Here we are, just going to bed, when he says "Have you done today's blogpost?"
"Oh poo", I reply, because I haven't.
What a wonderful thing my yogabook is! And how wonderful to have a kind husband who goes downstairs and fetches it up to me so that I can get it done in time!
The only problem now is to think of something interesting to write about. I'd hate to waste his kindness.
Today has been a day of many small pleasures. I suspect most days are like this, if I managed to remember the the little happinesses as they occur.
Like,
An adult piano pupil who accomplished more in one week than I expected her to achieve in a month. Another adult pupil who surprised by what she was able to do in the lesson, and found herself reconsidering her abilities.
Morning mist turning into a clear, crisp, sunny autumn day.
The excitement of the year three schoolchildren at seeing their teachers dressed as Romans, Egyptian mummies and cavemen (and women) to introduce a history project.
Toast and plum jam.
The smell of peppermint.
A sprawling array of Christmas Cactus flowers on the kitchen windowsill (the photograph will have to wait until tomorrow).
Today has been ordinary, but in a good way. Plain, but not dull or boring.
Monday, 6 November 2017
Sunday, 5 November 2017
Sunday 5th November - Fireworks
The fireworks have been going off all over the place for the last week or so. Of course Today is The Day and pretty much as soon as it was six o'clock the bangs and flashes and crackles and pops started up again.
I don't mind the fireworks - our cats don't seem to be worried by them - but these days I have no inclination to go and watch - Brr....
I remember the displays in Falmouth. We used to see the ones that were part of the Regatta week, so in mid summer rather than Winter. The fireworks were set off from a barge moored in the middle of the Carrick Roads, so there were all the spectacular reflections on the water as well as echoes from the hills around. We would gather in the bay window of the upstairs sitting room, and watch in warmth and comfort. One year the local radio station broadcast a musical accompaniment to the fireworks, which we recorded on cassette and listened to for years afterwards.
The other memorable fireworks night was here; I didn't go and watch the fireworks stayed at home, while the rest of the family walked into town for the fun and fireworks. They were in for a surprise when they came home - turning the corner into our road the first thing they saw was a fire engine, and the second thing was that it was parked outside our house!
This is what had happened;
When I switched on the washing machine, the drum had filled up with smoke instead of water. I managed to reach over and switch off the electricity, and then dialled 999. Very soon the firemen arrived and disconnected the still-smoking machine. They heaved it out of the tight corner in the kitchen, and lifted it out into the garden. Three firemen in all their gear certainly entirely filled the room!
Apart from the loss of the washing machine and all the clothes inside (kippered is the word) there was no other damage, and the firemen were just packing up as the children returned.
Ah, yes, memories.....
I don't mind the fireworks - our cats don't seem to be worried by them - but these days I have no inclination to go and watch - Brr....
I remember the displays in Falmouth. We used to see the ones that were part of the Regatta week, so in mid summer rather than Winter. The fireworks were set off from a barge moored in the middle of the Carrick Roads, so there were all the spectacular reflections on the water as well as echoes from the hills around. We would gather in the bay window of the upstairs sitting room, and watch in warmth and comfort. One year the local radio station broadcast a musical accompaniment to the fireworks, which we recorded on cassette and listened to for years afterwards.
The other memorable fireworks night was here; I didn't go and watch the fireworks stayed at home, while the rest of the family walked into town for the fun and fireworks. They were in for a surprise when they came home - turning the corner into our road the first thing they saw was a fire engine, and the second thing was that it was parked outside our house!
This is what had happened;
When I switched on the washing machine, the drum had filled up with smoke instead of water. I managed to reach over and switch off the electricity, and then dialled 999. Very soon the firemen arrived and disconnected the still-smoking machine. They heaved it out of the tight corner in the kitchen, and lifted it out into the garden. Three firemen in all their gear certainly entirely filled the room!
Apart from the loss of the washing machine and all the clothes inside (kippered is the word) there was no other damage, and the firemen were just packing up as the children returned.
Ah, yes, memories.....
Saturday, 4 November 2017
Saturday 4th November - What?
What?
We were both awake at the hideous time of 3 am this morning!
I suspect someone setting off on an early shift, and their car headlights sweeping across our window, in spite of the blackout lining on our curtains.
After a while we tried putting the radio on for a while. A man's voice was speaking, something like this
"... yes, it was quite an experience. I hadn't expected it to be quite like that, and it took a while for me to feel settled in, you know, comfortable, in the circumstances, but I really felt that it was a valuable time and the project was really meaning full. All sorts of good things came of it in the end, although at first it didn't seem at all likely that anything would, well, you know, result, but eventually everyone....."
and so on, for several minutes.
