Lots going on
Hello again, folks, at long last! If you're wondering why I haven't posted here for more than a month, the simple reason is that my life has been pretty busy most of the time since the end of September. So, if you're interested in what's been happening, read on!
You'll be pleased to know that my health is pretty good these days. Admittedly my head is still sensitive to heat and tiredness and prolonged idle standing around, and I will have to take anti-epilepsy medication till August 2015 as a preventative measure even though I'm highly unlikely to have another seizure, but on the whole my head is behaving well and it aches far less than it used to. As for my injured big toe, the nail is still a bit loose, and not growing properly, but it's rarely painful now, and I can wear any of my closed-in shoes these days, a good thing as winter should soon be on its way.
In other news, as I mentioned earlier, life has been pretty action-packed since I posted my previous LJ entry on 24 September. On 26 September, we got some good news which means that our Anglican congregation in Calais can stay at the chapel we've tested out since last spring, namely that a local cafe will let church members use its toilet for free as they do for members of the big church behind the chapel: we had trouble getting the chapel's heating to work, but once a few adjustments have been done it should work fine, so we won't freeze during church services this winter, something our older members would definitely be unhappy about. My parents also celebrated an important wedding anniversary together on 26 September, which we church members continued to celebrate over lunch after our Harvest service two days later. Then my parents and I ended up not going to church in October at all: we cancelled the service on 12 October due to only four members being available, then on 26 October we were tired after a long journey the previous day so we stayed at home. I was much busier with the Calais choir in October than with the Calais Anglican church: I missed my regional choir's rehearsal on 11 October due to the final rehearsal for a concert with my Calais choir which would take place on the 12th, a concert which went very well, and the Calais choir has also been preparing other music for three concerts in and around Calais on 7, 8 and 9 November. For once I was in the audience without singing a note on 5 October, when there was a concert at the French Protestant church in Calais to celebrate more work being done on the old pipe organ there: there was plenty of organ music, as you can imagine, but there were also pieces sung by a small choir and a soprano soloist, the latter also happening to be the lady who sometimes gives us short vocal exercise sessions at the beginning of choir practices at the Calais music school, and there were also pieces played on various instruments such as the violin and different types of recorder. During the first weekend of October, the local arts-and-crafts exhibition which my Mum used to help out at as a member of the local tourist office took place: as my Mum is no longer an active worker for the tourist office, she could join my Dad and I as ordinary visitors for the official opening, and the exhibition was very good once more, although the opening was over-simplified with too many long speeches and nowhere for us to sit down during those speeches which was a bit of a strain for me. On the evening of 11 October, my parents and I went to a historical evening in Guines, a town about 15 minutes' drive from here, inspired by a big event in 1520 when England's King Henry VIII and the French king Francois I met with their courtiers just outside Guines to show off to each other: the modern evening inspired by this event included a meal, re-enactment of the arrival of the two kings and their courtiers, music, singing, dancing, and various events such as competitions between men on fake horses and mock jousting tournaments, with the audience split into two sides, English and French, my parents and me being put on the French side even though we're English so we joked that we were spies, but the evening was very good and the meal was delicious too. From 18 till 25 October my parents and I were in the UK, staying in a caravan near the west coast of England, combining visiting members of my late sister's family in the west of England with attending the wedding of a longtime friend in Wales which isn't far from there geographically: it was great to see four of my sister's children again, to see my great-nephew whom we hadn't seen for over a year, to celebrate the engagement of my second-eldest nephew, and to be able to attend the wedding of my friend Lulu and her new husband Brian, whom I not only want to congratulate for their marriage but also for organising an uncomplicated but very pleasant wedding and reception where I lmet quite a few people I'd either never met before or had only had contact with online. Besides all this going out and travelling, I have had plenty of things to keep me occupied as usual, including my new silver 64 GB iPhone 6, which I bought on 7 October, with which I am now getting used to IOS 8: most of the apps and games I regularly use either still work or have been updated to work with the new system, and I also just bought a new audio game which was released for i-devices two days ago, called Audio Defence, where you kill different kinds of zombies with different weapons, which isn't always easy but is still good fun. I don't spend all my time messing with my shiny new iPhone, though, I still read job offers, read books and magazines, listen to the radio and music, play games on the PC, and keep in touch with friends in different ways.
There ya go, I think I've told you my most important news now, so you can resume normal activities after finishing reading this! I wish you all a good week, with my thoughts and prayers still going out to those for whom life isn't as good as they would like it to be.
