March

A very cold month. As a result of the breakdown of the horsebox (it needed a new starter motor) and one or two icy weekends, Juliet and Clyde only competed once in the month. But Clyde again did his stuff, coming back with two first places for Combined Training – that’s dressage plus show jumping at two different heights.

On the academic front, it is Jay’s AS year, and the process of university applications is starting. We have had seminars on this at her school, mainly on the Oxbridge system, which requires a separate application, and we are also trying to select two or three other universities for visits.

At the end of the month it was Teresa’s birthday, and Helen visited for the occasion. We had a birthday meal at home this year, having visited the local Marks and Spencer first to choose our own delicacies.

We also tried to celebrate with a visit to the Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury, to hear The Feast of Fiddles. Roger heard them a few years ago, and has greatly enjoyed their CD since. On this occasion we booked early, and on-line – paying a premium for the privilege – only to find, on arriving at the theatre, that we had been given seats A1 and A2. ‘Best seats in the house’, said the usherette, but we began to have our doubts when we saw a huge array of loudspeakers a few feet in front of us, and had to twist our necks awkwardly to see up to the stage. Even so we were not quite prepared for the assault on our eardrums from the speakers which all appeared to be connected to the folk-rock accompanying band – especially the percussion. The theatre was full so we couldn’t move to other seats, so we had to leave at the interval when Teresa’s ear was really starting to hurt.

Teresa e-mailed to complain, and not only did we receive some sympathetic comments from both the theatre and the band, but also a personal letter from the band leader (and manager), enclosing CDs of their two previous concerts, one of which, of course, we had seen live at the time. A gracious and enjoyable recompense for our spoiled evening.

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