As Scotland rolls away from the sun, it's back to the keys...

There's nothing quite like an outdoor activity to make one acutely aware of weather, day length and the seasons. Showers and encroaching evening are causing a slow-down of activity at the allotment, and so last night I got back on the piano stool and went through The Lincolnshire Poacher RH, all the Grade 1 scales and broken chords.

First run through of each a little rusty, but second one was fine, (except for A minor, which remained a bit slippery). Only did 20 mins, but that's me back at it. There might be another relationship between the allotment and the piano, beyond a seasonal alternation: my garden labourer's  hands and forearms, (4 months of digging, shovelling, barrowing) feel much more capable on the keys, strength  giving sensitivity.

And so, build up to an hour a day: keep practicing the scales, and get the Poacher on the LH first. So that's two and half more pieces to learn, and get ready for the aural and the sight reading. Then I should be good to go for the Grade 1 in Spring.

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