The perfect instrument

Not my usual blogging content today - but this was just so amusing, in a pre-pubescent humour type way, that I had to share it with the world. This is a quote from an article in the Guardian newspaper entitled 'Prized violin plays again for Moscow elite':

"I wasn't sure he would agree to play my instrument," said Viktorov. "But he took it in his hands and played for seven seconds, after which he said the last time he had that feeling was when he touched his own instrument for the first time."

Get cycling

So I completed my first exchange through Freecycle today. I'd heard of it on and off for ages but I finally got around to registering last week. We have quite a bit of stuff hanging around the house and the loft which we really don't need - but can't quite face chucking out as it is not actually broken. So today our old digital camera D.O.B. c.2002 went to a family in a nearby village. I felt really good about it, as I got the impression that they wouldn't have been able to have been able to obtain a camera through any other means. If you haven't joined yet, and you have random stuff lying around, or are in need of random stuff, I reckon you should join - you've got nothing to lose!

The Masterpiece

And so it is finished... after 3 months... countless trips to B&Q... more £££s spent on materials and tools than I care to remember... and some wonderful Ebay purchases.... the guest room is complete!

This is the first room that husband and I tackled truly from scratch. Our previous decorating exploits in the house have been rather "make do and mend" - making the house more "us" until we can afford to do it properly with wooden floors and art nouveau fireplaces. The guest room has had the works: built in cupboard removed, damaged walls and ceiling replastered, all original woodwork stripped and repainted, new cornice installed, new carpet, new furniture and fully decorated.

So for you pleasure here is the before shot, what the room looked like before we bought the house...

And now here is the after shot:

I designed it on the Arts & Crafts style, inspired by a room at Cragside, Northumberland. A few finishing touches are needed in the form of pictures and a rug but basically we are open for business. Anyone fancy a weekend in the Cotswolds?

Belief-O-Matic

According to Belief-O-Matic my religious/spiritual beliefs align with the following:

1. Secular Humanism (100%)
2. Unitarian Universalism (97%)
3. Liberal Quakers (89%)
4. Neo-Pagan (80%)
5. Nontheist (74%)
6. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (70%)
7. New Age (69%)
8. Theravada Buddhism (65%)
9. Taoism (58%)
10. Mahayana Buddhism (50%)

These are my top ten.... what are yours?