Saturday, January 27, 2018

R2BC - Play, Cook, Read

Here are my reasons 2B cheerful for this week. It was a good week. I'm on the R2BC linky over at Michelle's Mummy from the Heart if you'd like to read other entries from all over the world.

1
Two Orchestras [noch].
Remember how I went to Hell and back (literally) to get DD's clarinet. Well imagine my surprise when she came home with a letter inviting her to join two orchestras. One is the school orchestra and one is a Jerusalem orchestra for children from different schools. The latter is back in Hell but they have a bus to and from school.

I told a friend that DD is in two orchestras. I heard a hint of pride in my voice, or it could have verged on smugness. My friend was suitably impressed and asked what instrument she plays. I replied, "I don't know. Nothing. The clarinet goes back and forth to school every week but I've never heard her play anything." 

In light of the lack of practice and enthusiasm, I assumed that all the kids were invited and that most of  them would do it. I'd already made my protest (and got over it) so I just kept quiet and sent back the permission slip. One parent asked if it was possible to only be in the school orchestra. Maybe her son already  has an activity on Wednesdays and the JO is from 4 - 6 pm so it's quite a commitment. And it's not free but I'm happy to pay if there's a chance we could possibly be a musical family after all. I've always fancied that.

On Wednesday morning on my way to the bus I passed a few of DD's classmates. None of them had their instruments with them. I asked if they were going to the orchestra and none of them were. When I went to meet the bus at 6.10 outside school, I was surprised to see that it was a mini-bus holding about 15 kids. There are 60 kids in our 4th grade. Hmmm. Turns out us musical types are an elite few. ;~p

2
No Shopping, More Cooking
Very little shopping this week after last week's supermarket haul but lots of cooking as the vegetables do need prepping before they pass the point of no consume. This weekend I made another big vegetable soup - this time to eat over the week as there's no more room in the freezer. Roasted cauliflower. Baked potatoes, and more latkes (because there was still room in the latke box in the freezer from last week).

3
The Famous Five
I thought I'd written about DD's amazing birthday present from my cousin, of a boxed set of The Famous Five. No matter, it will eventually get a whole blog post to itself. I read the first book to her but I insisted she start reading the next book herself. She's not a big reader because she thinks it will be  hard slog. Remember that she doesn't read any English at school so all her educational and most of her incidental reading is in Hebrew. Anyway, I made her read one chapter last Sunday. Not only did she surprise herself by finding it easy, she also enjoyed it. So I implemented a chapter a day rule, to be read before screens.

I distinctly heard myself also saying that the rule included 10 minutes of clarinet practice before screens but apparently I must have said it in my head because that didn't happen.......yet.


10 comments:

  1. Well done to DD with the orchestras, that is amazing news and good for you getting all up to date with the cooking. Have a fab week, Mich x

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  2. Good news about the reading and I look forward to more news on the musical front. Glad you had a good week xx

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    1. The music will be interesting to see how far she goes with it.

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  3. Congrats to DD on being chosen for the orchestras - hopefully you will get the chance to hear her play soon. I still have a fantasy about learning to play the piano - maybe I'll surprise myself one of these days!
    I'm also trying to keep up with the veggies. I had a bunch of sweet potatoes on the go last night but had to throw them out as they turned black - obviously they must have gotten frozen during transport - this has been an issue with other purchases over this extra cold winter. I've just finished browning a pot of ground beef as it needed to be cooked - I'll make a cottage pie on Monday and it will have to be a regular mashed potato top rather than the sweet potato topping that I'd hoped for. I've also got a large cauliflower to deal with - I think I'll roast half of it, steam the other half & top it with a cheese sauce.
    My favourite Enid Blyton books were The Adventure Series with Dinah, Philip, Jack, Lucy and Kiki the parrot!

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    1. I used to read the Adventure series too. My absolute favourites were Mallory Towers though. And I loved one book - The Family At Red Roofs (a stand alone book) so much that I still have my copy. Enjoy your vegetables. Cauliflower cheese sounds delicious.

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  4. My mum encouraged me to read saying I would never by lonely if life if I had a book by my side. It's not bad advice and at least you can trust a book. Enid Blyton was very much a childhood favourite although from what I hear I would not have liked the author much as a person or perhaps I am misinformed. Music too is a sanctuary too but also connects us to other people as books can too and increasingly so with book clubs and the like. On the soup front, I must make more as I continue a healthier eating journey. Oh and thanks so very much for your comments on my secret French blog and yes it is like a permanent holiday.

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    1. So true about never being lonely or bored if you're a reader. And I agree that music can open doors to all sorts of social opportunities. xxx

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  5. Way to go DD with the orchestra! I loved the famous 5 and still have all the books some where.

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    1. I know, it seems she really enjoys it. I wish I'd kept my Mallory Towers.

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