Hetty Feather's Christmas

Seeing the weekend was somewhat wet  here I decided this was a good day for reading a book and this is all about it.

Hetty Feather is thirteen years and a "Foundling" that's to a say a resident of the Foundling Hospital for children of 'fallen mothers' where children are divide by age range and by gender.
It is forbidden for a mother to have any kind of contact with her children so any kind of link however unofficial is highly prized even if for both it may be punished.
Hetty is with Shelia who snores like a pig at night and other girls of a similar age where through an unofficial link she receives a present from her Mom which she keeps safe overnight knowing that all she will have on Christmas day will be an orange from Matron and Christmas Duck dinner that contrasts will with what they'd normally have IF she behaves herself.
That morning she opens the present and find it is a small home made dolls house but then Shelia sees red quite possibly out of envy and in the the ensuing melee tugs at it breaking and ultimately ruining it for Hetty.
Hetty is devastated and very angry so goes to attack Shelia on the head leaving a broken cut that the commotion needless to say bring Matron Bottomley out and Hetty hits her.
Hetty apologizes which is accepted but finds herself being escorted upstairs to a dark cupboard with nowhere to sleep and just a chamber pot which she is to stay missing out on her christmas dinner or indeed any dinner.
Fortunately for Hetty, Miss Smith, a Governor of  the Foundlings gets to hear of Hetty's situation from another child and manages to get permission to take Hetty out for Christmas w here she consumes a much needed turkey sandwich before every at Miss Smiths including some children she is looking after have Christmas lunch and play.
Through the dialogue around the other children, we learn Miss Smith takes a more liberal approach to managing their children, certainly not locking them in cupboards and allows them to play and generally be children although if are really naughty, they will be punished.
The children take a big part in the Christmas games such as Charades where through mime the other teams have to guess what the topic is.
Although Hetty is meant to be returned in time for supper, between Miss Smith and Hetty they decide if they're going be in trouble for being out for long it may was well be longer so they set out in time for Hetty to go bed being prepared to tell a 'white lie' to explain why they are so late.
As it happens Matron it appears isn't much for sharing presents being the worse for consuming  all the Punch, being fast asleep.
 Hetty gets ready for bed for having the best ever Christmas present she could hope for without having to explain a thing.
What is more, in that time a remorseful Shelia has painstakingly repaired the home made dolls house, not perfectly , but good enough to be enjoyed that enables both of them to move on and be friends.
Shelia has clearly  learned what upset Hetty  more was she attacked a symbol of Hetty's mothers love even in enforced absence just because it was something she herself didn't have.
What I think is the strength of this installment of the Hetty Feather series, is how Jacqueline tells the story, explaining from Hetty and the children's viewpoint how Victorian society blamed their mothers for being born out of marriage and whilst clothing them, starved them of affection and the right to be children just been seen as objects to be trained to be of service to others.

Caregiver/little Age Regresion

It is a while since I wrote anything around age regression and one reason is connected to changes across Tumblr which as I'm usually want to say isn't always the whole real world (and some issues there are just Tumblr issues) but it acts as a conduit for debate and the marking of what people understand by it as if we don't share that, then it becomes a fruitless exercise.

My main community on Tumblr has been fairly inactive as it's mod (and leader) for personal reason has been away for a good nine months and the second one is very active and one area of that has been working on is what the shared understanding of what that is because the community (Cgl/RE) came about on the back of an influx of age regressors on Tumblr and the thorny area of some folk  interacting with kink bdsm communities such as DD/lg and MD/lb and gender variants when they were under 18.

 The term "Cg/l" is a disputed one being used by some clearly as a gender neutral term for a DD -Dominant Daddy-(or MD) Lg (or Lb) and  Little which in bdsm circles 'little' mean submissive or totally subservient person in a relationship.
Some have used it a more as a paternal, non dominate and non sexual Caregiver and Little meaning the person being very much in child-like frame of mind and looked after more as an actual child.

I especially on Tumblr don't use Cg/l as a term because kink usage is more common place so it would be seen as that and so use Cglre to describe the relationship between a Caregiver and age regressor (little) because it is clearer there is no question of dominance, power exchange nor sexual services involved.

In face to face so-called real life interactions these important differences tend not to cause too much friction because people can sense what the context is and do respect differences.
On Tumblr that's very much another story and where people find things under key words called 'tags' a difference can lead to people being exposed to things they don't wish and in particular under 18's seeing or interacting with 18+ kink things. That's so not good!!!

That was why distinct Age Regression communities removed from kink/bdsm were established there to separate the more 18+ communities from those of us who love or for me certainly need to be in a more child-like age regressed  situation while acknowledging words can be a battle ground.

It was a part of the solution to the issue on Tumblr of 'minors in kink' and the many worrying things that could happen when adults in kink were mixing with minors as there now  was a  non kink sfw space available for them who found such regression helpful in dealing trauma and so on.

