London, Laryngitis and Lovely Lasses

Well, hello!

Since my last post quite a lot has happened! For a start, I've been unwell for the past 3 weeks but am finally feeling much better. The good part is that my medicine looks exactly like green elixir, and I'm also using Entertainer's Secret so I can pretend I'm a musical theatre performer... although unfortunately it doesn't appear to have done anything for my singing abilities!! Ages ago I had already planned 2 London trips for that period of time when I was unwell... but did I cancel? Of course not!!

So! Two weeks ago, I went to see Rachel Tucker's album release concert. I was gutted to have to missed the first one, especially since Rachel is my very favourite performer, so I wouldn't let anything stop me this time! I went with my best buddy Becca (ooh, unintentional illiteration!) In London, we finally met our Venezuelan friend Faby in person and it was so lovely to have both beautiful girls with me to share the experience with. The dramatic run-and-hug when Fabs and I spotted eachother was epic, she practically knocked me over! :D

My funny Welshy Becca, the very talented Fabs... and snotty, red-nosed me! :)

 

Rachel's concert was so incredible, I can't quite find the words to describe it!! Rachel looked so glamorous, her voice was just exceptional and she was SO funny! Her entrance went completely wrong, but she just laughed it off with a "wow, what a way to ruin an entrance!!" and she made me laugh throughout the show with her little stories. Like a true Elphaba, Rachel ended Act I with Defying Gravity! It was simply phenomenal! I quickly turned to Becca to see her reaction and she was wiping tears from her eyes "There's this power in her voice that just makes my tear ducts explode every time she sings!" I was thrilled that Becca liked Rachel, she barely knew who she was before the concert, and I was anxious for her to love her as much as I do! She told me she couldn't wait to see Wicked now, and I informed her that she'd never hear Defying Gravity performed that well ever again! (Ok, perhaps a little biased in saying so, but much as I adore many other Elphies, Rachel is my personal ultimate!)

(Source www.wickedthemusical.co.uk)

We entered the theatre behind the wonderful Miss Louise Dearman. We didn't actually notice her until she was walking down the steps on the other side of the theatre. We were in a good seat where we could not only see Rachel well and hear Guy chatting right behind us, we could see Louise really well. It was so nice to glimpse over now and then to see her grinning - the pride on her face when she watched Rachel perform was just adorable, and she was singing along at times too. She looked so different to the girl I met at stage door just a few weeks before. Then she was casually-dressed with no make-up besides a slight green tinged hairline. This time she was equally beautiful but oh my gosh, she was dressed up so elegantly and she looked absolutely stunning! Considering why she was so dressed up further confirmed some suspicions I was having... We knew Lou was going to be at the concert, but she had earlier told a fan that she wasn't performing. The others were convinced by this but I wasn't so sure I believed her and was insistent that she was going to perform. I didn't really believe myself to be honest, I was just saying she would perform because I SO wanted it to be true... But when I saw Louise get up from her seat whilst Rachel was performing a Chicago medley I whacked Becca multiple times and shouted (as much as a person who's lost their voice can shout) "I TOLD YOU SO!!! I KNEW SHE WOULD PERFORM!!" It goes without saying that the duet was brilliant, I honestly can't imagine a better duo than those girls. Not only were the vocals perfect but they were accompanied by a very elaborate and well-rehearsed dance routine! Their performance warranted a standing ovation from the audience! Rachel then thanked Lou, joked about how talented she is to play both roles, and did a funny miniature Popular/Defying Gravity medley!

I took a few photos during the show, but the camera on my phone is terrible! Look on Twitter/Facebook/Tumblr for much better photos from other audience members!

Another highlight for me was watching the pride on Rachel's face when she spoke about her baby boy and sang for him, it melted my heart! I also loved watching her perform with her dad, the very funny Mr Tommy Tucker (to whom Rachel owes her stage name of 'Tucker'... well, and her real maiden name Kelly too of course!!) It was so beautiful to see their relationship, and I love that it was symbolic of how Rachel's career first began, performing with her daddy. One final highlight that I will identify (I can't mention them all, we'll be here forever!!) was when Rachel sang Cabaret. I have watched the video of her singing it on I'd Do Anything repeatedly since it was first broadcast all those years ago, and it's become a bit of an in-joke between myself and my sweet friend, and honorary little sister Heather. Rachel owns that song, I've never heard it sang better!

