Simplifying Life

mary43

Phew ! Sighs of relief Monday is almost over..........plus side........managed to get rid of old chamber pot via the local don'tdumpthat site, and have advertised old vaccum cleaner (well you never know, someone might make use of it for spare parts), I've stopped sniffing and sneezing - OH has started -well its good to share................lol:rotfl:

mary43

Another day and today my throat feels like its stuffed with an old sock ! So, plans to visit my friend have been shelved -she's due to go into hospital and last thing she needs is a cold/sore throat. So, set to and started doing door hangers for grandchildren for christmas.............make little pocket from fabric sample for grandsons (that was the easiest bit !), stuck paper on door hanger and got in such a pickle trimming round the hole where the door knob goes.............hoping they won't notice by the time they're totally done. Hoped to get them finished and shoe box and twix tube but no..........was not meant to be...........phone kept ringing and latest was to tell me that youngest lad who'd had a day of activities at youth club had been asked to leave for throwing a pool ball at another lad. I rang him to come home and he said he wouldn't as he needs to calm down and was going for a walk...........must be drenched my now.........we've just had sudden downpour ! At least the older lad has paid us back some of what he owes us.......he had some pay due that he got this morning. If its not one causing hassle its the other.........:eek: OH is at work today but hopefully will be home to cook dinner -least he said so. I don't know what I fancy -taste buds up the spout -and last thing I feel like doing is cooking (hate it at the best of times.................lol)
So, thats my day.................and it ain't done yet !!!
Now we've got sunshine........is that an omen I wonder......?????

2cats1kid

I've had an expensive day, as DD (10) outgrew her violin a few weeks ago and did her grade 5 exam with a borrowed one. The person she borrowed it from said we could buy it for her if we wanted, and had it valued, but the valuation came out at £2-3K!!! Er.....no!!! Unfortunately, she now needs a decent violin for the level she is at, rather than the Stentor beginners ones, so it was pricey, but at least in 3 figures rather than well into 4!

I do wonder sometimes whether encouraging her music was a good thing or not (certainly not money-saving!!!) but she reckons she wants to make a career of it, so I suppose it's an investment.

So it's bread and milk for dinner for the next few weeks!

looby-loo_2

2cats1kid wrote: »

I do wonder sometimes whether encouraging her music was a good thing or not (certainly not money-saving!!!) but she reckons she wants to make a career of it, so I suppose it's an investment.

So it's bread and milk for dinner for the next few weeks!

Could be the best investment you ever made. My friends son played/busked himself through uni and now makes an exellent living from his music. I remember her having similar thoughts to you when he was at primary school but it turned out to be money well spent

2cats1kid

Thanks, looby-loo! I did threaten to set her up in the market place to start recouping some of the investment LOL. Trouble is she wants to start saxophone in September too. I think we'll hire that from the school to start with, just to see how it goes, but we could be back to the music shop for a saxophone sooner than I'd like.

I can see her making a bit of pocket money teaching once she is old enough to have a bit of credibility!

mary43

We were always brought up with music as Dad was a musician...........playing the piano for starters was a 'must'............my brother had a go at the clarinet and saxophone but was no good but a natural with a drum set -dad being a drummer I suppose it was 'in the genes' as they say. Luckily Dad could 'borrow' tjhe saxophone and clarinet and we had a piano in the house anyway, plus dads drums and a xylophone (I loved playing that........lol) but brother wanted his own drum set and they don't come cheap.
Still, he did start a career out of it...........should lived sadly but he's picked it up again now he's older and plays around the clubs in Spain when he gets the chance.
My eldest is keen on the guitar but had to buy his own.........funds just weren't there and he was working anyway. Youngest is taking up the drums after a fashion.............he can't afford a full drum kit but is managing somehow with his friends help to do a bit.
I think if you can stretch to it, (though I think 4 figs is a bit much !!)music should always be encouraged. I gave up the piano in my early teens and now wish I hadn't.
My friend is getting rid of a couple of guitars (not electric I hasten to add) and OH wants to have a go at learning - not sure quite how musical he is and what sort of sound I'll have to contend with...............just hope its not too 'scratchy' and tuneless...................lol

