Being pushed along.....

2018. Playing the accordion with my husband at an open air concert in France.

The accordion is a heavy instrument to play and requires quite a hefty work out across my chest to get it singing. It has been silent for many months. " Never again would I be able to play it ", that was my thinking. Heart operations, lack of strength in my chest and everywhere else, these were my reasons for not lifting it out of its carrying case and strapping it to myself. I contented myself with playing the piano. My chest didn't mind that. 

Being pushed along by the Universe.......: So my husband had a phone call: "Would you like to come along to our rehearsal next week. Our violinist is leaving us, so we wondered if you would like to fill his slot. We are the Gracechurch Historical Dancers, and put on exhibitions of  English folk music." 

It was settled...... He would be playing the violin and mandolin, and I would go along to support him. After all, I was still supposed to be in post recovery time and therefore 'delicate'.

Rehearsal over. My husband had acquitted himself well, as I knew he would. But this was only  a rehearsal for the musicians of Gracechurch, and the next rehearsal would be in the local village hall with the dancers. I was quite content to go along and watch. I was, after all, still 'delicate'.  "Not so" said The Universe.......

......... another rehearsal over.... the dancers did their folk dancing while the musicians played for them, and I watched and listened, thinking that at the next rehearsal I would bring my knitting to keep me occupied. 

I heard my husband talking about the music we had played in France. 

"So you play music as well?" said leader of the group to me.

"I did, but I had a operation recently .......", thinking that this was a good enough reason not to be involved.  

"She plays the accordion......" my husband butted in.

In annoyance, because of my 'delicate' condition, I said " I don't anymore, and anyway the sound of the accordion would drown out all the other musicians", thinking that was the end of the conversation.

But no, I was not to be let go of so easily, because everyone has agreed that I shall play my electronic keyboard (piano) during future rehearsals. It was also agreed that I could learn the melodeon, which is to be loaned to me for the moment. A melodeon is a smaller and lighter accordion type of instrument, and therefore 'should be easier for my chest to handle', everyone said.    

On the way home....I was very quiet, feeling as if I had been organised into doing too much too soon. 

But if you me, what would you do as soon as the next day arrived? You would feel the excitement of a new challenge.......that is what you would do. 

So.......I got the accordion out its carrying case, and lifted it up on to my chest meanwhile expecting horrendous things to happen in the chest itself, and started playing. I was out of practice, the fingers of  my left hand had lost their positional map of the bass keys, while my right hand moaned about the awkward position it was held in. But no moaning came from my chest, or anything held within my chest. 

Playing the accordion again is a huge milestone for me,  and although it will take me a lot more practice before I can render a musical sound sufficient to satisfy my musicianship, this was a huge sign that I am getting better, and that my body is healing. 

The accordion is still too strong and loud to be played with the Gracechurch players, but I have the piano keyboard, and maybe the melodeon if I can learn to play it. I am nervous about playing in public again, but I shall do it for me. 

The Gracechurch players have an associated band called the Devil's Chair. We think they play Celtic / Medieval music. We have been invited to join them as well. As I say......being pushed along by the Universe!

Bye for now, 

from a newly non-delicate Vx

Where's the Bus Stop?

This is the path which leads to the town, and starts directly behind the house. I hope to be walking along the length of that path soon, my aim being to have a recce of the town but without my husband in tow, because he would get irritated with the non-manly trawl through what the shops have on offer. There is a womanly need in me to see where things can be bought, as I would like to stop buying off the internet and support local shops if possible. We have already managed to locally source four kitchen appliances and a broom. 

I do not have a map of this area in my head at the moment, so it would be easy to get lost. At the moment my husband does the driving, but I am an independent woman and need to go solo. However, since the operation I am prone to dizzy spells so am not safe to drive, although on foot I am OK because I can park myself up by leaning on my walking pole until the dizziness goes away. I am working on finding a solution to the dizziness and it is reducing. I just need to get my confidence back.  

According to my neighbour, a bus into town passes directly in front of the house. All she does, apparently, is to stand on the kerb and flag it down, but this does not appeal to me because I would feel an idiot waving my arms at a bus whose driver may, or may not, stop to pick me up. For me, the most logical thing is to find the bus stop nearest to the house, so that when I walk into town I can catch a bus back. So, walking along the path to the town has become a 'To Do' project. I shall drive again, but not yet. 

Boots on, walking pole in hand, and off I went for a hunt for the bus stops, but first to do a practice walk along the path. which just so  happens to have the  coffee shop I was telling you about in a previous blog......

 So if you were me, what would you do if a deluge of rain was suddenly unleashed upon you, just as you were passing in the vicinity of the coffee shop? 

 You would stop and take shelter, that is what you would do......

And do you think that it would be impolite to take shelter without buying a coffee and a bun?

I thought so, hence.....

A very dishevelled, wind swept, and rain soaked me!

..... and so happy to have a bun and a hot drink.....

All done!

And returning home, still no bus stops found, but I had a joyful time in the rain after being fortified by coffee and a bun! 

Bye for now, 

Vx

1.5 miles!

And so it became for The Walk. For several days my OH had been making it his planned project for the weekend, that he would take me out for a walk around Colemere, shepherding me should I feel doddery, assisting me should I feel my energies failing. His expectation of me was similar to mine...... that it would take an effort to walk round the lake, because that is what Colemere is ...... " a deep expanse of water shaped like a giant's tummy button, with steep sides and filled with icy water in its lower depths". (www.shropshire-guide.co.uk). Of course I was not going to be going in for a swim, though, because I do not own a swimming costume, and there are huge fish in the lake anyway, which my imagination would turn into the biggest of sharks tout suite as soon as I was ankle deep in the water. Much better to stay on dry land. Much more sensible. 

Here is the lake and surrounding woodland. 

Here is NOT me, but someone else 

- a photo poached off the internet because I forgot to take a similar one of the lake myself!

But here IS a portion of me walking along the path beside the lake, just to prove that I did have my walking boots on and was stoically marching along albeit at a sedate pace.

..... and my OH moving ahead of me because he was a tad fed up with me trying to photograph my feet  in walking mode.....

...... and the wonderful sparkling of sunshine through the trees.....

....a pause for a snack, and Maz hoping for a morsel to come her way.....   

It was a grand day out, 

and I managed to walk, at a goodly pace, for one and a half miles!

It was a personal achievement for both my OH and me. 

I never thought I would ever walk a hundred yards, let alone 1.5 miles.  

Keep on going, that is what I have learnt, and don't give up.

I might not ever be as fit as I once was, but I am fitter than I have been recently. 

Bless you in your journey, 

Bye for now,

Vx