The snow is amazing! It's all floaty and pretty and my garden is all covered and gorgeous and the cats are enjoying running round like mad beasts in it.

At 4.00pm we had an all users email at work telling us all to go home because the snow was starting to fall quite heavily. Annoyingly I had som lab bits to finish off before leaving, but left just after 4.30pm. By this time reports of really bad snow East of Andover were starting to come in, including from a colleague's fiance who had taken almost three hours to drive six miles into Basingstoke. Said colleague is hence staying with us tonight, not wanting to brave the ungritted roads between Basingstoke and Reading. The roads from work to home were by and large not too bad - well gritted, and though snow was settling it wasn't icy. People wre driving sensibly slowly, so it took us a while to get home but we did so safely. The only really hairy bit was the two steep hills on the last few miles into Ludgershall - cars were turning round and going back rather than risk the hill, but seeing as the only other roads into Ludgershall involve country lanes I thought I'd best plow on. It turned out to be not too bad provided I took it slowly and steadily, and thankfully didn't have to stop on the slopes. A bus was looking a little uncertain at the dip in between the two hills but he managed to make it up with no problems.

I'm off now until Christmas! Once more I have managed to book holidays during what will probably turn out to be a no-go work day due to the snow. I've been hearing from colleagues in Basingstoke who had to adandon cars and walk the last few miles home, so I'm very glad that the roads weren't too bad round here.

I really want to get out and build a snowman in the garden and take photos of all the prettiness! Here's hoping it hasn't melted by morning. :)

I've just got home from the work Christmas party. Last year I dressed as a pirate with an indecently low top and drank far too much - not enough to do anything stupid bu enough to snog my then fiance on the dancefloor (aka work canteen) and feel a little dry the next morning. This year I dressed as Link and was driving, and I actually think I enjoyed the event that much more for being sober. That's not to say I wouldn't have enjoyed having a coupld of glasses and feeling giggly, but I danced better for not drinking, sang karaoke in tune, and am now feeling nice and chilled at home, watching Tom play on a new Xbox game, which apparently involved Miles trying to catch the pretty moving shapes on the TV screen.

With my costume I had an overall win with four people knowing I was Link, and only two thinking I was an elf. :) I'm pretty pleased. One geeky guy proceeded to talk to me about other obscure costumes he was proud of recognising (Rorschach, Hitman) which was quite nice, if a little bizarre.

Still deciding if I'm going to be making mince pies tonight or if I'm just going to sit and watch TV and have a much deserved glass of something cold (finally).

It's the work do on Friday, and I don't have the time or the energy at the moment to create a new costume, so it needs to be something I already own. The theme is 'characters through the ages'.

I was tempted to wear the badger suit, and go as Badger from Wind in the Willows, but both the practical and security aspects of that were too prohibitive. Apparently there are a few Robin Hood characters in our group, and I do like the idea of painting a little pencil moustache on! But I'm leaning towards Link, since I already own the whole costume and it doesn't need any modification.

Poll #1498740
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 4

What should I dress as to the work Christmas party?

I'm really starting to come down with post-show blues now. I'm missing all the people. You spend so much time with the other singers, as well as the crew, costume, makeup and music teams - in the last week we were pretty much living in each others pockets. To come from that back to reality is kind of hard. I was a little sad earlier but we had Keith and Charly staying over to distract me, and I've been busy making fudge and cooking dinner, but now I've stopped and it's evening and I know I'm not about to head over to the city hall I'm feeling a little low. I'm not sure if I'm missing the people, the buzz, the singing or whether it's a mixture of all of the above, but not having in in my life all of a sudden is not good. It's making me really want to be involved in the next show, but I have my reasons for not doing that one.

I also know how much my voice has improved over the past months - I've definitely expanded my range, though I'm not at the level I'd like to be. The thought of not doing regular singing and perhaps losing a little of that ability frightens me slightly. I'm not sure how much of the improvement comes from confidence and how much is simply working on the singing and improving my technique, but I don't want to lose it and have to start again! A fair few of the other principles were telling me to go for a bigger role next time, and I'd really like to - but that will rely on me keeping up my singing ability. I'll have to make sure the work choir stays busy and we start working towards more concerts there.

Right - back to wrapping more Christmas presents then!

I've started my Christmas preparations by making fudge! Vanilla and raisin fudge, to be precise. I've never made fudge before, and so far it's going fairly well - it's at least smooth and creamy and fudge-tastin, but I've poured it into the tin and it's refusing to set! The recipe advises 5-10 minutes before setting to a soft and cuttable stage, but it's been 15 and it's still runny. I'll just have to keep an eye on it...

