Hi all
Just to let my old and new followers know that I've now imported all my old posts from Tales from a Mother, Musician and Multi-tasker over to here as I now intend to use only the one blog for everything! So those of you who don't know me too well, have a browse through my old posts.
You'll notice I now also have some additional pages which include Crafty Blogs and Sites I love and a couple of pages dedicated to my other great love....making music! If you have a craft site you'd like me to add, please just get in touch and I'll head over and have a look.
Thanks for stopping by! x
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Friday, 10 January 2014
Wednesday, 11 July 2012
An ending and beginning
An Ending
Yesterday was our final session with the school choir club. As always, we finished the year off with the usual choir club party complete with a lovely selection of cakes, sweets, crisps and all the things that kids love! After a bit of a sing-a-long the children who wished to, volunteered to sing solo's on stage in front of us all. The choir party is always popular and they really look forward to it after the hard work they've put in throughout the year to prepare for the Summer concert. Both Jo and I were given some lovely thank you gifts which is very kind and we really appreciate. This year we seem to have amassed a plentiful supply of chocolate so looks like I'm going to have to run even more over the next few weeks.
Unfortunately, on the flip side of all the fun and food, we have to say goodbye to our year 6's, some of which have been with us since year 3. Obviously, we'll be really sad to see them go but they're ready to move on as were our own daughter's last year. We wish them the best of luck at High School and hope they continue singing and all thing 'music'.
A Beginning
It's hard to believe that it's been two and half months already since we performed our ladies choir concert 'Film Fantasia'. After a committee meeting last week we began rehearsals again last night for a new concert. I have to say that I found the work on last years songs particularly hard, not only writing and re-writing harmonies but also painstakingly teaching the songs note by note to the ladies. I think this had a lot to do with the pressure from our business at the time along with home, life etc.... So this time we decided that in addition to some new selections we would re-use some of our old material as over the years we've sang some wonderful songs and it's such a shame not to resurrect them.
We finally went with a theme of musicals and asked the choir for suggestions regarding their favourite song choices. Some were VERY popular so we've made sure that these have been included along with some less used numbers and some new ones to keep things fresh.
First rehearsal went very well indeed last night (despite me being on 'piano duty') with two songs learnt in full in 3 parts. We have a couple of new members two which is always nice and only helps to enrich the overall sound. Here's hoping that next week's rehearsal goes even better, it's always so much easier to teach the parts when I can wave my arms around rather than hammer the piano keys :).
Yesterday was our final session with the school choir club. As always, we finished the year off with the usual choir club party complete with a lovely selection of cakes, sweets, crisps and all the things that kids love! After a bit of a sing-a-long the children who wished to, volunteered to sing solo's on stage in front of us all. The choir party is always popular and they really look forward to it after the hard work they've put in throughout the year to prepare for the Summer concert. Both Jo and I were given some lovely thank you gifts which is very kind and we really appreciate. This year we seem to have amassed a plentiful supply of chocolate so looks like I'm going to have to run even more over the next few weeks.
Unfortunately, on the flip side of all the fun and food, we have to say goodbye to our year 6's, some of which have been with us since year 3. Obviously, we'll be really sad to see them go but they're ready to move on as were our own daughter's last year. We wish them the best of luck at High School and hope they continue singing and all thing 'music'.
A Beginning
It's hard to believe that it's been two and half months already since we performed our ladies choir concert 'Film Fantasia'. After a committee meeting last week we began rehearsals again last night for a new concert. I have to say that I found the work on last years songs particularly hard, not only writing and re-writing harmonies but also painstakingly teaching the songs note by note to the ladies. I think this had a lot to do with the pressure from our business at the time along with home, life etc.... So this time we decided that in addition to some new selections we would re-use some of our old material as over the years we've sang some wonderful songs and it's such a shame not to resurrect them.
We finally went with a theme of musicals and asked the choir for suggestions regarding their favourite song choices. Some were VERY popular so we've made sure that these have been included along with some less used numbers and some new ones to keep things fresh.
First rehearsal went very well indeed last night (despite me being on 'piano duty') with two songs learnt in full in 3 parts. We have a couple of new members two which is always nice and only helps to enrich the overall sound. Here's hoping that next week's rehearsal goes even better, it's always so much easier to teach the parts when I can wave my arms around rather than hammer the piano keys :).
Thursday, 21 June 2012
June already?
Yes, it's June already and the longest day today too! Hard to believe really looking out the window. Today we have a mix of rain, cloud and yet more rain. Beginning to wonder if we will actually have a Summer this year.
The last few months have been full on with work, in fact, for our little business year 5 has been our busiest to date (not that we're complaining!).
The lovely ladies choir that I belong to finally put on their concert back in April after 9 months of busy rehearsal. We raised around £1600 in total half of which went to Short Cross Methodist Church and the other half toward research into Lupus. Since then we've taken the concert out to a couple of other venues and we'll be performing again on Saturday night but this time in aid of Birmingham St Mary's Hospice who do invaluable work offering help and support to people with terminal illness. This should then be our last performance of 'Film Fantasia' and then we'll have a short break before starting up again later in the Summer.
The school choir will be performing their Summer concert next Tuesday after rehearsing since January. During the last few weeks we've taken a small group from the choir to sing at the Salvation Army's Birmingham Citadel and also at the 'Time Out' group's Jubilee Party. We were made to feel very welcome on both occasions and children sang their hearts out. They're more than ready now to perform their final concert and I think we're all a little sick of the songs if I'm completely honest!
My running has recently come to a bit of a standstill unfortunately due to some health worries. Everything now looks to be clear so I'm hoping to get out for a run at the weekend. This will be my first in 2 months so as you can imagine I think I'll struggle to get to the end of the street rather than manage the 7 miles level I'd finally reached. It's a bit disappointing really as I felt I was doing so well, but I'm determined to get back to it and build it up gradually again as I did before.
