Re: naked gardening - not bl**dy likely! Even gardening fully clothed is an activity I avoid with gusto. Who the hell thought it would be a good idea anyway? Whatever they were on, I think I want some.
After the downpour and thunderstorm last night, it's been a lovely day here, although I haven't taken advantage of it; after a quick trip to the shops to pick up one or two essentials I was feeling a bit headachey so I curled up on the sofa with Quite Large Bear and dozed off for a bit. I felt better when I woke up, and am now waiting for a batch of loaves to rise - bread-making is so therapeutic!
One service down, another to go - today's an Evensong day, which is a Good Thing.
Having said that, as we only get Evensong once a month (and we missed the last one as it fell on Easter Day), I've become used to having Sunday afternoons to myself, and the lazy piglet inside me thinks, "stuff this - I want to go home and sleep"*. It doesn't help that we're doing Mendelssohn's Hear my prayer, which wouldn't make it into my top 100, let alone my top 10. I know I may be in a minority of one in not liking it, but it really doesn't float my boat.
* I didn't sleep very well last night for some reason, which has put me a bit out of sorts. Sunday's the only day I need to be up early, and if I'm going to lose half a night's sleep, I'd rather it was any night than Saturday.
Been to the local garden centre to get plants for the tubs. It was hot up there. Now gearing up to going in the garden to plant up said tubs. It's hot out there too. Did I mention the heat?
The wedding season is getting into gear and the invites are stacking up on the mantlepiece. So far I have 5: two goddaughters, a godson and two children of old friends.
I've been asked to play for 2 of them so will spend the next week arranging cover for my own place so that I can go and do my thing with a clear conscience. Then its a case of looking at organ specs for the two where I'm playing so that I can help the happy pair choose music that will work (and be possible) on the instrument available.
What for - voices or instruments? There used to be a very good one, swingle-style, sung by The King's Singers - you may find it in a barbershop type book.
You're wise sussing out the organs beforehand @TheOrganist - I should imagine there's nothing worse than agreeing to play them out to Widor's Toccata and then discover that the instrument has one manual and four stops and has to be pumped by hand ...
It's a beautiful day here: 16° and sunny, with no sign of further rain - for now anyway. Might go for a bit of an amble.
What for - voices or instruments? There used to be a very good one, swingle-style, sung by The King's Singers - you may find it in a barbershop type book.
I was reflecting on the likely quality of at least some of those instruments. But then I may be being too cynical, and you may have some gems at your disposal.
I’m not complaining. No really, I’m not, but like Nenya I’ve been gardening. All the time while thinking, I really shouldn’t be doing this in the direct sun.
I restricted myself to gardening (well, tidying up the edges where the lawn mower can't quite reach) in the shade this afternoon before the bonfires and barbecues got going, and I leapt to rescue my bed linen and cushion covers from the washing line whilst cursing those who think it's fine to light bonfires at the end of their garden which is closer to my house than theirs.
A start has today been made on painting part of the exterior of the Episcopal Palace, though I gave up after a while in order to go inside to rehydrate myself! A Hot Day here, but with a deceptively cool east-north-east breeze...
Some grass-cutting is called for tomorrow at church, but in the shady area at the east end, so the Heat shouldn't be a problem.
Forecast warns of possible thundery showers in the next few days...
You're all correct, the lawn could do with mowing. I decided against it and went to Whitby with friends instead. Fish and chips were eaten, boat trips were taken, sand castles were made.
Tomorrow, I need to go shop and then get ready as I'm being a confirmation sponsor in the early evening.
Hopefully those thundery showers stay away otherwise the grass is never going to get cut.
You're wise sussing out the organs beforehand @TheOrganist - I should imagine there's nothing worse than agreeing to play them out to Widor's Toccata and then discover that the instrument has one manual and four stops and has to be pumped by hand ...
You must have been there! Just before I hit my 20s I agreed to play for the wedding of a family friend, only to discover the "organ" was a 2 manual harmonium...
O deep joy! The Tin Tabernacle Of My Yoof had one of those delightful beasties....I can still hear it now, as played by Dear Old Miss Sims (RIPARIG) at the s l o w e s t p a c e imaginable....
The Baptist church of my early yoof had something similar (blown by foot-pedals). Then they replaced it with a burp-box with a single octave of pedals and a lot of scary buttons that produced whizz-bangs ...
I think I left at just the right time.
It's another bright, sunny day, but it's never too warm for SOUP, so I made some with some yellow split peas I'd forgotten I had, and a few veggies and bacon and it was really rather good.
Memo to self: put split peas on the shopping list next time we go to the Bulk Barn.
