The last week

 The past week has been fun in some ways and had some lovely moments. I made it home eventually on Tuesday after missing my train stop when writing my last blog post. I was very tired the next morning and the Elizabeth Line decided to play nasty so I arrived at school with only about 5 minutes before I was due to leave for the church with 50 children to rehearse for our Christmas carol service.  Luckily, I had absolutely everything ready so we were able to leave pretty much on time.

The rehearsal in the morning went well and we had worked most things around, the kids behaved and we got back to school in time.  When we came back, I had to spend most of lunchtime chasing children out of the hall who had not listened to the message, "You need to come up the hall when I come outside and play a drum very loudly!"  They get so ridiculously hyper before a trip. All sense goes out of the window! It's sweet but exhausting! Usually, they ask about a million superfluous and ill-timed questions so when I did my usual pre-trip safety and rules talk, I prewarned them that questions really weren't urgent and in a joky way told them that I would be patient for a certain number of questions but they should really try to think about what questions they might ask as I might bite their head off at question number 11 and it would be nothing personal but getting everything set up is stressful. I said it in a humorous way but they understood what I was saying and it worked as I barely had any questions!  The two Ukrainian girls walking behind me gleefully counted the 6 superfluous questions that one of the boys behind them asked and I asked him, "Is this really urgent!" and he then realised he was just flapping and refrained! It was really funny.  The rehearsals went well for the younger children too and we got back to school in time.  After our staff meeting, I went to CBC's school concert to watch. It was nice to see it and I was glad to be there for him.

Thursday, I spent most of the day teaching Year 5 about Hildegard Von Bingen and starting work on the Baroque with Year 6 as well as a Singing Practice with all of Year 5-6.  

After school, I had a choir rehearsal.  Usually, I get the children a chocolate Santa lolly at Christmas but we're not supposed to give edible treats to kids now.  A while back, I had gone through my jewellery collection and collected a whole load of pin badges, mini pendants and a few other bits to potentially sell at the School fair to raise funds for music projects but I just decided to give them to the kids as gifts. I told them that the gift was second-hand and I really believe in eco-presents, that you don't need to give something brand new. I told them that everything belonged to me and I would like to share.  I couldn't believe how excited and happy they were to own something of mine- they loved the fact that every single one was unique.  It made me feel really happy that I had given them to the children! It was a lovely feeling.

I came home and CBC and I watched a really fun mini series with Rowan Atkinson called Man versus Baby! It was touching and funny!

On Friday, I had two final practices with the children as well as my Year 6 lessons and then it was the school fair after school.  I was on the raffle stall which was a good one to be on.  My colleague ended up swapping to come and sit with me and we had a really, really good chat, talking to each other about things.  She told me something she hasn't told anyone which made me incredibly sad (what it was about) but so touched and happy that she trusted me.  

I had a quick look in the grotto. It was truly magical. My Headteacher's partner is a genius.  The design is planned all year and the library is transformed into something so magical! I will try to share a video and some pics so you can see how breathtaking it is!!!

When I got back, CBC was home and we somehow cobbled together some noodles and CBC and my sister's boyfriend worked out some crazy last minute plan to go out on Saturday.

Saturday, I spent most of the morning tidying and cleaning and then C and our friend T and I went to a new cafe in our town for a cup of tea and cake. I visited the local charity shop.  I ended up buying a few of their new goods for some presents for people as well as thinking I was buying CBC a nice shirt- it turned out to be a women's shirt when I get home! At that point, my sister and her boyfriend arrived. We had a cup of tea back home and then we headed out to Westcliff in Southend for a Thai meal and then went to watch the Cinderella Pantomime at the Cliffs Pavillion.   I've never been there before for a show. It was fun but I felt like Rylan (who was the fairy godfather) and (Ross King as Buttons) had a lot of stage time and there wasn't so much emphasis on the story and Cinderella.  It was fun and it was a great production but I just felt there was less of a balance on characters.

The next morning, I set my alarm for 7.45am and then got the train to my old church who were celebrating their 60th anniversary! I was playing flute for the worship band. It was so nice to see everyone and it was a lovely service.  We had a wonderful dinner afterwards.  The Bishop of Bradwell came later and amazingly remembered who I was, even though we'd only met briefly at my own church 3 weeks ago. He told me later, that he remembered who I was when I saw my blue Brompton as I'd met him first whilst wheeling my bike into church!

I got the train home and then CBC and I went to get some shopping for his college sharing lunch tomorrow. He's currently making chaos in the kitchen (which was, SOB, tidy and cleaned by me yesterday!) cooking a potato sharing platter.  I'm watching a film on Netflix and trying not to worry about the carol services at school tomorrow!  I am sure they will go really well but it's just nerves!  

Year 3-4 in the morning, Year 5-6 in the afternoon- 180 children each time. 

Then CBC's carol service rehearsal after school. I'm very glad it's just the rehearsal and not the actual carol service- three in one day would be a bit much!

xx

Cherished things

 At church today, we had a lovely sermon given by a young woman named Steph who occasionally gives a sermon and often shares a profound message. One thing she said, which struck a chord was, I'm stuck Lord and I don't know what to do but I see you!  This is quite comforting and was comforting as I was feeling somewhat anxious and things were on my mind, even through the sermon/service. 

At the end of the service, the vicar, who leads the worship said to me, I'm not very good at encouraging people or remembering to tell people how much they are appreciated but today, as we were playing, it struck me that I should say this to you today. I wanted to say to you that when you play, not only are you talented at playing the notes but your playing is anointed, that comes from God and is pleasing to him.  I can't remember his exact words, because at that point, him saying that, brought tears to my eyes. I thanked him because it really did mean a lot to me to hear him say and I really did need to hear that today and from that moment on, the things that were filling my mind and were making me feel anxious, seemed to fade away. I wanted to record it here because I think it's important to remember moments and things people say that you cherish. I do know that when I play at church, that I am blessed and it blesses.  I always feel comforted and I am so grateful to know God. If that sounds cheesy, then I am Camenbert and proud! :-)   Even hours later, when I think of what he said, it brings tears to my eyes but these are tears of gratitude of God speaking to me.

It meant a lot to me.

