Surely this man’s appendage would get in the way of the mouthpiece and head joint? #moustache #flute #flautist #lastnightoftheproms

In recent years these aims have included being generally fitter twelve months from now, or reading more (and in this last one I’ve done very well for the past two years). This year in addition to those two standing aims, I want to vow to play my flute more and do more practice.

This Christmas I’ve enjoyed playing notes out of a trumpet again – I think I may have exorcised some demons from past there – although one day I think I might like to get a trumpet of my own again as I can, kind of play it, to add another instrument to my repertoire. Whilst visiting my brothers I tinkled – in the losest of senses – on Ben’s piano and I enjoyed the fact that some of what I taught myself ten years ago wasn’t completely forgotten. I also haven’t forgotten that the piano is definitely not the instrument for me. Right hand playing one tune on treble clef whilst left hand plays something completely different in bass clef is a skill that is not made for me!!

But in the the meantime I have my flute and I have my piccolo and I think I should start first at playing those better – and yes, that does include finally learning how to play those illusive notes scarily stratopheric above the stave above top G. Yes, I need to start there, and do regular practice.

We have new carol books this year, which some of us have never seen before in our lives. What’s more many of the carols are in 6 flats! Six flats?! It seems the carol books are Salvation Army ones. That explains it then, Salvation Army carols would be written foremostly for brass, and thus the crap key signature for anyone in of a woodwind persuasion.

Following the morning of carols and Christmas markets (including a yummy stone cooked chicken salad on a bed of coleslaw for lunch), we returned home – Emma to a sleep, having only had 1½ hours sleep the night before, whilst I put the Christmas lights up outside and found a home for the large bale of hay we have acquired from Fringford Feeds…

2. And if to prove that it is indeed a small world, at Thursday’s Abingdon Concert Band rehearsal we had a couple of new players; sisters, one clarinetist and one flautist. Because Sarah decided that, despite just one rehearsal, Saturday’s concert sounded like fun, we got together a complete set of music as we could from duplicates for her to look at but there were gaps, so I offered to scan the remaining ones and email them. It was then that I found out that she works for Hearing Dogs for Deaf People and that she knows my aunt and uncle, who have dogs for their weekend training. Small world.

I’m hitting refresh on the Met Office forecast for Saturday. It’s looking better than it was yesterday. Still not brilliant, but with luck, we might get lucky… *crosses fingers*

2. I need cat food. Well, Bella and Arthur need cat food. Today I ran out of it and had to nip round to the local shop and get some Go-Cat to tide me over until I get to pet shop and can get some Pro-Plan or James Wellbeloved science diet. Your off-the-shelf Whiskers and Go-Cat is expensive! 89p for a box of biscuits which is going to last next to no time. The science diets, although you buy them in bigger quantities are no more (or not significantly more) expensive, and they are heaps better for your pusscat than the supermarket alternatives.

3. Chapter 6, the closing chapter of Part One of my novel went into review at CritiqueCircle yesterday. I’ve already had three crits on it, all very complimentary, one I think did actually use the words ‘un-put-downable’ and apparently they sat down with a cup of coffee to read it, and when they got round to drinking it, the coffee was cold!

4. Amy was not at wind band tonight. All my other fellow flautists were though, but it did leave me playing solo piccolo. All things considering, I did pretty well. I just have to remember to breath from my diaphram and blow confidently…

5. I have a Play Meeting on Sunday. Hopefully we might get it to the point of then needing to find sacrifices volunteers to read the parts so that we can get a feel for how it works.

2. I need cat food. Well, Bella and Arthur need cat food. Today I ran out of it and had to nip round to the local shop and get some Go-Cat to tide me over until I get to pet shop and can get some Pro-Plan or James Wellbeloved science diet. Your off-the-shelf Whiskers and Go-Cat is expensive! 89p for a box of biscuits which is going to last next to no time. The science diets, although you buy them in bigger quantities are no more (or not significantly more) expensive, and they are heaps better for your pusscat than the supermarket alternatives.

3. Chapter 6, the closing chapter of Part One of my novel went into review at CritiqueCircle yesterday. I’ve already had three crits on it, all very complimentary, one I think did actually use the words ‘un-put-downable’ and apparently they sat down with a cup of coffee to read it, and when they got round to drinking it, the coffee was cold!

4. Amy was not at wind band tonight. All my other fellow flautists were though, but it did leave me playing solo piccolo. All things considering, I did pretty well. I just have to remember to breath from my diaphram and blow confidently…

5. I have a Play Meeting on Sunday. Hopefully we might get it to the point of then needing to find sacrifices volunteers to read the parts so that we can get a feel for how it works.

2. Came back home and enjoyed a good roast meal (particularly good roasted veg today!), and then settled back and watched three episodes of season 1 Battlestar Galactica – it was just going to be two episodes but I couldn’t stop there with Starbuck floating in space towards a cold moon at the end of Act of Contrition.

3. Another good CC critique today, with a few more interesting things to consider.

4. Bella and Arthur are being particularly affectionate at the moment. Bella was having a nice cuddle whilst I was watching the first of tonight’s BG episodes, and then Arthur got all jealous and muscled in and for a while I had two of them on my lap, before Bella pushed off to the other end of the sofa.

5. May go into Oxford and give Blackwell’s one last visit before I lose the 30% discount…

2. I am once again living Lakeside.

3. Some more new pieces at band tonight, including one on on that funny handwritten-style of printed music that I found next to impossible to play. It’s also particularly impossible to play when it’s all on ledger lines above the stave and in seven (yes seven!!) flats. I think the composer might have realised that he was being a bit harsh on us when, near the end, we actually got given about four bars with just the one sharp!!

4. Managed to do some more crits over at CritiqueCircle today, but seem to have done a splendid job of procrastinating away from my own novel. I must fix that this weekend.

5. I want to see the film Miss Potter. I may go tomorrow night…

Meanwhile in the ranks of the upper-woodwind we’re breeding (not literally I hasten to add – unless you mean Hilary, in which case yes) like rabbits. Tonight, with the return of Rhonda, and with the addition of Rachel and Sarah, we were up to seven flutes and tapering back into three rows. This could cause a problem for with the next concert programme seeings as it’s hard enough to fit all the flutes and clarinets in one column as it is without making double spacing the other two columns! So tonight, I pretty much stayed on the piccolo parts with Amy. And I do like the picc part to Goff Richards’ Doyen – da da ta taa ta ta! Dah dah dahh dahh daa ta ta…

…however Arthur? Arthur is less than pleased. Displeased indeed, and show’s his displeasure with loud miaows, although whether this is actually in complaint to my flute playing or just James Horner’s music to Titanic and in particular My Heart Will Go On is still to be decided. Certainly he didn’t miaow during my rendition of Nigel Hess’ Morning Commuter, but that might have just been because by then he was hiding behind the curtain!

And then we come to a more lilting, sedate piece – possibly the largest form of transport. Yes, music from Titanic. And yes again, guess who gets to play to *that* song? You guessed it – the dear old lilting flutes…

Oh, and did I mention, that I like piccolo? ‘Cos I do.