Last day of the holidays

 And just like that, it's the last night before we go back to school. The 5 weeks and 4 days (you can tell I'm resentful about that one missing day!) holiday is over and we return to the throng in the morning. Bright and early!  I'm trying not to feel anxious and in the doldrums about it but it is looming in a lugubrious manner!

I wrote a little poem to amuse my little sister who is also a teacher who is also feeling the gloom and sent it to her:

First Day back

We come sulking and snivelling,

Dragged reluctantly and quivering,

Into school gates yawning

When the day's barely dawning, 

Kicking and screaming,

Cos the sun is beaming,

Whilst we’re imprisoned inside,

We've been sentenced and tried, 

Made to share facts about our holiday

Cringing when it's our time to say,

Brains trying to kick-start,

Whilst trying to look smart,

Studying maths strategies,

But dreaming of beach breezes, 

Wishing we were still home,

Suppressing a groan,

Whilst trying to name fiction text features. 

And that's just the teachers! 

• CBC and I have had a great holiday in so many respects.  
• I had 10days at music camp, CBC had 12 days in France.
• I got to play 1st flute in Shostakovitch's beautiful 6th symphony.
• Played fiddle in a ceilidh band
• Swam in a lido
• Explored a new public transport route back from said lido- felt adventurous
• Made a lovely new flute friend who is curiously similar to me in many ways.
• Wrote lots of poems.
• We had 4 days in Hexham
• 4 days in Hebdon Bridge
• 3 days at my Dad's in Kent
• Stayed over at my Mum's
• Saw quite a few friends.
• The pond is finished in our garden.
• Went twice to the localish beach and and once up north.
• Hoovered and cleaned the floors many times (and they still look dirty!)
• Performed a flute recital
• Eaten lots of nice meals not cooked by ourselves including Thai, Indonesian, Malaysian, Persian, Mexican, Lebanese, Italian cuisines.
• Picked lots of nice fruit and veg from the garden AND foraged
• Eaten lots of fresh fruit and veg
• Seen interesting fungi
• Had some delightful walks
• Relaxed
• Slept
• Cycled
• Played Games

It's been a joy in many respects and I am grateful for this time.

My secret news!

 A few months ago, I alluded to something exciting (for me) that had happened, but I was not able to say what it was.

Well, today, I can finally say.

One of my poems, Big Sounds, was selected for inclusion in Issue 9 of Tyger Tyger magazine!

This is a lovely online poetry magazine for children aged 7-11 which is free to read, has free teaching resources with it and includes poets from all over the world.

I wrote this poem last September (2024).  I was in  Forest Philharmonic rehearsal, playing Shostakovitch's Symphony no.9, 2nd flute.  Unfortunately for me, the second flute part is very sparse, doesn't play in two whole movements whereas the first flute and piccolo get all the glory.  Even more irritatingly, I had forgotten my book, must have left it at school and I had nothing to do.  The first flute player doesn't like people sitting on phones in rehearsals too so I couldn't do that either (and to be honest, is not a thing I'm prone to do in rehearsals).  I had twice, unsuccessfully submitted poems to Tyger Tyger.  A poem about Mud and about Sums had both not been chosen and I'd received the email that day saying that the new theme for the next issue was Big Things.  As I sat there in the rehearsal, I started thinking about big musical instruments as at that moment, the Bassoon had a massive solo.  And I started writing the poem about big instruments.  The poem came to me really quickly and by the break, I already had a finished poem.  The lovely piccolo player, C, had seen me writing and asked me what I was doing. I bashfully mentioned I was trying to write a poem and mentioned this issue's theme.  She asked me if she could hear it and I read it to her. When I got to the final line, she roared with laughter and told me she loved it.  The deadline for submission was December.  I sat on the poem for a while, thinking that I wasn't sure whether to submit but I also wondered if I could write anything better- you can submit up to three poems per issue.  By the time the deadline was looming, I'd written two other poems, one about relatives and one about a Giant and submitted them.

Oh, the months of waiting felt long and in the meantime, I'd written many, many other poems.  I knew it was probably unlikely I'd get chosen though I knew I liked me first poem very much.  It was also very much inspired by that thing my work colleague John had said at the Testing Ground open mic night I'd attended at Bard Books that very week.  He said, "Write about what you know."  Music is what I know best.  Part of me had a flame of hope.

Finally, back in March, I received an email from Rachel Piercey, editor of Tyger Tyger and to my delight, told me they would love to include my Big Sounds poem if it were still available.  I cannot tell you the utter joy I felt at that time. Having had a very difficult start to the year in terms of personal anxiety and depression, this was an exquisite ray of hope and sunshine.  She asked the chosen poets not to make any announcements on social media until the issue launched and so  I sat on the news, only telling CBC and C, my piccolo-playing friend who had been my first reader.  C was delighted for me.

I've noticed a curious coincidence today, as I write this.  My poem includes reference to the Contrabassoon.  Interestingly enough, the only other time I have been selected for something when there are a huge number of submissions is when I was chosen up as a runner up out of 29,000 people who entered a Blue Peter competition to design a cartoon character for Oscar's Orchestra for my depiction of Cassius the Contrabassoon. 

Rachel was very busy and the release date was put back but we exchanged several emails over the months regarding a few edits and things and FINALLY, yesterday was publication day!

Here was Rachel's post announcing it:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Rachel Piercey (@rachelpierceywriter)

You can see all the poems here including mine:

Big Sounds:

I want to learn the Double Bass!
Big Granddaddy of the strings.
I’d grunt and growl and scrape and scowl
And play the deepest things!

I want to learn the Contrabassoon!
The size of a rocket ship.
It farts and parps and plops and honks,
Each note I’d just let rip!

I want to learn the Tuba!
It’s a chasm of shining gold.
Like warthog snorts and elephant trumps,
It’s big and bass and bold!

I want to learn the Big Bass Drum!
The vastest of all drums.
The thud and thump, rumble and boom.
I’ll startle everyone!

I want to play the biggest sounds
And shake the entire house!
But sadly, it seems that wishes stay dreams,
Since I’m only a tiny mouse!

Having received a rejection again this week, for another submission, it was lovely that this publication coincided with that.  I am aware that is is probably a one-off and I won't be lucky enough for this to happen again, if I do submit any poems to any publications (I've only tried 3 different publications) but for this moment, I shall rejoice in Big Sounds x Tyger Tyger!

18 things that made me happy this fortnight

 

I wrote this last Friday but forgot to post it!

1.  It was National Poetry day this Thursday- I announced this at the end of Singing Assembly and suggested the children write a poem.  After lunch, 2 of my lovely girls in year 5 came up and presented me with poems they had written about me, for me! They were so sweet.  Today, a Year 6 girl came up to me and presented me with yet another poem, about me! This one was really lovely and unexpected. It made me laugh so much because, on the other side, she wrote a poem about our Sports Coach who I tag-team with as we teach the same pair of classes and swap with each other, morning and evening. I think I did better out of this poem writing than he did!!!

2.  My old colleague, J, who has left my school (we produced Treasure Island together) had contacted me saying we should meet. I suggested Thursday.  He said he was a co-organiser of a new Poetry-and-Music night called Testing Ground and suggested I come.  It was held at a Book Shop on Roman Road near Mile End called Bard Books.  J persuaded me to join in with the Open Mic element of the night and I played Syrinx, for solo flute, by Debussy. Ha, I can say I was the first musician to perform at this Performance evening! Most of the other  open-mic participants were Spoken word artists, poets or writers and there was one beautiful singer.  The two headliner artists were singer, writer and rapper, Adeeb Abdul Razak  and a poet called Ellie De Satge.  The night was so different from what I was used to, held in a lovely bookshop and it was so nice to see my friend again!  He performed a poem of his own called 'Feedback' about giving feedback to pupils. As someone who teaches, this poem was so powerful and I was so impressed by his artistry! 

