Is there a New Year's Eve equivalent for Bah Humbug ?

.. in which case happy (Bah Humbug ) New Year's Whatever.

I've never quite understood NYE. A kind of forced joviality and contrived spontaneity ... the worst combination. Reckon hedgehogs have the right idea ... hibernate until the whole ghastly winter experience is over.

Looking forward to a day in bed tomorrow - might as well start the year as I intend to continue.

This time next week ...

.. we'll be lighting the fire, warming up the mulled wine, hanging up the stockings and probably shovelling the snow from the front path at this rate. This afternoon I got caught in a blizzard . Luckily I was in a rather lovely shop and so had to wait it out whilst browsing all the loveliness. Worse places to get snowed in I guess.

The boys are blundering around the place, taking up a lot of room and eating everything in sight. The fridge is empty and the house is a mess but what the hell, the presents are wrapped and no-one has gone down with swine flu ... yet.

In amongst he mayhem I actually found time to make some Christmas cards. Simple but sweet.

Men and Christmas

Not two words you often see sitting comfortably together in a sentence.


Husband let out an exasperated sigh last night after managing all of 4 Christmas cards. Mind you that's more than he's managed in previous years.


So for all you hard working ladies out there who are single handedly managing the shopping, cooking, cleaning, carol services, teachers presents, children's stockings, in laws gifts, cards, tree, food etc etc . Here's a joke my lovely friend just sent me. Apologies for the bizarre layout but it's the best I could do by copying and pasting. Enjoy.

Proud to be English!
Three
men were sitting together bragging about how they
 had given duties to their new
wives.
     Terry had married a woman from
Greece and bragged that
 he had told his wife she needed to do all
the dishes and
 housework. He
said that it took a couple days but on the
 third day he came home to a clean house
and the dishes were
 all washed
and put away.
     Jimmie had married a woman from
Italy.  He bragged
that
 he had given his wife
orders that she was to do all the
 cleaning, dishes, and the cooking. He
told them that the
 first day he
didn't see any results, but the next day it
 was better. By the third day, his house
was clean, the
 dishes were done,
and he had a huge dinner on the table.
     The third
man had married an English girl. He boasted
 that he told her that her duties were to
keep the house
 cleaned, dishes
washed, laundry and ironing twice a week,
 lawns mowed, windows cleaned and hot
meals on the table for
 every
meal. He said the first day he didn't see
 anything, the second day he didn't see
anything, but by
 the third day
most of the swelling had gone down and he
 could see a little out of his left eye,
just enough to fix
 himself a
bite to eat, load the dishwasher, and call a
 handyman.

My Luvverly Secret Santa

... has excelled herself . I'm feeling very spoilt as every morning I get to open a present that has gorgeous written all over it , well not literally , but the contents are.

This morning I opened a pack of letter stickers to go with the papers I received yesterday. It's a lovely way to build up an idea of a layout .. day by day.

Thank you Santa XXX

Peppermint Bark

For all of you who are snowed in for yet another day , here's a foolproof , fun-to-make , even more fun to eat recipe. Thanks to my sister for providing.

Take as many slabs of white chocolate as you like - I used 5 bars of the Basic white chocolate from Sainsburys which are only 30p per bar.

 Melt them however you like , microwave is fine, in a jug. Grab a 10 pack of peppermint candy canes ( 99p from Sainsburys ) .

Stick them in a thick plastic bag and arm the children with a rolling pin.

 Stand well back as they bash the living daylights out of them.

Sprinkle a layer of the crushed canes onto a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper. Pour the white chocolate on top , sprinkle with the remainder of the crushed candy canes and bung it in the fridge.

This is the worst part - you have to wait a while whilst it all hardens. When it's well and truly solid whip it out of the fridge and let the children smash it to pieces. I defy anyone one to make this and not eat it all in one sitting . I would have taken a photo of the finished product ... but it's all gone !

My Christmas Manifesto

Should have snow more often , I've blogged more today than I think I have for the whole of last month.

I'm using my blog as a holding place for all of the journalling I plan to include in my " Journal Your Christmas" album. Here's my manifesto for this year's celebration.

