JPM Gardens

As evidenced by the number of posts I manage to make here you can be pretty sure that I a not that much of a dedicated Blogger, I have lots of other calls on my time, family, work, bands, orchestras etc. etc.

My work will always take quite a lot of time and effort, to a great extent that is the nature of self employment, when you are self employed there is no Human Resources Department, no Marketing Department, no Accounts Department, no IT Department to help out we have to do it all.   Well I have made one small adjustment and have started another blog, but one that will not require much in the way of regular updating but one that I hope people will enjoy looking at.

Basically it is just a series of photos of jobs I have done, flower beds, patios and steps.   A little bit of this and that, all the things in a garden that need doing I that I do.

Pop over and take a look at JPM Gardens

The Black and White Show

No I don't mean underskirts, I worry about slipping up, making a mistake especially when it comes to getting everything right for a performance.    I have nightmares about arriving at the wrong venue (it has happened on one occasion I arrived at the Roman Catholic Southwark Cathedral instead of the Anglican one), or with the wrong clothes (again it happens white shirt instead of black etc.) so I like to make sure I avoid these sort of slips.

 Last night I agreed to play in a concert with a local band that I am not a member of but am a good friend to.   Just to make sure that I had all the details correct I sent a text message to the conductor.

"OK for Sat. please confirm time venue and dress"
The reply;~
"7pm St. Paul's Church.  Black dress for you"
 As he often wears a kilt as formal wear I replied
"Are you suggesting I wear a dress to distract the audience from you wearing a skirt?"

Having said all that I do have night mares, real night mares about getting on stage and not having my music, sometimes I wake up in near panic about a concert that isn't even real, but where I found myself on the stage all dressed up with my instrument and ready to play a solo but with no music so unable to perform, any way to get back to the point,

After taking a shower I took note of what I ad been told a put on a black dress shirt and trousers, and as it was a warm night didn't bother with a jacket.   When I got to the concert all the men were wearing dinner jackets with white shirts and all but two of the ladies were wearing black bottoms and white tops ~ ARGHHHH.   I'm, glad I had the conductors text with me to show why I was wearing all black.

A Big Disappointment

"My faith is very important to me" when ever I hear this sort of thing I tend to think that the speaker has it all wrong, faith shouldn't be important to you, it should be central to who you are.   My Church is something I do, a group I am a member of and activities I undertake, my Church is very important to me.   A bit like when Bill Shankley was asked how important Football was he replied that" some people think it is matter of life or death, they're wrong, it's more important than that".    So my faith is central too who and what I am, it dictates my attitudes and my behaviour, my Church is very important because it is part of the where and how I express my faith.

I say all this by way of preamble to explain why I was so disappointed yesterday to hear a talk from the pulpit of my Church that I just could not agree with.   While it was meant to be on the subject of wisdom taking James 3 as the text, it ended up as being a poorly put together attack on rationality.   I am used to hearing members of the Church voice homophobic views and embracing creationism, however to hear it from front apparently as the sanctioned view of the Church was more than disappointing.    I like to think of myself as a tolerant person but this has pushed me over the edge, I have done something I hoped I would never feel the need to do, I have written to the Rector complaining.   I have tried not sound like Mr Angry from Tunbridge, rather I am encouraging him to be more cautious about who is allowed to speak and to monitor what is said.

I know this is not really quite the sort of thing many of you may come here to read, but this is about the whole of me, all of me, I am not just a tuba payer, I am a Husband, a Father, a Son, a Musician, a Gardener, a Friend, and a Christian.

A Good Thing

Most of the time we just potter through life getting on with our own little lives, but every now and then we get the chance to do something, to stand up get noticed and influence people, to do something important.   For most people most often this will happen when it is something that effects us directly, but as a musician every now and then we have the opportunity to do something important.  

Last weekend a few members of the Croydon Band had one of those opportunities.    We were asked to play at an event in Croydon Town centre for IDAHO, that is the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.   A selection of gay, and trans groups combined with some local Churches to promote freedom within diversity.   Freedom from violence, abuse, and prejudice.   I'm not sure how much effect this first local event will have, but there did appear to be some conversations being had and notice was taken.

