Monthly Archives: June 2012

Sometimes you have to take a risk

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Last weekend was the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee weekend.  As I had my “extended” church choir, The St Giles Singers with us, I had decided to push what we could achieve by singing Parry’s “I was glad”, Handel’s “Zadok the Priest” as well as the Mass setting by Haydn: “St John of God”.  All this with 45 minutes rehearsal.

I told the choir to simply enjoy singing rather than to worry about the complexity and breadth of what I was asking of them.  Oh, and I was not in front of them conducting – I had my own risk with such complex music as to be directing from the organ with which they would be accompanied/led/possibly led astray.

However, if you take risk, you get rewards.  The result was amazing, inspiring and enjoyable for those participating and listening.  I am inclined to take more risks in the future based on this.

iangraydon

The birds in my garden

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As I’ll be writing about birdwatching from time to time, I thought that I should write first about my own back yard.  Literally!

I have eight feeders in my back garden, kept regularly stocked with feed such as sunflower hearts, sunflower seeds, niger seeds, high energy seed mix, peanuts, fat balls, fat cake, meal worms and fat pellets.

These attract a wide range of birds, often in large numbers.  The garden is rarely empty during daylight.

The birds that I commonly get in the garden are: House Sparrows, Goldfinches, Greenfinches, Chaffinches, Bullfinches, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Long-tailed Tits, Willow Tits (or Marsh Tits – I can’t tell which they are), Siskins, Blackbirds, Starlings, Robins, Collared Doves, Wood Pigeons, Greater Spotted Woodpeckers, Jays, Magpies and recently a Jackdaw.  I have a Rook scarer (well – it’s an old CD hanging from the Cherry Tree) and without it, I’d have a large number of Rooks attacking the fat balls every morning from sunrise!  I’ve had a Moorhen visit regularly for a couple of years, but not this year. Maybe the border has overgrown too much. I have also once had a Sparrow Hawk in the garden, but only the once.

So that’s what’s in my garden.  It gives hours of pleasure and costs a fortune, but it’s one of my little hobbies!

iangraydon

Welcome

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Congratulations on finding me here.  You must have been looking for me, as I don’t advertise the existence of this blog anywhere.  However, that does not mean that you can’t read it or that you won’t find anything of interest.

I have an interest in a number of diverse subjects, ranging from birdwatching, church and music (I am the director of music at an Anglo-Catholic church in Norwich), Italy (holiday destination this year) and technology (from both my job and the Open University degree that I completed a couple of years ago.

I will write on these subjects and anything else that springs to my mind.  Maybe not regularly, but I’ll see what I can do.  No promises, so I won’t let anyone down.

iangraydon