The Concert!

Well, it was just amazing!
In the last post, Maggie May calls me an "old hand" at concerts, and to some extent I am (getting there!) but this was different.

We arrived at 5.20 for our 8.00pm concert, and immediately began tuning, sound checks and then rehearsals with the Tenor, the Choir and the Dancers.
Then we were directed to the Dressing Rooms, backstage. Oh my goodness, I just HAD to take a photo!

I couldn't believe it! The lights and all!!
There were 2 rooms for the men and 2 for women, so no overcrowding, lots of space to do make-up!
They also provided a room with tea, coffee, sandwiches and a fridge full of water.

There was a champagne reception before the concert, and we were invited to hang out there (but only for a little while, as we had to get back up to get our tuning done), and some of us may have had a little sip to settle our nerves!

Then it was out on stage, and the music began.

I'm the third horn from the left...

I have a little video clip that I hope you'll enjoy, but can't get it to upload and my "techie experts" are away, but I will post it in the next couple of days.
 I had to blink a few times and assure myself that I wasn't dreaming! It was a really great evening!

Bits of news

Today, Daughter finished her Leaving Cert! Phew!
She is now officially finished school, and will (d.v.) start college in September. She was great during the exams, so calm and not phased by papers that didn't go her way. She took 8 subjects (extra one being music which she did in Band) and took Higher Level in all those papers! Her last paper was this morning, Applied Maths.
So after she finished, one of her teachers brought her for hot chocolate in a local café, just the 2 of them. Wasn't that sweet? The teachers have made a huge effort to make it up to them for the awful finish they had to their schooldays; her English teacher went and selected a book for each student. Zoe got "Mrs. Dalloway", and I know that she will treasure it always, especially because of the lovely and inspiring message that her teacher wrote on the inside cover.

After her hot chocolate outing, I brought her out for lunch, just the 2 of us, and told her how proud I am of her. I am constantly impressed by how calm and mature she is, and especially how she and her friends held their dignity during the recent events. They were much more dignified than the Principal!

Tonight she's gone off out to celebrate with her friends-it's been quite a while since they had a night out, so I hope they really enjoy themselves, and stay safe. I have a feeling it will be a late night!!

 Tomorrow night our band plays another concert! It's quite a big event, with a Tenor, some Irish dancers, an exerpt from Riverdance (this is worth watching, especially from 4.22 on!), a choir and some Indian dancers. Should be fun!
And as there are 4 horns, it will be another great experience for me!
Sometimes, I blink and think "I can't believe all these wonderful things are happening to me!" The opportunities that have come to me from my involvement in music have been so exciting, and especially since I joined the new band. We will also be playing several outdoor concerts over the summer, and also at a music festival in Clonakilty in a couple of weeks time!

 I am loving every minute of it! even the "gradually faster to end"!

Garden and Nature

My poor garden!
Last weekend, I finally tackled the flower bed at the end of the garden, so, for shame, I'm posting pictures of the state it was in! Or does it look like a healthy herb garden/wildflower garden?

These poor plants were being strangled by the weeds! They were crying out for some TLC.

I only got half of it done, postponing the rest but because of awful weather here, that second bit is still not done. It's been cold, wet and wintry here all week, so bad we even lit a fire last night! In June!
I uncovered this little gem when I cleared the weeds:

 It barely looks like one, but it is a rose!

Does anyone know what the next plant is called? I think I will plant lots of it in the hope that it will keep out the weeds. It seems to just grow and grow, effortlessly.

And finally, one morning in May, as I was driving to work, I had to stop to admire this family of ducks! I love that part of my drive to work; it's such a lovely way to start the day, affirming a connection with nature.

Mia: An extraordinary young lady.

A few weeks back, my friend told me "Keep Friday 25th May free, we're going to an amazing evening in the National Convention Centre".
Amazing just about describes it...

Mia was born in Hunan province in China.
In her own words: "I came to live with my Irish family in March of 2002. I live with my dad Clem, my Mom Sally, my sister Meghan, my two brothers Jordan and Brett and my dog Harry.
When I was tiny in China, I had an accident where I was very badly burned. I needed a lot of treatment and operations so I have been going to Crumlin Children's Hospital ever since I arrived in Ireland." Isn't she just beautiful?

Mia had been doing fashion sketches to pass the time in hospital

and her friend sent some to John Rocha, designer. He was very impressed and he and some other Irish designers decided to make up some of Mia's designs.

Together with many others in the fashion/showbiz world, and some family friends, they organised this night "Thank you Crumlin, love Mia".

It was the best night's entertainment I've had in a long time.

Mia's designs were stunning, and she had loads of them! Some were modelled by family and friends, some by professional models. I really hope that some store decides to make them for sale, because I would love to buy some! Here she is being interviewed by a TV3 presenter, and her outfit is one of her own designs. I loved it!

Mia was recovering from her latest round of surgery, so she was on crutches, but that did not dampen her spirits at all. She smiled from ear to ear all night, gave loads of interviews, and just enjoyed herself.
There was other entertainment, The Nualas (below) performed (they were hilarious!)

and Brian Kennedy too. Here he is interviewing Mia just before he sang.

