Charity Begins at Home

Dodgy Belly
I suspect it was the fish I had for lunch on Friday that did it, but for the afternoon, evening, and well into the weekend, I had a very dodgy tummy. No loss of appetite, but within a couple of hours of the fish hitting my belly, I couldn’t stop visiting the loo.

It impacted my Friday evening, too, at the charity fundraiser for Marie Curie Cancer Care in the Mason’s Hall at Shrubhill. Not a place I’d perhaps normally visit on a Friday, but the cause pulled me in (we’ve a close connection after they did so much for my Father-in-Law), as did the fact the Rab Howat Band were playing; always a treat to see live.

As well as Rab Howat et al, we also got Nobby Clark of the Bay City Rollers, and Kenny Herbert, who is something of a local legend on the Edinburgh music scene. It was quite a night with some great songs being played.

Later in the evening, I introduced my wife to Rab. She’s been a fan of his for about 20 years and it was she that diverted me into the band’s tractor beam, so when she finally got to meet him…well, I have to watch what I’m saying here, but she changed into a star struck schoolgirl.

Anyway, it was all a good laugh and she’s finally got permission to photograph him, something she’s wanted to do for years. I always suspected she only had to ask…

Trees for Life
There was a raffle at the opening of the Trees for Life charity exhibition opening on Thursday evening. With no idea what the prize was, I bought a few tickets purely as a way of doing my bit for the money pot (which was well over £5K last I heard).

On Sunday, I found out I’d won the grand prize! And it isn’t a bottle of wine or voucher for a tanning salon either; it’s a signed limited edition print of one of Trevor Jones paintings!

WOW! I was blown away, not just that I’d actually won but that it was something so immense. The guy’s a top artist, I really like his work (not that I’m an expert but I know what I like to look at, though maybe not why), and so to be able to have one of his works of art on my wall is really quite something. It’ll go great in my writing den.

Please check out the Trees for Life charity exhibition at Out of the Blue (The Blue Drill Hall) 32 – 36 Dalmeny Street, Leith. It’s free entry and you’ll get to see some wonderful art from all around the world, in aid of the Caledonian Forest renewal in Scotland.

You’ll also be able to see my entry of four haiku poems, one for each season, which is available for purchase, signed and mounted. Or you can just buy it direct from the website!

Full information on the charity and the exhibition can be found here: http://treesforlifeexhibition.blogspot.com

Elsewhere
I took my daughter out for brunch yesterday morning. Her “social life” as we’ve decided to call it, is as hectic as any other teen, I suppose, so we went out to grab a bite and catch up. It was really good. I think she’d forgotten she liked to spend time with me because of my naturally less-than-adult behaviourisms.

A teenager can only act like an adult for so long before someone like me comes along and reminds them that they’re nearer being a child, and that it’s actually more fun.

We also took in PC World where I bought a new wireless router. You have no idea the pains it causes me when my wife is unable to stream the catch-up episodes of Strictly Come Dancing. And we also visited Pets At Home to look at the bunnies and buy some bunny food.

Workwise
Good work completed on BACCARA BURNING and even better work done on the Leith poetry book. I even wrote a couple of new poems for it, but I reckon it’s almost about maxed out now.

I wrote back to the kids at The SKY Project—looks like December 6th is the first available date I have so I’m hoping they can take me that night.

Free Novels and Poetry
Don’t forget to visit my revamped website at www.colingalbraith.co.uk and either sign up to the mailing list or ‘Like’ my Facebook page [www.tinyurl.com/colinonfacebook], as it will mean you’ll be entitled to a free copy of each of my next three novels.

You’ll also find some great deals over at my poetry place www.chasstramash.com: all poetry ebooks are available for free download, 86p on the Kindle, and £3 (25% off!) for print copies.

Peace and out!

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