The Collective Virtual Choir - One Voice

Throughout lockdown, I've been keeping my depression at bay by singing regularly.  Unfortunately, my usual Adult Musical Theatre group has had to stop, however, I have been able to join The Collective - a virtual choir made up of many people around the world!

The Collective was started by Simon Lubkowski, a music teacher and barbershopper.  His vision (I encourage you to read the About Section on the Facebook Page) has taken off, with a fantastic team of volunteers who are all encouraging everyone to do their best, and now with thousands of participants, singing their hearts out.  Being part of the group, I can see the amazing amount of work that the leaders all do for free - from the admin, the tech team, to the music group and section leaders, to Simon himself, who seems to not need sleep at all!  It is the type of production that people would gladly pay to be part of, but it is done solely for the love of music and spreading joy.  It's amazing.

I missed out on the very first song (White Cliffs of Dover), but I have joined for three songs, and unfortunately have had to pull out again, because I'm just too busy to dedicate the time the latest song deserves.  

The first of these songs was One Voice by Barry Manilow.  Not being a Manilow fan (sorry! I don't dislike him, just couldn't care either way) I didn't know the song beforehand, so had to learn everything from scratch.  The materials to learn the song, both the music script and audio of the song, plus individual parts (I sing soprano) are all provided to you as part of the collective.  The music team then gets to work teaching everyone, over zoom, the melody, breath points, various singing and breathing techniques (ninja breaths!), multiple times a day, multiple days a week, across various time zones for the international singers.  

One participant, Ian Walker, deserves special mention as he made an app for all the information you could possibly need: links to videos, audio, script, rehearsals etc all separated out into your section part (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass or Solo), and adjusted according to your timezone.  Very impressive!

Once the song is learnt, the music team then focuses on performance, how to put emotion in the song, and the tech team teaches how to record your final version and the technology you need.  And, if that wasn't enough, they invite everyone participating to record themselves to gain feedback to improve their performance.  

As I write this, I had a sense of deja vu, and I have written about this before, so sorry for the repetition.
I will now get to the point of this post - the final video!

Recording it was a bit of a palaver, as I didn't have a good set-up, so I'd have to balance my laptop on a couple of boxes on an upturned bucket on my bed.  Not only that, before this recording I woke up late, and had to rush to put my make-up on, before joining in the zoom meeting.

But that didn't put me off.  After the tech team did their magic to integrate all the individual recordings from hundreds of people, to align them all, and then to get it to align with the video (that was recorded separately) the video was finally finished!  Hours and hours and hours of work for the volunteers to produce this 8minute final video.  I am there; briefly during the song itself, and more clearly in amongst the credits at the end.

I hope you like it.

Flooding Bathroom

Yesterday I woke up, used the en-suite and noticed that when I stood on the tiles, they bubbled and water came up.  I mentioned it to my husband when he returned from work, who admitted that he had had a shower before work with the door open... 😒😒

So we mopped it up, but the water kept coming.  Every time we stood on a tile, more water would appear, so we figured that the water had gone under the tiles and we'd need to lift them.

After a few hot days, we couldn't sleep much and I awoke at 5am.  As the tiles were still wet, my lovely husband decided that this was the best time for hammer & chiselling up the tiles... 😒

After drying under the tiles, husband went to work, but more water kept appearing.  In my husband's defence, the water wasn't coming from the shower, that was just a coincidence. 
No, the water was coming from the toilet. 😒

You can actually see the different colour of the grout
dark and wet near the toilet
lighter and dry away from it.

So, on to CheckaTrade to find an emergency plumber.  I like to use local and independent companies if possible, so I was pleased that A Team Plumbing and Heating was the first to answer my call. 
(At time of writing, they don't have their own website or Facebook page, but if that changes I will edit their details in here.)