Now that's definitely all for today, so bye for now, and keep an eye on this mixed bouquet to see what blooms there in future!
You'll be pleased to know that my health is pretty good these days. Admittedly my head is still sensitive to heat and tiredness and prolonged idle standing around, and I will have to take anti-epilepsy medication till August 2015 as a preventative measure even though I'm highly unlikely to have another seizure, but on the whole my head is behaving well and it aches far less than it used to. As for my injured big toe, the nail is still a bit loose, and not growing properly, but it's rarely painful now, and I can wear any of my closed-in shoes these days, a good thing as winter should soon be on its way.
In other news, as I mentioned earlier, life has been pretty action-packed since I posted my previous LJ entry on 24 September. On 26 September, we got some good news which means that our Anglican congregation in Calais can stay at the chapel we've tested out since last spring, namely that a local cafe will let church members use its toilet for free as they do for members of the big church behind the chapel: we had trouble getting the chapel's heating to work, but once a few adjustments have been done it should work fine, so we won't freeze during church services this winter, something our older members would definitely be unhappy about. My parents also celebrated an important wedding anniversary together on 26 September, which we church members continued to celebrate over lunch after our Harvest service two days later. Then my parents and I ended up not going to church in October at all: we cancelled the service on 12 October due to only four members being available, then on 26 October we were tired after a long journey the previous day so we stayed at home. I was much busier with the Calais choir in October than with the Calais Anglican church: I missed my regional choir's rehearsal on 11 October due to the final rehearsal for a concert with my Calais choir which would take place on the 12th, a concert which went very well, and the Calais choir has also been preparing other music for three concerts in and around Calais on 7, 8 and 9 November. For once I was in the audience without singing a note on 5 October, when there was a concert at the French Protestant church in Calais to celebrate more work being done on the old pipe organ there: there was plenty of organ music, as you can imagine, but there were also pieces sung by a small choir and a soprano soloist, the latter also happening to be the lady who sometimes gives us short vocal exercise sessions at the beginning of choir practices at the Calais music school, and there were also pieces played on various instruments such as the violin and different types of recorder. During the first weekend of October, the local arts-and-crafts exhibition which my Mum used to help out at as a member of the local tourist office took place: as my Mum is no longer an active worker for the tourist office, she could join my Dad and I as ordinary visitors for the official opening, and the exhibition was very good once more, although the opening was over-simplified with too many long speeches and nowhere for us to sit down during those speeches which was a bit of a strain for me. On the evening of 11 October, my parents and I went to a historical evening in Guines, a town about 15 minutes' drive from here, inspired by a big event in 1520 when England's King Henry VIII and the French king Francois I met with their courtiers just outside Guines to show off to each other: the modern evening inspired by this event included a meal, re-enactment of the arrival of the two kings and their courtiers, music, singing, dancing, and various events such as competitions between men on fake horses and mock jousting tournaments, with the audience split into two sides, English and French, my parents and me being put on the French side even though we're English so we joked that we were spies, but the evening was very good and the meal was delicious too. From 18 till 25 October my parents and I were in the UK, staying in a caravan near the west coast of England, combining visiting members of my late sister's family in the west of England with attending the wedding of a longtime friend in Wales which isn't far from there geographically: it was great to see four of my sister's children again, to see my great-nephew whom we hadn't seen for over a year, to celebrate the engagement of my second-eldest nephew, and to be able to attend the wedding of my friend Lulu and her new husband Brian, whom I not only want to congratulate for their marriage but also for organising an uncomplicated but very pleasant wedding and reception where I lmet quite a few people I'd either never met before or had only had contact with online. Besides all this going out and travelling, I have had plenty of things to keep me occupied as usual, including my new silver 64 GB iPhone 6, which I bought on 7 October, with which I am now getting used to IOS 8: most of the apps and games I regularly use either still work or have been updated to work with the new system, and I also just bought a new audio game which was released for i-devices two days ago, called Audio Defence, where you kill different kinds of zombies with different weapons, which isn't always easy but is still good fun. I don't spend all my time messing with my shiny new iPhone, though, I still read job offers, read books and magazines, listen to the radio and music, play games on the PC, and keep in touch with friends in different ways.
There ya go, I think I've told you my most important news now, so you can resume normal activities after finishing reading this! I wish you all a good week, with my thoughts and prayers still going out to those for whom life isn't as good as they would like it to be.
Now that's definitely all for today, so bye for now, and keep an eye on this mixed bouquet to see what blooms there in future!