Championships!

What a weekend! It was fantastic!

Thank you all so much for your supportive comments, and you were right, I had nothing to worry about. The playing went very well I played a lot more than I expected to be able to, and I was very happy with that. I had a terrible sleep on Thursday night, very anxious and worried about the whole thing, and when I went on stage (leading in the French Horns!! Thrill for me as 4th Horn!) , all my nerves had been worked through! I enjoyed the experience more than I ever thought possible; the only thought in my head was "this is something new and wonderful, so enjoy the moment" and I did!

But moreso, I got to know the people in the band a lot better, and we had so much fun! It was a great bonding weekend, and I think we'll be laughing and reminiscing for many a long time to come.
I brought a camera but never got a chance to take it out of the bag (good sign!), so these 2 photos are from my iPhone with the CameraAwesome app. The first is through the window of the B&B where I stayed (look at that blue sky! it was raining by the time I got back to Dublin), and the 2nd is Early Morning on the streets of Cork, as I walked back to the train station.

Oh, I almost forgot to say...we got 1st place in our section, and also our Tubas got best section cup too! So, a great weekend all round!

Busy Busy

Life has been very hectic these last few weeks. That's why I haven't had time to post.

I've been giving a course on "Aromatherapy for you and your Family"; this is my first time to teach a course, and I'm loving it! I also wrote the material, and even though it was hugely time-consuming, I learned lots and got a lot of satisfaction from doing it this way.

Each week, I incorporated an inspirational quote, and also a recipe that used essential oils. I made up the recipe and we ate it with a cuppa at the end of class.

I was blessed in that a friend, who wanted to do the course, offered her beautiful, cosy dining room. This meant that she didn't have to hire a babysitter, and I didn't have to prepare a room in my house!
Last week each person blended their own hand cream, using the knowledge they had gained in the previous 4 weeks. We had so much fun! The course should be finished now, but we were all enjoying ourselves so much that we decided to do one extra week, this Wednesday.

Musically, things are also hectic. In band, we are preparing for the National Band Championships. I had hoped to not participate, as I still feel very new and quite overwhelmed in the band, but they kindly wanted me to be part of it, so that means a lot of practice for me, as I'm really challenged with the pieces. I think they'd do much better in the competition without me, but they're including me, which is really nice! It's in Cork, so it will also involve a night away;that should be fun, getting to know everyone a bit better.
On the plus side, it makes for good progress.
The music doesn't look too bad, till you read the fine print! The fine differences in articulation, the fact that some of it is played as a speed of 176, yikes, I find it hard to keep up, my lips and fingers are nearly on fire! The end of the piece below is a Gallop, and it's literally like horses in a steeplechase! Dih,dididih,dididih and so on!Finally, we had an orchestra rehearsal this afternoon, as we have a big concert coming up in April. We were divided into sections, and it was brilliant! More on that later..