Here's (some of) what I did in 2014

Major changes:  Alan took voluntary redundancy from the BBC in the spring and was unemployed for six months until he found a new job with the Royal Voluntary Service in the autumn.

Green Party:  I campaigned for the local and European elections and was rewarded with success for our candidates in both seats.  Alan has agreed to stand as a candidate for our ward next year so we'll have our work cut out for us in spring, canvassing for him and our parliamentary candidate.

Campaigning: I knitted 3 metres of the 7 mile pink scarf that Wool against Weapons used to link the atomic weapons establishments at Aldermaston & Burghfield to protest against the proposed renewal of Trident.  Alan joined me in Living Below the Line (£1/day for 5 days - harder than you'd think) and, at the other extreme, we hosted a Karma Korma curry evening in aid of Frank Water.

Singing:  In addition to continuing to sing with the Gasworks Choir, and the Gasworks Singers, I have also been involved with another local choir, Handfuls of Harmony, rehearsing children in the school where I work.  We've given four performances and, in November, won £50,000 in The People's Millions to help get the whole community singing together.

Culture:  I travelled to Birmingham with bluehands to see Grayson Perry's outrageously colourful tapestries (and to pop in to the gloriously shiny new central library).  In the autumn Alan and I visited Crucible 2, a stunning display of sculptures set in and around the magnificent Gloucester cathedral.

The Girls:  Iona graduated with an MA in History from Glasgow University in the summer, with Alan and I cheering from the gallery.  She now finds herself being drawn ever deeper into the world of politics.  Who knows where it will end?  Eilidh is now in her second year at Falmouth University studying illustration and enjoying life in her beloved Cornwall.

Holidays:  What with one thing and another we didn't have a family holiday this year.  We took a few mini breaks to visit the girls, and my sister in Edinburgh.  I'm enjoying discovering a bit more of Glasgow and Falmouth each time I visit.  We also treated ourselves to a few days out in the summer, including a long overdue trip to Tyntesfield and a morning of indulgence at the Lido.

Visitors:  We hosted my school's French assistante, who was very unlucky with the weather, and in the summer we welcomed my Canadian cousin and her daughter, whom we hadn't seen in years. 

Quakers:  In addition to weekly Meetings for Worship I've been attending a smaller discussion group, learning more about what it means to be a Quaker, and making new friends.

Bristol Pound:  The Bristol Pound goes from strength to strength and I've been steadily increasing the percentage of our weekly budget we pay in local currency.  Avoiding supermarkets helps and, after having sailed through my November no-supermarket challenge, I plan to buy most of our food etc at local independents in 2015. 

The Referendum:  Having lived outside Scotland most of my life, I didn't expect to become as emotionally engaged with the Referendum campaign, to find myself on the opposite side of the argument to members of my own family or to shed tears when the result was declared in wee hours.  Despite the belief that we missed our golden opportunity to explore a better way of doing politics, I was never prouder of my people and remain convinced that one day Scotland will be an independent country.

2014, the usual mixture of highs and lows.

What will 2015 bring?  Electoral success?  A return to Cornwall in the summer? Unexpected guests? 

Come back and find out.

This Weekend ...

Breakfast at Katie & Kim's Kitchen

... I tried out a new cafe.
It's called Katie & Kim's Kitchen and can be found in Picton Street.  I don't know where I first heard of it.  Maybe Twitter, where I discover most interesting things.  Anyway, it's run by two young former art students (Katie & Kim!) who won the British Street Food Awards in 2013, and have served food from a converted horsebox and a local pub before opening a cafe cum restaurant with a constantly changing menu of soup, bread, scones, sausage rolls and cakes.  It's a long walk from Bedminster to Montpelier so I ordered a plate of sourdough with ewe's curd, thyme and Greek honey to go with my coffee.  The curd was delicious and, as ever, I wondered why my sourdough isn't as holey as anyone else's.

... I bought a new pair of trainers and a pair of trousers.
I've somehow damaged my plantar fascia and have been advised to wear trainers to support the ball of my right foot.  The cheap and nasty trainers I bought for my short-lived experiment with jogging have come to the end of their life and needed replacing.  I search in vain for something attractive but ended up with a pair of fairly boring black trainers that will have to do.
The trousers are from the M&S Sculpt and Lift range.  Heads will be turned!

... I took the opportunity to walk down a few new streets and was rewarded for my efforts

Parish boundary in Bristol's Old City

Colourful facades in Montpelier

Bristol from the top of Spring Hill

... I took part in Bristol's Festival of Song.

The Gasworks Singers sang in St George's on Saturday and around the harbourside on Sunday.  I was also treated to some inspiring singing and was particularly impressed by Kettle of Fish and Original Sing both of whom have gigs coming up in The Folk House.

That's all!

 

Out with the Old. In with the New.