What on earth? Instead of drifting off to sleep, we both became more incredulous, and fascinated, that someone could speak for this long without us becoming any the wiser regarding the subject matter.
"Thank you for that," said someone else; she appeared to know what this man was talking about. As the programme continued, we discovered it was all about cricket ("Stumped", BBC World Service) just before we fell asleep again. Nothing like a whole programme of cricket to induce golden slumbers.
We were both awake at the hideous time of 3 am this morning!
I suspect someone setting off on an early shift, and their car headlights sweeping across our window, in spite of the blackout lining on our curtains.
After a while we tried putting the radio on for a while. A man's voice was speaking, something like this
"... yes, it was quite an experience. I hadn't expected it to be quite like that, and it took a while for me to feel settled in, you know, comfortable, in the circumstances, but I really felt that it was a valuable time and the project was really meaning full. All sorts of good things came of it in the end, although at first it didn't seem at all likely that anything would, well, you know, result, but eventually everyone....."
and so on, for several minutes.
What on earth? Instead of drifting off to sleep, we both became more incredulous, and fascinated, that someone could speak for this long without us becoming any the wiser regarding the subject matter.
"Thank you for that," said someone else; she appeared to know what this man was talking about. As the programme continued, we discovered it was all about cricket ("Stumped", BBC World Service) just before we fell asleep again. Nothing like a whole programme of cricket to induce golden slumbers.
Friday, 3 November 2017
Friday 3rd November - Out in the town
I had a gap between teaching 30 children to play the recorder in the morning (noisy), and teaching 15 children to play the guitar in the afternoon (should have been 30, but half the children were away on a trip, so less noisy than expected).
So I went into the town to do some errands. First off was paying in a load of cheques. This did not go so well. I fed them into the machine, which made mechanical noises of an unproductive nature for a while and then spat half of them out. "Please reinsert your cheques". I did so, and it regurgitated three of these. Without further interaction, the machine returned to the opening screen ready for the next customer.
Hey! What about my card? Where are my cheques?
I managed to get a cashier to come over, who went and fetched keys, and then a colleague to lock the front door of the bank. It seems that this is a necessary precaution whenever they open up the cheque-and-money-eating machine, in order to prevent anyone rushing in and grabbing all the money from the machine's innards...
Eventually she was able to give me my card. Then she retrieved the cheques and handed them over, each with little oily tooth-marks along one edge. "Would you like to try again?" Not likely, thought I, and posted them into a sort of letterbox to be dealt with later by a real human.
We (because He was by my side) had lunch, and then filled in time before the guitar lesson mooching around.
In Waterstones I saw this;
which might wean me off too much Freecell
and these,
but one can have too many desk calendars perhaps?
I thought both these cartoons by MATT on the cover of his book were entertaining. The second one, under the sticker, shows The Three Bears sorrowfully agreeing "This Brexit is too hard, and this Brexit is too soft," but short of peeling off the sticker it wasn't possible to discover if there is a Brexit that is just right.
I'm not a fan of cartoon books, as they remind me of visiting the dentist as a child. He used to have a great stack of GILES cartoon books on the table in the waiting room. I always remember Grandma.
Hey! She's got a statue! In Ipswich!
There's even a Giles website! With cartoons! Those little twins are off again - they were always worth watching in the pictures.
Finally, I stopped to take a picture of this piano which has appeared outside the top floor exit of Wilkinsons. I want to use it in a post for www.themusicjungle.co.uk, my music teaching blog.
As we walked away a determined young girl (why wasn't she in school?) made a beeline for it, and started picking out the tune of a pop song. Isn't that exactly why the piano is there?
So I went into the town to do some errands. First off was paying in a load of cheques. This did not go so well. I fed them into the machine, which made mechanical noises of an unproductive nature for a while and then spat half of them out. "Please reinsert your cheques". I did so, and it regurgitated three of these. Without further interaction, the machine returned to the opening screen ready for the next customer.
Hey! What about my card? Where are my cheques?
I managed to get a cashier to come over, who went and fetched keys, and then a colleague to lock the front door of the bank. It seems that this is a necessary precaution whenever they open up the cheque-and-money-eating machine, in order to prevent anyone rushing in and grabbing all the money from the machine's innards...
Eventually she was able to give me my card. Then she retrieved the cheques and handed them over, each with little oily tooth-marks along one edge. "Would you like to try again?" Not likely, thought I, and posted them into a sort of letterbox to be dealt with later by a real human.
