Two sleeps

A quiet garden corner

 A short blog for Wednesday, with mot much to report...  This is Gill's domestic morning, so we made an early start, since Muffy, the cleaner, arrives early too. It was lovely to see Muffy again - she had also been Mum's cleaner, and very much part of making it possible for Mum to remain in her own home as long as she did.  I moved myself out of the way, finishing the previous day's blog wherever they weren't!

The house, from the garden corner

Gill then went off to her Pilates session, Steve settled himself down to do a some training for a Citizens' Advice module - he volunteers in Grantham - and I went down the garden to read a whodunnit. Lunch outdoors was followed by what will probably be my last afternoon of Wimbledon.  We had an early meal and then Steve ran me across to Newark, just northeast of Bingham, where Rachel, Nathan and Zander live. Rachel teaches in an elementary school that is severely impacted by the presence of "travelers" - gypsies, Romanians, with language issues and no expectation of achieving anything through education. That being said, she is really excited that the school has done so well with SATs scoring this year - when the powers-that-be are pushing the national curriculum, and she has non-readers and largely innumerate kids to deal with, she's under a lot of pressure.  Her husband, Nathan, is a professional trumpeter - largely traveling to and from London, but also going wherever he's called. He has a reputation as the guy to bring in if you want the perfect sub at the last minute, and plays shows, classical and jazz - the latter being his great love.

Newark Civil War Museum

He was approached by a Newark City Councillor to serve as Newark and Sherwood Music Coordinator on a part-time, short-term basis and has been spending a lot of time finding out what's going on with choirs and bands, in school and community. I don't know if it'll lead to more - and he's not sure if he wants it to impact his other professional life - but he's full of ideas.  He gets invited to a number of things, one of which was an Evensong by Newark Church Choir. The church is currently undergoing renovation, so the event was held at the Civil War Museum, nearby.  They were commemorating a benefactor of the 16th century, one Thomas Magnus, who was basically a civil servant under Henry VIII, but managed to amass enough funds to establish a foundation in the town that funds music education - both at the church and at local schools.

Newark Parish Choir

The choir did well - good parish church singing, with some kids who were in the early stages of learning, and constantly lost! Adult SATB with about a dozen youngsters.  They began with a plainsong sequence from Thomas Magnus's time, but the rest of the rep was varied - Joanna L'Estrange's Responses, Batten's Fourth Service Mag & Nunc (a verse setting, so a good opportunity for solo voices to have a chance), an overly-romantic Stanford anthem.  Not really Nathan's thing, but certainly mine!  We stayed for the reception afterwards and then he ran me back to Bingham, where we sat in the garden over drinks for my last evening.