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 :).

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!"][/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 ;)

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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

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!!

Pre December Update!

There's a lot going on recently but nothing that particularly warranted a full on 'post' all of it's own, therefore I thought I'd blog a little 'update'.

Can you believe it's only 30 days until Christmas? It only seems 5 minutes since I was lying on a beach in Majorca - browning nicely and now here I am, hat, scarf and gloves at the ready and precariously plodding my way to school as the dog nearly pulls me over on the icy pavements!  Say what you like though about the hype, but I do love this time of year with the anticipation of Christmas.  Cold, frosty mornings are wonder and especially so when walking a dog - why didn't anyone ever tell me?  We'd have had him much sooner :)

My Christmas pressy buying is not going too badly (for once) although I always seem to make a good start and then my enthusiasm dwindles, leaving me with 26 presents still to buy come Christmas eve!  How are you all getting on?  You're all going to tell me now that you started in July and they're already wrapped aren't you?

Got a busy week this week.  Monday started off with Dancing and Guides for 'A' as normal with an extra rehearsal thrown in ready for her Preliminary Modern exam this coming Sunday.  Yesterday (Tuesday) was our very last school choir rehearsal for the 'Young Voices' concert taking place tomorrow at the NEC in Birmingham.  The kids are really hyped (as am I!) about the whole thing although I think some of the younger members are a little nervous.  They're really in for a great day though if last year was anything to go by.

Tonight I'm off to see my lovely friend Jo playing 'Edith' in 'Allo 'Allo which is being performed by Mayhem Theatre Group.  From the little tit-bits I've heard so far, I can't wait! (More to come on this tomorrow :) )

As I've already mentioned tomorrow I'll be off to the NEC with the school choir.  It's going to be a long but very enjoyable day.  We leave school around 1pm and won't be returning till around half ten.  As much as I love the snow and frosty weather, let's hope it at least holds off to allow us a safe and swift journey there and back.

Friday is a quieter day, although it is the School's Christmas fayre which I no doubt will be attending to test my luck on the old tombola :).  'S' also has a friend sleeping over Friday night as a treat for his 14th Birthday.  Gone are the days of keeping them entertained though, luckily they'll be quite happy with a pizza and an evening of Xbox!

After such a busy week I'm relieved to say the weekend is a quiet one.  'A' has her dance exam Sunday morning but other than that I'm looking forward to a nice relaxing time with a morsel of Christmas cooking and cardmaking thrown in for good measure.

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!