Now I need to go and make some more chicken stock and a batch of loaves.
All this talk of heat in the UK. Hmmph, I'm in southern Italy which is being very beautiful, but appears to have adopted usual British summer weather. It's wet and about 20 degrees. The wine and company is good though.
Slow organists.... Oh goodness, we had "I've got a little light" at my 1st nephew's christening. Just looking at the words, I could tell it was surely intended to be sung at a swinging Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Tambourines a-go-go Hands down for tea everybody! pace... The organist was so slow we couldn't sing slowly enough, it was grimly hilarious.
It did try to rain here for about 20 minutes, but we're back now to being muggy.
I'm back from confirmation at our place; I was being a sponsor. Everything went smoothly, herding a couple of dozen kids past the bishop without problems, right up until one of the candidates fainted from the combination of heat and incense. Poor lass, she's definitely made the ceremony memorable.
I'm having soup too made from the leftover liquid from a lamb and black pudding stew and the gravy from cooking some chicken legs and some odds and ends. Leftovers are my favourite food group.
In re unknown organs/organists - our delightful young assistant organist once turned up somewhere new to play for a funeral, only to discover that no-one, but no-one knew how to turn the wretched instrument ON!
She also rocked up at our second church for another funeral, expecting to play 'The Lord's My Shepherd' to Crimond (it's a very ancient church with congregation to match). However, the words in the order of service were the Stuart Townend ones. Only slightly daunted - she was after all at Trinity Laban - she spent the sermon sorting out the chords etc in her head. They were expecting Crimond after all! I don't even know how that situation resolved itself...
Mrs S, still reeling from a funeral rendition of Be Thou My Vision, to which only about 30% of the words fitted the tune...
"Be thou my vision"/"Lord of all hopefulness" can be a killer, especially at weddings. Few people realise that the tune isn't the same for both sets of words ...
"Be thou my vision"/"Lord of all hopefulness" can be a killer, especially at weddings. Few people realise that the tune isn't the same for both sets of words ...
Not true: depends on the hymnal.
One of the best things I've encountered was a wedding that used the interweb for hymn words (of course the organist and vicar couldn't help, how dare we suggest it) and so they printed something called Love divine came down at Christmas; fortunately we have BOOKS which could be handed out.
We were at the ordination of a friend once in a tiny little village at the arse-end of beyond. The organist played over the first hymn, but she was so bad we couldn't work out what the tune was until halfway through the first verse. She was doing her best, but ...
At Christmas I went to the church where my brother lives. The words on the screen were Hark the Herald Angels, but the tune was Once in Royal David's City. It reminded me of Sorry I Haven't a Clue.
At Christmas I went to the church where my brother lives. The words on the screen were Hark the Herald Angels, but the tune was Once in Royal David's City. It reminded me of Sorry I Haven't a Clue.
At Christmas I went to the church where my brother lives. The words on the screen were Hark the Herald Angels, but the tune was Once in Royal David's City. It reminded me of Sorry I Haven't a Clue.
We had Oh Little Town of Bethlehem to the tune of Once in Royal David's City. It almost works.
We were at the ordination of a friend once in a tiny little village at the arse-end of beyond. The organist played over the first hymn, but she was so bad we couldn't work out what the tune was until halfway through the first verse. She was doing her best, but ...
Ah, fond memories of a wedding in a tiny church with a tiny organist who was perhaps young when Mr Pitt was PM. After not only a playover but an entire verse of unrecognisable music (with tremulant !), the bride's father took charge, turned around, counted us in and we sang Love divine to Blaenwen unaccompanied.
Afterwards we discovered the organist (using that word very loosely) had thought it was Lead us heavenly Father. In and out music was OK because provided by some of the founder members of His Majesty's Sagbutts and Cornetts and a few other friends.
Don't know if I should say this on the Ship, but at my husband's funeral next week we are having a non religious service, in accord with his feelings about the church and religion generally. In to Chris Barber's band playing "Petite Fleur" and out to "When the Saints go marching in" (yes, Ok, I know the subtlety of the real meaning!) and no music in between! One address, one poem, two bits from a friend and my brother-in-law, short closing words, committal. Done.
No organist to flex their fingers and try their brains!
Now my funeral will be a different matter..........
... In and out music was OK because provided by some of the founder members of His Majesty's Sagbutts and Cornetts ...
How cool is that?
D. has recently taken to encouraging brides to come up the aisle to a transcription of La Mourisque by Susato, which sounds really good if you've got a few nice farty reed stops ...
He played it as people were coming in at my dad's funeral, and on the organ in St. Magnus (which has recently been very nicely done up) it sounded absolutely magic.
