My Sunday Sermon (on a Wednesday)

 

I have recently become a regular church attendee after a fairly lengthy dispute with God.  I won’t bore you with the details of our altercation, suffice it to say that we’ve come to a settlement. 

So I found myself last Sunday sitting in church listening to the minister and thinking about blogging.  I admit, that’s not really what I was supposed to be thinking about, but the minister was not our usual one and when he started his sermon he could almost have been reading it from his blog.  Honestly, that’s what it sounded like.  I especially enjoyed the part where he turned the page.  I know for a fact that our usual rev. writes and reads his sermon, but he at least does it discreetly.  Funny, that during a sermon that was about listening – I wasn’t!

 

Here’s what I was thinking.  “If the minister’s sermon is his blog, then is my blog my sermon?”  Are we all [bloggers] spending our precious time, preaching our beliefs and thoughts to those who will sit down and listen? 

Well, no, not exactly.  I sort of liked the idea that this is my sermon.  Until I used the word preaching.  I think my blog is more like a discussion group.   You come here with your own thoughts and opinions and leave with your own thoughts and opinions, and if you care to comment in between then even better.  You don’t have to agree with what I say, you don’t even have to like it.  But if you are here, and you do have something to say, then please feel free.  It makes it a much more interesting place!

Scrap that …

 

I change my mind more often than the weather! 

I’ve read through some of my blog and decided that I’m just going to stay put.  There are lots of little things I don’t like, but I think it’s because I’m too close to it and I’m too much of a perfectionist.

One of the reasons that I stopped posting here was because someone that I know stumbled across my blog and then emailed me about it and it’s taken me a long time to deal with my sudden loss of anonymity.  Whilst that person is in no way malicious or nasty, I could just imagine them sitting around (with other acquaintances that I am no longer in contact with) having a good laugh at me.  The strange thing is, I actually feel guilty for writing that because the person in question, in my mind, is such a nice person he wouldn’t do that.  Why does it bother me so much? 

Ultimately though it’s my issue.  But it’s also my blog and I’m not going to let my little paranoid brain run me out of town.  So I’m staying.  Going to spend some time today (I have a baby free afternoon!) looking at the layout and trying to brighten it up a bit.  I loved my layout and colour scheme when I uploaded it, but, it reflects the way I felt before my daughter was born and I feel now it’s a bit dull.  My life is much brighter now and my blog should reflect that.

Hopefully, you’ll like the difference. 

What’s in a name?

I’m thinking about starting a new blog.  This one hasn’t lived up to my expectations.  When I started it, I knew nothing about the world of blogging, nothing about netiquette and I was not the world’s greatest writer.  Now, I am, at best, an amateur blogger with a vague idea about netiquette and I am still a fairly poor writer.  Fact.  I’m not here looking for sympathy or reassurance, my blog has always disappointed me.

So, should I start a new blog.  Leave this one behind, start a fresh, promise to post every day regularly?  Yep, I’m thinking about it.  But this time it’s got to be perfect (I just burst into song in my head!) and firstly I need a perfect name.

I loved my name when I started this blog.  It disappointed me very quickly.  So now, if I’m going to do it right, I need a perfect name.  I very often browse through other people’s blog-rolls and click on the one with the most attractive name.  So this time, I’m going to do it right.

Honestly, it was easier coming up with a name for my new daughter!

Dear friends,

I'm really sorry that I've been away for so long. I have popped into your blogs from a distance a handful of times but have visited my own even less. I am a bad blogger! I popped in today to come have a look and thought maybe I'd better give you all an excuse explanation.

She's small (in fact she turned 6 months today), beautiful, happy and the best thing that ever happened to me! In fact, I retract the above strike through. It's a damn good excuse. My time has been occupied totally with my fantastic daughter.

I'd love to say I'll be on here more regularly. I can't say that though, so instead I promise to try!

Hope you are all good

xx

I'm back ... again ... virus free!

I've been away for a while again.  I'm kind of struggling to find things to write about these days.  Apart from that I have had a nasty nasty virus infecting my computer.  Glad to say that the computer is now back to full running capability a the only casualty was my bank balance.

