Hilary Seabrook - writer, podcaster, musician

This last few months has been an incredible one for @BambuuBrush.     My latest blog details just some of their amazing achievements.

Tommie and Rebecca from @BambuuBrush have only gone and hit their target of selling one million toothbrushes - and they haven't been in business a year yet!     My latest blog tells how they did it - with the help of their customers.

Charles Dickens led much of his writer's life in central London, based at his home on Doughty Street. It now serves as a museum and an evening spent there was hugely inspirational.     For Christmas, the team at the museum have laid the house out as if it was a scene from one of Dickens's novels. From the dining room to the servants' quarters, it's a beautiful sight.     For anyone who studies Dickens's work or enjoys his stories, this place is a delight. For anyone who wishes to be a better writer, it's a pilgrimage.

Before we start, I'd just like to clarify that I understand that Thanksgiving began as a way for Americans to celebrate everything over on their side of the pond. But why has this Americanised holiday escaped the UK consciousness and yet we're force-fed a new commercialisation of Halloween, Black Friday and Valentine's Day?     I'd love to just give thanks for everything I have and the people around me. I'm fortunate to have got through some pretty tricky moments in the last few years and am enjoying relatively good health, with lots of good people around me (at least metaphorically).     So why don't we take time on Thursday to join our American cousins in giving thanks? We don't have to eat turkey and whatever pies they seem to have invented.     Let's do it. I'm giving thanks for my children, parents, friends, pets, home, community and work. What are you thankful for?

Another favourite album of 2019 from the fabulous Jacob Collier.     Read my review for Kind of Jazz here.

Today is another significant day - when I saw the images of the Berlin Wall coming down 30 years ago, I had no idea what an important moment it would be in my own life.     I had spent five years since graduating, travelling the world and had even settled down (for a few months) in Hong Kong. I'd just returned to London in autumn 1989 and thought I ought to get a 'proper' job. After staying with friends for a few weeks, I found a room in a flat in Little Venice, which I loved. I used to cycle across town, often leaving my bike chained to railings while I spent the night in Ronnie Scott's - emerging into the early morning light to cycle home.     Temping as a secretary was fairly unfulfilling, but then I was offered a job working for the Producer of 'The Wall', Berlin 1990 . I spent the next year working on the production, including follow-up work back in London. I got to know Berlin well. A fall on site led to a trip into East Berlin to a hospital - it was ...

There is evidence of compost in action. This morning I saw this lorry (in the picture below, it's top right, as it's driving away) deposit a load of compost onto the fields, ready to be spread. It's good to see where some of our household waste is actually doing good.     Nice work from West London Composting and our local farmer.

Rod Wood's third book is an epic description of his second adventure in Kenya. It's a true delight to read; one feels like a participant on this life-changing journey.     Reading Kenya : A Mountain to Climb  was a pleasure. The author takes you with him through every step of this arduous expedition. Along the way, he considers the lives of the people he encounters and the challenges they face - as individuals and as a community.     This is an exploration of more than a country and a mountain. It takes in some of these big issues many of us are trying to confront and address head on, including the climate emergency, conservation and interactions between man and beast.     I'd recommend this - it would make a great Christmas present for anyone who has ever been to Kenya or wishes they could travel there. And for more of us, besides. There are big issues here that Wood delves into in an engaging way.     Find out more about Rod and or...

I've changed  tactics in October - no longer do I "Tut" as I pass a piece of dropped litter. Now I stop and pick it up. it's simply carried to the closest bin or taken home and recycled. I realised today that  most of my rubbish is now collected while dog walking.     So, here are a few of my litter picking hauls from October:

Actually, it wasn't so much stolen as taken in error.    But at the time, we thought it had been removed from backstage at Amsterdam's De Meervaart venue, where I was on stage with The Style Council.     Luckily, the gig was being broadcast on radio and the support act were listening as they drove away. They soon realised the mistake and returned my sax and all was well.     It was the last gig of a great tour - Paul Weller's first European shows since breaking up The Jam.     Another benefit of the radio broadcast is the recording that exists of that show. A good friend of mine - Iain Munn, author of the definitive history of The Style Council, Mr Cool's Dream - gave me a copy several years ago.     Still a good story, after all these years.

The machine that is @BambuuBrush doesn't stop at trying to change the world through bamboo toothbrushes, they get hands-on, too.      My latest blog for them explains their clean-up campaign.     Nearly 20 volunteers tidied up one of the green spaces in Hitchin (you can spot me, second from right).

