31st December - Second Day of New Year Weekend away

I managed to get up just in time for breakfast this morning. I found the appetite to eat sausage and beans even though I'm not a big fan of cooked breakfast. We then made our way into the conference room ready for our morning service. Several people gave testimonies of what God had done for them in 2007 some of which were very moving. We were then asked to write down our prayers on post-it notes and stick them on three boards - one for prayers for self,one for prayers for family and friends and one for prayers for the world. I found this much less intimidating than praying in groups.
After the meeting we shared a simple lunch of bread, cheese, sliced meats and salad.
We then set off for the village of Trevor which was the starting point of our afternoon walk. Our walk took us along the canal and then across the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct which was scary as it had a sheer drop on the far side. I was glad to get to the other side. After the walk we went for a drink in the pub before returning to the centre where Phil had been toasting crumpets for us.
We then started geting ready for the evening party. We met in the foyer - there was a wonderful array of outfits on show - and travelled to the Lord Moreton by car. When we arrived at the place we were shown to our tables. We were then invited to go up for food. There was a wondeful selection of food on offer - sliced meats, salmon prawns and a good selection of salads. The selection of desserts was even better - I had some Dime bar cheesecake and white chocolate cheesecake. The tables were then cleared and moved to reveal the dance floor. The evening started off with a disco and then the band came onto the stage. They played quite a few 80's rock songs and were quite good. After the band had been on for an hour the disco started again. For the last hour of 2007 the band returned to play 70's rock songs complete with costumes. I particularly enjoyed the Queen tribute. As midnight drew near we all rushed onto the dance floor for the countdown. At midnight there was much hugging and cheering and letting off of giant party poppers. I made a point of going over to Phil to wish him a Happy New year as I know he's not a fan of discos. The party went on to 1.30am and then we all went back to the hall. I was shattered so I went straight to bed even though I knew others were staying up. I think this was our best NY party to date - it was an excellent idea to go to the hotel.

30th December - First Day of New Year weekend

I caught the train to Shrewsbury from Oxford Road just after lunch and met Phil at the station. We had an easy journey to Quinta and found that we were quite early. Sarah, Anya and Mike were in the foyer sorting out food and the notice boards. After a very welcome cup of coffee I went upstairs to find the room that I would be sharing with Wendy. I was pleased to see that it was quite a good sized room with one single bed, one bunk bed and one double bed. I unpacked and then went back down to the reception to find that the fire had been lit and quite a few others had arrived. We sat and chatted about what we had done over the Christmas break.
At about 7pm we all made our way into the dining room for our evening meal. The manager of the centre gave us a warm welcome. The meal was really good - roast beef with roast potatoes and vegetables followed by apple pie and custard.
Afterwards I set up the lounge ready for the quiz with some help from Phil and Jon.
I was encouraged to see that most people decided to take part.I started off with the general knowledge round and used all 30 of my questions. As the quiz went on though I realised that we had more questions than we needed so I made the music and seasonal rounds shorter. I was surprised at how well everyone did with Phil's bible characters round - I think that having larger teams helped. I also discovered that Susannah is doing a similar theology course to Phil so her team had a slight advantage. We ended up having two teams tying for first place. It was a good job I didn't buy chocolates as prizes as Kay (predictably) was on one of the winning teams. After the quiz Anya brought in some apple punch that she had made. It was very welcome as reading out the questions had proved to be quite a strain on my voice. I was pleased to see that everyone enjoyed the quiz though.
Tim, Paul, Kay, Julie, Karen and I ended the evening with a couple of games of pool and table football before going to bed just after midnight.

25th December - Christmas Day

I managed to get quite a good lie-in this morning and just about managed to have enough time to open my presents before going to church. I did quite well for gifts - apart from the bracelet and printer cartridges which I was expecting I also received earrings,writing paper and envelopes and bath bombs. The 25+ present turned out to be bubble bath and lip gloss - much longer lasting than last year's present.
I arrived at church to find I was the first one there. Fortunately it didn't take long for others to turn up. We had the usual good mix of regulars and visitors. Joan had her whole family visiting so she was preparing Christmas lunch for 11 people.
The service went well. Margaret asked the children to bring their presents to the front to show them off. We ended with a rousing chorus of "Come and join the celebration". I then headed off home for a relaxing day tucking into Christmas dinner and watching TV. Enjoyed Coronation Street and "Strictly Come Dancing"
Surprised to see Darren Gough win though as I thought this series dancers were better.

22nd December - Blitz Jive Christmas Party - Stockport

I arrived at the Town Hall tonight to find that the doors were still locked. I wasn't all that early - the staff just seemed to think it would be fun to keep us out in the cold whilst they were getting the reception desk ready! Eventually they decided to let us in and I found myself a seat fairly near the stage and near some friends from my Prestwich class. The evening started with a fun class taught by Kevin who seems to do a lot of the Saturday night classes. After the class I danced with a couple of guys I know from Prestwich. I noticed Tony and Sean had arrived during the lesson so I went over and had a chat with them. Tim didn't arrive until about 9.30pm - he said he had problems parking as the car park filled up quite quickly. I had a dance with him and then spotted an old friend from Prestwich who I haven't seen for a while. I had a couple of dances with him. After this I decided I deserved a mince pie so I had a short rest. I then danced with Len and Bernard, two of the Prestwich regulars. I left at about 11.30pm after one final dance with Tim.
I was pleased to see that the roads were fairly quiet so I had an easy journey home.
On reflection it was a good party,but not quite as good as Monday's as there was no dance contest and no chocolate fountain!

20th December - Work Christmas Party at La Tasca

I was one of the first to arrive at La Tasca tonight.We were all given free drinks and we then sat down to hear the results of the "Employee of the year" contest. The award went to our postroom manager, Mike - a very popular choice.
After this, the food was served. There was a good selection of tapas including meatballs, squid and whitebait in breadcrumbs and baked aubergines. Heather was anxious to make sure that Liam (who's a vegan) had something to eat and it looked like her persistance payed off.
After the meal they pushed back the tables ready for the disco. As usual the women from the accounts and publishing departments were first on the dance floor. I soon joined them. Our new computer operator, Mark turned out to be a real live wire - he danced with most of us including me. The dance floor soon filled up when the DJ played music by The Jam and The Clash.
People started to leave at about 11pm so I booked myself a taxi home. It was very cold outside, so I was glad that it arrived quickly. It was good to see that everyone enjoyed the party tonight. I'm looking forward to the Christmas break now.

17th December - Modern Jive Christmas Party at Prestwich

I arrived at the party tonight to find a enormous chocolate fountain in the foyer. The dancing started straight away. I danced with Rob and Sid. Then we had the fun lesson. We had a go at "Awesome Foursome". Each couple paired up with another one and we did some simple moves, changing partners after each one. It was good fun.
Then came the "Dance with a stranger" competition. I was paired up with a guy called Frank, who was also my partner for the lesson. I think we danced well together, but we didn't make it to the second round as the moves we did were fairly basic. When the final six couples danced we saw what the judges were looking for. They could all dance fast and they were good at dips and drops too.
After the contest, I went out to get some goodies from the chocolate fountain. I found they were serving ice cream too - the perfect accompaniment for fruit and marshmallows dipped in chocolate. I had a few more dances before going home.
I really enjoyed myself tonight.

16th December - Final salsa class of the year

Today's class was held at OPUS in the Printworks, because La Tasca was being used for a party. I wish we could use this venue all the time as it is bigger than La Tasca. Attendance at the beginners class was a bit sparse, but more people arrived for the improvers class. We revised three moves we have learnt during the year - the hammerlock copa, the Copa C (which always reminds me of the Paso Doble) and the reverse hammerlock. I managed to get the hang of all of them by the end of the lesson. There's no more classes now until 6th January. I will miss them.

15th December 25+ Christmas party

I met Brian in town and we travelled down to Nigel's by tram and taxi. We arrived a bit early and found Nigel, Kay and Anya still getting the food ready. Karen arrived at 7.30pm closely followed by several others. We went into the kitchen to get some mulled wine and then the food was served. There was a good selection of food available - sausage rolls, mini quiches,sandwiches and dips. I chatted to Chris and we cauht up on each other's news as we haven't seen each other since the dinner and disco. I also chatted to Tim who says he has got a ticket for the Spring ball. He applied even earlier than me! The desserts were brought out of their hiding place under the table. There were mince pies,christmas cake and a big tin of celebrations chocolates. Karen, Chris, Brian and I had fun throwing chocolates at each other.
Then Tim came downstairs dressed as Father Christmas and he and Andrea gave out the gifts. Brian insisted on taking a photo of me sat on Tim's knee whilst he was dressed as Santa! I then went back in the lounge and joined the other who were dancing. Elaine gave Brian and I a lift home at midnight. When we got back to Mum's it took ages to get hold of a taxi, so I was late getting to bed. I really enjoyed the evening though. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone at New year.

9th December - Church Christmas Lunch

After the morning service we set off for the Woodthorpe Hotel for lunch. I gave Pauline a lift and was pleased to see that there was plenty of room in the car park.
We found that we had a room of our own at the back of the hotel which had its own bar. I sat with Doug, Brenda, Nellia, Pauline, Daphne, Jean and Elaine. We were served with our starters. I had Goat's cheese and red pepper tart which was very tasty. The salmon roulade starter looked good too. I was glad I didn't have the soup though as it looked very filling. Then came the main course. I had turkey with all the trimmings. The portion size was generous so I had to leave some to make sure I had room for dessert. The other main courses looked good too especially the cod. I was pleased that I saved room for dessert as the chocolate and Grand Marnier mousse I chose was excellent. The cheesecake and strawberry roulade that the others had looked good too.
We didn't have entertainment after the meal like we normally do. Instead we sat around chatting about our plans for Christmas. Daphne told us all about the carol concerts she is taking part in at the Bridgewater Hall. It sounds like they will be good.
After the meal I gave Elaine and Pauline a lift home. Everyone agreed that the meal was really good and the service was more efficient than at Lynwood Lodge. We will definately recommend going there next year if we decide to go out for Christmas.