The family are all well. The school year seems to have whizzed by so fast, can't believe 'A' is nearly at the end of her first year of high school. It doesn't seem 5 minutes since we were stressing about how she'd settle in. 'S' has had a good first year of study for his GCSE's and has done some marvellous things in Music in particular.
'P' celebrated his birthday at the start of the month so thought it was about time he booked in his birthday present from LAST year.....White Water Rafting. See my next post for all the fun and photos! He's still running and his performance has come on no end since he's been regularly running with the club. He has another race tomorrow in Blakedown and during March managed to win 1st place in the competition on RunBritain for most improved running handicap..
Arnold celebrated his 2nd birthday on Tuesday. Hard to believe he's been part of our family now for 2 years. I can still remember when he first came home with us, I had to wear my knee length boots around the house in the peak of Summer to fend off his feisty puppy needle teeth! Well worth the pain though, we wouldn't be without him :).
The last few months have been full on with work, in fact, for our little business year 5 has been our busiest to date (not that we're complaining!).
The lovely ladies choir that I belong to finally put on their concert back in April after 9 months of busy rehearsal. We raised around £1600 in total half of which went to Short Cross Methodist Church and the other half toward research into Lupus. Since then we've taken the concert out to a couple of other venues and we'll be performing again on Saturday night but this time in aid of Birmingham St Mary's Hospice who do invaluable work offering help and support to people with terminal illness. This should then be our last performance of 'Film Fantasia' and then we'll have a short break before starting up again later in the Summer.
The school choir will be performing their Summer concert next Tuesday after rehearsing since January. During the last few weeks we've taken a small group from the choir to sing at the Salvation Army's Birmingham Citadel and also at the 'Time Out' group's Jubilee Party. We were made to feel very welcome on both occasions and children sang their hearts out. They're more than ready now to perform their final concert and I think we're all a little sick of the songs if I'm completely honest!
My running has recently come to a bit of a standstill unfortunately due to some health worries. Everything now looks to be clear so I'm hoping to get out for a run at the weekend. This will be my first in 2 months so as you can imagine I think I'll struggle to get to the end of the street rather than manage the 7 miles level I'd finally reached. It's a bit disappointing really as I felt I was doing so well, but I'm determined to get back to it and build it up gradually again as I did before.
The family are all well. The school year seems to have whizzed by so fast, can't believe 'A' is nearly at the end of her first year of high school. It doesn't seem 5 minutes since we were stressing about how she'd settle in. 'S' has had a good first year of study for his GCSE's and has done some marvellous things in Music in particular.
'P' celebrated his birthday at the start of the month so thought it was about time he booked in his birthday present from LAST year.....White Water Rafting. See my next post for all the fun and photos! He's still running and his performance has come on no end since he's been regularly running with the club. He has another race tomorrow in Blakedown and during March managed to win 1st place in the competition on RunBritain for most improved running handicap..
Arnold celebrated his 2nd birthday on Tuesday. Hard to believe he's been part of our family now for 2 years. I can still remember when he first came home with us, I had to wear my knee length boots around the house in the peak of Summer to fend off his feisty puppy needle teeth! Well worth the pain though, we wouldn't be without him :).
Tuesday, 3 January 2012
Goodbye 2011 - A quick catch up
After an unintentional and rather long break from blogging, 2012 sees my return!
The end of 2011 was tied up with family life, choirs and A LOT of reorganising on the business front. December saw us take the school choir to the huge Young Voices event at the LG Arena in Birmingham (see here for last year's Young Voices post) along with a trip to the local Merry Hill Centre for their annual Choir Competition. Although, we weren't successful with the latter, the kids did themselves proud and we couldn't have asked them to do more. I was pretty choked up after their performance I can tell you.
Things have been extremely busy with work, this being the main reason for my absence from blogland (and cardmaking and crafting and basically anything fun!). We have been evaluating our business by means of several review workshops with a local company. This has seen us assessing our client base, finances and the services we offer in order to re-evaluate and push things forward from 2012 onwards. Doing the business review has helped us immensely. We now feel that rather than drifting from one contract to the next, we have an aim and a plan that will see our business grow, year on year. In fact I'm quite excited about the potential things we have lined up for this year.
Ladies choir kicks off again tonight and we're making great progress with our rehearsals for the upcoming concert in April. Three more harmonised songs to get through and then we're all done with the 'learning' part. Only staging and a bit of choreography to master then and we're good to go. School choir starts up again next week and I have a hell of a lot of work to do before then, preparing, recording and editing music. (Had most of the music since Sept and still only just got around to doing anything with it!).
'A' performed in 'Hairspray' with Youth Onstage at the beginning on December. A fabulous show with some super performances. Although, part of the chorus, 'A's confidence has grown no-end since she joined the group. She struggled with the late nights this time and looked a little washed out by the end of it all. She's decided to take a break from the next performance to give herself opportunity to try some of the drama available at school.
Christmas 2011 has been a far more relaxed one than of late. Due to our busy work schedule during the lead up to the festive season, we were more than happy to simply chill and spend time as a family. It was our turn to invite the family on Christmas Eve and this saw us offering our usual quiz to keep everyone entertained. It's been nice having the children at home but I feel ready now to get organised and take on whatever the new year has to throw at me.
The end of 2011 was tied up with family life, choirs and A LOT of reorganising on the business front. December saw us take the school choir to the huge Young Voices event at the LG Arena in Birmingham (see here for last year's Young Voices post) along with a trip to the local Merry Hill Centre for their annual Choir Competition. Although, we weren't successful with the latter, the kids did themselves proud and we couldn't have asked them to do more. I was pretty choked up after their performance I can tell you.
