Birthday list - 31/05/2007

Due to high demand, here's a short list of birthday wishes:

• large wooden fruit bowl - something chunky but big - I'm planning on being very healthy!


• a funcky medicine box (practical though, not just pretty)


• pruning shears (small ones, not for hedges) - I'm going to face my garden in England, which I'm sure is a jungle by now.


• several books which are listed on my Amazon list. Somewhere on the right, you just have to type in REPS which will take you to my list.


• IKEA vouchers - always welcome! (especially as I'm not taking our old Summer School sofa back to England!)


• large plant (tall) to decorate the living room in T.Wells.


• subscription to Libelle to keep up the Dutch lingo when I move back.

I'll keep on updating this list when I think of anything else.
(Perhaps you could double check with Stu via msn or email to make sure sb else has not already bought it.)

Some back-dated info

I haven't been doing well updating my blog recently. I know. I should put in more effort. I've been so busy working last week, mostly till 2AM, waking up at 7AM, that the last thing I wanted to do at the end of a long day was sit behind my pc some more... I was offered a translation job with a petrochemical theme. I thought, why not. How hard can it be, petrochemicals? Turned out to be a law case of thousands of pages (I only did a batch of them) between two famous petrochemical companies. No chemicals involved in the document, all the more judicial language though! Damn. After a lot of stressing and hardly any sleep, I delivered all my translations and was grateful to be able to relax again. I can't wait to do this full time, don't get me wrong, but the whole going to classes in between is just a bit too much!

Went out for a quick one on Friday night, which turned into a very late one, and in Stu's case a very drunk one! He was still feeling it on Saturday so his planned bike ride for the day (he's taking his practising for the London to Brighton Charity Bike Ride very serious now!) was swapped for a leasurly day at Ma and Pa's.

Decided to bike on the Sunday instead. We'd planned to visit Kurt, a (very tall) friend I met on the Proms tour. He lives at the other side of the river so we took the pedestrian tunnel under the river to get there and took the little ferry back to get to the right side. It was a beautiful sunny day. We met Kurt's family, who has 3 fabulous children, and planned their visit to us at the end of July in England. I can't wait to take the kiddies to Groombridge Place, they're going to love it! (and so will I - being a kid again is great!)

On the way back from Kurt, dropped in at Evi's and decided to have a bbq at the edge of the river for dinner. Drove passed home to pick up the bbq and put it in the Beast, grabbed some meat from the freezer, camping table, chairs, bottle of wine, PIMS (suuuuumer time!) and found ourselves a lovely place with a view of the cathedral to the left and the pretty harbour lights (petrochemical companies!) on the right. It was simply a fabulous evening. Sat there till the sun went down and we started freezing. Not quite sure how often Evi and I said the word wonderful.

Few more things worth to mention:

• We're moving early. No "leaving party" but a "moving in" party! Due to some rubbish small print in the contract of our tenants, they are allowed to hand in their notice only 1 month in advance, which they did. We can't really afford to pay for both a mortgage and the rent, so we're moving out on the 8th of June - in the middle of my exams. Ouch. Mum and I have it all sorted though.


• Stu and dad are going over on the 27th of May - which means Stu isn't here for my birthday - and will paint and decorate. They'll then drive the lorry to Belgium on the 8th, load the lorry with everything Mum and I have put in boxes and leave the next day. Mum and I will then go with them in the car, unpack some stuff and drive back on the 11th of June. I would probably feel poo if everything went back and things were being unpacked without me there...


• "Moving in" party, highly likely on the 7th of July. Whoever is first gets a bed, then the floor, then a tent in the garden.


• Got inspired at Kurt's house with their 'library' wall - it's made up of old fruit crates. Brilliant! Phoned up the people where he got them from today and just picked up 40 of them at €1 a piece...

First blob of this year (3 to go)

Today was an exciting but hectic day. Had to wake up early to sing at the wedding of Katelijn and Bert. Katelijn sings in our choir and asked us to light up the mass with our 'angel voices' (she would have been lynched asking another choir I think!) . Obviously she was a very pretty bride, with the biggest smile on her face. She even managed to sing the opening solo of I will follow you for her husband(-to-be at that point), just her and the piano, without her voice cracking up or starting to cry.