The 2019 IOIC awards celebrated everything that's good about internal communications, and it was a good night to consider my own role as one of the judges.     Taking the opportunity to scrutinise outstanding work from around the UK (and beyond, in a couple of cases) is something many of us never have the chance to do. It's not always easy to compare our own work with that of others.     The awards are taken seriously in the business world and it was also a glittering night and the chance to connect with colleagues and friends - some of whom I only get to see once a year.     And there were drummers with lights!

Brilliant acting by the whole cast in the National Theatre's 2011 production that was screened as part of their NT Live programme.

The Bancroft Players' Queen Mother Theatre performance of The Importance of Being Earnest was just hilarious. A great evening out with Mum and Dad.

I was lucky enough to be able to lead a group of 27 students from Hitchin Boys' School to a workshop run by the education team at The Guardian in London.     Every single boy took part in a productive, enthusiastic manner and their results were genuinely outstanding.

It was a delight to watch my son perform at this iconic venue in Guildford. We are fortunate to have worked alongside UK rock band The Stranglers in recent years, and great to be in the place where they started out.

My role as presenter extends far beyond Rubato, my Sunday afternoon choice of classical music. Sometimes, I get involved in community events like this one at Walkern Village Hall.

This stunning artwork by Joe Rush and the Mutoid Waste Co adorns the billboards above Vinegar Yard, just outside London Bridge railway station.      Rush prides himself on using salvaged materials in artwork and this piece is certainly eye-catching and very obviously an image from London's underground.

Today marks the first in my blogging journey with the exciting brand that is @BambuuBrush. My first blog  is about the work they are doing with Virgin Atlantic. These eco-friendly toothbrushes are going into the sustainable amenity kit given to passengers. Such exciting times and I'm delighted that I'll be a part of this journey.

Gone but not forgotten - a new release from the late great Tubby Hayes in definitely one of my albums of 2019.     Read my review here .

The seven kilometre walk from outside my favourite hotel on the north coast of Crete - the Aquila Rithymna Beach - is one of the most beautiful routes on the island. Starting straight after breakfast meant I missed most of the heat of the day, and enjoyed some spectacular views. Along the way, I met some lovely people, too.

Today’s visit to Duxford’s Imperial War Museum was surprisingly enjoyable, especially as my parents discovered the type of plane that brought my Dad home from his National Service in Singapore.     At 87, this was a great reminder for Dad of a significant part of his history, just before he met Mum in 1952.     We had a pleasant day, wandering around the various displays at Duxford in the sunshine.     It’s always good to explore new places and my parents are ticking off places they’ve always wanted to go and never made it.

It’s always a pleasure to appear on the Showbiz panel on our local BBC radio station. This time was live from The Galleria, Hatfield.

My first few shows on North Herts FM have all been recorded - getting used to the technology has been hard enough, without the added pressure of knowing people might actually be listening at the time. But this weekend, I went live as we covered Todd in the Hole Festival.     This was the view from the outside broadcast studio just before the event - and my show - began. It was a great experience once we actually went live and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.     In fact, I will be doing it again in August for the next festival we're covering.     This wasn't my usual classical music programme, but great fun!

I'm still processing much of what I heard from Adam Phillips in a fascinating talk at Notting Hill's The Tabernacle.     Phillips' new book - Attention Seeking  - has already gripped my own attention and I particularly love what he has to say about finding inspiration in literature.     He quoted Camus' The Fall  with a definition of charisma - "When people say yes before you've asked anything". He has a lot to say about James Baldwin, which will take me back to my bookshelves and some of the American literature I studied 35 years ago.     I particularly like his use of Freud's version of the Sufi proverb: "Don't learn, listen."

  Telemann has never really featured in my musical education - until Trio Da Camera appeared at Benslow Music.     In a concert full of humour and variety, this highly entertaining trio (Emma Murphy, recorders, Susanna Pell, viols and Steven Devine on harpsichord) took a full audience back to the 18th century.     Telemann's trios were energetic and performed beautifully. As were two of his Fantasies for solo harpsichord. Devine has a skill and dexterity that is utterly musical and artistic.     I'm looking forward to listening to Devine's CDs of Franz Danzi - another composer I know too little about.

Despite the intense heat, the Matchwomen's Festival in London's East End was a fascinating feminist experience.     The day started with a walking tour of Bow, taking in the - now renovated as a residential area - match factory where women stood up for their rights in the late 19th century.     Those women were prepared to take a stand and the rest of the day was dominated by others who are doing the same today. An inspiring day, if extraordinarily hot.

The award-winning 'Small Island' is a fabulous book and was even better brought to life by the National Theatre.     Seeing the play streamed to the Broadway Cinema just a few miles from home was a great pleasure.     Although I cried. A lot. If you have the chance to see the play, do.     If you can find time to read book, do that, too.

