Back in my January post last year Fun goals and aims for 2019 , I talked about my English Heritage membership and wanting to try and visit some EH places.
I thought I'd share where I have been so far.
AIM 1:
Piano: Learn Chopin's Waltz in C# Minor.
I have dabbled with learning it before- as a teen and a point last Summer but I would really like to learn to play the whole piece confidently and, if possible, from memory as to be able to perform it to the children at school for example.
RESULT: Well, I did work at learning it and I am MUCH better at it- I can play most of the first two pages from memory but I didn't keep up with this so I haven't learnt or perfected the middle section of this piece. One to continue with.
AIM 2:
Composing/arranging:
Last Summer, one of my aims was to arrange 'Another Day of Sun' from Lala Land for my flute quartet which I did and it was super to have something to arrange and satisfyingly finish it. Alas, the quartet is not now a quartet so we are yet to perform it but I still did it. Therefore, instead, I would like to arrange Hedwig's Theme from Harry Potter for my flute trio. I would also like to arrange Clara's theme from Doctor Who and Princess Leia's theme. from Star Wars because I love this tune!
RESULT: I HAVE done some more composing and arranging. Maybe not as much as I would have liked but certainly I've done so more than usual.
This year, I wrote THREE Christmas songs for school- Mary, Christmas, Christmas AND Caesar wants a census.
For school last January, I did an arrangement and mashup of Baby Shark and another famous animal-themed tune which was incredibly successful- the kids at school loved it and at the borough Recorder Festival, after my 52 children performed it, I was asked by several schools if they could have a copy of it. In addition, I arranged 'Singing in the rain'and Portsmouth point for Drumming Club and Recorder Club combined.
For our school orchestra, I arranged several pieces and wrote a brand new piece called Montpelier waltz.
Outside of school, for my flute trio, I arranged You raise me up for flute trio and it has been performed at 3 gigs already. I also rearranged Moon River for flute duo for another paid gig as we needed some duos and it worked really well- also been played at two more gigs.
I've actually written a new flute trio this month especially for my trio, which will be debuting at our Chelmsford Cathedral recital on Friday 21st February (should you be in the area)
So, quite a successful year compared to the previous year I would say!
AIM 3:
Flute: Learn Hypnosis by Ian Clarke properly. for flute and piano.
I was lucky enough to be taught by Ian Clarke when I was at university, at a time when not so many people had heard of him- in fact, I am honoured enough, in the composer's words, to be player no.11 in the world of his piece, Zoomtube, but I've never really learnt one of his easier pieces, Hypnosis. I would like to learn it.
If you would like to hear some of his amazing pieces, you can hear extracts on his website: http://ianclarke.net/page3.html
RESULT:
Er- not done! I DID learn to play Beverly by Ian Clarke but not even looked at Hypnosis! FAIL! I have bought a few new other flute pieces so maybe I'll give those a go!
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AIM 4:
Visit English Heritage Properties:
When CBC and I visited Audley End House in September, we joined English Heritage as it was only an extra £28 compared to our admission price of £20 for 15months of membership and we thought it would be good to join EH and visit some interesting historical places for a year. We had a lovely time there and on the 30th December, we visited Dover Castle which was wonderful and put us £22 closer recouping our £48 membership cost- that means £6 more to recoup!
So, I've been perusing the EH guide and have decided I would like to visit the following places that are achievable from where we live:
RESULT:
Well, we visited ALL the above except for Framlingham Castle and a few more...
1. Audley End- Price £20.00
2. Dover Castle- Price £22.00
3. Landguard Fort- £5.80
4. Eltham Palace- £17.00 (plus free entry for my sister £17.00 with free admission voucher)
5. Walmer Castle and Gardens £13.50
6. Deal Castle-£8.40
7. Down House- £14.00
8. Corbridge Roman Town £8.70
9. Ashby-de-la-Zouch castle £6.90
10. Battle of Hastings battlefield £12.30
11. Lullingstone Roman Villa £8.10
12. Chesters Roman Fort, Corbridge £7.20
We definitely utilised the cost of our EH membership and forgot to cancel the Direct Debit so I guess we have another year of EH to explore then:
Places I want to visit still:
AIM 5:
Doctor Who cosplay:
I've had a few little Doctor Who dressing up tasks that I have had kicking around for a while and I would like to stop procrastinating and just get on with them:
The first is finish skirt for Clara Oswald cosplay for Sleep No More. I bought a great scalloped skirt with an incredibly similar pattern for about £4 and a blue fabric pen to colour it in. I wish, oh I wish, I hadn't bothered as it is an incredibly tedious process which is going to take hours than it has already but I've started so I must finish!!!
Also, to complete this outfit, I wish to Finish the Sleep No More t-shirt. I bought a navy t-shirt and a pleated navy top in a charity shop for £3 and £2.75 respectively which I want to try and turn into a one t-shirt with a collar so I really just need to find a way to get on with that!