Another cherished thing was this weekend sharing a friend's 40th birthday celebrations in London.  Our friend lives in Sweden and had come over to celebrate with all her friends back in the UK.  We had a lunch in a pub in Bloomsbury and then a trip another pub before heading to the Bloomsbury Lanes for Karaoke and finally having pizzas and drinks in the Lucky Pig in Soho.   We had such fun at the Karaoke. CBC and I sang A Whole New world from Aladdin together as well as What is this feeling? from Wicked and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.  It was SUCH a joyous event. Everyone had such a good time at the Karaoke and I really enjoyed singing even if I felt a bit embarrassed at first (as there were lots of singers there). It was fun to do that together with CBC and to remember what it feels like to hang out with friends and just have fun!  We don't do that so much in recent times and it was lovely.

Hold the little moments!

xx

The week and weekend that was

 The weeks are hurtling by but at the time, they feel like they are going very slowly...

 Had a lovely surprise on the way home from school as I saw a girl who was in my favourite ever class at school. She was a really lovely, musical girl! We were both delighted to see each other, had a quick catch up. Funnily enough, I'd only been thinking of her a couple of days before so it was an odd coincidence. She is now 20 and doing an architecture degree.  Similarly, funnily enough, she said she'd found her recorder the other day and played through, In the Hall of the Mountain King which I had arranged for 2 recorders, especially for her and a friend! When I got home, CBC was still at school helping out with Zombie night. I had a lovely Friday night watching Victoria on ITVX and typing up a poem. He came back around 9pm and we cooked a pizza and ate that.

Saturday morning, annoyingly awake early but then ended up helping CBC get to his Gardening course by making him coffee in a flask at 7.30am (absolutely determined to help him save money!)  and providing him with snacks.   

I then hung up washing and went out into the garden to do some watering and pick around 12 runner beans. I am so amazed by how prolific these plants have been. I spent £1 on two plants from a bungalow down the road and I have already been rewarded with over 250 runnerbeans from those two plants, some of which are in the freezer.  I then made tea and then came back to do all the washing up, hung up washing, sorted other washing.

It's funny how inspiration for a poem comes. I was thinking on Friday night that there hadn't been a prompt word this week from The Toy so I hadn't written one, only ended up tweaking my last week's one. and couldn't seem to think of ANY subject to write a poem about.   I was sitting in bed and ended up thinking about a theme for a Children's concert based on Time. Ended up starting to write a poem in the shower (well, say words out loud in the shower) and then I suddenly had a poem 20 minutes later.  Even CBC liked it later when I told him it (and he gets ennui from my poems!)

I went into the shower and packed my bag for my concert and started finally eating breakfast around 11.15am and suddenly realised I needed to leave so shoved the rest of my Branflakes in the fridge and dashed off to the station.  The timing was perfect as CBC arrived at a station to pick me up at the same time and we drove to the town for our concert.

We parked the car at the concert venue and then walked into town and had a yummy brunch/lunch. We had a quick look at the High Street but I didn't buy anything (although wished I'd picked up the Ikea Hol I saw in one charity shop! CBC's cycling clothes have expanded beyond their current accommodation and this would be perfect for either those or our bedding!)

We then walked to the woods for a quick walk and back to the venue for our rehearsal.

The rehearsal went fairly well.  We rehearsed Brahms and Sibelius and then the other two flutes came to rehearse Ives' The Unanswered Question.   This is a BRILLIANT piece of modern music.  I've included an extract from a London Symphony Orchestra Children's Concert below. (listen from 19:00 if it isn't already at that point when you click on it).  I first heard this piece at an LSO teachers creative day and then it was used in this lockdown concert for Children which I shared with my pupils and they all loved it. Really well worth a listen. It's such an interesting piece!  Click and listen to it as you scroll my post.

There are three things to listen out for:  the trumpet who asks the question. The flutes who try to answer and get increasingly frustrated as they try to solve it and then the strings who are the silence of the druids who know, see and hear nothing.

 I asked for this orchestra to perform this concert as I thought it was such a beautiful piece and we are a quartet of four flutes so it was perfect for us. I had to conduct the flutes from my flute as we play at our own tempo.

The rehearsal went well but I was very nervous about conducting.  I was also a bit anxious as there had been a sort of falling out with 2 members of my quartet which was really hard as I feel a bit piggy in the middle.    I'm not sure how we are going to solve this one.

In the break, CBC, Lara and I walked into town to get some dinner. Lara and I bought M&S sandwiches and CBC went to get a hot meal.  Lara and I had a bit of a talk about a couple of things and walked back.

Slight panic as CBC had all my black clothes locked in his car and I couldn't find him until 10 minutes before the concert. Our lead viola also had a fall and ended up with a based bleeding nose and two black eyes!

The Ives went really well.  The Sibelius and the Brahms also fairly well.

Sunday morning, it was very hard to wake up but I managed to drag myself out of bed and get to church for 9.15am.   It was lovely to play flute with Sue on piano as we've not coincided on the worship team for a while!

The service was lovely.   We had a talk about the vision for the next stage at church and we were asked to pray about it and share if there were any words of knowledge or encouragement. I'm not very good at speaking up in these situations as I am never sure of what I'm saying. However, as we were praying, all of a sudden, I got this clear sentence in my mind, "A Chink of Light".  Hmm, what a strange phrase, I thought. And then as I thought that, I saw it, a tiny hole in the church and then the light streaming through hitting the walks and then the light spreading out and growing.  I said it out loud, feeling very nervous. I don't usually say anything at these points but felt I should this time.  It felt encouraging.

After church, I headed home just in time to see CBC who was about to go cycling (although didn't go for an hour!)- I rescued my day old Branflakes from the fridge which tasted nasty but I didn't want to waste. I made some toast for CBC and I and then I hung out more washing. 

I headed upstairs to put away yesterday's washing and then went to get started on my 'Operation Christmas Child' shoebox.  I always like doing this! All of a sudden, I heard the sound of rain and went frantically outside to rescue the now sodden washing and brought it in.

Soon after, I went to have a look at the apple tree in the carpark down the road.  I didn't even pick any apples from the tree as there were 24 very good windfall apples just on the ground and they were huge and ripe. I don't understand why no one picks the apples or windfalls so I am glad I discovered these!

When I got back, I put on Ever After on my laptop (one of the best Cinderella Story ever, almost as lovely as The Slipper and the Rose) and set to work peeling and chopping the 24 apples.  Although I had to cut some manky bits, some of the apples were so huge that I got lots of flesh out of them. I combined them with frozen homegrown blackcurrants and some honey and then boiled them up to make some lovely stewed fruit jars for my breakfast for the week.  