Time for the annual roundup of the year's highlights.

Top of the list has to be our summer holiday in the Inner Hebrides, when we finally introduced our Iona to her island namesake.  I've been meaning to blog about it ever since we returned but have never got round to it.  But I'm determined to do so, so until then all I'll say is that the photograph is of the view from the living room of our lodge on Colonsay where I spent many happy hours reading and knitting (that's when I wasn't spending many equally happy hours exploring the island by bike).

On 6 January I attended my first Quaker meeting and have been going ever since.  After years of searching for somewhere I can continue my spiritual journey I believe I may have found it with the Friends.

My younger daughter was offered the university place of her dreams, at Falmouth, to study illustration.  After a year of travelling up and down the country attending open days and returning for interviews, this came as a great relief to all of us, although I did enjoy the opportunity to visit/reacquaint myself with several lovely cities.

In May I accepted the challenge to live on £1 per day for 5 days.  I am grateful for the generosity of the friends who sponsored me and the opportunity to raise the profile of extreme poverty in Bristol via two interviews on BBC local radio.

I continue to volunteer for the Bristol Pound and in the autumn was elected to the Board of Directors to represent the individual account holders.  The local currency is over a year old now and I'm really looking forward to playing my part in its continuing success.

Now that the girls have both left home I've been doing more singing.  In the summer I took part in the biennial Sing for Water on Bristol's harbourside and then I finally plucked up the courage to join the Gasworks Singers.  This is an offshoot of the Gasworks choir (of which I've been a member for many years) and is a much smaller group who sing more often at festivals and charitable events.  There was a fairly long list of songs to master before our first gig at the North Bristol Arts Trail but I managed and can now relax and enjoy the music, the friendship and the spectacular shared lunches.

There have, of course, been occasions on which to try and set the world right.  In April I paid my first visit to Aldermaston to protest against the obscenity of nuclear weapons.  In June I was in London to highlight world hunger, a week after I helped feed 5,000 people with food that might otherwise have been send to a landfill site.  It does sometimes feel as if we're bashing our heads against a brick wall but if that's what it takes to create a better world for everyone then I for one am prepared to carry on.

Fortunately there are plenty of reasons to be cheerful and that's what I plan to concentrate on in 2014.

I'm looking forward to:

• taking my elder daughter on a European city break (Prague?) after she sits her final degree exam and then to attending her graduation ceremony in the summer
• campaigning for the Green Party in this year's local and European elections and persuading people to consider the environmental impact of their vote
• getting my head around Quaker faith and practice and perhaps attending the Yearly Meeting Gathering in Bath (even if it's only for a day or so)
• helping to convince more individuals and businesses of the merits of the Bristol Pound
• listening to the debate on Scottish independence and (hopefully?) witnessing the birth of an independent Scotland in September
• carrying on baking, campaigning, composting, crocheting, gardening, knitting, protesting, reading, recycling, singing, walking,  ...

Happy New Year to all of you!

Waes Hael

Wassail ceremonies are not generally associated with inner urban life, but when you learn that Bedminster boasts a community orchard it all begins to make sense.

The ceremony, initiated by an American, began with us encircling our crab apple tree and shouting 'Awake'.  If that didn't rouse it from its winter slumber then I'm sure the Rag Morris dancing, the Red Notes singing and the poetry recitation did the trick.    The rain stopped, the sun shone and, fortified with mulled cider, apple cake and roasted chestnuts, the good folk of Bedminster scared away the evil spirits and ensured a good harvest.

My earlier photo post shows some of the cider soaked pieces of toast we attached to the crab apple branches as an offering to the tree spirits.

Waes hael!  Be you healthy!

In 2012 ...

I knitted and crocheted

I cooked and baked

 I sang and listened to others sing

I involved myself in politics and campaigns

I supported local independent traders

 I went out and about in Bristol ...

... and in London

I went on holiday to St Ives

I started running and went on a diet and ...!

I survived the Jubilee but entered into the Olympic spirit.

I made holiday lists and managed to cross most items off them!

I met Fatmumslim's Photo a Day Challenge but didn't quite meet my own challenges to photograph A Month of Dinners or my Advent countdown.

All in all it's been a good year and I've certainly had fun trawling through my posts and reminding myself of its highlights.

Here's to 2013!

PS  I've thoroughly enjoyed reading other bloggers' reviews and greatly admire those whose photos are better displayed than mine.  Any tips on how to create mosaics on blogger would be much appreciated.

On the Tenth Day of December

Apart from our annual summer holiday, Christmas is the only occasion we get to spend extended time together as a family.  The cold and rain serve as incentives to stay indoors and play games or tackle jigsaws but it's not long before I feel the need to get out and about.