It's another glorious day here: 20° and sunny. I'm messing about on here while D. gets things set up for the Ascension Day Eucharist, then a short choir practice afterwards.
Ah, back on board having been landlocked for one reason or another.
So....
Fabulous news about bébé en rouge ( and thank you for the tip on é - I shall be éxpërîmęntįng)
I'm so glad it's not just me that gets a nasty shock over MOT (or lack thereof) - I only discovered when I couldn't tax it /scary face/
One of the organists at the church that I attend gets frustrated that the congregation don't sing fast enough for some of the hymns where we simply can't manage all the words at that speed.
I hope river levels are lowering now.
A mic for a flute... now that's an idea, but with roughly 30 or 40 playing in many of our performances our audiences might get a shock. But for outdoor playing that would be good.
One of the reasons for being landlocked was that I forgot my password while I was away "on tour" with the flute orchestra in Smudgie's old stamping ground - the sun shone, it wasn't too windy although the tourist season on the Isle of the Wight hasn't really started so audiences were thin on the ground (and, interestingly, most of them seemed embarrassed to encounter us and walked by as if we weren't there - I've seen this behaviour before). Most of the orchestra were in a gorgeous grand cliff-top hotel at a very good rate, but I for some reason decided to take the tin tent* (now named Chez Moi) and join them in the evenings as well as the performances. All went well until the morning after they left when I was just about to hook up Chez Moi when I tripped and broke my ankle. This was followed by a trip to the hospital, a discovery that my rescue service had run out a week earlier, and a flat battery. That stretch of water seemed very wide! But thanks to 2 dear friends I am now home, and although I have the home comforts of a cat I appreciate the tiny space I've been occupying for the last couple of days, where everything was no more than 2 steps away - my house is soooo big and has stairs!
So I anticipate a lot of sewing, reading and flute practice over the next few weeks.... and a lot of weeds on the allotments (I'm looking after one for a neighbour - oops).
Poor Daisydaisy - what a rotten end to your time away! Hope you're mended very soon.
It's been another lovely day here - not quite so warm (12°), sunny and a bit blustery. Our plastic recycling box decided to go walkies, shedding its contents all over the road. Unfortunately we didn't realise this until after the recycling bin-men had been, so it wasn't collected, and D. went and rescued it from a driveway across the road, along with its contents, which will now have to wait for another fortnight. Why do we only get windy weather on dustbin day?
I think a brick will have to be acquired to put on top of the lid and keep it in place.
Apart from that, we had a lovely day - an elderly gentleman in the choir and his wife had us and another couple round for lunch after D's recital, and we had a very jolly afternoon, and we've just had one of the spectacular sunsets that make the château such a nice place to live.
Sorry you've been in the wars @daisydaisy - hope the ankle mends well and rapidly
I managed to travel all over the place yesterday - trying to get coursework packs out to the right places for exam entries. Spent the day based in Barking, took one lot to East Acton and the other pack to Witham (the other side of Chelmsford). I am so not enjoying the fascinated looks I'm getting with my current white face, hats and scarves. Being a walking freak show is so not fun.
Yeah, I look fine, other than the cannot cope with the sun or daylight issue. I even got told by one receptionist I came across this week, who was giving me the evils, that I looked completely normal, I can't have anything wrong with me, subtext: why was I making a fuss*. Except sunburn hurts and stops me sleeping, badly enough that I'm prepared to look like a freak in public. But it is not encouraging me to increase the time spent out in public above the absolute minimum. And a week of travelling around to different sites trying to get kids through exams hasn't been the greatest.
I walked to the station last night with a couple of colleagues, one of whom gives me all the nicknames. It's not a long walk, but I suspect he didn't enjoy the looks we got any more than I do. Maybe, just maybe, he'll stop now.
* I wouldn't want to wish this on anyone, but I could start making exceptions.
That's rotten, CK - as if having your face and shoulders burnt in the first place wasn't bad enough! People can be horrid sometimes.
Costco shop done, so we've pretty much enough food in to feed ourselves for a while, batch of bread doing its thing while I mess around on here.
The greengrocer's stand that operates at the foot of the road below us during the summer opened yesterday, and he had fiddleheads! <happy dance>
We'd heard that they would be somewhat scarce this year, as the lower reaches of the river have been contaminated by the flooding, and anything that grows there won't be edible, but I managed to get a ½lb bag for $2.50, and with a bit of eking out it'll make some SOUP and add a certain je ne sais quoi to a chicken stir-fry.