I then set to work making a lentil and vegetable stew- enough for 3 meals for the two of us- red lentils, stock, onion, garlic, kale, carrots, sweet potato, French beans, tomato passata, bay leaves, herbs, paprika,tumeric.

After both were cooked, we ate both, the former with some of the croutons I made in August (still taste totally fresh!) .  They were delicious and meant that we have food for a few days!

One week left till Half Term.

The Song of the Tumble Dryer and other holiday stories

The weeks are passing quickly!

I left you in my last post on our Anniversary meal on Saturday.

I discovered I had won an Instagram competition from The Emma Press to win a poetry book for me AND my work colleague John called 'Mates Arias' by Lewis Buxton.

The next day, I got up to go to church and was there for 9.10 and played flute for the service. It was really lovely to see Richard, the pastor from the Baptist church I used to go to when I first moved to the area.  He likes to come to our Anglican church for services when he is on holiday but not away.  The funny thing is, as I was cycling to church, I wondered if he might be there!

We had a nice service with some visitors.

I headed off swiftly after gulping down a cup of tea to head home. I finished off packing when I got home as well as eating some breakfast.

Finally, after pestering CBC, we headed off to my Dad's house in Kent where we were to stay for three days.  We enjoyed a lunch of bruschetta with mozzarella and then my sister and I headed into the garden to pick some apples from their lovely trees - there are these amazing modern variety ones which have pink flesh and are so sweet and delicious!   

In the evening, we enjoyed a barbecue.

The next morning, I woke up at 7.30am and went out into their beautiful garden for a wander and a wonder at the beauty of creation!  Went to chat to my sister in her bedroom and then we had breakfast. CBC was going to help my dad in the garden with some work and A and I went to process apples.  A gardener was in to heavily prune back their two beautiful cobnut trees which I was extremely upset about as these are beautiful and provide much shade as well as sustenance for the squirrels (and me!) .  I decided to try and collect as many of the cobnuts as I could to dry out in a box and probably collected several hundred!

We went out to go and pick blackberries from the brambles at the end of the garden to join our apples and then we went to the kitchen to peel and chop and cook apples - they smell so sweet. A and I  managed to stew about 7 large containers of apple and blackberries to go in the freezer.  We had a delicious lunch of picky bits including an amazing antipasti platter they had from Costco that only cost £6.  We started to build a new shed for their garden (well, I didn't do much!) and then we headed out to dinner at a lovely pub by the river called The Lion. It was really relaxing and I had  delicious Katsu chicken curry and a Chocolate orange mousse bombe for dinner! CBC and my Dad were really pleased with their progress in the garden.

The next morning, having not slept so well, I woke a little later but went in for my customary chat with my sister in her room. Monty the dog was hilarious as he took up half her bed!

We had bacon sandwiches for breakfast- my stepmum KNOWS how to cook it properly and then my Dad and Chris headed off to the Dump with a lot of cob tree foliage and then A, T and I headed off to the Eco Pantry at Chart Farm.  The Eco Pantry is a brilliant Refill shop and I really recommend it if you are ever in that East Kent area.

I came out with red lentils, farfalle pasta, jasmine rice, chocolate covered pretzels,  Thai green curry rice crackers, Sesame Oil, Rape Seed oil, some Magnesium butter (supposed to help you sleep if Perimenopausal!) and some other stuff.

When we got home,we had some lunch and then continued with apple processing.  I peeled about 50 apples- the sweet ones for juicing and Bramleys for an Apple Crumble AND an Apple and Cinnamon Upside Down cake.  The juice was PINK- it was so delicious and the Apple Crumble too. 

As we worked, my Stepmum's tumble dryer was working industriously.  It has SUCH a musical sound which I can't help humming along to.  Appropriately, The Toy Press's word of the week was Tumble so this inspired my poem. I would have liked the word to go in a spiral around the circle but I wasn't sure how to do this.

Some games of Qwirkle were had

We had a barbecue after some MORE shed work and another dump visit by C and my Dad. 

After the barbecue, I got straight on with the washing up and then A and I headed into the hot tub. FINALLY.  We had been saying for 3 days that we would use it!

CBC and I headed home about 11pm!

The next morning, we got up and frantically began cleaning and tidying as my sister and her boyfriend were coming over to HELP US FINISH THE POND!

We managed to get tidied and cleaned in tim as they were an hour and a half later than anticipated! 

We borrowed a shredder from my neighbour Martyn and had a very merry time pruning and shredding the Laurel bush in our front garden. We then headed to the Aquatic centre to choose some plants for the pond and other items.  

When we got back, A and I made lunch for everyone and then Operation Pond continued.

I didn't contribut much to this process other than making tea and started to prune back the  Brambles behind our Bamboo- this is a den of pure devil that we can't get to as the railway line backs onto our garden so it is a constant fight against the brambles, ivy and Bindweed behind.

After this, we got changed and went out to our favourite Thai restaurant for dinner. Whilst waiting, A and I played our very own variant of Qwirkle that we devised last Summer! We still like it!

They have NEVER come over to our house without going out for Thai for dinner so Joy, the lovely waitress recognises THEM now!  A and I played lots of Categories Alphabet games in the car which I love.

The next morning, I awoke and had to console CBC over something he was upset about and I suggested we spend our day in the garden to forget about it which seemed to do the trick.  I ate a gorgeous breakfast of entirely foraged or homegrown fruit- apples from Kent, blackberries, golden plums, purple plums, homegrown blueberries and blackcurrants.  For lunch, we ate left-over Thai from last night AND five days ago. Everyone was sceptical about me eating the 5 day old stuff but I can confirm that I am fine one day on!

I spent several hours face first in the bamboo getting scratched to pieces trying to cut back the brambles and other evils- I filled the wheelie but it is still very much there!

For dinner, CBC and I made rice and lots of vegetables. Our fridge is really full of veg whether homegrown, from Riverford or from a visit to Barleylands farm shop.

This morning, I ate more fruit, CBC got some good news to console him and I am typing this. Later, we are going to a Barbecue and possibly over to our friend N's house to wish him a happy birthday!

 

The rainbow dress strikes back!

Hello there!

Before I start waffling, here's some music for you to listen to. I've not heard this piece by the English Composer, Gustav Holst (he of the Planets!) before but I was delighted by the opening music between viola and flute.