Now, what is worse than some people in the church having to get their hankies out? An entire female choir blobbing their eyes out... We're such a bunch of softies!

Then after a short pit stop home, headed for Brussels. I managed to get Mum, Dad and Stu €1 tickets for the concert so they came over on the train later in the afternoon. There's one thing I haven't mentioned yet, and that's my outfit. As these are fancy shmancy concerts, we were instructed to wear long, black and very dressed up clothing. I could potentially have done long and black but in combination with something fancy, I was left with an empty wardrobe... In a panic, I asked everybody if they had anything vaguely my size as I didn't have time to go shopping anymore. In the end, Evi told me she had a long black 'gala dress' (when I say gala, I mean gala) which would suit me. Tried it on and it fitted like a glove.

I don't think I've ever heard my cleavage being such a point of discussion before... I have to admit, it was a pretty daring dress, and I was very aware of my boobs (and so was the conductor I think!) but I look pretty damn good in it! They took a picture of me earlier because I was wearing my sneakers and red socks under the dress - I'm also wearing shoes with a 10 cm heal which are killing my knees - so excuse me for wearing comfortable shoes as long as I can. I'll try to get hold of the picture and post it - I'm quite proud of the overall look!!

Extremely tired and awake

Just got back from the first concert of this weekend with the Philharmonic Orchestra. After a last rehearsal with a 100 person orchestra last night - it is still pretty amazing, time after time, it still gives me a kick - we performed in the cathedral of Mechelen tonight. I can not express how much I was impressed with the performance... Singing under the coordination of conductor Philippe Herreweghe (I'm sure hardly any of you will know him, but he is actually a prominent figure in the world of Classic Music) is an experience in itself. This man is simply a genius. Imagine the rehearsal, a full blown orchestra playing, FFForte, and then he tells them to stop in the middle of a Fuga to tell the Harp that her C sharp is tuned a fraction too low...

He told us we sounded like little Angels (and we actually did if I may say so) and commented on how beautiful our voices sounded. Pretty cool getting compliments from somebody like Mr. Herreweghe!

Ready to go to bed now. Need to be up again in the morning to sing a wedding mass and then off to Brussels to sing in the Palace of Fine Arts in the evening. I'm so knackered at the moment and there really aren't enough hours in a day for me currently but I've enjoyed the concert and the whole experience so much, that it makes up for it big style!

A step closer to moving

We've served notice on both the flats - ieeeeee.

Let's hope that the people who are currently living in our flat in T.Wells don't move out next week so we end up paying 2 months of mortgage there and that our landlady here in Antwerp is not going to acting too difficult about us finishing the contract three months before the actual date. It could either go really well and work out perfectly or we could end up paying rather a lot of money over the next few months...

Mr Potato Head on my platter

After my Judicial translation course (Russian!) - I don't even understand legal speak in Dutch, let alone Russian - I biked into town and sat down for a Faro (my favourite beer) at my favourite pub in Antwerp, right next to the cathedral. The sun was shining and I was accompanied by Evi, what more do you want? It had been a while since we sat down and had a good old natter...

We were joined for dinner by Stu, Courtney, Danny and Sarah and tried out the Potato place that Stu and I had put on our list of things to do and places to eat before we move back to the UK. Bram had bragged about this place non stop as it apparently has the biggest jacked potatoes in the world at a very reasonable price. He wasn't lying! I don't think I've ever eaten so much potato in my life - the one big potato must have equalled about 10 normal sized ones. Excellent value for money!

Afterwards, Evi and I went to see the apartment she and Robin have bought. She'll be moving just around the corner from us - too bad we will be moving out a month after they'll have moved in... Lovely place, really spacious and just perfect for them, a little love nest. It's giving me that feeling of anticipation, moving back to T.Wells. I'm going to miss Antwerp a lot, but I'm also looking forward starting that new phase in our lives. (already thinking of all the things I'm going to do and groups I'm going to join!) I've decided to make a concerted effort making a new circle of friends of my own, separate from Stu's friends. Therefore, if I still have any energy left after working full time, commuting up to London to go to Uni and doing all my course work; I'm going to join the gym again, play squash once a week, join the Waterstone's book reading club and sing in a local choir. (although secretly I want to audition to sing in the BBC Proms choir!) And maybe, but only very maybe, I might enrol in a Russian conversation class...

