Yes I will be your valentine

I have to admit being a currently single girl the thought of Valentines day does not fill me with joy, however all that changed this year and a brilliant time was had. First of all on the 13th Feb (Saturday) OXFOLK was graced by the brilliant (and still startlingly young) What's up Folk. The band originated from the music department at John Mason's School (taught by my fantastic and very talented friend Rachel) and have since gone on to play such legendary venues as the Oxford Folk Festival and their school hall (currently being used by my new Morris side for practicing purposes, but that is an entirely different post). The turn out was the hightest number of dancers we've ever had at OXFOLK (I think the fact that Fi Lock was calling may have influenced this slightly, but not significantly). We also enjoyed the very colourful (and slightly scary) gog magog molly dancers from Cambridge during the interval.

Ceilidh over and done I spent the early part of Sunday recovering on sleep and then headed round to Fi's for valentine's cakes & scones. Auntie Sandy & Chris were already there and I finally managed to pass on their Christmas present (Auntie Sandy was ill over Christmas so we didn't see them). The early part of the afternoon was spent looking at campsites near to ottery st mary for beautiful days (which is the festival organised by the Levellers that we visit every year). Last year we set off really early but still found outselves nearly at the back of the Campervan field (not ideal for Fi & Nick with baby Alex and his buggy), so this year the decision has been taken to drive down the night before and camp close to the festival. The criteria for choosing the campsite was pretty basic, it needed to be near the festival and close proximity to a pub was required (I can't think why...). We managed to find one that satisfied both of these requirements so we are booked in (need to get my ticket bought ASAP). A celebratory scone with butter and jam was consumed by all present and then the final additions to our jolly valentines party arrived, the very lovely Dan and Bec and their latest addition Freya.

I've got to say I am absolutely in awe of Bec & Dan, they live on a canal boat (complete with cat) which is moored in croperdy. When Bec found out she was pregnant they didn't really consider moving into bricks and mortar just adapted the boat accordingly, which I think it just fab. I hadn't seen Freya since she was born but she is beautiful (def got her mum's eyes) I'd already got some material ready to make her a summer dress so now having checked her size with Bec will have to get on with making it. So here we all are, the happy party enjoying some valentines cupcakes made by the very lovely Fi. What a great weekend!

Doing something scary, a delayed NYD post

Okay originally I had planned to do an update on my New Years Resolutions at New Years however then I arrived home to the nearly flood (as it shall henceforth be known) so plumbing took top priority (and has done ever since actually, although it now looks like our tank will be replaced in the not too distant future, thanks to our lovely neightbours, I'm still craving a bath like crazy though..). Anyway back to the resolutions. Last years were as follows
*to finish decorating the hall (didn't do it, this gets carried over to this year). Unfinished.
*To keep chickens at home (chicken run procured, now we are just waiting for the chicks). Half done.
*To date at least one nice guy. (It happened, he was lovely but unfortunately it didn't work out).
*To give more time to music (now teaching and working towards my diploma, I would say that def counts).
* to get something published outside of work (this happened pretty early on last year thanks to my lovely friend Elizabeth who is a commissioning editor).
But this year apart from finishing off the outstanding chicken and hall business (the latter could def take a while) and finishing the novel (an unfinished task from nanowriting in November) I have only set myself one objective. To do something 'scary' every week. This can be a 'properly scary thing', like standing up reciting poetry to a room full of people, or just something that you've wanted to do for a while but have never had the guts to. My last two weeks have been at the two opposite ends of the scary scale, last week I wasn't feeling too great so went into Oxford on Saturday for a mooch round the shops. I saw these beautiful earrings in a shop I've just discovered on the high, they were the kind that I've always really liked but have never worn for fear of being branded 'kooky' (I really, really hate that tag, something about it just bugs me on a very deep level). But then I thought why should I let what random people think stop me from wearing these earrings? Yes precisely, so I bought them and wore them for the first time yesterday and no one called me kooky. Result! Last weeks challange was different again, I had booked to attend an intensive violin course held in the town at Witney (more details here http://www.whitecottagewebsites.co.uk/homweekends/ ) originally I was due to go with my friend Kevin, but at the last minuite he had to work leaving me to go on my own (a scary scary prospect). The main reason I wanted to attend the workshops in the first place was that despite teaching I still hate playing in front of a crowd of people. Keeping the motto 'feel the fear, and do it anyway' firmly in my head I went and had a really great time. I learnt a lot of new tunes and ways of approaching music, learnt that it isn't as scary as I thought it would be playing in front of other people and musicians and made a nice lot of new friends as well as winning the best decorated cup competition for my entry. Plus I'm also signing up for an intensive course with the Scottish fiddle tutor up in the outer hebredies in May which I would never of heard of had I not been in that class. I urge you readers of this blog, do just one thing that scares you this week, you may be amazed at what you achieve and just how much fun it is.