Strangers in Town?

I woke up this morning feeling strange as if something was about to happen. The telephone rang early with someone wanting our last room but said “she would ring back”.  I checked my emails and found that the room had already been booked out during the night. I felt lucky. She never did ring back.

Decided to go for a stroll along the beach and take in some refreshing sea air. Donkeys were out; speedboats were out and Ho! Ho! Ho! the pirate’s ship was out, but the best thing was the sun was out. Heading along to The Spa I began to notice a build-up of strange visitors to Scarborough. Not your usual type, but friendly nevertheless. 

Then it dawned on me it was SFS. What is SFS? Sci-Fi Scarborough is a two day weekend Convention of everything from Comic Books to Costume play, Authors to Artists, Guest Speakers to Guest Signings, Tabletop and Online gaming. Check it out http://www.scifiscarborough.co.uk/

Spring has finally sprung in the garden at Tall Storeys

Lovely tulips popping up all over the place - result of my planting last year - so exciting to see everything come up. 

Ian and I have been busy painting outside now we have finished (for the moment) painting inside!  Ian managed to paint the two sheds and what a difference.

I have started on the windows and hopefully will get started on the much needed refreshing of the conservatory.  Sea air does a lot of damage to woodwork so we need to try to keep the wood in tip top condition - not an easy task, but hey ho, we are trying our best.

Had lovely guests again over the past few days, but now are free for a couple of days so going to make the most of it.  
Going for a walk down to the sea front to see the Hispaniola (Pirate ship) on its return after being away for refitting (new plank) and also the openng of Marine Drive which has been closed for two years to two way traffic.  

Hope the sun continues to shine!

Tree Felling!

Having gained skills in many new areas since moving into Tall Storeys, tree felling was not one that we had thought about at all!

However, here is the proof - Ian went a bit crazy with the saw and as a result we have had to get proper `Tree Fellers` - (not 3 fellas - although probably will need 3 fellas) to remove the debris!!  Our garden should look so much lighter and brigher without all the extra foilage.  The borders are looking better already so I will be getting planting as soon as I can.

Guests from Scotland

We always enjoy having friends/family down from Scotland and last week-end we had the pleasure of Wilson and Jan from Lauder.  We ate out at the award wining Golden Grid which was absolutely delicious and then went on to choir night at Stephen Joseph Theatre and enjoyed listening to the SJT Youth choir who were fabulous, Global singers and SJT very own Quirky Choir - all excellent.

Graham Community Choir

Ian and I love to sing and we performed with our own choir on Saturday night - Graham Community Choir - with a 30 piece orchestra!  Amazing!  

Video of just two pieces we sang are on the website and more will come available later.

Jesu, joy of man's desiring by J.S.Bach                     Click on song title to see the video

Agnus Dei from Requiem

Today, Ian's off to sing in Bridlington with some of the choir at a Day Centre.  I have to stay in and wait for the three fellers!!

Thats all folks!

One year old today

Today is Tall Storeys First Anniversary with Ian and I at the helm!  I have to say we have sailed in calm waters, with the odd ripple catching our breath at times!  All in all it has been a fabulous year for us.  Meeting lovely guests, getting to know our neighbours, joining a fantastic choir and exploring the area (when we can)!  We have been blessed with pretty good weather since moving in and have enjoyed many hours in the garden, working and relaxing with or without guests.

 

Thank you so much to all the guests who have stayed with us and who have also returned many times.  We have been absolutely delighted to have you and hope to see you all again this year. 

There has been much cleaning going on and a lot more decorating than we anticipated - we are looking good!!

Thank you too to all our lovely friends from Scotland who have visited us - also friends from Romania, Switzerland and Canada.  These visits have all helped us to settle.

We are not strangers to this area having lived nearby for a number of years, so we say thankyou to all our long standing friends who have welcomed us back with open arms.  Marvellous!

Graham Community Choir

One thing we missed terribly when we moved to Scarborough one year ago, was the choir we were part of.  We love to sing.

However, recently, we have found a lovely choir to join which suits our every need - Graham Community Choir!  Bill Scott, the MD is just amazing, so talented and so enthusiastic.  The choir is at least 100 strong and so welcoming to us newcomers. Today Ian and I joined the choir at Dunollie Residential Home for what was a most enjoyable afternoon for us as well as for the residents, who by their applause and tapping of feet, and singing along, obviously enjoyed our repertoire!  

Our next big concert with The Sandside Orchestra is on 15th March at the Graham School in Scarborough.  Should be a fun evening - we are so lucky to have such great soloists and talent in the choir.

Good Luck to everyone on the night.

Orpheus the Mariner

Wow! Wow! Wow!

Scarborough just gets better and better!  

Orpheus the Mariner`s performance on Friday and Saturday evenings was outstanding.  From the puppets, which I have to say, were out of this world and realised the fantastic construction and artistic talents of people of Scarborough. Amazing!

   

It was so nice to know that the whole community had been involved in the preparation and making of this event, from school children with their lovely home made lanterns to the older community choirs. I take my hat off to all of them.  The story tellers did a sterling job telling the sad tale of Orpheus and enthralled the audience completeley.  The costumes seen here, which I think you will agree were outstanding - so detailed and well put together - I would say they were world class and would not have been out of place in any TV drama or indeed, big screen movie.

It was a delight to see so many spectators who came out to support this event - thousands of people lined the streets and then followed the puppets up to Valley Road where the end of the play took place with Hades in full view of the whole of Scarborough - he was a huge 26 metre record breaker.

I think this has been the best event we have seen so far in Scarborough and there have been many, but it just confirms to us that Scarborough is certainly the place to be.

We congratulate everyone who took part in this event, and we look forward to more of the same in the future.

Absolutely Amazing!

A Taste of the Middle East in Scarborough!

Having family to stay is always a pleasure for Ian and myself, but when you can take them somewhere really special is the icing on the cake. When we lived in Romania, our favourite Lebanese restaurant was Piccolo Mondo and so we were delighted to hear of the opening of Arabesque in Scarborough. We just love Lebanese/Moroccon food - we were not disappointed. Arabesque is delightful, staff lovely, knowledgeable and attentive.  We (5 of us) thoroughly enjoyed every mouthful and cannot wait to go back again. 

On offer soon there will be an evening of dining with a set menu and also entertainment in the form of belly dancing - which I am sure will be a great night out!  Whilst in Tunisia one year, Jenna bought herself a belly dancing costume, but sadly I cannot seem to find it, otherwise I would be joining in the fun at the Arabesque!  

We would all highly recommend this restaurant and have already sent guests from Tall Storeys there and they have returned to us with nothing but glowing reports. Definitely a place to go.