If you follow me on Twitter you may have seen that I stayed up the night before the concert to draw Rachel's baby boy, Ben. You can see some in-progress pics if you search #DrawingBabyBen. Below is the very final edit, which hasn't yet been uploaded even to Twitter (I made a few alterations in the morning before I left for London!)

 

Besides the happy memories, the most precious thing I have taken away from that day was this video which Faby recorded for me. Like I said before, Rachel is my very favourite performer, but I hadn't ever met her face to face before. I was so nervous and excited to finally meet her after almost 6 years, and to show her my drawing. I won't say any more, just watch. The sound is terrible, and all of Rachel's relatives were behind us making lots of noise (they'd come down from Belfast especially to see her, n'aww!) so it's pretty hard to hear what's going on! I have typed out the entire conversation below the video.

E - Hi!

R - Hi girls, how're yous?

E - I've lost my voice...

R - Oh no, have you?

E - ...so I had to clap extra loud to compensate! And I got Becca to scream on my behalf! [Video begins]

B - *Giggles*

R - Thankyou!

E - *Hands Rachel photo to sign whilst craftily snatching away and hiding the drawing underneath it*

R - So did yous enjoy it?

B - We absolutely did! I'm new to all this, Emma introduced me!

E - I introduced her to musical theatre, we just met at uni last year!

R - *Giving me a cheeky look* ahhh, so it's your fault?!

E & B - *Laugh*

B - Can you sign my ticket please?

R - There you are!

E - *Hands Rachel drawing* I've got something for you

R - *Puts pen forward ready to sign it* Oh my G... (It looks like she's about to say "oh my God, that's such a cute baby" or something, until she looks properly and realises it's not just any baby!)

E - (Meanwhile) Oh no, no! Don't sign it! That's for you, to keep!

R - (Only a split second after I've begun to speak) *realises what it is, eyebrows raise and jaw drops* Oh my God, it's Ben!! Did you do this on your computer?

E - Yeah, I stayed up last night to draw it for you!

R - It's brilliant! I recognise him! *Shows picture to Guy and mouths "Ben!"* Thankyou so much!

 

On that happy note, I will end this post before it gets any longer! Well... after telling you to go and see The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (and read the book!) and Once the musical, both of which I saw during my second London trip, and which were both incredibly unique and absorbing, hugely enjoyable and instant favourites!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Emma Kate
xx

Virtual Art Gallery

Hello again, it's been a long time, hasn't it?

What you may not know is that one of my main reasons for starting up this blog was so that I could share my artwork with you all. The main project that I wanted to share is still in progress... it's been a whole year since I started it!! It is a present for all of the sprouts (fans of Samantha Barks, if you didn't know!) and the good news is that I haven't given up, and I WILL finish it eventually!! I can't wait for you all to see it... but alas I will have to, because there is much waiting ahead yet!

My problem is that I am a HUGE perfectionist, so it takes me a while to get things just right. On top of that, I have been extremely busy since starting university, so I haven't had very much time to 'draw', which makes me sad. (The reason I put 'draw' in inverted commas is because I do practically all of my artwork on my computer. I'm not really sure what you're supposed to call that, is it still 'drawing'? Can anyone enlighten me?!)

Until I can get this mystery sprout project finished, I thought I would share some of my favourite pieces of artwork with you. I have done lots of graphic design for charities (especially Post Pals, which you can read my blogpost about here), churches, hospitals, businesses, friends and other causes. Today though, I am going to share with you a small selection of my favourite musical theatre related images! I have watermarked everything I am uploading because I do not want anything to be taken and used without my permission. If you would like a non-watermarked copy of anything for PERSONAL USE, you are welcome to send me a message and I will email you the file. I would also like to add that I am no professional, and I am entirely self-taught, so please don't judge my work too harshly!! That said, and without further ado, please do step through my metaphorical door to my virtual art gallery!