The term has ended and the last week went well.

The school concert went really well without too many mishaps and most of the children and their parents turned up. We started 15minutes late so it overran but I was really proud of how well the children performed.   

One delightful thing that occurred was that I applied for a scholarship for one of my year 5 boys who we have been partly funding for flute lessons this year. He has really taken to it and worked hard and I wanted to ensure that he would be able to carry on after he left me so I applied to the London Music Fund and to my delight, he was selected to receive funding for lessons for 4 years.  Such an opportunity for him!

I bought the children involved in the concert choc-ices (the only ice-cream/lolly product which comes in no plastic packaging!)  to say thank you for their hard work and I was delighted with the serendipity that I had bought just enough for everyone AND enough to give one also to the children who had helped out and done extra jobs like putting away my singing assembly things each week and for tidying up the music room.

At the weekend, CBC and I went to camp in Snowdonia for the weekend.  I had a stinking cold but had a gorgeous time and will share some photos soon.

I bade a sad goodbye to CBC this evening as he drove off to Portsmouth to catch the overnight ferry to France.  We are to be parted for 2 weeks as we do different things - he is a checkpoint monitor for the Transcontinental Cycling Race and I am to go to music camp.

Enough waffling, I found some photos from last Summer (on my lost camera which turned up- it was in the walking rucksack!!!) of when I styled the Madras check dress in yet another way.

Let's have a look:

I wore the dress with its V-beck crossover side which I rarely wear as I prefer the straight one but I wore it the other way round here.

I added my pink Peri top underneath with a matching pink rose in my hair and a pink belt.

I added my red polka dot skirt underneath to give an extra layer of pattern to the dress

I decided to hoik up the hem of the dress on one side to see if that gave another dimension to this.

I am not 100% sure I liked this outfit totally but certainly it was different from how I've worn it on other occasions!

Plus my George @Asda blue and gold velvet pumps!

I've been practicing for our flute recital on Friday

Very excited as we've practised lots! I HOPE people come to watch especially as my friend Tony is coming from Kent as we are performing his beautiful arrangement of Debussy Petite suite for two flutes and piano for the first time.

x

 

A musical week

Last week was incredibly busy for me in terms of performances and practices but also very positive.

Let me work backwards.

Sunday morning, I was up bright and early for church. As I usually do, I played my flute for the morning alongside Sue, our lovely worship leader on piano.

After this, I headed home and did a couple of things.

In the afternoon, we headed off to the Chelmsford countryside to our friend Annie's house to commemorate her lovely Mum, Inge's life.  Inge died a year ago.  The previous night, I had texted Annie to see if she would like me to play something for the scattering of Inge's ashes and she was delighted. I played Annie's Song and Gossec's Tambourin, two pieces that her Mum had liked a lot (the latter, my Mum made me learn when I was in Year 6 and I finally know why she liked it- apparently it was a Radio theme tune!

The vicar from Inge's church read a Bible verse and a prayer and then they played Inge's ashes in a hole and planted a beautiful rose.

We then ate delicious Indian food and enjoyed the garden.

He's Shady! He's more panther than cat but is very friendly.

I wore a shirred dress from Oliver Bonas that I admired last Summer but finally managed to find secondhand on Vinted in my size at a cheap price!

Back to Saturday night, CBC and I went to dinner at a gorgeous Vegetarian restaurant, inspired by Moroccan and Lebanese flavours called Sababa! All the food was tasty but I adore the Cauliflower wings!

Saturday, around 5pm, we went over to a colleague of CBC's from Azerbaijan who is a specialist Baroque musician.  We played through some Handel flute sonatas with me on flute, him on Harpsichord and CBC on cello continuo.  It was lovely. I'm not used to playing Baroque music much so it was a novel experience.  Their home is beautifully decorated with vintage pieces in profusion. There was a whole line of cuckoo clock on the stairs and some beautiful Grandfather clocks!

Look at that beautiful inside!

Saturday morning, I woke up irritatingly early having got to bed very late and went out to water the garden at 7.15am.

We headed to Leigh on Sea for the annual Art trail.  We bought my mum a piece for her birthday by Katrina Parris who we already own 3 pieces by.

Friday night, I performed the epic Mahler's 9th symphony with Orchestra of the City.  This mammoth work is 90minutes long with a huge orchestra.  It went fantastically but the church was very warm!

At school on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, I hosted my very first outdoor Summer performances at 9.30-10.00 involving 180 children each time from years 1-6.  They sang songs from Bangladesh, Kashmir, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Congo, Romania, Japan amongst others.  All of them went well in their different ways!

Thursday night, I was supposed to be going to Gamelan but I discovered that I cannot do the gig next weekend at the Southbank Centre for an Asian festival so I had a much-needed evening off. I still had choir after school though!

Wednesday, apart from the aforementioned school performance, we also had Exhibition evening from 4-6 at school and then I had to go to an Orchestra of the City rehearsal in Vauxhall!

Tuesday night, I headed to CBC's school to play Tenor saxophone in his school Big Band barbeque.  This was fun and I really enjoyed being part of this even though I was sight-reading everything!

Monday night, after Drumming Club and recorder club through the day, as well as regular music teaching, I headed off for a rehearsal with my flute trio/quartet (usually but 4th member is away) for our forthcoming recital in Brentwood on 25th July.   We played through all our pieces and then I headed home.

It had been a super busy week, enjoyable, but I was sorely tired and it didn't help that I still kept waking up early!

1 week to go and the school concert is tomorrow night.  Lots of parents still haven't responded to my multiple messages about it so have no idea how many are going to turn up!?!!

Hope you are well!

x

 

Trumpeting for joy!

 It's been a good day! 

I woke up early, ahead of my alarm-clock (although on that subject, I MISS sleeping through the night- whhhy, can't I sleep?!?!) and managed to phone my Doctor's to get an appointment for today.  I then left early and made it into Lidl before school to get some breakfast and also picked up a Good-to-Go £1.50 veg/fruit box which I haven't seen in a while.   It wasn't hugely full but it had Broccoli (which alone is around £1 recently), lettuce, a few oranges, satsumas, plums and a few potatoes.

I got to school and took Singing assembly for Reception, Year 1 and 2 and then it was time for the rescheduled lesson which was being filmed by Anglia Ruskin university for their BEd in Primary Teaching course.  I am pleased to say that the children were absolutely fantastic and they were really enthusiastic and worked really hard.  I would be proud for people to watch that lesson. I was teaching the children about The Baroque Sonata and Domenico Scarlatti.

