A recorder mute

Last night I cycled home and when I got home I was very cold This isn't unusual but it normally only lasts five or ten minutes. Well this time it lasted ages, and not only did I have my cardigan on but I seriously considered putting socks on. That might be normal for some people, but I loathe socks and I never have them on in the house. Well, not unless there is an impending ice age, or I am sickening for something
Anyway, by the time I warmed up it was dinner time, and at then there was a good programme on the television I actually wanted to see, so my recorder practice slipped past, because by that time I was ready to fall asleep "Not a problem", I thought, "it's still only my first week of Proper Practicing, if I miss one day it won't be the end of the world".
But then I remembered that tonight I am giving blood, so I won't be home until late. In this case I may have to do practice after dinner, but that will be a Good Thing because it will be me finding out that I can practise at times other than right-after-work.
But along with that, I had an idea this morning. I found some cardboard and made a recorder mute. Which much to my delight meant I could play nice and quietly for about 15 minutes this morning and still not be late for work (my husband had long left the house to go to work; but I am paranoid about disturbing the neighbours - even though I play on the side of the house which doesn't have a party wall, it was still before 7am). It's not ideal, of course, but it was nice to get my fingers moving and play through some stuff - and it would only be for times like this when I randomly decide to tootle at such an unearthly hour, at normal afternoon and evening times I have no qualms about making a terrible din


And besides all that, what also made me happy yesterday was finding a recorder smilie on the web (in fact three of them, though the grinning one looks a bit manic - perhaps that's right for recorderists?)

^ Love your post Maizie



Apart from the breakthrough on my clarinet making me happy, I got a phone call out of the blue at work today from someone who I haven't seen for about a year. He'd been my contact at one of my clients' businesses and we'd enjoyed working together for many years, but he left the company last year. He's going to come and see me in a couple of weeks time to catch up on old times

Funnily enough I had a similar phone call last week from someone who was one of my first clients many years ago, and I haven't seen him since he sold his business last year. He contacted me last week just to see how I was and I'm meeting up with him shortly

I'm hoping there's going to be a third now!

Bernie's diagram of how to convert a tuba case into a trumpet case:

http://i658.photobucket.com/albums/uu310/berniesifr/tuba.jpg



Check out the "should I quit" thread. (I'm not clever enough to link it).

It's really made my day - thanks Bernie.

Having the MOST fabby evening out at the Bootleg Beatles' gig in Croydon with Bagpuss and two friends. They were absolutely superb and I haven't had as good a time in a long, long while.

My student (who 'is' George Harrison) even did some Kodály handsigns at me from the stage *lol*!!!

We had SUCH a laugh with him afterwards, too.

So I'm feeling uplifted but also zonked out today!!!!

Being woken at 6.30 am by the delicate strains of my 8 year old trumpeter doing his practice....

(Sorry, neighbours!)

Blaaaaaaast! Squeeeeak! Blaaaaaaaaast!



Then...visiting exam centre in neighbouring town to support slightly dodgy student (as in dodgy whether he will pass, rather than dodgy student!!)

Then...going to a school in same neighbouring town (2 trips in one day!) to hear my star pupil play in concert and conduct school orchestra

I am going to see WNO performing Marriage of Figaro at the Mayflower tonight with family.

Mole

Gardening

me too !

Alpha Male Jazz Cat paying me a flying visit in between pupes looking HOT in his leathers with his hair all over the place just to tell me he thinks I'm beautiful!!!!!!!! *shuffles paws, looks at floor, shuffle*

Wuvved-Up-Bag x

Thats such a sweet image.

My let me sob all over him. Even if he did look thoroughly disconcerted while providing supportive hugs. It helped, even if he did laugh at me when I finally sniffled through everything thats wrong...

Awwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A veeery long sleep helping me avoid the illness I was expecting. Also, my friend's come online and invited me o do something even though her boyfriend's asked her to as well, because she knew I was really bored and "friends come first".

Have a lovely time! Wish I was going, but I have a church choir practice to run tonight.

Anyone any views on which Ave verum we should do for Passion Sunday? It's between the Mozart and the Elgar - I'm leaning towards the Elgar at the moment because we don't have any proper altos and the Mozart sounds very thin without.

Not waking up at 5 a.m. like I have been recently

A message from a friend that simply said 'Here's a cuppa - you need it lass.' It was just nice...

My singing said that i've come along way in the past month

It's my son's birthday!!!!! Seeing his happy face as he opened his presents and tared around the place at his party. (He's 4 btw)

I my flute. I don't want to put it down...but I've been playng for an hour and a half which must be enough for everyone else on my corridor.

Hmm. My flute's made me happy, but I've just added a sad face about having to put it away - and sad faces don't belong on this thread...

I your flute too...

Still saving...

I'm sure I would your flute too. I know I my own one!

Well, I've just played through the first 2 movements of the Mozart concerto in D since my previous post, and my flute practice now feels more complete. Not sure why...

You would indeed Flossie's flute. This is because it is ly!

Receiving a photograph of a distant relative - we only got in touch over the last few days via Genes Reunited. He looks like my grandmother. Turns out his sister lives in the village I used to live in and we probably passed in the street..

Awwww that's lovely

I Martha and Agapanthus! I spent an hour and a half with Martha last night and really enjoyed it , and this afternoon Agapanthus is going to be playing duets with a friend I can't wait and want to practice this morning but I can't because I have to make soup and varnish a painting...