3.  Last Sunday, I performed with Forest Philharmonic Orchestra. We were playing accompaniment for the final of the North and East London Music Festival. The three soloists got to perform a movement of a concerto with us accompanying.  The judges AND audience AND orchestra all got to vote for their favourite performer.  I usually play 2nd flute or piccolo for this orchestra but the regular (and wonderful) 1st flautist was away in Scotland so I played that part. This is another first for me as I've never performed First Flute with them before.  

4.  I made a cleaning product myself out of foraged ingredients! More on that soon!

5.  I've been using my new Personal Amplifier to try and protect and preserve my voice a bit more at school and it IS making a difference!  So grateful to my Sister/Dad/Stepmum for getting it for me for Christmas. Not impressed with myself for not using it UNTIL now!

6. WE ARE OFF TO THE CRYSTAL MAZE AGAIN TOMORROW!!!! So excited!

EDIT- It was brilliant! And I got 2 crystals this time!

7.  Found SUCH a sweet song on @musicforkiddos on Instagram called Falling Leaves and it is SUCH a adorable song. Tried it out on KS1 today and they loved it!

8. Some Year 5-6 children are on a residential next week and I managed to manoeuvre a swap so I could still teach year 6 next week. Pleased I managed to do this.

9.  TRYING to take a bit better care of myself this by a) trying to ensure I've had something for breakfast- yoghurts in glass jars, tinned peaches, bananas have worked well so far.  b) trying to have slightly more organised lunches, c) trying to not say yes to anything on more than 2 weeknights in a week, d) really determinedly working on quoting the School Rules when children misbehave and using stock phrases such as "Please place your instruments in resting position" or "What is the rule when I am giving feedback to someone?"- helping me AND them!

10.  Enjoying the joy of the year 3's at their new recorders- they are SO proud of them!

11. Enjoying how popular orchestra is so far this year! Everyone wants to be in it. AND I managed to acquire a NEW Orchestral Manager! She volunteered and I accepted instantly!

12. Love my Year 5 girls.  They are really loving and kind. It warms my heart to see such gentleness and their real acting of their age, not trying to be something else! They come and surround me with a hug every time I cross the playground and they always know when I am feeling tired or down.  They are my new 'music crowd' and it's lovely!

13.  Enjoying the relationship I am developing with the class whose bookcorner I am helping with. I hate to say it, but one child leaving last year has made ALL the difference to that class! The toxic habits and learned patterns of poor behaviour have been broken and life is so much happier for that class!

14. Was given a cute new Penguin by one of my pupils! It has a strawberry hat on!

15.  My year 4's did some really good rhythm performances on Wednesday. The class who are usually very difficult were actually the best!

16. Tonight (Friday)  I was productive! Came home, made dinner instantly, did all the washing up, put all previous washing up away, put in washing, hung up washing, sorted more, made a birthday card and here I am writing a blog post or two!

17.  Went to see my lovely friend, Naomi Preston-Low in Pride and Prejudice- sort of, at the Chelmsford theatre last night.  It was utterly hilarious and silly (a bit sweary and irreverent in places but funny!Imagine how Lizzie Bennett might have responded to Mr Collins' proposal with a few choice words). Naomi was brilliant! I waited for her at the Stage door and she gave me a massive hug and was so pleased to see me after such a long time. CBC and I really enjoyed it and it made a great change after school to do this! The show is on tour so if  you fancy giving it a go, check the link. It goes to Wolverhampton next week!

Here is a great review of it which I wholeheartedly agree with

18.  44 of the Year 5-6 children were away on a residential today so I did Samba with the remaining children and they loved it!

What things have brought you joy this week?

11 reasons to be thankful or happy moments

These last three weeks have been such a hurricane of activity!  Definitely good in many ways but also very tiring! The house has been a state of utter mess and squalor as I've been getting back very late most evenings (despite the fact that I did do a lot of cleaning/tidying for CBC's mum when she stayed a few weeks ago.  It's the last 2 days of school tomorrow and as always, I am really sad about my year 6's that are leaving (and a few other children too!) but particularly so this year- definitely had a very strong bond with some of them this year.

I thought I'd write about a few moments or things that have been special or made me happy or smile in the past few weeks. 

1. This morning, I raced Richard to church! He is in his 80's and he comes and drives my 94 year old neighbour to church every Sunday.  He's often offered me a lift but inevitably I am not ready. This morning, I saw M leaving his house and saw Richard pull up as I came out the drive on my bike. He wound down his window to offer me a lift and I called out, "Race you!" and hurtled off down the road.  He caught me up as I reached the main road and we both had to stop at the traffic light under the railway bridge.  When we approached church, he had to pull into park on the left and I cycled into the church gate and up to the door! I had WON!  He laughed a lot when he arrived (as did all the older ladies who saw me cackle at Richard as he turned left and I turned right.  I played piano at church and, considering, I was grappling with page turns on my iPad and hadn't had time to practice, praise God, I played ok without too many major clashes. It was a lovely sermon too!

2. Did I tell you about the Green paper?  For Treasure Island, in Act 2, we didn't want the chorus to keep coming on and off so I suggested they turn round and pretend to be trees before and after several of their songs.  I speculated with my fellow director/producer whether was worth making some sort of foliage for them to hold.  We agreed and thought we should order some green paper to make some.  We'd need enough for around 35 children at least.  Two days later, I was at CBC's school for a Chicago rehearsal and went to go and have  a look at his display boards in his classroom (as there's a really nice display). I noticed that all the display boards were covered in green paper.  Exams?  I asked him if the paper was going to come down.  He replied positively and when questioned as to what would happen to the paper, he said the exams team had put it up but they were expected to take it down but hadn't had time to do it. When he thought the paper would just end up in the recycling, I asked if I could have the paper if I took it down.  He agreed and the next day when I came back for the next rehearsal, I climbed up and removed it all from both classrooms.  ended up with 3 rolls of paper that were around 1.5 metres wide (and about 15metres of length).  Ended up rolling them up and somehow carried these large, heavy 1.5m long rolls of green paper on my bike attached to the top of my pannier.  I was rather a wide load (needed a warning sign like lorries do!).  Looked like a complete maniac but meant we got the free paper for the foliage.  Decided we needed to have pom poms so came up with a really simple prototype and showed my lovely year 6 girls what to do and by the end of the day, they came back to me with 70 pom poms!!!

3. On Friday, I performed the Rite of Spring with Orchestra of the City, playing the Alto flute part with a section of 5 flutes and over 100 players.  It was SO exciting to perform and, despite the intense heat, we gave a great performance to a sell out audience.  I was so lucky as the Alto flute part has lots of beautiful solos and not so many scary hard bits.  Despite my coming in early on one solo (paranoid, I had miscounted, I stared intently at the conductor as I came in early (as surmised) and he easily put me back in the right place.  I got a stand up for my solos which was lovely!  The orchestra are SO good and I am so lucky I got to play with them!  CBC, his brother and partner came to watch, which was really nice, and we had food afterwards.

4. It was the Year 6 prom/disco on the same day as the Rite performance and I was really sad not to be able to attend as my lovely girls had asked me to attend.  As I couldn't, I promised to wear a prom dress to school and they held me to it so I changed into my turquoise jacquard silk dress with a tiara! They were so pleased.  Luckily, my rehearsal wasn't till 6 so I had 10minutes to see some of them arrive in their smart outfits and then race off to London.