We started with a recap of their feedback from their Chiaccona performances last week and then I introduced them to Domenico Scarlatti.  Fun facts for you: He was born in the same year as J.S Bach and G.F. Handel  and was the son of a composer, Alessandro Scarlatti.  He was born in Italy but moved to Spain with his patron later in life.  He took part in a contest with Georg Handel to find out who was the better keyboard player. Whilst Handel was declared the master of the organ, Domenico was acclaimed as being as equally good at the Harpsichord as Handel.  He was a real virtuoso!

I introduced them to the structure of the Sonata and then we listened to this one and answered some questions about it. After that, we composed a piece of music in Binary form as a class, which we performed and they did a superb performance which they were really proud of.  M, the lecturer from AR was really impressed and couldn't believe what my Year 6's achieved in the lesson.   I may also go to the University next year to teach a lesson to the undergraduate students which is exciting!

After that, I had my second class who also produced a great piece. This made me happy as the 3rd class, who I have on Thursday afternoons, were very apathetic and disengaged, though their performance was ok.

At lunch, orchestra had a good rehearsal and then I ate a delicious combination of Hummus and pomegranate seeds on toast (another staff member didn't want her large pot of seeds- I am the staff room dustbin) .

In the afternoon, after some PPA time, I collected my Guided Reading group who are always excited to see me and we had our session outside.  We had a great session. Just one moment where I went into spasmodic coughing and the children were sitting there, saying, "Are you ok?  Oooh, you're really red! You have tears running down your face!" I had to go and get water. As they said how worried they were, I made some macabre joke about how it wouldn't have been fun if their music teacher had died in front of them. One of them said, "Hmmmm, that would make a good story..." and later, another one said she was going to write said story! I am happy to be writing inspiration, no matter how dark!

After my group, I headed homeward for my appointment and came home.  

Now had to do some work tidying my house as my younger sister and her boyfriend are coming over tomorrow.  It's lovely because I saw my older sister last night as she came over because my niece goes to a trampolining session in my town!

I had some really exciting (for me!) news two days ago which I'm not allowed to share yet but I hope to soon!

Here to finish is my poem for the week.  The brief word was 'Trumpet'.  I actually used this word the other week but I came up with the standard use of the word. Not my favourite poem I've ever written but I suppose it will do!

Trumpet

I love to play the trumpet,

Yes, it’s great ‘cause it’s so loud!

Doesn’t matter if I’m shy,

My sound is justly proud!

I love it ‘cause I get to make,

A silly raspberry sound,

I’ll buzz my lips in the mouthpiece,

And all sounds will be drowned!

They’re played for royal fanfares

That will introduce a king,

By soldiers in smart uniforms,

Attention they will bring.

It plays in Jazz and Classical,

In Reggae and in Pop.

You only have 3 valves to press,

That’s really not a lot,

It’s shiny, golden, not too heavy,

Though tubing’s metres long,

Its sound comes from a shiny bell

Though doesn’t play ‘Ding-dong’.

You get to use these things called mutes,

That modify your sound,

You can be heard above a band

For miles and miles around.

I might go rather red in face,

When playing without rests,

But I will say forever more,

That Trumpets are the best!

@KezzieSquirrel

Hope all is well with you!

xx

This week

Hi there,

Hope all is well with you.

I'm pleased to say that Tuesday was without Vomiting.   Or any other accidents.  The concert went well and the children enjoyed it.  I was a bit stressed about timings and things but the parents and children had a great time.  I have to say that the children behaved really well and they were really patient considering lots of things overran.  We didn't get back to school until 11.10pm but we were incredibly lucky as we were one of the first schools to be called to go and we were really close to all the exits. I marched the kids straight out of the Albert Hall without any toilet trips (it was a bit of a gamble, I'll be honest! But it paid off) and our coach driver had found a prime position parking spot and we were off immediately.  My friend's school's coach didn't get till 11.50pm.  My assistant Head dropped me off at my interchange station and I JUST made the train at 00.08.  I got home just before 1am!

The next day, my Head teacher kindly said I could come in for second lesson and I spent the rest of the day teaching year 4 which was probably the best day to have on such a late night as I felt like I had a hangover! Dehydration I think.  Spent the day teaching year 4 Rocky Mountain.

We had to go to another school for our INSET training and as it is close to my Godmother's house, that's when I saw her after it.

Today was nearly all Year 5 composing sea shanties. I think I've finally perfected that lesson after 15 years of teaching it!

Here's my poem this week for the Toy Press' word of the week:  Pet. I'm also writing another one which is more memories.

My Mum and older sister didn't like it or get it.  My niece and old work colleague enjoyed it. 

My different pets

 

My cat who always farts.

TRUMPET?

My budgie who eats messily.

CRUMPET?

My guinea-pig who loves journeys in the Porsche.

CARPET? 

My dog who will never grow up.

PUPPET? 

My bunny who has no energy.

LIMPET? 

My hamster who enjoys sky-diving.

PARAPET?

  This weekend, we have a 90th birthday party for a lovely friend from Music Camp! I've not been there this time of year before! I  am looking forward to it!

Hope all is well with you.

xx

My 2 Totnes cardigans

Remember back in August, I shared a post showing what I bought on my Cornish holiday. This included 2 vintage cardigans from Totnes market.

I've been really enamoured with them and really glad I  bought them- both have already had a lot of use. I have been throwing one on each night when I get home and wearing them over whatever I have been wearing at the weekends.

Since both got worn this weekend, I thought I'd share them.

Outfit 1, worn on Saturday:

The whole outfit, bar my hat is second hand.

The Tam O'Shanter hat is Isle of Skye tartan bought on Kirkwall in the Orkneys in Summer 2016 on my cruise with Mum.

The blue top was Zara (Charity Shop), Indian skirt (CS),  Vegan blue Dr Martens (Insta 2nd hand sale), cardigan (Totnes vintage market stall) and finally the gorgeous black sheepskin (?) gilet/waistcoat (CS)- I'm not sure if the gilet is Toscana sheepskin or it is fake as it is reversible so there's no washing indication but it cost £15 in the charity shop so I'm wondering if it is genuine- it is exquisitely soft and fine and keeps me so warm. I can't tell from the smell- anyone got any ideas how I can tell apart from setting fire to a bit of it to see how it burns???  If it's real, I got an ABSOLUTE bargain- if it's synthetic, I was conned!