I don't know whether the band will be back next year but I will be as it seems to me that this is A Good Thing

Every Silver Lining has a Cloud

I know I have talked about the value of having something to look forward to, I have looking forward to an orchestra rehearsal on Sunday, so that I can start to familiarise myself with the music we will be playing and get some serious playing done on the trombone again.   Since I am not a bank I have only just worked out that Monday is a Bank Holiday, the rest of the week is half term, so no orchestra Rehearsal on Sunday and no Band rehearsal on Wednesday.   Foolishly I have arranged to work on Saturday and have one appointment on Monday, I think I will try to rearrange Monday so we can go out together and watch the sprints at Crystal Palace.

It seems that as a family we rarely get to do much together, of course at the moment much of our emotional energy is absorbed by the GCSE exams, that will then be replaced by performances by one or the other of my daughter or me, to go out as a family together and just enjoy the day will be good.

Having said all that without the rehearsals I was expecting I shall have to do at least some practise, and I do need some time off.   Not sure how I am going to engineer that, maybe I should just wait and see if it rains, and then sort out my silver lining

Go on, yo know you want to

I have actually been doing a fair bit of playing recently, lots of practise / rehearsal on trombone for a concert in a couple of weeks, and a bit on the electric bass for services at Church, and of course my regular nights at CSB on tuba.

I have taken a plunge that I meant to make months ago, I have resigned as MD of the Brass Band, although I have enjoyed the job enormously and found the musical challenge very stimulating, I just don't have the time for the commitment, sometimes family is just more important.

Valuable Tips

No matter how experienced, or competent a performer we may be we can always do with learning from the valuable experience of others.

These are all from one of my favourite cartoon strips 9 Chickweed Lane.

We have been having a busy performance based week, on Wednesday my Daughter had a public run through of the song she would be singing at her audition for the BRIT school, on Thursday I had a Brass Band Concert, then on Friday my Daughter had her audition.

Today we will be going down to Brighton to buy her a new guitar, then tomorrow I will be playing Electric Bass at the morning service, before dashing up to London for an Orchestra rehearsal.

Frustration

This weather has really been getting to me.   As always this is a difficult time of year for a gardeners, but this year I do seem to be particularly short of funds, I have work in hand but nothing really substantial, rather than any one big job I have quite a few small ones, but this does mean that although I should be earning wages (when I can work) but nothing or not much in the way of profit.

However trying to be positive I have been able to do a bit of practice, mostly on Trombone, and catch up with a bit of admin, I have to say that my heart isn't in it though.   At least it's better than when I was trying to ply my trade as a pro musician, I remember one year with no work at all from new years eve till Valentines day, now that was tough.

A day at the Museum

We had a little more snow on Wednesday, not much but it certainly didn't do much in the way of aiding the thaw, so yesterday morning once again I looked out and saw settled snow, with the same again this morning, not much but enough to stop me doing any of the work I have in hand, as well as the lack of income I am beginning to get stir crazy, I need to get out and dig, chop, or lop something. I find it very depressing and frustrating when I have work to do, customers waiting, but the weather won't allow it. It is quite nice to have the time off, but when it's not my plan, when I am not in control, not making the choice then it gets very frustrating. And, I need the money to be coming in, especially with income tax due at the end of the month.

At least we did get out for a bit yesterday, as it was my wife's birthday she took the day off and we spent a pleasant couple of hours visiting the Horniman museum. We particularly like the aquarium and the musical instrument gallery, but there is a pretty eclectic collection here, based on the original Horniman collection donated to Londoners back in 1901. It was nice to just spend a bit of time together, just the two of us, no daughter or Mother craving attention, no customers needing stuff done.


After that she went to visit her mother in Hospital (knee replacement) and then we had a nice dinner and a bottle of wine at home. So not such a bad day really ~ if I could just get some work done.

And a Pie !?

I think I have played in this section

Well we have got to the middle of January and I am trying to stick to my resolutions, but it is not as easy as I had hoped, of course if they were easy then I would have been doing them anyway.   I am pleased to be able to say that I have been doing some practise, but so far only on trombone, and I have managed to tune the van radio into Classic FM as well as Radio 4.