5. I taught my leavers song on Friday afternoon (in my fancy dress). A colleague and myself wrote it together 3-4 years ago and now I always teach it. It was the first time he hadn't been in the school for it.  They sang it well and the majority seemed to like it. Even the (comparatively) lazy class  upped their game for the performance.  After it, I walked down with my favourite class, some of whom were crying, I hugged one of them and then they all went in for a hug and I ended up at the centre of about 15 children! It was a sweet moment.

6.  Ended up teaching 45 children in year 3 (for two lessons) as one of the classes wouldn't be getting their final lesson (Bank holidays, grr) so I combined them.  Could have been a nightmare but actually ended up being a good lesson! Very glad I did it as it was really nice to end the term with this.  We were learning about folk music and learnt a very jolly folk song called Tomorrow the Fox which children always love!

6. Had the first proper school concert since 2019 on Wednesday. Ended up with an audience of 140 and the 70 children performed really well and managed to finish on time.  Some parents not the best at sitting and listening but enough were really appreciative and proud.  The orchestra sounded superb particularly. So relieved it went well and ended up with good attendance in the end.  

7.  The day after the Rite of Spring, I was performing the solo flute part of J.S. Bach's Brandenburg concerto no.2 with an orchestra in Oakwood.  I was really nervous about it but it ended up going well.  I had the delight of playing flute for the first time ever with an old friend and colleague from my days at the Royal Academy of Music. Was so nice to catch up with her and play with her.  The rest of the programme went well and I even saw a friend from Music camp!

8. Some friends are here for the month from China and somehow ended up staying near us so we met up for brunch with them and their cute daughter this morning. Had such a nice time, even had a paddle in the sea and then we headed off to lunch with CBC's old housemate and our friend.  I wasn't (obviously), hugely hungry but ordered a Gazpacho soup and some olives which was the PERFECT summer lunch- amazing flavours!  We ended up chilling on the village green and played Cranium cards which made for gentle entertainment.  CBC fell asleep on the grass as N and I chatted. Came home and managed to do SOME tidying which I was relieved about!

9.  Unexpected Thai food on Tuesday night. CBC had bought himself some Thai takeaway and left me half of it! It was delicious, all the more, because I hadn't had any breakfast so was surviving on my salad from lunchtime I love Thai food so much!

10. On Thursday night, I ended up chatting to this Lithuanian man on the train.  I thought he was drunk at first but I talked to him and he really needed someone to talk to, he ended up crying talking about some things, I was grateful to be there when someone needed to talk.

11.  Two of the other flute players got Covid.  Despite me sitting next to them, I didn't catch it!

So many other small blessings and happy moments in amongst my daily life that I've probably forgotten about but I am grateful to have such a surfeit of joy! What about you?

xx

10 reasons to be thankful or 10 happy things

 1. Bird app- CBC was looking a bird app which can identify bird song and he speculated as to whether it could be tricked into recognising bird song. When he tried whistling, it said it could not identify it!  I declared that I could trick it.  CBC was very cynical and said he bet it couldn't.  I decided to do my best Nuthatch impression and to his sheer disbelief and my delight, it identified me as a Eurasian Nuthatch!  My second attempt at a Wood Pigeon was again successfully accepted as such but when I tried my third attempt at a Blackbird, it told me I was human!!!  2/3 isn't bad!!!

2.  Rescuing a Pallet from the bin!  For our treasure Island production we don't really have much scenery but as I walked past the big bin at school yesterday, I saw a large wooden pallet sticking out.  I went to get my partner in crime, J to come and inspect it and we hauled it out of the bin for a closer look.  We then tried dancing on it and then turned it on its side to try and see what else it could be used for.  We then manhandled it down the corridor, into the lift and up the stairs like the Chucklebrothers, giggling, and then covered it with blankets, took a comedy photo of ourselves standing by it to inform staff it was there and then went to get on with stuff.  It's bittersweet because my colleague is leaving and I am really going to miss him, as one of my closest friends at school, one of the most genuine and astute people, an absolutely hilarious raconteur, a wonderful person who the children adore and we only got to do 2 productions together because of Covid and having no hall.

3.  Making a lego bumblebee with a child yesterday!

4.  Picking cherries for free from nearby flats carpark.  I picked some last year when there were few left after being annoyed at them littering the pavement without being picked and this year, I saw they were in prime, I went and picked a load!

5.  Actually having my voice for choir this week.  N, one of my lovely Y6 girls told me, delightedly, "It was so nice to actually hear your voice properly this week, I missed it!" (I've been croaky for a while!) 

6. The sheer delight of the year 2's playing handbells.  They loved it! When you see children managing to organise themselves 

7. I am having to play tenor saxophone for Chicago as well as all the other winds. I am so grateful that CBC's school had a really good Tenor saxophone donated only a few weeks ago and that it was not too difficult to play despite my having not played Tenor before and having not played my own alto saxophone for about 12 years!

8.  The weather has been quite good this week. I have enjoyed wearing warmer weather clothing such as some lighter dresses and wafty tops.

9.  Thought we had run out of toothpaste and was getting very desperate having rummaged the drawers to find a new tube but then suddenly found a tube!!

10.  The first part of this is not happy. I had a bit of an accident on my bike this morning on my way to work. I accidentally drove into the fence at the station entrance and got my wheel caught in the ditch and fell of my bike quite heavily and ripped the knee of my favourite trousers (the ones I wear for all my Clara and Yaz cosplays) and scraped my knee and hurt my wrist.  I am thankful I did not hurt myself any more than that or that if I were to have a bike accident, it was something like this and not on the road.

What are you thankful for?

xx

Just a label?

 I had a really nice surprise today!

There's a younger work colleague, who I've recently become closer to. She was really kind to me last year when I was suffering from 2 years of no room and at the end of the year, she included me in team celebrations, let me leave things in her room, constantly let me walk through her classroom with instruments, listened in sympathy.  She was still quite reserved when it came to talking about things as I know she doesn't trust lots of people and is very professional at keeping things to herself.  I sent her a card telling her how much I appreciated her friendship at the end of the year.  This academic year, we've been sounding boards for each other a few times and there has felt a genuine warmth  and trust there which I've been grateful for.

Unexpectedly, this morning, when I did my usual cut through her room, she said she had something for me.  When I came back, she said she saw it and had to buy it for me! I was so touched.  I asked if I could open it on Christmas day to which she acquiesced.

When I got back to my room, I looked at the labels.

What a lovely label and the back was so thoughtful. She knows I am very much hot on the eco thing!

What a thoughtful message, one which gave me a lovely cosy shine throughout the remainder of the day! I'm grateful for her friendship!

xx

11 reasons to be thankful

 Active gratitude really does have a good effect. Whilst it doesn't make difficulties, sadness, grief go away and if you are in dire straits like many people in the world are, it is a good practice.

Some people worry about toxic positivity- this is where you force people to try and be happy by being overly and falsely positive (I think... from what I've read?) . This is something very different.

Actively stating your gratitude for YOUR situation without expecting anyone else to respond in kind, IS positive and inspiring.

My lovely friend Ally wrote a thanksgiving post about this, my great friend Ang frequently shares things she is thankful for and I have tried to write posts reminding myself of what is good.

I've been very anxious in recent times. Anxious about a lot of things. I'm not sleeping very well at all and I am permanently exhausted as I wake early and worry about a lot. But I have so much which I am grateful for which I give thanks for- home,family, job, health, skills, hobbies,food, stabillity. Beyond that, here are some things that gave me joy this week:

1.  Had a genius idea of getting 2 girls involved with orchestra as 'Orchestral Managers'.  This is a bonafide role within a pro orchestra.  Both girls are super mature and helpful and wanted to be involved in orchestra (but one of them, maybe not allowed to play in for religious reasons).  I asked them if they would consider this role and they were super excited! Their responsibilities involve: organising and setting out chairs, photocopying music (well, I will photocopy but they will come with me and take them back to where they need to be and organise), distributing music, acting as librarians, taking the register, chasing up non-attendees.  They had their first day yesterday and they were BRILLIANT! They were discrete, helpful and efficient! Our conductor thought this was a genius move!