My involvement as anyone who has read this blog and interacted on line or even -gasp! - face to face knows has always been the second meaning of Cg/l  and ADULT paternal Carer/Caregiver to a Little child-like me and  so has moved to terms more clearly linked the age regression community in the years since setting up that tumblr.
It's one reason I align strongly to the Cgl/re community on Tumblr from its emergence in July 2016 and it is that community that is currently more active.

Cglre is now defined as:

• A non-kink age regression community separate from cgl by making it age regression specific.
• Reclaiming the terms “caregiver” and “little” as non-kink terms anyone can use to describe their regression and their guardians if they have them, meaning the one who cares for them in their regression headspace.
• Age regression community open to caregivers and age regressors; as well as pet regressors and different roles with many new, sfw corresponding tags.

Cglre now has a stricter DNI policy as many of its members do NOT allow direct cgl interaction.
Cglre no longer equals cgl. It is not longer a subset of cgl, it stands on its own.

(Borrowed as is from @cglreregression block list post May 2018)

For me it's always been thus even in throws of much discourse mirroring the off line so-called in real life side surviving the three weeks of turbulence of the Care Bear logo'd community before that parting of the ways  I'll draw a line under.

For me the current understanding of what Caregiver Little age regression is a significant  step forward making clearer the difference between how we do things and how those in kink and its related age play do.

That's why getting close to the two year anniversary of CGLRE's founding  I find myself ever closer to that community online and its values across my age regressed life.

The management of online boundaries is often more problematic than face to face ones  and an active system of monitoring of community only tags and community blocklist for people who just won't keep their kink to themselves or insist on including you in it without any prior contact is a must and Cglre provides that to the point I had to use that last Monday.

Whilst I presently remain just very close  to Cglre on Tumblr unless anything were to happen soon, when you're at the point you act almost as if you are in a community, there comes a point I feel where it makes more sense to join, taking a part in it and I may well do just that.

Think Pink!

It's a new month so when I consider what we have talked about over the last one, we discussed music twice, nature and then the royal wedding so I thought I'd do something different.
We are at least officially in Summer so my thoughts are geared around things like next months few days away and looking through the wardrobe seeing what can go or maybe replaced.

 I can't speak for everyone but in the summer months one thing I can't get enough of is t shirts so this is one of a few I got recently because they slot well between presentation styles made from pure cotton.
They also tend to be easy to wash which helps so they go straight in the machine's pile and the across the washing line outdoors.
It's good to toss away the layers for a few months of the year and enjoy the fresh air and sun.
Also this week I recopied a few cds to my music player for better sound and art so when I play them on the go, it's a much better experience.

Teenbeat XXVIII - Hang on Loosley

Today on this return visit to the Teen Beat series of post I am talking about a series of re-issues that upon hearing of them piqued my fancy.
A big thing with me was what tends to bracketed under the phrase 'Southern Rock' which pretty much got a hold of me in my mid teens and never really left and one band I had a fondness for was 38 Special formed in Jacksonville, Fl, by friends Don Barnes and Donnie Van Zant in 1974 around the time the Allman Blues Band were massive who released a good many albums.
Stylistic this form of rock has a high level of blues and country in the mix and whilst still performing with a different line up to day, the albums issued  from 1977 through 1988 are the ones I cherish, having vinyl copies bought very much at the time.

Now when I said there was no mention of any other formats so when I want to get my fill of such tracks as Chained Lightning, Rocking Into The Night, Travelin' Man, Caught Up In You and If I'd Been The One I'd need to put the record deck on or put the copy on cassette in a cassette tape walkman.
Thus when it was announced at the beginning of the year Universal Japan, the label that acquired A&M Records which these albums had been issued by they were being re-issued   I was interested in getting cd versions.

First of like many of Japan's limited editions, these are packed differently in that they are exact replicas of the original lps -'Mini Lp's' is the term that's used - so you get a card outer sleeve, an inner holding the cd and any inserts included.
The other thing is they use a special type of plastic 'sandwich' to make these cds from that allows the pits that hold the data to be more accurately pressed and also more reflective for less errors  than standard cds.

An example of that is with the Tour De Force album of the fall of 1983  with it's three singles where the cover shows the cover art in all its glory being taken around the video shoot of the lead of 45, If I'd Been The One that was played on Much Music and MTV that year.

The rear of the lp is reproduced as is with no attempt to remove reference to lp sides and as with all japanese issues, there's the folded paper OBI that tells people in Japan all about the disc.

1986's Strength In Numbers was issued on lp in a two sided die cut sleeve and in this cd re-issue, that has been reproduced which is good example of the attention to detail the  Japanese take on these issues.