I am concentrating more on teh trombone as my next couple of gigs on bass trombone, and I need to build up a bit more strength in my lip, and develop my tone.   So back to basics lots of long note practise and some basic solid studies.

New Year, New Leaf

It is that time of year when you sit back and take a good hard look at how you have done over the last year, well some things have gone OK and some not so much so.   It was good to have a holiday (I missed out in 2011) and the business is still going, on the other hand I have not been playing as much as I would have liked and I am tired too much of the time.   So it's now time to look ahead at what I want to achieve over the coming year.   I am going to limit myself to six things and I am going to try to make them SMART that is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely.

1 To achieve solvency ~ I think I may have mentioned before that money is an issue, like so many other people I ran up credit card and other debt that I suddenly found I could no longer service. I have had to make "arrangements" with my creditors and have, with difficulty being sticking to these arrangements. Towards the end of 2013 I anticipate a small windfall, nothing substantial, but it should be enough to settle everything except the mortgage, that would be a very nice feeling!

2 To take off one day each month, solely for my own edification. I have tried to do this a few times but have always ending up missing a few, these are my days to go to an art exhibition visit a garden or house, time to myself to go out and do something that will inspire and enlighten me. I have already set this in motion I have booked for a couple of exhibitions at the Royal Academy.

3 To spend quality time with my wife, to restore our relationship and to get better at communicating. I think we have started this and things have improved over the last month or so, but I am still very aware that I could "blow it" big time with one false move. When our daughter was born I bought my wife a gold chain, a couple of years ago it broke, as part of her Christmas present I had it repaired, this was meant to be symbolic of my determination to repair our relationship, I hope this was noticed.

4   I mentioned I am tired a lot of the time, too often wake up on the same day that I go to bed, I will aim to go to bed on the same day as I wake up more often.

5   Last year (2012) I managed to visit Wells Cathedral, something I have longed to do for ages, this coming year I want to visit Ely and Lincoln Cathedrals, I long to visit Durham as well (or instead) but I think Ely and Lincoln could be achieved on a single trip over two or three days.   I know that this may not be everybody's cup of tea, but I do enjoy visiting Cathedrals, especially the old ones.

Ely Cathedral

6 To play more music, by this I mean both recorded music to listen to and as an instrumentalist. I need to do more (or indeed any) practise, especially on the tuba, I have noticed that I am not as good a player as was even a couple of years ago. I think that a lot of this is down to my conducting, this takes a lot of the time that I was previously devoting to playing, and I have not made up for it any other time. To a certain extent it is just keeping the muscles in trim, but I definitely need to play the bass guitar more so that I can get to the level where I am playing the music, rather than the instrument! It also struck me the other day that I rarely get to listen to music, the television tends to dominate in our household, but I am determined that I should listen to more of the music I know I love, and some that I don't know, I think this is one of the ways that we grow as musicians, exposure to new music as well as looking deeper into what we already know and love. It could be as simple as retuning the radio to Radio 3 and Classic fm occasionally rather than leave it stuck on Radio 4.

Maybe these are not all very SMART, but they are at least all timed. I'm not always good at making changes, but it is always worth trying to change the things you are not happy with.

Am I Getting Old

The other morning I woke up later than planned, and feeling definitely second hand, I had far too much to drink the previous night and paid the price in the morning. Too make matters more complicated I had at least some sense and didn't drive home but "crashed" at my friends house, so in the morning I had to go home, get changed and then get to work, only around an hour late.

I don't think I was giving prime value for money, I just can't do this sort of thing anymore. I have to admit that I'm no longer a teenager, there was a time when I could (and did regularly) do this sort of thing with little care, now I am wasted for the whole of the following day, ahh another aspect of growing old.

We went out again that night, and for once I volunteered to drive and not drink,  it has to be said that not drinking did not have any impact on how much I enjoyed the evening.   This is a time of year when introspection is very much to the fore, maybe this is an aspect of my lifestyle that could bare a little self inspection.

'Tis the season......

As a tuba player I am suddenly in a lot of demand, on Thursday evening we played carols around our Parish, four brass players and a little choir while others knocked on doors and handed out mince pies sweets and a list of the Christmas services in the Parish over Christmas. As we are a joint benefice with two ministers and two Churches there are quite a lot of services. Then on Friday evening we had an outdoors carol service in front of one of our Churches, this time three brass and electric keyboard along with the choir. All great fun and a good thing to do but none the less pretty tiring after a days work, on both days I didn't get home and have any dinner till around ten.