2.  All of our school nativity costumes seem to have gone missing or been chucked out or ruined since our last nativity in 2019. This is gutting. All of our drapes and material were also chucked out in a big staffroom decoration and renovation.  Luckily, I snaffled away and saved some pieces of material and was able to give these to KS1 to try and use for our production in a week and a half's time. I also had a pair of angel wings in my cupboard! Very glad to be able to help!

3.  I'll get to see my friend Lara tonight as I am page-turning for her for her harpsichord part for Brandenburg 5!

4.  Managed to cobble together a variety of dinners this week despite low energy and busyness.

5. Added a new task and challenge to an established unit of work in year 6 to address a particular target and was pleased with how quickly the children completed it and also the way I did it gave them more ownership over learning for themselves this year.

6.  Managed to rehearse ALL the 36 readers for our KS2 Christmas performances yesterday.

7.  Finished the book that has taken me 2 weeks to read! (I usually read much quicker than this!) 

8. FOUND the missing 2 boxes of handbells which went AWOL last Christmas.  The last time I'd seen them, one was in the library at school and one was in the year 6 classroom.  After our 'performance', I was off sick for the rest of term and when I returned in January, they were nowhere to be found.I sent countless emails and searched for them.  I was trying to put away some resources last week and I opened a cupboard which I haven't opened in over a year (as I wasn't in the room and had to just make do with things I had). I discovered that SOMEONE had put one box of bells on each shelf on top of all the books. Why on earth they were put in there, I have NO idea but at least I have them back!

9.  I am still so grateful to be back in my own room at school.  Life is SO much easier, despite it still being VERY busy!

10.  I will get to see my family tomorrow at my niece's 14th birthday party.  I am grateful my sister has these annual parties so we get to see each other.

11. It was Doctor Who's 60th Anniversary on Thursday. I am so grateful for the joy this programme gives me.

What are you grateful for?

xx

The end of a school year!

 

It's over for another year. As I write this, I am sitting at a table in my Mother-in-Law's house, Hexham trying to not kill CBC book our accommodation for our forthcoming trip to Switzerland. It's our 10 year anniversary this year so we are returning to our honeymoon destination.  I realise that I NEVER did share our epic honeymoon tour. It was rather a daunting  prospect as there was so much to write about (I kept a daily diary as did CBC).

As I write this, I am hopeful that...

I AM GETTING MY MUSIC ROOM BACK AFTER 2 YEARS OF MOVING ROOM!!!!

It is going to be weird getting back in. I will have to put up all new displays, deal with a skanky carpet that has had 2 years of filthy year 1 children dropping glue, paint, glitter, food, sick, raisins, apples and all sorts of grim things, I will have to teach the children how to put the instruments away properly, where they go and they will have to get used to sitting on carpet for the entire lesson (which they will not find easy, esp the little ones) and I have got used to having a big interactive whiteboard screen for everything but...

IT IS MINE!

My deputy head teacher did say to me that I have done so well to have continued to teach to my high standard (hmmmm...debatable...she's not seen what it is like with the  crazy year 2 children) and to have put up with the levels of stress and everyone in the school has said to me that me, above absolutely everyone else, has had to put up with the most inconvenience.

I can hardly believe it will happen! But apparently it will.

I still keep expecting them to tell me that they need to turn my room into an SEND room or a computer room since I have proved I can be itinerant.

It's been a hard year in a great number of ways:

Complete disruption of strikes, bank holidays, public holidays,snow days, INSET days.

Some very difficult behaviour from some children

Cancelled performances- Christmas because of icy roads, our Summer interschool festival because of a security threat.

New methods of assessing that just haven't worked out.

Always missing subject leader meetings  because of clubs

Staff shortages.

Leadership changes

Also, two of my closest colleague friends  have left.  One at Easter, one recently. They had both been at the school over 23 years

But...

there have been some amazing moments:

1.  The relationships I have had with some children with regard to sharing reading books and enthusing over books

2. My wonderful year 5-6 choir. We've had some amazing moments and fun. I had 14 children from ONE class in choir which is the most from one class ever and they were confident and really showed their appreciation of choir. We had a great time at the Royal Albert Hall despite VOMIT-GATE (yes, my child projectile vomited in 6 directions in the middle of Gary Barlow's Sing).  I had between 25-35 children the entire year.

3.  The Year 5 Vltava performances- they loved it! In fact, year 5 have been a pleasure to teach all year (one class less so but still good).

4.  Winning the Aurora Orchestra competition for a family ticket to their children's concert. I was able to pass this onto a family who had a lovely time.  I also then purchased a family ticket for my own orchestra concert with Forest Philharmonic Orchestra in June and it was won by a lovely enthuastic Nigerian girl. She and her Mum adored the concert and said she'd love to come again! It was special for me having her there and being able to give that pleasure and experience to families was amazing.

4. Encouraging a young artist.  I learnt, from another teacher,  that a girl in Year 4 is a really keen artist. I asked her to come and see the seascapes I had been painting with year 5. She (and her pal) were really happy to be asked. I said I knew she was interested in art. She told me about her Instagram where she started posting her art in lockdown.  I meant to message her mum to ask permission to look at it (as social media is a dodgy area) but she had already messaged me to say her daughter had asked me to send her a link to her insta.  I sent some feedback (not on Insta because I don't want to share my insta with pupils obvs) via her mum and Mum was super pleased I'd shown an interest in her art. I then issued her an art challenge using recycled envelope inards  (and gave her the resources) which she rose to with great aplomb and then shared her work in the newsletter from school. That one gesture of showing an interest made ALL the difference to one pupil and her mum has shown her apprecation. I hope I will have more time to show interest in individuals more again without excessive equipment removals next year.  

5.  Developed good relations with a couple of colleagues. One who is very cautious of people and she has shown she trusts me.

6. The day I chucked an entire litre of water at my Sports coach colleague and he just laughed.

7.  Helping a colleague to tidy his room when he was going through some mental turmoil and it really helping him. (*especially funny since I am renowned as one of the messiest staff members)

8.  The year 4 classes who have developed over the year.  This is due to (sadly) a couple of disruptive children leaving, and a change of staff.  By the end of the year, we had a really good relationship.

9.  Having 3 children with SEND statements in Drumming club this past half term.  Seeing them do something they are so good at and enjoy has been a JOY.  All the staff who watched them perform were SO proud of them.  I am very inclusive in my clubs and will take anyone as long as a) they want to be there, b) they are actually participating and not just disrupting so this has been wonderful to see it work. It didn't work for one child in year 4 who joined my choir in the Christmas term, but I knew it wouldn't as I know my children. Despite my professional opinion, I still accommodated them at first.

10. Having 2 past pupils back for Work experience (in fact there were 4)- who performed wonderful clarinet music for the whole school. It was a joy!

11. Playing my flute for nursery.  They loved it! I MUST go and do this more! I forgot what awe and wonder it inspires!

12. Giving 6 demo lessons for Reception class music. Then having the children greeting me whenever I saw them around the school.

13.  The day one of the year 6 girls was lying in the playground on the ground and not getting up.  Her friends couldn't get her to move. I said, "Watch how the professionals do it."  I went a distance back and then started galloping in the style of a horse whinnying as loud as I could.  I then LEAPT over the girl and landed with a thud on the other side of her.   She immediately sat up and opened her eyes. I was applauded! Similarly when the choir children were trying to make the Sports coach say "Slay!", I said something similar and tricked him into it. He was FUMING when he realised I'd made him to do it!

