Turn me back for one minute and...

I’ve been in Munich visiting the old man.  When I left Edinburgh on Friday morning the weather was really quite good.  I had a pleasant walk down to Waverley Bridge – no coat, just a jumper; clear skies and only a little chill in the air.  I spend a couple of days away in a city which is quite often perishingly cold at this time of year but which was also rather clement this weekend and I return to FREEZING air and what looks alarmingly like the remains of SNOW on the ground.   What the...?

Not good.  This is not at all what I want.  I would like the white stuff to stay away until after Christmas and Hogmanay so that I can go and do all the things I’ve arranged to do without interruption, thank you.   And, also, we had to cancel our Rosslyn Chapel concert last year and really don’t want to be doing the same thing again this.  Ticket sales are looking a little dodgy, apparently, which is hardly surprising as our many fans are by now accustomed to missing out on hearing us warbling in this venue, so many years have passed since last we were able to do so.  If you are reading this and know anyone who might like to come and swell our audience numbers please encourage them to apply for a ticket or two.  Merci.

If that request is to bear any fruit at all I had better get on with this epistle so that it can be made available to you as soon as possible.

Wednesday – so long ago – Ollie was away so had asked Arno to step into his (rather small) shoes which he did admirably and with very little sign of squished toes.  We worked very hard and got quite a lot done considering we were sans Lord and Master. 

At one point John got very narky about our habit of talking between songs having, he said, missed some important part of a discussion some people were having about something important.  He was really very impressive; quite like a schoolmaster.  Cowed all us gossipers good an’ proper.For a minute or two at least.

Whether or not we are all entirely happy with everything we will be singing at the weekend, I can’t say.  Somehow the preparations for these concerts seems to have been a little rushed and we are missing personnel to an alarming degree in the soprano section, especially as I think Tamsin is unable to sing with us on Saturday.  Nikos was off to have an operation on his throat/nose??? So is unlikely, I imagine, to be recovered enough to sing and Kirsty was decidedly croaky and snuffly on Wednesday – there’s bound to be at least one choir member struggling with a cold on Saturday evening.  Still, if anything can be said for Rudsambee members it is that they come up trumps at concert time no matter what adversity they may be suffering, so no doubt all will be well in the long run.  We are to have some extra rehearsal time this week and I for one will be having a glance through my folder to identify those awkward moments on which I wish to work.  And I know there are words I need to look at –  foreign ones I don’t know well enough to look confidently at Ollie whilst singing.

Does that last sentence make sense?  Ach, well.  Nevermind, eh?

I had a moan on Wednesday as Ollie had left me (and a few others) off the quartet list I was having a moan about last week.  Bit previous that first moan but I do like to make my feelings clear well in advance.  Anyway, the L&M sent round an email to say that he’d overlooked the presence of a third verse that needed to be quarteted so now I DO have a part to sing as do other previously left-outers.  Yey!!  It’s not the same verse I sang last time so I will need to learn even more words but I’m not complaining –

she says hastily.

Lacking time and inspiration. Apologies. More later in the week.

Kisses.