Birthday Shenigans

Hello there!

Hope you are well!

It was a lovely weekend!  It was CBC's birthday celebration weekend.  He came home from school on Friday and opened presents. As is tradition, I bought him chocolate eclairs (the fresh cream ones) which we ate with a cup of tea.   I'd also bought him a ready-made Tiramisu and a beer as fridge surprises.

His birthday presents were the Jaran 2 tent extra ground sheet for our lightweight tent. It has been out of stock for over 14 months and we've been wanting to get it from Alpkit and last month, I checked and it was back in stock so I knew he'd be really pleased with that. I also bought him 250grams of Columbian coffee beans from the Refill shop, a Flying Scotsman t-shirt from the York Railway museum, a nice patterned shirt from the charity shop, a game he was interested in called Block Party (Vinted).

We went out for a late Italian meal.  I don't usually want to eat Pizza but I really felt like one and it was really delicious!

Saturday, we woke up a bit later and made breakfast and did some garden stuff. I enjoyed my breakfast by the pond!

Remember I was feeling a bit disappointed about the competition? Well, I had some lovely news on Saturday morning that one of my poems has been selected for the next edition of The  Toy magazine.  The edition theme is 'Celebrations' and I sent 3 poems for consideration. The one that was selected was my wildcard so was really pleased.  I'm in good company as quite a few of my Insta poet buddies were also selected for this issue too and I had lots of lovely comments on Insta from them! This will be my first time in a printed magazine/publication as opposed to an online one!

It was such  gorgeous day that I started thinking about outdoor pools and I suddenly remembered the Oasis Leisure Centre near Tottencourt Road. I looked it up and decided that I might plan a pre-orchestra visit there.

Had to start pestering CBC to leave for his birthday outing. We were going to watch Avenue Q and to go out for dinner beforehand in Holborn.   We had a last minute dash to the station and just made it.

We arrived to Holborn station and went to go and tell the hotel restaurant that we'd have two fewer guests as his brother was unwell.  We decided to go and have a wander, wishing we'd arrived earlier.  I couldn't not believe it as we walked past Avenue Q and discovered that the Oasis Leisure centre IS OPPOSITE IT!!! I mentioned to (usually reluctant swimmer) CBC, that this was where I wanted to come and he said that a swim would have been nice! I WAS GUTTED!!! Why did I not mention it to him??!?! WOuld have completed the day.

We walked to Neal's yard and I bought some teas for us (one for him as a birthday present) and a couple for us both and then we headed back to the hotel which was Rondo at the Hoxton Hotel.

My sister and her boyfriend arrived as well as our friend N and we ordered.  It was a wonderful, but expensive restaurant.

I ordered lamb for my main and an intriguing beef on fried bread starter with parsnip crisps! They were delicious as were all the sides including these amazing chilli and tomato green beans!

After that, we headed for the theatre.

Avenue Q was hilarious. I saw it about 18 years ago but didn't remember much about it. They updated it a bit. 

We bade a sad goodbye to my sister and her boyfriend.  We'd had such a giggle with them.  Getting home took a while as we JUST missed a train and the next one was 38 minutes later!

What did I wear?

I wore my Zoe Del Mundo skirt, bought in Mallorca a couple of years ago along with an ancient Miss Selfridge top and my Oliver Bonas (charity shopped) denim puff-sleeved blouse. My Hetty and Dave squirrel pumps completed the outfit.

These Autumn Aurelia earrings go so well with the top!

A patch of chives started growing in the patio about 3 years ago and I love that it keeps coming back- I pick my chives from here!!

Sunday, was largely a washing day and some tidying. I cooked up a whole batch of rhubarb and cooking apples with honey as I discovered stewed fruit in glass jam jars was my Autumn and Winter saviour in terms of me actually eating any breakfast!

Hope all is well with you!

xx

 

Perfect Pitch

 Hey there!

