Shhhhh! Don’t mention the ‘C’ word until after bonfire night. Mustn’t wake Santa and the reindeer until after the fireworks or they’ll be scared and that’ll make them grumpy and they won’t bring us any presents! 
grumpy sooooooooo heartwarming to hear that you are up for our seasonal Benchland production:smileyhappy:!
Just knew we could rely on you and your magnificentness!
Will it be at C time or will it be anytime??? That indeed is the question…time methinks to get that very important director type chair out again…love to all the luvvies amongst us xx
You sound a lot better Katy? 
Chocolate courgette cake surprisingly delicious. Going to make a raspberry puree (coulis???) to go with them for pudding tonight with maybe a dollop of ice cream…or cream? 
forum.breastcancercare.org.uk/t5/media/gallerypage/image-id/732i2E7EF8964DA896F9
Can’t remember if I told you (blame it on the meds NOT my age? :p) but I received some raffle tickets to buy/sell in aid of BCC. Top prize £5000. I bought all 12 tickets, but don’t expect to be booking any holidays/having that new kitchen in december, as I never win anything. But it IS for a good cause!
Courgett cakes… Interesting… The day of my mastectomy I was given butternut squash cake… I seem to rememberit was tasty, but I don’t remember much more than that!
Can we do our (sshhhshshshshhhhhh!) production NOT around C? RevCat and I are a little busy then…
But if you’re plotting Katyc, you must be feeling better, which is great…
I’m not sure we could repeat or eat last year’s extraordinary achievement though…or get the camels back?
We could do a New Year Extravanganza … with sparkles, tinsel, big hair (or wigs…), lots of bling and Strictly-type costumes.
We would of course need some male eye-candy as per Mamma Mia.
Now where did I put that frock???
grumpy
A New Year Extravaganza, definitely. Can we have a short Halloween/Winter creepy mystery play meantime - set in a castle perhaps, sort of medieval style? We can think about our Halloween costumes.
Supposed to start sculpture class last Wed, but it has been cancelled till January - bit disappointed, but I’ve got my knitting to concentrate on instead.
Stargazing bench is empty at the moment - no telescope use yet due to complete cloud cover the last few days.
Thankyou all for birthday wishes! :smileyvery-happy: Friday’s meal out was good - went to a country pub. My daughter gave me lots of Lush bath products, mother bought me new slippers and I had a huge box of chocs from my sister - have left some for you. Enjoyed the lovely birthday cake JCJ - yes, good job you didn’t put those candles on, could’ve burnt down the lost plottery shed! Choc courgette looks good, courgettes probably make it really moist - hope it tastes good!
Knitting to do now - using magic loop method, which was awful to start with, but finally got the hang of it.
Secondary BC Awareness Day today - I will be getting some leaflets to distribute at hospital/GP’s -the least I can do to help push for better care for those with secs.
Jen
Not really feeling that much better, seems to be lasting an awful long time mmmmmmmmmmmm!
Well that’s us now organized New Year Extravaganza and Jen’s medieval whodunnit type thingy:smileywink:!
Just let us know what we are going to be up to Jen, soooooooooo pleased you have volunteered, well done!!
Broadband is not working properly so maybe an infrequent popper inner over the next few days, 72 hours deadline, we’ll wait and see??
Banquets, feasts, castles, mandolins sooooooooooo excited xx
Medieval banquet? NOW you’re talking! I remember going to one at uni (- somewhere near Morecambe!) I recall getting VERY drunk on mead -such an inocent tasting honey beverage!! :-)
Enjoyed the excuse to eat with the fingers too! Me??? A pleb?? How very dare you! :-)
I love it! Only in Benchland can talk of medieval banquets lead to camels in cod pieces! Hehehe :smileyvery-happy:
Can I go to bed now???
Yes indeed…a medieval castle, a sumptuous banquet, with mandolins and lots of mead!
'Tis Ye Olde Halloween Medieval Murder Mystery, HMMM for short. T’will be a creepy, whodunnit- type thingy (in Katy’s words!) full of magic and mayhem, with a (very) twisted plot! Yes, Ali, you shall go to the ball wearing an icecream cone thingy on your head, with attached wispy hanky. There are thoroughbred parts for Hump, Dink (Dink may need the codpiece!) and Millie.
Sooooo… you are all cordially invited to ‘fleet the time carelessly’ in merry mischief at the Halloween Banquet. When? Starting roughly this Friday evening. Where? The Auld Benchland Castle (turn left at Lost Plottery Shed, right at the Spider Sanctuary, go straight on past the Alligator Lake and you will see the castle’s lofty towers looming through the October mist!)
NOTE (Start practising!) Speaketh thee in this manner when attending:-
Examples:
Whither is the privy?
Come hither
By my troth!
'Tis most splendid, etc.
Please remember to throw in as many ye’s, thee’s and thou’s as possible, including perchances, mayhaps, anons and hey-nonny-nos! Character list coming soon.
Fare thee well, Benchies.
:smileyhappy:!
Wilt thou be jousting for the Fair Lady’s hand??
Wenches, knights funny little ditties, such excitement!!!
Verily it is so!
Wench fetch me a beaker of mead!
Make your leave sirrah, me thinks.
Wilt we be eating??? xx
Verily yea foresooth, I bring glad tidings from the clinic of breasts in the fair city know as the Dear Green Place!!
Yea verily the sleeve of compression hath the oedema of lymph o’ercome and now the afflicted arm matcheth the unafflicted one.