Things have been extremely busy with work, this being the main reason for my absence from blogland (and cardmaking and crafting and basically anything fun!). We have been evaluating our business by means of several review workshops with a local company. This has seen us assessing our client base, finances and the services we offer in order to re-evaluate and push things forward from 2012 onwards. Doing the business review has helped us immensely. We now feel that rather than drifting from one contract to the next, we have an aim and a plan that will see our business grow, year on year. In fact I'm quite excited about the potential things we have lined up for this year.
Ladies choir kicks off again tonight and we're making great progress with our rehearsals for the upcoming concert in April. Three more harmonised songs to get through and then we're all done with the 'learning' part. Only staging and a bit of choreography to master then and we're good to go. School choir starts up again next week and I have a hell of a lot of work to do before then, preparing, recording and editing music. (Had most of the music since Sept and still only just got around to doing anything with it!).
'A' performed in 'Hairspray' with Youth Onstage at the beginning on December. A fabulous show with some super performances. Although, part of the chorus, 'A's confidence has grown no-end since she joined the group. She struggled with the late nights this time and looked a little washed out by the end of it all. She's decided to take a break from the next performance to give herself opportunity to try some of the drama available at school.
Christmas 2011 has been a far more relaxed one than of late. Due to our busy work schedule during the lead up to the festive season, we were more than happy to simply chill and spend time as a family. It was our turn to invite the family on Christmas Eve and this saw us offering our usual quiz to keep everyone entertained. It's been nice having the children at home but I feel ready now to get organised and take on whatever the new year has to throw at me.
Friday, 23 September 2011
A September school update!
[caption id="attachment_1139" align="alignright" width="225" caption="'A' ready for first day at High School"]
[/caption]
Well 'A' has just finished her third week at High School and I'm so pleased to say she's absolutely loving it! She's finding the lessons so much more interesting and challenging than at Primary School and she's even now starting to get into a routine with homework. The first couple of weeks were hard as she found it almost impossible to get up and out on time each morning, but after lots of nagging and me finally losing it completely she's now started to pull her finger out! She joined the Rhythmic Gymnastics club this week and thoroughly enjoyed it and next week she'll be off to school orchestra for the first time. She helped out at school open evening on Tuesday by taking part in an organised badminton session and then afterwards within the Drama department. All in all we couldn't be happier at how well she's settle in.
'S' has begun studies for his GCSE's but has had a few problems with the subjects he's chosen. He has now swapped Woodwork for Food Tech but we're having major deliberations over whether he should change Music for Film Studies. I think he finds the whole prospect of completing his Music GCSE quite daunting, you see he can't read music and has never had any real instrumental lessons, but the thing is, he has a real musical talent and one we think should be encouraged. He has the ability to hear a song and magically recreate it on the piano which is something I could never do. I think his talent would come on no end by continuing with Music but he knows that we will not force him and the decision has to be his.
However, one good thing that has come out of his indecision is that regardless of whether he continues with Music as a school subject he's now decided that he wants to learn to play properly with lessons from yours truly as well as additional theory lessons. This is something we've tried many times before but up till now he's always want to 'play his own thing' and has not been interested in learning the 'technicalities'. Will keep you posted on his progress!
[/caption]Well 'A' has just finished her third week at High School and I'm so pleased to say she's absolutely loving it! She's finding the lessons so much more interesting and challenging than at Primary School and she's even now starting to get into a routine with homework. The first couple of weeks were hard as she found it almost impossible to get up and out on time each morning, but after lots of nagging and me finally losing it completely she's now started to pull her finger out! She joined the Rhythmic Gymnastics club this week and thoroughly enjoyed it and next week she'll be off to school orchestra for the first time. She helped out at school open evening on Tuesday by taking part in an organised badminton session and then afterwards within the Drama department. All in all we couldn't be happier at how well she's settle in.
'S' has begun studies for his GCSE's but has had a few problems with the subjects he's chosen. He has now swapped Woodwork for Food Tech but we're having major deliberations over whether he should change Music for Film Studies. I think he finds the whole prospect of completing his Music GCSE quite daunting, you see he can't read music and has never had any real instrumental lessons, but the thing is, he has a real musical talent and one we think should be encouraged. He has the ability to hear a song and magically recreate it on the piano which is something I could never do. I think his talent would come on no end by continuing with Music but he knows that we will not force him and the decision has to be his.
However, one good thing that has come out of his indecision is that regardless of whether he continues with Music as a school subject he's now decided that he wants to learn to play properly with lessons from yours truly as well as additional theory lessons. This is something we've tried many times before but up till now he's always want to 'play his own thing' and has not been interested in learning the 'technicalities'. Will keep you posted on his progress!
Friday, 27 May 2011
A May update (including wine!)
So......half term begins! Phew!
Been a busy last few weeks. 'A' had her SAT's a couple of weeks ago but the least said about that the better - a lot of needless stress and pressure if you ask me! She's now moved on to Sex Education (or 'THE' Education) as she calls it and rehearsals for the end of the term show, so much more interesting times all round :)
'S' is pleased that he's been offered the Options that he'd chosen and has been informed that they're all off to Drayton Manor Park at the end of term as a graduation reward from KS3 to KS4.
'P' and I had a lovely trip to The Three Choirs Vineyard on 13th May. I actually bought 'P' the voucher for wine tasting and a two course lunch for his birthday last year and due to the fact that it will soon be his birthday this year we thought we'd best get moving. The Vineyard itself did not disappoint, set in beautiful Gloucestershire countryside it really was idyllic. Unfortunately, the sun decided not to play ball on this occasion and headed off behind the clouds about 5 minutes after our arrival never to be seen again....well till the next day.
[caption id="attachment_881" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Wine tasting time!"]