Suuuuummmmmer time

What a wonderful day today. Belgium has apparently broken the temperature record for this day in history! The Easter egg search had to happen rather quickly this morning as the chocolate was literally melting by the second.

It was hard to focus writing my thesis today with all the sunshine but I managed to scribble another couple of 1000 words down so we're just about done. I only figured out this late afternoon that the books I want to look at to draw my final conclusion are not available here in Belgium. I looked on all the Belgian library catalogues online but can't find any of them. Therefore, I now have 2 options. I either go to England next weekend and sit myself down in the British Library for two days (did you know you can't take anything but a pencil in their reading rooms!) or I simply order the books I want on Amazon and get them delivered to my door. I only need to justify to myself that £80 for 4 books is ok and then we're there.

Just finished filling in my crazy work/study schedule for this week and have come to the conclusion that I have 3 concerts with the Philharmonic Orchestra this weekend and a wedding mass to sing. This does not include the weekly choir practice on Wednesday evening and the raccord on Thursday evening. On top of all this, my first hay fever burst has manifested itself this weekend so I'm as nasal as can be - no Soprano singing for me if I keep on going like this!

And we're back

After an incredible week of working and studying, it's now time to sit back and relax this weekend. I worked all week on a folder for the London Fire Brigade, becoming a wiz with QuarkExpress. I've worked so hard this week, I didn't really want to sit behind my laptop any longer than I really had to, especially now the weather is so beautiful. So, mi dispiace for not keeping up my blog this week.

Stu has bought himself a new bike in preparation for his London to Brighton bike race for charity. Obviously he couldn't leave the big horn in the shop so he's now biking around town, giving old ladies heart attacks when he's politely 'hooting' his bell. We've just arrived at Mum & Dad's on our bikes where we, being Stu, Bram, Tessa, Courtney, Danny and me, will have an Easter Brunch tomorrow morning after we've done an egg search in the garden. We didn't travel lightly - Bram and I both had our laptops with us, packed with blankets and lots of yummy food for our picknick stop in the middle of our journey.

Bram and I intend to work on our thesis this afternoon but might get distracted by the lovely weather! I've written about 4,300 words so far for my thesis and am about half way there. We're supposed to write a minimum of 6,000 words so I'm right on target. I have set myself the task to finish the rough version by tomorrow evening - not allowing myself to go to bed before it's finished! I could be in for a long night tomorrow...

Other stories worth mentioning:

• I scored an incredible 17/20 on my Journalism exam - jeehaaa. I could still be in for a graduation with distinction (first go!?!)

• Our leaving party, which was planned on the 30th of June, might have to be rescheduled a week earlier as my brother and sister in law have decided to go to Werchter (Music Festival) - so everybody reading this should be considered invited - but please let me know if the 23rd of June doesn't work for you, as we'll have to reconsider again in that case.

• Andrew & Carrie will be in England in June - Jeepeee.

• I've secretly enrolled us for Location Location Location, a property program on Channel4 - perhaps I might even make it on British television as well this year!

• Uncle Pete won the 'Fred Scott Challenge 2007' - next year will be the 10th edition so there's rumours we might rent a 'castle' in the Cotswold for a week next year...

• I guess now the entire Scott family knows it's ok to put this on my blog, I'm going to be an Auntie!!!!!

The Fred Scott Challenge Cup

The Scott Clan

Fred Scott Challenge 2007

Tomorrow morning, 4AM, (ouch), we'll be off.
For those who aren't familiar with the Scott Boules Tradition, I might need to explain a thing or two. My family-in-law has this tradition of getting together on Easter Sunday and playing a game - The Fred Scott Challenge - which just about follows the rules of a Boules game, with only some slight amendments here and there.