Saturday morning I was SO CROSS. I went to bed at around half midnight and was exhausted, having not had as much sleep as I needed this week. What time did I wake up? 5am!!!!! WHY???? I lay awake for hours until I gave up and got up around 7.40am to go downstairs to do the washing up and make tea.   After various bits of tidying and pottering, emptying the compost etc, I went to shower and CBC and I made porridge.   I then carried on with some sorting as well as a bit of reading and then decided to do my Summer/Winter wardrobe changeover. I keep the out of season clothes in 2 enormous (I mean ENORMOUS) suitcases kept in my Spare room wardrobe.  The switchover took a couple of hours and also involved some sorting and culling- managed to cull about 20-25 items- I find this hard- I like the things I own but I also like the new things.  I decided to cull some things that a) I didn't wear so much including a gorgeous Monsoon sequinned circle skirt and clothes which I find I don't enjoy wearing so much e.g. if they are too tight around the armpits, synthetic, make me sweat or I don't like the fabric so much. I have realised in recent years, I am quite hypersensitive to materials and how things fit or feel (Ha, my stepmum could have told me this - she still has nightmares about me and, quote- "That wretched white cardigan!" that I was always trying to get out of!).  However, often, I don't realise what something will feel like or how I will fear, until I've worn it for a day, or a couple of times.

I was still working on this but CBC and I decided to go out and get some lunch. We headed to one of our numerous local garden centres.  This one has a newly expanded restaurant which has been shown as being really popular. We've tried to go before but the queue was epic and the restaurant was full. Luckily, as we were going close to the end of serving, we got a table easily.  I ordered a breaded chicken escalope with garlicky chard and potatoes and CBC a butternut squash risotto.  We ordered hot chocolate and chocolate milkshake respectively. Mine was delicious although the chard wasn't super garlicky and could have been more plentiful (I'm a huge garlic AND chard fan!). CBC's was tasty but smaller than he would liked. Whilst waiting and eating, we played Qwirkle. I bought this game back in July after having bought it for my sister for her birthday and LOVING it.  CBC is always willing to play it which is an absolute bonus as usually, he's not so up for playing so many games with me!  I bought it from Mr Wolf Hexham as it was recommended to me by the WONDERFUL Mrs Wolf who I am very friendly with when I go to visit.  I have subsequently bought it from her repeatedly (SUPPORT SMALL BUSINESSES not BIG BUSINESSES!) via my Mother In Law when she visits or gifts- it comes in a handy little pouch so it fits in a handbag easily- it has been on every holiday with us subsequently and my Taiwanese friend LOVED it and kept asking to play in on holiday which I adored as I will play a game at any time, any place). 

It was quite a tense game and the final score was

197 a piece! YES, we tied for the first time ever!

We had a quick look round the garden centre- I was tempted by some LARGE Jingle Bell garlands- they clanked like cowbells- but at £28, I decided to forgo it- would have loved them for the music room!  The garden centre is stocking Field and Fare freezer products which are unpackaged so you can bring your own container for them.  We bought some fishcakes and Chicken Kiev, frozen fish.

Back home, I sat down at the piano and FINALLY got started on my Christmas song/carol- well, I got the first chorus lyrics and melody written and the accompaniment worked out, just need to work out the verses- CBC was pitying the neighbours as there was a lot of stopping/starting and repeating the same chord over and over again as I tried things out.  To ensure neighbourly relations are peaceful, I left it there and  continued with the wardrobe changeover c;earup and sorting and later, we had some Thai food whilst watching Outer Banks on Netflix.

This morning, I got out of bed at 8.57....church starts at 9.15am.  I was at church by 9.17am having cycled!  

The service was a really beautiful service and Steph who led the sermon gave such a powerful sermon.

My main two takehomes from this were:  We take each day as it comes.  In the Lord's prayer, we ask for our daily bread, not our weekly bread and we must react to God's placement  of us. Trying not to worry about next week doesn't mean the same as not being prepared for what is coming.  Also, revisiting the past and imagining different outcomes or choices can be a form of self-harm - I needed to hear that as I often end up thinking about what I should have/would have/could have done.

Had lovely chats to friends after the service, including my lovely neighbour Morris who is 97.  I took him round some Lily O'Brien chocolates 2 weeks ago as he was unwell and able to attend church and he was so grateful and said he'd never had chocolates like them before.

I came home and got started on the washing up from last night (yes, I am a slattern..) whilst listening to a lovely Radio 3 programme with Rupert Everett and his Desert Island discs  and then decided to do some sorting through the cupboards and try to get rid of some out of date baking ingredients and try and rationalise the chaotic pantry.  It's a bit better.  Chucked a few things to compost and also packed a few things for school as flour can be used for Playdough and 15 year old mung beans and aduki beans can be used to make shakers.  I then made a pot of tea and crumpets.  Next I rehoovered the floor and then washed the kitchen, utility room and hallways (they really, really needed it) as well as getting on my hands and knees scrubbing stains with sodium bicarb and an old toothbrush. I  folded up clean washing and put it away and then hoovered the living room whilst imprisoned by drying floor and polished the piano and repositioned the house plants.   CBC came home from cycling and thankfully, the floors were almost dry and he was careful (usually, he tells me not to be a drama queen when I freak out when he walks in and makes a mess).  I washed the upstairs bathroom floors and then hoovered the dry floors to pick up the extra bits that were revealed by washing and hoovered the bedroom.

I then went into the garden and pulled out the remaining tomato plants and bean plants, weeded the raised bed, pulled out the canes, raked leaves and put them onto the raised bed to mulch (wish I'd gone to collect more oak leaves from the field behind our house as there weren't enough to cover the bed...I will then put compost on top and then maybe put cardboard on top- if CBC doesn't moan - he has Opinions about things like this looking messy (even if the advice came from an expert) -picked the last pepper. I then came in and ate some brie, chutney and crackers and sang some songs and played piccolo and piano with CBC for some carols and then went to practice my piccolo for my orchestra rehearsal tomorrow (poor neighbours).  A bit more tidying and then finally, the house was looking calm and more ordered. I have found it really hard to function as the house has felt and looked so dirty and messy and I feel soothed by having done all this cleaning and sorting, even if I haven't 'rested so much

Ah, what was I wearing? Well, the OTHER Totnes cardigan of course! You read the post title right?

