Dave the Cave

My poem 'Dave was a Caveman' came second in the Hounslow Poetry Competition and was also featured in my college magazine. I wrote it when I was fifteen about the teenage boys I was encountering at home and at school.

Dave was a Caveman by Lorna Wadge

Dave was a caveman in disguise
He wore dark glasses to hide his eyes
He was such a poor, pathetic sight
That people would ask 'Are you all right?'

Dave felt he was a slave to everyday matters,
With his hair uncombed and greasy
And his clothes in fading tatters,
Dave lit his cigarette and took a drag,
He sighed a sigh of deep depression
Which gave the impression
That he had brain-fag

Dave thought he could be a politician,
An artist, a poet or a rock musician
Dave thought he could act, he thought he could sing
But Dave you can't do anything

Dave thought he was important,
All knowing and all seeing
His mother said, 'Hey Dave,
Act more like a human being.
The neighbours will think there's something wrong.'
Of course they would have been right,
There was something wrong with everyone,
Dave had seen the light.

Dave was a cavemen, Dave was deep,
Dave was only happy when he was asleep,
He lived at the bottom of a dead end street,
Dave was a cavemen, Dave was a creep

Dave coud be defiant
When he was so incliend,
He fierecly made bold statements,
He stood up for his kind,
For forgotten adolescents
The world had left behind,
He spoke with fire and passion
And then he changed his mind.

Some people think he's civilised
Which cames as a surprise,
Considering that Dave
Was a caveman in disguise

Me and my Piano Diploma

This is a story of slow education.

I started learning the piano in 1975. Mum and I were never in a rush for me to get my grades and so, with various breaks for O'levels, A'levels, a degree, various jobs, travelling abroad, buying a house and marriage, I finally passed my Grade 8 in 1998.

After another break of 10 years, while I was busy as a working mum with a small child, and spurred on by my daughter's young friends wishing to learn the piano, I decided to return to piano education and try for a DipABRSM in piano teaching. It took me another year to get the prerequisite Grade 6 Music Theory and in February 2010 I started studying for the diploma. I didn't know it was going to take me four years to do it, but I am quite a busy working mum so I think it's quite understandable.

The first year was spent reading books, making notes and working on my Written Submission. Years two to three were spent working on the Grade 6 pieces I needed to teach, collecting relevant tutor books, working on answers to possible questions and producing a set of hand-out notes for each of the grades.

The day of the exam was a very strange day as I felt very far out of my comfort zone. The Viva Voce was one of the hardest exams I've done, I thought it would be like an interview, but I now know that it is far more objective than that. I received my first set of results in February 2013 and was pleased with my Written Submission result, they'd given me a distinction, relieved I'd got through the Viva Voce and not too disappointed that I'd failed the Quick Study, as, looking back, I hadn't really given this part of the exam enough time or thought.

I decided not to retake the Quick Study straight away but spend a lot of 2013 improving my piano playing with the help of my music teacher and working out what was required in the Quick Study. I had a good day, the day of the Quick Study retake, although I didn't like the piece they'd given me to play. I had a feeling I'd done enough to pass, but they are very strict when it comes to the DipABRSM so I wasn't sure.

I was really happy, February 2014, when I received the big white envelope with my DipABRSM certificate inside it and the letter saying I was now entitled to append the letters DipABRSM to my name.

The best thing about playing the piano is playing the piano, regardless of what exams you manage to pass. It has been a source of comfort and joy to me in my life and I'm glad I could pass that enjoyment on to a few of my daughter's friends. For the record, my daughter is not into the piano, she likes singing.

Audrey & Sylvia

I made these two dolls for my mum and my aunt who are identical twins. Sadly my aunt died last year which has been a great loss and caused much sadness for my family. The thirteenth of February is their birthday.