I phoned late morning, and Lee was able to come round to have a look in the afternoon.  He took the toilet off, located wand isolated the leak, explaining everything that he was doing.  As he didn't have replacement parts on him and another job to go to he promised he would be back either later or tomorrow and sort it then.  I was only expecting him to stop the leak, give a quote and rearrange an appointment at an unknown point in the future.  I was impressed that he was able to fix it all so soon.

Fortunately for me, he was able to come back after an hour, this time with James who did the work.  All the way through, I was updated with what they were doing and why.  They were very friendly and knowledgeable, and offered advice on areas beyond the job they were doing (specifically, a discussion about replacing the tiles, and which brand to go for when we need to replace our boiler).
They even tidied up everything and took all the rubbish away with them!

All in all, it was only a couple of hours work, and he charged me less than what he quoted!  

He did ask for a review on CheckaTrade, which I was more than happy to give, and I am happy to give this review here too. 
If anyone needs a boiler in Swindon or the surrounding areas (I know he works in Bristol too), use A Team Plumbing and Heating.

The Lanvin Murders by Angela M Sanders

 The Lanvin Murders was my S in my list, and is first in the Vintage Clothing Mysteries

It follows Joanna, the owner of an independent vintage clothing store.  She is doing her best to eke out an existence, and has a few regular customers and sellers that she builds a relationship up with.  One of these characters sells Joanna an authentic Lanvin coat, and ends up dead in the store after asking for it back.  Seeing the police decide that it's not a suspicious death, Joanna takes it upon herself to find out about her customer's friends and family, to find out why her friend was murdered.

The blurb says:

All Portland vintage clothing store owner Joanna Hayworth wants to do is turn her back on the modern world and retreat into a carefully curated life of satin cocktail gowns, icy martinis, and old movies.

But when Joanna finds a key in a 1930s Lanvin coat cast off by an ex-showgirl, everything changes. The elderly woman turns up dead, and Joanna is pulled into a long-ago drama of back room deals, blackmail, and lost love. She must find a very real—and present day—killer before she becomes his next victim.

This was an enjoyable read.  There were a few absurdities (but I don't know the life of a show-girl, so maybe they are realistic), and there were some characters that I would have wanted to find out more about and be investigated earlier, but overall that didn't detract from the story too much.  As far as amateur sleuthing goes, this was interesting and at times you felt compassion and other times you were on the edge of your seat.  An easy summer read.

Weekly Update Y2w32

As I mentioned the other day, my weight has been going up and down a fair bit recently.  The book that I'm reading with my friend talks about self-discipline, and I feel like I am lacking that. So, I have made a decision that I want to be below 90kg by September.  They say it is possible to lose 2lbs a week, and for me to achieve this, I need to lose 4lbs in 3 weeks, so it should be doable.  

I almost go down to that weight a couple of weeks ago, but it didn't stick.  To make things different, and try to establish good habits, I am not intending to do a crazy 3-week crash diet, get below 90kilos, and then pile all the weight back on.  Instead, I am trying to control small actions, and become more self disciplined over small things.

I am getting quite good at eating veggies most, and not eating carbs in the evening.  To help with this I have bought a couple of meal prep books, and once or twice a week, I am batch cooking, then portioning the meals off to put in the fridge.  That way, I know each meal is 300-400kcals, and even DD1 has been helping herself to some of the food, which is great, as she can be fussy at times!  Unfortunately, I haven't been taking photographs, and because I've been eating straight from the container, I haven't taken photos then either.  Next time (if I remember!) I'll take some decent photos.  I'll also do a review of the books and the containers I bought, in case they are of use to you.

You can see from the graph that though I have had some high and some low points recently, that the yellow line is starting to trend upwards, which isn't good.  I think partly because I'm looking at the whole year-so-far, I'm congratulating myself at no longer being 96kilos, whilst not making any progress to reduce my weight.  In order to own the gain, I'm going to truncate the graph again, and start from 1st of July.  From there you can see my recent highs and lows and hopefully it will be better encouragement/motivation for me to keep going.

