July 13, 2015

Love Locks in Los Gatos, California – an Update on our Padlock!

Have you ever heard about the tradition of “love padlocks”? A couple of years ago, we read about a bridge in Paris, France. This bridge was a famous location for couples to place padlocks known as “love locks”. We read more – and found out that a “love lock” is a padlock that a happy couple can lock onto a bridge or fence, as a symbol of their love. The lock usually has names or initials on it. By tradition, the key is thrown away, to show that the happy couple’s love will last forever.

We read that there are “love locks” locations in many places across the globe. Sometimes the local authorities view the locks as a public nuisance, and remove them. However, in other places, the padlocks are considered a romantic tourist attraction, popular with locals and visitors alike.

Finding a love lock of our own

Being a pair of hopeless romantics, we didn’t want to let an opportunity pass us by! We weren’t making any plans to visit Paris any time soon, so we looked online for a “love locks” location closer to home. There was a place that looked perfect – a purpose-built structure at the Museum of Art in Los Gatos, California.

We ordered an engraved padlock from a company called “Make Love Locks”, and this is what it looked like. Note the extreme purpleness:

A place for our love lock

On Valentine’s Day 2014, we drove to Los Gatos to lock our padlock in place. We found the Museum of Art, and saw a fence-like structure, with some padlocks on!

We locked our padlock in place, but didn’t do the traditional thing of throwing away the key. If we ever needed to remove the padlock, we’d prefer to do it without having to hack it apart! Here is the padlock in place, in all its purple glory:

Fast forward to June 2015…

We read online that authorities had removed 45 tons of love padlocks from the Pont des Arts bridge in Paris. Apparently, the weight of the locks had been bringing down parts of the fencing on the bridge. We were very relieved that we hadn’t put our padlock there! It seemed like a fun idea to go back to Los Gatos and check that our lock was still in place.

We arrived at the Art Museum late in the afternoon, and headed straight for the love locks fencing. Where was our purple padlock?

We had a few moments of panic, until we looked more closely at some of the padlocks in front of us. Suddenly we saw it! Of course, we’d been looking for purple. Sadly, our padlock hasn’t fared very well in the strong sunshine, and has faded to more of a lilac-grey. Still, we were relieved to see it, and glad that we could still read the words on it.

Do you have a love padlock too?

So, that’s the story of our love padlock. We hope to go back and visit it again some day! If you and your partner have a love padlock of your own somewhere, why not let us know on our Facebook page. We’d love to see a photo too!

June 28, 2015

Counting Down to the Bay View Week of Handbells!

We’re counting down to the Bay View Week of Handbells!

So, what is the Bay View Week of Handbells, and why is it something special for us? Why are we counting down the days until we get there? We’ll try to explain some of the magic here.

The Bay View Week of Handbells takes place every year in Bay View, Michigan. Just over a hundred handbell musicians gather together for several days of intense rehearsals, after which we perform a public concert. Donald Allured founded the Week of Handbells in 1978, and Carl Wiltse is the current director of the event. It’s for people who enjoy the challenge of spending time learning the music, and performing to a professional standard. And yes, even though the music is challenging and the rehearsals are intense, we still manage to have fun!

The Week of Handbells is part of our story

For us, the Week of Handbells is particularly special because of the role it played in our long-distance relationship story. Our story started several years ago when we met and became friends online. By the end of 2009 we were spending several hours every day “talking” on Facebook Chat. Our friendship turned into a relationship, and we began to make plans to meet in person for the first time. Our first “real life” meeting took place in August 2010, when Carla travelled from London to Chicago O’Hare. From there, we flew together to Traverse City, where we rented a car and drove to Bay View.

Here is a photo of us before the concert at our very first Bay View Week of Handbells.

Bay View Week of Handbells - Larry and Carla

Our second Week of Handbells

After our first in-person meeting in 2010, we had to wait a whole year before we could see each other again. During our months apart, we decided for certain that we wanted to spend our future together. We travelled back to Michigan in August 2011 for our second Week of Handbells. That was a busy week for us! Before the start of the event, we made a special journey to Miner’s North in Traverse City to pick up some rings. Then we drove to the Old Mission Point Lighthouse, where Larry proposed, and Carla said yes!

We announced our engagement to our friends at the Week of Handbells, at the evening reception after the first day of rehearsals. Here’s one of our favourite photos of us – taken by Kim Finison at Bay View in 2011.

August 2011 was also the time when our set of Malmark handbells made it across the ocean in Carla’s luggage. Larry transferred them to his suitcase for the journey to California.

After our week in Michigan in 2011, we went back to our separate homes, and soon after that we started the US fiancée visa process to bring Carla from England to California. Carla’s K-1 visa was approved at the end of May 2012, and the race was on to get everything organised for the big move. We managed to time it to coincide with the Bay View Week of Handbells in August!