I'll start with one piece which I 'drew' a long time ago, but which is still one of my very favourites. It is of the beautiful Sarah Lark, who I have been fortunate enough to have seen perform live 6 times, all of which I thoroughly enjoyed!

Next up is another slightly older image - this time of the lovely Nikki Davis-Jones. I have already shared it in a previous blogpost, but I will show you again regardless! I 'drew' this after I saw her in the Little Women concert, in which she stole the show! I feel she was born to play the role of Jo - she was just perfect, and as always, hilarious! I can't wait to see her Elphaba again now that she is in the tour.

 

 

Last year I was absolutely thrilled to find out that Louise Dearman, former Glinda, was returning to Wicked as Elphaba! I got straight onto my computer to create some images for her. When I say some, I mean a LOT! I couldn't decide which to share with you... so here's the vast majority! I firstly did my usual and 'drew' Louise normally, but then I thought it would be fun to transform the same image by Galindafying and... Elphabafying (?) it!

 

 

That got my mind whirring, and I decided to create the following images of her in costume as Glinda (which I named Glou) and Elphaba (which I named Louphaba). Word of advice - don't attempt to draw Elphaba's dress!! It's incredibly and beautifully intricate and detailed, and so difficult to replicate!

 

 

I combined the two like so, creating an image I like to call Glouphaba (I do amuse myself!) ;)

 

I then took the original two images, printed them out, ripped Elphaba into strips, and glued every other strip on top of Glinda. This took a lot of time and experimentation, and I was so proud of the final product... but I have been kicking myself ever since as I forgot to take a photo before I sent it over to the Apollo Victoria!! Oops! Instead, I will show you this image of Lou's dogs, because they are adorable!

For my fellow Wicked fans out there, here's a little bit of typography using lyrics from what was my very favourite Wicked song at the time (it changes often, I think my current favourite is Wicked Witch of the East... or perhaps No Good Deed, which Miss Dearman performs absolutely incredibly... what's your favourite?!)

Now, my lovely reader, you are about to see something exclusive! I wasn't going to show anyone this until the subject of the 'drawing' had seen it... but it's been so long and I still haven't gotten round to posting it! Plus, I figured it would be a nice way to end this blogpost. About two or three months before Carrie Hope Fletcher was announced as the new Eponine in Les Miserables, I started to 'draw' this. I got so busy with university that it took me longer to finish than I had hoped. I was going to send it before she was announced, then before rehearsals ended, then before I went to see her perform... it never really happened! So, to conclude my miniature virtual art gallery exhibition, I would like to present an *almost* never-before-seen 'drawing' of the incredibly talented Miss Fletcher as Eponine...







(*drum roll*.....)

 

 

 

Thankyou very much for visiting, please do sign the guestbook on your way out (comments below would also suffice ;) I love to read them!) and invite your friends along (please share/tweet, it would make me very happy!)

 

Have a wonderful day!

 

Emma Kate

xx

Awareness

Hate - A passionate dislike, loathing, detestation.

I don't use the word hate. It is too strong, too negative.
However, there is one exception, one thing that drags this word out of my mouth every time it is mentioned.

Every time I hear about a desperate young child suffering from a "rare" form of cancer, I am already anticipating the name. Then I hear it, and my heart sinks.

Neuroblastoma.

I HATE neuroblastoma.

I'm sorry that this is not an upbeat blogpost but my aim is not to upset you. My aim is to educate you and inform you of how you can make a difference so that one day this will all be a distant memory. Even if you wish to read no further, I would urge you to read up on the signs and symptoms of neuroblastoma, it could save the life of a child that you love!

I have followed the journeys of many beautiful children suffering from NB. Some are still fighting, some are now in remission, others were not so lucky. NB is vicious, if a child defeats it once, there's a high chance it will return and they will relapse. The trouble in the UK is that if they do relapse, the NHS does not offer any treatment and children are sent home to await the angels. Families have to raise a huge amount of money (around £500,000) to send their children overseas to get the treatment that could save their life. Sometimes by the time enough money is raised, the children are too poorly to travel.

