Good Good Friday

Had a very interesting Good Friday, with two crucifixions!
I had arranged to meet a friend for breakfast, so we walked down to a local cafe and had delicious French toast with berries, yummy!

                                                         (photo from bakingandbooks.com)
My cousin (I think I've mentioned her before, opera singer) offered me a ticket to the St. John Passion in the National Concert Hall: she was performing in it. Her Mum, who is my 1st cousin, was using the other free ticket, so it was a chance for us to meet up and catch up.

 We had a sandwich and coffee beforehand, and a lovely chat. She showed me video on her phone of my 87 y/o uncle, her Dad, dancing to Ceili music in his kitchen. He is passionate about Ceili music, and seeing his face light up as he danced (with his walking stick) was hilarious!
This photo of the Passion rehearsal was on the facebook page of the NCH:

My cousin is 2nd from the left in the front, with her legs crossed! I always find it funny that they wear jeans in rehearsal, then look so completely different when dressed up!

The St. John Passion was fabulous: I don't want to use the word enjoyable in relation to a religious event, but I loved the music and found it quite emotional.

I had to rush off straight after the concert, as I was playing with the band in a little church on the outskirts of the city. It's an African community church, in an industrial estate unit, and the contrast with the Concert Hall was immense! They had a few Gospel choirs, very lively music, and a very graphic enactment of the Passion, including a crucifixion (rope, not nails, though they did hammer several times on the ground to mimic the nails going in, and the "victim" did yell very loudly).
We played some beautiful hymns, and the congregation were really appreciative of our music, even though it was totally different to their own.

Eventually got home about 10.00! It was probably the most eventful Good Friday I've ever had!

Back with random pics.

It has been a very busy few weeks, but lots of exciting things have happened.

First up, and most recent, was Zoe's Debs. The guy in the photo is a friend from band. She had been to his debs the previous week, so they were old hat at posing for photos! Don't they look lovely?

Can you see the bruises on her legs? She has started college, and is cycling to and fro. She was knocked off her bike on Tuesday morning by a taxi. He did stop, but I don't think he really took responsibility, and tried to convince her it was at least half her fault. I don't agree. Luckily, she was wearing a helmet, PHEW. But her poor legs and one elbow are badly bruised. I know that insurance probably advises drivers to get away and stay away, but it would have been nice to get a phone call to double check that she was ok. That is how (i think) it would have happened in my days of cycling, but all that has changed now, and it's all about not admitting liability. She is doing fine , and is back on her bike.

In other news, it's been hectic at school. I've got some new projects going on this year. One is called Dissolving Boundaries, and for that one we link with a school in Northern Ireland, do a joint project, some videoconferencing, and bring the students to meet each other. Should be exciting! The kick-off meeting for that was last Wednesday night and Thursday, though I only made Thursday cos of the Debs.

Hubby and I had a lovely lunch out at the end of summer, and this picture is the dessert I had. It was so yummy! i just found the picture when I was uploading from the camera, and it brought back the lovely memory of a happy afternoon.

One other happy afternoon, spent at a local beach, yielded this picture, and again, it reminded me of that lovely afternoon when I uploaded it.
I'm going to try to do a post each Saturday from now on, as I feel I have neglected my blog, and discarded so many photos that I simply didn't have time to upload. We'll see how it goes!

Band is busy again; we are going to a competition in Armagh soon, so lots of practice scheduled, but tomorrow we have a day off as there is a replay of a football match that ended in a draw last time. There is too much traffic and not enough parking in town on those days. Part of me hopes tomorrow is another draw!!!

What a Weekend! And a nugget of wisdom!

 We were in Clonakilty, Cork, for the South of Ireland Band Championships.

What a lot of fun!  (I'm 3rd Horn from the right, again!)
 Each of the bands plays in the school hall, at the competition, but also on the street! That was so much fun! I don't know why there's a monkey on top of the phone box!

 I'm discovering how different venues/acoustics affect the sound. On the street, I couldn't hear any of the other instruments, which made it really difficult to know if I was with the others or not.