Ah, it's such a beautiful, sunny day! I have had 3 great days of teaching in a row and then had PPA time from home this afternoon so I went to see my Godmother and spent a couple of hours with her. She's one of my favourite people in the world so this is always a joy! 

Now on my way home and hopefully a lovely weekend! 

I've not really been sharing many poems recently. I've been writing some but not necessarily sharing. 

This week's prompt word for The Toy was Pitch.  I was pondering which meaning to go with for this word and then it struck me that 'Pitch' is a homonym with so many meanings!  I'm sure we all know what a homonym is but in case anyone's forgotten their grammar, it's a word that is spelt and pronounced the same but has different meanings. There are some schools of thought that consider it can also be a homophone of homograph but I'm going with this! 

I decided to explore the many meanings but in conjunction with the word, Perfect as Perfect Pitch is something that some musicians have. I have learnt Perfect Pitch as in, I've played and sung so much music that I can tell you what a note is without looking or sing a specific pitch on request. 

It left me wondering which other words have such a plethora of meanings! Can you think of any? 

Perfect pitch

No instrument to help, 

"Sing me a C!" 

Voice in tune

Sang it perfectly

A meeting to promote your

 latest innovation,

The buyers all want it

Sales exceed expectation! 

Bowler approaches,

Lobs the ball 

Batter misses, 

Hits stumps, they fall. 

Football field mowed

Grass is pristine. 

Manys goals scored 

On this immaculate green 

The ideal spot

To sell your wares

The market's busy

Customers throng here and there. 

The roof slants 

At the exemplary height

Architect stands proud 

Built it just right! 

Tent's set by water 

Ground flat and soft, 

With sheltering bushes, 

Keeping wind off. 

All's set to succeed, 

To proceed without hitch, 

In these myriad examples 

Of Perfect Pitch! 

Hope you enjoy this poem. Also, do you think it was too long with 8 meanings (there Are more meanings for it too!) or should I have cut it down to perhaps 4 stanzas? 

Xx

The competition and some outfits!

 Greetings friends!

I hope that all is well with you.

Two years ago, I wrote blog post about my experience with my school choir at the Primary Choir of the Year final.  This year, I hoped, upon hope that we might get a placing.  I spent the last week being extremely worried about the announced strikes when I heard about them. I contacted the organisers of the festival who also didn't know about them.  They investigated changing the date and postponing but all decided to go ahead. I spent the week checking and rechecking the tube website to try and get definite information.  We investigated coaches but it was going to cost £350 ONE WAY for a journey that was fewer than 10 miles. Isn't that crazy!!?!?!? I have been thinking about little else for a week!  However, Tuesday morning after a stressful morning of Year 1's and Peter and the Wolf (they just keep talking!!!!) , the status update on TFL seemed to suggest that there was going to be Central line tubes past Stratford so I decided to go ahead with our planned Liz line and Central Line route.  Amazingly all the children had remembered their packed dinner and we set out to the train station happily.  I introduced some of the girls to Qwirkle on the train and when we got to Stratford, the train we needed was due in 6 minutes.  After a walk from the station, we arrived to the venue over an hour early but this was great! Happily, we were given absolutely the best dressing room which had loads of space and sofas and were right next to the loo with drinking water AND we could practice to our heart's content without anyone hearing us!  We went and did our practice on stage which went well and then we took the children out to play on the grass outside.

We interrupt this blog post for an outfit update!

Here's an outfit update from the holiday.  I wore a Clara jacket (Vinted) over the top of a charity-shopped Chianti and Parker stripy top plus my denim blue corduroy trousers. Cords and a stripy top are a standard for me!

Back to the report.  

We had a walk through with all the schools and it was dinner time.  I took the children up to their room. It was SO much nicer to have our own contained space with enough room. I felt so much more relaxed and happy than 2 years ago when we had a communal space and my kids were very annoying!

The concert began. 

