art gallery and shop.  There's also a lovely walk in the valley that you can take which has various sculptures along its path.  They have just opened holiday rental accommodation too.  And at the back of the complex there's a large log cabin which houses the spa.

We arrived at 11am, the cabin was warm and cozy and we were shown into a room that had a hot tub, loungers and a sauna.  We had the room to ourselves which was really great and we could relax in there for an hour before our treatments. We got in the hot tub and chilled in there for a while.  Then we decided to try  out the sauna - none of us had been in one before.  Wow it was hot!  We didn't last long, I can see why they plunge into ice cold water afterwards normally!  However here there was no icy pool here, so we drank lots of cold water to cool down a bit.

We had two treatments each as part of the deal, you could choose from a back and shoulder massage, a facial or a manicure.  We all went for the massage and facial and they were fabulous!  I especially enjoyed the massage and felt really chilled afterwards, the others enjoyed their treatments too.  The girls who work there were very professional and friendly.  Afterwards we had a delicious lunch in the cafe was included in the price of the deal.

All in all it was a wonderful day and well worth the £45 cost, we'll definitely be going back.  You can visit their website here: http://highheadsculpturevalley.co.uk/

Bono's Birthday Treat!

This is one of the reasons why I'm a fan of Bono, you know I wish some of his detractors could see how lovely he is to fans.  Here he is in Mexico (where U2 are playing tonight) yesterday sharing birthday cake and champagne with fans waiting outside his hotel.  Love where he says, "Stand back a bit" when he's about to pop the champagne cork!  Bless.  Mind you, if I'd been there I would have wanted Veuve Clicquot!

A Bit of U2 in Falkirk

I've purposely not travelled anywhere this year because I was lucky enough to do a lot of travelling last year and needed to recoup some of my finances.  I've really been getting restless and pretty desperate to have a trip away though, and this weekend my friend Debbi and I went on a trip to Falkirk in Scotland.  The purpose of the trip was to see our friends in the U2 tribute band NU2 play, they are the best U2 tribute band we've seen.

Debbi came up from Stoke on Thursday, it was great to see her again and catch up.  As we are both on diets I made a very sensible, low calorie meal and we didn't have a lot of wine - almost unheard of for us!  Next day we drove up to Falkirk, a place neither of us had been before.  It only took two and a quarter hours to get to our Travelodge on the edge of the town.  My room really took me aback, very clean and obviously new, but very sparse.  No drawers, no bedside table (just a tiny niche in the wall), the "wardrobe" was just a short pole with a few coat hangers, a small wall mounted table with a white plastic chair, On the pale grey walls were a small TV and small picture and a mirror.  There was only a roller blind on the window, a duvet on the bed, but no bedspread.  It felt very cold and clinical and there was bags of unused space as the room itself was a normal size for a hotel of that kind.  But, having said that, it was fine for our purposes.

We got a taxi to the Behind the Wall club in the centre of Falkirk where the gig was being held.  It was a pub, restaurant and gig venue, bustling and loud with lots of different seating areas.  We found a table in the quietest area, the conservatory.  Our friend Alan, "Boner" in the band, came from the gig room upstairs to have a chat.  It was nice to see him again, it had been a long time since we'd met up as NU2 actually disbanded three years ago as one of the band members moved to the south of England, and we hadn't seen Alan since.  The band hadn't played at all during the last three years, but had got together again for this one off charity gig.  They were nervous as they had little opportunity to rehearse for this gig.

Later Deb and I went upstairs and caught the end of the Bladdered!, the first band of the night.  We could hardly believe our eyes to see middle aged men in make up dressed as schoolgirls in P.E. dress playing punk songs! (complete with wigs, vest tops, short white gym skirts - thank God they wore shorts beneath these! - and white socks, a sight to behold I assure you LOL!   Apparently this band has different themes to accompany their set, they've done the royal family and Dad's Army amongst others.

Later NU2 started their set with Vertigo.  During the first few songs the band were a little rusty, but by time they got to In God's Country they were in their stride and all the NU2 magic was back.  Alan's voice is so good and like Bono's that at times you think it is Bono himself singing, and though Mark (Edge) had not played guitar in three years he did amazingly well and the rhythm section backed the other two up very well.  I especially liked hearing In God's Country as U2 themselves never play that any more.