I have some Shrink plastic and I would also like to make a couple of sweetie brooches for a Romana City of Death cosplay I've had the elements for for years but not actually put together so I would like to make that happen too.
RESULT:
WIN! Thanks to the wonderful Ang Almond who helped me out with the above Clara cosplay with her amazing skills AND another cosplay, I managed to complete this AND another one. I have a few more Cosplans this year which I would like to have a go at if possible!
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AIM 6:
Visit an Escape Room:
I've been hearing about these fun escape rooms for a while now and I think they sound like great fun so I would like to do one of these. Actually, this may be a bit of a cheat since my sister has already talked about us doing one of these at half term.
RESULT:
Well, as I intimated above, we DID have an escape room planned- My Dad, Stepmum, sister and I went to the 'Escape from Oz' room at the Panic Rooms, Grave End in Kent which was great fun- to our shame we DIDN'T escape! In the Summer, we reunited the same team with CBC this time and N, my sister's new boyfriend who we met for the first time that day to do the escape room! It was called The Don and it was a mafia themed challenge. I LOVED it!!!
Definitely want to do more soon. I hear there's a Doctor Who one in Oxford AND the Gravesend place has a new Alice-themed one!
AIM 7:
Walks:
Walk along the front in Southend. I've heard from a friend that it is a lovely walk along from Leigh-on-Sea to Shoebury so I'd like to try this.
RESULT:
We did the aforementioned walk at the end of August or possibly September. We walked from Thorpe Bay to Leigh which was great although we chose THE windiest day- it was really hard to move!
In addition, we did a great walk near where we lived which was circular and helped us to discover some beautiful scenery near where we lived. We did a few other fun walks to Essex Wildlife Trust reserves and went on a Seal-watching boat ride a few miles from home. We also did a massive 10 mile walk (felt very hard in the scorching heat) from home to a village with a village fete which was fun on the last day of our Summer holidays.
There's definitely more local walks I'd like to try.
And a few honorable mentioned:
There are, of course, many things I would like to do in terms of resolutions like GO to BED at a reasonable hour, finally commit to one church instead of dithering over it so much and ensure I avoid buying as much as possible in plastic but more on that another time.
The Bed time thing was a FAIL- I seemed to get worse. I have been going to one church though I don't think I have fully committed to it but I have done well on the avoiding of plastic.
Maybe, I'll come up with some aims for this year soon!
I thought I'd share where I have been so far.
 |
| The piece in question... |
Piano: Learn Chopin's Waltz in C# Minor.
I have dabbled with learning it before- as a teen and a point last Summer but I would really like to learn to play the whole piece confidently and, if possible, from memory as to be able to perform it to the children at school for example.
RESULT: Well, I did work at learning it and I am MUCH better at it- I can play most of the first two pages from memory but I didn't keep up with this so I haven't learnt or perfected the middle section of this piece. One to continue with.
AIM 2:
Composing/arranging:
Last Summer, one of my aims was to arrange 'Another Day of Sun' from Lala Land for my flute quartet which I did and it was super to have something to arrange and satisfyingly finish it. Alas, the quartet is not now a quartet so we are yet to perform it but I still did it. Therefore, instead, I would like to arrange Hedwig's Theme from Harry Potter for my flute trio. I would also like to arrange Clara's theme from Doctor Who and Princess Leia's theme. from Star Wars because I love this tune!
RESULT: I HAVE done some more composing and arranging. Maybe not as much as I would have liked but certainly I've done so more than usual.
This year, I wrote THREE Christmas songs for school- Mary, Christmas, Christmas AND Caesar wants a census.
For school last January, I did an arrangement and mashup of Baby Shark and another famous animal-themed tune which was incredibly successful- the kids at school loved it and at the borough Recorder Festival, after my 52 children performed it, I was asked by several schools if they could have a copy of it. In addition, I arranged 'Singing in the rain'and Portsmouth point for Drumming Club and Recorder Club combined.
For our school orchestra, I arranged several pieces and wrote a brand new piece called Montpelier waltz.
Outside of school, for my flute trio, I arranged You raise me up for flute trio and it has been performed at 3 gigs already. I also rearranged Moon River for flute duo for another paid gig as we needed some duos and it worked really well- also been played at two more gigs.
I've actually written a new flute trio this month especially for my trio, which will be debuting at our Chelmsford Cathedral recital on Friday 21st February (should you be in the area)
So, quite a successful year compared to the previous year I would say!
AIM 3:
Flute: Learn Hypnosis by Ian Clarke properly. for flute and piano.
I was lucky enough to be taught by Ian Clarke when I was at university, at a time when not so many people had heard of him- in fact, I am honoured enough, in the composer's words, to be player no.11 in the world of his piece, Zoomtube, but I've never really learnt one of his easier pieces, Hypnosis. I would like to learn it.
If you would like to hear some of his amazing pieces, you can hear extracts on his website: http://ianclarke.net/page3.html
RESULT:
Er- not done! I DID learn to play Beverly by Ian Clarke but not even looked at Hypnosis! FAIL! I have bought a few new other flute pieces so maybe I'll give those a go!
