Blogpost No11 November 2023
Time flies like an arrow … fruit flies like a banana! My favourite joke EVER and soo true. Here I am again attempting to catch up with those bloody flies! Let's see what November brought - turns out, quite a lot.
Mum’s made a miraculous turn around. From being quite ill the first few weeks in her new place, she's now fully up to speed and whizzing around the home with her Ferrari (red walker thingy), cracking jokes to all and sundry and basically being the centre of attention. Which makes me very happy. My sister, Diane, was visiting mum the other week, just sitting next to each other. Unprompted, Mum turned to her and said: “I could live here!”
There was a review. They’re happy to keep her! Hurrah!
In other news … I had an unexpected gig! Here’s how it came about: Walking round M&S a few weeks ago, I bumped into our good friend Kevin Madigan, who happens to be the booker for the Villa Marina and Gaiety complex. In our “how are you’s” I mentioned mum’s new residence status and he said: “You fancy supporting Scott Matthews November 18th?” Without skipping a beat I said “Yes!” And so dear reader I spent the next few weeks (OK maybe it was only the week of the gig) Frantically running through songs I thought I could remember and that would work well together. My last gig was Nov 12th 2022 … with my lovely band … this was solo - nowhere to hide!
Scott Matthews is a delightful human and an uber talented one at that. His voice is sublime, his songs and guitar work utterly beautiful. I’m a fan!
Here’s a few snippets from my wee set:
Just before mum moved into her new place, she had an appointment with her Doctor's surgery nurse, to be fitted for pressure socks … stick with me it’ll all make sense in a minute! When chatting to the lovely woman who sorted her out - like you do - she saw my name on mum’s notes: Christine Collister Miller and commented: “You’re not the singer then?” To which I replied:”Yes I am, that’s my married name.” “Oh!” She said smiling. “Do you ever guest with local choirs?” “I’ve never been asked” “Well I’m with Angela Stewart’s choir and we’re doing our Christmas concert December 15th and we’re looking for a guest. Would you be interested?” “Sure … why not? Sounds great.”
And so dear reader I am now performing 4 songs December 15th at St George’s Church in Douglas. One on my own accapella, 2 Christmas songs with the choir (who sound divine!) and one of the songs from Children Of The Sea. It will be a world premiere! We’re using the track from the album to sing to. We had our first rehearsal last week and it was so exciting to sing with the choir. She Was A Wise Woman is definitely not a Christmas song but it’s perfect for a 40 voiced female choir. It’ll be EPIC! If you’re on island please do come along.
In other news I continue to dip most days but the weather’s been very stormy of late, so I’ve been thwarted on numerous occasions. However today (Sat Nov 25th) I got in at Fenella beach with 4 of my mermaid pals … in case you were wondering … it was icy cold. The air was blue as we got in! But it felt so good. There really is no explaining it. You’ve just got to try it for yourselves ;-) x
Early morning walks with Sweep are always a joy and sometimes Peel in particular looks stunning:
This month’s musical share is a rearrangement of a song featured on Under Construction II: I Wanted Everything. My demo was a simple Logic Loops fiddle and drum with vocals. My delightful (and super talented) friend, Mike Slamer, rearranged it a year or so later and I even wrote an extra verse … next month I promise to actually record something seasonally appropriate especially for you!
I think that’s as much as I've got to tell you this month. This time next month? Eek! I’ll be getting very close to clocking up another whizz round the sun - blimey!
Thank you as always for taking the time to drop by and see how I’m getting on. I really appreciate it/you!
Till next time dear reader, stay well and keep rising above the turbulence.
Endless blessings and much love.
Christine x
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