The first school were really sweet. They sang two songs with cute actions. Although their didn't sing in harmony, they sang very nicely in tune. They sang Skimbleshanks and Anything you can do.  I thought they were really lovely but I thought that perhaps our programme was a bit more challenging

The second school sang a mashup of Viva La Vida plus a song called Dumba and were visually very impressive with some harmonies and great dynamics and some really lovely storytelling. Occasionally, they went a little sharp but I thought they were superb! I thought they were a cert for 2nd prize.

The third school were super sassy with a song I didn't know and then ABC. They were really confident and super fun but were a little out of tune. They didn't have lots of harmonies.

The fourth school started Somewhere only we go with the most gorgeous quiet blended sound and excellent dynamic contrast .  Their second song was also Anything you can do". It was super funny although a little bit out of tune.  They didn't have many/any harmonies but the song was very wordy and a lot to remember which they did very, very well.

At this point, we had to go back stage as it was time for us!  I was really sad not to be able to watch this school as they came second last time and they were singing 3 part harmony songs, Rise up singing and Jamie Mama.  I knew they would have a great chance of winning! They were my favourite for 1st prize.

Luckily, my kids were really well behaved so I opened the stage door so we could listen in on them and just as expected, they were excellent in all aspects of their singing.

It was our turn.

Myself and D, walked onto the stage. D to play drum and myself to conduct.

My children walked on singing 'Viva La Musica' a Renaissance 3-part round.  They sang confidently, walked into their places without any mistakes and watched me well.

We launched into the most risky song of the performance, a 3 and a half minute arrangement I had done of Congolese folk song, Si si Si Dolada.  It was risky because it was completely unaccompanied, they had to stay in tune and in time without any piano support and they constantly changed what they had to do.  They sang antiphonal drones with clapping, alternating between the melody and drone.  They then returned to unison, sang in a 3 part round, then sang in unison and split into 3 teams with a melody and counter melody then ended together.  I was SO proud of them as they stayed perfectly in time, didn't go out of tune and remembered everything.

Next, we sang Morning Song by Philip Godfrey.   They sang delicately and beautifully, followed all my dynamic leading and their harmonies were balanced really nicely.

Finally, we ended with a song by Peter Jenkyns, a story telling song with actions about a Wizard in a picture book.   They dynamic changes were excellent.

I was so proud of them and really felt we had a chance at 3rd prize with the contrasts and the challenge of being the only choir to sing unaccompanied.

Alas, it was not to be.  The judges gave feedback and I did feel a little patronized by their feedback, with the opening gambit being "This choir has potential". You know when you are the only ones to hear that, that you are not in with a shot. But perhaps they wanted 2 longer songs, not 4 shorter ones. I felt really deflated because honestly, I did think we deserved 3rd place but apparently, showing the skill of totally singing unsupported and the changes wasn't enough.

The two schools I thought would get 2nd and 1st did indeed get that- well deserved.

I was surprised by the 3rd place school. They DID do gorgeously quiet singing but I didn't feel they showed any skill of harmony singing and were a little shouty but I am not a judge and it's perhaps hard for me to feel impartial (though two years ago, I judged it perfectly!)

The end of the concert was lovely with hearing one of my past pupils who is now in Year 7 singing in the Youth Choir. They sang superbly! She came and gave me a massive hug and acted like a total celebrity to all my choir who used to really look up to her. I am SO pleased she chose to continue with her singing at a higher level! I do hope some of my children continue to do this when they leave me.

When we came down the stairs, our parents were all waiting and they burst into applause. It was so sweet! It made my feeling of sadness abate somewhat.  It was an amazing experience for all my children! The organiser came up to me at the end and she said to me, "Don't be sad, I adore your choir. They were superb and they were the only ones to make me cry." She thought we had a chance at placing. She was very sweet and told me that the head of the music service would consider funding me on a conducting course which was kind.

I got home around 10.30pm

I continued to feel sad all the way home and did shed a few tears. I'm not sure why I was so affected this time. The organiser sent me another lovely couple of texts and the next day, my Headteacher told me she agreed with my judgement too and though we deserved 3rd too. Ah well.