Although it may not be a representative sample, you can get an idea of the devastation this disease causes by looking at the Post Pals website (read my blog about Post Pals here). Since Post Pals was founded 10 years ago, 40 of the children have sadly passed away. Of those 40 children, 17 had neuroblastoma. That's almost half. Yet this disease is so often described as "rare"!

Onto how you can help... AWARENESS is always the key - with awareness comes funding, with funding, research and with research, a cure! Thankyou so much for reading this far, that's a step in the right direction. Please join me in spreading awareness about neuroblastoma!

If you could SPARE A FEW COINS, another way you could help is to visit the Families Against Neuroblastoma website and look at their current appeals. There you will find a list of children suffering from NB and in need of donations to help fund their treatment.

One young girl currently suffering from neuroblastoma is beautiful Talia, who lives in America. You may have seen her on the Ellen Show, or have come across her make-up videos on Youtube. I have been following Talia's progress for many years and she is one of the most inspiring girls in the world.

(source: aidens-momma.tumblr.com)

Unfortunately, having battled NB for several years and fought numerous relapses, she is now reaching the end of her life. A Facebook event has been set up this weekend, urging people to LIGHT A CANDLE FOR TALIA and offer words of support and prayers.

UPDATE 16th July - Talia sadly passed away this morning. Godspeed sweet girl.



And finally, on Sunday 11th August, Les Mis and Phantom are having a football match and family fun day to raise money for charity. Some of the money raised will be going to Great Ormond Street Hospital in honour of a little girl, Lizzie, who is currently fighting neuroblastoma. You can DONATE via the Les Mis V Phantom website, and even buy tickets to be there on the day and join in the fun!

Thanks for reading!

Emma Kate
xx





Remembering...

[Update 29th September] Robyn, the feisty video-maker who sadly passed away this morning.

[Update 11th July] Adam, who sadly passed away today, 4 days after I wrote this blog post.

Jamie, the lego-loving superman for whom Post Pals always release not a blue balloon, but a pink one - his favourite colour!

Katie, the bubbly little princess whose smile is incredibly infectious!

Cheeky, Tiny Sophie Dot - this video of whom used to make me smile, but now brings tears to my eyes.

Holly, a girl with attitude, wisdom beyond her years and a deep love for her little sister and brother.

 

Amelia, the beautiful, kind-hearted girl who wanted to draw me a picture because I like dogs, despite the pain and fatigue she was battling.

Sweet Olivia, the world's most caring, helpful, devoted big sister and daughter.

And so many other young warriors who fought neuroblastoma and are no longer with us ♥

(Not-So) Misérable Saturday

I received a text this week from my dear friend Becca, about how amazing our London trip was. I wanted to correct her, as “amazing” just didn’t seem suffice... but we finally decided that no adjective in the English dictionary was adequate, except perhaps ‘indescribable’!

Last Saturday we were up extremely early in the morning to travel to Trafalgar Square for West End Live (a fantastic event showcasing the very best of musical theatre... for FREE!!), followed by a trip to Queen’s Theatre to see Les Misérables! I’m sure I could write a book the size of Les Mis itself about our trip, but for your sake I will stick to brief highlights!

It’s a 3 hour journey to London, and I am absolutely terrible at finding my way in cities so I was a little worried that we might miss some of the acts at West End Live but thankfully we arrived just on time and got settled in a good spot just before my very favourite show... Wicked!! Here is a phone snapshot of our view!

I wish I had more photos to show you, and preferably better quality ones, but we just got so caught in the moment that we forgot! Thankfully, other people were a bit more on the ball, so I will paste YouTube links for all my favourite performances. Here are the Wicked videos!

I adore Louise Dearman and Gina Beck as perfomers, and they never fail to blow me away! They both looked absolutely beautiful - gorgeous hair and fabulous dresses! For Good was so touching, and Lou's Defying Gravity was incredible!