Closing the distance!

August arrived, and Larry flew to England to collect Carla and her son, and the three of us travelled together to Chicago O’Hare. There, our onward flight was cancelled and we were forced to spend an uncomfortable night camping in the airport. Strangely enough, the makeshift camp was at Gate K1. That’s the same number as the visa Carla had applied for! Bay View Week of Handbells 2012 was a very special one for us, because, for the first time, we didn’t have to say goodbye to each other at the end of the event. It was an amazing feeling to be able to pack up our things and travel home to California together, without having to do that horrible airport goodbye stuff that’s so painful for long-distance couples.

Since then, we’ve been to the Week of Handbells twice more. To say we’re looking forward to the next one would be an understatement. Well, we’re counting down the days on our website, right? So yes, we’re excited!

Even without all the memories that make the Week of Handbells so special to us personally, it’s still an incredibly wonderful handbell event. We always tell people that if we could only go to one handbell event in a year, this would be the one we’d choose. After all, where else can you play handbells in an Auditorium that’s named after a Hall?

And where else can you walk around during your lunch break and see houses like this one?

At the Bay View Week of Handbells, we have Tiara Tuesday!

Tiara Tuesday at Bay View Week of Handbells

We have the opportunity to play some exciting and challenging music, which each person works hard to prepare during the weeks and months before the event. That gives us four days to put together the finishing touches as a group, in time to give a superb concert on the Thursday evening.

Apart from the beautiful location, the exciting music and all the happy memories the Week of Handbells holds for us, we know that it’s the people there who make this event so special. Our annual trip to Bay View feels like a journey home; and the friends we’ve made there feel like family to us. For just a few days in August, more than a hundred people are brought together by the music of handbells. We wouldn’t miss it for the world.

For more photos, see our Bay View Week of Handbells Photo Gallery. Watch our website and Facebook page for more information as we continue counting down the days to this year’s event!

June 7, 2015

Fear a’ Bhàta – A Long-Distance Love Song

Fear a’ Bhàta (also known as The Boatman) is a beautiful Scottish-Gaelic melody. We first saw in an old songbook published in 1927. Directed to be sung “with longing”, it tells the story of a young girl who is in love with a fisherman who has sailed away… and every night she watches the ocean, waiting for his boat to return.

“How often haunting the highest hilltop
I scan the ocean, thy sails to see
Will’t come tonight, love, will’t come tomorrow
Will’t ever come, love, to comfort me?”

A long-distance love story

The words of the song tell how her friends think she’s wrong to wait for this man, and that he’s lied to her and is unlikely to return. She wonders if he’s remembered the promises he made before he left, and sings about the silken gown and gold ring that she’s never likely to own.

We assumed until recently that the story was a heartbreaking work of fiction. But it turns out that the song was written in the late 19th century by Sìne NicFhionnlaigh (Jean Finlayson) about her own life and the struggles she endured while her fiancé was away at sea. Best of all, shortly after the song was written they got married. It’s good to know that the story ended happily, after all.

Here’s a video of our handbell arrangement of this piece, recorded at our concert with Philadelphia Bronze in King of Prussia, PA.

If you’d like to play Fear a’ Bhàta, you can purchase and download the music from Choraegus.

Information about buying handbell music from Choraegus

Purchasing this arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to four copies for your handbell group – so you only need to pay once. Purchase also gives permission for performance, broadcasting, live-streaming and video-sharing online. See our licensing agreement for full details. Please remember to mention the title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites, social media and any printed materials such as concert programs.

Please note that our music is designed to be downloaded as PDFs. You’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail.

If you haven’t purchased music online from Choraegus before, you might like to look at our step-by-step guide. We designed this guide to help you navigate the purchase and download process in a (we hope!) stress-free way.

Any questions?

If you have any questions about our music, please start by reading our Frequently-Asked Questions. Please contact us if you don’t find the answers you need, and we’ll do what we can to help!

Fear a Bhata - a long-distance love story

February 14, 2015

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Happy Valentine’s Day! It’s our third one together since we closed the distance in August 2012!

Of course, we like to think that all you need is love and music, but that’s not exactly true. Coffee, for example. And who can live without cheese? Also a passport and visa, if you’re in a long-distance relationship. And great communication skills, a reliable internet connection and phone signal, and seemingly-endless patience. These last few things aren’t always easy to find, but they help a lot. If you’ve been following us on our Facebook page, you’ll know about some of the things we had to go through in our long-distance relationship. Being away from each other was a huge challenge, but now that we’re together in the same place, we’re glad we didn’t give up. Now we can say “Happy Valentine’s Day” face-to-face instead of on a computer screen… and we know that all the waiting was worthwhile.

Wherever you are in your own relationship, we wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day. If you have your partner beside you, and everything you need, that’s wonderful. If you’re still waiting for all the good things to come to you, hang in there. True love is worth waiting for.