The girls in one class were adorable and all 4 came up to me in front of the whole class and told me they were proud of me and thank you so much for all my hard work. It was such a touching moment!

I am pleased to say that I had a superb day of lessons at school. I taught the year 5's about chord sequences and had such positive outcomes and my Year 6's did some great performances too!

We end this blog post with another holiday outfit. I was SO chuffed to find this gorgeous embroidered cotton muslin dress in a charity shop for £4 over the holiday. I love it!

Hope you have a lovely week!

First Quarter Books

I've been really bad at reviewing books in the past couple of years. I may have mentioned that unless I write a review immediately, I get book amnesia and can't seem to remember character names and what happens once I've begun another book. However, I was good at doing a short summary on Insta last year so I figured I might share it here to serve as the review. 

January:

1.  Rani reports on the Tropical Island Treasure -  Gabrielle and Satish Shewhorak

2.  Bridget Vanderpuff and the great airship robbery - Martin J Stewart

3. Wild Food UK Foraging  Poacket Guide - Marlow Renton and and Eric Bigggane

4.  Kiki Kallira breaks a curse- Sanghu Maddana

5. Pablo and Splash (Time travelling penguins) Roman Holiday - Shena Dempsey

I read 5 books in January, a very low number for me. I started with Rani Reports which was brilliant fun and makes me want to visit Mauritius now! It's a sort of treasure hunt. Rani and her family are in Mauritius to visit family including her beloved Grandma who is her detecting sidekick (I love the fact that the generations are united!).  They discover details, buried in the garden, of a potential missing treasure from a pirate years ago but they need to find it before developers do!

 The Foraging Pocket Guide from Wild Food UK is a really helpful guide to edible and non-edible foods to find. I learnt of some new species and this will be very useful for future walks. The pictures were clear, I liked the details and consistent formating which shows you when to forage and useful identifiers.  It also shows dangerous species that you might confuse with edibles.

 Sheena Dempsey's Pablo and Splash, which I read before giving as a present, was so much fun and I know lots of children who would love this hilarious comic book style of writing. It's like a graphic novel with cartoons in colour. It's educational as well as fun as it teaches about ancient Rome!

The Bridget Vanderpuff book  took me a while to get into but I think the edible aspect of the book (Bridget lives and works in a cake shop/bakery) would very much appeal to the age group as well as the adventure and mystery.  A was dellighted to find a character called Didier in the book as I teach a child by that name so I was happy to show him his name in a story! 

Finally, I finished with the 2nd Kiki Kallira book which was beautifully written, adventurous as well as being full of heart. It mixes characters from Hindu mythology and epic books with a modern spin. I love the mixture of fantasy Mysore mixed with real Mysore details. Kiki is an appealing main character and I like her struggles with her mental health as these need to be talked about.

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February:

6. The Seven deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - Stuart Turton

7.  The Dark is rising - Susan Cooper

8. Finding Audrey- Sophie Kinsella

9.  The Rose Field (Book of Dust) - Philip Pullman

10.  Return to Roar - Jenny MacLaughlin

11. Nine Night Mystery - Sharna Jackson

 I read 6 books in February. Sharna Jackson's Nine Night mystery kept me guessing to the end! A super mystery which I will definitely be recommending to my children. A party is held for a resident who is then dead the next morning.  The children set out to find how she died and who might have been responsible!  I very much enjoyed a reread of The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper. As atmospheric as ever. I really feel the bitter weather when I read it and loved Will discovering his ancient powers!