Moving on to my other favourite show (do I really need to introduce it?!) Les Mis!! I don't even know where to start. This cast have only been performing for one week, yet they are absolutely astounding! As always, cast change is bittersweet. It's sad to wave goodbye to previous cast members, but it's also great to see the roles in a new light as different actors take them on. Of course, the person I was most anticipating was Carrie Fletcher. So, imagine my excitement when Carrie is the first person to walk on stage, singing On My Own!! Cue much nudging and squealing from Becca and I! I can't say that my eyes remained dry during her performance (and I'm not the crying type!), and I was so impressed by the entire cast throughout.

 

Another favourite performance of mine was Matilda, a fantastic show and a very talented little girl - Miss Cristina Fray. At this point Emilie found us and said hello - that was the first time I've met another sprout in 'the real world'! Lovely to meet you Em!

 

Next up was We Will Rock You, I'd been wanting to see Oli Tompsett's Galileo, and I loved hearing his American accent!

 

 

The Sound of Music performed, having only been rehearsing for a short while (you'd never know!) I had no idea Chloe Taylor was in this new production, so it was a pleasant surprise to see her perform again!



 

 

Later on, Sir Tim Rice himself appeared to introduce a song from his new musical From Here To Eternity. The song was stunning, I really loved it and I can't wait to hear more from this new show!
 

 

 

So those were the highlights of the day for me personally! I hate to miss out other performances, as so many of them were simply incredible (although I'm not going to pretend they were ALL incredible, the vast majority were!) Do search through YouTube for more, and if you haven't yet been to West End Live, why not?!! I hope to see you there next year!

 

 

 

Moving on to Les Misérables, the day only got better!! I have only seen Les Mis at the Queen's once previously, on June 20th last year. I was having a bad reaction to a vaccination from the day before, had a fever and was delirious... so it was nice to go back in a slightly better state! It was also brilliant to see a new cast.

 

Gerónimo Rauch of course, is no stranger to the role of Jean Valjean, and there's good reason for that! He has a wonderful ability to draw in an audience, and tells Valjean's tale with such passion, emotion and presence. Unfortunately, I noticed on a few occasions Gerónimo missed out words whilst singing, or merged words together. His accent also slipped through a couple of times. It barely impacted his performance though, and I'm happy to permit a multilingual Valjean some minor enunciation/pronounciation errors, since those who don't know the show word for word probably didn't notice!!

 

(Source www.officiallylondon.com)

 

I think last time I saw the show I was a little too preoccupied adoring the sight of Tam Mutu and Sierra Boggess on the same stage to fully appreciate Tam's performance! Tam is a fantastic Javert. I may even go as far as to say that his portrayal better resembles the stern, harsh inspector that my imagination conjures up than any other actor I have seen.

 

(Source www.broadwayworld.com)

Na-Young Jeon was ill on Saturday, so I got to see Melanie Bright's (almost) debut performance! What a busy day to debut - Melanie played her ensemble role at WEL, then performed both the matinee and evening shows! I was very impressed by Melanie's performance, she's definitely one to watch!

(Source www.twitter.com/melanie_bright)

 

Cameron Blakely (Bamatabois in Les Mis 25th) and Wendy Ferguson (Carlotta in Phantom 25th) were very funny as the Thénardiers and I thought they were a fantastic duo!

 

(Source www.kherrigan.tumblr.com)

 

So... Eponine! You all know I'm a fan of Carrie Hope Fletcher, but I am not the only one to have come out of that theatre raving about how brilliant and faultless her performance was. She brings something new to Eponine that I haven't quite seen before, and can't quite put a finger on. I know when it was announced that Carrie had been cast, there was a lot of controversy. Those who knew Carrie only as 'Tom from Mcfly's sister' or 'that girl off YouTube' believed her to be a 'bums on seats' casting, a girl who did not have the talent, simply the fame. However, this girl does not need those labels to stand out, her talent is pure and her voice is HUGE! As someone who identifies as a 'hopeful', I can understand if you are skeptical regarding whether my opinion is biased, but I urge you to see her live before you make your opinion! To my fellow dedicated 'sprouts', it's ok to love Samantha AND Carrie. They are both wonderful in their own way - they need not be rivals, in fact they are good friends and big supporters of one another!

