A multi-faith day

Yesterday I went to our local Buddhist centre, the Nagarjuna Kadampa Meditation Centre, for its annual World Peace Fete. I have watched this event grow over the years and it is the most extraordinary thing, with short meditation sessions in the temple while outside there is a music tent, children's activities, fabulous food and loads of tempting stalls with crystals and incense as far as the eye - and nose - can see/sense. Naturally, I came away with a bundle of joss sticks and a singing bowl, but I resisted the lure of the paneer curry in anticipation of the second engagement of the day, of which more below. It was, as you might expect, a beautiful, tranquil way to while away a sunny day.

I've been to the centre many times for weekend and day courses, for evening meditations and wonderful meals. If you are anywhere near, I really recommend it. You don't have to be a Buddhist (I'm not).

Tearing myself away from the offer of a holistic massage, I went instead to St Michael & All Angels Church in Great Oakley, which is a tiny stone building in the grounds of the local manor estate. I was there to hear the Camerata Singers summer concert. This is the choir of which I was a member for a while and it was great to see some familiar faces. They sang an impressively varied programme on the loose theme of the Grand Tour, with guest appearances from an accordionist and a musical duo on violin and recorder. As always, the interval was enhanced by a choice of delicious cakes, hence my abstention earlier.

Then it was home for a tasty spaghetti carbonara and a session of putting the world to rights with number one son: all in all, a splendid day.

Mixed media

I've been on local radio this afternoon (BBC Northampton) talking about the choir's forthcoming Come & Sing 'Joseph' event next Saturday. I was surprisingly nervous, given that I'm on the radio once a fortnight anyway, but I think it was because it was live by phone. I'd prepared myself with lots of notes and had the choir's website open on my PC screen, so I was able to answer all the presenter's questions. What I don't know, of course, is how it sounded. I do have a tendency to gable when I get excited. The proof will be whether anyone books a place.

Elsewhere, I've been grappling with Smashwords again and have put another short story up, this time for sale. I had quite a good response to my free story - if only I could contact everyone who downloaded it and say: Look! Here's another one!

Celebrating and singing

I didn't manage to get around to posting a Celebrate The Small Things contribution last week, so I've tried extra hard today.

• I have renewed my First Aid Certificate, valid for another three years. This is one of the conditions of my yoga teacher's insurance. Even so, I don't know what I'd do if anyone actually keeled over in front of me - especially if they were sick!
• Last Sunday afternoon's yoga workshop went well. We had 23 people and it was a lovely session. In particular, it was nice to see through the window that it was snowing while we were all snug inside.
• The boiler has been fixed. Hurrah!
• After the chaos of the decorating last week, there is a bit of a hiatus now while we wait for the tiler. This means I've been able to catch up with myself. I feel a bit more in control today than I did last Friday, and have even managed to find time to enter a couple of writing competitions.

I hope that next week I shall be able to celebrate having taken part in a successful concert. It's the big night tomorrow, so excuse me while I go and run through the Brahms again. Why didn't I study German at school?

Join us in Celebrating the Small Things. This is a bloghop instigated by VikLit on her blog 'Scribblings of an Aspiring Author'. Details are here.

One other thing: if you'd like something to make you smile, read about 'guerilla poetry' in Waitrose here.