• This year , like all those that precede it, I'm aiming to keep it simple. This makes me laugh even as I write it, as 'simple' is not a word I often apply to my life.
• My eldest son asked me this morning what my favourite Christmas memory was and I have to admit that I struggled to think of one immediately. Not because I don't have any but because I have an absolute ton - an embarrassment of riches really. As my mother embraced the rituals of Christmas with her typical verve and zealousness , I do too and I reckon my sons will in years to come. So this year's aim is to get the memories down on paper so that they can read about them in years to come and so the Christmas spirit will pass on down the family line ad infinitum.
• I plan to shop my socks off . Not necessarily spend , just look, wonder, admire and enjoy. The shops are stuffed full of those nonsense 'gift ideas' that turn up in charity shops 6 months later. But in amongst the nonsense there are some real gems . I love to ferret out those little trinkets that make me smile as I anticipate the recipients' reaction as they open them on Christmas day. Shopping is an art form ... little and often is my motto , liberally interspersed with a sampling of those ridiculous Christmas coffee flavors like gingerbread mocha latte - whatever that is ! But boy does it taste good and why not. 
• Go with the flow. Nothing is going to irritate , frustrate or annoy me . Not even the inevitable kitchen item that will be under the tree for me from DH .... last year's bread bin, the year before's salad servers. Bring it on I say .
• Plan the last week before the boys break up with military precision. Large doses of ME time, more of that gingerbread frothacino nonsense and maybe even a manicure or some such. Remember that when school breaks up all hell will let loose.
• Let others do the cooking . Why not ? In fact meals these days are more like assembling with all the luscious ingredients available at even the most humble of supermarkets. Avoid those ghastly Iceland 500 nibbles for £1 type bargains. Might as well eat cardboard with cheese on it. Go for simple snacks like a selection of cheeses and a vat of red wine to accompany. I'm such a control freak that you usually can't keep me out of the kitchen but this year will be different. Famous last words.
• More walking . Now that I'm superslim it's so much more pleasurable and just think of all those positive endorphins that will course through my bloodstream.
• Enjoy the moment.

As its snowing outside I might as well blog

Don't often get the opportunity to write that in December.

I'm taking part in Shimelle's "Journal Your Christmas" class this year . Can't believe I haven't done it before what with Christmas running through my veins the way it does. I've probably been too busy upto my ears in gingerbread houses and Christmas Fair gifts to find the time before.

Anyway here's what my Christmas is looking like so far :

1st December - out come the Advent calenders ... posh ones this year . I haven't even been allowed so much as a sniff of them this year.

... but then I get to open up a present a day from this gorgeous pile of goodies every day in december, courtesy of my Secret Santa at the Cheam Crop.

Here's the view from the bedroom window this morning. More snow please.

And finally a little beauty of a lamp that I picked up from a strange shop called Clas Ohlsen - a kind of town centre version of Ikea, for a meref £6 , now that's what I cal a bargain. I'm planning on putting it up in the Christmas room ( more of that later ) but it's so lovely I really just want to keep it in the kitchen and gaze upon its beauty whilst I do the ironing.

Ever played that game ?

... the one where you have to say if you had to lose a sense which one would it be ? Most people go for smell I reckon , thinking that if they weren't tempted by food they'd probably lose a few pounds . I know the one I couldn't do without is the sense of hearing .

In fact if I went blind tomorrow, I'd still know it was Christmas from the sounds around me. Out shopping the other day I heard the unmistakable din of the Bentalls Shopping Centre Bears and found myself rushing over to get a closer peek at how they looked this year . They never fail to disappoint in all their cheesy gloriousness. And there they were resplendent in full Victorian garb awash with train sets and fireplaces, garlands and stockings, piles of presents and a few of Santa's little helpers and a polar bear or two thrown in for good measure.

I had to suppress a tiny squeal of delight - God forbid if the boys had been with me , they would have run a mile . Never ones to gasp in amazement or clamour for a ring side seat, they would rather leg it in case Mum decided to join in with the singing which I have been known to do . Let's face it our job here on earth is to embarrass our kids.

So there we have it , the sound of Christmas - Bing and his mates belting out a jazzed up version of White Christmas, karaoke style, whilst the Bentalls Bears lip synch along for the pleasure of a hundred or so tots bundled up in their buggies straining for a closer look at this extraordinary spectacle.

I can't help but wonder what the workers in Korea must be thinking as they construct these visions of a Western Christmas in the heat and humidity of their sweat shop factories ready for export . They must think the British are completely bonkers . And thank goodness we are.

 So the Bears have been installed and now Christmas can officially be pronounced open.