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[caption id="attachment_882" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Wine tasting in the courtyard"]
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We walked around on the short guided tour and then returned to the courtyard to sample our selection of wines. Shortly after this we headed to the Vineyard Restaurant to enjoy our two course lunch. We were seated at a lovely table with a scenic outlook over the many acres of vineyard. Being midweek the whole place was very quiet but no less attention to detail was paid by the staff. The food was absolutely delicious, one of the best meals we've had and the fact that it was washed down by one of our 'tasting' choices made it even more memorable.
[caption id="attachment_883" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Lunch at the Three Choirs"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_884" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Lunch in the Vineyard Restaurant"]
[/caption]
School choir now have one rehearsal left before there Summer Concert next month and for once they actually seem quite ready! Shocking, I know ! We think the song choices have helped this year, funky as it is, all inklings of High School Musical have gone with their replacements being the likes of Hans Christian Anderson and South Pacific - much more choir friendly songs!
The ladies choir performed there concert 'It's a Man's World' again last night on behalf of Halesbury Special School to help raise much needed funds and awareness about the school. This went well and a fair number turned up to support which was nice.
So now, on the brink of June all thoughts in the Griffiths house turn to the imminent birthday on the year. Yes, 'P's big 4-0 that's coming up next week!!! So while he rapidly tries to complete his final year's uni work all celebration plans are left firmly in our hands. Brave, brave man ;)
[slideshow]
Been a busy last few weeks. 'A' had her SAT's a couple of weeks ago but the least said about that the better - a lot of needless stress and pressure if you ask me! She's now moved on to Sex Education (or 'THE' Education) as she calls it and rehearsals for the end of the term show, so much more interesting times all round :)
'S' is pleased that he's been offered the Options that he'd chosen and has been informed that they're all off to Drayton Manor Park at the end of term as a graduation reward from KS3 to KS4.
'P' and I had a lovely trip to The Three Choirs Vineyard on 13th May. I actually bought 'P' the voucher for wine tasting and a two course lunch for his birthday last year and due to the fact that it will soon be his birthday this year we thought we'd best get moving. The Vineyard itself did not disappoint, set in beautiful Gloucestershire countryside it really was idyllic. Unfortunately, the sun decided not to play ball on this occasion and headed off behind the clouds about 5 minutes after our arrival never to be seen again....well till the next day.
[caption id="attachment_881" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Wine tasting time!"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_882" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Wine tasting in the courtyard"]
[/caption]We walked around on the short guided tour and then returned to the courtyard to sample our selection of wines. Shortly after this we headed to the Vineyard Restaurant to enjoy our two course lunch. We were seated at a lovely table with a scenic outlook over the many acres of vineyard. Being midweek the whole place was very quiet but no less attention to detail was paid by the staff. The food was absolutely delicious, one of the best meals we've had and the fact that it was washed down by one of our 'tasting' choices made it even more memorable.
[caption id="attachment_883" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Lunch at the Three Choirs"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_884" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Lunch in the Vineyard Restaurant"]
[/caption]School choir now have one rehearsal left before there Summer Concert next month and for once they actually seem quite ready! Shocking, I know ! We think the song choices have helped this year, funky as it is, all inklings of High School Musical have gone with their replacements being the likes of Hans Christian Anderson and South Pacific - much more choir friendly songs!
The ladies choir performed there concert 'It's a Man's World' again last night on behalf of Halesbury Special School to help raise much needed funds and awareness about the school. This went well and a fair number turned up to support which was nice.
So now, on the brink of June all thoughts in the Griffiths house turn to the imminent birthday on the year. Yes, 'P's big 4-0 that's coming up next week!!! So while he rapidly tries to complete his final year's uni work all celebration plans are left firmly in our hands. Brave, brave man ;)
[slideshow]
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
Youth Onstage do HSM!
Back in January 'A' joined a group called YouthOnstage in Birmingham. The group had been recommended by a lady called Jude Petty who just happened to be attending one of the courses we deliver. 'P' mentioned to her that 'A' loved singing, dancing and acting and she thought she might like to give it a try. At first, although she enjoyed rehearsals, I think she found it a little hard joining a group where she didn't know a soul and we were extremely proud of her for giving it a try and continuing to attend each week. What probably didn't help was our holiday back in February that took her away from rehearsals for 3 weeks, but unfortunately this had been booked and paid for long before 'A' had ever decided to join Youth Onstage. However, a few weeks into her return and we could see her confidence was beginning to blossom and she slowly started to speak of new friends and good times.
Last week Youth Onstage performed High School Musical at the Old Rep theatre in Birmingham and what a superb performance it was. We'd already seen the group perform their pantomime back in December so we knew what they were capable of but it was great to see even more talented youngsters taking the lead the parts.
It never ceases to amaze me that a group of youngsters aged 9 to 21 can have such power when they sing and I know many adult societies who could take a leaf from their book. The whole cast has such an enthusiasm for what they do and you can see their enjoyment as they perform. Music for the show was directed by Andy Johnson and the trickier numbers such as Stick to the Status Quo were handled with ease. Suzy Petty was in charge of choreography and as with the pantomime it was great to see the whole cast taking part in many of the dances along with the more challenging routines that the cheerleaders and basketball players had to learn. Direction was by Deb Brook and was fabulous, nothing was over played, the actors and actresses reactions were timed to perfection. Our only fault with the show would be that in some of the songs the backing music was a little loud which meant that it was difficult to hear the soloist at times. On many occasions however, the soloist was then joined by chorus which meant the track volume was required to be louder to compete with their fantastic volume :).
There were far too many talented individuals to mention them all but we were really impressed with Alick Draper and Georgia Towler who played Ryan and Sharpay. Their comic interpretation of the characters was superb, especially with Alick 'camping' it up whenever he possibly could. Hannah Brook and Adam Brown did the roles of Gabriella and Troy justice and were careful not to overplay the parts - their voices combined wonderfully. Hannah Thomas playing 'Kelsie' was also a hit with us - we also couldn't believe how much she looked like the actual 'Kelsie' from the film!