Today is the first day of the rest of my life.  I am 91.3kg this morning, and I'd like to lose 2kilos in the next 3-ish weeks.  I am going to keep meal prepping, keep eating veggies most, and will try to do a short walk every day.  This afternoon a friend is coming to my house so we can walk together for a few kilometers.

I have also identified where I need more help.  I am getting better at choosing healthy foods.  I am much much less good at saying no to food.  For example, on Saturday I ate a healthy lunch and my husband came home and offered my a cookie so I ate it.  I don't want to deny myself foods, as I doubt I can maintain that long term, however, what I want to try to do going forwards is postpone it.  I don't have to have a cookie because it is offered to me there and then.  I know I like something sweet in the evening, so if I save my cookie until then, I can enjoy it more knowing that I have been healthy all day.  I started trying to do this yesterday, and I said no to an ice cream - even when my daughter offered to make it for me!  Small steps, but it's a start.

Rise of the Dragons by Morgan Rice

Rise of the Dragons is the first in the Kings and Sorcerers series.  

It primarily follows Kyra, a 15 year old girl, daughter of a famed warrior, who wishes to become a warrior herself.  She trains alone, perfecting her skills with a bow and a staff, with occasional help from some of her father's friends who encourage her to reach her goals, despite the fact that women are not to fight.  
Her adventure begins when the local evil lord wants to make her his wife, and her father's alternative (to marry a local boy first) is not what she wants either, so she runs away with her wolf Leo by her side.

The blurb says:

Kyra, 15, dreams of becoming a famed warrior, like her father, even though she is the only girl in a fort of boys. As she struggles to understand her special skills, her mysterious inner power, she realizes she is different than the others. But a secret is being kept from her about her birth and the prophecy surrounding her, leaving her to wonder who she really is.

Just as Kyra is coming of age, the local lord comes to take her away. Her father wants to wed her off to save her. Kyra, though, refuses, and she quests on her own, into a dangerous wood, where she encounters a wounded dragon—and ignites a series of events that will change the kingdom forever.

15 year old Alec, meanwhile, sacrifices for his brother, taking his place in the draft, and is carted off to The Flames, a wall of flames a hundred feet high that wards off the army of Trolls to the east. On the far side of the kingdom, Merk, a mercenary striving to leave behind his dark past, quests through the wood to become a Watcher of the Towers and help guard the Sword of Fire, the paranormal source of the kingdom’s power. But the Trolls want the Sword, too—and they prepare for a massive invasion that could destroy the kingdoms forever.

With its strong atmosphere and complex characters, RISE OF THE DRAGONS is a sweeping, romantic saga of knights and warriors, of kings and lords, of honor and valor, of magic, action, adventure, destiny, sorcery, monsters and dragons. It is a story of love and broken hearts, of deception, of ambition and betrayal. It is fantasy at its finest, inviting us into a world that will live with us forever, one that will appeal to all ages and genders.

I enjoyed this book.  Though I haven't yet bought the rest of the series (I really am trying to finish my challenge of reading the alphabet - this being my R book) I have added it to my wishlist, as I would like to know how it progresses and finishes.

This book is a book about girl power and the fact that women, even in a fantasy world, don't have to be restrained to living a life that society considers feminine, but are able to forge their own pathways through the world for life.  Added to that, there are the usual fantasy staples that we love - battles, dragons, trolls, magic, loyalty and treachery.  

The blurb says it will appeal to all ages and genders, I would say this really is aimed at teens and young adults, as it is probably too simplistic and easy for more mature fans of this genre of literature.

Enjoying Life

I've been missing in action for a few days.  10 days ago we decided last minute to drive all the way to Scotland to see my mum and husband in her new house.  She moved last year, and it's too far and too expensive to go normally.  However, with lockdown easing somewhat, but still being unable to go on holiday, my husband took some time off work and we went for a mini break.

It was really good to see her.  Her house is lovely; it's in the middle of nowhere with a large garden and views of the countryside all around.  They are undergoing building work atm so her mother-in-law can move in, but even with that, the house was plenty big enough for my tribe to be housed for  few days.