I think I need to get all scintific and find a temperature melting prfile for sugar crystals - I'm assuming the reason that the mixture stops at a certain temperature for about 10 minutes while boiling before changing consistancy and continuing to heat is because the sugar is doing something at that stage. But I always get paranoid that my hob's not hot enough! This time it stopped at 110oC before going all thick an gloopy and finally getting up to soft ball (116oC). After softballing I added the vanilla and raisins and beat it until nice and creamy. Now I just have to hope it sets!

Fudge will help stave off the post-Mikado blues I feel. :)

The Mikado is finally over. I'm sad, but I'm looking forward to having some spare time (which will be promtly taken up with much Christmas-present making).

I can honestly say I don't think I've enjoyed a show as much as I did the Mikado. These past few months have been at times exhausting, exhillerating, wonderful, draining. But I've made some fantastic friends and learned a hell of a lot. I think my enjoyment of this show over other shows has had a lot to do with the director, who is all kinds of wonderful, but has also been largely due to the people I've been working with; the majority of people in Salisbury Amateur Operatics Society are really nice people, but I've become quite close with a few people in particular - lead soprano Olivia is mad but lovely, and she's really looked after me during principle rehearsals. Marie with whom I shared a dressing room has been brilliant and a course of much after-show and after-rehearsal socialising. My stage partner, Dave, is one of the nicest blokes and keep encouraging me when I was fretting about my harmony. The Great Mikado himself, Iain, tried to get me drunk and we chatted a lot about Bristol - he lives and works there and I recommended the society I used to sing with - Bristol Savoy Operatic Society - to him, since he's finding the travel down to Salisbury for shows too hard. I'm also amazingly fond of the society secretary, Elaine - an older lady, mad as a hatter, but always has time for me and she surprises me with little cards and gifts every so often. :)

After Saturday's matinee show some presentsv were exchanged - I was given a beautiful orchid from the society (presented by Dave, and named Pish Tush now!) which I was totally unprepared for! I knew the director and MD and everyone usually get gifts, but I'd kind of forgotten that principle ladies often do too. Or I'd forgotten I was a principle lady - it was one or the other! I hope I manage to keep the orchid alive since I've never had much luck with houseplants.

I'm not sure if any one show went perfectly, but the things that did go wrong were kind of unavoidable things - only on rare occassions would someone cock up a line or fluff a note (or, in the case of the men, mistime their fan movements!). It was things like the pyro no firing for the first two nights, Katisha's hugely and flambouyant train getting caught in the scenery, or Pooh Bah's tousers nearly falling down (ha ha!) that occurred. I could have kicked myself last night for making one stupid rookie mistake and doing a hand movement a few bars early because I wasn't concetrating - it's something I've never done before and I was so annoyed at myself for doing it on the final performance, but Keith and Charly who came to see the show said they didn't notice anything so maybe I got away with it...

After the final show I stayed to help with the set deconstruction. It has been known to take many hours, until 3 or 4 in the morning; but last night we were done a little after midnight. It was definitely a case of many hands making light work, aspecially as we had a large and strong team of young men helping crew. I helped where I could - curtains and props and floor tabs and the like.

The next show is the Full Monty which I probably won't be in but I'm DEFINITELY going to see. ^_^ The society has also just had confirmation of a trip to France for a week to perform at a festival. That's not until 2011 but I will be doing my best to be part of that - it sounds awesome! I expect there will be a lot of fundraising to pay for it as well, which will mean more fun little concerts! I do like doing concerts. :)

http://www.vnsouth.tv/videos/a_classic

A little promotion for The Mikado. :)

http://www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/leisure/entertainments/4775359.Three_Little_Maids_return_to_City_Hall/

I also did a small filmed interview for a local internet news channel. As soon as it's up I'll post a link to that as well. :)

This week, as expected, is being very busy indeed. After Saturday's foray into Salisbury to promote the show, I was at the theatre from 8.30am helping set everything up. I did this for the first time last December for The King & I, and enjoyed it thoroughly though it is hard work. It's a steep but enjoyable learning curve, sorting out lighting and scenery and tabs and curtains and everything. This year we even have pyrotechnics! The work itself is quite hard - there's a lot of lifting and hauling and pulling, but it's very much a case of many hands making light work. Plus I let the men do the really heavy lifting!

We had lunch out at a local Weatherspoons, then returned for the band call (the professionalism and awesomeness of the orchestra never ceases to amaze me) before starting the technical rehearsal, which is a long slog for all involved. We were finished by 11.00pm, just. All this week I'm going straight to the theatre from work, since I now live half an hour in the wrong direction. It means I get a nice relaxed time to get into makeup and costume and microphones and everything.