Boys , if you're reading this I'm planning on taking you along to see them this afternoon and yes I will be singing along especially as they have a rather snazzy version of " All I want for Christmas is Yooooooou.......... " this year.

Sweet 16

How did that happen ? ... I blinked and he grew up all of a sudden.

Oh the weather outside is frightful ...

...but the fire is so delightful
and as I've no place to go,
Let it snow , let it snow, let it snow !

It's -3 degrees in London and falling , as is the snow much to the boys delight . The prognosis of a day snowed in at home is becoming all the more likely - they can hardly believe their luck and its only November . You see there are some benefits to going to a school that's miles away in the depths of the countryside at the bottom of an ungritted lane.

I've had the piano playing carols, we've just made our Christmas cake and the kitchen is scented with nutmeg. There's half a mug of cheap brandy left over from Delia's recipe ... Christmas has come early - that will do nicely tonight after the boys have gone to bed. Can it get any more Christmassy ?

Two chocolate advent calendars have been uncellophaned and are propped up on the table ready for their first assault first thing in the morning . Even the cat has one this year.  Ah yes , the cat ... curled up in her basket next to the radiator. She's no fool.

It's that time of year again

The boys' School Christmas Fair looms ... way too early this year ( tomorrow 19th November) but what the hell. Any excuse for a mince pie and a glass of mulled wine is OK by me whatever time of year.

As usual , by about October, I'm envisioning expansive projects involving labour intensive sessions in my craft room , devising all kinds of magnificent Christmas finery. The reality is more like a mad dash to run up something attractive the week before.

In fact this year , I've been moderately productive and in good time. I've made Christmas Cupcake kits and sweet little bags of something called White Chocolate Peppermint Bark ( recipe courtesy of my sister  - white chocolate , peppermint essence and crushed Candy Canes ) of which I'm rather proud. Let's just hope they do the business and raise a decent amount of cash ... and God forbid that they remain unsold by the close of play ... the ultimate disgrace in any Yummy mummy's handbook.

 I drank way too much red wine tonight and agreed to host DH's works' Christmas bash . Don't you find that the prospect of a Christmas party is far more exhilarating than the actual event itself ? Still , I find myself falling into this trap every year. I love it really.

Dear Diary ...

As  my blog address suggests, I've never been able to keep a diary . Well not for any length of time anyway and certainly not since I was a teenager when all I wrote about was snogging and going to discos - yuk. It read like a scene from the Inbetweeners.

So , imagine my surprise when I discovered an 8 year old volume with a few of my scribbles, whilst clearing out the bookshelves. It was called something cringeworthy like "An Abundance of Joy ' or some such nonsy title, the idea being that you'd fill in each day with a list of 5 things about which you were joyful. I managed it for 4 days with sad little entries like ... I am joyful that I managed to get up on time this morning. Oh please.

Day Five's entry was just one word ... which read "Bol**cks' . I'd clearly had enough by then and is it any wonder. Another tome bites the dust.

It's a bit like food diaries when you're dieting. Day one is usually peppered with references to spinach ad other green things with the occasional sip of warm water tinctured with a splash of fresh lemon juice. By day five you're living off the Family sized bucket of KFC washed down with a bottle or two of red wine.

However, it has to be said that my ' Abundance of Joy' diary, albeit brief, did live up to its title. Reading it did made me laugh out loud and be abundently joyful that I'd kept it so that I could laugh my socks off one day in the future.

Every Now and Then ...

... you have one of those days which you know is going to embed itself in your memory in all its multi-sensory glory.
Like today. Met a friend for coffee in town. I love her company and we always have a laugh. I adore her 'silver lining' take on life and her wicked irreverence. So there we are supping coffee and putting the world to rights and then moseying around the shops a bit, having a laugh at this and that. Then I get to cycle home through Bushy Park in it's glorious Autumn splendour inhaling the woody smokiness of an October's day, the faint whiff of damp fungi in the air and the unmistakable pong of deer pheromones (sp?) in the rutting season, wafting through the air.

A few shiny conkers lay split open on the ground to reveal their luscious mahogany contents , the odd russet tinged oak leaf wafting groundward from the sky and an abundance of cyclists and runners soaking up the last vestiges of an Indian summer. Home to a lunch of my own grown tomatoes and a Cox's apple in the garden. Heaven. Even the Heathrow flightpath overhead seems to have been momentarily suspended so that I can enjoy the moment.