This is the gorgeous Alpaca Stained glass pattern one.  My bassoon-playing friend, who owns alpacas and is an alpaca wool geek, told me that this jumper probably retailed at around £400 so I got an absolute bargain for my £35 shell out.  The white top underneath was charity-shopped.  My burgundy cashmere shawl was from H&M about 14 years ago and is one of my top winter favourites.  I have always said I prefer Summer and its sartorial choices but actually, I ADORE my winter favourites and look forward to wearing them.

My black trousers are from Seasalt, bought from their EBay outlet in the Summer after my cycling accident ripped my favourite black trousers (Ang, I just haven't sent them yet!!! I just need to get everything to the post office!) - they are super comfortable and thick material. Finally, I wore my Leggero Gortex and leather boots. I bought these in October 2020 and have worn them through thick and thin, 4 winters and they are still going strong. I paid £160 which is the most I have ever paid for a pair of boots/shoes/garment but I think the cost per wear is probably in pence now as I have worn them so much. What will I do when they wear out? (which they show no signs of doing)

It's now Sunday evening and I am finally doing school work (oops,should have done before now)  before we will eat Thai left overs, but I am feeling satisfied with my weekend endeavours.

 

I hope all is well with you.

xx

 

Ladybird

When I had one of my several hospital appointments, I nipped into my local charity shop on the way home and saw this on the mannequin.  I found a good old fashioned walking stick for my Treasure Island production but ended up just trying this on!  I ended up buying it, for a very reasonable £3.75 and promptly wore it to go and watch Voces 8. I decided to add this stretchy petal belt to cinch the waist and the cashmere cardigan for warm. Knee high boots and a beret completed the look. 

All my scans and things came back negative so I've been discharged.  Hopefully all is fine so I am very grateful for that...but not sure what caused my pains/issues.  Thank you for all your positive thoughts.

Last night I went to watch CBC's school evening of song. It was beautiful.  The choirs and singing at his school is excellent!  I'm going to be doing some singing of my own on Bank Holiday Monday as I am returning to my old sixth form school to record 3 Christmas cantatas that were composed by the wonderful Head of Music.  I loved the 2 that I sang when I was at the school for two years and I am very excited to sing them again and see my teacher and many old friends I haven't seen for 20-25 years!!

Today, I have had a headache all day. I had one yesterday and was hoping, after my late night at CBC's concert, I would be able to sleep it off. Sadly, CBC was up at 6am (or possibly earlier) rampaging around the bedroom and house packing for the Duke of Edinburgh expedition he's leading on this weekend. He is incapable of doing it quietly or without asking me where X,Y, or Z are so I was fully awake and exceedingly cross that I was woken early as my headache was still very much pounding and present and has remained so all day.

I went to town to scour the charity shops for items needed for Treasure Island. Sadly, the only one I managed to locate was a vintage Parasol (buying the vintage one was cheaper and more eco-friendly than buying online from eBay.  I hope to find some more items at some point soon!

We had a polling day at school on Thursday so I was working from home. I had to join in for 2 Microsoft Teams sessions with Nursery and ended up doing lots of work though never as much as I wanted to.   It was so nice not to have to take the trains into work and back and for once, I didn't have any rehearsals to go up to London for which is what usually happens when I have a polling day at school!

Since I'm teaching a short cantata telling the story of Persephone (to link to the Year 5 Greeks topic), I'm playing the year 5-6 children Gustav Holst's The Planets in Singing Assembly this half term and I've been enjoying sharing little details with them to look out for.

For instance, in the final movement, Neptune, listen and watch out for the larger and lower versions of instruments- at the start of it, together with the regular C-flute, Holst uses the Alto Flute playing a parallel harmony (which plays 4 notes lower than the regular flute and has a wonderful smoky timbre) plus the Bass Oboe (bigger, lower oboe) and he even employs an off-stage female chorus at the ending which really does give the name Neptune, the Mystic, its due.  The piece ends with this otherworldly sound.  In addition, he uses 2 harps, instruments associate with magic and mythology in music and the Celesta, a keyboard instrument that hits a glockenspiel type instrument inside when you press the keys.

I really recommend watching the video below. I have made it start from Neptune but if it hasn't worked, scroll forward to 44:30.

The previous week, I played them Mars, the Bringer of War and in Drumming Club, we have been learning some of the repetitive rhythms used in the piece.  Next, week, we'll be listening to Mercury, the winged Messenger (AKA Hermes!) 

The week that was

 Hello,

Hope all is well with you.

Well, we didn't win the choir competition on Tuesday but we had a great, exciting day!

We had an epic journey of walking around 3/4 of a mile to the station, getting a train and then tube and then a 3/4 mile walk up a hill.  The rehearsal went ok- we had a moment where we realised that one of children had not brought her dinner with her (or water bottle), despite being asked twice if she had her dinner! The children were very noisy when they weren't performing which did get a little tiresome after a while and I discovered at school, that one of the boys had hidden another girl's lunchbox...luckily, I managed to find where it had been hidden but I did have to start our journey with a stern word. Other than that, they behaved mostly and there was, Ann, you will be glad to learn, NO VOMIT GATE!

The standard of the other schools was really high. The winning school chose a really great pair of songs that really showed off the children's voices beautifully and I had them as the winners in my mind almost immediately.  The second song, an environmental song called Breathe, was really evocative. The other schools gave great performances and a really interesting set of choices of repertoire. The school who got second place had a hilarious version of 'This old man' which made me really giggle and they sang a song with hatography (they did lots of movements with hats)- wasn't so keen on their first song but they were really polished and brilliant! We didn't get to hear the choir that came 3rd as we were back stage waiting to go onto stage. 

Our first song went quite well, a song called Dreamer, and then our second song, Water Come o' me eye, had a hairy moment in the middle.. After singing the 2 verses beautifully in unison, the children go into 4 parts where 3 groups sing different riffs/ostinati (repeated patterns), at this point, the 2nd group, rushed off out of time with the others.  I had to conduct really hard to try and get them to realise they were out of time, and eventually, managed to get them back together, but it was quite obvious. I was glad they were able to get back in time though.  The third song, Can you feel the love tonight, was pretty good although we could have done some more dynamic changes.  