14.  The beautiful present I received from a Year 6 pupil. Her grandad ( a keen gardener) had grown 3 tamarind plants from seed. They kept one, gave one to the family and I was given the third one. I am SO touched as she really understood me.  When we said goodbye, she gave me a massive hug and told me she loved me. She is not a child given to saying affectionate things like this so I knew she meant it. Her Mum sent a lovely message too!

15. So many appreciative messages from parents.

16.  Having a final goodbye photo with K, a boy in year 6.  We went and fetched the vintage clear beaters from the vintage glockenspiel and held them high for the photo! It was a joke between the two of us. His leaving card message was also really special since he told me Thursdays were the highlight of his year because of Choir.

17.  Being invited to the Year 5 final day's breakfast.  

18.  The Coronation performances with the whole school in the playground.  Drumming club performed an impressive military-style Snare drum performance. Choir sang a Coronation song, Reception, Year 1 and 2 sang one song (from memory), Year 3-4 sang another song and Year 5-6 sang another song. All from memory. It was a really proud moment and made me ambitious to try something else.

19. Organising an inter-school concert with another local primary school choir to enable parents who couldn't make our Royal Albert Hall performance, to see it.

20. My year 6 pupil who, in the space of one year: a) auditioned for and was awarded one of 30 places (out of 250 auditionees) for the Royal Opera House Youth Choir, b) performed for an entire run of the Royal Opera House's pro production of Turandot, c) was nominated for and won a TruHero award.   

There are probably MANY more things I could write about but I am sure it will get boring.

It has been the hardest year in so many ways but there have ALWAYS been shining moments throughout!

xx

16 Happy Things

It's been a while since I did one of the posts where I list things that have made me happy. There have been numerous things in the last week or so and I thought it would be nice to list them! 

1.  The Genius of Ang Almond:  I count myself as so lucky to have so many friends through this blog community we have here. I value each and everyone of you.  Ang is someone I am lucky enough to be in touch with outside of the blog and she has been so generous over the years to be an enthusiastic help in some of my cosplay adventures.  In the past, I have sent her cosplay projects which she has done a marvellous job of.  However, I sent her a couple of cosplay projects based Classic who characters which she absolutely surpassed all expectations with her sheer genius and dedication!  The parcel arrived back last week and I am astounded, humbled and grateful for her efforts.  Look forward to seeing this, and another project at some point soon!

2.  Wordle.  Since last Summer when CBC's family went on holiday to the South of France, I have been in a Wordle Whatsapp group with his siblings and mum (he's not in it!). I LOVE the daily interactions with them over it and over friendly, but definite competitiveness over it.  We had the most hilarious interaction last week over the word ENNUI which was the word on 5th June.

Here follows the conversation in the chat.

J1 and I had completed it in 3 guesses.  T had completed it in 4. J2 had not completed it at all.

T:The word I convinced myself it must be turned out to not even be a valid word

J1: Well, when I got 4 different yellow in the first two guesses, I just went for a wild stab at the maddet word it could have been.  They seem to swing from tricky niche words to really easy ones, but with multiple different possibilities....

T: This one seemed like a tricky niche word but it turned out to be very boring.

J: [Laughing face emoji]

J2: I'm stuck.  can't think of any boring words (or tricky niche words) that fit.

T: Maybe it's both [head exploding emoji]

Me: Yawn! You lot need to find something better to do with your time.

T: Oh Kezzie, you sound weary and dissatisfied!

Me: Whatever PEASANT!!!

J1: Why don't people sort out their boredom by just brushing up their French? Just to fill in the time!

T:  Or play some games to allevaite the boredom? Perhaps on Wii?

Me: yes, my preferred games console [Grinning and laughing emojis]  J2 hates us right now, if she could summon up the effort to feel that intense an emotion.

J2: [Intense Crying emoji]

Me: Fun fact: I know a song that includes this word! [Grinning face]

Soon after

J2: ENNUI!!!! [aghast emoji and WHAT? emoji] I've never heard of that b*** word!

J1: Clues: French: boredom: On Wii.  (very clever T)

J2: I wouldn't even know how it is pronounced!!! [Angry and crying emojis]

J1: Brush up your French!

J2: My French never advanced beyond 'le chat est sur la table'

J1: You're a disgrace to your clan!

J2: Or 'ou est la piscine'?

T: CLUESSS? In here????!

T: [Insert Carry on meme saying 'I'M SHOCKED! SHOCKED I TELL YOU!"

J2: Stupid b**** word.  Looking forward to it going back to TABLE!

J1:  Ah, but then you get the other sort-sometimes more trouble... table, fable, sable, cable, label.  FAIL!

Me: Where are your squares J?

J2: I didn't post them because I couldn't think of a valid answer so I cheated and googled it.

Me: I knew Ennui as it is in a song in one of my favourite childhood movies, The Slipper and the Rose!

J2: It wasn't in the Argos catalogue. [Sad face]

The whole thing was utterly hilarious!!!!

3.  Happy thing no.3 leads from that.... yesterday, I GOT WORDLE IN 1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Never thought that day would happen! To be fair, glancing at my MiL's squares did help me to make my first choice of word. Never did I expect it to be right though!!!!

4.  I left my waterbottle at my Gamelan rehearsal on Thursday. This is a lovely 750ml stainless steel bottle that I won in an Insta competition a few years ago. I really am fond of it and have taken good care of it. They cost £20 new. I was so sad as I'd left it on the floor in a seating area outside the Gamelan room and it was likely that a) it would just get chucked away or b) someone would pinch it. I realised as I was on the way home so I speculatively emailed the university, guessing a generic email address and enquired if someone was able to look for it and put it in the gamelan room, not really expecting a response  to be positive.  I received the following last night after school:

Hi K,,

Sadly I don’t have a key to access the Gamelan room, but if you look to the left directly below the tap in point you’ll see it tucked away there.

Best wishes,

David

Thank you to whoever David is!!! I will hopefully find it next Thursday!

5.  Gamelan:  Ah, it has been a delight going back to it these past 2 weeks.  We have been learning a new piece called Tabuh Aras Arum (Fragrant Forest) from a wonderful teacher called Pak Dewa who is here with his lovely wife and daughter for a few months.  His style of teaching is really helpful and his pace is great.  It has been super satisfying to learn a new piece. It's not too hard but it is interesting and I was able to to do some 'working out' of the Sangsi part (everyone learns Polos first- this is the ON BEAT part... Sangsi then slots in between this) which was satisfying. It is from an older type of Gamelan called Semar Pegulingan which I LOVE and so has taken me back to my time in Bali when I learnt this.  This week, we revised it (I forgot most of it but then got it!) and then revised a dance piece called Margapati which I THINK I had learnt about 17 years ago but I'm not sure. It was so satisying to revise it and again, I was able to work out the sangsi and remember it!

6.  My Peri cosplay:

This week, I wore this outfit for TARDIS Tuesday and in my Insta post ,I had mentioned the Actress, Nicola Bryant in my post as I had gained the idea of this adaptation of the cosplay from her.  To my utter delight, she came and looked at my post and left me a comment!!!! I couldn't believe it! It was so nice of her!