 

(Source www.facebook.com/lesmisofficial)



 

Samantha Dorsey is so beautiful, the very image of Cosette. I do enjoy her portrayal, although I felt as though there wasn't anything particularly striking or unique that she brought to the role. However, considering this was her 3rd performance of the day I will not criticise! Unfortunately, thanks to the delirium I cannot remember my opinion of her performance last year!!

 

(Source Les Miserables Souvenir Brochure, Delfont Mackintosh Theatres)

 

I am often unsure and picky about the casting of Marius. He should be youthful, handsome and a little fragile in appearance and demeanor, yet this is a musical and his voice should be still be appealing, although gentle rather than strong! Perhaps I am too fussy, but I find that a lot of Marius' either look right or sound right, but not both. Rob Houchen however, ticked all the boxes for me! This is his West End debut, and he's certainly another one to watch!

 

(Source www.allthefights.tumblr.com)

 

I think it's fair to say that the vast majority of people walking out of the Queen's that night were enthusing about the new Enjolras (and his ponytail!) - Anton Zetterholm! Anton really commanded the stage with one of the strongest portrayals of Enjolras I've ever seen. His voice is so powerful, and he gave Enjolras the perfect authoritative, confident, courageous aura.

 

(Source www.allthefights.tumblr.com)

 

I promise I won't ramble on much longer, but I don't want to finish without showing my appreciation to the wonderful ensemble of Les Mis! Ensemble performers often get forgotten, but in truth they are the backbone of any show. It was lovely to see two of my favourites again - Sarah Lark and Nicky Swift. It was also brilliant to see Niall Sheehy on the stage as Feuilly. Wicked fans will know him, and if you're not following him on Twitter yet, do it - he's pretty funny!

 

(Source www.kherrigan.tumblr.com)

 

 

Thanks for letting me share my day with you, and congratulations if you managed to read this far!!

 

Have a great weekend!

 

Emma Kate

xx













Oh, What a Week!

This week was one of much excitement in the musical theatre world! I remember sometime last year I was chatting to my friends and trying to predict who would be cast as the next Éponine, and who would be Elphaba in the UK tour which starts this September. My top choices were Carrie Fletcher (for the former) and Nikki Davis-Jones (for the latter). Now, I’m terrible at predicting this sort of thing - whenever I watch a TV talent show, my favourites tend to be sent out of the competition the very day I decide they are my favourite! So, imagine my surprise when not only was Carrie announced to be the new Éponine this June, but also that a very green Nikki will soon be flying around the UK!! It has been suggested to me that I should buy a lottery ticket or take up betting . . . !

On top of this wonderful casting news, Rachel Tucker's new website was recently launched, alongside a release date for her debut album! I'm so excited for all three of these ladies, they are some of my favourite performers. I'm currently drawing a picture to send to Carrie, and I'm hoping to draw one of the gorgeous new photos from Rachel's website too. Until then, here's a drawing of Nikki from this time last year, after I saw her in the Little Women concert.

 

 

And just for good measure, some videos of the lovely Carrie, Nikki and Rachel...

Carrie Hope Fletcher singing On My Own





Nikki Davis-Jones singing Count On Me

 

 

Rachel Tucker singing Oh What A Night



 

  

Have a wonderful week!

 

Emma Kate

xx

Post Pals

Yesterday, the lovely Carrie Fletcher tweeted about Post Pals... isn't it just the best feeling when two of your favourite things unexpectedly collide?

Now I know many of you have heard me chat incessantly about this wonderful charity, but it seems that a few have somehow managed to escape these natterings! I'm taking that as the perfect excuse for a new blog post, as I love telling people about Post Pals and spreading the word!

Post Pals is a charity which allows people to send happy, cheerful post to children with serious illnesses to make them smile! On their website, www.postpals.co.uk, each child (AKA Pal!) has their very own page with lots of information about them - their interests, condition and updates on how they've been doing. The great thing about Post Pals is that siblings don't get left out. It's hard being a child with serious illness, but it's also very hard having a brother or sister who is so poorly. You will be able to read about siblings and send them post too.