1. You don't play with balls, you play with rocks. Two each.
2. Rocks have to be spherical, have odd shapes and approximately the size of a cricket ball so winning becomes less of a skilled exercise and all the more pure luck.
3. The rocks can not be found within a 25 miles radius of the venue of that year.
4. Who ever wins, organises next year.
5. One year abroad, next year a home game.
6. You are not allowed to win, unless your surname is Scott.
7. Or unless you have played for 3 consecutive years. (hilarious, as Jo and Did (Scott) have married a non-Scott and have to play 3 years now before they can win again!)
8. There's a cup for the winner, a cup for the loser (usually goes to Baxie!) and a cup for something outstanding that day - I've won that cup for having the most beautifully painted stones. The winner's cup has loads of metal placks on, engraved with the names of previous winners - ah yes, the Scotts take this serious!
9. The game of Boules is followed by Easter lunch and a ceremony of announcements.

This year, we're playing away, in Dieppe, France. Stu's dad won last year and has therefore organised this year's event near a harbour as we have Stu's parents and Uncle Pete & Auntie Wendy staying on their boats. My mum and dad are invited this year as well (their 2nd time), so I'm guessing the family is thinking there will be some great announcement - NOT!

You can check out the Fred Scott Challenge website I made one year, as Stu won but his organisational skills are non-existent. We'll be back in Antwerp on Monday so I'll keep you posted on who won!

Old lady calling

So I'm back from my French and Spanish tour. It was good to be back in the game even though there was hardly anybody I knew from 7 years ago. Though, sitting on a coach for 10 days made it quite easy to meet knew people. The more South we went, the lovelier the weather was. We had a day off touring in Nice, which was beautiful. I met Courtney, Danny, Courtney's aunt and sexy Aussie Jeff, had lunch and dipped my tow in the Mediterranean to then realise it definitely wasn't summer yet. Moving onto Spain was a bit of a disappointment as we pretty much had rain every time we got off the coach. I guess taking a bikini and flip flops must have tempted faith...

The hotels were all fabulous and the bathroom freebies immediately disappeared in my suitcase. I also got some very inspiring ideas for future bathrooms, the more expensive the hotels, the more designery the rooms. One hotel had a telephone on the loo and a fabulous massage shower which managed to keep me happy for an hour and a half!

The shows were cool to sing again and the artists were not all bad, so all in all, I think we produced quite a show. I was very impressed with the way things have moved onto a much more professional manner. The choir had proper headsets now with individual mixing between your own voice and the rest, the conductor of the orchestra must have joined the AA as he now managed to hardly/not miss any entries, the catering was superb whereas 7 years we sometimes refused dinner as we feared food poisoning, the lightening was brilliant - a show on its own and finally we were chauffeured around in a sleeping coach so plenty of leg space.

Obviously sometimes things went wrong, as they do. A full blown power cut 30 seconds into the opening Overture was pretty spectacular and made the audience even more excited. (Not sure if they realised everything was going tits up!). And also the one time they forgot to put in the diagonal bars of the stage (we're about 5 metres up!) was pretty interesting... The numerous times the coach driver managed to go the wrong way and may be the times we had to wake up ridiculously earlier weren't always as pleasant. But all in all, I had a wicked time.

One thing I've realised now is that I'm getting old! I simply can not do the whole partying trick after the concert anymore (we were usually back in the hotel around 00.20). All the youngsters go to the bar and have a few drinks - I'm still with them on that, only it's usually one drink in my case and I'm ready to sleep. They stay up until 5 or 6 in the morning, have breakfast and sleep all day on the coach. I tried but failed significantly. I can assure you, I was barely human. I've now resorted to simply accepting I'm not 18 anymore and need a bit more sleep to keep going...

There's a 4 week German tour towards the end of the year so I might do a bit of that. (Won't be able to do Antwerp and Rotterdam as we will have moved back to T.Wells by then) Next year, they will drop France and do more shows in Spain, combined with Scandinavian countries. Sounds like a good idea to me - they can count me in!