I was asked by the teacher of the next school after us to turn pages for her at the piano which was scary! I am always scared of messing up. Luckily, I didn't but it was a bit nerve-wracking!

When they announced the judge's comments, A, star pupil, was sitting next to me, and as soon as we had been given our feedback, she leaned over and said, "We definitely haven't won, we got WAAAY more feedback than the others!).

The kids were disappointed, but most were pragmatic about not winning.  The chair of our governors also came to watch as well as my headteacher.  The chair and one parent told me well done and another parent messaged me to say thank you and well done but I didn't get anything from any other parents really.

Luckily, all parents turned up to pick up their children, two were a bit late but I managed to get home by about 10.15pm!

The next day, I was super tired but luckily had Year 5 doing a lesson I know and love well, creating their opening to Vltava in groups.  The year 6 class I had last lesson were a bit tiresome though- they were very lethargic although seemed to enjoy watching the BBC Ten Pieces version of Winter from the Four Seasons. I was sent home 10mins early from staff meeting after school as I was falling asleep in it (apparently, so was everyone else though!).

Thursday was quite a good day for the year 3 recorder lessons.  The year 2's were ok starting their first lesson on Communication. In choir, I started two new songs, one I wrote about 15 years ago called 'Peter Piper' which is a tongue twister song and its the first time I have taught it since then!!! A requested a vocal score as she prefers to follow the notes.

Friday, my year 6 lessons were quite enjoyable and I started a Greek Persephone theme for their Singing Assembly- I found a book in the cupboard which I've never used and I decided to give it a go! I'm going to do a Peter Pan theme with the Year 3-4's and a Dinosaurs and all that rubbish theme with Year 1-2. I might get them to perform to each other in the playground in July!

After school, I had to rush off to the hospital for yet another scan. It was a bigger one and I had to lie there on my tummy for 20minutes (needing the loo!) as they did a contrast dye scan etc. I read my book as they did it and Yomi, my lovely scanning operator commented how relaxed I looked!

I cycled home from the hospital (despite being told to wait an hour) and then watched Dr Who all evening after picking lots of kale and chard in the garden to eat with sausages from the freezer.

CBC is in Majorca/Mallorca this weekend for the Malloca 312 (km!) race/ride so I was a bit lonely.

I've been doing some cleaning and tidying today and I'm glad I managed to get some sorting done though not as much as I wanted to. Ah well.

Tomorrow morning, I've got to play piano/lead worship at church- bit nervous as some of the songs are  not so familiar to me as last week.

Then, I need to carry on with the cleaning and get some school work done.Not ideal for a Sunday...

Hope all is well with you!

xxx

The weekend that was

 Well, it's been quite a busy week.

I had to leave school early for my hospital appointment (nothing conclusive...more scans...though he hadn't had access to the last week scan results...where are they!?!?!).Got completely soaked cycling from the station. Luckily, on the way home, it was fairly dry so rather than cycling to the train station, I decided to cycle all the way home.  Went via town and bought a red dress in the charity shop (bad girl) as well as a walking stick I figured could work as Long John Silver's crutch for Treasure Island for school (the main reason I went into the shop....promise Guvnor!) and headed home with something from Greggs!Was so nice to be home EARLY!

Friday night, I met CBC to go and watch amazing unaccompanied 8 part vocal group, Voces 8.  They were performing at Southend Plaza  Centre. 

What a wonderful experience it was!  They were exquisite- the beautiful range of songs they sang, from the glorious polyphony of the Renaissance to Jazz classics such as  Straighten up and Fly right to songs my modern composers.  We were kept rapt throughout!   We were really lucky to hear them for the reasonable price of £10 per ticket (Voces 8 are such a renowned group that most venues charge a lot more)- there has been government support for concert series' in Southend but this has been rescinded permanently this year. This is very sad.

After the concert, we headed out for a Thai meal.  This was delicious!

The next morning, I woke up and headed downstairs to tackle the previous washing up.  Eventually, we headed into London to meet CBC's family for this sister's 40th birthday celebration.  

We went to Caravan for some lunch and then headed to a place called the Lightroom for an exhibition called MoonWalkers which was all about the Apollo space expeditions, an immersive experience. It was utterly brilliant and I left feeling awe-inspired and more knowledgable about previous visits to the moon. There was so much footage and photo and things to look at and I ended up feeling pretty excited by the Artemis mission which is set to go to the moon next year.  There haven't been any moon missions in my lifetime so I was intrigued by how it would feel to be here in for one 'live' as it were.

After this, we headed over to Dishoom, an Indian restaurant which I have heard blog friend Vix speak very highly of.  I can confirm, it was EXCELLENT!!!  All the dishes I chose were fantastic and I tried some of other people's (we sort of shared....).  I had a prawn dish for starter which I shared with CBC who had the Dishoom Chaat. I then had Lamb chops, a Chilli corncob dish, garlic naan... and had some rice and other bits from others. They were so yummy!

We headed home and headed to bed.

This morning, I was up bright and early for church as I was leading worship (AKA playing piano  and singing and trying not to make mistakes!) for the 2 different church services. I had chosen the songs and could play the ones I had chosen.  Mostly went well and both were lovely services with everyone singing their hearts out. Once I'd cycled the 2.5 miles from church no.2 to home, I checked my phone and discovered my friend Izzie asking me if I could attend an orchestra rehearsal to cover the oboe part in 1 hour!  Managed to phone another member in the orchestra who lives locally to me, who hadn't left yet, and she picked me up and we travelled the 40minutes it takes to drive there.  Unfortunately, we discovered the oboist hadn't left her parts (sheet music) there so I ended up playing the entire rehearsal from my tinnnnnnny phone screen as we'd downloaded the parts from IMSLP (very useful website).  It was quite a fun rehearsal and I enjoyed trying the oboe part! Always lovely to see my friends in that orchestra.

Once we'd driven home, I somehow procrastinated a lot and here we are!

CBC and I made a late dinner of Halloumi, shallots, broccoli and tomato plus a bowl of leftover nettle soup. 

Eeek!! The final of my choir competition is THIS Tuesday so prayers, fingers crossed and happy thoughts all appreciated!  Not sure we have a chance of winning against the 5 other schools who I know are good but here's hoping!  Can we also pray for NO repeat of VOMIT GATE last year and that all the parents turn up to pick up their children on time and no one is sick!

Hope all is well with you....

xx