Omicron, oh dear

Posted on December 7, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged avoidance, Caution, Choir, Covid, Depression, Fears, how long, Life, omicron, Safety, Thinking, Time, Worry2 Comments

I don’t have the Omicron version of Covid, I did a lateral flow test. But things are getting to me. Mentally I feel run down, fed up, worried, scared even. I don’t want to go out or see people. I missed a few things recently because I’m keeping myself to myself. But I know I’m getting worse. Recent health issues have made me feel more isolated and it’s almost too easy to hide away. Seeing people walking round shops without masks also puts me off….

I will wait and see what happens, but I do think that old addage about discretion is the better part of valour (is that right) might be the phrase that describes how I feel.

Flat tyre

Posted on November 30, 2021November 30, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Annoyed, Car, Choir, Dark, Flat, Life, Repairs, Stuck, Tyre, tyre weld, WetLeave a comment

I just went out to go to choir practice. I happened to look at one of the tyres and realised it looked odd. It was flat. It had gone down overnight. I think I will have to get it down to the garage to get it checked (I’ve not had it for long). I hope it’s something that can be fixed. I have some tyre weld but when you use that it can be very messy when you replace the tyre later. I hope it will be OK tomorrow.

Burslem Port

Posted on September 10, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Burslem Baker boys, Burslem bakery, Burslem canal arm, Burslem port, Choir, Festival, Luke Street, Middleport, Stoke-on trent, Trent and mersey canalLeave a comment

At the far end of Luke Street, Middleport, Stoke-on-Trent, are steps down to a footpath along the line of a long filled in canal and towpath.

The overgrown shrubbery and weeds have recently been beaten back to reveal a pathway to lead up to Burslem in one direction and down to the Trent and Mersey canal in the other.

When the canal was open there was a bakery next to it that supplied thousands of loaves to the potteries. This is being celebrated by the Baker boys choir next weekend during a festival which will see an art installation being erected down on the canal at Middleport.

Hopefully I will be singing with the choir at the festival. X

Socially distanced choir

Posted on July 5, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Choir, Clay Chorus, Friends, Fun, Music, public singing, Singing, social distanceLeave a comment

We finally sang as a choir tonight. We were socially distanced. Each of us had a chair placed behind a CD. Two meters apart. We did some stretches and vocal exercises and suddenly we were singing together in reasonable harmony. We even sang in parts, soprano, tenor, alto and base. It was lovely! No zoom where all you can hear is yourself and the choir leaders. We started quietly but by the end we had some volume. Hearing each other gets the camaraderie going again.n

Next stop, singing in public at a canal day this coming Sunday. I hope we all stay well and the weather improves!

Sketching a choir

Posted on April 13, 2021 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Black and white drawing, Challenge, Choir, Drawing, Fun, Loud Mouth women choir, Music, Sketching, Zoom, Zooming2 Comments

Take a dried up, broad nib, calligraphy felt pen. Start drawing, watch as the view changes because the line up of images moves when you have the songsheet with the words displayed. Try and sing and draw at the same time! It’s hard to look down at your sketchbook, up at the words, and across to your fellow choir members. I challenged them to try and recognise themselves from these crude sketches.

Stoke Sings 2021, workshops.

Posted on March 13, 2021 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged #ssf21, Choir, Fun, gathering, Singing, Staffordshire, Stoke Sings Festival 2021, Stoke-on trent, virtual mass choir, workshop leaders, Workshops, ZoomLeave a comment

Today is Stoke Sings Festival 2021. Over a hundred singers have got together virtually on Zoom and are singing together (muted sadly, it’s not possible to sync the sound). #ssf21 is the hashtag and I’ve posted a couple of drawings here of the workshop leaders as they taught us…

Zoom choir night

Posted on March 8, 2021 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Boatband, Choir, Clay Chorus, Drawing, Fun, Music, Pencil sketch, SketchingLeave a comment

Tonight we were singing sea shanties and other songs, led by Greg and Kate from the Boatband. Our choir is called Clay Chorus, and every week I spend a little time sketching what’s happening. It can be an object in the room or an image on the screen. I really enjoy doing them….

Wet carolling

Posted on December 21, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Choir, Clay Chorus, Fun, Music, Mystery singers, Night, Village Green, Wet weatherLeave a comment

We went out and sang upon our local church green tonight. All of us in masks. We each had a space marked with a CD on the ground. We sang four songs, Good King Wensceslas, Ye Shepherds arise, While Shepherds watched their flocks by night (Cranbrook version) and the St Day Carol (now the Holly bears the Berry…).

There were about seventeen of us getting very wet, but it was great to sing in harmony with people. We didn’t have an audience. But it was great fun.

Look up Penkhull Mystery singers on YouTube if you want to see us in full voice in previous years.

Zooming

Posted on November 24, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Choir, Fun, Meeting, Music, Poem, Poetry, Singing, Video calls, ZoomLeave a comment

Zooming around and singing

Looking from face to face

Video calls are booming

Talking around all night

Ladies and gents

Are choiring

Baritone, alto and bass

Having fun with music

Playing a lively tune.

Descants and sopranos

Fun around half past eight.

Singing on Zoom

Posted on October 19, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Apologies, Boat Band, Choir, Fun, Music, Random, Rio Grande song, Singing, WordsLeave a comment

Just finished a zoom singing session with some friends from a choir. The choir leader Sings and we are all muted, so all you can here is her and her partner and yourself. If you unmute the timing of the music is all put. So that people’s voices come in at different times. It’s funny but not productive.

One thing we have been doing is sharing pictures of model boats and even a painting of a boat because we are being led by a group called the Boat Band, talented musicians. Look them up on YouTube?

Apologies if I should not have used the words. I will take this post down if I have to.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Choir