My Weekend Starts….Here..! :)

Phew! What a week! I worked a full three and a half days! Believe me, my body has not been used to doing that for a good many months!

I worked my three days at the Royal Liverpool Hospital, meeting many company representatives and people who work in the admin side of Supplies and Nursing in the NHS and on Wednesday I ‘chief’ invigilated my first ‘big’ room exam! I usually specialise in ‘extra time’ exams for students with disabilities but this morning from 10am to 1pm I ran and conducted a medical exam for 20 students! To say I was amazed at myself that I could stand, talk and direct more than 20 people is an understatement. I really did not think I had it in me to stand before people and talk aloud! I am more stronger, more confident than I give myself credit for. I am surprising myself more and more as this year progresses. I always thought myself as shy but maybe I am now, finally coming out of my shell to fulfill my potential???

But today is Thursday and I have Friday and the weekend off! The UK is supposed to see some sunshine and summer like weather again, so I am hoping to spend tomorrow sunbathing before cheering on Andy Murray in his Wimbledon semi-final! On Saturday I hope the sun continues to bask down upon us and my family can enjoy a BBQ. Well that is what I have planned anyway!  🙂

Below you will find two videos I have uploaded to my YouTube channel recently. One is of baby Goldfinches I videoed on Tuesday evening around 7pm. They were making a right racket and the rest of the ‘charm’ were all eagerly gobbling the sunflower seeds on offer in my garden.

The second video is of my Bengalese (Society)  Finches, Chocolate (female) and Romeo (male). This is the first video I have made of Romeo since Caramel passed. (I still miss her.) I think Chocolate is cursing my name as since getting Romeo, he has not left her alone! It is pleasant of a morning to sit listening to him singing. Now, Thursday evening as the sun sets, it is nice to see them finally bonded and sitting on their rope swing together.

Hope you all enjoy the weekend wherever you are! 😀

BBQ Time – Family Fun!

Since the UK has been covered with bright, warm sunshine for most of the week. We decided on Friday to have a family BBQ with myself, David, my brother Daniel and mum Heather. We cooked beef burgers and salmon on the grill and precooked Charlotte potatoes and mixed some salad. There was wine flowing and Daniel had music playing on Jade his laptop.

We all had such a good time that we decided to do it all over again on Saturday!

So David and I bought vegi burgers and spicy chicken for the main. Then meringue and strawberries to make a pudding of Strawberry Mess. With the grill smoking we all thoroughly ate like kings and had such a laugh!

Inspiration or Insanity? You Decide!

Recently I was listening to an audio recording of Jonathan Firth in William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. In it he plays Orsino the duke of Illyria. The play opens with his most famous soliloquy ‘if music be the food of love, play on.’ This got me thinking! The first composer that came to my mind was Gustav Mahler. Then a ‘flash’ hit me! An idea was born! Why not try and blend Jonathan’s wonderful readings with Mahler’s 10th Symphony?

I had not long since been given a download of the audio mixer ‘Audacity’, so I attempted to weave some magic into Mahler’s 10th. Where I think it really worked was when I used a clip from Daphne du Maurier’s I’ll Never be Young Again. I think the recording is one of Jonathan’s finest audio work and the clip I intersected with Mahler seems (or so it seems to me) to be a wonderful pairing, very emotional!

Where I didn’t feel so confident is near the end, where I used a clip from William Woodruff’s Shadows of Glory. Though not a bad narrative, I don’t think it portrays the emotion that Du Maurier’s work does. I shall let you all decide.

A word on the cover photo. I was listening to a recording of  Mahler’s 6th Symphony on YouTube, it was by the Vienna Philharmonic/Bernstein. I loved the cover artwork so I print screened and pasted it into Paint Shop. I changed the picture of Mahler and added a recent one of Jonathan. I am really proud of myself as I think it looks lush! I am not renowned for my artistic prowess. 🙂

I hope you enjoy the music! 🙂

Light a Candle…

My father Graham Connor, passed away a year ago on 28th March 2012. On the anniversary of his passing, I thought I would do a memorial video in memory of a life…