Pub quiz with Chris and Fiona making us a team of four – as usual. A fun evening in great company and we won – AGAIN! I’m almost embarrassed now. The winning margin was 7 points – not bad. Hector amazed all and was the only person to know the song (Pipes of Peace) and artist (Paul McCartney) to some lyric questions. WELL DONE HIM!

FORGOT to say – we saw the strange and walrus-voiced Lou Pride on Friday night in Penrith. Not really my thing, but very interesting.

Gary, good friend of Ross, took this picture just behind our house of a red squirrel. I knew they were near the village but didn’t know they were in the village. What a treat.

Found these two photos by StumblingUpon. Dolphins surfing a wave and exquisite sea ice.

We feel like celebrating.TOOTSIE is back! She was found and brought back. WHAT a relief! She’s even thinner than before but healthy. PHEWWWW!

I dropped He off at Sheffield station to spend the week in London at IBM, but first we took a look at the water pools and sliding water fountains outside the station. Its a lovely area to be. Genius design. This is us reflected in the long, sheer, smooth-as-smooth, Sheffield steel water feature.
HeandFi Cascade Mirror.

Little Tootsie has gone missing. Two nights now and no sign. We did a leaflet that Ross and Gary delivered to houses in the village. It’s freezing tonight (early hours as I write) and its awful to think she is trapped somewhere or injured and can’t get home and out of the cold. She’s only been with us a few weeks but I am very attached to her and miss her already.
Sad sad
Monday 22nd – still no Tootise. I think we have accepted that he is gone. Its awful not knowing what happened though. We put leaflets all over, searched the church, the old school and all over the village, in trees and sheds etc.

Our first trip to the Sage at Gateshead for live music. A gorgeous venue. He saw John Prine and I saw Spiers & Boden. Both were brilliant. A successful evening, tho marred by my worrying about Tootsie.
The most stunning building I’ve been in, which for all its lofty architecture is friendly and inviting. Its site on the Tyne and the views are inspiring. The lighting is a sculpture in its own right.

musicovery - a fabby website that finds you music to suite your mood. Tell it a genre and your mood and hey presto! A cool way to find some sounds and discover new music.
I’m impressed!
Watch out tho – the site is French so to register you need to navigate the registration in French.

Don’t she look luverly. Lollykin being a ‘Mudoll’.

He took this nice little pic of Tootsie using me as a sofa. She really likes to sit snuggled up close and near your face. Bless her.
I’m going to weekly guitar lessons – I needed something to give me a push. Its ok – not inspiring tutor or tutor group but its making me learn stuff (especially reading the music) and ensures I practice every day. To be honest I’m disappointed that I don’t seem to have a natural affinity for it (YET!) I’d kind of assumed I might as I am so into music and was good at it when I was young. Maybe its an age thing?!? It makes me more impressed that I can watch and hear He play with such ease. Giac likes to pose with a guitar….

…there he was … wandering around in the middle of the road nowhere near houses. I couldn’t see anyone around and couldn’t leave him. So, when I opened the car door he just climbed in and settled down. On getting home I called the local dog warden (WHAT a nice guy – Paul) who came to get him straight away. Ross was most taken with Ginger (as he christened him) and we’ll be informed if his owners claim him, or – maybe we’d consider having him.
He’s a ‘sort of’ Jack Russell terrier. Friendly, well behaved and sociable. He had a funny little perfect dog-bone shaped white marking on his rear.

UPDATE…. 26th October
He was reunited with his owner and very happily so. I answered the door last night to be presented with a glorious orchid plant – his owner wanted to thank me. Aren’t there some LOVELY people in this world.

That there countdown on this blog is starting to give me the heebie jeebies!

The Guest House of High Meadows House at Great Haywood as ever provided a lovely place to stay after the party. High Meadows offers the Edwardian elegance of a gentleman’s residence, the house having been built for a local doctor during the early 19th century. Great McIntosh style interior. Our room is one I’ve stayed in before – big bed in the middle, velvet covers, period furniture. As ever they made us very welcome!

Traveling home on the Sunday we stopped off at Hardwick House but didn’t have time to do more than a little wander around. We’ll definitely go back for a day or more some time. To quote Van Morrison “the autumn leaves were magnificent and all shining”….

A not-quite-surprise party for Helen’s f-f-f-f—-tieth birthday in Tixall. It was a long drive down – I was really ill, and I cracked my head on a sink tap at the hotel on arrival, but the evening was something I wouldn’t have missed for the world and the party was lovely. Helene looked lovely! NO WAY does she look THAT old!

Her hubby Martin and daughters Katherine and Charlotte had organised a brilliant evening and made great serving staff! There were tears in several eyes during the speeches; mine included.

This is great. Filmed in 1969 in the USA – predicting a computerised home. They weren’t too far off the mark!

Tootsie has worked out how to climb the tree in the garden to reach the wide world behind the high wall of the churchyard. The world is now her oyster.

On a drive to work this was the autumn sunrise over the Eden Valley. We are so very lucky to live here.

Ross had a 14th birthday. Treat no. 1 was dinner at the pub.

A ghostly (or do I mean GHASTLY?) pic of me at dinner?….

Treat no. 2 – an afternoon at Ullswater, with Gary. A steamer boat trip in autumn sun and water that here and there was like glass. Shining water and strange shapes and reflections.

Then a walk on the shore and cake at the lake and a failed attempt to make a model aircraft fly and some footie.

Treat no. 3 was burgers and chips and crumble and custard at home…..