Invasion Of The Duplo Train.

The sun was partly hidden by great cloud banks this morning but it managed to shine for some of the day. We are due a cold and windy spell this weekend, great for gardening! I did manage to spend some time this evening dead heading my hanging baskets which are still full of flowers. I had managed to keep the baskets tidy all through the summer but now I'm working I'm satisfied with watering them each day.

I had 7 children away today, 3 on holiday and 4 ill. None of us adults feel that good but you can't stay at home for every cold or ache. In the afternoon I was doing art activities with 2 groups of children when there was great excitement from some of the children who were playing in a shared outside space between the 2 classrooms. They were building a duplo train track and were advancing up the ramp to my back door. I encouraged them to see if they could make it right into the classroom and they were all so excited I told them (despite the mayhem it was causing) to see if they could get the track right through my room and out of the front door back into the playground. Unfortunately it was time to tidy up before they could put this plan into action but I have a sneaking feeling that the train track might be re-appearing at my door tomorrow afternoon. Educationally it is an exercise in co-operation, planning and spatial awareness so why not?

Inspired by hearing a piece on the radio that I learnt as an exam piece many, many years ago , I've been looking for it in my old music books and having fun sight reading and totally mangling some of my old piano pieces. As I played it got me to thinking about different kinds of memory. Looking in my old books, and this is from 35 to 40 years ago !!!, I don't recognise the titles and only know which ones I played by an overall visual snapshot of the shape of the music and the fact that there is some fingering written in. But when I start playing I can tell immediately. My playing is all over the place but my head tells me each time I've gone wrong, a sort of audio memory. What is even more fun is muscle memory when I've found a fast bit where I've no idea where my left hand is on the piano, I'm only looking at the music for the right hand and yet the left hand is playing away accurately and fast. I suppose I must have enjoyed playing those sections so much that my fingers just know where to go. I'd love to be disciplined enough to keep up my playing and become proficient again but I get pleasure out of it even if my playing is quite poor.