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already wrote brief subject matter of a Khachaturian and a Jacques Loussier Vivaldi CD on a couple of postit notes and put them on the back of stands with the CDs on. Like you see sometimes in Waterstones and Foyles and other nice bookshops. Then for next week I might do something on Joe Green as I've got a few of his CDs on the shelf.

I got two people ask me how I got on with my organ adventure (make that three if you count Sultan).

Sultan? I hope you reported favourably; I think you did extremely well and played a lot better than a lot of 'organists' I have encountered at various weddings/funerals. (Special mention goes to the funeral organist who played 'Abide With Me' at 100 mph yet crept through 'The Lord's My Shepherd' so slowly it took half an hour to sing.)

Like the true liberal that I am, I just wrote my Youtube channel address on a piece of paper and got them to take a peek and decide for themselves. Except for Sultan, he says he can't understand the Internet and too old for all that nonsense (this nonsense)!!

Maybe I'll get another chance to have a play on one sooner rather than later...

Who/what is Sultan?

Sultan Khan is a regular who comes into the shop. He is a retired Asian musician and he buys all types of vinyl. He's very knowledgeable on all types of music (mainly rock, qawwali and Indian/Pakistani classical) and he was quite keen when I told him I was going to play a church organ.

He'll be as pleased as punch I've mentioned him on here!

Qawwali? Wow, what a fabulous word for Scrabble... Good, I'm glad you have a flesh 'n' blood person egging you on too.

I'm going to have to upload some clips and take my laptop into work next week to show a few people. And if they say I should be on 'England's Got Talent' or whatever, I'll just say I should be sat at the organ of a lonely chapel practicing.

Trudging round a huge antiques centre just having a browse.

Gill the Piano wrote:Trudging round a huge antiques centre just having a browse.

'Farageing' as they say.... Not more signs?

Not that we bought, no. Just a windchimey thing made from old forks/spoons. 'More stuff for me to bang my head on' said A Person I Know.

There's an antique shop over the road from my bookshop in Moseley: 'Moseley Antiques Emporium'. Philip Serrell's been in there. I ain't though.

I liked Serrell until I found out he had been a games teacher. *shudder*

Rolf Harris or Stuart Hall were never games teachers, at least!!!

Doing the cashing up at work and balancing the totals!

Sums make you happy????

It's not so much the sums, it's the balancing of the total cash/card sales, the till Z readings and the actual cash in the drawer minus the float. The not having to put 'reason unknown' for any differences between the three.

My happiness is because my little Westie is responding well to her heart medication and is almost back to her cheeky, naughty self

Bless her - how old is she, Feg?

Gill the Piano wrote:Bless her - how old is she, Feg?

She was 12 in June, Gill. She has lived with us since she was 3 and a half - previously she was used for breeding and wasn't in a great state when we got her. She developed a cough in May which didn't respond to treatment so a couple of x-rays and an ultra sound later and she has dilated cardiomyopathy, two lots of tablets to take twice daily and a new lease on life

Brilliant, I love it when they respond to their drugs. My friend's cat would droop periodically from when he hit 20 so she'd take him to the vet where he'd get an injection and then be right as ninepence for another year. He lived to 25. The vet would never give Jenny one of the injections though, however much she begged...

Selling £10 worth of sheet music at the shop, including a complete set of Bach Well Tempered Clavier preludes/fugues, and seeing Karen (one of Mabel's other adult students) in the shop (and have her congratulate me on my performance at Mabs adult concert in July. She played a complete Chopin sonata!

Well done!

Taking delivery of my dream car this morning.

She is not brand new, and not everyone's cup of tea, but I am now the proud owner of a Volvo XC60, 2.4l D5 on a 59 plate with 32,800 on the clock. Oh, and it is a rare 2 wheel drive version so not a Chelsea tractor

Happy motoring, petal!

I've rediscovered the joys of driving I've also discovered that this beast is going to very economical on fuel

Really? I drove a borrowed small Volvo once and I paid in fuel what I'd have paid in car hire! Mind you, that was a long while ago.

After 9 days, being able to play my HW piece at 58 cbpm. Hardly allegretto but I never knew largo was slower than adagio. With larghetto a little quicker than largo.