I was completely bowled over by Mia. She was so natural, so unassuming, she even said it was easy to do the designs, "it only takes about 4 minutes"!! She turned a tragic event around, and has now brought so much joy into so many lives, and will continue to do so with the funds raised to refurbish the orthapaedic unit in Crumlin. Wow! Inspirational!

The Grad!

Thank you all for your lovely comments on the last post.
The parents got together and in just 3 days, a committee planned and put together a most wonderful Graduation Day.

It kicked off with breakfast at one house, followed by a Barbeque at another house. Up until this week, the weather here was as cold as winter and we had the heating on. But Mr. Sun showed up this week, and it has been glorious! Perfect BBQ weather.

Hubby volunteered to cook hot dogs and to help out, and he took a few photos.

For Wednesday night, the committee booked a hotel ballroom, and we had  a really beautiful celebration of/for these young adults. They were all dressed up and looked fantastic! They were very well-behaved, there were some great speeches and musical performances by the students. Here she is making a speech about the Head Boy and Girl! No notes, just talked ad lib! I was one proud Mama!

 Each student was presented with a Dublin Crystal keyring with the school logo engraved on it.
Another highlight was the arrival of the Heineken Cup, but that was lost on me, I didn't recognise it!! All the fathers were queuing up to have their photo taken with it after the formal proceedings.

It all worked out very well, and it was a lovely experience to see how a group of parents worked together and put their kids ahead of everything else. It restored my faith in humanity.
I'm still not sure where things stand as regards the school, but the memories from Graduation Day and night will stay with us for a long time.
I forgot to bring my camera with me, and this was the best of the pictures of the 3 of us we could get. I've tried to enhance it a bit with Photoshop, but the best I can say about it is that She looks well in it!

Blowing in the Wind

I've been trying to do a post for almost 2 weeks now, with these few pictures I snapped with my phone, during the long walks I've taken to clear my mind.

It's been a really tough couple of weeks.
There has been a lot of trouble at the school where my 2 younger kids attend, and it's been difficult to get my head around a post. Or anything else, as a matter of fact.

First the 6th years (this is their final year) held a "rave" in their common room, barricaded the door, played loud music for an hour (and missed class) and danced. As "end of school" pranks here go, it seems fairly harmless, but they did expect the common room would be taken from them as a punishment.

Then other goings-on emerged, of fruit peel being thrown in the direction of the deputy principal, and name-calling, then some "social media" posts.

The situation quickly escalated, some students were expelled, some suspended, and last night we got a TEXT telling us that classes have now been terminated for all of them, and their Graduation ceremony (planned for next Wednesday) has been cancelled. The actions of a few have had huge repercussions on many.

Needless to say, they are upset, we're upset and worried. They sit their Leaving Cert in 2 and a half week's. Many of them are too wrapped up in it all to do any work, spending their time checking the latest news. They're a bit like the kites in these pictures, being blown around by the wind!

So, this morning I woke with a splitting headache. I never get headaches, and couldn't tell you the last time I had to take paracetamol. But today I did, then I went for a long walk in the park. That somewhat cleared my head, but I came home to a list of emails from parents planning a "Graduation Ceremony"- they're having a meeting tomorrow for all parents of 6th years, but to be honest, I don't think I'll go, because I can't take much more of this. In any case, I have neither the time nor the energy to help in organising such a ceremony.

I haven't decided yet whether I will go to the Grad, assuming that it takes place. That will be up to my daughter. Other than being in the Common Room during the "rave", she has done nothing wrong, yet she has lost her last day at school.
She has always got on extremely well with all her teachers, yet she won't have the opportunity to say goodbye and "thank you"  to them.  Through her 6 years at the school, she always said "Thank you " to the teacher at the end of every class; in her own words "I treat them like human beings". That makes me feel so proud!

Now I feel lost, sad.  As a teacher, some of my instinct is that there must be stuff that we don't know, that a head wouldn't terminate classes without good reason. But then who would terminate classes for an entire year, by text, at 8.00 on a Friday night? And why are the entire year being punished for the actions of a few? I hoped they would find a way that didn't involve such a sad ending.

                                              (the start of the "Wicklow Way" in Marlay Park)
Any thoughts?

a lazy post

I'm really, really tired this week.

Been thinking about a new post, but just couldn't come up with anything, then Kerri had a beautiful photo with a cute quote and , hey ho! here's a post!

This fridge magnet was given to me by my dear friend Cee, who lives in Brussels. I think of her every time I open my fridge! It says "there is nothing better than a good friend, except a good friend who brings chocolate", and she always brings the most delicious Belgian chocolates, but even if she didn't, I would be delighted to see her. She's been living in Brussels for 10 years, I see her about 4 times a year, we talk and email every couple of weeks, but I still miss her very much, and look forward to when they come home, whenever that is!
The first photo is edited, in sepia with camerawesome. I really like that app a lot!

 I do not like the new blogger, how do other people feel about it?
I had already turned the bottom photo in my files, but for some reason blogger has decided to post it in the original form?????