We won 1st place in the Senior Competition, and part of winning is a Victory Train Ride through the town!

  The Lord Mayor comes on the train with the winners!

It was hilarious! If there's one thing guaranteed to get adults to instantly become children, it's a mini-train! We piled in and started singing, clapping, cheering!

Then, in the pub, they filled our cup with a cocktail of booze.

 It was passed around for everyone to have a taste.

During the night's celebrations, I was constantly surprised at the taking of photos (for Facebook). A night out has totally changed since I used to do this regularly- it's all about recording it!

And within minutes it's on Facebook!

 Would need to either not care or take extreme care to behave well!

(pictures 1 and 3 are from  Richard Tyndall Photography)

I was browsing through documents tonight and came across "Things to Give Up".

Give up thinking you’re not ready. – Nobody ever feels 100% ready when an opportunity arises. Because most great opportunities in life force us to grow beyond our comfort zones, which means we won’t feel totally comfortable at first.

I'm so glad that I sometimes listen to my own (or the internet's!) advice, and that I went ahead and joined the Band. It's one of the best decisions I've ever made with my life.

in the run up..

The past 2 weeks have been really hectic, especially with band concerts and Carol services, and now my body has given the "rest" instruction! I've decided to take it easy today, and leave shopping and preparations till tonight/tomorrow.

I was at the Band Party last night, and it was a whizz. I really enjoyed meeting my fellow musicians away from the music, and just getting to know them as people. They're such a lovely group, and so supportive.

It's funny how, when you come into a group of people as the "newbie", you make assumptions about the people already there. Or at least, I made assumptions. And last night I discovered that lots of those assumptions were wrong. One player, who I thought had been with the band for years, only joined last year. So she's almost a newbie too! Another player who I thought was very confident, is quite nervous when playing solos.

And so on. As well as being a good night out, I learned a lot, and I will be a different person when I come into that band hall in January 2012.

How are your preparations coming along? Is everything organised?

Wish me luck, please.

Tomorrow is my first "gig" with the new band, and I'm a bit nervous. It's at a Mass, and most of the music is fine, but there are one or two pieces that I've seen for all of 3 minutes, then the rehearsal moves on to the next piece! Honestly!


I bring my camera to rehearsals and take a quick photo of the pieces, so I can practice in between. Most of the players think this is hilarious!
I have decided that I'll just play what I can, and count through the rest, but in my heart I really want to play most of the music.
So, please keep your fingers crossed that I don't make a "holy show" of myself!

In other news, look at what our garden is STILL producing...in November! can't believe it!
This raspberry bush was a Mothers' Day present and this is its first year. I cannot believe how many bowls of raspberries it has given, and as the weather is still very mild here, the bush thinks it's September!

Phew!

I'm not sure if I mentioned that I joined a new band at the end of August.

That's one of the reasons why I haven't been posting much recently. To say that I'm out of my comfort-zone would be a serious understatement. The standard is very high, there are some professional musicians, some music teachers, some people who've played for 20, 30 years, and then there's me...took up my French Horn 6 years ago, practice as much as I get time to , and LOVE it.The moment I had been dreading came tonight. The other 3 French Horns were absent.

Nobody to lean on, or hide behind!

So, I was all alone. And if that wasn't bad enough, tonight's conductor is a French Horn player. I just knew that every time I'd play a wrong note, he must hear it, above any other instrument in the band.
Kept my nerve until the interval, and kept thinking "I'll go home at the interval if they haven't thrown me out before then".

Got chatting to the player next to me during the interval, and he encouraged me to just play what I can, "you're doing great".

After the interval, one of the other French Horns arrived, and the relief on my face must have been obvious to all!

At the end, the conductor came over and asked me how I was getting on. I told him how nervous I felt, how exposed, how out-of-my-comfort-zone.

And guess what?

He was lovely! Said "we've all been there, just relax and play what you can" .

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

(note to self: you never know how valuable a few kind, reassuring words can be to someone).