 Return to Roar by Jenny McLaughin was a wonderful return to these fun characters in a fantasy land invented by two young children.  They fear the return of Crowky, an evil crow character who they thought they had vanquished in the last book. The Sophie Kinsella book Finding Audrey was great, very different from her previous books I read.  It deals with a girl who was horrendously bullied, learning to live a normal life again. The Stuart Turton  The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle was gripping!  Our main character, who doesn't remember who they are, is trapped in a different body every day of seven days.  Their job is to deliver, to the Plague Doctor, a summary and reasons of who murdered Evelyn Hardcastle and why, if they are ever to escape.  This was a superbly imaginative time-travel spin on the classic closed circle whodunnit! I wondered how on earth it would end and I still have a feeling of horror when I think of The Footman, an evil character who is determined to stop the main character, for his own mysterious gain! Finally, the Rose Field by Philip Pullman was wonderful vast and far-reaching, a conclusion to his Book of Dust trilogy which serves as prequels and sequels to his original Dark Materials trilogy. However, just like the ending of His Dark Materials, I found the ending rushed and rather unsatisfactory which I'm a bit sad about. There are still a lot of unanswered questions!

 

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 March:

12. Little Foxes - Michael Morpurgo

13.  The Music Shop -  Rachel Joyce

14.  The Good Thieves -Katherine Rundell

15. The Secret Detectives - Ella Risbridger

16.  Strange Star-Emma Carroll

17.  The Lost Magician  - Piers Torday

18. A stocking full of spies  - Robin Stevens

19. The World's biggest footprint - Rob and Tom Sears

20.  Nadia Islam on the record-  Adiba Jaigirdar

21.  Moon Juice - Kate Wakeling

23.  The tower at the end of time - Amy Sparkes

I read 11 books in March.  Little Foxes by Michael Morpurgo @michaelmorpurgo was a lovely book about a foster child who doesn't really ever fit in anywhere. He discovers a wasteland near his latest foster home and discovers swans and fox cubs who he takes care of. Oh, I missed Michael Morpurgo's stories! The relationship between animals and characters and nature is always wonderful!  Next, I read The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce, @rachelcjoyce_author borrowed from a friend. It's a wonderful story set in the 80's about a record shop owner with a dysfunctional past who heals people by recommending records to them. The power of music is beautifully explored here and community. I did worry about the ending and how it was going to end.  My second Katherine Rundell @katherine_rundell book, tells the story of a girl,  Vita, with a leg disability but an amazing aim, who has gone to New York to help her Grandpa who has been cheated out of his home by an awful man.  The exciting story, deals with how Vita and her new circus friends and pickpocket friend to try and steal back her grandpa's home! Such a great sense of outrage and putting right a wrong. 

Strange Star, by Emma Carroll @emcarrollauthor begins with a servant boy at hearing a strange story from a visitor who dies and is brought back to life Villa Diodati where Lord Byron and Mary Shelley and Mr Shelley are staying.  She tells of strange goings on with electricity back in her town in England where she was struck by lightning! I found this book really quite scary- a great sense of mystery, suspense and terror and Emma Carroll  is super at putting characters into famous historical fiction and weaving her own tale!  The Secret Detectives was a exciting story set on a Mail Ship from India in Victorian times.  Some children see someone pushed overboard at night but the next morning, when they try to find out who was murdered, it seems NO ONE is missing!!! This was exciting and intriguing! I very much enjoyed this mystery!

The Lost Magician was another corker @piers_torday by Piers Torday.  As I read it, I was reminded strongly of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. It's deliberate- it's a homage to it but is brilliant and unique and reminds us about the power of reading and books! I enjoyed the latest Ministry of Unladylike Behaviour book  @redbreastedbird set at Bletchley.  Daisy's brother is implicated in a crime and there's a spy- it's up to May, Nuala and Eric to find the culprit- LOVED the denouement of this one which I SORT of got right! Nadia Islam on the record by @dibs_j taught me a lot about Ramadan and Bangladesh and I really enjoyed the insight in a fun way! The Tower at the end of time took me a while to get into but I very much relished the progression through the tower and the continuing Mystery of Nine! I keep returning to Kate Wakeling's @kate_wakeling poetry books for children- they are so imaginative and evocative.  The World's Biggest footprint is a great, funny look at our global footprint. It left me thinking about my eco-anxiety at times but with an overall sense of hope. I strongly recommend sharing this one with classes!