7th December - Squeeze Concert at Apollo

Regular readers of this blog may remember that I won tickets for this concert a few months ago. However I failed to find anyone to go with so I ended up going on my own which is really what I prefer when it comes to concerts.
I was pleased to find that the Apollo has a cloakroom - I'm sure the attendant gave me too much change, but I didn't complain. I managed to find a barrier to lean on which was good as I didn't fancy standing for the whole concert. The support act was King Creosote and they were quite good.
Squeeze started their set with two familiar songs - "Take Me I'm yours" and "Up the junction". The audience sang along enthusiastically with the second song. I was pleased and surprised at how many songs I recognised. I didn't realise that "Hourglass" was one of their songs. I particularly liked the colourful videos they showed during some songs. The final song was "Cool for cats". I didn't stay for the encore as I wanted to avoid the rush for the bus.
On reflection I think it was a good concert, but I don't think I would have paid £35 to see it.

1st December - Games Evening

When I saw it was throwing it down with rain tonight I decided I wouldn't bother driving. We decided to go by tram instead and found that Vanessa's place is only 10 mins walk from the tram station. We arrived more or less on time to find some people playing Downfall, Othello and Connect 4. I watched Kay and Alicia play Othello for a while and then had a couple of games of Connect 4 with Charlie, but didn't do very well. Eventually the food arrived. Portions were a little more realistic than they have been at other events, though Kay and I agreed that the black bean sauce was spicier than usual - I had chicken, she had beef. Tim arrived whilst we were eating.
He says he has got a ticket for the Christmas jive at Stockport which is great.
After the food was finished we decided to play Richard's game. We all wrote down the names of famous people and put them in a basket. We divided into teams and took turns in picking names out of the hat and describing the people for others to guess.
Vanessa turned out to be an expert - she managed to get her team to do 8 guesses in 1 turn. Our team came 2nd in the first round. In the 2nd round we were only allowed to say 3 words when we were describing. Sarah took out the duplicate names first. Our team won the 2nd round. After that I noticed it was getting late so we set off for home. We caught taxis when we got to the Midland. Have decided that I won't be driving to the Christmas party. Will get tram and taxi just like we did tonight.

19th November - Modern Jive Class at Prestwich

Looking back I notice I haven't blogged about my dance class for a while so I thought I'd better put that right.
The moves we did in the beginner's class tonight were Basket,Basic, Shoulder slide and comb which I thought was quite a good combination. In the interval between the classes I danced with John (who I know from tango class) and I had a rare opportunity to dance with Eddy. I noticed he has a new favourite move - the coat off catapult - which is one I quite like too. The intermediate moves were quite tricky tonight - I managed to master the salsa basket, but struggled a little with the others. I decided to join in with the advanced move tonight as Matt said it didn't involve any dips or drops. I managed to find a partner - an older guy called Joe who is a good dancer. The move we learnt was a triple step Manhattan - I'd describe it as a quick waltz with a bit of bounce! We eventually managed to master it so I felt quite pleased with myself.
On the way out tonight I saw a poster which said that Vincent and Flavia (the Argentine Tango dancers from Strictly Come Dancing) are performing at Prestwich in January. I'm determined to go as they are two of my favourites. I shall try and see if the rest of our tango class are interested when I see them later this week.

17th November - Moveable Feast

I was the first to arrive at Jonathan's tonight. Rebecca and Audrey were next to arrive, closely followed by Andrea. Andrew just about made it in time for the meal. Jonathan had made shepherd's pie with courgettes and parsnips - it was really good. We talked about last week's dinner dance and Andrea told us that plans for the Spring ball are going well. We won't be having the same band as last time but the new band have been highly recommended. When we had finished eating, we said goodbye to Andrew, Andrea and Jonathan and I followed Rebecca and Audrey to Chris C's place.
The directions I had were quite good and I only got slightly lost. Rebecca and Audrey arrived shortly after me - they said they got a bit lost too! We went up to Chris's flat to find Julie, Chris and Simon waiting for us. Chris had made two desserts for us - chocolate sponge and custard or melon slices. We all opted for the chocolate sponge which we enjoyed. When we had finished, we set off for Anya's house.
Chris offered to come with me as I wasn't very sure of the way. He was very helpful with his directions. The journey ended up being longer than I expected so by the time we reached Anya's we were forced to park a few streets away as there was no room left in her street. We arrived to find the kitchen and living room full of people. Fortunately there were still a few mugs left for drinks. I made myself a mug of Earl grey and talked to the others about the meals they had eaten. It sounded like everyone had enjoyed a good meal. It was good to meet a few new people too. Kay and Anya brought in the birthday cakes they had made for Andrea - there was a plain sponge and a chocolate cake. I decided to take my slice of chocolate cake home with me as it was getting late. When I left I was pleased to see that it had stopped raining. I had a reasonably good journey home as the roads were fairly quiet. I was quite pleased with myself tonight as I managed to do a fairly long journey without many problems.

11th November - Walk and lunch in Bradford

When I went down to breakfast this morning I talked to the others and found out that some of them were planning to go to the service at the Abundant Life Church. This didn't appeal to me, so I was pleased when Keith suggested going for a walk instead.We asked the receptionist if she could recommend any local walks and found out that there was a park nearby called Harold Park. I walked down to the park with Keith, Sandra, Christine, Brian and Phil. It turned out to be quite a big park with two lakes. We saw moorhens, ducks and Canada geese. We stopped at the war memorial to take a couple of group photos and then started to walk back to the hotel. On the way we stopped at a coffee shop. We decided to take our drinks outside as it was quite a sunny morning. When we eventually returned to the hotel, Christine said goodbye to the rest of us and set off on her way back to Newcastle. The rest of us then set off for the city centre. It was a good job we had plenty of time before lunch as we got lost in the one-way system and ended up having to ask a taxi driver for directions. We were very pleased when we finally found the Victoria Hotel. We had lunch in our usual dining room. For starters, we had spinach soup which tasted better than it looked (!) The main course was chicken, roast potatoes and vegetables and Yorkshire pudding. I have now realised that in Yorkshire they serve pudding with all meat dishes even though it doesn't really go(!) Over lunch the group who went to church told us about the service. They said it was showy and very few people made the effort to talk to them. I got the impression I didn't miss anything by not going. After the lunch we said our goodbyes and I travelled back to the hotel with Chris C, Andrew and Simon. Thanks to Chris's Sat Nav we had no problems with the one-way system and arrived quite a while before the others. When they eventually returned Kay gave Brian and I a lift back to Manchester. I think the journey was even quicker than yesterday's. In all it has been an enjoyable weekend, but I really needed to catch up on sleep tonight.

10th November - Northern Lights Dinner and Disco

We had quite a good journey to Bradford today - it only took 40 mins. Perhaps it's a good job I didn't drive as I'm sure it would have taken much longer by using the A roads. Our room this year was better than last year, but the view wasn't good - we overlooked a brick wall! I went down to the dining room early to see if any help was needed and ended up working on the reception getting people's details as they came in. It was good to see so many familiar faces. Eventually we were told that dinner was ready so we took our places at the tables. I sat with Kay and Brian. The other people on our table turned out to be quite friendly - some of them had travelled quite a long way to get to the party. The meal was very good - I had melon for starters, chicken with apricot stuffing for main course and chocolate gateau for dessert. The meal was followed by speeches. Keith thanked Paul and Paula for all the hard work they had put into running Northern Lights for the past 7 years. They were surprised and pleased to see their pastors who had come specially to present them with their leaving gifts.
After the speeches, we moved into the bar whilst the tables were moved ready for the disco. Chris and I had a go at doing some tango whlist the dance floor was empty - I think we did quite well. I then went out to the bar to encourage some more people to join us in the disco. The DJ put on some fast rock and roll music and I had a dance with Pete. I didn't realise until tonight what a good dancer he is - he certainly managed to keep up with the pace of the music. Later on in the evening I danced ceroc with Chris and Tim. The disco finished with a conga around the dance floor. We were still wide awake when the disco ended so we sat in the bar for a while chatting. We eventually went up to our rooms at about 2am. It was a great night - we certainly felt that all the effort we had put into organising the evening was worthwhile.

8th November - Thumbs down for takeaways

Tonight I decided to have a chicken dhansak from the local Indian takeaway. Looking back I wish I hadn't. On the way out of the shop I slipped on some wet leaves and fell. When I stood up I noticed I had cut my thumb - it was quite painful. I didn't realise how bad the cut was until I got back to my flat and saw it was still bleeding. My hand was covered in blood and there were bloodstains on my coat too. I washed my hand and wrapped my thumb in a flannel and eventually it stopped bleeding.
The wound is still painful, so I doubt that I'll be able to drive at weekend. I just hope that it doesn't give me too many problems when I'm dancing.
Next time I am tempted to go to the takeaway I will resist. The dhansak was good, but not worth the pain.

3rd November - Bonfire at Brabyns Park

I had great fun getting to Rick's flat tonight. We managed to get to Marple by following the directions we had been given. However, the street lighting wasn't very good in the village so we ended up pulling into the car park near Brabyn's park and asking for directions. Fortunately I managed to find a Girl Guide leader who knew the area well and was very helpful. We eventually reached the road where Rick lives and noticed Karen in the car behind us. I watched whilst she parked up. She had brought her two daughters with her - it was good to see them again. We walked to Rick's flat together - it is quite a posh place. We knew we were at his flat when we saw all the shoes outside the door (everyone wanted to make sure they kept the carpets clean!). We went inside and found that there were quite a few people already there. We decided to leave for the park at about 7pm to make sure we got to the best viewing point before the fireworks started. We made our way to the top of the hill where Brian and I bought burgers from one of the vans. I didn't reckon I could last out until we returned to the flat! The bonfire was blazing brightly and the fireworks were very impressive. I managed to get a couple of good photos with my camera phone. When the fireworks were over, we made our way back to the flat for coffee. I decided to join the others in ordering food from the local Chinese takeaway as I can never resist the opportunity to have Chinese food. I shared a portion of chicken , cashew nuts and vegetables with Brian - the portions were very generous and the food was very tasty. I chatted to Tim, Chris, Mike and Simon about next week's dinner dance. We're all looking forward to it.
When it got to 10 pm I decided to leave as I felt it would not be easy to find our way home. I turned out to be right. Because of the poor street lighting we missed our turning off the A626. I just about managed to avoid going onto the motorway. Fortunately, Brian had a rough idea of where we were and we eventually managed to find our way back onto the A6. I eventually got home just after 11pm. On reflection, it was quite an enjoyable night despite all the hassle we had finding our way in the dark.