Dress rehearsal on Monday went very well, which is always a little concerning because you wonder what will go wrong on the opening night. Opening night, however, was marvellous! There were a few small hiccups - there always are. A few fluffed lines, the pyro didn't fire, I fell over my kimono (oops!) but the audience were wonderful - clapping, cheering, laughing in all the right places. They clapped rhythmically at the end of the show, which is something I've never known on opening night before! A NODA rep was also there, and he came onto the stage after the show to tell us all how fantastic he thought it was!

All in all I think Tuesday night was most definitely a success! I can't wait for the rest of the week! My only regret is having to come into work this week, as I'd much rather have a lay-in, not be so tired, and stay for a few social drinks with the cast and crew after the show. As it is I have a half-hour drive home, and I know the adrenaline will only keep me going for so long so I need to get home before I start to crash!

Today has been busy busy! Tomorrow will be ven more so. It's all good though - doing things I like even if it is kind of exhausting.

Up moderately early this morning, though I did get a bit of a lay-in in the form of 8.15am. Pretty god going for me! I woke feeling better than I have for several days - apparently I have shaken this blasted cold finally! I headed into Salisbury, picking up a very nice girl on the way who is also singing in the Mikado, in order to prepare for a few hours of publicity in Salisbury city centre. We parked, walked to another society member's house and proceeded to get kitted up in kimonos and semi-geisha makeup. I managed to figure out how to tie my obi sash properly (the final result was a lot tidier and prettier than that example, but you get the idea) which I was very pleased with since the other girls had pre-tied clip-on obis! Though the other two kimonos came courtesy of our stage manager, Helen, and are utterly gorgeous and significantly more expensive and better quality than mine - bought from a market stall at the base of a mountain shirine in Kyoto. Still, I love my pretty purple yukata kimono and was overjoyed to get the chance to wear it officially, rther than just as a dressing gown at home!

We were dropped in Salisbury centre with a box full of Mikado flyers and proceeded to accost the Saturday morning shoppers. The costumes worked a treat - people were definitely a lot more keen o take a flyer from someone so obviously dressed up than they were from the other helpers in nomal clothing. I guess it helps poeple to realise from a distance that you're promoting something interesting, not just giving out flyers for a new takeaway or mobile phone offer from BT. I had a lot of interesting comments from people, ranging from 'hurr hurr you've got something on your face!' to 'You looking absolutely stunning, dear!' (from a lovely old lady who I specifically crossed the street to give a flyer to). We found a lot of people in Salisbury had alreay bought tickets, which was good, but we also generated some new interested which was the point behind the whole event. I'll definitely do this again for future shows (though perhaps not for SAOS's next number - the Full Monty).

After we ran out of flyers we headed back, got changed, and I spent the remainder of the day in Salisbury doing some shopping and other useful bits. I found a spectacularly horrible royal wedding commemorative china bell in a charity shop which will be given to my older brother, who seems to collect tacky royal wedding stuff. I got back after dark and in the rain, and proceeded to spend the next hour perhaps foolishly digging up the Christmas tree that was planted in our front garden by the previous owners. Tom and I got very muddy, wet and cold but after half an hour messing about in the dark we had finally cut down the tree! I wanted to dig it out, but the root was too thick and the tree was in a tight corner next to the house and a concrete wall, so in the end we dug out as much as we could then used a pruning saw to chop it down. It's now tastefully decorated in the corner of our living room; shame about the rest of the decorations (Tom has draped horrible old tinsle over every hanging thing he can find).

I also made some mulled wine, having half a bottle open from last week. Annoyingly I had no orange juice, so as an experiment I used tropical juice instead! It actually worked - the pineapple and mango flavour was unusual, but not unpleasant. :) The whole house is feeling thoroughly Christmassy now.

Long day tomorrow setting up the theatre for Mikado next week. An 8.00 start (though I doubt I'll get in that early) for setting up, band call, makeup deonstration, then dress rehearsal. I'm expecting to finish about 10..00pm. It'll be exhausting but fun...

Ugh - heading downhill again. I felt pretty good this morning but about 11.00am I started feeling rough again. Paracetamol had little to no effect, and on top of the cold and headache I'd started to feel spacey and nauseous. I knew lunch was needed so I ate at 12.00 - I didn't want to but I knew it would make me feel better and it did. Still, half an hour after finishing lunch and I'm feeling shitty again. In 10 minutes it's drugs time (woohoo!) and that'll stave off the worst of things for a while.

Don't you just love it when your day is goverened by the countdown to the next two painkillers?