NU2 got the crowd behind them as they did a mainly U2's greatest hits set and went down a storm, Alan dedicated With Or Without You to Debbi and me which was really nice - I think Debbi must have travelled the furthest to be there and it's nice that was acknowledged by the band.  But it was well worth the trip, and it made us realise how much we'd missed seeing them play.  We had a chat with Alan afterwards and he said it was probably the last performance by the band, but perhaps a yearly reunion could happen, let's hope it does!

At 1am we ran the short distance in the pouring rain to the rank and got a taxi back to the hotel.  Once back we had generous glasses of wine and some Quavers.  The Quavers was like the best steak, we were so hungry, having not had a lot to eat that day because of our diets!  We chilled and chatted eventually getting to bed at 3.30am.

Next day we laid in as long as we could, leaving just before the midday checkout  - we still have the stamina to stay up a long time, but we don't bounce back to normality as quickly!  We had a light lunch at a place beside the hotel and drove home and then went to bed for a nap to fully come recover LOL!

By 7pm we felt relatively back to normal and looking forward to our forget-the-diet treat night.  I went to get a Chinese takeaway, we enjoyed that and then opened a bottle of Veuve Clicquot Champagne.  We'd been looking forward to that for ages and it was well worth the wait!  Nectar.  I love the good things in life.

I really enjoyed my little jaunt into Scotland, great to see NU2 again and spend time with a good friend.  It's only 55 days until my next jaunt - a holiday and U2 gigs in Canada - not that I'm counting.......

The Wedding

Well, The Wedding has taken place.  It is a public holiday in the UK, but I was working and so watched it with one of the old ladies I visit.  Neither of us are particularly into the royal family, but there's no denying William and Catherine  are a lovely young couple so obviously in love. It was so sweet when William said, "You look beautiful" when Catherine arrived at his side in Westminster Abbey. I loved her elegant dress, classic and a touch of the medieval about it, just what I expected from her.  And I must say William looked very handsome in his Irish Guards uniform.  The British are very good at putting on a traditional pageant and it all was very grand and went perfectly.  I loved the trees in Westminster Abbey, it was so different and a brilliant idea, nature in the city.  I remember watching Charles and Diana getting married 30 (yikes, how time flies!!!) years ago and it felt very different, more formal and without the obvious love.

I think in these hard financial times the country needs something to celebrate and enjoy and this wedding has come at the perfect time.  It is nice to be happy about something when the news these days is normally full of gloom and doom - even for non-royalists!   I am amazed by the degree of international interest in The Wedding, the Americans especially seem so into it.  There were worldwide best wishes which included the Dalai Lama, and even out of this world best wishes from the International Space Station!

In the future William and Catherine will be King and Queen of the UK.   There are signs that they will herald a new era of royality in this country.  A royality that is less formal and more in touch with the people, and that can only be a good thing - and maybe I'll end up becoming a real royalist then!

It's Summer!

Well no, but it feels like summer anyway!  Our wonderful weather continues with sunshine and temperatures way above normal - my car thermometer showed a high of 20 degrees centigrade to day.  The blossom is out early, near me there are lots of trees covered in pink and white blossom, so beautiful.  Let's hope this bodes well for the real summer months.

I've been busy in the garden tidying up the autumn/winter debris, putting in the bedding plants.  Also started my vegetable gardening, got the potatoes in,  planted new a new apple tree and raspberry bush. Tomatoes, beans and onions going in soon.  I've grown to love gardening, there's a real sense of satisfaction of seeing what you plant grow and bloom.  And there is nothing like eating your own home grown food!  You get fresh air and exercise too, so it's a winner all round!

U2 Karaoke

After the gig on the 13th U2 went to the Bar Secreto in Sao Paulo for a bit of karaoke.  Nice to see the lads relaxing and having fun - Larry definitely wins for enthusiasm LOL!

Sao Paulo 10 April - What a Night, What a Show, What a Set List! (Spoiler)

For the first time I watched a live feed of a U2 show, it was from Sao Paulo in Brazil, isn't technology amazing?  Not perfect though as the feed died about halfway through the gig, still, it was good while it lasted!  But, hey, what a night ,what a show, what a ZOOROPA!  Yes, they played Zooropa, which has hardly ever been played - in fact I think (though could be wrong) it was only played live in the UK, twice in London and once in Glasgow and I was there!  Fabulous to hear it again and very brave of the band to do it as it is a lesser known track and not a particularly commercial song.  But songs don't have to be commercial to be good do they? It took me back to those wonderful Zoo days, a time of brave, daring new songs and clever, entrancing gigs, a brilliant time to be a U2 fan, ahh memories!