Hope the ankle starts allowing you to more more gardening etc soon Daidydaisy and that you come across some more understanding people CK. Any news on the person who caused you all this pain and bother?
We're just back from a lovely week in Italy. It was our wedding anniversary and my birthday while we were away so it was great to do some proper celebrating with a very nice bunch of people.
Comments
After the downpour and thunderstorm last night, it's been a lovely day here, although I haven't taken advantage of it; after a quick trip to the shops to pick up one or two essentials I was feeling a bit headachey so I curled up on the sofa with Quite Large Bear and dozed off for a bit. I felt better when I woke up, and am now waiting for a batch of loaves to rise - bread-making is so therapeutic!
As for naked gardening, I back onto a public park. Not a good idea!
that's the route I use for most of the accents and symbols
Having said that, as we only get Evensong once a month (and we missed the last one as it fell on Easter Day), I've become used to having Sunday afternoons to myself, and the lazy piglet inside me thinks, "stuff this - I want to go home and sleep"*. It doesn't help that we're doing Mendelssohn's Hear my prayer, which wouldn't make it into my top 100, let alone my top 10. I know I may be in a minority of one in not liking it, but it really doesn't float my boat.
* I didn't sleep very well last night for some reason, which has put me a bit out of sorts. Sunday's the only day I need to be up early, and if I'm going to lose half a night's sleep, I'd rather it was any night than Saturday.
Been to the local garden centre to get plants for the tubs. It was hot up there. Now gearing up to going in the garden to plant up said tubs. It's hot out there too. Did I mention the heat?
I've been asked to play for 2 of them so will spend the next week arranging cover for my own place so that I can go and do my thing with a clear conscience. Then its a case of looking at organ specs for the two where I'm playing so that I can help the happy pair choose music that will work (and be possible) on the instrument available.
It's a beautiful day here: 16° and sunny, with no sign of further rain - for now anyway. Might go for a bit of an amble.
I was reflecting on the likely quality of at least some of those instruments. But then I may be being too cynical, and you may have some gems at your disposal.
Some grass-cutting is called for tomorrow at church, but in the shady area at the east end, so the Heat shouldn't be a problem.
Forecast warns of possible thundery showers in the next few days...
IJ
Tomorrow, I need to go shop and then get ready as I'm being a confirmation sponsor in the early evening.
Hopefully those thundery showers stay away otherwise the grass is never going to get cut.
You must have been there! Just before I hit my 20s I agreed to play for the wedding of a family friend, only to discover the "organ" was a 2 manual harmonium...
IJ
I think I left at just the right time.
It's another bright, sunny day, but it's never too warm for SOUP, so I made some with some yellow split peas I'd forgotten I had, and a few veggies and bacon and it was really rather good.
Memo to self: put split peas on the shopping list next time we go to the Bulk Barn.
Now I need to go and make some more chicken stock and a batch of loaves.
AG
I'm back from confirmation at our place; I was being a sponsor. Everything went smoothly, herding a couple of dozen kids past the bishop without problems, right up until one of the candidates fainted from the combination of heat and incense. Poor lass, she's definitely made the ceremony memorable.
I'm having soup too made from the leftover liquid from a lamb and black pudding stew and the gravy from cooking some chicken legs and some odds and ends. Leftovers are my favourite food group.
Preferably served in crusty bread rolls, with lots of butter.
My cholesterol level? Fine, thanks, cos I take the PILLS.
IJ
She also rocked up at our second church for another funeral, expecting to play 'The Lord's My Shepherd' to Crimond (it's a very ancient church with congregation to match). However, the words in the order of service were the Stuart Townend ones. Only slightly daunted - she was after all at Trinity Laban - she spent the sermon sorting out the chords etc in her head. They were expecting Crimond after all! I don't even know how that situation resolved itself...
Mrs S, still reeling from a funeral rendition of Be Thou My Vision, to which only about 30% of the words fitted the tune...
Not true: depends on the hymnal.
One of the best things I've encountered was a wedding that used the interweb for hymn words (of course the organist and vicar couldn't help, how dare we suggest it) and so they printed something called Love divine came down at Christmas; fortunately we have BOOKS which could be handed out.
I'm sure they mean The day thou gavest, Lord, is ended....as requested by the deceased.
I will, of course, confirm this with family and undertaker well in advance...
IJ
IJ
I attended one of those recently too - further evidence that we were separated at birth.
In other news, it's been cooler today and much more comfortable.
We had Oh Little Town of Bethlehem to the tune of Once in Royal David's City. It almost works.