26th October - 2nd day of visit to Birmingham

After breakfast, Janice drove us to Joan's local church in Hodge Hill for their monthly coffee morning. There were quite a few things on sale there - I bought some handmade Christmas decorations and Janice bought all her Christmas cards.
We then went into the city centre by bus. We had a look around the Pavillions - the layout of the place is still the same, but a lot of the shops have changed. We had lunch of cheese and ham croissants upstairs and then made our way to the Art Gallery.
I was really pleased to see the place again - it is over 3 years since my last visit.
I spent lots of time spotting all my favourite paintings. It was good to see that the Burne-Jones nativity painting now has a good spot in the gallery and is surrounded by a few of the sketches that he made for it. There were also quite a few new Pre-Raphelite paintings that I hadn't seen before which were hung alongside more familiar works by the same artist.
When we left the art gallery, we went into the renovated Town Hall for a very welcome cup of tea. We were impressed by the restoration work on the organ and concert hall. Janice and I then went off to find our bus stops - she was going home and I was off to see John and Jo in Handsworth Wood. Although it is a while since my last visit the bus route seemed very familiar. When I reached my destination I was warmly greeted by John. We caught up on each other's news over a lovely meal of salmon. John seemed quite impressed that I still remembered the names of most of the people I knew at his church (St.Andrews). It was good to hear that life is continuing to treat them well. He explained that they were going to see a special production of La Traviata which some friends were taking part in that evening. They managed to leave in good time. Shortly after Janice arrived to take me back to her house.
We rounded off the evening with supper of cake and coffee and a game of Trivial Pursuit. We started off using the Young People's questions, but decided they were a little too easy. Janice and I raced against each other to get all our wedges. As it was getting late we decided to have a last round of questions which she won.
I had no difficulty getting to sleep tonight as it had been such a busy and enjoyable day.

25th October - First day of visit to Birmingham

I arrived at Birmingham International station this afternoon to be met by Janice and her friend Joan, who were both pleased to see me. Janice drove us to her new home in Sheldon. Although she has only been there for a few weeks, it is starting to look like home as all her favourite photos and ornaments are now on display.
Allan, Janice, Joan and I went to the local Toby Carvery tonight for a meal. Janice had a voucher which allowed us to have a carvery meal and ice-cream for £5 each provided we ate before 7pm. The portions were generous and there was a wide selection of vegetables available. The only let-down was that the mash was obviously instant, but otherwise the food was very good.
After the meal, we gave Joan a lift back to her place and then returned to Janice's.
I checked up on my email and found that my visit to John's tomorrow will be shorter than expected as they are going to see the opera at the National Indoor Arena. Never mind - it will be good to see them anyway.

14th October - Final day of Nantwich weekend and Dance at Grappenhall

After breakfast this morning, we had our morning worship session. Richard led the music and Susanna gave an emotional talk based on some of the things she has learnt from reading Philip Yancey's book - Disappointment with God. She spoke about her Mum's battle with cancer. Many of us were moved by her talk.
We then went back upstairs to pack before lunch. The meal was very good - roast lamb, roast potatoes and vegetables followed by chocolate gateau. After this people started to leave. Eventually there was only Karen, Kay, Tim ,Chris, Jenny and myself left. We had a final check around the place and then went on our way to Warrington.
We went over to Chris's house for coffee and a chat. Karen then went home and the rest of us went over to a local pub called "The Springbrook" for dinner. They did a good deal of two meals for the price of one. I had a Caesar salad as I only wanted a light meal - it was very good.
We then went to the Jive class at Grappenhall Community Centre. The room was quite packed by the time we got there. It is quite a small place - only about half the size of the place I normally go to in Prestwich. Tim, Kay and I joined in with the intermediate class which turned out to be quite challenging. I was quite pleased that I managed to master a couple of the moves. After the class I had a few dances with Tim and Chris. Kay then drove Jenny and I back to Manchester. The motorway was quiet fortunately so we just about managed to get home before midnight.
In all it has been an enjoyable, but exhausting weekend. I'm glad I'm not in work tomorrow.

13th October - Second day of weekend away in Nantwich

After breakfast this morning, we split up into 2 groups. I was surprised to see that most people wanted to visit the Nuclear War Bunker - I couldn't see the attraction of being underground for a couple of hours. I joined the group who were going to the Dorothy Clive gardens instead. The weather was drizzly, but we still managed to have a good look around the gardens which looked beautiful in their autumn splendour.
We then returned to Regents Park where we had lunch of Pizza,Chips and salad. I didn't bother with the chips as I didn't have the appetite for them.
After lunch I walked into Nantwich with Kay, Jenny, Chris, Tim, Julie and Karen. We had a good look around the shops. We found a lovely craft shop where Jenny bought a mobile and a couple of other ornaments.
When we returned back to the college we had dinner. This was the only meal that was different from last year - we had chilli instead of curry. After the meal a few of us went upstairs to watch "Strictly Come Dancing" whilst the others were practising the music for tomorrow's service. Most of the guys went down to the pub to watch the rugby. When the dancing was finished we went down and joined them in the Leopard. Some of us were quite glad to see that there was a karaoke machine in the corner.
Everyone's spirits were lifted by England winning the rugby so we had quite a lively evening of karaoke. Kay sang a couple of songs. Mike sang a duet with my room-mate, Sarah and Chris C showed he has hidden talents by singing "I've got you under my skin". Chris and I danced to a few of the songs - it was a bit difficult to dance as there wasn't much floor space and we had to be careful we didn't trip over any of the wires. In all it was a fun evening which we thoroughly enjoyed.

12th October - 1st day of weekend away at Nantwich

I arranged to meet Alan and Ian in Withington at about 5pm today. I didn't realise that the bus from town would end up taking about an hour to get there - the rush hour on Wilmslow Road was worse than I expected. I ended up arriving later than expected, but the others didn't seem to mind. We headed off to Mike's flat where we stopped for a coffee, before setting off for Nantwich. We decided to go down the A roads to avoid the rush hour traffic. When we got to Nantwich we had a little difficulty finding Regent's Park as there turned out to be more than one level crossing near the town centre. We eventually arrived about half-an hour before the evening meal which gave us just enough time to find our rooms before eating. I found I was sharing with Elaine and a girl called Sarah who hadn't arrived yet.
The evening meal turned out to be exactly the same as last year - salad and cheesecake. After the meal we went into the lounge for some fun activities. First we had to tear our animal shapes from paper with our hands behind our backs. Then we had to try and make the longest strip of newspaper out of one sheet. For the last activity each person had to read out three facts about a member of the group and try and guess which fact was false. There was a prize for the people who managed to fool the most people and that turned out to be Jenny in our group and Chris in the other group.
After the games quite a few of us decided to go to one of the local pubs. We chose the Peacock because they had karaoke on the Friday night last year. Richard led the way - it turned out to be quite a long walk. We arrived to find that there was no karaoke, but it was quite a nice pub. Chris shared out the chocolates he won as his prize and we all took the opportunity to catch up on each other's news. We then walked back to the Bible College. By now everyone had finally arrived. I had the opportunity to meet my other room-mate, Sarah. She is from Manchester and she knows a few of the other members of 25+ through church. There were also a few other late arrivals who had travelled up from Birmingham and Bristol. I eventually went to bed just after midnight.

6th October - Sarah's surprise 'Thank You' party

When Brian and I arrived at Kay's tonight we found Debbie, Andrea, Kay and Anya in the dining room putting the final touches to the decorations. We started looking at the menus for the local takeaway to choose our meals for the evening. People gradually started arriving. It was good to see some old faces that I haven't seen for a while. I spent some time with Robin who told me about his plans for starting a Phd in the near future. Eventually Anya got the message from Mike to say that He and Sarah were on their way. Robin went outside to watch for their arrival and at a given signal we all did our best to keep quiet as they entered the house. When Sarah came into the room we all shouted "Surprise" and let off our party-poppers. She was amazed and pleased to see so many people.
We rang through the orders for the takeaway and after a short wait, Chris and Kay set off to pick up the meals from the local Chinese. About twenty minutes later we had a phone call. Leigh picked up the phone to say "I'm sorry but Kay has just gone out". The reply she got back was amusing - "Yes I know Kay isn't there - she's standing beside me!" It was Chris asking for others to go over to the Chinese to help collect the food - they had been overwhelmed by our large order. Tim and Rachel went out to help him. Eventually at about 10pm they returned with our food. By this time we were all starving so there we all rushed to the kitchen. Fortunately everything was clearly labelled and everyone was pleased with their orders. On reflection, I think it would have been better to order the food before Mike and Sarah arrived so that we wouldn't have had such a long wait.
After the meal, we presented Sarah with the money we had collected for her - she was lost for words when she saw the amount- and the book of photos and good wishes we had put together. We then shared out the cake. I decided to leave at about 11pm as I was rather tired. We had a good journey back home. However it took quite a while for Brian's taxi to arrive so I didn't end up getting to bed until after midnight. It was good to see the party went to plan and that we managed to keep it all secret.