But Zooropa wasn't all that was special about this gig, it was generally a great set list with Even Better Than the Real Thing, Out of Control and North Star were also played amongst the usual songs.  One of those gigs you wish you were at! Please, please U2 play Zooropa at one of the Canadian shows in July and I'll be in heaven!

PS Apparently Zooropa was trending on Twitter, amazing, and amazing that I now know what trending is lol!

Sunday in Hawick

I have a friend, Alison,  who lives in the beautiful Scottish Borders and about once a month we meet up at some point between where we live.  This month our meeting place was Hawick, an ancient mill town famous for its cashmere and the Pringle label.  It is the largest of the many mill towns in this area which was the perfect location for weaving due to it's fast flowing rivers, being on the main road (and later railway) between Carlisle and Edinburgh and having ideal grazing for sheep on the surrounding mountains.

We first went to Beanscene cafe for lunch.   It's pleasant place, a light, airy modern building within an old Tower Mill building, some tables look out over the millrace.  Part of the ground floor is glass and you can see the old waterwheel still in place there.  The Kenneth McAllister Quartet was playing jazz.  Now, neither of us are big fans of jazz, especially the singing, but the music was not too loud and luckily there was only a little singing.  It made a nice change.

Turnbull Statue

Afterwards we headed out to explore the town a little.  Just behind Beanscene is the Turnbull statue.  Turnbull is the prominent local name and the family was one of the main Reiver families of the Border country, also known as the debatable lands.  The statue was impressive, a man grappling a bull by the horns.

We went on to the town's main street and came across the Borders Textile Towerhouse Museum, The Knitwear and Textile story.  The museum is in a beautifully restored building, part of which is Drumlanrig Tower, built in the 16th century by the Douglas family and is the oldest building in Hawick.  The rest of the building was previously the Tower Hotel until that closed and became derelict.  The £10 million Heart of Hawick project saved the building and created the museum.

Town Hall

It tells the story of weaving in the town, with parts of machinery on show, audio-visual programmes, photos and interactive displays.  It also looks at the future of textiles and there are examples of work done by students at the acclaimed School of Textiles and Design in the town. The old photos show many mills and smoking chimneys in Hawick during the boom time for textile production, people at work at the looms, factory parties etc.

One thing I remembered from the exhibition that had nothing at all to do with the mills was the uglie bonnet.  A strange hat with a wired, wide brim over the face worn by female agricultural workers to shield them from the sun.  They were not very fetching hence the name LOL!  All in all, it was a small, but interesting museum.

We walked down the main street of the town, most of the shops were shut as it was a Sunday and as this is a relatively small town that's quite normal.  We passed the lovely Town Hall with all it's turrets. Then, at the Memorial statue (which commemorates the victory of local youths over English raiders just outside of Hawick in 1514.  the English flag was captured and taken back to the town) we turned left and walked along the banks of the fast flowing River Teviot back towards the car park.  The sun was shining, the sky was blue and the wind strong, bracing - good fresh air!

Memorial Statue

Hawick is a town I've passed through many times, but this is the first time I've taken time to walk around it.  It obviously has had recent difficult times with demise of mills which then became derelict, they couldn't compete with overseas competition.  But the Heart of Hawick scheme seems to working well for the town as some of those wonderful old buildings have been beautifully renovated and have moved into the 21st century benefiting both local people and visitors alike.  It's always good to see old and new managing to live alongside each other in this way, well done Hawick!

Bono's Driving to Midnight Mass Poem - the Inside Story

I've always loved this poem, and now thanks to @U2 we can hear how it all came about.

Bono's Driving to Midnight Mass Poem the Inside Story

Trying to Have a Quiet Night Out ......

Bono trying to have a quiet meal out whilst on tour in Argentina.  Of course that's impossible for him and fans and photographers were waiting for his exit from the restaurant.   What a strange way to live your life, always recognised, never anonymous.

Must say though the B-man is looking pretty good for nearly 51!


More photos at the following link Bono's Meal Out in Argentina