Getting a present

Today’s guest picture comes from a damp walk in the Chilterns undertaken by my daughter Annie.

Mrs Tootlepedal went off to sing in the church choir at the Remembrance Sunday service at the church while I set about preparing a venison stew for the slow cooker and then considered a quick pedal.  The consideration turned out to be even quicker than the proposed pedal and was brought to a swift conclusion by a  brief shower of rain.  I didn’t need much persuading not to go out as we had to get to Carlisle in good order by one o’clock.

I put the camera up at the kitchen window but it was another gloomy day and even taking perching goldfinches was a poor option.

They love to perch as high up in the plum tree as they can once the leaves have gone.

I took Pocketcam for a quick walk round the garden.  I am sorry to keep on taking pictures of rather damp flowers but part of the purpose of these posts is to keep a seasonal record of Mrs Tootlepedal’s garden and we are not in normal November conditions this year at all.

The sedum after giving excellent value for many weeks is just about to go over at last….

…and the fuchsia and Japanese anemone are going too.

The colour is draining out of the fuchsia and this is the last of the anemones.

I caught a fading clematis and the very last poppy still holding on.

But thanks to the absence of frost, there is still a thriving nicotiana, which survived Mrs Tootlepedal’s cull….

…a charming sweet pea….

and a happy clematis too.

Even more surprising is the delphinium which has refused to be beaten down by the frequent rain showers….

Bending but not broken

…and a rosemary plant by the greenhouse which looks as though it is ready to burst into flower.

All this underlines the fact that we have had a very atypical year of weather.

The reason for the early start to our trip to Carlisle was that our choir there was having a ‘singing day’.  You might well think that every choir day is a singing day but this one was a bit special.  Our conductor had organised three singing tutors to come down with him from Glasgow and for four and a half hours, we mixed large group lessons, small group lessons and general choir work in a feast of singing.

Getting breathing and vocal exercises from a trained singer is of great benefit to us hackers and if you add to that the detail we got in the small group lesson regarding phrasing, vowel sounds for tricky high notes and how to control our volume properly, it was a very valuable experience.

One of the best things to come out of all this from my point of view was to find that after four hours of singing, I still had a singing voice in good condition which showed that I must be developing a better technique.  Mind you, as my default singing style before I joined this choir last year was a strangled screech, I have had plenty of scope for improvement.  Mrs Tootlepedal had a good time too being coached by a soprano who has a tremendous voice.

Our conductor intends to have another of these singing days in the new year so we should continue to improve as a choir.  He really takes trouble over us and as far as we can, we reward him by trying our best.  We are singing four pieces at a big concert in Carlisle next Saturday and we are all looking forward to it.

The venison stew turned out well and that rounded off a very enjoyable day (especially as I cooked some semolina as an extra treat for pudding.)

I did find one brighter moment in the morning to catch a half decent flying chaffinch.