1st October - Ray Quinn concert at Apollo

When Mum, Dad and I arrived at the Apollo tonight we noticed that it was half empty.
I suppose that's because tonight's show was an extra show that was added when the original one had sold out. I was surprised to find that there were two support acts.
The first was a young girl called Gloria Critchley who sang country and western style songs - she was quite good. Then came another girl with four breakdancers. All her songs sounded the same so we soon became tired of her.
Eventually at 9pm (one and a half hours after the concert started) Ray took the stage accompanied by two girls who looked like a budget version of Las Vegas Showgirls. His first number was "Crazy Little thing called love". He showed off his dancing skills by dancing with the girls. Next came a medley of 'Rat Pack' songs. Although Ray's singing and dancing were good, it was obvious that this was a low budget show. About half way though the show a fat stage hand dressed in shorts and T-shirt brought a table and chair onto the stage and Ray sang "Mr Bojangles" and did some tap dancing. Mum pointed out that changes of scene and costume were much slicker when we saw Michael Ball in concert.
The show ended with a medley of Elvis songs. For the encore Ray came back on to the stage in a white suit and sang My Way and New York, New York.
On the whole it was an enjoyable concert. Ray is a very likeable guy. I was pleased to see that he danced as well as he sang. We reckon that in a few years time he could be a successful star in musicals provided he gets the right management.

29th September - Meal at Yum Yums

I arrived at Waxy O Connors tonight and had a good look around to try and find someone I recognised. Eventually, when I reached the ground floor for the second time I saw Rachel and Susanna. After buying drinks we went up to the top floor and decided to sit on the very top floor. I didn't know until tonight that there was another seating area up there. Other people started arriving. Simon had travelled all the way from Buxton and Andrea had come from Wigan so I reckon I had travelled the shortest distance tonight for a change. We eventually decided to move over to Yum Yums. The waiter led us to a long table near the window. I had been told by friends that standards have gone down in this restaurant since my last visit so I was pleasantly surprised to find that the food was tasty and some of the dishes I like were still available. There isn't as good a variety here as there is in some other buffet restaurants, but we were all happy with what we had. There was one amusing moment when I went over to the ice cream machine. I found that the guy in front of me was having great difficulty trying to stop the ice cream spurting out. His dish was overflowing. Fortunately one of the staff managed to stop it. I was a little wary when it came to my turn, but managed to avoid a similar disaster.
At the end of the meal the others decided to go off to Sarah's for coffee so I said goodbye and went off to get a taxi. I ended up getting home before 11pm which is early for a Saturday night. Now that I know that people are willing to go into the city centre for a meal I may put one on the programme in future.

26th September - Tango Class

I arrived at Tango class tonight to find that we had two different teachers - Jan and Dino. They told us that Lucy (our usual teacher) had had a fall and sprained her ankle so she won't be teaching for the next couple of weeks. We started the lesson with a few simple exercises on our own. We then revised some of the steps that Lucy has been teaching us over the past few weeks. Dino turned out to be quite a character - he gave us various demonstrations of the wrong way to do steps which were very amusing. He was very helpful and spent some time with me going over the basic steps. Chris and I did the improvers class for the first time tonight. The teachers demonstrated some quite complicated steps and taught us some simple "decorations" too. I managed to get the hang of a couple of them. After the class Jan and Dino talked to us about other tango classes in Manchester. All the teachers in Manchester know each other well and are willing to take each other's classes if needed. On reflection I think tonight's class was the best one I've had. We learnt several exercises that we can practice on our own at home and I picked up
a lot of advice on technique from Dino.

22nd September - Dinner Party at Keith's

Chris gave me a lift to Keith's tonight. We started our jouney by driving past the ICI building where Chris used to work. We were both surprised to see how much of the building has been demolished - only the main tower still remains. We then drove through the Peak District to Chesterfield. The weather was good so we had some amazing views of the hills. When we arrived, we were greeted by Adele as Keith was still busy cooking. We looked at the brochure for the house that Keith has just bought - it is bigger than his current home and looks very modern.
When the meal was ready we went into the dining room. The starter was prawn cocktail and the main course was chilli con carne. During the meal we chatted about the day in York - we all agreed it was a great success. We also chatted about the next 25 plus weekend away which all five of us will be going on. The best part of the meal turned out to be the dessert - we had a choice - Mel's Rasberry Pavlova or Keith's Norwegian Apple Cake. I had the pavlova with a large scoop of Ben & Jerry's vanilla -really delicious.
After the meal we moved back into the lounge for an impromptu game of "Name that Tune". We eventually moved back the coffee table so that we had some room to dance.
Adele and Keith started going to ceroc classes a couple of months ago - they have mastered quite a few moves. Keith persuaded Chris and I to do some tango - I feel we are improving.
We left Keith's at about 11pm and made our way home down the motorway as we thought it would be quicker. Unfortunately one of the signs was hidden by a tree so we missed a turning. We stopped off at a service station on M62 to revive ourselves with large mugs of coffee and eventually arrived home at about 1.30am! It was a very enjoyable evening and a great opportunity to get to know each other better.

17th September - Worship leaders course

I was pleasantly surprised to find about 10 people in the chapel at Central Hall tonight. I was originally worried that there wouldn't be many people on this course.
The course is being led by Lynn, one of the Deacons from Chorlton. Sue, another minister from the circuit will be leading some of the other sessions. At the moment all the people on the course are women. Three of them are younger than me and they are members of Platt Lane and St Crispin's churches in Fallowfield.
We chatted about our different experiences in leading worship. I discovered that some of the members of the group had little experience of taking part in services.Lynn assured us that we would all work together to build up each other's confidence.
We checked our diaries and decided that the training sessions won't start until mid-October as many of us are too busy before then. I was re-assured by the fact that the sessions will be once every two or three weeks as I reckon that I couldn't cope with weekly sessions.
I'm looking forward to the course more now than I was before tonight. Everyone taking part seems very friendly and I felt comfortable about sharing things with them.

10th September - Modern Jive Class at Prestwich

I arrived at the class tonight to find that Stuart and Matt (teachers) were on holiday so Lynn and Ann were standing in for them. The moves we learnt in the beginners class tonight were Sway (extra spin added),Yo-Yo, Right Handed Comb and Wurlitzer or at least it was supposed to be a Wurlitzer but it changed to a Catapult. Never mind it was their first class and they did do well otherwise. In the break between classes I got quite a few dances - danced with Rob, Bernard and Jim. Also danced with a guy called John who I have met through tango classes - another good dancer.
At the start of the intermediate class it was announced that Jim and Lynn had stood in at short notice as Phil and Wendy were held up on motorway. So we learnt Nelson Spin, Lady Comb and Shoulder drop. All went smoothly and I managed to master all of them.
Things may go back to normal next time, but really I don't mind either way. Lynn did well tonight considering it was her first class.

8th September - Trip to York

Today started quite early for a Saturday - 8.30am. We had quite a good journey to York and thanks to Phil's preparation and my navigation skills we found the car park in the centre of York quite easily. When we arrived at the Monkbar Hotel, Keith, Helen and Adele were sitting at a table near the reception desk waiting for us. Chris turned up not long after us. He brought Pam, Karen and Elaine with him. It was good to see them all again. Lots of other people started to turn up. It was good to see several people I recognised from the ball. We split up into three groups to do the photo treasure hunt. Mel led our group and Elaine and Karen joined us too. We walked along the walls to the Minster. We found it quite easy to find the ansewrs to the clues. When we arrived at the Minster we went on a guided tour led by a Spanish guy from Barcelona who was very knowledgeable and told us some interesting things about the Minster. After the tour we made our way back to the hotel for lunch of sandwiches and tomato soup.
The options for the afternoon were a trip to the Jorvik Viking Museum, a visit to the Railway Museum (including a ride on the York Wheel) and a walk around York. I decided to go on the Wheel with Sandra and Lucy. As it was a clear day we had a fairly good view though you do tend to see more countryside than landmarks. We had a brief look around the museum when we came down before walking over to the river where we had arranged to meet some of the other for a river cruise. Chris and I bought ice-creams. We sat with Keith on the boat and chatted about his business trip to the States that he is going on next week.
After the boat trip we decided to walk back to the hotel. I discovered that Chris's sense of direction isn't all that good when we discovered (after walking for about 15 mins) that we were going in the wrong direction. At this point I decided we would be better off following the map and sure enough (thanks to my map-reading skills) we eventually found the hotel. We bought drinks and sat down for a chat with some of the others. Eventually the rest of our group joined us and we went over to the dining room for our evening meal.We had a choice of either salmon or beef for our main course. I was quite pleased that I chose salmon as the beef was accompanied by large stodgy-looking Yorkshire pud. Also vegetables seemed to be in short supply - we only got two trays between 6 of us (we reckoned it should have been 1 tray between 2). Never mind - at least that meant we had more room for dessert which was apple pie or chocolate cake. I had the chocolate cake and it was really good. Keith announced that our team , the Normans, had won the photo treasure hunt. The prize was a large box of toffees which we shared between us. People started to leave at about 9pm. Some had to be driven back to the park and ride where they had left their cars. I was glad we didn't have this hassle as we had parked in the nearest city centre car park. We said goodbye to Chris, Pam, Karen and Elaine and set off back to Manchester. On the way home, Phil had a minor accident when someone went into the back of him as he stopped suddenly at a roundabout. Fortunately little damage was done and he and the other driver agreed not to make any claims on each other's insurance. The rest of the journey was pretty uneventful. We arrived back home by about 10.30pm. I was very tired. On reflection it was an enjoyable day - we found plenty to do in York and I made some new friends who I look forward to seeing at the dinner dance in November.

