What a Weekend! And a nugget of wisdom!

 We were in Clonakilty, Cork, for the South of Ireland Band Championships.

What a lot of fun!  (I'm 3rd Horn from the right, again!)
 Each of the bands plays in the school hall, at the competition, but also on the street! That was so much fun! I don't know why there's a monkey on top of the phone box!

 I'm discovering how different venues/acoustics affect the sound. On the street, I couldn't hear any of the other instruments, which made it really difficult to know if I was with the others or not.

We won 1st place in the Senior Competition, and part of winning is a Victory Train Ride through the town!

  The Lord Mayor comes on the train with the winners!

It was hilarious! If there's one thing guaranteed to get adults to instantly become children, it's a mini-train! We piled in and started singing, clapping, cheering!

Then, in the pub, they filled our cup with a cocktail of booze.

 It was passed around for everyone to have a taste.

During the night's celebrations, I was constantly surprised at the taking of photos (for Facebook). A night out has totally changed since I used to do this regularly- it's all about recording it!

And within minutes it's on Facebook!

 Would need to either not care or take extreme care to behave well!

(pictures 1 and 3 are from  Richard Tyndall Photography)

I was browsing through documents tonight and came across "Things to Give Up".

Give up thinking you’re not ready. – Nobody ever feels 100% ready when an opportunity arises. Because most great opportunities in life force us to grow beyond our comfort zones, which means we won’t feel totally comfortable at first.

I'm so glad that I sometimes listen to my own (or the internet's!) advice, and that I went ahead and joined the Band. It's one of the best decisions I've ever made with my life.

TGIF and camera found

It's been a long week, and I'm so glad it's Friday, moreso than I can remember in a very long time. I've been just about hanging in there!With all the stress of the recent family deaths, my stomach has been playing up again, and I've ended up on medication (again). Even though it's only an acid inhibitor, and I will probably only need it for a few weeks, I hate taking it.
Is anybody else like that?I'm (touching wood!) so healthy that I never even have to take paracetamol, so I shouldn't complain about a few stomach tablets.
I've had to buy a big pillow, which I also hate, and which interferes with my sleep, as does the acid that's still causing pain.
Moan over! It's the weekend and I plan to enjoy it. I'm doing a little shopping tomorrow, band on Sunday morning (another recording coming up soon! some of it is not too challenging, see below!) and on Sunday afternoon I'm meeting up with 3 former colleagues (referred to by my kids as "Mary, Mary and Joan" since they were tiny!) whom I haven't seen for about 5 years. We send Christmas cards to each other, always saying "we will meet up next year", but, finally, we've got it organised! They're great fun and I know I will probably have pains in my side from laughing at/with them.
Can't wait!
Hope you all have a lovely weekend.
My camera went missing in September, and I searched high up and low down for it, without success. While we were down the country at the funeral, younger daughter was rooting around in the car and found it. These photos were on it, and I needed them to brighten up today!

A Giveaway

Have you ever gone into a shop where you just want to buy everything? That’s what happened to me today, when I found the etsy shop French Country 1908.
They have some really beautiful “finds”, and their prices are very, very good.

What’s even better is that they are having a GIVEAWAY! Magic words!
If you’re interested in getting, free gratis, AND for nothing, a $50 voucher for French Country 1908, just go over to Nancy's Daily Dish and follow the instructions.

Oops, the link that I tried to insert hasn't worked, but I think if you click on the badge at the top, then copy the url, it will take you there. I do not like the new blogger way of uploading pictures!

Have a really lovely weekend, everybody!