why we stand as one in harmony

[pensnest]

We had our fairly epic concert on Saturday night. The Octagon (a Unitarian church) is a handsome space lined with dark wood, with bright green pillars(!). We looked amazing in our orange and pink outfits!

It all went really well. Having sold literally half the available tickets online, we ended up with a pretty full house, so I think our charity will have a good contribution from it. The chorus sang 16 songs, with four solo or small groups in between, and we sang *well*. Which is nice. I was quite surprised my voice held out, particularly since I sing Tenor for at least part of three different songs, in one of which I am the only person singing that line as the other two who know it were not there! But I managed, and even had a voice on Sunday.

My poor Beast, whom I had volunteered for catering duty, missed quite a lot of the second half washing up with his co-caterer, but my daughter and her man and a couple of friends were there, which was particularly nice as I'd thought Bun was away for the weekend!

Anyway. Spent much of Sunday not doing much, though I processed a bunch of apples from the garden which, having cooked them, I have decided are mostly cookers. They fluffed nicely. And are, indeed, quite large. We have been having baked apples for lunch, too. The russets and the small, light green ones remain unpicked, but I shall have to get to it, I don't want to waste them. Meanwhile the other crops are coming to an end. There are a couple of small courgettes which I am letting burgeon for a day or so, but the beans are pretty much over. Still kale, and the spinach is replenishing itself in a satisfactory way. There are, somewhat to my surprise, two corn cobs, very small but there, and I'm holding off as long as I can before taking one in.

Comments

[dine]

congrats on a successful performance, and a good house!

also, on your apples - enjoy those. do you mostly sauce the extra for future, or do you have a cold storage space?

[pensnest]

I've eaten a couple of the first crop (there are three trees, twined together, but producing different apples), but they are best cooked, for they get fluffy and light. I've made apple sauce and frozen it for whenever we have roast pork.

There isn't a lot of capacity for storing apples as they are, but I might be able to find a bit of space somewhere for a few to eat. I'll have to taste the russets and the yellow-green ones to see how much I want to preserve them!

[jacieleigh]

Congratulations on having an excellent concert with a good audience!

[pensnest]

It was good to see a nice, full venue. Not that it's huge, but I've done an occasional concert where the performers outnumber the audience, and that's not nice!

[turps]

That's so great about the concert!

Good luck dealing with all those apples.

[pensnest]

I suppose what I ought to do with the apples is freeze apple crumbles... well, we shall see.

[kitarella_imagines]

That sounds really lovely. I used to sing in a choir at middle school and really enjoyed it. Our teacher was firm but fair, one of my favourite teachers ever.

[pensnest]

Singing is such a good way of making friends! I don't quite understand how it can work, but it does. We have a lovely group of women, and the men's and mixed choruses are also friendly and fun.

[kitarella_imagines]

Yes I think any nice group activity where you work towards a goal and share difficulties brings people together. I wish there were more groups like that around these days.

[wenchpixie]

That sounds like a great concert, I'm so pleased for you!

[pensnest]

Thank you! It has been a long while since we did a concert, it was nice.

[turlough]

Good to hear the concert went so well! (I looked up that church online and it looks really cool and a great match for your orange and pink outfits.)

I'm enjoying reading about your garden adventures. Have fun with your apples and enjoy the kale and spinach! Did you know you can freeze uncooked apples? I read about it and have tried it myself so I know it works. You peel and cut up the apples, put the chunks in large plastic bags, suck out the air as much as possible and tie up tightly. Add to pies or crumbles or in cooking straight from the freezer.

[pensnest]

Hmm, that method of freezing apples does sound quite promising, and perhaps a bit more flexible than my usual method of cutting them into little chunks and cooking them. I'll have a go!

[rikes]

Looked up the Octagon Chapel, a very interesting space! I'm sure the green was a great contrast to your pink and green. Glad to hear you felt good about your performance too!

[pensnest]

The green was a bit more vibrant than I entirely approved of, but it's a lovely space to sing in. We were disposed around the pulpit, with about ten people in the balcony above, and the rest of us using a few of our riser platforms, and the stage, and the floor. It was a bit odd but it worked.

[ephemera]

Hurray for what sounds like a fantastic concert!

The apples also sound delicious - as do all your crops ;)

[pensnest]

I was really happy with the concert!

It has been a pleasingly fertile year, great relief after getting *nothing* last year. I have done a reasonable job of putting some bits and pieces into the freezer, mostly plums and blackberries, but the apples may end up taking quite a lot of space!