Day 25 - Music Love

Day 25 of rosalilium’s 'blog every day in May' challenge

Music Love

(What are your top 5 favourite albums and why?)


I have way too many albums I love to choose just 5 - some of my favourite CD's are soundtracks and I love singing along to them on my own.

I'd never dream of singing out loud in public however, I'd be worried my voice would crack windows!

Andrew on the other hand, comes from a musical family and can sing, properly sing and makes the time fly by on long car journeys by singing along to 1950's pop classics.

His musical family includes...
His sister who plays the violin, saxophone and piano.
His paternal grandmother and grandfather who both played the piano.
His maternal grandfather who played the piano, xylophone, piano accordian and church organ.
And his auntie who played the piano and piano accordian.

His maternal grandfather was the founder and bandmaster of a local accordian band, started in 1937 and still in existence today.

Source: MSN Accordian Band

Andrew's grandfather is the conductor on the right hand side!

 

His grandfather modestly decided to decorate his initials on the front of each music stand!

Just in case anyone in our town forgot who he was...

 

 

Source: MSN Accordian Band

Grandfather is in the middle of the front row, slouching...

 

All the songs for the band were arranged by Andrew's grandfather - it has been claimed that he was capable of hearing a song on the wireless and then capturing all the different sections of music needed for all the players.

 

 

 

I'm pretty certain this is where Andrew gets his musical vocal talent from!

 

 

Day 24 - What's In Your Fridge?

Day 24 of rosalilium’s 'blog every day in May' challenge

What's In Your Fridge?

(Describe and/or photograph what is in your fridge right now. Be honest!)


Our fridge is looking a bit sparse at the moment as we're going away to Selwood Steam Rally for the bank holiday weekend.

But this is what it contains...

 

Top shelf

Half a tray of eggs (I've made 3 cakes in the last week!) and a random leek

 

Middle shelf

On the left, 6 jars - sweet pickle, mayonnaise, onion chutney and hidden behind the front row, raspberry jam, beetroot and cranberry sauce (leftover from last Christmas); on the right, a jar of homemade mincemeat (again from last Christmas) and half an onion inside a Lakeland Onion Pod

 

Bottom shelf

 The last bit of the chocolate cake I baked for Andrew's birthday on Sunday, some Stork margerine and a selection of half-opened butter and unsalted butter

Left hand drawer
Empty except for one garlic bulb, some garlic cloves and a sweet potato

Right hand drawer
Several onions, a couple of red onions, some shallots, a green pepper, a tomato and some spring onions

 

 Top shelf

Tomato puree, garlic puree and a few eggs

 

Middle shelf

Cheese! Lots of it! Extra Mature Cheddar, Grana Padano parmesan, some cheese slice, Laughing Cow Cheese Triangles, a bag of mozzarella, and some Cornish mustard, Colman's mustard and hot horseradish

 

Bottom shelf

Fairly self explanatory - some orange juice and some semi-skimmed milk!

 

 

So there you have it, the contents of our not-particularly-inspiring fridge!

 

 

Day 23 - Compliments

Day 23 of rosalilium’s 'blog every day in May' challenge

Compliments

(Tell us about the best compliment you have ever received.)



Is it just me or are these topics getting increasingly harder as we head towards the end of the month?


This is going to be really soppy now but probably the best compliment I've ever received was...

Will you marry me?

The fact that someone liked me enough to want to spend the rest of their life with me is a pretty huge compliment!

And I think, over the next however many years, that'll take some beating...

 

Airships and Allsorts at Frome Steampunk Extravaganza

The very first Frome Steampunk Extravaganza took place last weekend at the town's Cheese and Grain venue. During the day the hall hosted the 'Market of Curiosities' and the evening hosted the main gig featuring several steampunk bands, burlesque dancers, poetry and hundreds of party-goers in fabulous costumes!

 

For a far more detailed explanation of what 'steampunk' actually is, hop on over to font of all knowledge, Wikipedia - it's a little bit to do with steam power, a little bit to do with Victoriana and a little bit to do with the sci-fi ideas of authors such as H.G. Wells and Jules Verne.

 

I popped over to see the market in the afternoon and me, my friend M and reluctant husband ventured out for the evening entertainment.

 

 

Here's a few pictures from the day...

 

First up - the Market of Curiosities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then moving on to the Evening Gig

 

Some of the costumes...

 

'Sunday Driver'

 

The fabulous poet, Muriel Lavender

 

'The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing' rocking out

 

'The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing'

 

Happy smiley newbie steampunkers!

 

 

Looking forward to next year's event - we've got one year to make some good costumes! :-)

 

 

Day 22 - 13 Year Old You

Day 22 of rosalilium’s 'blog every day in May' challenge

13 Year Old You

(If you could talk to your 13 year old self, what would you say?)


Short and sweet...

 

The Midweek Hop - Just Smile!

A weekly musical feature inspired by Desmond Carrington's 'The Music Goes Round'

 

 

'Seeburg V200 VL' 1955 Jukebox

 

This weeks theme is...Just Smile!

 

Inspired by National Smile Month (20th May to 20th June)

 

 

 

1. When My Little Girl is Smiling by Jimmy Justice

One smile and a girl always gets her way...
'When My Little Girl is Smiling' entered the chart on 29th March 1962 reaching Number 9

2. No One Can Make My Sunshine Smile by The Everly Brothers

A 1960's Jedward lookalike?
'No One Can Make My Sunshine Smile' entered the chart on 25th October 1962 reaching Number 11

3. Keep Your Sunny Side Up! by Johnny Hamp

Not strictly a jukebox era song, but still a good sunny tune.
'Keep Your Sunny Side Up! is from before the charts existed but was a firm favourite of fairground organs


Happy listening!

 

Day 21 - Dream Job

Day 21 of rosalilium’s 'blog every day in May' challenge

Dream Job

(If you could do anything in the world to make a living what would it be?)


My dream career of choice unfortunately isn't very exciting and is something I'm already working towards (with my degree) and I've also blogged about here on Day 8 - that is, some form of librarian.

If I had to narrow it down even further though, then I think it would be working for Professor Vanessa Toulmin on her archive at the University of Sheffield.

Screenshot from The National Fairground Archive


Research, collections, history, archiving, nostalgia, fairground, carnivals, circus and members of the public who are actually interested in the same things as me!

What more could a (probably strange) girl ask for?

I know I haven't finished my degree yet and I'm a galaxy away from being an actual chartered librarian, but hey, Professor Toulmin, if you're reading this and fancy offering me a job in a few years time - I'm open to offers! :-)