7.  Last Sunday, I attempted to make a pea hummus from the Anna Jones recipe book.  It uses peas, mint, basil, olive oil, lemon zest and lemon juice.  I had 105g of fresh peas (I think frozen are better now) and a small avocado- this made it up to 205g- the recipe called for 300g. I didn't have any Basil but I did have mint. I used all the the other ingredient plus poppy seeds.  Rather than faff with the blender, I tried the stick blender... Anna mentions you can use a handblender...are these the same thing??? It went everywhere so I then attempted to mash it with a potato masher and then a pestle and mortar.  It wasn't really working so in the, I had this pea, avocadoey stodge which I put in a box with a large quantity of grated carrot.  It has been a lovely fresh-tasting ingredient to eat with either bread or left over Naan this week for lunch...even if I have had some funny looks!

8. I cover Teacher PPA in tandem with S, our sports coach.  We've got to know each other better this year.  We are very different and didn't really have so much to do with each other in the past but we've been getting on well this year. He's a complete joker.  Yesterday, he mentioned how hot it was and I said, "You need to have a bucket of water chucked over you!" and he laughed and said, "Yes, maybe I'll turn the hose on later.  Later on, I was filling my temporary 1litre plastic water bottle (a reusable, I hasten to add...) and I remembered out conversation.  I knew he'd be tidying the sports room so I called to him.. he came into the playground towards me and as he came towards me, I lobbed the entire bottle of water at him!  He was stunned for about 2 seconds as I instantly ran away and then I heard him laughing raucously, the entire way I ran across the playground.  Haven't seen him since but I know it will have made him laugh a lot!

9.  In Choir, I have been teaching them, Me ol Bamboo from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for a festival we are taking part in and they practised the routine I've taught them and it's starting to look really good!

10. In drumming club, I have 3  children this term who have a SEND statement (special need) and who usually all have 1:1 TAs.  It's really lovely having them in it and seeing them doing really well. They don't always join my clubs and it's nice that all 3 of them are there and able to do well without any additional support.

11.  It was my Year 1 final Spring lesson this week and it's one of those 'let's choose an instrument' and compose a class piece lessons which can be really chaotic- I've finally cracked how to teach this really well without it being stressful!  Success!

12.  I may be getting actually be getting my music room back in September if the builder complete the work on time and in addition, my Headteacher may be getting me an interactive whiteboard for it!

13.  I've been really enjoying the Kate Shackleton books by Frances Brodie. They've been on my shelves for ages but I am working my way through them. Death of an Avid reader, which I finished last night, is the best book so far!

14. I ordered a limited edition Hungry Caterpillar necklace (inspired by Eric Carle's famous book). It came on Wednesday and I AM IN LOVE!!!!

15. It was my Gamelan friend D's birthday on Wednesday. She paints her nails with Nail art and posts them every few days and she posted that she had painted them with Ladybirds just because she loves them. I was seeing her the next day for Gamelan and I realised that I had a tiny pair of Ladybird studs in my present stash so I thought I'd surprise her with them! When she saw them, she was so excited and surprised! It made made really happy!

16. I  will be seeing my family today for my sister and Dad's birthday!

Is there any particular thing making you happy this week?

Be thankful for what you have.

  The sermon at church last week ended with giving thanks for what you actually have. I think noting any tiny bit of joy, be it something that made you laugh, something you ate that was tasty, something you found comfortable as well as the gratitude for all you have, own and have, is really important.  Others may think a happy life is only about having the big things and yes, gratitude for these is super important, but actively thinking of those things that helped or made your life easier in any way is a good way of helping make a time which is difficult a bit better. It might not make a huge difficult situation any easier but it still helps in its own little way. I also love recording little moments and incidents that made me happy.

1.  I joined my inlaw's 'Wordle Nerdles' whatsapp group when on holiday in France. It's fun having a little group and doing that challenge with them each day. They are really good at it. I am ok but sometimes take more guesses than them.  Today, My MiL got the word in 5, then BiL got it in 4, then SiL got it in 3.  They said I should try to get it in 2 as the last player to go.  With a very lucky 1st guess, I did INDEED get it in 2 guesses!!! This made me feel happy!

2. I had to go cover 1st flute at my local  orchestra today as my friend, who plays 1st, was ill. I was a bit grouchy about going because I had had a busy day yesterday and really wanted to be at home (particularly as I had work to do). CBC was even grouchier about going and HE is doing the concert (I am not). My old singing teacher from childhood plays 1st oboe and we were just really silly together and had a really fun time being generally naughty and chatty together (but not loud enough to disturb the rehearsal) and it was great fun!

3. Yesterday's concert with Kensington Chamber orchestra went really well in the end. The rehearsals had been a bit hardgoing (with different conductor) but the concert went really successfully and I felt really well-rehearsed on my part and felt I, and the orchestra, did a good job.

4. My MiL (CBC's Mum) came on the train from Northumberland to watch our concert. It was so lovely to have her in the audience. She's a musician so it's really nice to have her opinion on the concerts.

5. Some difficult classes were not SO difficult as they could have been on Thursday last week.

6. Year 6's were sweet in their music lesson on Friday.

7. I enjoyed having a slight lie-in yesterday morning and today.

8.  Really enjoyed rereading a good book I read in 2020!

9. Still getting ripe tomatoes from the garden

10.  Since CBC changed my Brompton's flat inner tube (and we have given her a clean), my Brompton has been really lovely to ride again.

11. Had a really lovely 1st session with my new drumming club on Monday. I remembered a game I learnt when working at the Royal Academy of music and I tried it with the kids which worked out really fun.

12.  With exception of 1 child, most of my Year 3-4 choir children tried very hard in our 2nd session on Tuesday including 2 who I thought were going to be difficult.

13. Year 5-6 choir working well so far and after a lot of prompting and messages, I've managed to get it up to 25 children. I'm using a different space this year as the upstairs corridor (where the piano is) has so much extra furniture in it to move (and we know I'm rather tired of moving things...) I really would like the piano but a keyboard will have to do.

14. I actually remembered to sort TARDIS Tuesday a bit earlier!

15. I have a work colleague who makes dried flower arrangements and I've been taking her prunings from the garden and she's really liked them!

And in addition to all those little trivial things, I am grateful for my family, food, home and that my cold is going away.

What are you grateful for?

xxx 

Thankfulness

Hi there,

I didn't manage to post yesterday because the computer I was using was not interested in loading the internet properly yesterday so I gave up.

The sermon at the church I visited yesterday spoke to me in various ways but the main one was a reminder to give thanks in all circumstances, for all things, be they big or small. My joy of being thankful for things is long documented on this blog but I will hold to it again and again.  I absolutely think that making a point of identifying the things that I am thankful for is super important and as well as giving one a little perspective on things, it really does make you feel better.  It's an important part of prayer, thankfulness and it's one aspect that anyone should be able to try and do!

So, in the interests of that, here are some things I am thankful for:

1.  I had a really lovely weekend.  I had no fixed plans but this was a good thing.

2. CBC and I enjoyed a 5 mile round walk from near Leigh/Chalkwell to Southend and back. It was cold but sunny.  We were glad to have the time to do this.

3.  We went out for a Thai meal on Friday night. It was delicious but we couldn't eat it all so luckily, I had brought containers so we boxed up our remainders and that was our Saturday night dinner.  I love Thai food so much! I had Tofu for a change instead of Prawns in my Green curry and it was so scrumptious! Also really enjoyed the Egg-battered aubergine!

4.  I enjoyed the 2.2mile cycle ride to the church I have been to for the past 2 weeks. Admittedly, I was a sweating wreck by the time I got there, but it was still good to have done it. It was much nicer on the downhill way home! Much better that way round!

5.  I stopped to pick nettles in the church yard on the way home and made Nettle soup when I got home.  CBC and I enjoyed a portion for a late Sunday lunch (with sourdough) and then I carefully took 3 portions in my pannier for lunches at school this week. The nettles were young and tender looking and I am gleeful at how tasty, yet healthy it is! CBC was also grateful for it after his 82 mile cycle ride! I'm happy to have lunch ready for 3 days!