It really is very simple - just visit the website and click on 'Find Pals'. You'll see a list of all the kids Post Pals are supporting. Just choose one of the Pals, read through their page, then use the postal or email address on their page to send them a message that will make them SMILE! :D You would not believe how a simple postcard saying "Just dropping by to say hello!" can absolutely make a child's day!

So that's it!! You have the power to make a big difference to a poorly child's day! And I really do mean YOU! Absolutely anyone can volunteer - the Pals love to hear from other kids, other countries, older people, even animals! I started volunteering when I was 14, and sometimes my kitty Maisy and doggy Badger like to 'write' too!! You may spot our names on Pals' pages... my little friend Ruby likes to call me 'EmmaBadgerMaisy'!!

At this point, people often tell me "I'd love to volunteer, but I wouldn't know what to write!" Never fear - wonderful Viks who founded Post Pals (and herself suffers from severe ME) has written a fantastic guide to help you out!

Post Pals also have several projects running if you'd like to give an extra helping hand, I won't go into great detail about these, but if you're interested just pop me a message and I can let you know who to contact!

•  Fortnightly Writers Scheme - volunteers are assigned a Pal or sibling to write to on a fortnightly basis.

 

• Monthly Projects - every month, a theme is set (such as books, space, nature or underwater) and volunteers can be assigned a Pal or sibling to send a small gift related to this theme.

 

• Pillowcase Project - this is the project I run, we design, print and send personalised pillowcases for Pals and siblings thanks to kind donations. We also sell personalised pillowcases, cushions and images, with 100% of profits going to Post Pals. (£941.08 raised so far! Temporarily on hold whilst I'm at uni, but watch this space! The new payment page is here.)

 

• Dottie the Dalmatian - read about her here and here!

 

• Elf Project - this is a Christmas project, for December of the Monthly Project Scheme where volunteers (AKA Elves!!) are assigned a child to send little Christmas gifts to, with a specified total price.

 

• Reindeer Project - another Christmas project, volunteers are assigned a child and asked to write 12 letters over the Christmas period, from each of Father Christmas' reindeers!

I will leave you with this brilliant video about Post Pals from 2009, which was also featured on Russell Howard's Good News!

 

 

Be sure to friend Post Pals on Facebook - this is the best place to keep updated, and to meet other volunteers and Post Pal parents, it's a lovely community. If you have any questions about Post Pals, I'd absolutely love to answer them for you, and if I'm unable to help I can point you in the right direction :)

Thanks so much for reading!

Emma Kate
xx

#BritishWordOfTheDay

So. . . here it is!! As requested, the highly anticipated #BritishWordOfTheDay and #BritishPhraseOfTheDay dictionary!

I have lots of wonderful friends on Twitter, some of whom live in other countries. When I realised some of my British terms were causing confusion, I started posting a new word or phrase each day to teach to my new students!

Below is a list of all the terms I've posted so far. Clicking on the words should (hopefully!) take you to the original tweet. Most of these were off the top of my head, so feel free to let me know if any of the origins or definitions are wrong.