It was a tiring week for 'A' with dress rehearsals on both bank holiday Monday and also Tuesday evening and then the show itself began on Wednesday evening and ran till Saturday. But however tired she was her enthusiasm didn't wane and we could tell she'd thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience of being on stage and the atmosphere that goes with being part of a cast and show such as this. She's made some great friends and is always keen to tell us how pleasant and friendly everyone is - she can't wait to return in September when rehearsals start for 'Hairspray'. She actually asked me this morning, "Is it YOS tonight?".........I think she has the bug!
Last week Youth Onstage performed High School Musical at the Old Rep theatre in Birmingham and what a superb performance it was. We'd already seen the group perform their pantomime back in December so we knew what they were capable of but it was great to see even more talented youngsters taking the lead the parts.
It never ceases to amaze me that a group of youngsters aged 9 to 21 can have such power when they sing and I know many adult societies who could take a leaf from their book. The whole cast has such an enthusiasm for what they do and you can see their enjoyment as they perform. Music for the show was directed by Andy Johnson and the trickier numbers such as Stick to the Status Quo were handled with ease. Suzy Petty was in charge of choreography and as with the pantomime it was great to see the whole cast taking part in many of the dances along with the more challenging routines that the cheerleaders and basketball players had to learn. Direction was by Deb Brook and was fabulous, nothing was over played, the actors and actresses reactions were timed to perfection. Our only fault with the show would be that in some of the songs the backing music was a little loud which meant that it was difficult to hear the soloist at times. On many occasions however, the soloist was then joined by chorus which meant the track volume was required to be louder to compete with their fantastic volume :).There were far too many talented individuals to mention them all but we were really impressed with Alick Draper and Georgia Towler who played Ryan and Sharpay. Their comic interpretation of the characters was superb, especially with Alick 'camping' it up whenever he possibly could. Hannah Brook and Adam Brown did the roles of Gabriella and Troy justice and were careful not to overplay the parts - their voices combined wonderfully. Hannah Thomas playing 'Kelsie' was also a hit with us - we also couldn't believe how much she looked like the actual 'Kelsie' from the film!
It was a tiring week for 'A' with dress rehearsals on both bank holiday Monday and also Tuesday evening and then the show itself began on Wednesday evening and ran till Saturday. But however tired she was her enthusiasm didn't wane and we could tell she'd thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience of being on stage and the atmosphere that goes with being part of a cast and show such as this. She's made some great friends and is always keen to tell us how pleasant and friendly everyone is - she can't wait to return in September when rehearsals start for 'Hairspray'. She actually asked me this morning, "Is it YOS tonight?".........I think she has the bug!
Wednesday, 9 February 2011
A busy week!
Well, the clock is ticking and the weekend's drawing nearer. I keep thinking that everything is now done and prepared for the holiday but then another little item crops up on my 'to do' list!
Cases are at least packed (kind of) but hand luggage is still to do. I always have a real panic when we go to Cornwall for the week, always thinking there's something I've forgot to pack or do, so as you can imagine a 3 week holiday is a bit of a nightmare for me in the 'panic stakes'!
My quiet week has turn out to be 'not' so quiet. My work list seems to be getting longer as the week gets shorter. With risk assessments still to write, emails to send, bookings to deal with and accounts to manage, holiday packing is now becoming less of a priority as we try to tie up all the loose ends with the business before going away. Who on earth takes a 3 week holiday when they run their own business?............hmmmm we do! Oh well, once we're there I insist that there will be no talk of health and safety (and yes 'P', that involves your overly critical assessment of any Disney attractions and whether they have a safe system of work in place! ;) ).
'S' is off to Baggeridge Country Park tomorrow with school on the Leadership Program. He's really pleased to have been chosen to take part but as he's a little scared of heights he's also rather worried about the prospective zip wires and abseiling he may have to partake in! I've already told him that he can use it as a practice run for the stomach churning things Disney and Universal has in store for us!
'A's had a good week with better results in her mental maths tests. She's had a couple of maths tests to complete at home before we go away but we don't mind seeing as she's missing a bit of time from school. She's also off to see a Michael Morpurgo play on Friday at the local theatre.
'P' and I had a rather different experience last week when we went for a treatment of 'Hopi Ear Candling'. After 'P's cold and my ear problems whilst flying we thought it might be worth a try as we'd read some great things about it online. The whole experience was quite pleasant and not at all uncomfortable. It involves the insertion of a hollow tube or 'candle' just inside the ear and then the top is lit. As this burns down to a certain point it creates a kind of vacuum which removes blockages from the ear. Yes, I know it's a bit gross but after the treatment you can even open up the candle to see what has been removed - the results were amazing! I'm popping back again tomorrow with 'A' to have a second treatment and she's also having hers done to help with flight pain.
Music preparation has also been a little busy this week but this has been very productive as we now have some idea of an order for the school concert. Still a bit of recording to do for the backing CD but at least Jo has some new stuff to be going on with while I'm not there on piano duty :) After yesterday's rehearsal I don't envy her! Our 56 well behaved choir newbies have now settled in and are starting to push the boundaries a little! I'm sure she will have them eating out of her hand by the time I return though.
No worries on the ladies choir front. It feels like we've been learning the songs for soooooo long now with all the concert postponements that we know them inside out! The only one we were still struggling with was Queen song 'Somebody to Love'. There is constant 3 part harmony in this throughout the whole song along with Yvonne and I doing solo lines and the whole thing has been a bit of a challenge. Over the last couple of weeks though, this one has really come together and all that's left to do is a bit of polishing to tidy up the timing and expression. I've told them I'm expecting great things when I return in 3 weeks :)
Cases are at least packed (kind of) but hand luggage is still to do. I always have a real panic when we go to Cornwall for the week, always thinking there's something I've forgot to pack or do, so as you can imagine a 3 week holiday is a bit of a nightmare for me in the 'panic stakes'!
