Sunday 4th - we were rehearsing in Knightsbridge this afternoon for the recording of Songs of Praise - Big Sing next Sunday in the Albert Hall. As it was going to take all afternoon I decided to take Suki to Linda's so that she was not in the house on her own for 6 hours or so. I went to 8 am service - which was taken by the new lady associate vicar and I found that I often couldn't hear what she was saying even with the microphone, so it will be interesting to test whether the hearing aids I am picking up this week will make this better. Then did the usual ringing circuit of Barnes and Chiswick - starting with a pain au chocolat for breakfast - a little treat! As soon as I got in I walked Suki through Acton Park and on up to Linda's, and then did some shopping and got us some baguettes for lunch on the way back. We went to Knightsbridge via bus and then tube to Hyde Park station - where Mike was able to use the escalators up from the platform without interference from the staff! We actually got there in good time and I was able to save seats for the other altos. There was no ramp but Mike was manhandled up the steps eventually by some of the Chiswick Choir men. I enjoyed the rehearsal very much- the conductor was excellent and it was nice to have a good sing even though a bit weird singing Christmas carols at this time of year. I was surprised how much the standard varied given that we had all come from choirs - it was clear that many of the sopranos could not read music and didn't even notice when they didn't have the tune until it was pointed out to them! I was also disappointed to find that we weren't going to be singing any of the interesting stuff, eg from the Messiah, which had been one of the attractions for me. Still it was fun and an interesting experience. We got home a little earlier than expected so I had a cup of tea before walking up to collect Suki and walk her home. Had a nice evening cross stitching in front of the TV - new series of Poldark started (oh joy).
Monday 5th - went walking with Maryanne and Mary. We did my
Cowleaze Wood/Aston Rowant Extension walk which I led - it's one I had worked out using my new software. I logged it in MapMyWalk which showed we did 6.88 miles and walked for 3 hours and 3 mins. Unfortunately I had left my boots in Devon, so I did the whole things in sandals - albeit trekking sandals. Of course after many days of hot dry weather we had lots of rain overnight and it rained for most of the morning, so my feet got very wet and dirty. Otherwise it was fine as the paths were reasonably good - apart from picking up a lot of mud on one particular field. We had a really nice walk - there were no views because there was a lot of fog and heavy mist around - but the walking was good and there were a couple of good hills too. We went to The Fox and Hounds at Christmas Common for lunch - I am becoming something of a regular! Mike went off early to Chiswick to ring handbells and I followed on later - so was able to avoid the pub again!
Tues 6th - Spent the day helping Lorraine to move into her room at the Convent - no 22. It was a weird feeling - must be like a parent seeing their child go off to university. I booked Emily to walk Suki for a couple of hours in the afternoon - she turned up a bit late but otherwise all seemed to go well for the inaugural walk. She even put a photo of her with Suki on Facebook as her profile picture. There were only 3 other dogs so I guess Suki can cope with that. It certainly made it easier for me to help Lorraine. We packed both our cars to the hilt - and at the other end were most grateful for the help of a couple of staff to carry stuff in as her room is up 3 flights of stairs. I left her around 3 pm with all her stuff piled up and went to collect the hearing aids. I have 90 days to try them out and get a full refund if I am not satisfied so I thought it was worth a go. My initial thoughts are that they are not going to improve the bits I want improving - ie hearing what people are saying in a noisy atmosphere like a pub. But I will persevere with them and see how I get on. On the way back I purchased a printer/scanner for Lorraine and a large stock pot for me! When I got in I christened the stock pot by making my curried rice and lentils dish and moved my box of food back into the cupboards and generally tidied up a few bits and pieces making more room in the extension.
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| My car packed |
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| Lorraine at her front door |
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| Lorraine's front door |
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| Everything now in |
Wed 7th - Mike went in to Bracknell again today. I went to see Keith – he put in a request
this time for a McDonalds fishburger so I had to find a drive thru I had
identified near Finchley. I did this and
found it quite convenient and was glad to be able to get it for him. He decided not to go out to the village for a
haircut as he was expecting someone from the council to install an outside CCTV
camera. I went to Sainsbury for him, and
then popped to the village, and then came home and was back in time to see
Svetla before she left. There was just
time to give Suki a walk and then it was off to
Guy’s to ring handbells with Caroline and Mike (who went in by train
direct from Bracknell). We had several
attempts at ringing a peal of the Cambridge 6 without success, and then knocked
off a QP of 6xspliced (which we seem to be able to do quite easily) and went
off to Café Rouge for a meal. It was
warm enough to sit outside and was very pleasant. I had the chicken salad this time which was really good - but spoilt the brownie points by finishing off Mike's chips.