On The Ice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyvF4RnpFgM

'On the ice' is an ALF animation featuring pictures based on a set of Amy's drawings inspired by the 'Dancing on Ice' TV show as well as a few precarious experiences with ice skating in real life. The backgrounds are based on photographs of the Northern Lights. The animation is set to one of my songs called 'Alive at Last'. The song came to me on one singers night at the Cabbage Patch, Twickenham and was once used at a friend's baptism service.

Cafe Pictures

 

 

Over the years Amy and I have produced many pictures inspired by café culture; people in cafes, menus, café food and a variety of tea and coffee related paraphernalia. I looked through our café collection and chose five of my favourite pictures to feature on my blog banner. The first picture is from a drawing by Amy and the others are a pencil drawing, a painting, a digital collage and a more abstract design by me.

 



Alone

 

A picture by Amy and a poem by me exploring solitude.

 

You know the feeling

When everything surrounds you

Yet nothing gets inside

 

When you cling to others

For a sense of community

To feel you belong

 

But then the solitude closes in

And you feel abandoned

In the middle of everything

 

With only two choices

To feel lonely and miserable

Or to be happy and alone

 

 

Guide Recorder Tunes

I wrote these six Guide Recorder Tunes tutors when I was seven or eight. They each have their own theme. The first book is called 'Birds' and is mostly blue in colour. The birds featured are a hummingbird, a cuckoo, a seagull, an ostrich, an owl and the last song is called 'The sparrow and the hawk', it features these brief lyrics:

'The hawk he went on seeking, to seek among his prey,
The sparrow went on fighting, to live the long, long day.'

The second book is about the weather and has a yellow theme, the tunes here include Lady Snow, Sunny Days, Dancing Rain and the Wind. The third, orange flavoured book is about animals. I've chosen mostly gentle animals and the tunes here include 'The dance of the forest deer', 'Three little kittens' and 'The march of the dogs'. The fourth book has a purple theme and is about food. The tune titles are a bit more abstract and include 'March of the knives', 'Dance of the jelly wobbles' and 'Forky'. The fifth book is more sedate, it is about trees and is mostly green. the tunes here have more sensible titles like 'Over the treetops', 'The slender birch' and 'The hollow Scots pine'. The sixth and last book is the red book about toys. I think I must have written it around about Christmas as it includes the songs 'Presents' and 'In, through, down the chimney'. I had started learning the piano by the time I wrote book six, so included is a list of 'Musical Expression Marks' including Accents, Pauses, Crescendos and Decrescendos.

Stargazing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2tQVC9uuu0

One of my favourite musical experiences is The Planet Suite by Gustav Holst. The suite consists of musical pieces capturing the mythical character of seven of the planets in our solar system, Mars, Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Over the years other composers have tried to 'complete' the suite by adding Earth and Pluto, but I don't think you can improve on the mystical seven pieces in Holst's original work. My daughter and I have been fascinated by space and our solar system, Amy has drawn many pictures of the planets, we wrote Planet Renga together and I wrote the song Stargazing about a sleepless night spent staring at the stars.

2013 Craft Fairs

The Northwood Hills URC craft morning went very well. The most popular items were my Star Heart Dolls, lavender dolls, Amy's Dream Box books and our illustrated poetry books. My knitted gadget pouches were a surprise success.

This was only the second time I've run my arts and crafts stall, the first time was in Champers wine bar in June. Despite being a newcomer to arts and crafts fairs I have been taking part in arts and crafts events in my regular church for the past few years as well as taking part in their regular music evenings. I hope to explore more literary outlets in the new year.

Sleeping Angels

 

My Sleeping Angels are made of cloth and filled with dried lavender. Lavender has long been reputed to aid a good night's sleep and bring sweet dreams. Unlike weeping angels, who are alien beings who turn to stone when you look at them, but if you blink they transport you back into the past and feed on your future. Weeping angels are the stuff of nightmares, but sleeping angels are 'such stuff as dreams are made on'.

Craft stall for Northwood church

I am taking part in an arts and crafts event at an evangelical church in Northwood at the beginning of December. I planned out what the stall will look like on my desk at home. In the centre will be my rag dolls and cards designed by myself and my daughter.