6.  Managed to stock up on lots of lovely vegetables from the Greengrocer on Saturday in Leigh- so many options PLASTIC FREE!

7.  The privileges we have.  CBC and I were able to eat a healthy lunch out on Saturday at Wild Health.  All vegan, lots of fresh, healthy ingredients.  Not everyone can afford to do this.  We are fortunate.

8.  The majority of children today in year 3,4 were willing to work hard at what we were doing. Yes, there were a few limited individuals who weren't (and I am sad about them) and they make me a bit blue, but the major part, they TRY!  The ones that didn't, are quite hard to crack but I suppose there's always another week, even if they depress me.  Also, very dominant and domineering (clever and works but does constantly demand your attention negatively and leads others astray, which detracts from giving your attention to those who need it) child was away today in one class and it was therefore a really peaceful and personable class today.  I think the children really enjoyed the change in atmosphere afforded by the freedom from the dominance temporarily.

9.It's only 2 weeks till the Easter holidays! So grateful to have a holiday always on the horizon!

10. Picked some Perpetual spinach and onion scapes in the garden this weekend- my Perpetual spinach is FINALLY growing! Hope the wee beasties stay away from it!

11. Staff at school are getting used to the official 'tea bag caddy' and are directing others to use it- it may be a small thing but at least 400 teabags have been saved from landfill and instead have been ripped open and composted since January.

12.  I actually had fun playing my viola last week at the local orchestra I attended.  Had great fun with the desk partner I was with. She's really good and the funny thing was, there were only 2 of us, compared to 6 1st violins 8 2nd violins and 6 cellos. We got told off for playing too loudly! TWO of us compared to the others! We had a hilarious moment where we discovered that the viola part had TWO extra bars at the end of the first movement of the Tschaikovsky we were playing- it's a good thing we realised now as otherwise, we might have made a very loud mistake at the end! Must be the ultimate viola joke!

13.  Daffodil bulbs I planted in my 40th birthday planter in my front garden have started to flower!

14.  Having had a really chilled Sunday, I am SO grateful for the calmness of where I live, my comfortable and spacious home and the solitude of a quiet afternoon.

I challenge you to make a gratitude list for all the things you are grateful for this week on your blog! You feel super positive once you have done it!

x

New Year recap on a joyful holiday!

 Happy New Year to you, friends near and far!

I hope that your Christmas holiday was restful, Covid-free, safe, healthy and happy.

I have enjoyed my holiday very much (except for CBC having to stop at Wetherby and his brother having to take over the driving due to feeling unwell and then 2 days later, the midnight drive to A&E at 12.30am for CBC who was feeling very unwell with the same chest/heart/digestive pains. Since I was not allowed in with him, I had a jolly time sitting in the freezing car for the next 6 hours until he was released and returning home for 55 minutes sleep before a trip to another place in Essex to play with Essex Chamber Orchestra for the entire day.  CBC's trip was inconclusive but please keep in prayer if you are in the habit of prayer that he can find out what is causing the issues and that it is nothing untoward).  With those exceptions, we have had a wonderful holiday

Some highlights from my holiday:

• Seeing the new West Side Story at the Forum Cinema in Hexham.  I went with CBC, his mother and brother.  Forum is a wonderful independent cinema and we had the most excellent seats for distancing from other people as the seats we were in were separate from others.  The film was excellent and I really recommend it though I shed MANY tears!
• New Year's eve at my Dad's house.  We had a veritable feast and had a really jolly, affable and fun time!
• The success of my 'escape room' challenge I created at my Dad's house.  I created 10 challenges around the house which were hidden in locations and had to be located in numerical order.  They included secret codes, musical codes, morse codes, science challenges, riddles and all sorts and the 4 participants in the challenged loved it and all got involved.
• Going to spend an hour with my step grandparents (stepmum's parents).  I went in to visit them and had a really lovely hour talking to my Stepgrandad.  He seemed really genuinely pleased to chat and see me and asked Dad to tell me how much he enjoyed my company the next day. I've always loved them but somehow now, they seem more precious.
• A lovely, sunny walk on New Year's Day.
• Getting to spend a little bit of time with my old church friends in Hexham when they returned from holidays.
• Having great fun with CBC and his brother doing Hexham's 'Project Escape' 'Escape the Cursed Attic' challenge! We were apparently the fastest team by far in the first room, unfortunately it all went a little wrong in the second room and we were 4 minutes over but the challenges were brilliant and imaginative!
• Getting to dispose of all the crisp packets from school celebrations to Matthias Winter in Hexham who collect crisp packets to send to Terracycle to turn into other things.  I wasn't expecting to visit Hexham this Christmas so it was a bonus.
• Everyone seemed to really like their Christmas presents and a lot of these were not requested things. CBC liked his cycling gear.
• Having fun putting together a photobook from our Cornwall trip as a present for Dad (it hasn't arrived yet). I bought him a photoshoot from Lyra and Moth as his 70th birthday present when we were down there as it seemed too good an opportunity to miss to be in Cornwall and get to book the lovely Sarah for some photos! It was nice looking back on the photos.
• Getting to spend some time with my Mum and Sis before Christmas.
• Finally getting to play 1st flute for Tschaikovsky's Nutcracker ballet for Essex Chamber Orchestra yesterday. I have long wanted to play that part. AND I got to have my lovely 2nd flautist from my regular orchestra in London to come along and play as well!
• Playing in my friend Lara's church carol service and getting to spend time with her and her husband and CBC in their lovely cottage.  So lovely to have friends and be able to spend time with them!
• Singing Christmas carols with CBC, his mum and brother in 4 part harmony on Christmas day eve.  So nice to be able to do this and have everyone willing and happy to participate and not be moaned at my less musical relatives!
• A brisk Boxing Day walk in Northumbrian countryside somewhere near Allendale/Whitfield/Long Town with a hilarious moment where sheep followed CBC and his brother like the Pied Piper of Hamelin and the rats!
• Finding a beautiful teal velvet bolero jacket in the charity shop in Hexham!
• Managing to put away nearly all my Christmas presents easily and not having the usual, "WHERE am I going to put this?" dilemma!
• A delightful catch up with my friend M in town.  We walked a few miles along the seafront and ate lunch in my favourite indy cafe.
• Finding 3 pairs of excellent brand new walking trousers in Barnardo's charity shop (one for CBC)- for £3 a piece! My two fit perfectly and I finally have more than one pair for those walking holidays where I get mud all over my one pair on the first day!
• A cosy and fun evening at CBC's old work colleague's country cottage (my friends now too!) 
• Lie ins and nights where I actually didn't wake up hideously early!
• Loads of dreams this holiday! I feel like I haven't dreamt for ages (apart from one or two nightmares) 
• A relaxed, fun time with my inlaws in Northumberland.
• Not catching Covid!

There's loads more I could say but, as I return to school tomorrow, I can say that I had some lovely times.

Happy things last week

 A few lovely things from the past week or so. I've felt really quite sad and gloomy at times this past week but there have been many bright times despite this.

1.  Tuesday, whilst waiting by the school office with my remaining choir members who parents were tardy, all of a sudden, I heard my name called from the gate.  It was a past pupil of mine who is now 17 and in year 12.  He is one my most favourite pupils of all time so I ran down to the gate for a catch up. I love the fact that he was there with his cool girlfriend, aged 17 and chose to call out my name when he saw me some 12 metres away by the office.We had a quick catch up and I said to him, "I will never forget you." to which he replied, "And I will never forget you Miss.". I was SO happy to see him and the fact he said that, was so lovely. 

