What's made me happy today is that you all appear to have enoyed the handbells.

And.... I got a honk out of a clarinet.

I really enjoyed the Handbell Day too. Solari definitely isn't as annoying in real life as he is on the forums! And he has a great sense of rhythm.

Great to meet everyone and start to put a few faces to names.

Not bad considering you were under pressure by having an audience! Don't tell us you're turning to the dark side and buying a clarinet now?

Oh, we did. A thoroughly enjoyable day : you ought to be very proud of yourself



You do yourself down : the final few notes you played were fine notes Sarah

If I could realistically afford it (and lessons for it), then I would be. Even cheapy horrible clarinets are pretty expensive and Sarah has spent waaaaay too much on instruments recently.



There were quite a few honky squeaks too (and lots of ghost honks that wouldn't come out because your clarinet doesn't work I can't blow properly)

It's something you can think about in the future.

My old clarinet is OK, but it does have a few rough edges. You did very well on your first attempt Sarah

Just had a really enjoyable and fairly successfull practise session for 2 hours!!!! (teh neighbours are out)

Glad the handbells people had a great time.

thanks Dawn.

Not with the handbells, but we'll be back with York playing events in 2010

Looking forward to it........ And you are here in November.......

I am indeed

I've been in your fair city twice this month : very enjoyable it was too

Ooh!! So there could have been Another of those "chance meetings" I had a number of this month..... (cafe thread)

glad you enjoyed it.

Banks by any chance??????

How did you guess?

First time round was with Babybird2 and Flossie, and we went to a service in York Minster. Very impressive.

You in York and NOT Banks

York Minster is fantastic. Was great when they didn't cahrge for entry to go inside. Used to pop in for a dose of awe and wonder..... (as it's described in teaching circles).

Understand why they do as many people can take advantage but don't really agree with charging believers for visiting a place of worship.

Not been in for ages now

Going in for a service is still free (thanks Flossie for that info)

Yes but if you just want to go in for a spot of private reflection it's not..... And many servics are standing room only.

Yes, and I agree with you Dawn, I think it's a pity...

I was always of the understanding that a Church is Sanctuary for all, so charging for entry seems a bit off. I suppose they have to get money for maintenance somehow, especially where congregations are dwindling in numbers...

Used to be very touristy though and many did not respect the nature of the building. Used to be a voluntary donation. As I said I understand why but think us "Locals" should be able to go in for free. However, as with most York "attractions" I don't qualify for a Free York Card as I live just over the boundary. Not fair as I give most of my business etc to York not Easy Yorks!!! But that's just how it is....

That's a little off...perhaps it should be within a certain distance of the Minster ( a distance that encompasses chez Dawn)...

The piece that I've been practising for a wedding next week has transformed itself from notes into music.

Hurrah!

Now I just need to ensure that it is really secure.

Thankyou Barry. You are too kind *bow* Shame you don't make the rules. I was gonna say 10 miles would do it but according to friend google I'm actually only 8.9 miles away.

Thing is York can be very elitist and those outside the city walls (or postcode in some instances) don't get a look in. York is our nearest city and is about equidistant from our nearest small town of Pocklington. Shame we don't get the perks as we are "East Riding" officially...... Never mind though. Thing is public transport to York is very good from here; into the east riding, though, and it's all but non existant (unless you go into York first) Bizarre!!!!

Anyway

Feel free to get back on topic now.

What's making me happy today????? The promise of another good playing session

From the York Minster website: "No charges are made for those who wish to enter the Minster to pray or light a candle: please ask a member of staff on arrival."

Aaah!!! Didn't know that!! Thanks

Singing Purcell.

I think we students get free entry as well. I hadn't known for the whole of last year, so I always wandered past wistfully, thinking I couldn't really spare the cash to go in just for a look around, and maybe some quiet reflection. Then someone mentioned sitting in the pews soaking up the atmosphere, and getting their reading done, and enlightened me!

Though, as I'm not religious, maybe I shouldn't take advantage of that.

I've had the best day for ages. We spent the afternoon with friends from church, having a barbecue. We all talked a lot, told bad jokes, played badminton* and Monopoly, and ate loads of delicious food.