You'll have to forgive my lyrical waxing . I just had to get it down in type before the bubble bursts and the boys stampede through the house, home from school with tales of homework woe and what a disgusting lunch they had, before slumping in front of the XBox with nothing more than a  "What's for tea?" greeting.

Hey ho. Another weekend of piano lessons and rugby practice but not before a spot of scrapping with my scrapping buddies tomorrow. For those who don't know what scrapbooking is, that last comment will sound as if I'm spoiling for a fight .. but they know what I mean !

Harmonious marital relationships - Rule No. 3

NEVER agree to be in when the boiler man comes to repair something that's gone wrong and your partner has asked you to explain the problem to him. Even if you manage to convey , verbatim, every last detail as it's been explained to you , it WILL be your fault if he fails to fix it.

Trust me on this.

And in case you were wondering about Rules No. 1 and 2 ?

Rule No. 1 has to be-  NEVER believe them when they say they will participate fully in the childcare.

They may change the odd nappy but this first flush of enthusiasm will evaporate pretty quickly once the novelty wears off. By the time your child is sitting GCSE's and you're pulling your hair out over homework, whatever promises they made in the hazy afterglow of the delivery room will be history.

Rule No.2 - and this one is very important ..... do NOT be fooled into thinking that sleepless night belong only to the baby phase. The real problem comes well after that when your partner starts to snore , all night , every night.

Anyway the boiler is fixed now and peace has been restored. Shame really because the problem , if you can call it that, was that the heating would come on every time the hot water was heating. Not really a problem eh on these chilly mornings ?

Total Papercrafts Classes

Just in case you didn't get your layouts finished at Karen's Crop ( Total Papercrafts ) the other week, here's a reminder ....


Le Chateau

and Back to Basics

Can't wait for the next crop where I'll be using Glitz Design's Hoopla range ... watch this space.

The Other Day ...

... I was wondering how on earth to store and display all my lovely jewellery without having to hide it away in a gaudy box that popped open with a ballerina to the tune of the Sugar Plum Fairy ( although now I come to describe it , it almost sounds appealing in a kitsch kind of way ).
I was thinking along the lines of chrome with maybe some acrylic , clean lines, no nonsense , maybe a bird here or there.

Today I was wandering through my local department store and I laid eyes on a jewellery stand that was chrome with some acrylic , clean lines, no nonsense , and a bird here and there. If only life was always like that.

And here it is in all its resplendent avian glory. The fact that it can probably only accommodate a couple of necklaces is irrelevant . Form over function in this case.

Way too many gorgeous papers

I've succumbed and broken my summer long stash ban. Temptation was everywhere and it was only a matter of time. Yesterday I bought some My Minds Eye ( Lost and Found) . Wished I could say I had all of those pictured below but I was good and only bought a few sheets.

  ... and Crate Paper's Restoration ( thank you Sandra ) ... again not all of the below just a teensy few...

And is if that wasn't lovely enough I was given an early birthday present ( thank you Ali) ... have a look at this scrumptious little project....

I'm also lucky enough to have the lovely Karen at Total Papercrafts let me have free reign over what papers I choose for the classes I teach at her crop. She and I always love the same ranges anyway . On order for November's crop is a collection from Glitz Designs called Hoopla. Never bought any of Glitz Desings ranges before but judging by the loveliness of all of their recent releases, think we'll be ordering from them again.

It's nice to get my scrapping mojo back after a long summer absence. There's always just so much demand on my time that I can never squeeze everything in. Just finished planting some luscious ferns and a flame red acer in the garden. My new criteria for garden planting is ... maintenance free, slug resistant and year round colour. It is the most glorious Autumnal day out there . Perfect Indian Summer / last vestiges of summer type feeling. Long may it last.

Giddy with excitement

It's just gone 7am and the boys have gone back to school clutching sports bags slightly larger than themselves , containing enough kit to clothe an entire team all freshly labelled. New pencil-cases , pencils sharpened , novelty rubbers , bendy rulers, healthy break-time snacks ( wonder how long that will last ?) and shiny shoes ( ditto ) . I have my day time life back and I'm giddy with excitement as to what to do first. Hang the housework , time to scrap I think. And tomorrow I'll be going into school myself as a SEN teacher . Now I know how the boys feel . Nervous, anxious but hoping that , with time, the new job will settle into a familiar routine and normality will return .