So it was nice yesterday to have a bit of lie-in before driving down to Hever Castle for a final concert of the year, this time with a different local Brass Band playing BBb bass. It was good to play some different music and meet up with some old friends, also the way the castle and grounds were lit up was very pretty, indeed I wondered about using the title "Hever on Earth" I didn't have a camera with me so these shots are ones I took on my rather poor quality phone camera.


It seems odd but I realised the other day that I only seem to play Mrs T (my old Hawkes Cavalry Model BBb) at Christmas, I used a band instrument yesterday evening so Mrs T went back up into the attic for another year. This evening I will be playing at our main Parish Carol Service for what feels like the first time for ages I will be using "the new toy" my Conn CC. I shall have to find some time today to have quick practise to see if I can remember which fingers to use!

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

I'm not the most enthusiastic person when it comes to Christmas, in fact in many ways I'm a bit of a Scrooge. I can't get into the "Christmas spirit" until I have played a few Christmas gigs, well this weekend I have managed two. Yesterday evening the Brass Band played at Brookwell Park Lido, maybe not the most prestigious of venues, but alongside the choir from St Paul's Church over the road we had a great time, playing carols and Christmas songs. We had a good audience with a great age range, from some quite small children to some ladies of much more "mature" years. For once my wife came along as well, we had a good time, and on the way home stopped for a quick drink, all in all a good evening.

Today I took a little trip up to town with Mrs T (my pre first world war Hawkes and Sons BBb Cavalry model tuba) to join with around 40 other tuba players to play some carols on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral. I missed this event last year but have played the previous four or five, and I suspect that this was one of the smaller turn outs. I don't know why since the weather was nice and mild, and there had been a fair amount of publicity so I would have expected more like 70 or 80. Still there is nothing like the sound of massed tubas playing carols in four part harmony, it was good to meet up with some old friends. It's a bit early for there to be any photos available on the Internet so this is one I took on my phone as I arrived, I shall be checking over the next few days and if there are any good ones I will stick them up.

Audition

This mornings post brought the usual seasonal selection of Christmas cards and bills, along with one large A4 envelope addressed to all of us. This letter was from the BRIT school, a while back my daughter applied for the sixth form there, we were told that we would hear from them by the beginning of April. We had steeled ourselves to a long wait, so I was very pleased when I opened the letter to find that my daughter has an audition and interview next month.

There could be a lot of pressure on her over this, she has an audition piece to prepare, and another to learn for a theory test. They also want a letter explaining how she is preparing, sounds like a lot of work, but I'm sure it will be worth it. I can't imagine her being happy unless she is singing and playing, one way or another I am sure she will be involved in the music business.

There is also the added attraction the school is a lot closer than her current school, Selhurst is within walking distance whereas her current school is the best part of an hour's journey each way. It would be really nice if she could not have to do that journey anymore. Many (many) years a ago I attended the Selhurst Grammar school (for Boys) the BRIT School has taken over the buildings of the Selhurst Grammar School (for Girls) next door. If she does get in I truly hope that she will be a lot happier there than I was next door.

Somehow it sort of puts my evenings work into some kind of perspective, I will be conducting the local Brass Band in an outside "singalong" of Christmas songs, still it should be fun and they are providing "Bambi burgers" and mulled wine

Frosty

Wednesday mornings I go to an early morning prayer meeting at my Church, at the moment this means getting up early (for me) and getting out while it is still dark and before breakfast.   By the time we are finished it has got light and we can begin to see something of the day.   This morning that meant frost and mist.   Walking back home through the local park I was struck by the beauty of the trees covered in frost, I was quite sorry that I didn't have my camera with me.

When I got home I could see some details of the garden picked out by the frost, turning the ordinary into the extraordinary.   While I am not particularly looking forward to going out into the cold again to do some garden work, I am cheered by the beauty of these images.