And bitter tastes better than largo. Particularly with a bag of crisps and a pickled egg.

So with that reckoning, largo is brewed slower than larghetto.

Getting a couple of positive messages on Twitter from Paul Harris. THE Paul Harris!!!

Blimey, you ARE mixing with the upper echelons!

He's even asked me to 'work thtough IYSR very methodically and everything will fall into place' and to let him know how I get on. I think that merits another go at it from the start (that is the two golden rules, always count and never stop. And always carry on. Three golden rules. And to have the right, positive frame of mind. Four golden rules.

See, you are not alone Loads of support out there.

I spent a rather wonderful couple of hours playing violin with a local pianist tackling the accompaniments. We are rehearsing for two informal music sessions as part of the Balerno Music Festival. Apart from the usual Kreisler and Elgar standards, I would appear to have found my inner Stephane Grappelli. Never thought I would cope with jazz violin.

Feg wrote:See, you are not alone Loads of support out there.

Learning the piano is a lonely old hobby (maybe that's why it suits me down to the ground) unlike, say a string or woodwind instrument that one can always join an orchestra or chamber set with. That's what I find anyway.

Coincidentally, my pianist friend was bemoaning the solitary lot of the pianist today. She really enjoyed our practice session this morning.

The best bit for me was hearing the sound of my violin resonate and sing as never before. She lives in a converted farm steading and the acoustics in her kitchen were marvellous. Good acoustics make even my playing sound glorious.

I'm hoping that when the Festival is over, we can continue playing together.

Accompanying is soooooo good for pianists - otherwise we get selfish. However I've always been happy with my own company so playing solo never bothered me...

Got a 25 page dole form to fill out and afterwards, sort out the proofs that they need so that's making me very happy......not! If I was a wandering musician (or even a church organist like Mabel) I would not have to claim dole!

Lordy, that's almost as bad as the care allowance form we had to fill in for Mum! Do a bit at a time then leave it for a while or you'll get boggled by it...

Gill the Piano wrote:Lordy, that's almost as bad as the care allowance form we had to fill in for Mum! Do a bit at a time then leave it for a while or you'll get boggled by it...

Just that I'm up for review and my last one was in mid 2013. But this is a different one as I'm not eligible for the contributions based one after November, so I have to get the income based one, which means a means test. I do not have to provide any medical details but I have a long list of proofs that I have to show to the Benefits Agency as a mandatory requirement. However I've done means tested benefits before so I kinda know what to expect and what they ask for. The main thing to remember is that they don't trust you or believe anything you tell them so you have to provide proof even if they don't ask for it.

It may mean another cut. I had one last November.

I wish I was a Piano Tuner, then I wouldn't have to worry about spending the rest of my life at the mercy of these civil servants.

No, you don't want to be a Piano Tuner. You have to deal with numpty customers etc, and HMRC who have their own set of hoops to jump through.

Oh well, just have to hope I don't get another cut because it may be tatty-bye Mabel against my will. It would be so lovely if something positive happened in my life...

Black dog not with me today so that's good but I wish I knew how to keep it at bay permanently. This morning's piano practice was alright too. I wish I was a happy person though like Gill and Gizz

See your avatar...

Gill the Piano wrote:See your avatar...

I think I'll have to learn to do it before I boast about it on avatars. How does one think positively when one is in such a deep pile of pigswill?

I saw Shazia (manager of the shop I used to work in) and she said I was welcome to come back to the shop when my current 'black dog' and back pain had gone away. She said that yet another £20 of sheet music had sold and that I was very knowledgeable about my field of classical music.

She also said one volunteer, who does the rock music was very distraught that I had gone. I just wish I had the confidence. I told Shazia I was in a permanently scared state.

You were magic; those displays were fantastic. They need you!

The prospect of having usuable space in my garage for the first time in years!

Really? Have you sold your new car? Come and clear my garage out when you've finished, will you? And the music room...and perhaps the Doom Room too. Basically, there's a full time job if you want it!

Yes, really:) No, my new car goes over my dead body

The garage is motorbike territory. There were four, then one went away (it will be sold early next month) and another one arrived so we are still at four. If you are still following this, one more will be sold so eventually there will be three!

Meantime, motorbike Tetris will be the norm for a few weeks yet.