1st September - Trip to Chester

I met Phil and Brian at Piccadilly Station this morning and Phil drove us down to Chester. We had quite an easy journey and arrived at the Park and Ride stop on time.
Debbie was there waiting for us and other people turned up gradually. There were about 20 of us altogether. We travelled into the centre of Chester by bus and walked to the Cathedral. Some of us had brought packed lunches with us so we sat in the cathedral gardens whilst the others went to the cathedral cafe for lunch. I sat and chatted to Helen and Alan about our holidays as I haven't seen either of them for a while. We all met up again behind the cathedral and started to walk along the walls.
Tim and Debbie gave us a guided tour. Tim seems to know a lot about the history of the city from his school days. The weather stayed fair so we had a good view of the city. When we reached the racecourse we saw that the Chester races were on. Vanessa and a few others stayed there to watch a race, whilst the rest of us walked on. We ended up at the Wesleyan Methodist chapel where we stopped for tea and coffee - you can always rely on the Methodists for hospitality! We sat outside and discussed plans for the forthcoming thank you party in hushed whispers as we are supposed to be keeping it secret from our group leader!
After this we split into two groups - some went to the river and others went shopping. I went round the shopping precinct with Jenny, Kay, Emma, Debbie, Helen and Brian. Tim joined us later as he said he lost touch with the others when he stopped for an ice cream. Some of us bought clothes. I bought soap from Lush - one of my favourite shops.
We returned to the car park by bus and made our way to the Shrewsbury Arms for our evening meal. We noticed that it looked a little more expensive than we expected. However the service was quick and the food looked good. Phil, Eddy and I had chicken stuffed with bacon in a creamy leek sauce and Brian had the Thai curry. We enjoyed our meals - I felt too full for dessert so I treated myself to an Ardbeg single malt instead - they have a good selection here. A couple of people did have dessert - Tim had a Banoffee charlotte, Brian had Toffee pavlova and Sarah had apple pie - all of which looked good - portions were generous. We sat around and talked for a while.
We all agreed that Debbie had made a good job of organising the day out.

27th August - Fourth Day of Greenbelt

As I made my way to the Grandstand this morning I heard some lively music coming from
the Underground venue. I went in and found out there was a lively worship service in there. We sang choruses accompanied by rock music - a good way to wake up ready for the day ahead.
When I arrived at work there were quite a few people in the Centaur foyer - they had just come in ready for the next talk and were looking at the exhibition. I had one odd moment when a man came over and offered me a doughnut to get me to mind his bags. I'm not all that keen on doughnuts, but I took it anyway.
When my session finished there was no-one to take over, but it was quiet so I went into the main hall to see the rising. Martyn Joseph was interviewing the lead singer of Duke Special today. I've not heard his music before but I enjoyed listening to his songs and hearing what he had to say.
I then decided I need some lunch so I made my way over to the Performance Cafe where I heard a few songs from Steve Lawson followed by Cathy Burton. I then had another look around the shops. I bought my seminar CDs as I get a free one for working and then went over to the G-source music tent to hear Martyn Joseph play a few songs from his new album.
After this I went back to work as we were supposed to be taking down the display. However I found that there wouldn't be enough people available to do that for another hour so I sat down outside and relaxed in the sun.
I then helped the two Steves to dismantle the exhibition - it was quite hard work - the stands are quite heavy.
I went over to the Sovereign Lounge for the feedback meeting. I heard all about the parts of the festival that I had missed, saw a few friends and had the chance to contribute my own ideas.
I then went back out onto the site for tea which was Japanese veggie Tempura and noodles- very good. I just about got to mainstage in time to hear the last few Ian Archer songs. Then came Duke Special - they were great. The drummer was crazy as you can see from the video below. I enjoyed them more than Delirious - they were so different from anything else - music was lively too.

After a few songs from Delirious I decided I was getting tired so I went to have another hot chocolate with whipped cream before going off to bed.
This has cetainly been a great festival. It was good to see so many good gigs and nice to see old friends too.

26th August - Third Day of Greenbelt

I met John and Fiona at the Tiny Tea tent this morning and sat with them whilst they had breakfast. We then made our way down to the mainstage for the communion service.
I had a look at the service sheet and noticed that the first part of the service was one that Chris from Nexus/Sanctus had used when he led worship at our church a couple of months ago. The most effective part of the service was the prayers when we wrote our concerns on baloons and let them go. We decided to share communion between the three of us. After the service they had to go off to work so I went and had another cheese crepe for lunch and made my way towards the grandstand. I was hoping to get a place in the tango class but it was full up so I went back downstairs where I met Steve who used to manage the seminar tapes team which I used to be part of. He said he doesn't work at festival any more because they have a child to look after.
I decided to go to Miller's farm so I crossed the bridge and went to the other side of the site. I headed straight for the rabbits as I found you could get inside their enclosure and I took a few photos - they were really cute. I then went round the farm to see the other animals - the geese, chickens and donkeys.
Later I returned to the main site to hear John O'Donoghue's talk on Imagination - the path of the Spirit - he is an inspiring speaker. After tea I went over to the CMS tent to listen to the African Spiritual Jazz. It was great - I really enjoyed the music. After the gig there was a salsa lesson with Chuli. This was a lot busier than the one I went to last year and Chuli found it more difficult to lead it. I did have fun though.
I then went on to Last Orders for an hour before going off to bed. I found a shorter route back to the halls of residence tonight via the back entrance near Centaur.

25th August - Second Day of Greenbelt

I woke up early this morning as I wanted to go to the Christian Aid morning worship at Centaur. I was pleased I went as they announced that the second service had been cancelled. This one focused on Christian Aid's Climate Change Campaign and included a thought provoking version of Matthew 25 which sought to show how God feels about what we do to the the planet.
After a brief wander around the grandstand, I went to hear Mark Yaconelli talk about "How to make sure your funeral is well attended". It's all to do with the way you treat others - that seems to agree with the funerals I have been to. Just like his Dad Mark gave us food for thought and he has a good sense of humour.
After lunch, I went to see the "Heaven in a box" exhibition. We were given torches and led into a dark room. The boxes were mainly stuck onto the wall - they included some interesting glimpses of heaven. Loved the jelly baby angels and there were quite a few boxes with chocolates in them.
I then went to work in Centaur. It was relativly quiet so I had a wander around the Forgiveness project exhibition myself - the stories are moving and challenging. Steve warned me that he would be a bit late for his session so I went at the end of my shift as I needed to get to the Simon Mayo quiz which was on the other side of the site.
As usual the quiz was good fun. I liked the Cross Idol round when they got vicars out of the audience and asked them to preach on random bible passages. Charades and "One song to the tune of another" were good too. I wonder if I will be singing the words to "I'll be there for you" when we sing "We plough the fields" at Harvest time.
After the quiz I decided to have couscous and various salads for tea - very good.
I then went over to the Underground stage to see Eliot Jack and Belljar. Saw quite a few friends at the Belljar gig - it was good to see Paul, Emma, John and Fiona. Enjoyed the gig - was amused when Paul lost track of how many kids he has and when he said "We've not made an album this year -all I'm good at is making babies!" We waited at the backstage door to see Paul and Charlotte. I think Fiona must be the group's biggest fan. We then went down to the bar for a drink and caught up each other's news. I then went up to the Soveregn Lounge to see Lies Damned Lies. As with last year it was the ideal way to round off the day. Music is very mellow - they ended with the track "Mercy, pity, peace and Love" which is one of my favourites.

24th August - First day of Greenbelt

Mum and I arrived at the station fairly early. We waited on the platform for a while, but we didn't see te train arrive. I went to speak to one of the guards and he said that the train had arrived at a different platform. We rushed over there but we were too late. So we had to go back to the enquiries desk and work out which train to get. Fortunately there was another train about half-an-hour later. I caught that one and eventually got to Cheltenham at about 1pm. I caught the bus to the racecourse and walked to the halls of residence where I was staying. I unpacked and then went over to the box office to pick up my wristband. I met Jude (the Arts team leader) and went over to the hub tent for the briefing meeting. I found out that I'm working on the Forgiveness project exhibition in the Centaur building - a collection of photos of victims of crime and people who had lost relatives as a result of terrorist bombings. They had learnt to forgive the people who kiled their relatives and their stories were challenging. I have found out that I only have to work 4 hours altogether so I have a very easy job.
After the meeting I went to get some tea - I had a crepe and treated myself to a rainbow cookie. I had a wander around the site and met up with Sue from 25+ at the Tiny tea tent. She was with a friend from London. After talking to her for a short while, I went over to the grandstand to hear John Bell's talk on "God and His girls".
As usual his talk was interesting. I learnt a lot about women in the Bible who are rarely mentioned, but have stories worth telling.
After the talk, I went over to mainstage to see "Over the Rhine". I managed to see most of the gig. They were quite good. Then came the Billy Bragg concert. He was great. At one point he asked the audience if they wanted to hear the Carpenters or Bob Dylan. We voted for Carpenters, but got a bit of both - it was good fun. He then got us to join in with his own version of Bob Marley's "One love" which had the chorus "Let's drop the Debt and it will be all right". The lyrics were thought provoking and we joined in enthusiastically.
After the concert I went over to Last orders in Centaur. I heard Jude and Andy interview Ann Morisey (the speaker for this Sunday's service) and Mark Yaconelli who is speaking at Greenbelt for the first time. Jude asked each person she interviewed various questions in order to determine their carbon footprint as this year Christian Aid are focusing on climate change and trying to make us more aware of the impact we have on the environment. By midnight I started to feel quite tired so I returned to the halls of residence. I have had an enjoyable first day and it looks like there is plenty to look forward to tomorrow.

18th August - Barbecue(?) in Halifax

Chris and Tim picked me up at my parents' house about an hour later than expected and we set off for Halifax. We had great fun finding the farm where Martin lived - had to ask a few people for help. We eventually arrived at about 6pm. We found that we recognised quite a few people there including Peter and Norman. The barbecue had been abandoned due to the weather so we stayed inside. We cooked the burgers and sausages that we had brought with us. We also had some of Martin's cake and biscuits. We talked to Peter about his forthcoming holiday in Romania - there's quite a few of them going - it all sounds quite good. We then went into the lounge where the kids were having fun on the karaoke. They were doing songs from 'Grease' so Chris and I decided to do some jiving.
People started leaving at about 9pm so we decided to go too. Martin's Dad offered to show us round the cattery before we left. They are looking after 13 cats at the moment. They were all cute and friendly. Martin showed us the quickest way to get back to Halifax and we had a much more hassle-free journey home. We were back home by about 10pm. I'm really glad we went - it was an enjoyable afternoon.