 

Later today I will be cooking for the final session of the Alpha Course we have been running, this will be quite a big deal, since it is the last night I will be preparing a three course meal including a hot dessert, and as yet I haven't even done the shopping.   So I am in for another busy day, set in a busy week, and next week I start my two days a week in the office, as well as all the gardening work; and this is meant to be my quite time!

Up Dates

Written mid day Monday 10th December 2012

 

I am thinking of running a series of pictures of Christmas trees, here is the first example.            I keep missing a few days of posting so this is a quick catch up, I have been very busy with lots of different things

Saturday night my Symphonic Band played a concert at my Church, my first "Christmas" event of the year. As I was in effect the host this meant I had to set up, move the platform around set up chairs, while my wife and daughter prepared mulled wine and fruit juices, mince pies and "nibbles", decorated the tree etc. I also had to introduce the band and plug the appeal. The evening was a great success, the band and audience both enjoyed themselves and we raised over £450 for the food box operation we run. All very good but by the end we were all a bit drained.

• Sunday and I found I was on rota for both morning and evening services, due to the timing this left little time for much else apart from having lunch. I find that of all the different roles I have in the Church family that praying for others can be one of the more draining, so yesterday we made a point of praying for each other after we had prayed for others, I think this is a good thing and we shall continue to do it.
• In amongst all this I have had to arrange three pieces for the Brass Band for tonight's (Monday's) rehearsal so we can perform them on Saturday, they are only short pieces but it all takes time, I have completed the arrangements but still have to print out the parts.

In short a very busy, but progressive time. I also expect to have a lot of work on (which is good) as tomorrow I will be seeing one of my consultancy customers about taking on a period of office cover which would mean two days a week for a few months. This would be a big change in the way I work, but would give a much needed financial boost and some useful security.

Widening the Franchise

I have just had it pointed out to me that I have not posted much for quite a while.   It seems that I will go through a period of regular posting then just let it slip, well here goes again, this time with quite a heavy one.

Those of you who know me know that I am a big fan of marriage, and so want to see the institution flourish. It looks like the Government will soon be publishing a bill extending the opportunity to be married to same sex couples. At first I believed all the hype from some Christian activist websites and e-mail news that this was a re-definition of marriage, that Churches would be forced into having to hold ceremonies against their firmly held believes, that in short this was the end of society as we know it.

The case against

This is not a crazy as it sounds after all marriage is the bedrock of our society, it is the standard context for a family, and although it has been through a time where marriages are breaking up more and more, there does seem to be no popular taste for abandoning it as our standard for living. I was interested to hear David Cameron saying that they will now after all allow same sex marriages in places of worship, as a response to the consultation! Several Churches and synagogues want to be able to solemnise these marriages, just as I now feel that people who happen to be born homosexual should not be denied the joy, the dignity, and the security of true marriage, then neither should those of faith be denied the opportunity to have this solemnised in Church, or indeed neither should the Church be denied the opportunity to serve it's members in this way. It seems that for once I am actually agreeing with David Cameron and the Government (if not the Conservative party), I find this somewhat uncomfortable but when I find I am wrong I am prepared to change my mind!

The case for

I do think it is important that there is protection for those religious groups who are opposed to this, whatever their faith, and there may well be areas of law such as equality and human rights legislation that have to be looked at to accommodate them, without such an accommodation I cannot see such a bill getting through Parliament, and I now feel that it is more important that as a society we should allow all who wish to be married to be married. This is not a re-definition of marriage, more a widening of the franchise.

The Church of England has a pretty poor track record recently of following the will of it's members, this may be an opportunity for the (all male still) Bishops to take a lead, make sure that the rights of individual Churches are protected, while not impinging on the rights of individual people

That explains the sound

I love cartoons, and on line cartoons are one of the best ways to waste time.   I just have to share todays Wizard of ID

A Blue Peter

After a long period of dry weather the rain has come back in force this week, yesterday and today I have basically only been able to do some admin, and get some letters written that are long overdue.   Although it is frustrating to not be outside getting the gardens done, it is also quite nice to have an enforced break, even though I'm not sitting around unoccupied, it is different.

It looks as though the rain will only be around for a couple of days, then I will be back at it, nose to the grindstone, in the mean time here's one I prepared earlier.....

Taken in our garden in July