Wednesday, 17 June 2009

New Town Kings - Round and Round

OK, this is one of those Proud Mother Moments. But I hope you'll also agree that it's a great song by Colchester's best-loved band and a rather brilliant video by Olivia (whose films have featured on Musings before, but this is her first professional job).

(It's also one of those Frustrated By Technology moments, because I can't get Blogger to post this in full widescreen mode, so you don't get to see the whole of it. (If anyone knows how to fix this, please get in touch asap!) So, if you lose the right-hand bit of the screen watching it here, please go to YouTube and see it in its full glory. )




For more about the New Town Kings' upcoming gigs (including their European tour), go to their Myspace page.

Monday, 1 June 2009

TBTE


Wednesday, 27 May 2009

TBTE

Hello. Still haven't cracked this life/work/blog balance thing this year, I'm afraid. I have approx 40 blog posts half-written or sitting unwritten in my head: just haven't been able to get into the swing of actually finishing them off and launching them into cyberspace. Meanwhile, here's what happened above tbte earlier, following the wholly unspectacular disappearance of the sun from the sky, and a few minutes' gentle greyness:





Thursday, 14 May 2009

TBTE

12.5.09 . . .




Sea salt. From ancient times, the estuaries and marshes of Essex have been at the centre of the salt making industry.




Some 'Fascinating Facts' about Mersea Island . . .


. . . and a favourite song for a favourite person (sorry about the visuals - not to my taste, but tis the only clip on youtube):






TBTA

Tollesbury, 9.5.09

Trinity Lightship, the base of the Fellowship Afloat Charitable Trust , and home of the Tollesbury webcam, from which, if you are so inclined, you can gaze across to the Muddy Island.

Is there an apt number plate of the year award?


. . . . walk this way for a wild goose chase . . .

Wednesday, 13 May 2009

TBTE

8.5.09 (more catching up with the backlog ...)

You may have noticed in a previous TBTE this striking newcomer to the Besom Fleet (pronounced 'Buzzen' locally) - the Strontium Dog, a trimaran recently relaunched after a lengthy rebuild: you can find out more about her here and here (hit the appropriate news button on the right-hand side of the page).


She couldn't be more different from her 'traditionally built' neighbours, but I think she's very beautiful indeed: I speak aesthetically, not nautically, being rather sadly lacking on the boaty knowledge (or indeed boaty anything) front.

The Sunday Service

A bit more catching up: on Sunday 3rd May, I took my girls to The Sunday Service - no, nothing to do with going to church, I'm afraid, but one of a series of musical afternoons hosted by the Love Bistro at the Minories in Colchester.

In the blossom-filled Minories gardens, and against the picturesque backdrop of the eighteenth-century folly, six local musicians entertained a relaxed, 200-strong audience for three hours.


There was a lovely inclusive atmosphere, with an excellent barbecue, a bar and plenty of tea and cakes - something for everyone, from dancing toddlers to persons of maturer years (ie even more mature than mine!) reclining on tartan blankets.

Ev and Mary, aka 'Dog Friendly' - a guitar and flute/sax duo - set a wonderfully upbeat tone to the afternoon.
Tony Gibson - trombonist with Colchester Ska/Reggae Band the New Town Kings , but playing here in his singer-songwriter guise, was accompanied by Andrew Poonian on tabla and joined for a couple of songs by singer Adrian Johnson.






Young Colchester singer-songwriter Laura Younger rounded off the day's music making.


It's so wonderful to see the garden and folly being put to such good use. Altogether a jolly good way to spend a Sunday afternoon, albeit a disappointingly chilly one (but that's May bank holiday weekends - at least it wasn't tipping down with rain).

The next Sunday Service at the Minories - and let's hope it's bathed in summer sunshine - is on Sunday 31st May at 3 pm and will feature Ragged String Band, Dionysus (Rob, Chris and Tony from the New Town Kings playing dub), Animal Noise and Tony Gibson. Andrew Poonian will be providing an African drum workshop, too. Tickets are £5 on the door. See you there!

Wednesday, 6 May 2009

TBTM, TBTE and today's sea glass




A pointless crime

If you've visited Musings before, you will probably be familiar with our splendid Mersea beach huts, subject of many a point-click session of mine (eg here, here and here) as well as providing endless inspiration for island artists.

Last week some 30 of the West Mersea huts were broken into and four of them burned completely to the ground in the early hours of the morning.


It seems that this wasn't the usual 'mindless vandalism' which, sadly, we have to endure as much any other neighbourhood, but part of a planned operation by a gang targeting beach huts all along the east coast.


But . . . WHY? in heaven's name? What on earth does anyone expect to find in a beach hut other than ageing deckchairs, plastic spades, mismatched picnicware and a Spotters' Guide to the Sea Shore? Even at the height of the holiday season, it's most unlikely that anyone would leave anything of very much value inside, but many of these huts would still have been virtually empty since last autumn.


It's not only infuriating and worrying for islanders and desperately sad for the owners, but also completely baffling.



