Musing

I couldn’t believe how long it’s been since I posted when I checked just on April 26. That’s the day I started this post. For the record, it is now May 3. Sigh.

There has been so much going on. The path to an album release is full of twists and turns when you don’t know what you’re doing. Every time I think I’ve got it, a new thing comes up and I have to learn to deal with it. Still, its almost there.

The recording is the fun, creative part of it. Designing the album cover is also fun and creative. The rest is administration in a big way. At one point, I was pretty overwhelmed by it all. Then, one Saturday morning, one a bit cooler and less sunny than today, I had what might be called a revelation … this is a very similar process to producing theatre. There are rehearsals, rights to be acquired, licensing to be done, associations to join to accomplish the last two items on the list. The release party on May 10 is like opening night. There are song lists to prepare, food to order, guest lists to maintain. Once I made that realisation, I put my producer’s hat firmly on my head and started slogging through the ever-increasing list of administrative necessities. It was a lot easier because my producer brain is much more willing to cope with it all than my artist brain. Sometimes, I have to admit, my inner artist pokes her head up to see how it’s all coming along, then runs screaming back into her hidey-hole to let the producer continue. The artwork and recording masters are going to the CD manufacturing house next Tuesday. I should have the finished product by about May 3. (I was dead on with that estimate, by the way. It being May 3, I can tell you that I received them this morning.)

Time to put the set list together for the performance at the release party and give the artist some fun with rehearsing, I think.

In between all of this, life continues. The pup needs her walks and loving care. My sweetheart does, too. The house must be looked after and now the garden is demanding an increasing amount of attention. I’ve shifted my veg beds to take advantage of an heretofore unavailable spot … the most consistently sunny one in our yard that has, until this past autumn, had a BBQ in it. Now, the BBQ is in a shady spot and my tomatoes and cucumbers can have the best sun. The ivy needs to come down. I thought I’d hired someone to do it, but he hasn’t been back in touch. He had to check his schedule and said he’d get back to me. That was over a week ago. Back to the drawing board, I guess. That ivy absolutely has to come down; it’s a slug factory and is on the wall my veg beds are moving to.

I was in London last week for an afternoon to go to my rheumatologist. Took my good camera along and meandered through the Covent Garden area, wandered up the Strand almost to St Paul’s Cathedral, then down toward the Thames, generally in the direction of where I needed to be for my appointment. Walked about four miles on concrete. Paid for that the next day in aching legs, knees and hips. It’s not the four miles; the pup and I range from 1.5 miles to 3 miles in our walks, so that’s easy at this point. It’s the concrete. My body hates walking on concrete. Still, I think I got some good photos, so it was worth it. I’m getting to know London a bit now, and am pretty pleased with myself for being able to figure out where I am and where I need to go to get where I need to be.

Covent Garden – Eliza Doolittle anyone?

Outdoors at Covent Garden

St Mary Le Strand Church, built 1714-1723

St Paul’s Cathedral, seen looking up Peter’s Hill from Queen Victoria Street.

Across the Thames from the Crowne Plaza is this striking new skyscraper.

Punch & Judy Pub at Covent, est. 1787Garden

Ye Olde Cock Tavern, built originally 1549, moved across the road and rebuilt 1880s, then fire damaged and reconstructed from photographs in the 1990s.

The railway line leaving Blackfriars Station spans the Thames.

St Brides (Briget’s) Church, spiritual home of journalists being just off Fleet Street. There has been a church on this spot for some 1,500 years. This incarnation was constructed by Christopher Wren after the Great Fire of London in 1666, then the roof was reconstructed after WWII saw it bombed during the Blitz.

The Olde Cheshire Cheese has been a pub since 1538. It was rebuilt after the great fire of London in 1666. Mark Twain, Arthur Conan Doyle, P.G. Wodehouse and Alfred Tennyson hung out here.

So, is all this musing coming to a point? Probably not. This is life right now. I move from one thing to the next during my days, listening to my body as to what I need to do. I clean the kitchen, then give my self a break at the computer, working on the album or developing photos. Some are recent, but I’m still working on the ones I took in Malta last November. There were a lot of those. Sigh. Then, I go into town with the pup, pick up that day’s fresh veg and eggs from local farms, and we go for a wander in the fields or along the canal path. Back home, I sit for a while, working on my computer, then out to the garden, or do some cleaning. Help my sweetheart with our companies’ administration requirements. Go to the gym.

Ashby Canal at Sutton Cheney Warf.

A slightly altered view.

Docked at Sutton Cheney.

Canal life.

Spring white blossoms.

Marsh Hen.

Can never remember what this is.

Late day sun on new Willow leaves.

Mr & Mrs Mallard.

Primroses on the bank.

My pain levels have increased somewhat, and there’s been a return of pain in an area I haven’t felt in over a decade. That sucks. Stress is playing a part, I’m sure. Not huge stress, but the stress of the learning curve I’ve been on. It still can take a toll, but much easier now that I am at home, rambling and musing through my days. Working on my vocal exercises and rehearsing numbers really helps with this. The breathing required, alone, is a stress reliever, but also focussing on the minute movements and adjustments in my mouth and throat required to sing properly distracts my brain from the pain, as the deep breathing gently stretches and moves my ribs and ab muscles.

Life is good; life is gentle; life is an adventure; life is what it is. And I suppose that’s what this post is about. Life is what it is. What we make of it is up to us. Whether we are opposing the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or holding on when there is nothing left in us, we make our future, we create the path forward in our lives. Nature created the world we live in. We create the world we live our lives in, with the decisions we make, the way we respond to life’s path as it twists and turns.

Quince glows agains lichen covered brick.

Forget-Me-Nots grow between the cobbles.

Bleeding Heart, newly in flower.

Pansies, Lily-of-the-Valley, Parsley and Primroses.

I can’t remember.

Daffodils and Bluebells.

Green Alkanet – a weed, absolutely, but lovely.

Bluebells.

By the way, the geese are back. We thought there would be four again, but no, the second pair left after a few days. They are Fred and Wilma, this year. Wilma is on the nest and Fred looks very lonely on the vast lawn by himself. And that’s life, isn’t it. No matter what, life continues.

And in the four days since I typed that last paragraph, it has continued. I woke up on April 30 and had a wonderful surprise over my coffee. We have goslings! Six of them. Cute as can be and already showing their little personalities. I’m watching as I work.

And with that, I’ll leave you to your own musing and rambling.