My quiet week has turn out to be 'not' so quiet. My work list seems to be getting longer as the week gets shorter. With risk assessments still to write, emails to send, bookings to deal with and accounts to manage, holiday packing is now becoming less of a priority as we try to tie up all the loose ends with the business before going away. Who on earth takes a 3 week holiday when they run their own business?............hmmmm we do! Oh well, once we're there I insist that there will be no talk of health and safety (and yes 'P', that involves your overly critical assessment of any Disney attractions and whether they have a safe system of work in place! ;) ).
'S' is off to Baggeridge Country Park tomorrow with school on the Leadership Program. He's really pleased to have been chosen to take part but as he's a little scared of heights he's also rather worried about the prospective zip wires and abseiling he may have to partake in! I've already told him that he can use it as a practice run for the stomach churning things Disney and Universal has in store for us!
'A's had a good week with better results in her mental maths tests. She's had a couple of maths tests to complete at home before we go away but we don't mind seeing as she's missing a bit of time from school. She's also off to see a Michael Morpurgo play on Friday at the local theatre.
Ear Candling!
'P' and I had a rather different experience last week when we went for a treatment of 'Hopi Ear Candling'. After 'P's cold and my ear problems whilst flying we thought it might be worth a try as we'd read some great things about it online. The whole experience was quite pleasant and not at all uncomfortable. It involves the insertion of a hollow tube or 'candle' just inside the ear and then the top is lit. As this burns down to a certain point it creates a kind of vacuum which removes blockages from the ear. Yes, I know it's a bit gross but after the treatment you can even open up the candle to see what has been removed - the results were amazing! I'm popping back again tomorrow with 'A' to have a second treatment and she's also having hers done to help with flight pain.
School Choir
Music preparation has also been a little busy this week but this has been very productive as we now have some idea of an order for the school concert. Still a bit of recording to do for the backing CD but at least Jo has some new stuff to be going on with while I'm not there on piano duty :) After yesterday's rehearsal I don't envy her! Our 56 well behaved choir newbies have now settled in and are starting to push the boundaries a little! I'm sure she will have them eating out of her hand by the time I return though.
Ladies Choir
No worries on the ladies choir front. It feels like we've been learning the songs for soooooo long now with all the concert postponements that we know them inside out! The only one we were still struggling with was Queen song 'Somebody to Love'. There is constant 3 part harmony in this throughout the whole song along with Yvonne and I doing solo lines and the whole thing has been a bit of a challenge. Over the last couple of weeks though, this one has really come together and all that's left to do is a bit of polishing to tidy up the timing and expression. I've told them I'm expecting great things when I return in 3 weeks :)
Tuesday, 18 January 2011
Tuesday's Treasures - Choir memories
Thought it was about time for another of Tuesday's Treasures!
My treasure this week is a group photograph that was taken last Summer of our 'then' school choir with Jo and I. Although we have now been running the choir at our children's primary school since January 2008 this was the first time I'd been around and available to have my photo taken with the children (we're normally away on holiday that week...........yes I know, shouldn't take them during term time blah blah blah!).
If you count up you can see there are 40 children on the photo which includes our own daughters. Choir started up again last week and we welcomed a new batch of year 3 children along with new members from the other key stage 2 classes. We now have the grand total of 55 - our biggest choir to date..........a much wider photo required this year I think!
PHOTO REMOVED due to request of an 'anonymous' party
Sunday, 16 January 2011
My apologetic return to blogging.........
What is it about taking a break from the blog? A week off over Christmas, turned into a chilled fortnight, which before I knew it turned into a neglectful month! The trouble was, the prospect of getting back into blogging became like that 'thank you' phone call you should have made a month ago that you know you still need to make but now somehow seems somewhat embarrassing as it's taken so long! (Does that makes sense?)
So, before I unleash my first post of 2011 upon you all, please accept the above ramble as my sincere apology and rest assured I am now back to full posting health!
Where to start? Well, Christmas was quiet but lovely (as always!) with Christmas Eve spent with family, Christmas Day at home and New Year at Steph and Dave's.
[caption id="attachment_494" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Hydrotherapy Pool - Lion Quays"]
[/caption]
P and I also had a lovely night away at Lion Quays in Chirk, Oswestry just after Christmas. This was our first visit to Lion Quays and we were very impressed. Our room booking included use of the main pool and gym but for an extra £15 each we were also able to use the Lion Quays Spa. I have to say this is the nicest spa I've ever visited and our afternoon there was complete heaven. The spa included a hydrotherapy pool, steam room, sauna, warm room, experience showers, snow cave (yes, I was brave enough to give this a try) and sun meadow. There were also many treatment rooms, a bistro and relaxation room with complimentary herbal drinks etc.
[caption id="attachment_497" align="alignright" width="137" caption="Lion Quays"]
[/caption]
We ate in the main restaurant on the evening and once again we were impressed with the service and quality of the food. Lion Quays is definitely one for the hot list and we will definitely be visiting again, hopefully in the not too distant future. Rest assured the seed has also been planted with 'the girls' ;).
The new year routine has now kicked back into action with our first choir rehearsal for both the school and ladies choir last Tuesday. Both went really well, especially the school choir where we now have quite a few new members. We've introduced some new choir rules where the children compete against us as leaders to win chocolate at the end of the term. Week one saw excellent behaviour from the children and concluded in a point to the them but I remain confident that the choir leaders, ie, us, will reign triumphant and the chocolate will be ours :). The ladies choir went well on the whole but 'Somebody to Love' was a little rusty after the Christmas break. A little work on this over the next couple of weeks should have it polished and ready for April's concert.
