What a week!

Rollercoaster would best describe it.

I was in Limerick at the weekend with the band, at the National Band Championships.
And still reeling from the shock: I won a prize for my playing! I was so shocked, in fact, that I didn't realise they were talking about me (they announce the winning "section", but I was the only person in that section). I just sat there waiting for someone else to collect the trophy....yes, a Trophy! First time I've ever won anything like that!

We had a night of partying, as the band won a total of 4 prizes! They really know how to party, young and old. We had so much fun! Danced and laughed the night away!

On Sunday, I got news of the death of a friend. Cathy had been ill for 5 years, with a cruel illness called MSA. It's a form of Parkinsons. She was 50 in February. She was a most beautiful, vibrant, fun-loving, kind lady, with gorgeous Irish red hair. I am so sad that we will never laugh together again.

Tomorrow night, the band is playing in the National Concert Hall.
When I began playing French Horn 7 years ago (really? how did that time go so quickly!), I put my dream up in the sky, with the stars. The dream was to one day play in our National Concert Hall.

I am so excited!
Will be back with photos, I promise! The photos in this post were taken 2 weeks ago with my iphone during a walk in the park. Even though it was cold, the flowers decided to push through with spring. The weather was better in the last couple of days, just hope it lasts.

In the run up...

I've been having a very busy but fantastic run-up to Christmas.
Lots of all the nice things; friends, fun, food and music!

2 really lovely surprises this week.

This first one was knitted by a fellow French Horn player! I've hung it in my car, with a few drops of my Christmas Burner Oil dotted on the red, and sometimes when  it twirls I get the most delightful waft of cinnamon, orange, clove, frankincense!

This other surprise arrived by post from Brussels, with a note that said "this was made for you!".
My dear friend, Cee, sent it.

Hope you're all keeping well, warm, and looking forward to some good celebrations (if you celebrate).

London 2012 Part 1

London was a blast!

We arrived on Thursday night, my brother picked us up at Gatwick and brought us to the apartment where we were staying. We were originally supposed to stay in his caravan at a site near Gatwick, which he assures us is really good, but then we realised we'd be travelling all across London each day. So, with 2 days to go, I searched every website I could find, and picked the scrapings of the pot.
It was grand, very central, clean and plenty of space.
Friday morning we walked 20 minutes from the apartment to Lords Cricket ground for Archery.

The concentration of these guys was amazing.
I couldn't believe how disrespectful people could be- announcements were made at least 10 times asking people to stop taking flash photos, and still it went on. Each time, it was explained that these athletes have trained for 4 years for this moment, and a flash in their eyes could ruin everything. Arrgh!
The Cricket Ground is a fabulous place!

 What really astonished me was the distance these arrows travelled, and the accuracy with which the athletes could hit, even though sometimes a wind would start up just after they took their shot. I'd have no sense of that from watching it on tv.

After the Archery, we went off and had brunch, then went to Hyde Park, where there were big screens with events, and a stage with bands, and magically, although there were clouds, most of the time the sun shone. And we had no rain!!

There also was no trouble of any kind, I saw nobody drunk or showing signs of drugs. A great security job.
There were lots of interesting things for kiddies too.

We listened to the Clemson College Symphonic Band from the US.

 and then we watched that very long tennis match between Federer and Del Potro.

And we got some cute Cadbury Gold Medals! More on that later!

My family are completely nuts, and we also had many laughs, including in this picture of us pretending we had won!  Ireland didn't even have ANY medals at this stage, but we had 4 Gold ones!
 The rest of London 2012 follows tomorrow. Before the Katie Taylor boxing match Final (fingers crossed for her!)

Behind the parade

I haven't been to the St. Patrick's Day parade in Dublin for several years, but today was different. I had agreed to take part in this "sideshow"- an 80 metre Stiletto Heel Dash down O'Connell Street just before the official parade - in aid of the Marie Keating Foundation. Marie was mother of Ronan Keating of Boyzone, and when she died of breast cancer, the family started the charity.

What a laugh! I can't even WALK in stilettos, and the heel had to be 3". I was terrified I'd get trampled on, but it was fine. Here we are, in our heels- that's me with one orange and one green! There was a prize for the most outrageous shoes (€1000 voucher for M&S)- I didn't win! The 2 different colours happened by mistake- shoes are belonging to daughter, who couldn't find the match of either this morning, so I just grabbed and ran!


If you don't like green or St Patrick's Day, close the window now.





Translation here is "Kiss my A**"! Hope I haven't offended anyone, I didn't even see the older boy when I was taking the photo of the cute little one, but when I loaded it onto the computer, there he was!

Now this is what I call a head!

The railings of Trinity College were good for a bit of extra height!

This restaurant wasn't quite ready on time.

What a vantage point- the 2nd floor window of a hotel! No idea how they climbed up, but they were happy to pose.

These girls were painting shamrocks on faces, in return for a donation for their (education)charity. I'm all for that!

Aren't these guys just so cute?

These ladies were all smiles!

I really liked the head gear these girls were wearing. The building in the background is a former bank, now a hotel.

And some people wore flags

The parade has definitely improved since my last time there- it was well organised, and everybody was in good humour.

And the sun shone, which usually doesn't happen either!