There's a pic of the scene the morning after, with fire crew still in attendance, on James & Maggie's blog.


Tuesday, 5 May 2009

Playing for Change - Stand by Me

Specially for anyone whom this particular worldwide virus hasn't yet infected - here's one of the most life-affirming versions of a favourite song. Play it loudly and then play it again . . . and again . . .



There’s an article about its inspiration and execution here and more info about Playing for Change here .

Tuesday, 28 April 2009

Easter . . .

Seems an awfully long time ago now.

I spent it, as usual, in Sandhurst with my parents, and SD#s 2 and 3 and the dog came too. And we enjoyed a relaxing but unremarkable time, at least weatherwise - there was no Easter snow this year!

Easter egg hunt. The children are far too old for this now, but the tradition persists.
The tall circular basket was made by my grandmother's cousin George, who was partially sighted and had learned basket-making at school as an alternative to the only other trade then deemed suited to the visually impaired - piano tuning.
I used to fill this and a couple of his other child-sized baskets with primroses and violets, gathered in the woods around my ancestral homes of Odiham (see also here) and Greywell. This was long before the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 outlawed the picking of many species, which led to a change in attitudes to the picking of wild flowers in general - what was once a simple country pleasure came to be regarded as an act of vandalism, so we desisted forever. Sad to say, however, the fragrant copses in which my sister and I spent many a happy hour with our mother, gathering choice blooms as Easter offerings for our grandmothers, have long been lost to housing developments and bypasses anyway, so our new-found conservationist spirit was in vain on that front at least.



Looking across the (other) River Blackwater) from Berkshire into Hampshire.



The Easter bunny gets lost in the woods (sad or what?!)


Thursday, 9 April 2009

Catching up IV - TBTAs


Building sandcastles the Big Boys' way ...












Wednesday, 8 April 2009

Catching up III - TBTEs

I may have been avoiding the blogosphere, but that doesn't mean that the dog and I haven't been trudging TBTM/A/E in our customary fashion, and sometimes I have taken the camera with me for good measure. Here's a selection of TBTEs from March:








Catching up II

Having emptied my camera for the first time for ages last night, I came across some pics taken at my lovely father's 80th birthday celebrations at the end of February. How quickly time has flown. My parents are now both 80, and as lively, energetic and astute as ever (far more so than I am, I often feel). They rejoice in good physical and mental health and have certainly enjoyed for the last twenty years the fruits of a lifetime's hard work and fiscal prudence, constantly adding to their in-depth exploration of their native shores, as well as travelling widely abroad - my sister and I never know where the next postcard will be coming from! - and long may it continue, say I.

Father's big day was marked in a modest fashion, with lunch out for close family at a pleasant local eatery, and tea and cakes at home later.








Oh, and luckily, I am blessed with some of the most attractive children on the planet . . . . and they never let me down in public. Ever.


Catching up I

Hello!

It's been a while - nearly a month, in fact - since I last posted anything here. Work often overtakes my life in March, and this year it has done so with more of a vengeance than usual. So, mindful of the enormously distracting influence of the blogosphere, I have given it up for Lent, to be on the safe side. Apologies, therefore, to all my favourite bloggers whose words and pictures I have not visited, and also to the very kind readers of Musings who have been enquiring after my well-being. All is well, I can assure you - I've simply needed to concentrate my entire attention on the less entertaining business of meeting deadlines and earning a living.

There is still much to be done but, having accidentally found myself taking much of the day off in order to do some essential shopping, entertain some essential visitors, and run some essential errands, I thought . . . oh what the, er, 'heck', I'll end this less than work-productive day by catching up with the old blog before the Easter break.

Today, my elder daughter's only non-ripped, non-paint-spattered jeans were declared unwearable, the zip having 'gone'. We are visiting Grannie and Grandpa tomorrow. Grannie and Grandpa don't really 'understand' ripped jeans (in fact, they don't really understand jeans per se and have never been seen anywhere near, let alone IN, anything made of denim themselves). A trip into Colchester was thus urgently called for, and a pair of 'respectable' jeans purchased (together, I regret to say, in a manner which reveals my Great Antiquity, with a pair of 'ready-ripped' jeans . . . I can't believe I've spent good money on such an item, but ho hum, that's progress and the Modern Age, I suppose, grump grump).

The time-consuming and spiritually exhausting process of finding exactly the right size, length, fit, shape, colour and label of said jeans successfully completed, a trip to the Colchester branch of James and Maggie's Art Cafe was more than called for.

And a cup of their highly recommended Hot Chocolate with Chilli was duly consumed. Here's a horribly out-of-focus snap:


A few errands later, and supper (cooked by SD#1, who's becoming very competent and useful on the catering front) consumed, My Boy and I set off with the dog for our evening's dog-walk. This started well, with a Nice Cup of Tea and Sit Down on the old jetty to watch the sun go down and listen to the birds settling for the night. But our peaceful companionship was disturbed by a party of people for whom quiet musing was clearly not on the agenda, so we retired gracefully to walk the sea wall until darkness fell.