Work is steady but mainly spending our time tying up loose ends before our trip to................wait for it..................Florida! Yes, Florida! This requires a separate post of its own, but our much awaited holiday to Florida is now only 4 weeks away and I'm so excited I could vomit! Florida preparations to follow shortly.
Couple of good bits of news for 'A'. The dancing exam she took before Christmas saw her achieving a distinction with 82 marks overall and Friday also saw her receiving the achievement certificate at school. Her teacher comments were that she's "an all round ray of sunshine".......awww, if only she could see her when she's screaming at her brother or unable to get out of bed each morning. Seriously though, I am very proud of her and pleased that she's settled back in at school after a rough term before Christmas.
After being introduced to the group through one of our course delegates, she's now also joined the group Youth On Stage who put on shows twice a year in the Birmingham area. We went to see their pantomime before Christmas and they truly were superb, especially considering they range in age from only 9 to 21. She's loving every minute of the twice weekly rehearsals although she is struggling with the late nights. None the less, the prospect of performing 'High School Musical' at the Old Rep in May is motivation enough to keep her going.
Not much going on for 'S' at the moment although he is coming close to the crucial options choices at school. He's decided he would like to be a sports teacher as his main love has always been sport. He's now in the process of speaking to various teachers to assess what subjects he needs and which teachers will accept him for their subject.
So there you have it, first post of the year. Ok, so it wasn't so painful (for me anyway) and now I've broken the blogging 'seal' I should be ok to spout off a bit more frequently.
Now for piccies..........bye for now!
[slideshow]
So, before I unleash my first post of 2011 upon you all, please accept the above ramble as my sincere apology and rest assured I am now back to full posting health!
Where to start? Well, Christmas was quiet but lovely (as always!) with Christmas Eve spent with family, Christmas Day at home and New Year at Steph and Dave's.
[caption id="attachment_494" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Hydrotherapy Pool - Lion Quays"]
[/caption]P and I also had a lovely night away at Lion Quays in Chirk, Oswestry just after Christmas. This was our first visit to Lion Quays and we were very impressed. Our room booking included use of the main pool and gym but for an extra £15 each we were also able to use the Lion Quays Spa. I have to say this is the nicest spa I've ever visited and our afternoon there was complete heaven. The spa included a hydrotherapy pool, steam room, sauna, warm room, experience showers, snow cave (yes, I was brave enough to give this a try) and sun meadow. There were also many treatment rooms, a bistro and relaxation room with complimentary herbal drinks etc.
[caption id="attachment_497" align="alignright" width="137" caption="Lion Quays"]
[/caption]We ate in the main restaurant on the evening and once again we were impressed with the service and quality of the food. Lion Quays is definitely one for the hot list and we will definitely be visiting again, hopefully in the not too distant future. Rest assured the seed has also been planted with 'the girls' ;).
The new year routine has now kicked back into action with our first choir rehearsal for both the school and ladies choir last Tuesday. Both went really well, especially the school choir where we now have quite a few new members. We've introduced some new choir rules where the children compete against us as leaders to win chocolate at the end of the term. Week one saw excellent behaviour from the children and concluded in a point to the them but I remain confident that the choir leaders, ie, us, will reign triumphant and the chocolate will be ours :). The ladies choir went well on the whole but 'Somebody to Love' was a little rusty after the Christmas break. A little work on this over the next couple of weeks should have it polished and ready for April's concert.
Work is steady but mainly spending our time tying up loose ends before our trip to................wait for it..................Florida! Yes, Florida! This requires a separate post of its own, but our much awaited holiday to Florida is now only 4 weeks away and I'm so excited I could vomit! Florida preparations to follow shortly.
An 'A' update
Couple of good bits of news for 'A'. The dancing exam she took before Christmas saw her achieving a distinction with 82 marks overall and Friday also saw her receiving the achievement certificate at school. Her teacher comments were that she's "an all round ray of sunshine".......awww, if only she could see her when she's screaming at her brother or unable to get out of bed each morning. Seriously though, I am very proud of her and pleased that she's settled back in at school after a rough term before Christmas.
After being introduced to the group through one of our course delegates, she's now also joined the group Youth On Stage who put on shows twice a year in the Birmingham area. We went to see their pantomime before Christmas and they truly were superb, especially considering they range in age from only 9 to 21. She's loving every minute of the twice weekly rehearsals although she is struggling with the late nights. None the less, the prospect of performing 'High School Musical' at the Old Rep in May is motivation enough to keep her going.
An 'S' update
Not much going on for 'S' at the moment although he is coming close to the crucial options choices at school. He's decided he would like to be a sports teacher as his main love has always been sport. He's now in the process of speaking to various teachers to assess what subjects he needs and which teachers will accept him for their subject.
So there you have it, first post of the year. Ok, so it wasn't so painful (for me anyway) and now I've broken the blogging 'seal' I should be ok to spout off a bit more frequently.
Now for piccies..........bye for now!
[slideshow]
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
It's a Most Musical Time of the Year
Well, since the end of the November it's been constant non-stop music (not that I'm complaining!). As I've already posted, there was the Young Voices concert back on the 25th November and then yesterday we took the school choir to perform for the first time at the Merry Hill Choir Competition (Merry Hill being our local shopping mall for those of you not in the local area). The competition has been held over 10 days with 10 choirs performing on each day. We chose to enter the 'Best Newcomer' category this year as it was our first time taking part.
The kids did great job but I definitely think Jo and I were more nervous than them! Our final choice of songs were Now's the Time, Waiting for Christmas Eve, Mary's Lullaby, When Christmas Comes Around and The World in Union, 3 of which were written by myself and lyrics for 'When Christmas Comes Around' by Jo and I. We have to wait now for news of whether we've made it to the final as apparently 2 choirs go through from each day. It would be great if we had but even if we don't it's been a super experience for us and the kids all the same.