13th August - Modern Jive class at Prestwich

Just realised I haven't blogged about dancing yet this month so here goes.
The beginners moves tonight were Basket, side to side,Yo Yo and comb. There seemed to be a fair number of complete beginners there tonight -it's always good to see new faces. I had quite a few dances in the break between classes.
Intermediate moves included a back wrap sway and an Irish pretzel which lots of people struggled with althought the instructor reckoned it wasn't a difficult move.
They announced that the last Friday freestyle raised £400 for one of our members who has cancer so that she can have a weekend break. The next one is the last day of the month so I won't be able to go as the Chester Day is the next day.

11th August - Barbecue at Anya's

I met Brian at the usual place tonight - he was delayed slightly as he had finished work late. We found Anya's quite easily thanks to the good directions and the fact that I had been there before. There was already a good number of people there when I arrived including Alan who normally arrives later than me. Alan and his friend John were roped into helping with the cooking which they did very well. The food was great - there were burgers, chicken drumsticks and kebabs and sausages and a good selection of salads. I found plenty of opportunities to chat to people I haven't seen for a while. Julie and Vanessa were both sporting good tans even though they had only been camping down south. Karen had a new hair do which looked good. Kay says her holiday in Oxford had to be cancelled due to the weather,but she had had a nice rest anyway. I talked to Sarah about the weekend away and she says there are still places left for men which she may have to give to women if she has no response soon. I chatted to Phil about the York day. We have decided to park in the city centre to avoid a really early start.
I have found out that John W is working in one of the indoor talk venues at Greenbelt. Also found out that Sue P is going with a friend and staying in a B&B.
It looks like the festival will provide many chances for meeting up like it did last year.
We decided to leave at about 11pm. Alan helped me to get out of the car park as I was a bit blocked in. We had an easy journey home and I was back before midnight. In all it was an enjoyable night.

10th August - Meal at Golden Rice Bowl

For a change the bus arrived on time tonight so I went to meet Brian and Jonathan in the Waterhouse. There wasn't time to have a drink but I found time to check the list in preparation for later.
We made our way to the restaurant which was surprisingly quiet. Whilst we were deciding what to have Debbie rang to say she would be late and asked me to order her usual dishes. Luckily she arrived before the starters. I had chicken and mushroom puffs for starters - I got five of them and they were very tasty. Debbie had spring rolls, Brian had crab and sweetcorn soup and Jonathan had seaweed. Then came the main courses. Debbie had Lemon chicken, Jonathan had Aubergine and Bean curd with vegetables, Brian had Chili and garlic chicken and I had King Prawn with Cashew nut and vegetables. My prawns were plump and juicy. I tried a bit of Brian's dish and found that it had quite a kick to it. After the meal the waiter brought us a slice of melon and half an orange each. They looked after us well and even offered to take our photo when Brian brough out his camera.
We left the restaurant and returned to the Waterhouse. I decided to try the summer fruit cider which was quite sweet and deceptively strong. I guess I'm getting out of the habit of drinking now I do more driving. We caught up on each other's news. Aparently Debbie is now going to Social Circle meetings as Activities seem to be winding down. It was good to see everyone again - we must do this again.
We caught a taxi home and thanks to the cider I reckon I slept well tonight!

8th August - Tango class at Heaton Park Social club

You may remember that a while ago we had a tango demonstration during a modern jive night. We finally got round to trying a tango lesson for ourselves. Chris gave me a lift there and we found the place quite easily. The lessons were in the function room downstairs which had a good-sized dance floor. The teachers were two young women - Lucy and Andrea (who is Venezuelan). I was surprised to see that I recognised a few of the other dancers from Jive class. It took me a little while to relax and get used to a new style of dancing, but the teachers were helpful and showed me where I was going wrong. We stayed to watch the intermediate class and I was quite impressed by some of the dancing. We have decided that we will go back again next week. Andrea says she is going to be teaching at La Tasca from Sunday onwards so we may go there sometime.

4th August - Northern Lights Committee Meeting in Doncaster

Chris, Brian and I met up at my parents' house this morning and set off for Doncaster. Chris seemed to be familiar with the route so we discussed the agenda as we travelled. The weather was good and the roads were reasonably quiet so we arrived at Paul and Yvonne's house in good time for the meeting. Sandra, Paula and Christine were already there and Adele and Keith arrived at the same time as us. Yvonne had bought plenty cakes and biscuits so there was a good selection of things to eat during the meeting.
We started off by talking about the events we have planned for the rest of this year.
Keith says bookings are going well for the York Day - I think we have about 40 people going at the moment.We are also starting to make final arrangements for the November Dinner and Disco. This will be the last event that Paul and Paula will be planning as they are retiring from the leadership team this year. It looks like Keith is taking over as chair with help from the rest of the team.
We had a break for lunch which was carrot and coriander soup followed by more flapjacks and cakes.
We then discussed events for next year. We already have a quiz planned for April and we are hoping to have a couple of weekends away - one of which may be in Europe. Chris suggested a day in Liverpool as it will be city of Culture next year. We need to have something on our side of the Pennines for a change! I have been tasked with booking a West-End musical for some time next year.
At the end of the meeting Paula left to go to the theatre, Paul took Christine to the station and Sandra and Adele went home too. The rest of us ordered a Chinese meal for 4 (between 6 as portions are quite generous!) from the local takeaway. We decided to eat outside as it was still warm and sunny. There was a good selection of dishes including spare ribs, prawn and vegetable fried rice , chow mein and chicken with water chestnuts and cashew nuts. We also shared a bottle of Chianti which Chris bought with him - he still has several bottles of wine at home which were birthday presents.
When it started to get dark, we said goodbye to Paul and Yvonne and made our way back to Manchester. We had another good journey and decided to stop at a pub in Shaw near Oldham on the way. It was quite a modern Travelodge - though I'm not sure if we could have an event there in the future as we couldn't see a function room.
We arrived home at about 10pm. In all we had a pretty good day - I think I got to know the rest of the committee a bit better and we have quite a few ideas for next year's events.

31st July - Scissor Sisters concert

I decided to buy a pink feather boa on the way to the concert tonight as I've been meaning to get one for ages. I arrived at the MEN Arena early as usual and spent some time watching the crowd. There was a bunch of women behind me in pink wigs and feather boas and a couple in basques, stockings and brightly coloured wigs - this was obviously the time for fancy dress.
I didn't think much of the support act - every song sounded the same. No wonder most people didn't come in until they had finished.
The concert started with "She's my man" which got the audience up and dancing. The laser lights were very bright and colourful and the bottom part of the stage was shaped like a pair of legs. Jake (lead singer) wore silver and black striped trousers and BabyDaddy and Anna were in bright pink. Jake danced around the stage like a man possessed - he is crazy. I enjoyed all the songs - even the ones I didn't know. When they sang "Filthy Gorgeous" there was a giant naked woman dancing on the screen behind - this was not a concert for the easily shocked!
The end of the concert came a little too quickly, but we knew there would be an encore. Jake came back on his own at first. He explained that one band member was not there tonight because his mother had recently passed away. He then sang "Mary" as a tribute to her. The final song was as expected - "I don't feel like dancing".
Jake came back on in gold shorts and braces and Anna wore a gold frock.
In all it was a great night. I've had a hectic few days recently with all these concerts etc so I'll definately need a rest now!

30th July - Lady Salsa show at Palace Theatre

The city centre looked busier than usual when we arrived tonight. There's a concert on at the Arena as well as our show, plus the weather is good again so that must be why.
We arrived at the Palace and saw Jackie and a few other friends from my salsa class were there too. We found they were sitting in the circle with us. We had good seats in the front row but the leg room was limited.
The show told the story of salsa music and dance through the eyes of one woman who was called Lady Salsa. The costumes were bright and colourful and seemed to get briefer with each dance! The dancers performed rumbas, cha cha and flamenco as well as salsa. The men were excellent dancers - they could breakdance and do backflips as well as dancing furiously. I recognised a lot of the moves, but don't think I could have kept up with the pace. In the second half the dancers got quite a few people from the stalls up onto the stage to join in. Quite a few of them were good dancers. In the finale they taught us all a short routine. It's a pity I didn't have the room to join in properly!
In all it was an excellent show which Mum and I really enjoyed. I would recommend it to anyone.

29th July - Afternoon at the Woodstock pub, Didsbury

I met up with Brian in the city centre today and we travelled down to Didsbury by bus. We had a bit of a problem finding the pub, as we took a wrong turning, but got there eventually. We found Alan, Julia, Rick and Ian sat outside as it was a lovely summer day. It took a while to get served at the bar - I don't think they expected to be so popular today. Whilst we were waiting John, Phil and Jenny turned up and joined us. The two tables either side of us soon became free. I chatted to Jenny about her recent trip to Australia - it seems all went well. She is pleased to have graduated and it looks like she won't have difficulties finding a job - the part time work she did during her placement is still keeping her busy. Chris and Tim turned up later on. We chatted to Tim about his recent Network weekend in Derbyshire which went well. Also talked about Greenbelt. I have found out that John is an assistant venue manager this year. Phil and I also told the others how good last night's play was.
Chris, Brian and I made arrangements for our trip to Doncaster next Saturday for the Northern Lights Committee meeting. I hope the weather stays fine until then. We didn't realise how late it was until I checked my watch and saw it was nearly 5.30pm. Brian and I said goodbye and made our way to the bus stop - we found it quite easily this time. The bus must have took longer than usual to get to town and by the time I got back to Shudehill it was 6.30pm so I didn't get home till 7pm.
I had an enjoyable time, but may consider going by car next time if we continue to use this venue.

28th July - Twelfth Night in Wythenshawe Park

I met up with John in the city centre tonight and he drove to the park. It was good to see that the weather was still fine. We met up with Geoff, Phil, Wendy, Nigel and a new guy called Paul. Phil reckoned that as the afternoon performance was cancelled there would be less people from the group there. I reckon we did well as tickets for the evening performance were £13 and ours were only £5. We found seats in the covered area and we had a good view of the stage.
The production was minimalist and modern. Actors dressed in school uniform with outrageous wigs and almost everyone played two roles. The actors also played the music on oboe, keyboard, flute and guitar. The play was very amusing, especially when Malvolio turned up in stripy black and yellow stockings, garters and a soft toy banana sewed to the front of his briefs! The boxing match between Viola and Andrew Aguecheek was fun too.
In all it was a very enjoyable evening - I'm very glad I was able to go.