Bye Bye Duvet

My beloved duvet of 12 years in now crammed into an extra large bin bag ready to be re-cycled.

After a week of sweaty nights ( no .. past the menopause and the weather has been decidedly un-summery) , I decided that enough was enough. A small fortune later ( although half price so only half a small fortune) I returned from Bentalls with a replacement . A superior version filled with sumptuous duck down. Oh my goodness is all I can say after my first night under the fluffy gorgeousness.

Cool and yet warm, light and yet weighty enough , moldable and malleable to the perfect body shape. I am in love with all those sweet and fluffy little Hungarian geese  for shedding enough to ensure a perfect night's sleep.  Bless their not so fluffy bodies.

But there is a downside to this story The impartial journalist in me has to report both sides of the tale. I'm a hopeless romantic and the departure of this  200cm square synthetic sagging sack has left me slightly sad. I've realised that over the last decade I've fed babies underneath it , drank tea and spilt it on it, scoffed midnight snacks and left crumbs in it , celebrated Birthday mornings and opened Christmas stockings on it, watched telly from underneath it, probably cried and even thrown up on it .

A thousand and one memories and now they're all about to be re-cycled into something like roof insulation material ( apparently that's where all our duvets go ). Well at least it will now keep someone else warm and maybe save the planet for a nano second.

One of the nice things about holidays...

... is finding sweet little trinkets that you'd never find at home. In an attempt to escape from the overwhelming testosterone of our all male party , I made my own way into Berne for a little retail therapy on my own. This involved a bus and a train ( both arriving to within a  second of their designated timetables) and a sumptuous nussgipfel en route which I now know means a nutty croissant.

Once there, I ferreted out a few favourite shops , most of which involved buttons, ribbons and paper. Have a look at these little gems.

The tin of buttons came to light at an alpine festival that involved beer , bratwurst, sugar cookies and delightful bric a brac stalls. It set me back all of 1 CHF ( about 75p !). I also found the biscuit cutters there and was spoilt for choice - a thousand and one designs but settled for a birdy, a teddy and the sweetest little scallopped heart cut out design.

Not sure what to do with the masking tape yet but who could resist all those colours ? They will undoubtedly make an appearance on one of my layouts in the not too distant future.

The paper birds are Japanese tissue cut-outs, very delicate.

What I haven't pictured is the ton of chocolate I ate on the way home but then doubtless that will be making an appearance shortly too , only not on a layout but on my hips.

Watch the Birdy

I'd forgotten all about this little gem . Bought it years ago at a flea market for £1 then re-discovered it all over again in my bead box. A little silver camera ...

... but the best bit is what you see when you open it up ...

... a little birdy ... but I'm not allowed to call it cute as I promised I wouldn't keep using that word but it is isn't it ?

Just come back from a funny old market at Kempton Racecourse. Youngest son picked up 20 bags of crisps when I wasn't looking ... for £1 and they're only 2 months past the sell by date ! Who would want 20 bags of some vile tasting, football world cup flavoured bag of hydrogenated fat ? An eleven year old I guess. Suppose I'm not even going to get close to his 5 a day today ... if only the governement health guidelines advised 2 Mars Bars plus a pound of lard per day , we'd be fine.

As for myself ? A pink girly back pack and some hair extensions and I still had change from a fiver. Don't you just love markets ? Let me know what you've bought lately.

Remind me not to use the word cute for at least a month

I'm in danger of retrograding into a teenager, or worse, a pseudo american with a penchant for twee tat ( try typing that when you're not sober ) . I've just realised that I've used the word 'cute' in the last 2 posts. Next thing you know I'll be calling everything cool ... or worse ... kewl . Mind you that's got to be better than 'sick' which is all I ever hear my children using to describe anything that's vaguely impressive. So what are they going to use when they really are sick or is there another word for that too ?

Week 3 or it could be 33 , I've lost all track of time, of the school holidays. And if we're talking semantics why is it called school holidays as  a) they're not at school, more's the pity and b) this is NOT my idea of a holiday.

Anyway, the piggy bank is empty, I'm fed up of thinking up nutritious lunchtime meals and the grass is as dead as a dodo. Every-thing's looking decidedly jaded and a little bit frayed around the edges which includes me. I've stopped wearing mascara and the washing pile is multiplying like that pile of mops and buckets in the Sorcerer's Apprentice. The boys have lost the use of their limbs - incapable of remembering to carry anything upstairs and unable to get up from the sofa and the fridge is running on empty. The list of 'interesting things to do during the school holidays' has remained untouched on the kitchen worktop and I'm counting the days until September. It's always been my favourite month and now I know why.

