THE DAY THAT CHANGED ITS FACE

Yesterday morning I woke up with a busy day ahead of me.

I was to perform at a hospital five minutes away from our home at 11 a.m. followed by a quick dash to another hospital for an afternoon show. Both had been rescheduled twice - there just don't seem to be many children with tonsils or broken limbs in July! In the evening we were going out for a meal with some good friends who we hadn't seen for a while.

The first change happened when I called the hospitals to make sure - and was cancelled yet again by the morning one 'we've only got two children and we had Andy yesterday anyway!' Oh well - I'm sure Andy is more than enough for one week!
Then, during a more leisurely morning than anticipated I took a call which cancelled the evening arrangements due to a daughter-in-law's family bereavement which warranted some babysitting duties for our friends.


The afternoon show went well and I had a good time apart from being almost reduced to tears - not by a child but by his mother who had him howling despairingly as she screamed at him constantly about how he deserved all the pain his broken limb was causing him and how she was going to walk out of the ward, birthday or no birthday, and never come back to him again. She even wrote his card out in front of him and handed it over without the envelope although he was too terrified by her threats to react to the written word.

Then, halfway home I got a call: 'I know it's a bit short notice...' oh well, I thought, I've nothing booked in on the afternoons this weekend so I'll be free. 'I know it's short notice but my daughter's having a party this afternoon - are you free to entertain eight year olds at 5.30???' And I was!

I dashed home, packed an appropriate show, printed off the publicity inserts for the prize bags - and off I went. Luckily it was all dovetailing beautifully - the destination was half a mile down the road from my house! Show went well, got home quite tired - and found out Rob had booked tickets for Harry Potter.

So two hospital shows and a dinner turned into one hospita showl, one birthday party (with cash payment!) and a movie -
and what a movie!

Cousin Barbara had seen the film out in Bermuda but hadn't enjoyed it at all, feeling that there was no story to it! Rob hadn't read the book either and absolutely loved it - and I really really loved it, particularly seeing scenes that had previously only been visualised in my head coming to life on front of me.

Now that's magic!

TODAY WAS FOR YOU DAD!

My Dad was a wonderful man - everyone who knew him loved him. He had a huge love of magic and he and I used to watch all the programmes from David Nixon to Paul Daniels - but Dad's favourite magician was always Ali Bongo. Sadly my dad died two months before I met Rob - and subsequently Fay Presto who taught me to be a magician.

Almost fifteen years later I dedicate this day to my dad:

Today I was in a bookshop for the launch of the final Harry Potter; I ran two workshops together with Ali Bongo.
We taught magic to almost sixty children and had a great time.


Then, when I arrived home, I found a huge bouquet of flowers from - Paul Daniels and Debbie McGee to thank me for a small something I'd arranged for them last weekend.


My Dad would've been so proud... today I really really miss him.

BRIAN'S BIRTHDAY AND YOUNG MAGICIAN OF THE YEAR

Sunday's event was the Young Magician of the Year finals and Ben Farrar (or Ben Hart as he is now known) was a deserved winner - couldn't happen to a nicer guy.



It was also great fun celebrating Brian's Birthday the day after it happened. A good crowd of us celebrated with supper and cake after the highly enjoyable competition finals. Brian puffed away at the candles

before heading home to rest up before a few hopefully fun-filled days in Amsterdam - can't wait to compare notes on our trip there!

OUTRAGED OF BOREHAMWOOD

It's fascinating to discover the apathy in one's household that one didn't know existed.

Everyone was obviously distraught by the news - but it was only a small number of concerned individuals who were so horrified that they were determined to act. You'd expect that no one would shirk their duty but just a handful were moved enough by the news on Brian's Blog that someone, I can't even voice his name, SOMEONE was so cruel, so vicious that he had unpicked young innocents and TURNED THEM INSIDE OUT TO STUFF AGAIN!

This was a heinous crime against bearanity but once again it was left to the minority, a superior group by all accounts but nevertheless a minority, to form a picket line and protest in the name of Bearnesty International:



Principle protestors (l to r) Whimsy, Pooh the Superior, Albert

Long live those that will stand up and be counted (but beyond three is rather difficult until we get taught more...)