 

 

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What is it #82

'What is it?'

For anyone who has missed the premise, this is a game where I have seen something...be it a cloud, a shape in the cream of a hot chocolate mug, or a spot of mould which I see some sort of image beyond the literal- be it character, creature, shape or something else. I post it and you have to look at it and see if you, too, see something beyond a cloud etc!

I  LOVE this series- I loved it when people saw the same as me or saw something completely different which I didn't see but suddenly see once you describe it to me! 

This week, we have a rock I saw in the middle of the South Tyne river in Alston, in the Cumbria moors, where I walked last week. We haven't had many rocks in the past 80 'What is it?' posts so this is a nice variation!

Do leave me a comment as to what this rock resembles to you!

Last time we have a cloud I saw when in a supermarket car park!

 

The main thing I was looking at was the lower cloud which distinctly looked like a plane.  In my head, I wasn't sure if it was Concorde or another specific type of plane but I do know what the plane looked like in my head (I'm a plane idiot, don't really know!) . I did also briefly wonder if it looked like one of the Thunderbirds also and did have a look at Google to see if it was onE of the Thunderbirds. 

ABSOLUTELY LOVING the comments this time...

7 comments:

1. 
   Vix6:36 pm

   Concorde!!!

   ReplyDelete
2. 
   Kelly8:21 pm

   The cloud in the middle is a fast jet (yes! The Concorde as Vix says!)
   The cloud in the upper left is the state of Louisiana...slightly squished.

   ReplyDelete
3. 
   Bless8:34 pm

   I see a covered wagon (the kind the American pioneers drove on their journey west) , drawn by a team of oxen (above) racing an SST like the Concorde (below).

   ReplyDelete
4. 
   Angela8:55 pm

   Thunderbird 1 and thunderbird 4

   ReplyDelete
5. 
   jabblog1:23 pm

   A shark or a submarine, and the previous one is definitely a duckling.

   ReplyDelete
6. 
   Joy2:36 pm

   I saw Concorde straight away

   ReplyDelete
7. 
   Anca7:59 am

   That's an F16!

   ReplyDelete

Well, there's definitely an aviation theme to the majority of the comments here and also I do see the shark too and the wagon above! I've looked up an F16 and it totally is!!! 

Clearly, we were all of a similar mind today!

Do leave a comment if you know what this rock resembles in your mind!

xx

Easter from Hexham Abbey

 Happy Easter!

He is Risen Indeed, Alleluia!

Greetings from Hexham Abbey where I played my flute as part of the Easter day service. What a joy to be part of the worship and the massive abbey choir at this historic Abbey! 

Much love to you all! 

A Spring Symphony

 My poem, A Spring Symphony, is going to be featured on BBC Radio Essex this evening at 6pm and again on Saturday at 6pm.

You can also listen at https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08q3hsh though you have to listen to find the exact place where it features. 

I wrote it last Spring (2025) as I sat in the garden rejoicing in all the sounds and activity of nature as well as human snippets.  I haven't shared it before. 

On the subject of Spring, I wrote a Tanka poem yesterday for day 1 of NaPoWriMo (National Poetry Writing Month) 

Northern Glow

Curlew heralds sun, 

Burbling in azure heavens, 

Wings coaxing gold rays,

Below, by sinuous stream,

I echo this worship song.

It was the first sunny day in Hexham and we went to walk in Allendale.  I felt myself filled with an overriding sense of gratitude to be there in nature. 

Here are some scenes from our walk in Allendale. 

The Museum of Classic Sci Fi. 

Wild Garlic. 

The Allendale wolf 

Lesser Celandine. 

River walk

Highland Cows

Alpine flora. 

Wood Anenomes 

Waters

Stone Dale. 

The ALLENDALEKS!

Iceland April Fools.