Rehearsal in costume tonight! Should be fun. Must remember to arrive good and early to get dressed and get my new ballet shoes from choreographer. Here's hoping I don't drop dead during the run... *cough hack*

Rehearsal yesterday was hard work. I got through it on a combination od drugs and adrenaline. I was very annoyed at bringing an empty packet of paracetamol with me, so I missed my 8.00pm dose and had to wait til 9.00pm before I could take some ibuprofen. Bah! I also sang as little as possible - singing my parts quietly (ignoring musical director's silent mouthings of "sing out!") and miming my chorus bits. We did a full run through the show with no breaks, and the director was very pleased! The show is going to be spectacular!

Tonight we have a run in costume, which is going to be interesting. I'm not convined our rehearsal hall is big enough for that but we'll do our best...

Tom's ill today. I don't think he's going in to work at all. No, I lie, he's just shouted down the stairs that he's feeling better after taking paracetamol and will be coming after all! I'd better go and put the electric heater in the bedroom so it's not too cold for him when he gets out...

I've had the day off sick today - yesterday I started sneezing and getting all snotty, and today I've been suffering full blown cold evilness. I knew I was going to be having the day off when I woke up at 6.00am and it felt like my head wa about to explode with headache and sinus pressure.

I've not been too bad most of the day - just a bit generally weak and pathetic. I've managed to do a little gentle gardening (leaves now all cleared from the garden) and hung up the Christmas lights. Most of the rest of the day has been spent playing Okami and watching Facebook. About an hour ago I randomly fell asleep and I wish I hadn't because I woke feeling worse - snotty and stuffy and headachey and now groggy as well. Ugh.

Still, a day off was definitely the right choice. I always feel bad about having sick days, but I think I'm getting better at them - I'm more abke to take a sick day when I'm feeling like this rather than waiting until I'm physically incapable of doign anything other than veging on the sofa and moaning.

Tom's apparently started to feel a bit crappy at work and has left early. Poor thing - I expect he'll end up taking tomorrow off.

I keep reminding myself that it's better for me to catch this cold now than in a week, but I'm still worried a little about my voice. I'll be singing very quietly at tonight's rehearsal...

I had a big old money worry and breakdown last night. I know it's end of the month but we had comepletely run out of money, and I was panicking about that. I hate being in debt, but I know that in the new year we won't have so many large payments going out of our account and we can start working our way to having savings again. Ahhh... I've missed having savings! Damn house and car and wedding costing too much. The good thing is we've been paid now so for a short period until the mortgage goes out I'm happy. The really annoying thing is we just went over our overdraft limit, by £8, for two days before getting paid. That's a £50 sting I could have done without. :/

In lighter news, I have discovered an outlet for my photoshopping skills. Last night Tom's boss annoyed me on FB deliberately by badmouthing the Ledgend of Zelda series, which to me is like insulting my mum, or calling me fat, or something! So I pasted his head onto a picture of a Zelda Princess cosplayer. Mwahahahahahaaa!

Seriously, don't piss me off on the internet! ^_^

I had stupidcrazy busy week last week - it seemed that not only did I not stop at work, I was pretty much on the go after work as well with home stuff. Monday was the only evening I had in, and I enjoyed that very much. Tuesday was rehearsal, Wednesday I went to Salisbury to meet my parents and see Joan Baez in concert (she was AMAZING!), Thursday was another rehearsal, and Friday I got on a train and headed down to Devon for a hen party! Phew!

Hen weekend was great fun - an old farm had been converted into a set of 5* self-catering houses, complete with oak barn dining hall (with giant plasma screen TV), gymnasium, hot tub, huge lounge, all coupled with gorgeous views over the Devonshire hills and rustic charm. It was an expensive weekend, costing £123 each for the stay, but it was brilliant fun. We had all the usual hen party silliness with penis-shaped straw holders, a blow-up man, fluffy pink handcuffs, etc etc. BUT because it was in a complex in the middle of nowhere nobody had to suffer the embaressment of being seen in public covered in all things pink, fluffy and rude!

Saturday we did clay pigeon shooting, which I thought I'd be rubbish at but turns out I was pretty good - I got the bext score out of 12 girls, including one who'd shot before! I hit 10 out of 24 targets, which the instructors seems to think was pretty good. I had a natural aim with the shot gun; the thing that held me back was lack of upper body strength, when my left arm started shaking from holding the gun upright. Having discovered this new talent I'd like to do more shooting, and I'd even like to have a go at pheasant shooting. I know it's a thorny issue with some people, but in my eyes a bird that has a happy, free-range life then gets shot and dies quickly before getting eaten is far preferable to chickens, farmed in cramped indoor cages, force-fed antibiotics and hormones, bred as quickly and as cheeply as possible. Some friends of mine still claim that the fact you're gaining enjoyment out of ending an animal's life is the cruel part, and I do see their point, though I don't necessarilly agree.