An afternoon of complete delight with a class of students who have just taken their A levels.     We decided to celebrate the end of exams with an afternoon at one of our favourite places - Shakespeare's Globe on London's South Bank. Tea at The Swan was just lovely.

For those who don't already listen in to Rubato on North Herts FM , this is where the magic happens.     Once a week, I get to play the classical music I love. And chat a bit about it.     It's a real joy, plus I've also had to learn how the technology works. Or at least some of it.

The inspirational Maggie Berry of WEConnect International has just been awarded an OBE. For the very good reason that she is both inspirational and effective.     Maggie is one of those people who help others succeed. In the five or so years since we first met, she's been instrumental in helping me focus on my business.     The latest event she laid on as part of her role with WEConnect International was in the Islington offices of RBS/NatWest. The entire day felt very entrepreneurial and it was good to be surrounded by so many positive women.

Shakespeare's ideas about gender are fascinating, especially given the 400 years or so that have passed since his plays were first performed.     The Taming of the Shrew  is one of his most difficult plays. It can be very uncomfortable to watch, as Petruchio 'tames' his wife, Katherine. This new production by the Royal Shakespeare Company manages to enhance the discomfort by flipping the genders as men become women and vice versa. Suddenly, you have a woman bullying a man into submission and that's hard to watch.     Director Justin Audibert does a brilliant job with a cast who take on the matriarchal world with ease. Alongside the performances, Ruth Chan's music adds to the tension to produce a stunning production.

The New Yorker 's Mary Norris led a fascinating discussion in the use of punctuation on either side of the pond. Together with my friend and fellow writer Carole Seawert, I was part of the audience at a select gathering at the Vogue academy in Soho.     Carole's alter-ego is The Apostrophe Woman (left, with her apostrophe on a stick) and she knows her stuff when it comes to punctuation. Nevertheless, we both found Norris's presentation interesting.     Just as there are differences between UK and US spelling (largely, according to Norris, as an act of rebellion led by Noah Webster), so there are differences in punctuation. There was much debate on the use of single and double speech marks: ' vs ". Similarly on the use of single and double dashes: - and --.     Of course, it's all not helped, as Norris pointed out, by the fact that The New Yorker would say "red, white, and blue" while the New York Times prefers "red, white and blue"....

The last few days has been all about the music and it's proved the truth behind a famous Quincy Jones quote - "The only music I don't like is bad music."     I've been listening to a lot of music: jazz on Saturday (Rob Luft at Club85); classical for Rubato #3 on North Herts FM on Sunday afternoon, then watching the stadium spectacular of Take That.     The surprise came from tabla player Kuljit Bhamra, who excelled in an intimate performance at the West End's Radio Rooftop bar. Bhamra is exceptional both in talking about his life and music, and in the actual performance.     I'm left feeling inspired.

Rob Luft wasn't actually on a riser, but he's used to being a few inches above the stage than in the studio recording his own tunes. Luckily for us, he released Riser  in 2017 and is now set to record a new album.     Luft appeared at Club85 with his brilliant band - Joe Wright (tenor sax), Tom McCredie (bass) and Corrie Dick (drums) - and clearly enjoyed the experience nearly as much as the audience did.     His first solo album, Riser  was released in 2017 but the tunes still sound fresh in the hands of this great band.     Alongside some of the old favourites, Luft also debuted tracks the band are recording soon, for release in early 2020.     Moving off the riser obviously sits well with Luft's creativity.

  My new venture as a radio presenter on North Herts FM continues apace.     Bringing classical music to the airwaves at 3pm every Sunday is a joy.     Recording in advance works for me at the moment, but hopefully it won’t be long before I present live.     Please listen in if you can - feedback would be great.

My baritone sax had an outing. Appearing with a local big band in Baldock.     It’s so nice to be playing and I still wish I could do more.     It’s three years now since my last stomach operation and I’m getting much stronger. Onwards and upwards!

The recent National Theatre production of All My Sons stars Sally Field and Bill Pullman and outstanding performances by the whole cast.     Streamed into Letchworth’s Broadway Cinema, this was a delightful evening. Thought-provoking and fascinating, this is a play about responsibility, family and truth. The denouement is shocking and yet somehow unsurprising. Miller builds the tension and the performances today make this as relevant as it must have been in the years after the Second World War.     Once again, NT Live delivers.

When I agreed to begin broadcasting a classical music radio show, I didn’t really imagine this day coming round.     Now here we are. Today at 3pm, Rubato will be broadcast on North Herts FM . It’s the first show, so I apologize in advance for the errors, slips and fluffs.     I am cheating to start with, so the show was recorded in advance and edited by our brilliant station manager, Becky Phillips.     I hope you will listen in and then it would be great if you could let me know what you think.     And send me a request for the next show!