Culture Night

Just home from a most amazing night.

The orchestra I play with, who rehearse just once a month (as opposed to Band, which is twice a week!), were invited to play in Castletown House for Culture Night.

Culture Night is a fairly new phenomenon in Dublin, where lots of places open their doors/ hold events free of charge. Buildings that are normally closed to the public open up for the evening too. There is always a great buzz around the city, and the country too, as the popularity of it has spread nationwide now.
Below is a picture of the beautifully restored Hunting Room, where we played.

We played in Castletown last year too. This year was even more special for me! We had been working on Beethoven's 7th symphony for much of last year. It is very challenging, even for great players. The 2nd movement featured in The King's Speech. We played it at our summer concert in June, in a church in Co. Kildare.
But this time, the 1st Horn guy was unavailable, so I was on my own, which to me is terrifying.
 However, I decided to "feel the fear and do it anyway", got down to some serious practice over the past 2 weeks, and did it!

Castletown is a most beautiful place; the grounds are amazing, and it's just 30 minutes drive from my house!

 I went straight from work, so had about 20 minutes to walk around and take these pictures.

 Isn't it beautiful?

Lest you think it's all meadows, peace and quiet, there is a small airport nearby, so planes are overhead if you care to take notice!

I am so thrilled to have played a very difficult piece of music, and solo Horn! All the work was certainly worth it, and has given me a  new-found confidence.
On a high!!! And once again, I reflect on and express gratitude for, this marvellous musical journey that I am on. It has already taken me to places I would only have ever dreamed of, and I have made fantastic friendships along the way.
There is no destination here, it's all about the journey. A good philosophy for life!

What a week!

Rollercoaster would best describe it.

I was in Limerick at the weekend with the band, at the National Band Championships.
And still reeling from the shock: I won a prize for my playing! I was so shocked, in fact, that I didn't realise they were talking about me (they announce the winning "section", but I was the only person in that section). I just sat there waiting for someone else to collect the trophy....yes, a Trophy! First time I've ever won anything like that!

We had a night of partying, as the band won a total of 4 prizes! They really know how to party, young and old. We had so much fun! Danced and laughed the night away!

On Sunday, I got news of the death of a friend. Cathy had been ill for 5 years, with a cruel illness called MSA. It's a form of Parkinsons. She was 50 in February. She was a most beautiful, vibrant, fun-loving, kind lady, with gorgeous Irish red hair. I am so sad that we will never laugh together again.

Tomorrow night, the band is playing in the National Concert Hall.
When I began playing French Horn 7 years ago (really? how did that time go so quickly!), I put my dream up in the sky, with the stars. The dream was to one day play in our National Concert Hall.

I am so excited!
Will be back with photos, I promise! The photos in this post were taken 2 weeks ago with my iphone during a walk in the park. Even though it was cold, the flowers decided to push through with spring. The weather was better in the last couple of days, just hope it lasts.

Stole away! and update on my dilemma

Thank everyone for your fantastic, helpful comments on my last post. It really helped my confidence to know that so many people were behind me. That is one of the marvellous things about the blogging community.

 (and I thought the ivy in my garden was out of control! Perspective!)
I decided to face the situation head-on, but the person in question never turned up to the last rehearsal. Maybe she heard I would have chewing gum (Eddie's idea!) or had troops lined up to punch her (Pam and Stephanie!) or one of the many other ideas for dealing with it.

 However, another very talented player was there, and I noticed how polite and respectful he was, as I was to him. We are all just doing our best. That made me more determined not to be bullied.
I will keep you updated.

Hubby and I stole away for a few days. Bratislava and Vienna.  Above is the view from our hotel room! I think it looks like an architect's drawing!

 And this was one of many beautiful buildings in Bratislava.
Worthy of a full other post, but these few pics are an introduction. More to follow..

Bubble has Burst

Yes, the bubble has burst.
I've been having so much fun with band and orchestra....until the last 2 weeks.

A new player has joined one of the groups that I play with, and I find it difficult to get along with her. I find her pushy and loud, and she loves to point out my mistakes, and to lean over and write on my music!

I think I'm going to have to face the situation head-on, a thing I hate to do. I don't like conflict, and she will only be there for a few more weeks, until the summer break from her other ensemble is over. But it's quite possible that she will come back at some stage, so I need to let her know that she can't walk all over me.
 Any advice on how to address this would be greatly appreciated; I'm really stressed out about it.

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.

The video is here!!!

The promised excerpt from our performance of Riverdance in the Helix. Enjoy!

Bits of news

Today, Daughter finished her Leaving Cert! Phew!
She is now officially finished school, and will (d.v.) start college in September. She was great during the exams, so calm and not phased by papers that didn't go her way. She took 8 subjects (extra one being music which she did in Band) and took Higher Level in all those papers! Her last paper was this morning, Applied Maths.
So after she finished, one of her teachers brought her for hot chocolate in a local café, just the 2 of them. Wasn't that sweet? The teachers have made a huge effort to make it up to them for the awful finish they had to their schooldays; her English teacher went and selected a book for each student. Zoe got "Mrs. Dalloway", and I know that she will treasure it always, especially because of the lovely and inspiring message that her teacher wrote on the inside cover.