Anyway...

I tried to spend as little money as possible this weekend. I ate frugally when out, and when we were back at the farm masses of home-cooked food was pre-supplied for us so I stuffed myself with cheese, meat, salad, cake and biscuits! Not a healthy weekend...

Hopefully things will be a little quieter this week, and I'll have the chance to do some much needed DIY (radiator needs bleeding, side gate needs repairing after the high winds, garden needs tidying, house needs general clean and tidy).

I'm looking forward to Thursday when I have my costume call for singing! Costume call is always hugely exciting, because you never know what you're going to get until that day. Previous societies I've sung with have had a first-come-first-served attitude to costumes, with those who turn up late getting left with older, tatty, usually massively too large costumes. This society tries to pre-match you with your costume, and you'll find one or two with your name tagged to. The don't always get the measurements right and the chorus normally swaps items round quite a lot until everyone is happy. This year, as a principle, I've had my costume custom-made for me! I think I've only got the one costume, but I'm incredibly excited about it! Plus I get a dressed wig to take home as well! :D

I've just put a whole bunch of stuff up on ebay, including lots of fabric (mostly faux fur), plus some gorgeous purple pleated pumps (my wedding shoes, only brand new!) and my wedding petticoat. Just in case anyone is interested:

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/blue.dragon/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p4340

:D

I've been searching for some craft projects to make for people as Christmas presents, and here are some of my favourites! (For my reference as well as anyone else's use).

D12 handbag
Molecular embroidery
Fabric placemats
Holiday wreath

All for now! I'll probably update this as I find more. :)

Off to make toffee apples for tonight's firework display!

I just order my Christmas turkey! The butchers in town was very busy, which was nice to see, and open from 8.00am! I've bought a 16 lb (7.25 Kg) free range local bronze turkey, at a little over £9 a Kg. A quick look online shows me this is a very good price for a good quality bird - they do sell for cheeper, but generally for cheeper, lower quality meat. I'm very pleased! Still, it's going to cost me a fair amount for the meat, but it will be worth it. I just hope it fits in my oven!

Car is currently in the garage having its MOT. I didn't book a service because they couldn't fit me in today and the MOT needs doing before next weekend. But apart from an oil change I think I've been keeping Lucy fairly well maintained - she's got new tyres and is always topped up with oil, coolant and water. Here's hoping for a painless MOT...

I had a bit of a money panic last night, realising it's only the beginning of the month and we're still in debt overall. We did have a healthy balance until mortgage went out! I just need to remind myself that we are making progress month on month, and after December we'll no longer be paying for the wedding photos so that will make a huge difference. I'm going to have a big old ebay this weekend as well - I know it's not going to make much of a dent in our debt, but at least I'll feel like I'm doing something. We have loads of wedding gubbins to sell, so hopefully I can make something on that.

I've also been trying to figure out ways to make frugal Christmas presents for people. I hope my brothers don't mind getting home made and cheaper gifts this year, since we're usually all pretty generous and I can end up spending £50 on each brother easilly. Nothing like a bit of debt to bring out the crafty side of me! :)

The MOD obviously spend a lot of time blowing things up round our way. Fireworks have been going off nonstop since yesterday night and the cats are barely flinching. Miles occassionally looks round curiously but doesn't seem scared at all. :)

Is it too early to be using this icon? Probably...

Tom's mum emailed to say everything has changed. Tom's sister, who was the one not wanting to come to ours for Christmas, now has to work Christmas day (boo!) so instead we are having Christmas a day early with his folks, then again the next day at our house with my family! It does kind of suck her having to work Christmas (and boxing day) but she'll get paid loads, and her boyfriend is working anyway since he's a chef so this way she gets to spend an early Christmas with him as well as her parents. Plus she'll get paid double time, which isn't bad considering she's employed by the NHS and only a band below Tom and I - the band I was employed at two years ago.

I'm very excited about this! It means two Christmas dinners back to back, which may be tough on the old digestive system, but I'll cope somehow (probably go for a Christmas day cycle or something). It means we get to have a wonderful cosy house all decorated and full of all the people I love, and I get to cook for them all it's going to be wonderful!

Plus my parents and Tom's parents are coming to see The Mikado! I haven't convinced my brothers to come yet (they went strangely quiet when I asked them!), but may still work on Tom's sister and boyfriend, and maybe Tom's aunt and cousins.

Woop!