27th July - Friday Freestyle at Longfield Suite

Chris and I went to the first Friday Freestyle Jive at the Longfield Suite tonight.
It was a little quieter than usual,but nevertheless we had a good night. I danced with Chris most of the time, but also had the chance to dance with some of my friends from Prestwich including Rob and Jim. Phil and Wendy, who teach at the class where Chris normally goes in Warrington, taught the fun class. I enjoyed that. We mastered the first move which included a step sequence and tried our best to practise it as often as possible.
We stayed right to the end (midnight) by which time I was quite tired. I was pleased to discover that the next Friday Freestyle doesn't clash with Greenbelt so I look forward to going again.

22nd July - Salsa class

Today was the last day that the trams will be running from Crumpsall for a while so it will be harder to get to salsa class for the next couple of months. There was a fair number of people there when I arrived. The moves we learnt in the beginner lesson were the right turn and the step in. In the interval between classes I practised these moves with Sid. The intermediate class involved learning a longer sequence with several opportunities for styling - something which I'm gradually mastering. We didn't have time to learn the whole sequence as it was quite complex.
I went to Victoria station after the class and found there was a delay on the trams due to a points failure - trust there to be a problem on the last day. Despite this it was a good afternoon.

21st July - Big Jive Night at Stockport Town Hall

I left early tonight as I was concerned that the roadworks around the Belmont Bridge would cause delays. I need not have worried as the diversion was well signposted and the roads were not as busy as I expected.
The lesson tonight was good fun - the moves included a double catapult where the woman gets to lead the man for the second half of the move. I had quite a few dances tonight - several of them were with friends from Prestwich including Eric and my Aussie friend. Kay joined me at about 10.30 - she had come from the meal at Formby which she said was quite good. I left at about 11pm. The journey home was even easier than the journey there. In all it was a really good evening - I'm glad I went.

16th July - Modern Jive Class at Prestwich

Had quite a good night tonight. Beginners' moves were Basic, Man Spin, Catapult and Comb - all reasonably easy. Had quite a few dances in the interval between classes.
Saw my Aussie friend again and had a dance with Sid which I enjoyed. I saw Barry who I haven't seen for a while. He asked lots of questions about mutual friends of ours. Moves in the second class included a Secret Yo Yo Nelson which I eventually mastered. Have found out that the freestyle night in just over a week's time will be a charity fundraiser for one of our regulars who is currently quite ill. It promises to be a good night.

14th July - Pub Night at Cheshire Line Tavern

We had a good journey down to the pub tonight. There were quite a few people there when we arrived. We sat with and talked to Tina, Cath, Duncan and Paul at first. Tina and Duncan were in good moods as school has now finished and they have their summer free. Paul can't go on the forthcoming weekend away as he can't get time off work, but the others have already booked. Later on we moved tables to talk to Chris, Vanessa and the Irish girl who is another Sarah. I talked to Vanessa about Greenbelt and told her who is performing this year. The others were comparing notes on their Eastern European holidays - it all sounded very interesting.
We have discovered that next weeks beach day may be cancelled if weather continues to be as bad as it has been earlier this week. Actually today wasn't too bad -I had to wear sunglasses when i was driving tonight.
Before going home I asked a couple of people if they were going dancing next week at Stockport. Kay is not sure as it's her sister-in-law's birthday and Chris can't go because he is going to Keith's birthday party. However he did say he was still interested in going to Prestwich at the end of the month. I will still go to Stockport next week nevertheless as I don't get many opportunities to go. I'm sure there will be a few Prestwich regulars there.
We left a bit later tonight and had a pretty good journey home. In all it was an enjoyable evening.

11th July - Quiz

I seem to have been doing a lot of these silly quizzes lately.
As I'm a big fan of Ice cream I thought I'd post the result of this one.

You Are A Pistachio Ice Cream Girl

Funky. Surprising. Wild.

What Flavor Ice Cream Girl Are You?

7th July - Day at Gawthorpe Hall

Phil picked Brian and I up from my parent's place at about 11am and we followed Google's directions. They were ok until we got near the Hall when we were directed into a cul-de-sac! We eventually found the place. Sharon (the organiser), Chris, Norman and a few others were already waiting in the car park. I was introduced to Chris's friend Pam who had persuaded him to join us today. Elaine, Tim, Sandeep and Leanne arrived not long after us and by the time we set off there were 25 of us altogether. We noticed there were far more 25+ people than Gatherers even though they had organised the day. The walk route through the woods was fairly flat, but very muddy. I was glad I wore my boots. About half way along the route we stopped for lunch. Eventually we arrived back at the hall. We headed straight for the tea shop where we had scones with jam and cream. Phil and I had Earl Grey Tea and the others had coffee.
We then went for a look round the hall. Pam and I were particularly impressed with the embroidery exhibition and I think the others enjoyed it more than they were expecting to. We took photos outside the hall and then met the others back in the car park.
We then drove to the nearby Fencegate pub for the evening meal. We found that they weren't serving food until 6.30pm so we sat and chatted until then. Menus were put out and we ordered food. Phil and I had smoked cheese and pork sauasages and Brian,Chris and Pam had Steak and Ale pie. The chips were proper chunky chippy chips. Brian and Pam ordered chocolate pots for dessert and Chris had Sherry trifle Creme Brulee. I sampled both and they were very nice. We carried on chatting until after 9pm and then set off for home. The roads were fairly quiet so it didn't take long.
I'm really glad I went today as it was a very good day.

1st July - Salsa Danceabout afternoon at Opus in the Printworks

As usual, I was one of the first to arrive at Opus today. It's a good venue - the dance floor is much bigger than La Tasca. As peole started arriving I recognised quite a few faces. It was good to see Lorraine and Les again. There were quite a few people from our Sunday class there today, but unfortunately not many from the Monday class. I had quite a few dances and I must say I managed quite well once I got into my stride.
I seemed to do a good mix of Cuban and New York Salsa. I didn't see the dance demonstrations as they were later on in the evening, but I did enjoy the first Danceabout at Opus and I hope to go again.

30th June - Phil's birthday - Pasta party

Brian contacted me in the afternoon to say he had double-booked himself and would not be going tonight. I therefore set off for Kay's on my own when it stopped raining. Phil greeted me at the door and told me that the others were having a committee meeting in the lounge so we were waiting in the kitchen. Sue, Neil ,Sandeep and Leigh arrived not long after me. Leigh pointed out that the curtains were closed in the lounge - very secretive! Eventually the meeting finished and we went into the lounge to find Debbie, Andrea,Anya, Sarah and Kay. Sarah left straight after the meeting to go to Chester (not sure why!)
Phil went back in the kitchen to start cooking and soon bought in a large bowl of pasta and a variety of sauces. Whilst we were eating, John and Simon arrived. Rachel ,Mike and Tim arrived later and Laurie brought her friend Jude with her. They talked about their holiday in Spain where they had met - it sounds like they had a good time. Phil seemed to insist on playing classical music which not many people liked so whilst he was out we swapped his CD for Queen's Greatest Hits - much better!
This led to a discussion about live concerts and I discovered that I'm the only one who still goes to them regularly.
We chatted about the recent weekend away - everyone seemed to have enjoyed it. We seem to be lucky where the weather was concerned - if we had gone this weekend we would have loads of hassle as weather has been dreadful.
Later on in the evening Phil brought in two birthday cakes - one was a rich chocolate cake and the other was an iced sponge and Debbie brought in some chocolate cornflake cakes which disappeared very quickly.
I left at about 11pm and had quite an easy journey home despite the fact that I had to take a slight detour because part of Great Cheetham Street was blocked off.
Despite the fact that there was only a small number of people there tonight I quite enjoyed it as it meant that I had the chance to chat to everyone.

24th June - After the ball was over...

I had breakfast at 9 with Chris and Brian as planned. The continental breakfast was pretty good - we had cereal, muffins, fruit and coffee. Peter had decided to have a lie-in as he was pretty tired. We went over to the other hotel where we split up into groups to go to church. I went to the Anglican church with Keith, Brian, Leanne, Liz, Rob,Phil and Ella. St Helen's Church was a very traditional looking building - we reckoned it dated back to Norman times but once we went inside we found it was quite modern. They had a band and all the hymns and responses for communion were on an OHP so there was no need for books. The congregation was quite large - about 100 - and the service was lively. We stayed for coffee afterwards and chatted to members of the congregation who were quite friendly.
Unfortunately it was raining when we came out so we dashed back to our cars and headed back over to the Red Kite pub for lunch. We arrived at a similar time to the other group who had been to the Pentecostal church. I ordered duck in orange sauce with new potatoes. Chris had roast beef and Yorkshire pud with all the trimmings and Brian had roast turkey. Dave had a Chicken and Apsparagus pie. The portions were quite generous. Peter had benefitted from his lie-in though he said there was quite a rush for the last serving of breakfast.
Sarah, Susannah and a few others joined us later - they had been to the local sculpture park which they said was quite interesting - mainly modern art work.
We originally planned to ge the earlier train back but this didn't work out as Chris wasn't sure where the station was and the signs in the town centre weren't all that helpful. After saying goodbye to him, Brian and I caught the first train to Leeds where we found the first train to Manchester was going to Victoria station. It was one of those trains that stops at every station and had no buffet trolley, but I think I was too tired to care. Eventually we arrived back at Victoria and jumped on trams going in different directions. I had a light meal at Mum and Dad's before going back home for a much needed early night.
In all it was an excellent weekend - I'm so glad I decided to go.