After her hot chocolate outing, I brought her out for lunch, just the 2 of us, and told her how proud I am of her. I am constantly impressed by how calm and mature she is, and especially how she and her friends held their dignity during the recent events. They were much more dignified than the Principal!

Tonight she's gone off out to celebrate with her friends-it's been quite a while since they had a night out, so I hope they really enjoy themselves, and stay safe. I have a feeling it will be a late night!!

 Tomorrow night our band plays another concert! It's quite a big event, with a Tenor, some Irish dancers, an exerpt from Riverdance (this is worth watching, especially from 4.22 on!), a choir and some Indian dancers. Should be fun!
And as there are 4 horns, it will be another great experience for me!
Sometimes, I blink and think "I can't believe all these wonderful things are happening to me!" The opportunities that have come to me from my involvement in music have been so exciting, and especially since I joined the new band. We will also be playing several outdoor concerts over the summer, and also at a music festival in Clonakilty in a couple of weeks time!

 I am loving every minute of it! even the "gradually faster to end"!

Music and gifts

Sorry that I haven't posted much recently. My back has been sore, and I've had to limit my time at the computer. I decided that commenting was a higher priority than posting.

But here are a few snippets from the last week or so..

Hubby and I were supposed to go to a Christy Moore concert in January- the tickets were a birthday present. But on that afternoon, we had a very heavy snowfall, buses were not running, and, very reluctantly, we decided not to go. I was very disappointed.

But, being the darling that he is, Hubby was on the lookout, and got tickets to a Christy gig last week. And the icing on the cake? It was a fundraiser for Haiti. It was a real privilege to be there- great music from Christy and Declan Sinnott- I almost felt guilty when John O'Shea of Goal thanked the audience for helping. That's Christy on the far right, singing his heart out, for Haiti. What a guy!

Then a friend invited me to this concert

on Saturday night- wonderful! Most of the music was well-known, but there was one newly-composed piece that I didn't like at all. When it finished, I was just about to lean over to my friend and say "that was just weird" when the composer was called on stage- from the seat right in front of me! Thank goodness that, for once, I didn't put my foot in it!

Friends came over for lunch on Sunday, and one of them brought these lovely flowers. I see from google that adding a tiny bit of bleach to the water helps them to last; I hope it works.

So it was a week of many blessings, and I'm thankful for that.

Hope you're all having a lovely week- it's stopped snowing now, and everywhere looks more spring-like.

Tonight at midnight, younger daughter gets back from her school trip (Spain) and tomorrow night my brother and family arrive for 5 days! Busy times ahead!!

Where did that week go to?

I'm sorry that I haven't been around much this week. I do not know where the week went to.



Life has been pure hectic, on all fronts.



In school, we have a WSE (whole school evaluation) next week, and boy did my inner perfectionist (IP) decide to come out! I told her to go away, but she kept coming back, often just as I put my head on the pillow at night. Whispering little things in my ear "wouldn't it be good to buy new folders for your notes, and to colour co-ordinate them?" - I gave in on that one. "It's time to do a complete clearout of your press"... "you need to re-write all your notes" - you get the picture. I'm struggling to keep her at bay, so if anyone has a magic cure, please let me know!


I've been busy with aromatherapy too. A local school invited me to talk to their Transition Year students, which I'm delighted to do. Just not this week, please. (Luckily, my available times this week didn't suit, so it's postponed for a couple of weeks). Which gives me a chance to properly prepare the talk!


And it's been busy with the kids- it's music exam season! And Feis season too! So lots of running around.


Then we got invited to a table quiz fundraiser at the primary school where our kids went. It was a fantastic school, our kids got such a good education there, and we've still loads of friends there, so we went along to that. IP kept whispering in my ear "you should be at home, doing more notes" . Guess what? Going out was the best thing I did all week- showed me there is more to life than WSE's. And guess what else? Our team WON! I feel a bit of a fraud saying "our team", cos in reality I contributed very little. I have no memory for general knowledge, but luckily Hubby is my opposite on that front, and a friend at the table could fill in the gaps in his knowledge. So the other friend and myself got to sit back and enjoy the night, and the team came home with 4 lovely bottles of wine for our efforts!

Plus I won this prize in the raffle.




Would you like to see what's inside? Of course!






Just what I need, and even though I could easily make these myself, it's nice sometimes to use something made by another. And Rose oil is one of my favourites!


So, it has been a good week, if a busy one.


I just hope that I can do myself and my school justice in next week's evaluation. My job doesn't depend on it, but my pride does.