Category: Music
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The past co-exists with the present
Our new home is a kind of retro chic. Or possibly, rather more ‘retro’ than ‘chic.’ We are finding, however, that we can accommodate the technology of fifty years past while also revelling in the convenience of the present. It feels like the best of both worlds. When we unpacked the big box of vinyl…
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The Joy of Living
My old friend Simon Smith has embarked on a project to curate his favourite songs in a daily blog, Simon365, throughout the year. This piece is my homage to his effort — I’m in awe of his encyclopaedic music sensibility. Yesterday evening members of the SongWave Community Choir, led by Kate Howard, were engaged in…
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The bagpiper at Hexham Abbey
We did a little twirl of the Sele in Hexham, Saturday morning, in a persistent drizzle, so the opportunity to duck into the Abbey was welcome. I renewed my acquaintance with the ancient piper whose carving is part of an irreverent series of nine in the fifteenth century Leschman Chantry Chapel, positioned up to the…
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Joys of Christmas present
The tree is ready for dressing . . . when the time comes, we’ll move it from the jammed-in corner and centre it a bit. The star will point the way to Bethlehem, and we’ll figure out a proper angel, or perhaps a stand-in, for the peak. The stories will be told and re-told: religious,…
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Continuing joys of clearance
Sometimes, with the best will in the world, it’s too challenging to recycle, and yet things must be cleared. The little Fiat Panda is chock-full of stuff for the recycling centre, and the cardboard still left over from its store under the big bakery oven felt overwhelming. Another little bonfire was the only realistic solution.…
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The sunny side of the street
We had a lovely evening yesterday, as we walked through the rain to the local arts centre to listen to a duo of jazz musicians, Bancroft and Lyne, offering up standards and newer songs. One of the numbers that Sophie Bancroft sang, Tom Lyne accompanying on double bass, was On the Sunny Side of the…
Roads to Joy 