2.  I received a message from the mother of a child. I think I wrote about how he had become transfixed by the Bagpipes last December and said he wanted to learn them.  I told his mum at the time and she had been interested.  Fast forward to July this year and she was late one day and I was standing with him. When she arrived, I asked her if she had thought about signing him up for music lessons.  She said yes, but had been disorganised and forgotten about it.  When we asked him what he was interested in, he said, "Bagpipes" which wasn't an option so I suggested the oboe as a good starting point.  They signed up and he'd been playing the oboe since the half term holiday. She messaged me on Wednesday to say that he absolutely LOVES the oboe and practises every day and wants to show her his notes and she is really proud of his dedication. That message meant so much to me because that thing happened because of my lessons.  Giving him access to hearing and seeing something led to that! It was a great feeling.

3.  The messages keep coming over the past  3 weeks where parents ask if it is too late for their child to join choir.  It's really exciting that they want to join and that their parents want them to!

4.  Happy Year 4's.  It was totally worth the hideous amount of time it took to locate and move 25 'exotic' instruments, including Harmoniums, mbiras, Angklungs, violins, mandolins, timpani, metallophones, xylophones, guitars, harps, hand bells and all sorts for my 1 off lesson allowing them experience of accompanying songs with different drone instruments.  Everyone was hugely positive and excited by it.  It is usually time consuming setting up that lesson in my own music room but as you can imagine, finding and doing that in a different building was a nightmare...but worth it!

5. Meeting my lovely blog friend Ang! Still smiling!

6.  A very productive Gamelan rehearsal.  I've been struggling in gamelan for the past 2 week as I'd missed so many sessions and didn't know my part and no one who plays my part was there last week so this time, I spent an hour or so watching videos of our teacher in Bali playing the piece and I transcribed my part. What a difference at the rehearsal- I knew it and when I got stuck, I could look down at my notebook! It was especially crucial as the person who knows the part was away again. Another fun part was that we played Baris,  piece I know very well and I had great fun playing the Reyong which I haven't touched for years! Also, I went secretly dressed as Patrick McGoohan from the Prisoner and it was funny!

7.  Had a lovely relaxing Saturday with CBC. We went to an Eco-fair and had a mooch around the shops. I found a lovely 3/4 length Autograph M&S cashmere cardigan in the charity shop for £5 which was very exciting!

8.  Had a hysterical time with a child tonight after choir. His mum was late picking up and he was talking about being a Russian spy and suddenly noticed some teachers in a meeting in the classrooms by the office. I had the 'bright idea' of us being spies and launched into 'Mission Impossible' whilst we cavorted over to the window- a hilarious spell of us acting like total loons (and excellent acting skills!) as we acted like comical spies working our way along all the windows.  We were laughing so much by the time we finished.

9.  Happy time with my Year 5-6 choir tonight.  Fun rehearsal and they are doing really well with my Ring out the Bells song from a few years ago.

10. Yay, after my aforementioned Year 4 lesson on Friday where I allowed the children to play the violin, there are 3 new signups for the violin in school! All very capable children!

11. We had the most hilarious- time in the staff room at lunchtime last week where someone chucked a piece of balled up foil at another colleague.  We then ended up having an en masse game of Pigeon hole ball where everyone tried to get the ball of foil into someone's pigeonhole. The deal then was that you had to secretly buy a tiny present for the person whose pigeonhole the ball went into.  It was so much fun. We had such a wonderful time, we laughed so much and there was such a sense of comradery  

12. Got some great books for the School library in the charity shops on the past few Saturdays very reasonably. I've read a few to vet them and they were really good!

13.  Nice morning hugs with CBC this morning. He texted to me to say Thank you for warm, morning hugs which was lovely as I was thinking the same. 

14.  Had another fun time with the City of London Symphonic Winds on Sunday afternoon. I was really grateful to join them again!

15. My Year 3 recorders are starting to make progress and today, lots of the children tried to help others put their fingers in the right place the way I usually do when I was unable to get to them (tight table formations!)  Other two classes weren't too bad on Monday either.

16.  Lovely Selective-mute boy who began speaking to me and singing in class at the end of last year (after me teaching him for 1.5 years without either of those things...doesn't really speak to any other adults) , today, told me what he was drawing in our music lesson and when I delightedly repeated what he said, he gave me the most beautiful smile.  It makes me happy that he trusts me enough to speak to me!

17.  Kind colleague who I was talking to about how anxious I felt yesterday was really sweet to me. I like her a lot. She's definitely my kind of person and like me, doesn't have class (but is only part time) and is also really fed up by not having a proper working space with the building situation. Empathy is important.

18.  Every child in Year 2 can play London's Burning on their glockenspiels!  One bright shining thing was that a little autistic boy who doesn't really join in much in music and can't communicate by speech (unless prompted), learnt to play it totally by himself correctly without any help! I was so delighted and glad for him. His face shone when I told him how impressed I was.

19.  In year 5, we were learning how to improvise and create interesting drum rhythms and the children seemed to have lots of fun doing that and actually, some of the children who have struggled with the work this term, did a really good job. Nice to see them shine!

20.  I bought a tray of mince reduced for Quick sale in the CO-OP in July and I got it out of the freezer on Monday as I wanted to clear the freezer.  When I was feeling miserable on Tuesday, it was the best thing to know I could come home and make Spaghetti bolognaise which I never eat as CBC doesn't eat meat (usually....occasionally).  Very much enjoyed it.

21.  Pickled Onion Monster Munch. Enough said.

I have a good life in so many ways but that doesn't stop me from getting sad and worried about things.  Finding all the happy things always helps!

Half term joy - 10 things to be thankful for.

 It's the end of half term holiday and I am so thankful to have had this time off.  I will never take school holidays for granted.   It is a privilege to be able to have these regular holidays though much needed!

I thought I'd share a few things I am grateful for:

1.  That we have CBC's mum in Northumberland to visit and stay with. She is always kind, hospitable and gracious to let us stay.  It was really nice to spend time with her and I was grateful to be able to talk with her.

2.  That I got to spend a couple of hours with my friends who live in Hexham- dear friends from my old church- our previous vicar and his wife who I love very much and their daughter who lives there also.  It was so nice to spend time with both and they are kind people who I can just spend time and talk like we've not been apart from each other. No awkward silences, we can spend time with each other so happily. I am also grateful that they let me bring compost materials down the hill from CBC's Mum's house to theirs.  My Mother in Law is highly embarrassed by my doing this and thinks it is bizarre but they really don't mind and they are kind and honest and accept me for who I am and know I want to do what I can to avoid waste.

3.  Although the weather was windy and rainy, I did manage to have one lovely walk with CBC in the Swallowship woods- so grateful to behold the natural beauty of Northumberland.

4.  I was grateful for lots of delicious meals in and out.  So grateful not to have to do loads of cooking!

5.  Grateful that we managed to get to Hexham in one piece despite discovering we had a nail in our tyre- it was a slow puncture and we didn't have any issue on the way.

6.  Was lovely to be able to have some time at home to do some tidying and cleaning though the job is never complete!

7.  I am so grateful for sleep and rest.  Much needed and much appreciated.  Thankful for warm duvets and pajamas and cosy crocheted blankets.  Very grateful for that extra hour in bed today.

8.  Grateful for those who work to put together the church services on Zoom.  Not made it to church in real life for a while for various reasons but so glad I can still join in with worship.

9. So grateful I didn't have to cope with trick or treaters.  We got two sets coming round who CBC saw. I am unabashedly bah humbug about the whole day, for a variety of reasons, and refuse to engage with it.  So grateful that for some reason, despite there being loads of them around, they don't seem to come to our house.

10. So grateful for the imaginative books I got to read this holiday and to be able to buy a few new ones in Northumberland.

What are you thankful for?

x