(which is actually good fun too (sweet potato and carrot soup) and a painting for a very nice person so this morning will make me just as happy as this afternoon... )

Newly acquired tom cat managed to walk past long standing resident tom cat without me having to spend a fortune at the vet's for torn ears, infected bites or bleeding noses. Perhaps they are finally going to get along together.

Being informed by Baz that I have passed my 6,000th post!!!

Wow!!

Congratulations C !

Thomas Tomkins and Frei Manuel Cardoso made me happy today.

And to a slightly lesser extent Kenneth Leighton

I'm self-employed (work from home) and a student. My neighbour is disabled but tries to work from home when she can.

Together we realised that we always used to spend Monday mornings doing household chores and neither of us did any work of a real sense at all until the afternoon.

SO.. we decided we'd go for coffee together in our favourite coffee shop in the village at 9.30 on Monday mornings to 'sort out' the week and catch up on the little things in life.

We've been doing this for nearly two years now and it's amazing how much it doesn't waste time but lets us each brainstorm our plans and get set up for the working week!

So I'm happy because it's Monday morning and I'm off for my cappuccino and a natter....

I'm really happy because of the reception my adult pupil received at the Cambridge ISM Adult Learners' concert.

She has never sung solo in front of an audience before and she triumphed.

Such a proud teacher today. The other teachers and pupils said such lovely things about her voice.

I really enjoy going to this concert and bringing pupils, its such a fantastic opportunity for the pupils, and a really good opportunity do demonstrate what careful work with an adult can do.

The package I was hoping was going to be delivered towards the end of next week, while I was off work, and so even if I wasn't in I could walk the 5 minutes to the Post Office to pick it up, was actually delivered this morning. Amazingly it was delivered before I'd left the house - I can't remember the last time that happened. And even more amazingly it must be a new postman because he actually knocked on the door instead of dropping a "while you were out" card through the letter box and running away....the number of times I've come downstairs to find one of these on the doormat and thought - but I was in!

Getting to the conference and immediately bumping into an old friend with whom I passed the day giggling and reminiscing!

I'm ready(ish) for my solo in Anglesey

I went up the back entrance to our hall this afternoon and discovered that some of the lilies I planted last summer have started growing again.

I was expecting them to be dead because I never got round to cutting them back or dividing the bulbs last autumn, and they've been outside in the frost and snow all winter which my book said lilies don't like. Am hoping my nice pink ones might decide to grow again as well - there's a couple of green spikes sticking up in their tub, but the green spikes could also be weeds...

A couple of not-quite-so-miserable customers. (I do wish people wouldn't take their frustrations out on the person who merely has to report that the prescription has gone awol... I didn't lose it personally....)

A really great band rehearsal !!!

My eldest's Wind Band concert was wonderful. They did a rendition of Marche Slave and it was superb. One very proud Mummy.

Being off work sick.
Obviously the being ill part isn't much fun, it's a cold my husband has had and it is definitely a nasty one - my head hurts, my nose stings on the inside, my ears ache, my throat really hurts.

But, in my time here I have managed to take some stuff round to the post office (and, ahem, buy some medicinal chocolate), do two lots of washing and get it on the line, take photos of things to at some point sell on eBay, write an 'essay plan' for my next OU assignment, and do half an hour of recordering. On the latter, the study I am doing at the moment is meant in part to be for breathing, it's not actually that bad trying to do it with a cold and it stops you cheating by sneaking in a breath through the nose I don't expect to have improved much between lessons this week due to lack of practice, but it is nice to have not been knocked out for the whole time (Saturday I missed practicing because I fell asleep; Sunday because the football went in to extra time; then Monday with the cold really kicking in I again just fell asleep when I got home from work!)

I've got to the bottom of my marking pile.

No more trawling through badly written essays (for a while...). Some were very good, but some of the students still haven't learnt to write in sentences and paragraphs (and most of them have 4 A's at A-level including at least one essay subject...).

I've just had a really good violin lesson.

I now know what's wrong with my bow and will be phoning the violin shop to get it fixed.. luckily I have a spare. Now I just need to find a tube to post it in because the nearest violin shop is 150 miles away

But it was really sunny today I did finish a lot of chores even if I didn't manage to get any studying done.

Seeing Baz for only his second lesson this term (due to his not having a voice to use for much of it ).

We had a Good Old Chat about the forums and a fabby lesson!

Sunshine! I have just replanted the baskets and window boxes at the studio and am going to take the rugs off some happy ponies now.

MY MUM HAS RECEIVED MY FORTAY REEDS WHICH I NEED FOR MY EXAM NEXT WEEK SO I AM SO RELIEVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Still panicking though

Sunshine! (ah - not original, I see).

Sunshine and more hours of daylight

I had a lovely lesson with a 7 year old today. When she first started playing she practised and practised and made fantastic progress for her age- then the novelty wore off and we're approaching her Gr 1 next term. She's only been practising once a week recently..... but this week she had practised 3 times and boy, she was a lot better (and she'd been away to Centre Parcs for the weekend). We then had a lovely lesson, when she got excited about the clarinet again and got lots of praise and the grumpy look she had on her face as she was missing science turned to a huge smile.

The I had another lesson with a usually very quiet girl, who did her Gr 1 this week. She really lacks confidence and I half expected her to refuse to go into the exam. Well she was really chatty and we were attempting the clarion regsiter for the first time- and she got it very quickly and was really enjoying herself today!!!!!

and it was sunny!!!!!!!

A soparanino arriving in the post

And having bunged up ears so I can tootle on it without injury

A very brief and sensible committee meeting!

the weather

Doing my second grade 8 exam in two days, ( ) and knowing that I don't have to do that ever again (unless I fail!)