Sunday, 30 January 2011

Burns Nicht, books and bread and butter pudding

It was the Bonnie Bard's Birthday on Tuesday and so we celebrated with my annual Burns Nicht bash on Friday 28th, much haggis, lots of laughter and a very large pannetonne bread and butter pudding.  You would not believe how hard it is to find a pannetonne once Christmas is past.  I ended up with a kilo sized one from Marks and Spencer which ahd been reduced to about a fifth of its original price.  It was fantastic - but there's an awful lot of it left!!
Burns night is also Hamish's birthday, of course.  I'm sure it was a good one for him: I don't like to think of him getting any older than he is in my imagination, so I'm not going to embarrass him by counting the years!  I suspect there may have been a bit of a shindig at the But and Ben in the Trossachs...
Tidying up for the party this week, I've realised that I really am at book saturation point: there is nowhere left for them to colonise! I need to have a 'weeding my reading' session at half term, although I'm loathe to part with any of them but as parcels still wing their way in from Amazon and Abe books, I'm beginning to wonder if I ought to just abandon the house to them and move myself into the garage...
I'm still on track with my 100 book challenge despite the increasingly heavy demands the day-job is making.  Sadly, writing has stalled completely.  I won't have anything ready for the Debut Dagger competition this year and my word count on the new book is at a stand-still!  I'm still researching like crazy and just crossing my fingers like mad that I'll be able to have some time in the coming weeks - and enough mental stamina to put pen to paper!

That's us reflected in the glass of the Lowry!
Last weekend was BRB at Salford which was lovely: excellent performances and an amazing free exhibition about RB founder Ninette de Valois which was fascinating.  BRB aren't coming here this spring, and the RSC have just announced that they're not doing the annual Newcastle season because of budget cuts.  The Theatre Royal is also getting ready to close for a full refurbishment. It's beginning to feel like we're in a cultural desert!!! 
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2 comments:

  1. smiffy wiv a view4 February 2011 at 20:37

    Good luck with your book reading challenge I am just starting to read your latest book which I just managed to download before it closed I also like the Idea of making a book from one word that must stretch the brain matter thank you for your books you have created.

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  2. Jo6 February 2011 at 15:53

    Thanks for the comment!It does stretch the brain, but in a good way! Working on trying to do something based round playing cards for the next meeting! It's much more interesting than the work I'm supposed to be doing! I'll post some pictures when it's done.

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