The view from my chair...

I have this chair in my living room, which I got from the Red Cross Charity shop and it is my breastfeeding chair because the sofa is so old and baggy that it hurts my back to just sit in it. So I sit in the chair in the window, and yesterdy I was trying very hard not to look out as the council screws up our road, tarmacs everything, and takes our paving stones to make other streets in the city look nice. :-(

But here we had lots of music. The Boy's musical talent is infecting us all. We bought a ukulele at the weekend, and he is already pretty good on it. We have been playing Gay Pirates, and here is the Babe learning her drum bits, with a little help from Creature. :-) That is Creature's mum, my best friend Martine, sitting on the piano bench, finishing off a little dress she has knitted for the Babe.

Not a good photo, as she was dancing and moving, and wouldn't stand still - so not a good model at all. But a cute dress. :-)

We are doing a lot of music. Of course, The Boy does a lot anyway. Drums, Piano, African Ensemble, Congos, Piano, and I think we can add ukulele to that. He is also saving up for a quatro - which he has picked out at Hobgoblin Music. I have been playing a bit of guitar as well, trying to keep up with him a bit. I haven't played for a couple of years because my skin was quite bad, and the skin on my fingers kept splitting. But I have suitable sore fingers now, and I hope to have callouses again soon. Then I can accompany The Boy, or play a few tunes at the next camp we go on.

The Changeling has been playing the piano a bit as well. She doesn't really do the learning music bit, but she learns songs, and can play they pretty well. And The Meister wants to learn the violin. I  am not convinced this is going to be a long term thing for her, but The Boy has a violin he doesn't use, so she can have a go with that. And who knows, as she and another home ed friend have apparently been offered free singing lessons.

They go to a young performers group, and a couple of weeks ago,  a new accompanist joined the group, and asked if the two of them had singing lessons. Of course, they haven't but the thing that marks them out as different is their confidence. They are home educated, and when they sing, they sing. They don't mumble or pretend to sing, or worry about what all the other kids are doing, or worry about getting it wrong or being laughed at. They just do it. :-) I am proud of them both, but also sad that the normal world makes so many kids afraid to be themselves.



Off to practice my guitar chords...