Category: Coronavirus
Nepotism x
The work of a musician revolves around people and communication, which means Covid has crippled the industry. However, nothing can stop the communication – for those missing their culture, my sister – Harriet Mackenzie, internationally renowned concerto soloist who has performed across five continents – is giving a special, hands on concert –
‘Thanks to all the wonderful people who supported my concert in November, I’m doing another concert online from here on 14th February! To thank my audience, it’s Audience Choice! Here are the options:
Another Solo Bach work- Another Baroque work such as Telemann or Locatelli
An Ysaye Solo Sonata
a Contemporary work- Kriesler
Recitative Scherzo Caprice
A solo Piazzolla Tango-
A Paganini Caprice
Another romantic work like the Paganini I played in November, which has accompaniment, but works well without it.
Massenet – Meditation, Ponce – Estrellita could work well?
a composition of my own- an improvisation
– my own solo arrangement of a jazz standard.- my own arrangement of a folk/world music melody, Kosmos style, but for solo violin.
Please do let me know if you have any preferences! – harriemack@gmail.com
Love from Spetses,
Harriet x ‘
For further details – click here – the info starts of with a bio of Harriet – you need to move further down this page to find:
Concert on February 14th at 8pm.
Underneath this is
Tickets – click on this to buy.
Once you have purchased your ticket you will receive an acknowledgement, a booking confirmation, with a code (booking reference) which you will need to use. You can download this.
1 hour before your concert, you will receive an email through the address provided at time of purchase with a bespoke link and code to connect you to your concert experience. When it is time for your concert, all you need to do is
click on the link sent to your email, enter your code, and enjoy!
The concert will be available to view for 48 hours following the performance, so you can even watch it twice if you wish or if you are unable to watch at the time you can watch later!!
Enjoy!
Laters, Kate x
Blooming Marvellous x
We may be in the midst of a global crisis, but nobody has told my window boxes. They’ve had more love and care than ever before and are responding with abundant height, growth, width and blooms.
There is one cuckoo in the nest; I fear I’ve been cultivating a weed – I thought this plant was a white geranium as it’s first leaves were the same shape and I knew I’d planted some in the area.
But now there’s a clear distinction. I’ve left it a while to see if a flower would bloom – surely a weed is a flower by any other name? I had hopes it might be a foxglove, the seed dropped by a bird, said my romantic heart. But I know it’s a triffid and must go.
On the good news front, the combover tree is proudly displaying the first signs of bum fluff.
But whilst some things, like my garden are benefitting, other areas of the world are facing peril: ‘If the Coronavirus doesn’t kill my workers, then starvation will’ says a factory owner in Bangladesh. A quote that greets you on the first page of Lost Stock. 
Lost Stock was set up by Cally Russell, the founder of fashion shopping too Mallzee. It allows shoppers to buy a mystery box of clothing directly from the manufacturers, with almost 40% of the proceeds of each box donated to Bangladesh through a non-profit organisation based in the country. This is enough to feed a Bangladeshi family for a week.
A Lost Stock Box costs £35 plus £3.99 postage and will contain at least three tops with a recommended retail price of £70. It will take time to arrive – between 6-8 weeks, but I think that’s a small price to pay.
In total, an estimated £10bn of clothing has piled up in warehouses during lockdown, much of it destined for landfill, layering crisis upon crisis. This seems a simple solution to help where help is most needed.
Where do I sign?
Laters, Kate x
Yin and Yang x
The good news is my window boxes are the best they’ve ever been….It’s amazing what watering every day will do…
The bad news is I should’ve taken the picture before I watered them.
The good news is my climbing rose is chocka with an abundance of buds.
The bad news: Because of the mild winter, they’re covered in aphids…sad face emoji
Good news: Charlie and I planted a whole load of seeds.
Bad news: Three weeks later and I think we’re cultivating weeds.
Or they’ve died.
The good news: My plant delivery finally arrived!
Bad news: Why are they always so much smaller in reality?
Good news: Finally got the wall painted black.
Which is a good thing….as it distracts from the newly christened ‘Comb-over’ Tree.
Bad news: The husband ‘pruned’ it..it once was the luscious twin to this one climbing the wall..
The good news: It has a bud!
Bad news: It’s sorely needed…
The good news: The garden is becoming a haven.
The bad news: The barbecue has just collapsed.
But the good news? It’s a job for the husband…and might just keep him away from my plants….
Laters, Kate x
Day 3
The hump day of the week, highlighted by a rebellion from Charlie over running this morning. All I can think is, why wouldn’t you? The sun is shining, the sky is blue and the blossom is out. But there’s that expectation to lash out at, the enforced decree. I think it’s what Boris Johnson is so scared of hence his fudged message: Stay at home, unless you have to work at work, which you can only do safely, but your bosses will decide what that means. Certainly on run, there was very little difference, the main roads are the same, the residential roads are quiet except for builders, who were told to shut up shop, but now are considered able to work safely. A builder working safely? The niggling feeling is Boris is trying to blur the line between caring and the economy. I wish he would just make a strong stand one way or the other.
Charlie did go for his run – the threat of losing time on Fortnite was a powerful motivator. But we ran different routes.
The big success has been the daily sketchbook challenge. On day one Carla Sonheim explained her daily page dump – drawing a box, dividing it up, filling each square with different subjects: day and date, a diary entry, an ideas section, a drawing and an anything goes box. We’re all doing this every day so that by the end of this we’ll all have diaries of this bizarre, never known before time to look back on and remember. Once that page is complete, there’s a different artist offering something new to do each day.
These were from blob drawing and looking at food.
The idea is not for perfection – and the random nature of the vintage-handmade-sketchbooks really helps with that.
The email of ideas comes in at 12. I find myself looking forward to it.
Laters, Kate x
Day 1
This morning is the first test of the strength and endurance of our internet – all four of us are working at the same time. So far, all good – the biggest concern is between those who can work quietly (me, John, Bella) and those who can’t (Charlie) and whether those who work quietly will influence a dial down, or the constant nagging needs of one will dial it in the opposite way; I’ve only yelled once…
We’ve all kept to our normal times. Apart from Bella, who over slept so missed the newly installed 8.00 am run – we’ve each installed the couch to 5k app with the aim to run with it every day. It’s a great programme especially for beginners; it tells you when to run and when to walk and is designed to progress you from a beginner to running a full 5k. There’s an option where you can choose your personal running coach – mine is Michael Johnson, because when he tells me I’m doing good, I really believe I’m doing good. He’s fast becoming a good friend. When we’re running as a group we look like a flock of birds, when with no obvious signal we all transform from walking to pounding the streets. The streets today were probably two thirds down on traffic, but busier than expected. I think everyone thinks their car is their own portable bubble. The thing is it’s what you do at either end of your journeys that can matter…there’s news that petrol pumps are sources of infection. Just saying.
This weekend we prepped for the sketchbook revival 2020 challenge, buying nothing, but going through book shelves for old books, gathering dust that could do with a re-love, finding old sketchbooks, tearing out pages, old letters, cards, wrapping paper, tissue paper – anything that would make it interesting, then sewing it together…very satisfying.
Mine is done now. Just waiting for the first email to drop in with instructions for the day – better check my spam folder…
Also redid our window boxes: ivy, trailing white geraniums, miniature daffodil bulbs and some white plant that looked pretty! They’re going to get a bit of love every day as well.
Something little, something often, something creative, something together. This is could be more a blessing than a chore.
Laters, Kate x
Maison Bentley Style 