Futhermore the surgeon of breastness hath attended to my concerns about the wombish effects of the elixir known as Tamoxifen and will investigate options for future apocathary potions +/- other knavish medical interventions!
This maiden delighteth in the news and rejoiceth to share it
smile verily smile
Woo hoo RevCat, oopsy!!! meant to say rejoice’th and have a beaker of the mead and eat’th the suckling pig, good’th news’th indeed’th xx
Behold! Merrily we celebrate forsooth! The very reverend haseth solutions to her medical concerns!
Can’t keep it up. Seething. While I was at work, OH has signed to have free cavity wall and loft insulation, from a company we’ve never heard of, that came cold calling at the door. " He said he wasn’t selling anything, ‘just doing a survey in the area’" (ARGGGHHH! Aren’t they ALL?) and seemed very intelligent and knowledgeable, and because we weren’t having to pay for it it would be OK (Of course he did! He’s a ruddy salesman - it’s his JOB to look like he knows what he’s doing - his company will get paid, from our grant money, regardless of how much mess/havoc they create!)
The lovely green slate paving slabs that ES laid, out the front of the house, have deep white scratches in them, just from the small test holes they drilled. Lord knows what damage they’ll do actually DOING the job??! 
Seriously. He cannot be trusted at home alone. He’s the typical gullible old fool that all these Watch Out programmes are all about?!
I’m off to google to see what I can find out about the company - good or bad - to decide whether to cancel the contract while there’s still time! Just what I needed after the day I’ve had! :smileymad:
By my troth, Normal sevice will be verily resumed forthwith!
Verily mayest thou rejoiceth Revcat!
Well, here we go.
A HALLOWE’EN MEDIEVAL MURDER MYSTERY ( Pray chooseth a character).
CHARACTERS:
Herman de Wynter, Ye Olde Lord of Benchland Castle - deranged, lecherous dictator.
He hath much money and enemies.
Agatha de Wynter, Ye Goode Ladye of Benchland Castle - sweet, but all of a dither (due to the vile husband).
Conrad de Wynter, Son of Herman & Agatha - weak man, heir to a fortune.
Matilda de Wynter, Daughter of Herman - lovely, kind girl, oppressed by her father.
Isabella de Ville, Conrad’s Fiancee and Matilda’s Confidante - feisty young damsel.
Frederic de Ville, Ye Greedy Father of Isabella - a lord & cousin to Herman.
Tristan Woodruff, Servant to Conrad - handsome, cheery young peasant; 'tis rumoured he is of noble birth.
Justin, a Page & Trusted Confidant of Tristan- swashbuckling, in training as a Knight.
Friar Jerome, an Old Monk at the nearby Monastery - moody, secretive.
Audrey, Simple Country Wench, Maid to Matilda - scatty, easily spooked.
Morwenna, The Old Hag (sorry), Venerable Wise Woman - scary looking but goodhearted, often to be found in The Cave of Mother Morwenna.
Jack, Court Jester & Mandolin Player Extraordinaire - cheerful witty chap, privy to Herman’s closest secrets.
William, Old Family Retainer & Butler - in charge of castle household, food & drink.
Beatrix, The Cook - loud, devious nosey-parker.
Arabella, Serving Wench - a sturdy, observant girl; Jack’s wife.
Various Ghostly Apparitions.
Magical horses: Silvermane, belongs to Tristan.
Shadowfax, belongs to Justin.
Little dog: Seraphina, belongs to Matilda.
SUMMARY:
In englysch tonge I schal you telle the tale!
At Lord and Lady de Wynter’s behest, ye townsfolk & castle dwellers gathereth in the Great Castle Hall, to celebrate the (forced) engagement of the son & heir, Conrad de Wynter, to the fair Lady Isabella de Ville.
As the assemblage feast and make merry, a monumental crash is heard!
A large statue falleth from the minstrels’ gallery and flattens Conrad! Pointing a gnarled finger at Lord de Wynter, who is white with terror, Morwenna the Crone chanteth ‘Remember the CURSE! Remember the CURSE!’
WHY???
Yea verily, I have unknowingly entered a time warp. This sounds as if it’s going to be fun but really…camels in cod pieces?? I will practise the language ( I do not expect to reach Revcat’s level of mastery though).
Bagged myself a few bargains at the weekend from the local charity shop, other than that life is just jogging along quietly down here. The drier part of my washer/drier has started to work again!! That’s good news but completely inexplicable. Oh rejoiceth! ( See , I’m trying…very trying some might say:smileytongue:)
Katy - sorry you’re still suffering. I play, or attempt to play, a DGX 640 which is a piece of electronic wizardry that enables it to sound like any instrument from a piano to a full orchestra. It does all the accompaniment, so it sort of plays itself with a little help from me. In piano mode it’s all me and that’s when all the wrong notes happen!
I’ve just had a look but there is not a mandolin setting. Will a harpsichord do?
Millie the less snotty dog will take the part of Seraphina, health permitting of course dahlings…
Please can I be the Old Hag (someone said it will be typecasting) or the Nosey Cook (likewise)
Now I am having a little nip of scotch
<li-spoiler> </li-spoiler> <li-spoiler> </li-spoiler>
What are spoilers???
I meant mead NOT scotch…
grumpy
Does Morwenna have to write the curse?
Does it have to be in chaucer-ese?
Who knows any authentic curse type words?