I just don't understand the whole virus thing.  Who creates them?  And why?  Maybe I'm totally daft, but I just don't see the amusement in ruining other people's computers, files and privacy.  I assume that these people have no way of knowing what damage their virus has done once it's out there.  So why bother?  It's just nasty.  It's almost like someone saying "I'm smarter than you in IT and therefore I must ruin all your innocent fun"

I have no idea where I picked mine up from.  I don't look at "dodgy" websites as far as I'm aware.  I have no email set up on this computer either.  Thankfully I am a fairly aware person and I noticed instantly that my google search pages had suddenly changed their font.  I clicked carefully and was instantly sent to an online gambling site.  The virus managed to disable my system restore option and even stopped me running SpyBot search and Destroy.  Put McAffee on it and it didn't pick it up.  Downloaded Windows Defender and it picked it up but couldn't get rid of it.  Eventually we tried a windows repair.  DISASTER!  That didn't solve it and almost seemed to make it worse.  Suddenly I could barely boot up the computer.

So I had no choice but to call an expert.  Who wiped the computer entirely.  That's how bad it had got.  But at least I know it's gone now and I have virus security up to the eyeballs. 

So fingers crossed that I will remain virus free.  I'll try catch up with all your pages in the next few days.

Loch Lomond

Loch Lomond

By yon bonnie banks and by yon bonnie braes
where the sun shines bright on Loch Lomond
Where me and my true love were ever want tae gae
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond

Oh, ye'll tak the high road and I'll tak the low road
And I'll be in Scotland afore ye
For me and my true love will never meet again
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond

T'was there that we parted in yon shady glen
On the steep, steep sides of Ben Lomond
Where in purple hue, the hieland hills we view
And the moon coming out in the gloamin'

CHORUS

The wee birdies sing and the wild flowers spring
And in sunshine the waters are sleeping
But the broken heart it kens nae second spring again
tho' the waefu' may cease fae their greetin'

CHORUS

I've chosen this song today because it is just beautiful. It's actually becoming more popular to have this song at the end of a wedding these days than Auld Lang Syne. Of course, it is Runrig's version that the well-oiled wedding party is most likely to use. I've put a recording of a slower version, close to how I would perform it and also a recording of the famous Runrig version of the song.



Here is the Runrig version. It is worth noting that they use slightly altered words. They also have a Gaelic section in the middle -

Ho, ho mo leannan
Ho mo leannan bhoidheach

This means something along the lines of Oh my sweetheart, oh my beautiful sweetheart, but don't quote me because I don't speak Gaelic unfortunately.



There are a few ideas on the meaning to the words of this song. The most popular that I have heard is that it was about a Jacobite soldier who was captured in Carlisle whilst another fellow soldier (or sometimes I've heard it was his lover) managed to escape. The captured soldier sings of how he will have to take the "low road" back to Scotland which means he will be executed and travel the underworld back to Scotland.

If you're ever in Scotland, Loch Lomond is well worth a visit.

The Dark Island

I love this song. It's the first thing I teach to P5 evey year, and I always tell them that this is my favourite Scottish song. It was written by David Silver about the small Scottish Island of Benbecula. I haven't found a version that I totally love yet but here are the lyrics and a version of the song. I like this version but she sings a few rhythms slightly different from the way I would sing them.

You need to skip to 40 seconds before she starts!



Away to the west where I'm longing to be,
Where the beauties of heaven unfold by the sea
Where the sweet purple heather blooms fragrant and free
On a hilltop high above The Dark Island

Oh, isle of my childhood, I'm dreaming of thee,
As the steamer leaves Oban and passes Tiree
Soon I'll capture the magic that lingers for me
When I'm back once more upon The Dark Island

So Gentle the sea breeze that ripples the bay
Where the stream joins the ocean and young children play
On the strand of pure silver I'll welcome each day
And I'll roam forever more The Dark Island

True Gems of the Hebrides bathed in the light
Of the mid-summer dawning that follows the night
How I yearn for the cries of the seagull in flight
As they circle high above The Dark Island