Piste off...

Yes, am off to the pistes folks. Can't wait for a week of fresh air, ski school (am a little rusty to say the least), and of course lots of fun and frolics.

My companions for the week are Esme (room buddy), Sonia (has practically organised the whole thing, I'm just turning up with me case and passport, thanks Son), Hil, Jonathan, Paul, Liz, Rick, Bruce and Richard - and we have a chalet person to cook for us too, hoorah!

It's also Hil's birthday while we're away and 31cm of snow is predicted for that day on the upper and lower slopes and in the resort of Val Thorens where we are staying.

The very very minor downside to the trip is the time of travelling, hence me writing this blog entry stone cold sober at 11.30 on a Friday night - Es will be here to pick me up in less than three hours so there's no point going to bed, plus I've still got a bit of packing to finish.

Don't you just hate packing? I mean, how on Earth do I know what I'll feel like wearing next Friday evening, what mood will I be in, will I fancy jeans or trousers, green or purple? The weather people certainly don't know what the weather will really be like either.

This came from the horse's mouth so to speak whilst I was down at Radio Leeds this morning doing my second TV review on the Graham Liver show. Lovely Paul Hudson (Look North weatherman for those not from round these parts) was brought in to confirm that Graham and his producer, the lovely Johnny I'Anson, were not in fact wimping out by not doing their planned outdoor swim at Pugneys lake on Monday when gale force winds are forecast. They've rescheduled for Wednesday but the forecast for then is not that great either, and beyond that Paul admitted that his predictions would involve a degree of guess work (his actual words off air were 'realms of fantasy').

So, I've done my best with the packing predictions and I shall just have to hope that I've not gone over my weight limit.

I have managed to hire a nifty little outfit (which you see me modelling here) from the fab Severn Sports here in good old Armley. I highly recommend it as it's a lovely family-run business and it's great to support our local shops isn't it? Don't let the big boys take over!

I was feeling a bit weary this morning and yet again was glad it was radio not telly, as me, Jen, Leah, Lois, Faye and Jo headed over to Manchester last night to see the final tour of the fabulous French & Saunders. It was a great show overall and my face was aching from laughing at the first few sketches - they've brought back some of the classics and updated them:

Dawn: "You don't say 'how big is it?', you say 'how many hands is it please?'"
Jennifer: "How many hands is it please?"
Dawn: "It's 16 hands thank you for asking."

The filmed sketch of Dawn's impression of Catherine Zeta Jones was also blummin' marvellous, as was Jennifer's Madonna bit, but there were a few random bits that didn't quite have us rolling in the aisles.

Still, having grown up watching them - particularly with Faye and Jo - it was great to be able to finally see them live.

So, it's been a busy old week and I'm looking forward to a break - of course not one of the bone variety!

Sloping off now (sorry, couldn't resist!)

Clancy xxxx