Visit English Heritage Properties:
When CBC and I visited Audley End House in September, we joined English Heritage as it was only an extra £28 compared to our admission price of £20 for 15months of membership and we thought it would be good to join EH and visit some interesting historical places for a year. We had a lovely time there and on the 30th December, we visited Dover Castle which was wonderful and put us £22 closer recouping our £48 membership cost- that means £6 more to recoup!
So, I've been perusing the EH guide and have decided I would like to visit the following places that are achievable from where we live:
- Deal Castle
- Down House
- Walmer Castle
- Eltham Palace
- Framlingham Castle
- Lullingstone Roman Villa.
RESULT:
Well, we visited ALL the above except for Framlingham Castle and a few more...
1. Audley End- Price £20.00
2. Dover Castle- Price £22.00
3. Landguard Fort- £5.80
4. Eltham Palace- £17.00 (plus free entry for my sister £17.00 with free admission voucher)
5. Walmer Castle and Gardens £13.50
6. Deal Castle-£8.40
7. Down House- £14.00
8. Corbridge Roman Town £8.70
9. Ashby-de-la-Zouch castle £6.90
10. Battle of Hastings battlefield £12.30
11. Lullingstone Roman Villa £8.10
12. Chesters Roman Fort, Corbridge £7.20
We definitely utilised the cost of our EH membership and forgot to cancel the Direct Debit so I guess we have another year of EH to explore then:
Places I want to visit still:
- Pevensey Castle
- Wellington arch
- The Jewel Tower
- Framlingham
- Orford Castle
- Dover Castle again
- Lullingstone Roman Villa
- Tilbury Fort
- Carlisle Castle
- Birdoswald Roman fort
- Housesteads
- Aydon Castle
- Belsay
- Prudhoe Castle
 |
| My image from the Doctor Who exhibition |
Doctor Who cosplay:
I've had a few little Doctor Who dressing up tasks that I have had kicking around for a while and I would like to stop procrastinating and just get on with them:
The first is finish skirt for Clara Oswald cosplay for Sleep No More. I bought a great scalloped skirt with an incredibly similar pattern for about £4 and a blue fabric pen to colour it in. I wish, oh I wish, I hadn't bothered as it is an incredibly tedious process which is going to take hours than it has already but I've started so I must finish!!!
Also, to complete this outfit, I wish to Finish the Sleep No More t-shirt. I bought a navy t-shirt and a pleated navy top in a charity shop for £3 and £2.75 respectively which I want to try and turn into a one t-shirt with a collar so I really just need to find a way to get on with that!
I have some Shrink plastic and I would also like to make a couple of sweetie brooches for a Romana City of Death cosplay I've had the elements for for years but not actually put together so I would like to make that happen too.
RESULT:
WIN! Thanks to the wonderful Ang Almond who helped me out with the above Clara cosplay with her amazing skills AND another cosplay, I managed to complete this AND another one. I have a few more Cosplans this year which I would like to have a go at if possible!
AIM 6:
Visit an Escape Room:
I've been hearing about these fun escape rooms for a while now and I think they sound like great fun so I would like to do one of these. Actually, this may be a bit of a cheat since my sister has already talked about us doing one of these at half term.
RESULT:
Well, as I intimated above, we DID have an escape room planned- My Dad, Stepmum, sister and I went to the 'Escape from Oz' room at the Panic Rooms, Grave End in Kent which was great fun- to our shame we DIDN'T escape! In the Summer, we reunited the same team with CBC this time and N, my sister's new boyfriend who we met for the first time that day to do the escape room! It was called The Don and it was a mafia themed challenge. I LOVED it!!!
Definitely want to do more soon. I hear there's a Doctor Who one in Oxford AND the Gravesend place has a new Alice-themed one!
AIM 7:
Walks:
Walk along the front in Southend. I've heard from a friend that it is a lovely walk along from Leigh-on-Sea to Shoebury so I'd like to try this.
RESULT:
We did the aforementioned walk at the end of August or possibly September. We walked from Thorpe Bay to Leigh which was great although we chose THE windiest day- it was really hard to move!
In addition, we did a great walk near where we lived which was circular and helped us to discover some beautiful scenery near where we lived. We did a few other fun walks to Essex Wildlife Trust reserves and went on a Seal-watching boat ride a few miles from home. We also did a massive 10 mile walk (felt very hard in the scorching heat) from home to a village with a village fete which was fun on the last day of our Summer holidays.
There's definitely more local walks I'd like to try.
And a few honorable mentioned:
There are, of course, many things I would like to do in terms of resolutions like GO to BED at a reasonable hour, finally commit to one church instead of dithering over it so much and ensure I avoid buying as much as possible in plastic but more on that another time.
The Bed time thing was a FAIL- I seemed to get worse. I have been going to one church though I don't think I have fully committed to it but I have done well on the avoiding of plastic.
Maybe, I'll come up with some aims for this year soon!