Emma Kate
xx

Adam and Eve	Cockney rhyming slang for ‘believe’. Often “I don’t Adam and Eve it!”
Alright?	We're not necessarily concerned for your well-being, just saying hi! There's lots of variations of its pronounciation.
Bang On	Means precisely. Unless followed by ‘about’ - in which case it means to talk or complain incessantly about something
Barmy	Crazy, mad
Blighty	Britain
Blimey O'Reilly	An expression of disbelief and surprise
Chap	Friend, mate
Cheeky	Rude/naughty but funny/endearing
Cheerio	A cheerful way of saying goodbye. Other British alternatives - so long, fare thee well, pip pip
Cheers	Thankyou
China	Cockney rhyming slang for friend. China plate --> mate
Chuffed	Pleased
Cock-A-Hoop	Delighted, elated, proud
Cockney	A dialect of East London. Term also used to describe people from that region
Codswallop	Nonsense
Crumbs	An exclamation of surprise or concern.
Dog and Bone	Rhyming slang for 'phone'
Don’t Give a Monkey’s	Means to not care about something. Sometimes followed by bum or Uncle... some more rude variations too!
Donkey’s Years	A very long time
Doobry	Thingamabob, thingamajig, whatchamacallit - a thing you can't remember, or don't know, the name of
Doolally	Crazy
Faffing	Procrastinating, being lazy, hanging around doing nothing
Fandabidozi	Fantastic, brilliant, excellent
Flabbergasted	Shocked, surprised, amazed
Get Your Knickers In A Twist	To be excessively upset or agitated about something
Git	An ignorant, contemptible person
Gobsmacked	Astonished (to the extent you'd cover your mouth with your hand!) Gob means mouth
Golden Dove	Cockney rhyming slang for love
Gutted	Very disappointed, upset
Having a Bubble	Cockney rhyming slang for having a good time. Comes from bubble bath - laugh
Having a Giraffe	Cockney rhyming slang for ‘having a laugh’ means to be joking, teasing someone, jestfully not telling the truth
Higgeldy-Piggledy	Jumbled, messy, disorderly
I Should Cocoa	Means absolutely. Cockney rhyming slang for 'I should say so!'
Kip	Nap, short sleep
Lemon	We use it to mean idiot. I've heard other foods in this context too such as melon, turnip, sausage & banana Lemon can also mean a person who's standing around on their own, or uncomfortably out of place
Lemon Squeezy	Really easy. Often "easy peasy lemon squeezy"
Like it or Lump it	Accept the situation because you can't change it
Loo	Toilet (quite unfortunate for anyone named Lou!)
Lovely Jubbly	Synonymous with 'wonderful' or, unsurprisingly, 'lovely'
Naff	Worthless or of poor quality
Narked	Annoyed
Nincompoop	A person who is silly, foolish or stupid
Noggin	Head
Not Half	Absolutely, certainly, definitely
Not My Cup Of Tea	A more polite, respectful way of saying something isn't to your liking
Not On Your Nelly	Cockney rhyming slang, means absolutely not
Now	Never trust a Welshman who says they'll "be there now"... what they really mean is "in a little while"! They will also often actually say "I'll be there now in a minute"
Oh My Giddy Aunt	An expression of shock or surprise
Oil Painting	Attractive, good-looking. Often used negatively - “no oil painting”
Poppycock	Nonsense (or a very posh English way of saying, ehem... 'bullpoop'... ;))
Porkies	Cockney rhyming slang for lies. Comes from porky pies, also still used
Potty about [something]	Crazy/enthusiastic/fanatic about [something]
Put a Sock In It	Means shut up, be quiet. 'Mouth' is implied by 'it', as when putting a sock in a horn to dampen the sound
Quid	£ (pound). Or, if you would rather use the Cockney, it's 'squid'
Rabbitting	Cockney rhyming slang for talking incessantly - 'rabbit and pork' = talk. Also 'rabbit on about...'
Raining Cats and Dogs	Raining very heavily
Running Around Like A Headless Chicken	Rushing around (often ineffectively) with lots to do
Shattered	Really tired
Smashing	Really good, impressive, wonderful
Swotting	Studying intensively. Swot is also another word for a nerd, geek, boffin
Ta	Means thankyou... unless you say it twice as ta-ta means goodbye (as does ta-ra!)
Tad	Somewhat, a little bit
Taking The Michael	Another Cockney phrase, means to tease or mock someone . Also 'taking the Mickey' or 'taking the Mick'
Ups-A-Daisy	We use this term when a little'un stumbles, falls , spills something cries! 'Ups' changed to 'whoops' when it reached the US
Whole Different Kettle of Fish	Used when something is very different to the thing originally being discussed
Whose Coat is That Jacket?	A Welsh phrase - why they can't decide if the item of clothing is a coat or a jacket I don't know!
Wicked	Awesome, brilliant, great
Yonks	A very long time
You've Made Your Bed, Now Lie in it	Your problems are self-inflected, deal with the consequences (and don't complain!)
Zonked	Exhausted, really tired