On the way back down, we spend the night with my dad.  Again, it was great to see him as I hadn't seen him and his wife since before Christmas!  Living far away from family (and not being a fan of phones, beyond texting) it is good to be able to have time to catch up with family properly.

This past Thursday was my 15th Wedding Anniversary.  The girls went to the effort of making us a card each, and they brought us coffee and breakfast in bed.  For lunch, I had pre-bought an Afternoon Tea from Jasmine & Honey Bakery.  It was delicious! And you know how fussy my girls are with eating, and they enjoyed the children's version too.  I bought a cake/afternoon tea stand so we could dish it all out properly, and we drank champagne with lunch.  

Photos from Jasmine&Honey Bakery

Unfortunately, Thursday was also the day that both my parents spoke to their consultants.  To cut a long story short, as my dad often says, they both have cancer.  My mum was expecting it, as her body was feeling like it does when the cancer returns, and it is now due.  She has ovarian cancer in the lymph nodes in her pelvis.  My dad, otoh, was shocked.  He was expecting to be told he had prostate cancer, as his dad had it for many years.  However, unlike my grandad, my dad's cancer has been termed "significant".  He has to undergo more investigations before determining how it will be treated. My dad's consultant also refused to test him for the BRCA2 gene mutation, which I can understand somewhat, however, if my dad does have it, and I have inherited it (in addition the the BRCA1 gene I know about), I should not be on oestrogen HRT, especially not before I have a mastectomy.  So that's a little bit of disappointment, on top of a lot of shit.

In better news, yesterday, I finally got my hair redyed.  I went to Sharon Rewston again and she didn't disappoint.  We went with the same colour scheme as last time, but used some of the teal that was in my hair from being lightened, and it's now ribbonned from dark blue into other colours (purple, pink and teal) as you come down the strands.

Now we're all back home, I need to get back in the habit of eating well (yes I put on weight this past week), moving more, blogging more, and working more.  I am enjoying life for what it is, as nobody knows what the future holds.

The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God by D. A. Carson

My Growth Group at church has, for this year, been going through Cedarville University's Old Testament Literature course by Dr. Chris Miller.  I've really enjoyed going through these lectures each week, and despite having read the Bible many times, there is plenty that I have missed.  I recommend this for everybody interested in learning more about the Old Testament.  I wish I had seen it when I was a knew Christian, but I equally recommend it for those long in the faith, as there is always more to learn!

Anyway, during one of the lectures, Dr. Miller recommended a book: The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God by D. A. Carson. 

The Blurb says:

The theme of the love of God is inexhaustible, both in our experience and our theology. We will reflect on it and adore him for eternity. In today's world, however, it is a theme that has been taken for granted and treated as easily understood. Many see God in sentimental ways: he is a kind old man in the sky who wouldn't harm a fly, or an easy-going friend who gives them presents and helps them out of every difficult spot. 'God loves me,' cries one person, 'so surely he won't punish me.' 'God loves the whole world,' cries another, 'so we needn't worry about who will be saved.'
But is it really that easy? What does the Bible teach about God's love? What does it have to say about the wrath of the loving God, or about the loving God who is also sovereign Lord?
In this book, Don Carson turns his attention to these vital questions. He wants us to get a new perspective - one that sees God as awesome and glorious as well as loving. He wants us to take seriously the need for justice to be done and for God to be Lord. But most of all, he wants us to understand that these things are included in God's love, not opposed to it, and so to reach an even greater, richer, more 'truth-full' picture of the wonderful love of God.

I was  pleasantly surprised by this book.  I was expecting it to be very heavy and difficult reading, but it was interesting to a layman like me.  It goes through all the different facets of God's love, and why if you reduce His love to either "God loves everybody regardless" or "God only loves His own" you miss important understanding of who God is, you miss His mercy and judgement, you miss facets of His personality and indeed His enduring love, and reduce Him to a caricature or cliche, neither of which does Him justice.