I notice it cats in the plural!! How many??
Oh just be happy Cyrilla! We have cat beds, cat toys, scrathing posts - the lot. They prefer cardboard boxes, tree trunks, old cardigans, live (but not for long) mice and anything the dog wants but they think she shouldn't have.
Buy the trendy stuff to please yourself - you'll still love the cats to bits when they turn up their little whiskered noses at it. And then one day, just when you are thinking of throwing it all out, there they will be, using it to show you just how much they appreciate it - really!

This is absolutely true!! Enjoy them when they arrive x

My happies for yesterday (yes, plural!!): DH giving me a great big hug on the way out to band. Can't remember the last time that happened. Hoping this is the beginning of the end of all the stresses that have been going on

And a cracking band rehearsal with me solo violinning for alot of it. And the bandmaster was happy with me - I'm now in the concert next Friday....

Ah, you know cats so well, Aquarelle!!

I have two booked to collect next Tuesday...

Ha, sounds like our monster. On the sofa in our spare room, there are two pieces of paper that have been there since October 2010. She adopted them to sleep on, and now we can't take them away as she sleeps on them most nights at some point.
Our cat also looooooooves towels. She rarely used her basket, we were on the verge of throwing it out, but then I put an old towel in it as a 'top layer' and she moved in immediately. She sleeps there most evenings.
However, since the heating has gone on, in the evenings she has adopted a chair in the living room that is next to the radiator. I am pondering getting her a radiator bed, though I am sure she will just ignore it. Fortunately I have loads of gift vouchers that I won for the pet shop, so I won't be wasting my own money by getting one

Completing the BIG Telegraph Saturday Crossword with my Pa for the FIRST time! We can now officially claim we know KNOWLEDGE!!

Gosh we're clever

Modesty-Bag x

Both mr corenfa and I refer to the cat as "the monster"

Radiator beds are brilliant - mr corenfa's cat wasn't interested at first but once she figured it out, couldn't be dislodged.

This seems to have become the unofficial "cats" thread over the last few days (not that I am complaining)

Miaow !

Meeting my accompanist for Friday's concert. First time I've ever sung with a real professional accompanist. Amazing! Followed my every whim, no stress, even the dreaded Carceleras - which is a fiendish piano part was great.
So looking forward to the concert now!!

And all without recourse to google, I hear tell...

*is impressed*

Brandenburg concertos (concerti?) played by Boston Baroque

Having me barnet cut and coloured (I am NEVER going to go grey!).

Try not to get pregnant, then!

Yesterday really ... but my Mum was HAPPY yesterday afternoon

It was something the hospital did so it won't last but to see her smile and 'chatty' (in a dementia fashion - not making much sense ) was pure joy and it's lifted my spirits SO much And she certainly knew who we all were

Also she wanted to count her relatives on her fingers and was happy with her siblings and children but was outraged that she only had ONE husband and she wanted MORE - dementia can be incredibly amusing sometimes and I don't remember the last time she laughed so much


Wish it was always like this

katica - I can't WAIT for Cyrilla's response to THAT!!!!!!

ROFL (for various reasons.......)

Giggle-Bag x

Very strange , when we lived in Selsdon near your Dad I used to do that crossword regularly, I cant get anywhere near finishing it these days ! But I probably have far less time than I used to at weekends .

Aw, lottie, that sounds wonderful.

I remember a television programme years back, an elderly gentleman with dementia and his wife. She was helping him get dressed one morning, and asking him to name his relatives - "What's your daughter's name? What's your son's name? What's your son's wife's name?" and he got them all right. Then she said "What's my name?" and he said "Lemon"...and she just could not stop laughing

So pleased to hear this. Bag and I will never forget our not-very-nice grandad's 90th birthday party, when the rather softer and more amusing side of dementia took over..it was like Groundhog Day. He actually was much nicer with the dementia than without it...




I don't know what to say, really!!!!!!!!!

Other than




Ah! It must be the Selsdon Air that did it!!!

Clarinet, flute and piano all in one morning

It's sad but you wouldn't believe how true this is about my Mother too....

I'm happy because my clarinet has been fixed.

Hugs, lottie.

Our cantankerous Grandfather well and truly lost the plot but he could still play the piano. Mind you it was always the same tune..... ....but he didn't know that....

Bx

Making pumpkin pie with 2 of my little people after hubby carved lanterns. Currently watching the toothy grins (lanterns, not children) with a chilled glass of white. Lovely days xx

Oh, the wine was a present from my adult sax pupil who just got distinction at Grade 1 after 6 months of playing . Double smiles

That must be some comfort then. My mother used to be one of the nicest people I've ever met, and would never make demands on anyone, but dementia has made her so awkward and rude with her carers that it's hard to believe she's the same person. She's still very loving towards her family, which is something. But dementia certainly alters the personality.

I've heard it can 'flip' personalities!!! My Uncle had Alzheimers and had been the most dignified, intelligent gentleman and it turned him into a violent, paranoid shadow of his former self.

My Mother had an ugly personality - violent and cruel sometimes - and now she's like a kitten. (She was always very self-indulgent and that hasn't changed much although she will now admit guilt about the demands she makes on my Dad.)


Back on topic - my happy is my coffee Life is throwing some rubbish at me just now but my morning-coffee-half-hour is my little oasis of calm

All flights from Sydney have landed at Heathrow this morning, which means my mother is back in the country after two months away. I would have been down there to meet her, but the very earliest I could get there was 7am. The flights from Sydney land between 05.25 and 07.00, and in fact this morning the first one landed early at 05.06! Not knowing which plane she was actually on, it would be just my luck that she was on the first one, and I would go all the way down there and miss her.