Each disc is wrapped in a archive quality see through resealable pouch with a strict 6 month sales period.

A good number of these discs were freshly mastered from the original tapes and compare favourably with the original lp issues so personally I am very impressed with the series.

Royal Wedding edition

Phew I'm a bit hot today.
Saturday I spent time going out for a walk before it became too warm, talking with people along the way as people were getting things done for around midday as indeed I was with an item to be posted.
It wasn't just any old day though even if any old sunny day as going around the built up parts of this area that thankfully escaped being completely built over like much of the wider North Staffordshire conurbation, there was much bunting and flags out.
The reason was Saturday was the day of the marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle which was taking place at the private chapel of Windsor Castle, just a short distance from London.
I spent the morning watching it as the guests started to arrive right through to the arrival of the Prince, his bride and naturally Her Majesty and Prince Philip before the service started.
And what a service it was with blend of the traditional and modern seamlessly interwoven, with classical music being played and an arrangement for gospel choir of Stand By Me, the vows traditional but without 'obey' and the symbolism of the exchange  and blessing of the rings and the hymns, which were part of my upbringing as we sang them at school with vigor I might add.
 I really enjoyed as  a classical music fan 19-year-old cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason's contributions.

 Picture credits: Time Magazine
The couple looked most at ease with themselves and the very many (estimated 125,000 standing watching in Windsor) in attendance as they came out and went on a horse driven carriage which was very romantic around the castle into the High Street and back again for the reception.
I'm sure we all wish them well in married life and will remember this magical day.

Just resting

This last week has been a bit different with not being here for a few days so in a  way it feels rather like I'm playing catch up right now like with dealing with unopened mail and the like apart from getting the washing done.
One great thing about where I live is even in more built up centre there are undeveloped patches of land that are a haven for wildlife which may be things like birds and small mammals but as here actually you can get to see horses grazing  where the fields are let to individuals although this very field was the one in 2005 where one horse decided to steal my camera bag using his teeth that had my then Minolta camera with lenses and run off with them.
I had to get the owner to go in there and retrieve it all covered in horse spit and clean it!
I have  been walking both when I was away and also here where it's gotten a bit cooler from the start of last week but I think we'll be back to t shirts and thin skirts or shorts with fairly soon as while very hot weather isn't my thing, being able to drop off the layers and taking in some sun as well as fresh air is something I do really like.
The cherry blossoms and blue bells are still out here.

Classical sacd round up part eight - Vivaldi

It took a while for me to move away from the giants of Romantic era composers to Baroque and that whole area is one where the battle in performance techniques between modern instruments and conventions  from the Victorian period clash with the so-called Historically Informed  Performance techniques in vogue for the last 35 odd years is at its fiercest.

One name associated with it in Great Britain is Brecon Baroque, a ten piece ensemble of musicians who are lead  by the multi-award winning violinist Rachel Podger who specializes in baroque works.

One of the first works in this genre I encountered was Vivaldi's Four Seasons, a sequence of Opus 8 pieces three per suite connected at one point to reading of sonnets around the Four Seasons buying at the time Perlman's recording with the Israeli Symphony Orchestra on tape and eventually on cd Anne-Sophie Mutters recording with the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by the late Herbert von Karajan for EMI Angel.
Both of those were performed very much 'Modern' and in April this year this recording done in a period style with moderate tempo's (the tendency to play faster in H.I.P performances is a personal irritant) was released recorded in London's St Jude's church.
To me this recording does achieve something worthwhile, the stripping away of layers of cloying strings through the use of a smaller assemble  allowing the freshness of the composition to come through and is played well.
As well it has Il Grosso Mogul, Il Riposo and L'amorso added which adds value to this new recording where my 1984 cd has no extra material at all!

The english language title is The Trail of Inventiveness and Harmony which as you'd expect wasn't one Vivaldi himself give to this series of Opus 3 concertos but a catch all marketing thing  where Vivaldi really pushes the boundaries of what musicians can play through musical invention. There have been a few recordings  before but this is new to me and certain adds to ones appreciation of the 'red priests' contribution to classical music.

 This is another set of concertos he wrote, the Opus 4 that predate the famous Four Seasons and have been mainly ignored until recently that Rachel and the Brecon Baroque recorded in 2003. This was issued on regular cd and sacd, mine is the latter.

I love the flute having been bought up with schoolfriends who played woodwind and I did have I Musici's recordings from the late 1960's for Philips on cd being brought with them on tape but that was subject to some questionable sonic manipulation I found hard to listen to so I bought this 2011 release on Accent which is at least as good as playing and technically superior.
While I have a couple of other regular cd's of Vivaldi's music not least that Anne-Sophie Mutter recording of Four Seasons that I enjoy hugely, this set of four Super Audio cds have added to my appreciation of Vivaldi's achievements.