*Some people were playing with tennis rackets because the badminton ones were broken - we also took turns playing while sitting on the space-hopper, and one person (over 18!) was playing while holding his beer in the other hand!!

I'm feeling human again!!! We had some family friends over and I cooked lunch (I love cooking) and then I ventured out for a walk in the village - and didn't need ANY inhalers or anything! Thank goodness for that! Oh, and also:I had a letter to say..... I'm Head Girl at my school! I so was not expecting that!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I've had lots of happy things today - kinda makes up for the awful past few weeks methinks!)

I'm glad you're feeling better, Camille.

I'm feeling kind of happy just now because I appear to have more or less come round from yet another hypoglycaemic attack thing. The last thing I remember is trying to tell Matthew that I was going to fall asleep, but not seeming to be able to get the words out. Stupidness. But hey... over now (I think!).

for becoming head girl and double for not needing inhalers



Poor thing - please either look after yourself or allow Matthew to look after you.

Aww I hope you're feeling better too Fiona - it sounds horrible!
Having just re-read my post...I don't think I sounded all that happy about the Head Girl thing! I'm reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy happy about it - but so suprised I was picked!

Another great forumite gathering

The prom wasn't bad either

I went to a local festival today...a talent show for youngsters. Some were very good..one girl in particular had a beautiful voice.

Then came two lads (aged 8 and 9) with their guitars..

Compere- "How long have you been singing together?"
Lad 1- "Since yesterday"
Compere- "Oh..and how long have you played guitar?"
Lad 2- "Since yesterday!"
Lad 1- "We wrote our own song yesterday too..called 'Mosquitos'"

The song was a classic...
"Mosquitos, mosquitos, everybody hates mosquitos. Dum dum dum..they bite you on the b-um!"



They didn't win...

You beat me to it Solari yes going to the Proms with Bari and Co made me happy !!

Barry needs to re-enact his Mr Happy act for a future gathering I think!

I'm climbing the walls after drinking too much diet coke again!

The Minster is your heritage, lucky. Provided you respect the fact that it's a working Christian church, which I'm sure you would, there's no reason at all why you shouldn't go inside.

(Realised after writing that that I've borrowed the word "working" there from my daughter. In Moscow, many of the churches are open, but just as museums; she coined the phrase "working church" to distinguish churches where worship takes place from those which are essentially just beautiful buildings no longer used for worship.)

Good to hear that the forums Prom outing was a success. I was thinking of you all earlier and hoping the restaurant was good.

I'm not really religious, but I usually go out of my way to visit Cathedrals and Churches whenever I travel to places away from home, I love the architecture; so many of them are aesthetically stunning, humbling (I believe this is the psychological intention of the design) and generally very impressive. It's amazing how they managed to build some of the really old places without use of modern building techniques and machinery!

I always leave something in the plate where there isn't a formal entry fee - it just seems the right thing to do...

Reading a particular post on the forums.

Italian 2 nights in a row = overload for my digestive tract! Nice, though!

Getting a text from my piano teacher to say my lessons can start again next week!

Not just happy.... really excited!!!

The wire mesh wouldn't fit through the train doors

Yep, the Prom (and the bell) gathering made me happy - glad you all had fun!

Yeah, what a brilliant weekend! Hope to see you all at another event soon

I'm pretty sure I'll make it to Chester as a spectator.

that'd be good : would be good to hear you play at an event sometime too Solari, if you'd like to do that

Can I play Chopsticks?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5lI5d6yPn0

Bit more practice and I can do weddings (being video'd is so argh!)

You can play anything you like!

I'll see how I go in my concert, as I'm still not comfortable with the idea of playing in front of loads of people, I get palpitations at the mere thought of it...

Fair enough : we're a very friendly lot though

Did everyone like my F# in that G major chord at the handbell day?

LOL... I must find out if I can join a group somewhere, handbells are great fun

I'm sure there are plenty of places...I've seen at least one handbell group vaguely in my area, can't remember what they're called or where they're based though...

BTW...

Recognise this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2yrdDTSYjg

Not as good an arrangement, however