We (because He was by my side) had lunch, and then filled in time before the guitar lesson mooching around.
In Waterstones I saw this;
which might wean me off too much Freecell
and these,
but one can have too many desk calendars perhaps?
I thought both these cartoons by MATT on the cover of his book were entertaining. The second one, under the sticker, shows The Three Bears sorrowfully agreeing "This Brexit is too hard, and this Brexit is too soft," but short of peeling off the sticker it wasn't possible to discover if there is a Brexit that is just right.
I'm not a fan of cartoon books, as they remind me of visiting the dentist as a child. He used to have a great stack of GILES cartoon books on the table in the waiting room. I always remember Grandma.
Hey! She's got a statue! In Ipswich!
 |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/suffolk/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_9024000/9024384.stm
|
 |
| http://www.gilescartoons.co.uk/cartoon.asp?cartoon=336 |
Finally, I stopped to take a picture of this piano which has appeared outside the top floor exit of Wilkinsons. I want to use it in a post for www.themusicjungle.co.uk, my music teaching blog.
As we walked away a determined young girl (why wasn't she in school?) made a beeline for it, and started picking out the tune of a pop song. Isn't that exactly why the piano is there?
Thursday, 2 November 2017
Thursday 2nd November - The Flower
And it has just about opened! I've cropped the picture, as it rather looks as though the flower is reaching for the kitchen knives which is a bit alarming. Much as I love the Christmas Cactus flowers, they do look a little triffid-like.
The colder weather has suddenly arrived. I now have to remember to leave my car in gear, with the handbrake off, in case there is a proper frost overnight. Bitter experience has taught me not to take the risk of the handbrake freezing - it causes too much hassle when I can't drive it to work in the mornings.
I'm nearly through the first week back;
So far I have taught seven class music lessons, one singing assembly, one school choir, and twenty-nine piano lessons. My working week doesn't finish until Saturday lunch time, so just four class lessons, one drumming workshop and five piano lessons to go until then.
I've done quite well at avoiding staff-room biscuits too, this week. I can't say the same about puddings after evening meals though. Oh well. Tomorrow is another day...
The colder weather has suddenly arrived. I now have to remember to leave my car in gear, with the handbrake off, in case there is a proper frost overnight. Bitter experience has taught me not to take the risk of the handbrake freezing - it causes too much hassle when I can't drive it to work in the mornings.
I'm nearly through the first week back;
So far I have taught seven class music lessons, one singing assembly, one school choir, and twenty-nine piano lessons. My working week doesn't finish until Saturday lunch time, so just four class lessons, one drumming workshop and five piano lessons to go until then.
I've done quite well at avoiding staff-room biscuits too, this week. I can't say the same about puddings after evening meals though. Oh well. Tomorrow is another day...
Wednesday, 1 November 2017
Wednesday 1 st Nov - NaBloProMo
And the challenge begins; to put up a post every day in November!
November is beginning very well - games night with the offspring. Not sure what games we might play but that's not really the point - it is a convivial way of spending an amusing evening together.
Some time ago, can't remember when exactly, I had a go at propagating new Christmas Cacti from my original plant. This year I now have four, and they are all coming into flower. The ones in the kitchen are furthest along;
These are two of the newest little plantlets. I reckon the bud on the left will be in flower tomorrow. I can see why people get hooked on gardening - seeing new plants grow is very satisfying.
A bit like teaching. I've had a few "moments" this week (already!) - for example - one student understood an important part of piano technique, which has completely transformed her playing. Another has such enthusiasm for the piece she is learning that she has gone ahead and finished it of her own accord. That's especially pleasing in both cases, as they are playing pieces I learned at their age, and that my mother particularly loved and always asked me to play.
November is beginning very well - games night with the offspring. Not sure what games we might play but that's not really the point - it is a convivial way of spending an amusing evening together.
Some time ago, can't remember when exactly, I had a go at propagating new Christmas Cacti from my original plant. This year I now have four, and they are all coming into flower. The ones in the kitchen are furthest along;
These are two of the newest little plantlets. I reckon the bud on the left will be in flower tomorrow. I can see why people get hooked on gardening - seeing new plants grow is very satisfying.
A bit like teaching. I've had a few "moments" this week (already!) - for example - one student understood an important part of piano technique, which has completely transformed her playing. Another has such enthusiasm for the piece she is learning that she has gone ahead and finished it of her own accord. That's especially pleasing in both cases, as they are playing pieces I learned at their age, and that my mother particularly loved and always asked me to play.
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