Shopping and DIY

OK, so I've been telling people over the last couple of days my exciting news about getting a new saxophone, and I was all prepared to go up to Dawkes and try out and bring back a shiny new one. There just came the slight snag of getting the money out of my savings and ready to be used, I log on to my 'online' account and initiate the transfer which disappears straight away, but to where, it's not in my current account, and apparently won't be there until after Easter. So why does it take three working days to electronically transfer some money. Who know's but it does mean that the journey if postponed until next weekend :(

But this does give me some time to spruce up the house a bit and possibly sort out the garden over the long weekend. This will reaquaint me with the glorious orange receipts of B&Q but that not necessarily a problem.

On the plus side the prints I bought in Reims are now framed and hung (not too badly for a first attempt) so there's a bit more interest in the hallway. However the coat hooks appear to be pulling a massive amount of plaster out of the wall, so they may be moving slightly earlier than expected but this will at least remove coats from over the thermostat.

Back, and recovered?

Well tour was awesome, the photos are all up on my flickr site so you can check out some of the great shenanigans as I caught them on film.

Highlights of the week have to include

• Touring round Moet & Chandon, learning quite a lot about champagne and then getting a couple of free samples.
• New food, trying mussels for the first time (will try again), and in a more French style, Snails(!) or Escargot if you want to be posh. Quite a lot like mussels once you've hooked them out of the shell.
• Three great concerts, two which in churches with very challenging acoustics, but which we admirably coped with and made a significant difference to some of the pieces.
• Most importantly, getting to know all the new people in the band and everyone hanging out during the evenings in the local bars.

Having the weekend to recover was definitely a bonus, but then it was back to work as normal this morning to cope with all the new email that had arrived while I was out, and sorting out the things that had come up.

Never mind, the break was well worth it, and I can't wait for next years excursion.