How do you solve a problem like Mia?

The above photo is what my brother (photo further down the page) wanted to give me for Christmas. She is a one and a bit year old Staffordshire bull terrier cross (we think she may be crossed with a collie but we aren't sure) that my brother and his girlfriend took in before Christmas. She was being abused by her current owners and was really underweight so they gave her a home. Unfortunately they already have two dogs and two cats (and Mia because she hasn't had very much attention in the past) is quite a handful. We went round for Christmas dinner and Mia was overjoyed to see yet more new people and got super excited, I had a dog when I was younger and so was giving her quite a few hugs after dinner when we were watching Dr Who together. Just before we left my brother managed to get me on my own in the hallway. "She's really taken to you you know, would you take her?" My first thought was crumbs, big commitment. so I told him I'd think about it.

So here is the big dilemma do I take Mia or not? She is a really lovely dog, when we were there she learnt how to sit and I get the feeling that if all that energy was used up and she was given things to occupy her like walks and play and plenty of regular attention she would be a really great to have around. Having said that she is not the type of dog I would have necessarily chosen myself and having just got a promotion at work and signed up for several extra evening and weeken courses (in order to qualify to be a music teacher quicker) my hours are stretched as it is without morning and evening walks and the commitment it takes to look after a dog. What if it's fate? Says my heart. What if witchcat hates her? Says my head. It's a really tough one but I think in the end it's just not the right time for me to take on a dog, even one as special as Mia. I've given myself the rest of the afternoon to think about it. I''ll phone them tomorrow.

Result!

So last night when the ground all around seemed to be deep and crisp and even (we are talking millimeters of snow, sadly for us pedestrians it had ice underneath it though...) I got a phone call from Robin. It appears I have passed dreaded exam, but yet again missed a merit (3 marks off, you would have thought they could have just given me a merit, what with it being Christmas & all...). Robin was delighted and is already planning my next exam date (sadly as I hadn't sourced an appropriate present for him & Margaret I agreed to a final lesson tonight...) but I think a rest/Christmas first is a plan indeed. Not that Christmas is going to a rest of course. I've got to maintain the current pace of practice as I've already agreed to go to strings at Witney again next year with my old fiddling mate Kevin (I'm currently searching for my chequebook to reserve my place properly) and I've got a theory course in Didcot which starts in February. There has also been some good news on the job front (it;s taken me quite some time but finally I have got the job I was after) so I have taken the liberty of booking a single cello lesson in the new year (it should be as hardcore as my violin & piano, cause I don't want to teach it, I tell myself) so plenty to look forward to.

As for the New Year itself, the mad folky lot and myself are going to revel with Bellowhead on the South Bank. In their wisdom the aforementioned folk stars decided to give the event a maritime theme, leaving me my Christmas 'rest' to get my costume sorted (I'm aiming for the red plum dress that Elizabeth Swan (pouty Keira) wears in the first pirates of the carribean film (need to look nautical but nice as certain lovely people will be in attendance)) but I've still got to source quite a bit of the material...And will any sewing (of straight lines) get done when I'm down in the west country with my parents after Christmas? Hmm we'll see...

Oxfolk on the 9th January is the next major event after that and we are all thrilled that the Simon Care trio will be joining us (that's 7.30 for 8, Kennington village hall, look at our lovely website, ooooohhh. http://www.oxfolk.org.uk/Home.html ) with our very own member of the committee (and international folk star) Cat Kelly calling and the irrepressible (believe me we have tried) outside capering crew providing the interval entertainment. But all that is next year, at the moment I still have one and a half days to go here at work before I can pack my presents, the witchcat and quite a few jumpers and head up to the frozen north where our kid (my littlest brother Andrew) will be cremating a turkey in the name of Christmas. And if that doesn't make you feel all warm & glowy inside frankly I don't know what will!

