Jazzy time:
Not long ago, friend ‘L’ told me that her former classmate Kaori Nakajima, the
renowned Japanese jazz saxophonist would be coming to tour the UK in May. For a
music enthusiast like me this was good news enough, but I was even more excited
when ‘L’ informed me that Kaori would be performing a special concert at their
old school, Cobham Hall.
As I was happy to drive to Cobham Hall, I was also happy to take a few friends along too... In attendance were friends ‘S’ and ‘P’ together with ‘Mini S’ and her friend ‘G.’
As I was happy to drive to Cobham Hall, I was also happy to take a few friends along too... In attendance were friends ‘S’ and ‘P’ together with ‘Mini S’ and her friend ‘G.’
Kaori and her band were amazing, even more so when she told
us that they had only recently formed when she arrived in the UK for her tour. She
was a very engaging performer, with lots of interesting anecdotes about her
time at the school. Funnily enough, she had taken all her piano grades using
the same piano (and creaky stool!) at which her piano accompanist was
sitting...
They performed a host of traditional jazz tunes, like ‘Take
Five’ and ‘The Girl from Iapenema,’ mixed in with less well known Japanese jazz
numbers.
Mini ‘S’ and friend ‘G’ had no trouble enjoying the music, before long they had improvised by filling an empty Pringles tin with cocktail sticks for a shaker and drawing out a marimba board on a scrap of paper so they could pretend to play along – On with the recycling! I have a feeling they enjoyed doing cartwheels in amongst the topiary and running barefooted on the cool grass in the interval just as much though...
Mini ‘S’ and friend ‘G’ had no trouble enjoying the music, before long they had improvised by filling an empty Pringles tin with cocktail sticks for a shaker and drawing out a marimba board on a scrap of paper so they could pretend to play along – On with the recycling! I have a feeling they enjoyed doing cartwheels in amongst the topiary and running barefooted on the cool grass in the interval just as much though...
You can read more about Kaori and her music here:
Getting our hands dirty:
After all of our refinement of the night before, I thought it was time to be a bit more earthy and get out in the garden the following day. As our garden is mostly concrete and balcony/deck, I had to think of some cunning ways to grow more plants. As luck would have it the local garden centre were selling little self assembly raised beds which we filled with (peat free) compost... to be planted with courgettes, cucumbers, pumpkins, tomatoes and climbing beans.
After all of our refinement of the night before, I thought it was time to be a bit more earthy and get out in the garden the following day. As our garden is mostly concrete and balcony/deck, I had to think of some cunning ways to grow more plants. As luck would have it the local garden centre were selling little self assembly raised beds which we filled with (peat free) compost... to be planted with courgettes, cucumbers, pumpkins, tomatoes and climbing beans.
Friend ‘K,’ (who was tempted over to our place with the
offer of Sunday lunch) told me about a ‘potato grower’ she had bought in
Wilkinson’s for £2.99. When I asked her to describe it, she told me it was
‘made of tarpauliny type material with handles on the sides.’ This reminded me
strangely of an IKEA bag (costing all of 50p!). Being the hoarder that I am, I
have several of these tucked in the hallway cupboard for no good reason, so, we
were able to recycle the oldest IKEA bag (and some old potatoes that had
started to sprout in the fridge) as a potato grower!
J’s record of the week:
‘I’m a Gummy Bear
(the gummy bear song)’
(the gummy bear song)’
by
Gummibar
For some reason ‘Mini S’ and her friends seem to be slightly
(rather an understatement!) obsessed with this song... I’ll have to admit it’s
just a tiny bit catchy! It was written by German composer Christian Schneider
in 2007, but has ‘gone viral’ via YouTube and other social media in the last
little while. While we rewarded friend ‘K’ with lunch for all her hard work in
the garden on Sunday, ‘Mini S’ discovered that ‘K’s’ mobile had the song
stored... so it was the soundtrack to our lunch, and the journey home! Enjoy?
It’s up to you! Jerushah X
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