Ah, fond memories of a wedding in a tiny church with a tiny organist who was perhaps young when Mr Pitt was PM. After not only a playover but an entire verse of unrecognisable music (with tremulant !), the bride's father took charge, turned around, counted us in and we sang Love divine to Blaenwen unaccompanied.
Afterwards we discovered the organist (using that word very loosely) had thought it was Lead us heavenly Father. In and out music was OK because provided by some of the founder members of His Majesty's Sagbutts and Cornetts and a few other friends.
No organist to flex their fingers and try their brains!
Now my funeral will be a different matter..........
D. has recently taken to encouraging brides to come up the aisle to a transcription of La Mourisque by Susato, which sounds really good if you've got a few nice farty reed stops ...
He played it as people were coming in at my dad's funeral, and on the organ in St. Magnus (which has recently been very nicely done up) it sounded absolutely magic.
It's another glorious day here: 20° and sunny. I'm messing about on here while D. gets things set up for the Ascension Day Eucharist, then a short choir practice afterwards.
So....
Fabulous news about bébé en rouge ( and thank you for the tip on é - I shall be éxpërîmęntįng)
I'm so glad it's not just me that gets a nasty shock over MOT (or lack thereof) - I only discovered when I couldn't tax it /scary face/
One of the organists at the church that I attend gets frustrated that the congregation don't sing fast enough for some of the hymns where we simply can't manage all the words at that speed.
I hope river levels are lowering now.
A mic for a flute... now that's an idea, but with roughly 30 or 40 playing in many of our performances our audiences might get a shock. But for outdoor playing that would be good.
One of the reasons for being landlocked was that I forgot my password while I was away "on tour" with the flute orchestra in Smudgie's old stamping ground - the sun shone, it wasn't too windy although the tourist season on the Isle of the Wight hasn't really started so audiences were thin on the ground (and, interestingly, most of them seemed embarrassed to encounter us and walked by as if we weren't there - I've seen this behaviour before). Most of the orchestra were in a gorgeous grand cliff-top hotel at a very good rate, but I for some reason decided to take the tin tent* (now named Chez Moi) and join them in the evenings as well as the performances. All went well until the morning after they left when I was just about to hook up Chez Moi when I tripped and broke my ankle. This was followed by a trip to the hospital, a discovery that my rescue service had run out a week earlier, and a flat battery. That stretch of water seemed very wide! But thanks to 2 dear friends I am now home, and although I have the home comforts of a cat I appreciate the tiny space I've been occupying for the last couple of days, where everything was no more than 2 steps away - my house is soooo big and has stairs!
So I anticipate a lot of sewing, reading and flute practice over the next few weeks.... and a lot of weeds on the allotments (I'm looking after one for a neighbour - oops).
*fibreglass, I think
It's been another lovely day here - not quite so warm (12°), sunny and a bit blustery. Our plastic recycling box decided to go walkies, shedding its contents all over the road. Unfortunately we didn't realise this until after the recycling bin-men had been, so it wasn't collected, and D. went and rescued it from a driveway across the road, along with its contents, which will now have to wait for another fortnight. Why do we only get windy weather on dustbin day?
I think a brick will have to be acquired to put on top of the lid and keep it in place.
Apart from that, we had a lovely day - an elderly gentleman in the choir and his wife had us and another couple round for lunch after D's recital, and we had a very jolly afternoon, and we've just had one of the spectacular sunsets that make the château such a nice place to live.
I managed to travel all over the place yesterday - trying to get coursework packs out to the right places for exam entries. Spent the day based in Barking, took one lot to East Acton and the other pack to Witham (the other side of Chelmsford). I am so not enjoying the fascinated looks I'm getting with my current white face, hats and scarves. Being a walking freak show is so not fun.
IJ
I walked to the station last night with a couple of colleagues, one of whom gives me all the nicknames. It's not a long walk, but I suspect he didn't enjoy the looks we got any more than I do. Maybe, just maybe, he'll stop now.
* I wouldn't want to wish this on anyone, but I could start making exceptions.
Costco shop done, so we've pretty much enough food in to feed ourselves for a while, batch of bread doing its thing while I mess around on here.
The greengrocer's stand that operates at the foot of the road below us during the summer opened yesterday, and he had fiddleheads! <happy dance>
We'd heard that they would be somewhat scarce this year, as the lower reaches of the river have been contaminated by the flooding, and anything that grows there won't be edible, but I managed to get a ½lb bag for $2.50, and with a bit of eking out it'll make some SOUP and add a certain je ne sais quoi to a chicken stir-fry.
We're just back from a lovely week in Italy. It was our wedding anniversary and my birthday while we were away so it was great to do some proper celebrating with a very nice bunch of people.