Mom and I went to Birmingham Symphony Hall last Monday to see the John Wilson Orchestra and special guests. This was a fantastic night and I have to say that the John Wilson Orchestra is by far the best orchestra I've heard at Symphony Hall in recent years. The concert performed was one that was aired last year as part of the Proms season and featured a night of MGM musical numbers. Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy creator and voice) was one of the special guests with a highlight for me being his 'Stewie' impression whilst singing 'That's Entertainment' as an encore. All performers were top quality though including Curtis Stigers who I actually thought sounded much better than I remembered him in the original performance on TV. Another great highlight from the concert was the music from the 'Barn Raising Scene' in 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'. At this point the percussionists who were directly in front of us decided to get the audience clapping and actually did their own little dance at the back of the stage! I really do love to watch John Wilson as a conductor. He always looks like he's having such a great time and constantly smiles and nods to the other members of the orchestra. He really looks like a guy who is truly living the dream.
Rehearsals for our Ladies Choir concert 'It's a Man's World' are now on hold over Christmas while we rehearse for the Christmas Carol Service on 19th December. The concert should have originally been in October but due to various illnesses and injuries (yes, there really were that many!) it has now been postponed until the first weekend in April. I guess that really does give us no excuse for not being ready!!
The kids did great job but I definitely think Jo and I were more nervous than them! Our final choice of songs were Now's the Time, Waiting for Christmas Eve, Mary's Lullaby, When Christmas Comes Around and The World in Union, 3 of which were written by myself and lyrics for 'When Christmas Comes Around' by Jo and I. We have to wait now for news of whether we've made it to the final as apparently 2 choirs go through from each day. It would be great if we had but even if we don't it's been a super experience for us and the kids all the same.
Mom and I went to Birmingham Symphony Hall last Monday to see the John Wilson Orchestra and special guests. This was a fantastic night and I have to say that the John Wilson Orchestra is by far the best orchestra I've heard at Symphony Hall in recent years. The concert performed was one that was aired last year as part of the Proms season and featured a night of MGM musical numbers. Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy creator and voice) was one of the special guests with a highlight for me being his 'Stewie' impression whilst singing 'That's Entertainment' as an encore. All performers were top quality though including Curtis Stigers who I actually thought sounded much better than I remembered him in the original performance on TV. Another great highlight from the concert was the music from the 'Barn Raising Scene' in 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'. At this point the percussionists who were directly in front of us decided to get the audience clapping and actually did their own little dance at the back of the stage! I really do love to watch John Wilson as a conductor. He always looks like he's having such a great time and constantly smiles and nods to the other members of the orchestra. He really looks like a guy who is truly living the dream.
Rehearsals for our Ladies Choir concert 'It's a Man's World' are now on hold over Christmas while we rehearse for the Christmas Carol Service on 19th December. The concert should have originally been in October but due to various illnesses and injuries (yes, there really were that many!) it has now been postponed until the first weekend in April. I guess that really does give us no excuse for not being ready!!
Tuesday, 16 November 2010
Tuesday's Treasures - Old Faithful!
For week 2 of Tuesday's Treasures I've decided to post a picture of my lovely piano.
[caption id="attachment_378" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="My Pride & Joy!"]
[/caption]This piano was bought for me when I was 7 years old (I'm now *ahem 34)! It was bought as a gift from my Grandad on the condition that I practised hard and learned to play 'properly'. I kept my promise and after much cajoling and nagging from Mom and Dad took my Grade 8 aged 15 - I hope I did him and them proud.
Although, I now also have a digital piano which is great for recording and other fancy techno stuff, it will never replace 'old faithful'. I've always loved the sound of this piano, especially the rich bass notes, however it's probably now in need of a little tlc as it could do with new felts inside along with other bits and pieces. Never-the-less, it still holds a special place in my heart and I could never part with it.
Tuesday, 2 November 2010
School Choir
As most of you know my friend Jo and I set up a choir at our daughter's primary school in 2007 as we felt this was something the school lacked. The choir has gone from strength to strength ever since and we now have 38 members. This number will no doubt grow in January when we have an intake of Year 3's.
In the run up to Christmas we keep to our Year 4, 5 and 6's. The children perform at the 'Young Voices' event in Birmingham and this can be a very tiring and long day, and would be especially so for Year 3. We took part in Young Voices for the first time last year and the experience was amazing! We always give Year 3 the opportunity to join in January when we start work on our Summer concert.
This year we will also be taking part in the Merry Hill Choir Competition for the very first time. We're very excited about this as are the children! We have to perform for 15 minutes and include at least 3 Christmas themed songs. We've chosen to perform two of the Christmas songs I've written (one of which Jo and I jointly wrote lyrics to) and also our 'signature' tune, Now's the Time, as we felt these would be new and original and help to set us apart from the other choirs taking part!
I can't believe we only have 4 weeks to get the children to learn these new songs - what a challenge that's going to be!
In the run up to Christmas we keep to our Year 4, 5 and 6's. The children perform at the 'Young Voices' event in Birmingham and this can be a very tiring and long day, and would be especially so for Year 3. We took part in Young Voices for the first time last year and the experience was amazing! We always give Year 3 the opportunity to join in January when we start work on our Summer concert.
This year we will also be taking part in the Merry Hill Choir Competition for the very first time. We're very excited about this as are the children! We have to perform for 15 minutes and include at least 3 Christmas themed songs. We've chosen to perform two of the Christmas songs I've written (one of which Jo and I jointly wrote lyrics to) and also our 'signature' tune, Now's the Time, as we felt these would be new and original and help to set us apart from the other choirs taking part!
I can't believe we only have 4 weeks to get the children to learn these new songs - what a challenge that's going to be!
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