Today I took youngest son to a cycling proficiency course that's running for the week. I was exhilarated to think that these things still exist. They seemed to belong to a dim and distant world of school milk and Tufty the road safety squirrel , showing my age again. Actually, I'm quite impressed that I remembered the little rodent's name - must have left quite an impression.

I managed to find a helmet to wear as I accompanied son plus friend to the venue but failed to impress the road safety instructor as I was informed that I had it on back to front . This blew my cover and ruined my chances of winning the covetable prize of  Most Safety Conscious Mum as I'd clearly never worn one before or was too drunk to notice or both. Actually it was morning so I wasn't drunk unless the bottle of rose I'd seen off last night was still in my bloodstream.

I picked them up 2 hours later after a pint or two of coffee and was told that the first hour was really boring as they'd been sat down and made to listen to some safety rules which of course bored the pants off them as they obviously knew everything there was to know already. Oh the arrogance of youth. We then cycled home together whilst they pointed out my myriad cycling errors. Tomorrow I'm going to try and get my helmet on the right way round and brush up on my left hand turns which, according to my 10 year old, were 'pants' .

...and how cute is this ?

Found this little beauty at Accessorize . Looks like it was almost made for scrapbookers - the cutest necklace with scissors, buttons, a ruler , a heart , a pencil and a coin ... although in my case a credit card wold probably be more appropriate or just a bank statement covered in red figures ... but then it wouldn't look so cute now would it ?

How cute are these ?

Hampton Court Flower Show yesterday. Lovely . Didn't see many gardens or plants ... well there were handbags and shoes on offer so what's a girl to do ?



But I did manage to pick these sweet little things for the garden . Not sure if the watering can is going to cut the mustard ( only holds about a pint of water and it's sprung a leak already but hey ... what price loveliness ?) and the bird bath will probably rust if I add water but I'm not planning on letting anything with wings near it .. it's going on my scrapping desk to carry cute buttons or something.

Oh and I did actually have a peek at some green things and very lovely they were too. Here are the pictures to prove it.

Wayne Rooney has a lot to answer for

Is it over yet and if not why not ?

I think I'd rather have election coverage than World Cup on telly and that's saying something. And whilst we're on the subject how come England suddenly start wearing different coloured jerseys ? I thought I was cheering on our white shirted team but was puzzled as to why they all had Germanic sounding names .

Anyway , let me tell you about Wayne. My son has been collecting the World Cup GoGos . Hideous plastic figures of the overpaid and under-talented mob with enlarged heads. Can you picture the concept meeting at the marketing company ? ... " I know , why don't we make a million or several by marketing tacky over priced plastic figures that don't even bear a passing resemblance to the England team and let's make them look as if they've got brain encephalitis ... oh and let's makes sure that no-one can ever collect the whole set by leaving one of them out so that the poor saps ( parents ) have to keep buying them forever ? "

There we were with a handful of the little plastic freaks until one went missing. Turned out to be Wayne Rooney who'd been accidentally hoovered up ( best place for him ) and nearly broke the Dyson. Not content with wreaking havoc with my hoover, the little shiny dwarf then went on to kybosh the mower. He must have got turfed ionto the lawn after being extracted from the Dyson and when my elder son was cutting the grass he got thrown up with the cuttings and socked him on the face. I'm wondering where he's going to pop up next . The bin, if I've got anything to do with it.

It's Not Often ...

... that you get to say you've sung on the stage of the Hammersmith Apollo. This afternoon me and thousands of fellow Rock Choir members did just that.

Thanks to Caroline's hard work which enabled us all to get together to celebrate and sing our socks off, we were able to launch Rock Choir's first album ( Volume 1 of many more to come I'm sure) due to be released on the 5th July. And if you want to share the feelgood album of the year and get happy then pop along to

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Rock+CHoir&x=0&y=0

where you can pre-order your copy.

A fabulous day - yet another to look back on with happy memories. Thanks Caroline and the Rock Choir team for making it all possible !

Captain Rock Choir and the newest recruit to the singing ranks - way to go Stuart , you've been hiding your singing skills all this time !