November 27, 2014

Happy Thanksgiving from Our Home to Yours!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! This is our third Thanksgiving together since Carla’s big move from England to California in 2012. We survived a long-distance relationship and went through the US visa process together. We were able to get married in 2012, and apply for a Green Card. That card gave Carla permanent residence in the USA. These days, we have a lot to be thankful for!

Life is much easier now that we can celebrate special days like Thanksgiving together. Thanksgiving isn’t a holiday in the U.K, so it was all new to Carla when she moved here in 2012.

We have lots of happy memories from our long-distance relationship. However, it was certainly challenging to be so far away from each other. Special days are hard to celebrate together when there’s an 8-hour time difference between you! Christmas and birthdays were always particularly tricky for us, and we’re doing better now we’re together.

Thanksgiving is a time for celebrating with family and friends. Our family is scattered across the USA and the UK, so it’s a quiet celebration for us. But for everyone who’s celebrating today, we hope your day is full of the blessings of love, family and friendship. Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

November 26, 2014

Photos from Carla’s Trip to England

Carla recently returned from her trip to England. She was there for a funeral, and to catch up with friends and family. It was also a good opportunity to visit a few towns near to where she used to live, to reminisce and take some photos. These pictures were taken in Windsor, where there are lots of historic buildings, including the castle!

It’s always exciting to be in Windsor at Christmas time. Even the decorations have the royal touch!

A trip to England - Windsor at Christmas

Carla has always enjoyed the walk across the bridge from Windsor to Eton. A trip to England wouldn’t be complete without seeing lots of these red post boxes. We don’t have them in California, so it was worth a photo!

Here’s another photo taken in Windsor, with the castle across the street.

And yay! Lucky cats. We see lots of these in the Bay Area, and have started collecting photos of them! It’s more unusual to see them on a trip to England, but they pop up in tourist areas and souven

If you’d like to see more of the photos Carla took in England, you can find them on our Facebook page. We hope next time we’ll be able to go there together!

November 23, 2014

Back Together in California!

After a week apart, we’re back together in California! We were reunited at the airport in San Francisco yesterday. We’re so glad to be back in the same time zone again – especially as we did so badly at staying in touch during our time apart.

Before Carla moved to California, we coped with our long-distance relationship by talking on Skype at crazy hours of the night, and depriving ourselves of sleep. During our week apart, we had a “been there, done that, don’t want to do it again” attitude. We just exchanged a few messages each day, when we had the opportunity. Knowing that the distance was only going to be there for a week helped a lot!

Now we’re happy to be back together in the same time zone. We’re ready to get back into rehearsing for the run-up to the holiday season. Our next performance will be at a Thanksgiving Dinner for international, veterans, EOPS, homeless and out-of-state students at Foothill College, Los Altos on Tuesday evening.

Would you like to book us to play handbells at your holiday event?

You still have time to book us to play duets at your Christmas or holiday event. Take a look at our videos, and contact us if you’d like to find out more!

November 15, 2014

Back to Long Distance for a Week!

We’re going back to long distance… but not for long.

Carla’s traveling back to England today, to attend a funeral. It’s a sad time, and we’ll be back to our old 8-hour time difference for the coming week. We’ll miss each other, of course. On the plus side, though, Carla will be glad to re-connect with family and friends back in the UK. While she’s away, we’ll be making the most of Facebook and Skype to stay in close contact, just like long-distance couples all over the world.

Larry’s face looks sad in the photo, but we’re not really making a fuss about this. We’ve already survived nearly three years in a long-distance relationship, before we got the K-1 fiancée visa and Carla moved from the UK to California. A week apart is nothing compared to the time many couples spend waiting to close the distance. Carla will be busy with funeral things, and seeing friends and family – and for her, the time will probably go far too quickly. Larry will have plenty to do at home in California while Carla’s away. In just a few days’ time, he’ll be driving back to the airport. No problem… right? We can do this!

November 8, 2014

Welcome to our New Website!

Welcome to our new website – larryandcarla.com!

We hope this website will be a helpful alternative to our music site. Apart from being easier to remember and spell (courageous? choragus? choreagus?), it will be a place to find more information about booking us for handbell performances. As a former long-distance couple, we’ll also share news about our life together now that we’re married and living in the same place. We’ll post our thoughts about how to survive a long-distance relationship, and getting through the U.S. visa application process.

This website will also have more purple.

We’ll continue to publish our handbell and choral music on our Choraegus site; nothing will change there. This new site will be an additional way for us to connect with the world! We’ll still have our Facebook page too, and you’re welcome to connect with us there. You can share your own long-distance relationship story, or ask us questions. We also love to hear from other handbell musicians about what you’re currently working on. If your handbell choir has played one if Larry’s arrangements, we’d love to see a video of your performance!