So instead I have been round to give her cat breakfast, as I usually do, but also do all her computer updates, turn up the thermostat on her heating and put the hot water on. My uncle (her brother) came round yesterday and brought milk, bread, eggs, bacon. So all in all, she should have a nice snug home to come back to and not have to rush out immediately for person-food or cat-food! Which is just as well, I don't think her cat is going to let her leave the house again. Ever

I can tell you from experience that a 5 am landing at Heathrow after a long haul flight is not the most enjoyable of life's experiences. Being woken at 3.30 am for 'breakfast', and the queues of tired and bad tempered passengers trying to get through passport control doesn't make it feel any better,

I am sure your mother will be extremely grateful for your efforts, and will probably enjoy a good day's sleep.

SB

Hope it makes her chortle too!

I am currently at home recovering from an op that means I certainly won't have to worry about dying my hair for THAT reason... and I don't intend to give up dying it either, so I do get it. It'd have to fall out first...

My Dad's companion, when asked if her hair colour is natural (it looks it) responds "Yes, of course.... Natural colour that comes in a bottle!"

Hands recovered and looking like new, swelling subsided on face, allergic rash gone, leg almost fully healed!

So back to heavy duty practice, and a few trips to the gymn and the pool to recover all the strength and stamina I've lost over the last few weeks.

A serious illness doesn't half put other troubles into proper perspective.

Hoping to be doing a CertHE course in Music at the University of Sheffield starting in February. After speaking to the course leader he thnks I would beable to do the last two years of the BMus after the part time CertHE

And ... theres a second year module in piano accompaniment

CertHE year covers composition, performance and theory / history Soooooo excited now and due to starting in February I won't have ?9000 worth of fees to pay either ... I hope.

So thats 4 years to improve my clarinet and really get up to speed on the piano. Then I want to do the EPTA course and finally the MTTP.

Feel like I've finally got some direction with my music and I'll actually get a good degree from a good local university.

I am feeling optimistic today for no reason. It feels like the opposite of getting out on the wrong side of bed. The sun is shining and I am listening to the Brandenburg Concertos and my favourite movement, 3rd movement of the 4th, sounds sublime.

Yes 4th is my favourite, so much brighter with the recorders/flutes, I will now play it on my computer whilst Im working as I have it on iTunes.

Pixie*porsche, that sounds great!

I'm happy because I just sang through the Faure Pie Jesu in the chapel (unaccompanied) in readiness for tonight's concert - I'm the first on the program - and the tourists that came in just sat down and listened to me!
I was worried because I tend to take it too slow and then run out of breath...but got it right first time. Feeling much more confident now...

Played solo clari at band last night no shakes or wobbly notes (apart from an intermittent top D!) all in all, I'm very pleased with how it went Bring on next week

Well done Louise!!

You have been going through it, poor thing! Glad to hear that things are a bit more normal now, but don't overdo it and set yourself back again.

I survived the Sadistic Dental Hygienist !

Very very very good news about my mum's health.

great news tonedeafmum

practice

and looking forward to a fab weekend

I finally plYed the piano again after being disinterested for almost a month

You're not thrilled to get this news, by any chance? So pleased for you and your mum.


That's good to hear. I nearly played mine today, but felt so inadequate after the lunchtime recital I went to that I didn't bother.

My Happy was a wonderful lunchtime recital by two 21 year olds (both ex-Purcell School) on cello and piano. They were fantastic; they made a unit rather than two people playing, and got the balance between the instruments just right. Usually 20th century pieces are not my favourite, but I really enjoyed the Debussy, Stravinsky and Elliott Carter works they played.

Wonderful!!!

Well the concert was great, and feedback put of this world...got told that I'd really grown as a performer since the last concert (June) and looked far more relaxed, far less nervous, and was much more expressive on the stage. Pie Jesu just filled the chapel, it was lovely to sing! The Chapi Carceleras with its seemingly million express train words went down very well indeed, amazing considering it was in Spanish to Spanish native speakers.

Definately the best I've ever sung in public....I am a very happy soprano tonight! Oh and we are booked for a repeat concert in March too!

A wolf-whistle!

The diet must be working...

Depping 2nd flute for 1/2 a rehearsal with a decent orchestra and not making a fool of myself.

Finding out that my audition to uni/conservatorium was successful. woop woop.

Congratulations everyone on your happy news. Especially the wolf whistle mel2.. that made me

Pianoeater, that's fab news, how exciting!!

And Mel2, been there, done that.....feels good, doesn't it??? Congratulations!

I LOVE all these 'Happy' posts

My 'happy' is rather dull by comparison - just my morning coffee again (this time with two custard creams).

Got some work to do before hubby and the dogs wake up!

I'm just contemplating my morning coffee, which is making me happy. I "aquired" these nifty little filter coffee in sachets from a particularly nice hotel I stayed in for work, and this was the last one. I'm feeling happy reminicing about the amazing breakfast, mood lighting stereo system, enormous bath tub etc, and wondering if I can contrive another "business trip" (relaxing overnight stay) there in the next couple of weeks...

I don't normally have coffee on a Saturday, but I'm about to brave Primark (they have some very snuggley fluffy microfleece pajamas that I think I'm going to need to continue sleeping cosily in this flat!) and I need it to steel my nerves...

I hate going in to Primark at the best of times. Let alone on a Saturday.

Congratulations

Aches and pains. Now how can aches and pains make one feel happy? - Well it's the reason for them - a large part of the garden hedge now looks quite respectable. Nearly broke the long arm secateurs doing it and nearly broke my back putting the waste in the wheelbarrow ( 9 times) but oh boy was I happy when I looked at the result this morning!