Alas, 6 months have passed since my last Blog Entry…

On the eve of October, when the Devil is said to spit, or worse pee, on the Blackberries, I am revealing all.

Here are 10 of the Best from Bee’s Summer Season!

• Birmingham!!!  Performances at both Symphony Hall, with RAF Voluntary Bands, and the National Indoor Arena to launch the Yonex Badminton World Championships.

• Belinda in May - Shaftesbury.  Back on my stomping ground to launch a series of Westcountry performances.  Thank you to Tony for all your hard work to make this Event such a success.  Can’t wait to come back!

• Dubai’s  40˚ heat  offered the sun worshipper in me total SAD therapy, not to mention wonderful company, food, relaxation and A Night at the Opera.  (Feel the need to go again now to recharge the batteries before another British winter… )

• Opera UK Tour, to the lesser known gems of the Emerald Isle, before returning home to round off Così fan tutte.  An absolute joy - singing Mozart, accompanied by String Quartet, travelling around Ireland in Springtime.  We even had the chance to bottle-feed some greedy lambs…

• THE BIG 30…  My 30^th Birthday Celebrations…In honesty, I was unsure as to how I would cope with reaching this landmark figure.  Fortunately, the celebrations, the love of family and friends, and a vast amount of red wine certainly softened the blow!!! Included a ‘family’ party at home, a ‘friends’ party in London, and my favourite thing, a Fly Past by 2 Lynx Helicopters!!!  Now that was something!  And, they tell me 30 is the new 20 anyway…

• A weird and wonderful smattering of recitals and concerts including performances at Shipley Festival, Somerton Festival, Weston- super-Mare Winter Gardens, and Drapers Hall with ensembles including Croydon Bach Choir and Wincanton Choral Society.

• Picnic in the Park, Melksham Golf Course. We were blessed with beautiful sunshine following a series of wet weekends.  A Firework Display to rival all others, a truly great Open Air Event, and a chance to sing all my favourites songs in the World.

• Pirates of Penzance, Buxton Opera House.  Following an initial visit to this wonderful venue back in May with Opera UK, it was my goal to spend more time working at this beautiful theatre.  And the chance came along in August with Charles Court Opera’s fuel-filled production.  Three words best describe it: Pirates, Parasols and Paracetamol.

• Pirates was closely followed in September by more Operetta in the form of Lehar’s Die Lustige Witwe with Pavilion Opera.  Learning the role of Valencienne forced a resurrection of my GCSE German, and really gave me something to get my teeth into.  And that’s before we even started on the fish-netted,  Can-Canning Grisetten…

In summary, I have embraced a summer of Wonderful Venues, Forging Friendships, and Vocal and Physical Health. I can approach Autumn having had an injection of fun and laughter, self belief and faith in why I do what I do.

I have also been fortunate enough to celebrate many friends’ weddings and would like to re-iterate my joy at the birth of three more bouncing babies!  Trips to the South of France, Lyon and Brighton have interspersed and I have caught up with many old friends.

And this Autumn promises to be an exciting one.

Watch this space and keep an eye on that Gigs page!

Meanwhile I’m off to pick those Blackberries…