Thurs 8th - I didn't go to Zumba Gold today but I can't remember why not! I think I was doing something at around 11 am which was also the reason why I didn't get a lift to Chiswick House with Mike and walk back. Ho hum! I did tidy the garden and mow the lawn and I spent a long time merging my two thread indexes together and adding a chart reference and colour description to each one. Nerdy but I really enjoyed it - finished it off on Saturday ready to take down to Devon next week and check it off against the threads in the boxes. Did some cross stitch in the evening.
Fri 9th - went to funeral of Sylvia Davies at St Mary's Wimbledon. Lots of Roving Ringers there. Didn't seem possible that she could have taken her own life while depressed - she always seemed so busy and full of life. Very sad. There were some lovely photos of her displayed in the hall - and she was smiling in every one of them.
Sat 10th - went to SRCY informal dinner. £44 a head! Heaven only knows what the formal dinner will cost! Mike agreed to us getting a taxi each way - which was another £60 so all in all quite an expensive evening. However it was very enjoyable and it was good to catch up with members I hadn't seen for quite a while. The meal was surprisingly good - very green pea soup followed by pot roast chicken and then lemon compote. We shared our bottle of wine with friends Geraldine and Roger as neither of us felt like drinking very much.
Sun 11th - Big Sing recording day. We both went to 8 am service and did the ringing circuit. We had scrambled egg and smoked salmon on toast for breakfast at Arte Chef as we were not expecting to have much to eat for the rest of the day. When we got home I packed my rucksack with a flask, some humus and rolls, and then walked Suki to Linda's for 11.30. I then got the bus to Shepherds Bush where I met up with Mike and we jumped on a no 49 and got to the Albert Hall in good time for a 12.30 meet in the cafe with the other choir members. We were initially directed to the same place as the rest of the Chiswick Choir, but were told by a steward that we couldn't stay in the wheelchair place there and were sent round to completely the other side - in fact exactly where we had come in! There we found a chair in the wheelchair spot and thought it was perfect - a chair for me and a space for Mike. We fended off suggestions from the steward there that the wheelchair was blocking the way and that Mike should sit in the chair and although we were separated from the rest of the core choir we were at least at the back of the same stalls area. We rehearsed from 1 pm to 5.30 pm, along with all the other cast members etc and then sat and had our rolls and coffee in the same spot. When they opened the doors to the general public we were told by a young front of house manager that we couldn't stay there as the space had been sold! He found out that a seat had been reserved for Mike somewhere else in the hall - it would have been useful if we had been told at 1 pm!! The seat turned out to be in the front row of the stalls, down the steep set of stairs, and right behind the sound console, nowhere near the core choir! There were two other seats reserved for the other two tenors - who of course by then were happily seated with the Chiswick Choir in amongst the core choir. So at least there was a seat for me, but there were empty seats to either side of us because they had been reserved and thus not sold, so it is very unlikely that the camera would have panned on to us because we looked like Mr and Mrs No Mates. It was also completely pointless singing our harmonies or any of the choir bits because we were not near the choir and thus not "miked up". I got the FOH manager and a steward organised to help carry the chair to the front row and then at the end carry it back up again (with Mike in it ) - not something they had ever done before apparently!
Other than these irritations it was an interesting one-off experience but not one we will be repeating. We thought we were going to be singing as part of a choir and have some interesting stuff to sing but that was all done by the Stage Choir. It was also a very long and tedious day, although the presenters did their best to entertain us. There were two Songs of Praise Big Sings being recorded - one for 9th October and one for Christmas Day. The acts included Aled Jones, who presented the Christmas Day one, Michael Ball and Alfie Boe, Keith and Kristyn Getty, Laura Mvula, Gareth Malone with his choir Voices and The Priests. We got home at 11 pm and shared a bottle of beer!
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| The view from our rehearsal seats |
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| Michael Ball and Alfie Boe rehearsing |
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| Gareth Malone and Aled Jones - really! |