We've already lined up a few activities - carol singing for Water Aid, the Bristol Choral Society's Messiah at the Colston Hall, the pre-Raphaelite and Turner Prize exhibitions at Tate Britain, the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition at Bristol Museum and Art Gallery ...  in between which I also hope we'll find time for a few walks around the harbourside or up through Leigh Woods.

Now that my elder daughter is away at university, to be followed next September by her younger sister, these shared moments are becoming fewer and therefore more precious.

The painting is Rossetti's Lady Lilith

A Month of Dinners: 9 June

I was away singing at Stourhead with the Gasworks Choir

So my husband cooked dinner

Cottage pie with sweetcorn and broccoli



Singing on the Water

I've spent the last five Monday evenings learning seven new songs. 900+ other people have been doing the same all over the West Country. Today we gathered in Lloyd's amphitheatre to sing them once through before this afternoon's performance. The occasion was Sing for Water West and we appeared to have been singularly succesful! I woke to the sound of rain, which continued on and off pretty well all through the morning's practice. Fortunately, round about lunchtime, the clouds parted and the sun shone through. By the time we started to sing the ground had dried and the deckchairs were out.

After the concert, which appeared to have gone down well with the crowd, a number of us boarded The Matthew for a trip around the harbour. We cruised up to the Cumberland Basin where the sight of a number of pirates sparked a rendition of our sea shanty. Once we'd started we couldn't stop and the good people of Bristol strolling along the harbourside or patronising its watering holes were treated to an encore of our performance.

Standing on the prow, with a glass of Bounders in my hand, surrounded by people singing for the sheer joy of it, bringing a smile to faces on the shore, made me feel so very happy.

Roll on September and the beinning of the next Gasworks term.

Singing in the Sunshine

I spent today at the Festival of the Voice at Stourhead. It was my second visit and the sun shone just as brightly as it did last year. I went with the Gasworks Choir and we sang the songs we'd sung at our concert a couple of weeks ago.

I was disappointed that there did not seem to be as many choirs this year but I would like to mention two in particular. The first was an alcapella ladies quartet called Belladonna who sang some delightful jazz numbers. The second was the Avalonian Free State Choir who captivated the audience with their haunting eastern European songs - and the conductor's sensual salsa dancing! If you get a chance to hear either of them then jump at it. You won't be disappointed.

The photograph is of the floating flower creations made by my friend's children.

Hothouse (contd)

Well, the promised photographs of my garden didn't materialise yesterday. I spent the morning in Leigh Woods with my daughter, who was taking photographs of natural forms for her GCSE art project, and the afternoon at the annual community choir convention at St George's Hall.

The woods were a refreshing change from the city - fresh shoots and buds and birdsong. The singing was uplifting and joyful. All in all a good day.

But back to the photographs:

This is our back yard from the first floor. I wasn't lying when I said it was small, was I?

The view would have been better without the clothes on the line but it was too good a drying day to miss. The pond is in the middle of the rockery and the mini greenhouse is just visible in the bottom right hand corner. The plan is to grown runner beans in containers at either end of the rockery wall and train them up along the fence. The hanging basket will hold trailing tomatoes. The ledges around the rockery are ideal perches for pots of herbs and shoots.

If you look very carefully you can see two of our four frogs in the under the foliage.

The pond is heaving with tadpoles after bumper deposits of of spawn. I don't think our pond will be able to support many more frogs so most of them are going to have to find somewhere else to live. In any case I'm hoping to find rather fewer slugs in our garden this year.

There isn't much to eat in the garden yet except rhubarb, which has already given us a a juicy crumble, and this vibrant chard. It's growing very happily in the rockery and is an example of how vegetables can be grown for aesthetic as well as functional purposes.

Finally, a photograph of our mini greenhouse, which is now much fuller than this.

Sing Up

This afternoon I attended my first rehearsal at the Gasworks Choir . I've been on the waiting list for so many years that the phone call a fortnight ago offering me a place caught me off guard. Did I still want to sing in a community choir? Was I up to it? Could I spare the time? I took a few minutes to think about it before phoning back to say I'd be delighted to accept the offer.

I had, in fact, been offered a place on two previous occasions but, when I confessed that this Gareth is a woman and not a man, I was put back on the waiting list!

Well, I enjoyed my first outing. There was a goodly crowd, with a fair number of beginners like myself. We began with a warm up which involved making some extremely silly faces. Then on to the songs, three of them this week - one from South Africa, one from Scotland and one from the States. It's a a cappella choir - four or five part harmonies with no music, and printed words for only one of the songs. Ali and Dee sing the part to us and we sing it back. Simple as that! There was a brief moment of panic but the atmosphere was so relaxed and friendly that it soon disappeared and I had a lovely time. I even managed to join in when we were invited to walk about during the first song, though I did stick close to someone who looked like she knew what she was doing. I'm already looking forward to my next practice.