Just back from the weekend Lute course at Hengrave Hall in Suffolk. It is an amazing place! And I had the good fortune to have the best bedroom in the house. My bedroom windows were the ones over the main entrance (see picture). See also this link for more pictures of Hengrave Hall. When I opened the curtains this morning and looked out over the magnificent estate, I pretended I was surveying my lands. The course itself was exhausting. Over a day and a half, I taught private lute lessons to thirteen individuals, gave a lecture on the Alexander Technique and how it can help lute players, gave a solo lute recital, and fielded lots of question from people about all sorts of things. I'm knackeroonied! (As we British say.) It was highly enjoyable and stimulating. My favourite part was last night when, after a sweltering day, the heavens opened up and there was a dramatic thunderstorm with torrential rain, which started up just after my solo recital finished. Another high point for me was that the very kind and friendly audience insisted that I should play more pieces than I intended to play, and I decided to play two more rather difficult pieces that I hadn't practised at all for a few days. They were rougher than the pieces I had prepared, but I was really pleased that I managed to play them as well as I did.