23rd June - Northern Lights Summer Ball - Wakefield

I met Brian at Piccadilly Station and we had a good train journey to Wakefield. We checked into the Travelodge and found that the rooms were quite spacious. By coincidence we met Chris in the foyer and he offered to give us a lift to the Cedar Court hotel where the ball was taking place. Once we arrived there we had a look around to see if we could find anyone else. We found Keith in the gym and returned to the foyer where we met Sandra and looked at the plan for the evening. As I have now joined the Northern Lights Committee, I was asked to help out on the desk taking people's details. We then went up to look at the room which was quite large. The tables were on one side of the room laid with blue and white tablecloths and candlelabra and the dance floor was on the other. We returned to our hotel to get changed and left the others to put the finishing touches to the room.
I met up with Brian in the foyer and we took a taxi down to the Cedar Court. When we reached the Rowan Suite we saw that all the baloons were in place and the band were starting to set up. I sat down with Keith who was wearing his kilt (!) and we started to book people in as they turned up. I was pleased to see quite a few familiar faces including Leanne who I had talked to about the ball when I last saw her at 25+ and a few people I met at the Halifax day. Everyone looked great in their ball gowns and suits.
When the band started their first number, Chris led me onto the dance floor for the first dance. Despite being the only ones on the dance floor I think I did quite well and we certainly had quite a few compliments afterwards. After a couple more numbers they announced that the food was ready. The buffet was excellent - there was dim sum,samosas, pizza, sandwiches and salad. I chatted to a few others at our table including Caroline, Rob and Liz who I met at Chris's party. When the meal had finished, we had what Paula called "Death by Notices(!)" when all the forthcoming events were announced. Sandra, Chris and Keith were presented with wine and flowers and thanked for all the effort they had put into planning the ball. We then had the ice-breaker activity. We opened the envelopes we had received when we walked in and split into groups to answer the questions inside which included "What would you do if you won £1 million?" and "Describe you ideal house." It certainly got everyone talking.
After this the band started up again and the floor soon filled up. As well as the usual dances they decide to include a barn dance which was a bit chaotic, a St Bernard's waltz and the Gay Gordons. I even managed to have a go at "Double Trouble" with another girl and Chris. I think we did ok, considering it was my first attempt.
By the end of the evening, I was pretty shattered after all the dancing. When the party was over I helped to tidy up. Everyone said they had had a briliant evening.
We went outside to find that it was raining but even I didn't mind as I needed cooling down. Chris drove Peter,Brian and I back to the hotel and we arranged to meet for breakfast at 9 the next morning.
In all it was a great evening - the best ball I have been to.

18th June - Modern Jive at Prestwich

After two weeks off due to my London trip and Church family committee I finally got the chance to go dancing. It looked like there were less people there tonight - some of the regulars like Rob and Sid were missing. The beginners moves were Basic, Yoyo, Wrist Spin and Step Across. Had quite a few dances in the break including one with a younger guy who said I looked terrified. I guess that's because I'm not used to doing drops with strangers, but it was a good experience.
The intermediate moves included a secret shouder drop and wurlitzer lean. I ended up dancing with Eddy at the end of that which was good. After watching the advanced class I went home. It was a good practice for Saturday and good to be back.

17th June - Last day of weekend away at Lake Bala

I managed to get up early this morning despite going to bed late last night. I sat with John, Alan and Mike for breakfast. There was no cooked breakfast today - just toast and cereal. After breakfast I went upstairs to pack. At 11am we had our service. The songs were led by Duncan and Vanessa gave a very personal testimony based on 23rd Psalm. It must have taken a lot of guts to share such personal stuff. After the service we sang "Happy birthday" to Phil and his cake from his Mum was brought in. It was decorated with a football and a mini golf course complete with golfer. We then had lunch which was roast beef and Yorkshire pudding with roast potatoes,broccoli and carrots. I enjoyed it despite not being a big fan of roast beef. The pudding was more my style - orange cheesecake and there was cheese and biscuits to follow too.
I found out that the walk after lunch was going to be a fairly long one led by John so decided not to go on it. I stayed behind and watched the volleyball instead. By now the weather was getting quite hot so I put on a bit of Susanna's suncream as I had decided not to pack mine. Some of the people who had a long way to go like Adele, Alison, Wendy and Norman left early. Rick, Julie and Ian left at three as Julie had to pick up her son from her Mum's. After three games of volleyball others started leaving too. We left at about 4pm and had a pretty good journey home which took just under two hours. I had salmon salad at Mum's before returning to my place. I had an early night to make up for the lack of sleep I had over weekend.
In all it was a good break - I'm really glad I went.

16th June - Second day of weekend at Lake Bala

I had breakfast with Kay, Anya, Elaine,Karen, Debbie and Julie this morning. There was the option of a cooked breakfast today so I had beans on toast with saute potatoes. After breakfast about half of us went off to the lake for sailing and canoeing. The rest of us went into Bala to look around the shops. We also went for a coffee at the internet cafe. I resisted the urge to look at my e-mails - I reckoned it could all wait until tomorrow night. After this we went in the Rainbows End shop and Cafe and found that we really should have gone there for coffee - Cath and Tina said they were good. We then returned to the centre for lunch of Pasta Bake followed by Jam Sponge and Custard.
After lunch we set off for the train station where we caught the steam train which runs along the shore of the lake. It was a pleasant journey,but I reckon I should have avoided the open carriage as the smoke made my eyes water. When we arrived at the station we had drinks in the station cafe. Quite a few of us opted for Hot chocolate and other ordered flapjack and shared it with me. We decided to travel in the carriage with windows on the way back - much better for my eyes. When we disembarked I took a few photos of the steam engine and then set off for the village. I had another look round Rainbows End with Debbie and Julie. When we arrived back at the centre I found that Kay had bought the necklace she had been admiring earlier. Tea was fish and chips followed by ice cream. After tea we set off for the pubs again. We intended to go in The Goat as there was a disco on, but it looked dead when we arrived so we went to the White Lion instead. I tried out the Welsh Whisky which was quite good.
We then went back to the Goat where we were chatted up by some dodgy locals. Needless to say we only had one drink there and moved on to the Bulls Head for the Karaoke night. Kay and Karen sang 'I will survive'. They then had a game of 'Play Your Cards Right' which no-one won so they said the jackpot rolls over to next week. After this Kay had another go at the Karaoke and sang Black Velvet. By now it was past 1am so we went back to the centre. I decided to go straight to bed as I was very tired.

15th June - First day of weekend away at Lake Bala

Elaine picked me up at 2pm and we had a pretty good journey down to Wales. We arrived early so we had a wander into the village to look around the shops. We just managed to get back before it started raining. Sarah had arrived first and Mike and Anya were there too. We also saw Charlie who had arrived early and had been walking and checking out the pubs for us. Not long after we arrived Kay, Tim and Kirsty arrived along with Karen. I showed Kirsty the room we would be sharing. It's a bit on the small side, but quite cosy. As the afternon passed more people arrived. I discovered that Jenny wasn't coming as she had decided to go to Australia early because she got a good deal on her flight, but Debbie was coming in her place.
By the time it came for us to have our evening meal most of the party had arrived. Sarah said there would be 50 of us altogether but a couple of people weren't arriving until Saturday. Tea was bread rolls, salad, ham and cheese followed by cake. A few weren't all that happy with it but I didn't mind. By the end of the meal the last few stragglers had arrived including Mike and Alan. It was good to see them again.
After tea we decided to check out the pubs which Charlie recommended. His main recommendation, the Goat seemed a bit crowded so we went to the Bull's Head instead.
I sat with Karen, Tim, Ian, Norman and Eddy and we had a few games of dominoes as we caught up on each other's news. We left the pub at about midnight. When we got back I watched Kay and Charlie play pool for a short while before going to bed.

6th June - Second Day in London

I had breakfast in the hotel restaurant this morning. I was a bit naughty and had a Danish Pastry with my cereal and Fruit Salad. I then went back to my room and worked out how to access the internet and read my email on TV.
I then checked out and went over to Earl's court for the fair. Alex was already there and had started to set up. We seemed to be pretty busy today. On Alex's recommendation I went to Bakers Oven and had Tuna salad for lunch. The afternoon was busy at the fair and by the end of the day we had reached our target of 650 registrations. Alex and I decided to go straight home after the fair but Andy and Jo stayed on. We just about managed to get the 5.05pm train and we had a good journey. I was back home by 8.30pm and had time to go back to my flat.
In all it's been a good two days. I will definately be volunteering to do a fair next year.

5th June - First day of London Careers Fair

I got up early this morning as I had to catch the 7.15am train to London. I made it to the station with ime to spare so I bought a newspaper and magazine. Alexandra who was also going to the fair got on the train at Stockport. She said they had done really well at the fair at the Barbican last week.
We arrived at Euston and took the tube to Earl's Court. Rang the other s to check we had time to drop our bags at the hotel before going to the fair and found we had. Our rooms at the hotel weren't ready so we left our bags in reception and walked over to Earl's Court. Found out that our stand is right near the entrance which is really great as we can attract the attention of the students as they come in. We had a really good day and got lots of students to register with us - over 300 so we should reach our target of 650 for the two days. At the end of the day I went round the other stalls to get free sweets and chocolates(!) Also we all got a free punnet of strawberries from the Sainsbury's stand.
We then went back to the hotel. My room is good but the view from the window isn't brilliant. After an hour's rest I caught the tube to Stepney Green to see Karen (our former Deacon). I found her house quite easily. She was pleased to see me and showed me round the house. It has three floors and four bedrooms. Apparently it dates back to the 1700s but the kitchen was added on recently - about 20 years ago.
Later on in the evening we went out for a meal in Brick Lane. We went to a restaurant called Chillis. I had Chicken Dansak which was spicier than I expected and Karen had Vegetable Jalfrezi. We caught up on each other's news. She told me about her church and the projects she works with. She is off to Iona with some people from the circuit next week. It is the first time she has been.
We left the restaurant at about 9.30pm. I caught the tube back from Adlington Green. It's a good job the hotel is near the station as it was dark by the time I got back.
I was quite tired so I went straight to bed.