Day is ending on better note I think....................youngest lad is home, very wet (serves him right for going off instead of coming home) and OH is cooking dinner (bless him...............:A )

ceridwen

Well - in my book music is as much a necessity of life as food and shelter. Leastways - it might be one more person able to make a living doing something they actually enjoy - which is more than most of us (including me!) have. Considering just how long someone starting out now is likely to have to work before they can retire, then its even more important than it was for my generation for them to have a job/career they actually enjoy if at all possible. My generation (a certain age) has a worklife of between 38-49 years (depending on how long we stayed in full-time education and still, to some extent, what sex we are). My worklife start-finish (unless I can retire early) is 42 years - and I am going to take advantage of being a woman to keep my retirement age at 60. 42 years of never ever having had paid work of my choice is one heck of a time - and I wouldnt wish that on anyone (well - okay - I would - but only if I didnt like them:rolleyes: ). Luckily - I do have some inkling of what work of one's choice can be like (but its always had to be on a voluntary basis in my spare time) - so that and having friends in this situation - well I do know its possible to have it for some lucky people.

So - if I'd ever had children I would certainly have encouraged them to do anything they showed both talent for and interest in - and hope they at least might find an enjoyable way of earning their living.

At least - on the personal earning a living front - I had one of my former employers (as in sideline paid work - on top of the dayjob) on the phone again yesterday asking me to come back and do some more for them - this time the finances are sorted out enough that I was able to turn it down :T . Step in the right direction - that I'm back to that dayjob only - and thats how it stays till 60 - at which point:beer: .

2cats1kid

Good point there, Ceridwen. I was never encouraged to do music - I was academic and firmly pushed down that road and hated it. DD is also very academic, and one of her teachers said that she was "wasting her brain" doing music and went to see her piano teacher (yes, she plays piano too) to tell him as much! He told her that DD is just as talented musically as academically and to leave her be (yay him!). When I found out what this teacher had done I was livid!!! (Didn't make for very good relations between us for the rest of the year, either.)

mary43

2cats - just goes to show -teachers (bless them) do a good job but really, they should recognise when someone has talent or a particular interest in something and nurture it. Everyone is an individual and should be treated as such and not popped in the little 'boxes' as so often seems to happen.

Well after yesterday and it taking me all day (near enough) to mess about with two door hangers maybe today I'll get on better covering my shoe box ? I do hope so..............could do with actually doing something that I can smile about at the end of the day.................lol
Don't know about anyone else but is cloudy here, rain forecast and the temperature seems to have dropped right down ! Can't be autumn/already can it ? Did I sleep through a couple of months ?
Herard on the radio yesterday about China 'seeding clouds' in order to prevent any rain spoiling the Olympic Games ..............I know this sort of thing has happened before....... OH said he'd heard that insurance companies were investing in this sort of thing to prevent further flooding on the scale we had last year. Course in an ideal world the clouds would be steered to the areas where there was drought ...........but, not being an ideal world drought remains in some places but the sun shines on the Olympic Games......something not quite right there methinks ?
Just my little opinion.
Right -off to my paste, paper and shoe box........................lol

mary43

After two attempts with covering my shoe box, at last its done, as is twiglets tube salvaged from last christmas. Then my new vaccum cleaner arrived !! Couldn't believe it............so lightweight I could carry it in its box from the front door ! OH managed to work out how to put it all together and its a bit on the teenyweeny side (probably need empying after each room -no bad thing really) and at least I can use it myself instead of OH doing it all the time.......................uh...........just thought...........maybe that was bad planning on my part...............I've just made housework more than a possibility for me !!!!:eek: