This is a blog post, if you couldn't tell!

The last week or so has meandered by quite peacefully. I've been painting, playing music, going to singing lessons generally pottering.

As I write, I am procrastinating several things, the Marie Antoinette translation being one of them (don't hurt me), gardening being the other. Quite frankly, I think I might do the gardening first except I'm pretty sure there's a tribe of angry bitey ants living in my flower bed and I'm not sure if I have any proper shoes... anyway, that's my problem!

There was also the surreal incident of a few days back which some of you might have seen mentioned on facebook. Some gentlemen came by our house looking to build another house over land that belongs to us. After a bit of a heated discussion with my parents, it looks like they now want to buy our house and knock it down. Unlikely to come to anything, I know, but seriously that would be the answer to all our renovation issues!

I know this isn't a proper post, and it has no photos (boo!), but I'll be back properly soon ;-)

In the meanwhile, if anyone fancies recommending any songs/tunes for me to learn on 'cello, bass guitar, or tin whistle (high or low) please do so... I'm running low on ideas!

And life keeps on moving on

So it's apparently 2014 now. Who'd have thought it! Nothing's really changed which is no surprise after all true change is a steady process as opposed to a split moment. 

This morning, however, I did get something a bit new for the new year and that would be this beautiful little whistle to replace the one that my dad has nicked off of me (and not paid for, I may hasten to add!) It feels really strange to be playing high whistle again after two months of just low whistle. Just working out the right breath pressure and finger spacings again is a challenge. We're getting on quite well so far though.

New addition to the Havanah home orchestra.

Other than that it's continuing to attempt to improve my life! I'm working especially hard on the Dutch at the moment because, for some reason, the wind has got into my sails. I'm determined to have at least some conversational fluency by the end of my gap year and I'm immensely lucky in that I have a couple of friends who I know would be more than willing to help me with that should I throw myself at them!

Of course, the whole Amsterdam university application continues to hang over my head. I've heard absolutely nothing from them so far, which isn't the end of the world, but want to get myself ready for an interview. Although I am not confident that I will even get an interview I do want to be sure that if I do I have prepared myself the best I can so better to start early, right? I'll be going out for an open day in a couple of weeks too. Flying to Amsterdam and back in one day seems pretty daunting but I have to remind myself that it can't be as bad as the time I went to Glasgow and back to Devon by coach in one day (well in reality it ended up as 48 hours of being awake and traveling).

Whatever happens this year, I've got one thing arranged!

It's also about the time that I'm getting really ready to go off and travel. I am hoping to work my way from Budapest via Austria, Germany,  to Castlefest in the Netherlands. This had been my plan for a little while but I've been putting off arranging it because I'm not so sure that I want to do it alone. It's not that I mind being alone but I would rather have some kind of companion for this kind of trip. I'm going to start doing some arranging, however, and then see if anyone cares to join me.

I am never again staying somewhere with comfy sofas

Today has been another lazy day which, quite frankly, is brilliant.

This morning I made the most of the two foot thick walls to practice low whistle to my heart’s content. Okay, low whistle might not be as loud as normal whistle but it’s still got some clout, particularly in the upper octave, and my own house has paper thin walls. It was also great to be playing somewhere where my hands weren’t cramping constantly because of the cold. It’s only a shame that the ‘cello was too poorly to come too… it would have been great to have played here.

I spent some time working on the Tanz der Vampire translation but I must admit that I wasn’t really in the mood for it. I am in a bit of a ‘snuggle up on the sofa in a blanket and watch a DVD mood’ so I think it’s another Harry Potter evening tonight. I will try and do some more Tanz before the film comes on the television but I have no guarantees. I can’t even get myself motivated to do any painting!

Now, if you excuse me, I need to go and save my brandy from my overzealous father!

When I wrote this post, I was without an internet connection. It’s been uploaded onto t’interweb since!

Getting away

Today is the day that I travel down to the cottage we're renting for Christmas.

I've been packing for a few days now as, due to the time of year, there's so much that needs to go with us. I've also learned that packing after a couple of (large) glasses of whiskey is not a good idea... yes, I did manage to get my head stuck in a suitcase. It took my parents about fifteen minutes to free me, although I'm sure that time could have been cut down dramatically if only they had stopped laughing!

En route to the cottage I am going to stop and visit a couple of siblings and, most excitingly, the diddy nephews! Yes, I am still planning on dressing as an elf!

As for where I'm going, it's a holiday cottage in the middle of no-where down in the south west. I'm close enough to Exeter that I can meet up with a couple of people if they bother to get back to me but far enough from everything that I can just get away from life for a while. I also believe that there is no internet at the cottage so I'm actually really looking forward to that. I'll only be there for a week, and one day of that will be Christmas day, but it will be nice to be stuck in 'real life' for a couple of days.

I'm taking a couple of musical instruments with me. Sadly, my 'cello is back in intensive care so she won't be coming but low whistle certainly is. I'm also taking a bundle of paints with me and will just see what happens over the next week. It'll be lovely to be free to just create with no strings attached and no real pressures.

So, I guess I'm off now. See you all after Christmas!

Christmas Song of the Day

Solstice Evergreen by Spiral Dance

Because today is Yule, or the Winter Solstice, it seemed only fitting to have a song relating to this festival instead of to Christmas per se. I'm still getting over the fact that we're not going to be able to really celebrate the festival this year but I guess the last couple of years have been strange for us as a family and what better time to remember that there's always next year!

As for the song, this is by a Pagan Folk band called Spiral Dance and is a great piece of music that works for Yule, Christmas, or just winter festivities in general. Enjoy.

(because I've been having some issues with blogger and youtube recently, if the video isn't embedded then click here to listen)

Oh hello winter!

Over the last couple of days the winter chill has really crept in. Father claims that he saw snow this morning albeit not heavy enough to settle and, living in a house with no carpets and holes in the windows it's pretty darn chilly!

Actually, today was the first day of the season that caused me to struggle when playing. It always reaches a point where my hands get so cold that they cramp almost instantly. A pair of fingerless gloves make playing a bit more possible for a while but I've not managed to get a pair that are comfortable to play 'cello to any real standard. Of course, I'm one of those people who finds wearing rings while playing annoying so gloves and I were never going to get on well!

This year is posing a bit more of a challenge. Monster Whistle is about as cold as an icicle and getting him warm to play is a nightmare. In fact, I'm not sure if he's going to be happy until we have balmy Spring days blowing in once again. I did do a quick search of google to see if there was any advice for working with whistles in the cold and, other than sticking them in hot water or wrapping them with hand-warmers, didn't really come across anything that seemed like it would work. I did however come across an article on how to get your child's tongue unstuck from cold items which begs the question: "Who spends time googling that if their child has got their tongue stuck to the local lamppost?"

Art, music, life

The title pretty much sums up what's going on pretty now. By day I'm being a noisy pest playing various instruments and by night I'm attacking things with paint.

Art

Art wise, I'm mainly working on scrapbooks in various forms right now. I've actually not finished my Castlefest book yet. In my defence it does take a while to design/paint 100 pages of stuff. I have, however, started a new book for general life and that is actually pretty much up to date. I know. A miracle! I'm thinking about posting photos of my scrapbook pages onto tumblr as well as on facebook from now on. We'll see what happens. I know a few people want to see certain pages and it's hard to work out where to share them.

I'm getting a real itch to paint a portrait again. You may well know that the last ill fated attempt didn't work out so well. I guess painting a picture of a couple is always going to be risky and the pair I was painting happened to get a divorce in the short time between the sketch and first bit of paint being put down and the rest of it going on! Whoops. Although I was painting for my own enjoyment I hadn't the heart to go on and finish such a lovey-dovey painting. I'm not sure exactly who or what I want to paint though, and I'm not practised in portrait work either, so it might not happen. We'll see how I feel!

Music

As for music, did I tell you how much I am in love with my new whistle? He quickly gained a gender, which is as far as I tend to go with musical instruments, but Nené seems pretty sure he should have a name too. She suggested Felix and then Máté (the latter having a rude explanation) but I don't think either of those are quite right. Okay, the latter is just wrong! 

Lack of name aside I've been enjoying playing so much. I feel that I'm progressing in my playing very quickly, much quicker than I expected, and after just two weeks I'm a bit overwhelmed by the progress that's been made. I'm not great, not at all, and speed is something I need to work on greatly but things are going so well. 

Of course, the other major musical adventure for me is my singing. I had a lesson yesterday, the first in two weeks due to illness, and it was probably the best lesson I've ever had. I managed to sing a song through in a relaxed way and, do you know what, after doing that I managed to tell my teacher, honestly, that I thought it sounded good. I'm far from being a confident singer but that's such an improvement. In three months I have sung in front of someone for the first time in years, sung in front of an audience (albeit unintentionally), and finally I have managed to have a moment where I can admit that I enjoyed my own voice. I'm far from being a good singer, and far from getting over my phobia, but, step by step, I'm going in the right direction.

'Cello is still being played but we have some issues with tuning pegs going on. I think she may well need to have a quick trip to a luthier because we have some major slipping that I can't seem to fix. She also needs some new strings as I can actually see the A and D strings fraying. I think I've been neglecting her a bit recently, especially when one considers the abuse she suffered at the hands of my father. She got her own back on me by stabbing my foot. After this many years you think I'd remember to wear shoes when playing, wouldn't you?

Life

Things aren't really going to plan and this is not how I saw my gap-year panning out, for various reasons that I don't want to share randomly on the internet. However, I am actually really happy. I'm doing the things I love and I will be continuing to do these things next year, and more. I can't wait for next year's European adventure, even though it looks like I'm going to have to travel alone which wasn't my plan either, and I can't wait to see what happens next.

So, apparently I’m nineteen now. How’d that happen?

The majority of my birthday has been spent reclining in a hotel bed attempting to shake off the remaining fluey feelings. I’m not complaining because I wasn’t really celebrating my birthday this year due to the general chaos of life! That said, I’ve had a good day :-) 

I think the highlight for me was my mother’s gift to me, a low whistle. Having played high whistle for a little while now the low whistle was a natural progression so that was what I asked for. Earlier in the week we went out to buy one. Because I was quite ill I was unable to try the whistles, well I didn’t feel it was fair to anyway, so the first time I heard my whistle was today. It’s a Dixon Alloy and, my goodness, does it have a beautiful, haunting tone.  Not managed to reach above second octave G yet but that’ll come with time, practice, and probably be easier when I’ve recovered my lung capacity in a week or so! As I’m sending this on my phone I won’t pop a picture in but I’m in love.

I also really want to say thank you to Aimee who gave me a card that made me smile and laugh and was just perfect. With her permission, which I haven’t got yet, I might upload a photo tomorrow. She also gave me a gemstone necklace which is lovely. Basically, my friend thought about what I would like and hit the nail on the head. Thanks Aimee!

Right now I’m waiting for my mother to finish working so we can go and pick up my father from home and go to my favourite restaurant for dinner. I’ve spent many a birthday in that place, and many a day full stop! Having gone in there since I was about five, the owners know me quite well!

I haven’t read my facebook messages yet, although I know I have some as my phone keeps vibrating. I’ll wait until I have internet access to read them properly but thank you if you sent me something. It means the world to me.

And that’s it, I think!