Win some lose some (Part 1)

So, we had a good evening out and a nice meal (though I was a bit dubious about the combination of salmon and potato fish cakes served on a coconut noodle and shrimp thingie) and Mrs Middle phoned and sent birthday wishes.  At some point during the evening I texted the other two children and said “thank you, I had a lovely birthday”.  No response from Youngest but a cheerful phone call at midnight from Eldest who  said (as he does every year) “isn’t your birthday tomorrow?”  You have to laugh : )

Anyway, Mr and Mrs Middle gave me a Kindle and  ooh!  it turns out that Neal Stephenson’s latest book is available on it.  And a book of Sally Vickers’ short stories.  I want to read my new books with my new toy but I’m in the middle of Hilary Mantel’s Beyond Black (which is a real book).  I can’t put it down for long.  Dithered a bit and then read one short story.  Definitely the thing works : )

And now I’ve downloaded a dozen or so free “Classics”,  laughing a bit on seeing that  GA Henty is among them.  Somebody with a good head for dates and battles must have typed them into the system.  They were favourites of  my Dad’s and fondly remembered.  I wonder if Geo Mandeville Fenn will appear.  I had no idea Jack London wrote so many books. Or Wilkie Collins for that matter.  And Dickens, is there no end to his works?  And good heavens!  Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens co-authored a novel.  No, two novels!  Amazing.

Well, several free classics the richer, I finally went to bed and this morning I phoned my half sister to see if she’d like me to visit when I’m up North this week.

She would like, which is great, but also, she’d like her fiddle back which is totally not even a tiny bit great!  She inherited this fiddle a few years ago and lent it to me because she herself hasn’t played since her college day, and indeed never played this particular fiddle while I play a lot.  I spent several hundred pounds getting its cracks fixed and generally having it refurbished.  Which is fine because I fell in love with it the first time I played it and I still love it.  And I’ve had a few years use out of it.

Yes well, I’m trying to think how to plead.  It isn’t as though she’s a fiddle player – she’s a (very good) pianist and just thought it might be fun to play the fiddle a bit.  On the other hand, she’s in her eighties and I don’t want to stop her from getting any fun out of her last years!

Perhaps she’d like my old fiddle (a good fiddle it must be said).  But I love hers so much I can’t imagine anyone musical preferring the other.  Oh and Youngest has my other – I mean my own – fiddle,  so I’ll have to retrieve it from her.  Fortunately she doesn’t play it a lot.

This is just awful!  I want to keep it for ever.   And of course it is hers!  Yes I did know it was only a loan!!!!!

Oh!!!!  **** , ****** and ****!

Well, three glasses of wine into the evening, all I can think of is to ask nicely if I can please keep it for ever because I love it.

A bit of gallows humour

And Barney boating out of the sunset.  I’d better go and make some dinner.

(Part 2 follows when I get back – I am back but forgot to post this before I went)