Morris Christmas party

So the above was what I got up to last Wednesday. It was our morris Christmas party & everyone had to take an activity/game/something that everyone could join in with. We started off with a good old fashioned pass the parcel, followed by a very random quiz (my team definitely tried but came last, never mind). Then we had pin the something on rudolf and they bashed my pinata morris man (dressed in replica kit, it took me three days to make and I got up at 5.30 the day of the party to finish the painting job, major kudos must go to Dave who held it while I painted both sides with the skin colour when I realised I didn't have enough paint to mix more...). After the pinata we all had something to eat and then we picked out a script from the pile to determine our parts for Snow White. I got cast as prince charming (first time for everything) possibly would have more appropriate if I had swapped with Lumbawakk's very own charming prince Jamie who was cast as the fair Damsel, but it was really good fun. The extra challange (& the one I only remebered on the morning of the party) was the fancy dress. As you can see I went as witchcat. Job done.

The rest of the week was also pretty hectic, I had half of Friday off to sit my violin exam. It doesn't really seem to matter how many exams I sit I usually end up shaking like a leaf. This one was no exception but despite this it seemed to go okay. The sight reading wasn't as bad as I feared (but I'm now wondering if I actually had it right at all, you know that feeling when you walk out feeling really confident & then discover you've done really badly?). My sight singing seemed to go well, the quite posh late fourties examiner telling me "you have a lovely voice" & enquiring whether I sing. I replied with something like not if I can help it & he berated me saying, "well you should, you have a lovely voice". Hopefully this bodes well for a high score but we'll see, should get the results before Christmas. No matter what Robin is on the ABRSM's case! (side note Mabel actually hates Benji the violin the only way I could get her to stand next to him for my cat and fiddle shots was Whiskers kit bits, ahh the magic of photography...)

Festive weekends 1 & 2

kerfuffle, morris Christmas part 015
Originally uploaded by victoriaros56

Going into December things always start to get a little hectic Christmas is approaching, printer deadlines at work and as is customery in years gone by on a weekend near the start of December we hold the Oxford folk festival carols at the castle, This years concert was on the 6th December held (as the name would suggest) at the most excellent Oxford castle (we call it a castle, it looks like a castle it is in fact an ex jail...) it's a chance for us all to get together, get freezing, and get well and truely into the Christmas spirit. Having helped organise this event for the past few years I've now got a good idea how cold it;s going to be before I leave the house. Wrapped up to the nines (and this year with my own latern) I made my way into Oxford. The service started at three o clock with the vale islanders (olden style dances done whilst in costume) and Mason's apron clog dancers taking it in turns to do dances (my side Cry Hvoc danced last year, diswasher salt had to be put down as otherwise we would have been literally dancing on ice!). At about 4pm we had a few carols from the rising voices choir and a group sing around lead by magpie lane's leading man Ian Giles. Then the laterns were lit and doled out and we accended the mound. The photo at the top is various mambers of the OFF committee and ye Oxfordshire public singing on top of said mound, I was on stewarding duty (and was following up at the back of the party) so missed the best of the light, but I think this photo has a certain something about it anyway.
The second event was the folk band Kerfuffle playing the Hollywell rooms. We had put on a carol concert for some local school choirs earlier on in the day with the Oxford waits also playing. Our headliners for the evening Kerfuffles were ably spported by the hardworking rising voices choir. Kerfuffle are all still quite a young band but have been playing together since they were twelve. The two standout members for me personally are Sam Sweeney (who also became a full member of Bellowhead last year) and Hannah James. Hannah is one of the best step dancers I have ever seen, Every time she dances her feet are just mesmerising, As well as being a very talented dancer she can also sing and play the accordian very well Indeed. Sam meanwhile learnt the bagpipes to get into Bellowhead, is a very accomplished violin player and suprises us all again tonight by picking up a concertina. Kerfuffle play a variety of tunes and songs (as well as stuff from ther latest album light up the dark, fittingly an album full of Christmas tunes) and the audience is also treated to a fair showing of Hannah's step dancing. As I'm involved in the organising of this event I unfortnately missed the first half on the concert, but the band more than made up for it during the second half. Sam said they had had a briliant time (he'd never played the Hollywell before so he was quite taken with the room and it;s acoustics) and now him & Hannah head off on tour as a duo, I definitely recommend catching them if you can. More details can be found here http://www.hannahandsam.co.uk/