Jackie's mid July post

Hallo everyone.
I'm feeling tearful today and frankly in a daze after last night's concert at the Mission House.......Op18 no 3, Op59 no 2, and 127. I haver never experienced such an intense concert or had to summon up reserves from the depths of my 50 year old body. It was a marathon. A packed hall, many familiar faces from the previous concerts, and an intense silence during the playing.....candles flickering , catching the glaze on the beautiful bowls surrounding us. What a journey!! I am so overwhelmed by the response we have had........realising the dream of playing all of Beethoven's quartets in this environment has exceeded everything I hoped for. It had been hours and hours of work.....living intensively together with the quartet for 2 weeks, rehearsing for 6 or 7 hours a day, then walking the hills, or jumping on to Kyle and sailing to deserted beaches to immerse Beethoven bruised arms into crystal aquamarine sea.

I'm looking after the studio this morning for Nickolai and Beka as they have gone to a local wedding. Lovely being in the space after the event and remembering.

I could write reams and reams about the last few weeks since the last blog. Summer has arrived....bog cotton nodding in the breeze, white flowers beginning to peep out from lily pads on the lochens, snow carpets of daisies, and buttercups and clover at Husinis, and the smell from the heathery land is simply the best smell EVER!

Many visits to the Isle of Taransay by boat to sand spit where terns have laid their blue green speckled eggs in little sand pools on the beach, and dive bomb you if you get near. We returned last week to find little blobs of new life in the same sand pools. A breathtaking spectacle.....little baby tern footprints on the sea washed sand.

Baby Tern

Baby Tern footprints in the sand

Between Beethoven I have been writing some notes for our Trio project coming up....Kuljit on tabla, John Paricelli guitar and violin. We go into the studio on Tuesday to record. Very excited indeed about this. Especially as we will be inventing and growing the music together. I'm going to Stornoway to catch a plane to London on Monday. Its been 3 months here in the Hebrides. It's a wrench to leave......Harris has got a hold of me and grown in me like ivy. Am so looking forward to seeing friends again and just spending time talking and sharing experiences.

I'm posting some photos in no particular order relating to these past few weeks.  I'm going to write in length about our visit to St Kilda when I have more time. I'll write soon from London.

Lots of love from this incredible Island.
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