FIDDLER ON THE HOOF

Our young orchestra has now completed its season ending up with a concert last Saturday in Cairns Church in Milngavie. We begin when school starts the third week of August and finish pre-Christmas. We have found in the past (this is our 11th season) that the children have so much on during the Christmas season that it clashes with our own event. We start again next August. The good news is that there are plenty of other outlets in the city if kids want to keep going with their fiddle.

The orchestra rehearsing in the afternoon. We had a very good concert with a respectable turn-out of parents and friends. Dennis Haggerty and Andrew Nicol were the guest artists and give wonderful value for money! The church has a very nice ambience; chunky white candles are lit on the window ledges all along both sides of the church. I would say about 30 in all. Although we cannot dim the lights (otherwise the children couldn't read their music) the effect is very soft and pleasant.

A behind-the-scenes photo. One of our youngsters had pegs that kept slipping. And, I recall, another year, someone's bridge collapsed. So I got Mairi to bring her violin over and I got the strings sorted and made sure it was tuned in readiness for any emergency.

The girls wear Black Watch tartan scarves and the boys wear adult (not - heaven forbid! - boy's) ties which are also Black Watch. It is not possible to purchase the handkerchiefs for the girls anymore so nothing for it, I had to sew 3 scarves for our 3 newest and youngest members. This job is not onerous; I am a very happy sewer, particularly hand-sewing. M-m-m-m must get back to doing some more of this sort of stuff!

Oh ... the scones are cheese scones - a variation on a regular theme. When Mairi brought the fiddle over we enjoyed a pot of tea and lovely, fresh scones a la Anne B.