Coloring On the Lines

Who knew a summer course on score preparation could be so much fun? Stressful yes, but also a little bit fun. Did you know another name for the Trombone is Posaune and a Glockenspiel is also called jeu de timbres? In my head I imagine myself saying jeu de timbres in a beautifully French accent and its wonderful. 

 This week, we are learning how to sight-read by singing fixed do as opposed to movable do. Not really at all like Julie Andrews singing "Do, a deer, a female deer..." but it comes to mind.

My favorite part of this summer course has been the coloring. 

Our first assignment was to color code our scores.  

RED for the loud dynamics

BLUE for the soft dynamics

etc., etc.

I'm finishing up my final project tonight. Working through the first movement of the orchestral score of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467. I played this in high school, not exceptionally well, but well enough to understand it a little better now. Anyone else taking some summer courses?

Lovely Greens

I've been meaning to use up the yarn in my basket for quite some time and really wanted to make something I'd never tried before which meant no mittens, scarves, or winter hats. Here's what happened:

Supplies? Various shades/textures of green yarn, a size 5.00MM crochet hook, and my latest library find (The Crochet Stitch Bible by Betty Barnden). This particular shirt is made using what Betty calls the "wavy checkers" stitch with the exception of the collar trim where I used a slightly modified version of "lace clusters."

The design is something that's been floating around in my head for awhile as I tried to wrap my mind around the details of making it work. The decision of when to change yarn was conveniently made for me. Every color change you see means I ran out of that particular yarn and had no choice but to switch to something else. What do you think? Would you wear it?

So I Sewed and...

I finished it: a very plain and very comfy light bluish grayish shirt!!! Thanks to Mikalah from Posy the Porcelain Pig for all the inspiring project posts on fashion. And also to my dearest sister Candace from Curlly Willow who blogged on this very topic not so many blogs ago.

And now on to my little sewing story: I started this very plain and very comfy light bluish grayish shirt project waaaayyyyy back in January? February? Not sure anymore. And I had very good intentions but no follow through.

I thought with all the dreary weather lately, I might as well put the "indoor" time to good use so back to my good intentions I went. It wasn't easy or fun at first. I got fed up with the pattern about halfway through (mostly because I couldn't find steps 3 and 4). And also because the "recipe" called for puffed sleeves and I didn't want puffed sleeves at which point I took my scissors and improvised.

I had a lot more fun when finally I decided to wing it and hope for the best. Following of course a few guidelines from steps 1 2 and 5...! I'm not so sure this sewing thing is going to be my cup of tea because my patience runs a wee bit (short? thin?) most days but I'm not quitting yet. Maybe just maybe next time I will pick a more interesting fabric, throw the pattern altogether out the window, and have a lot more fun from start to finish. I'll let you know. In the mean time. What do you think?

Muffins or Cookies?

I thought I was making muffins the other day when to my great surprise and slight chagrin they came out of the oven looking very much like a batch of cookies. I got it right the second time around by not filling the muffin cups so full, but you gotta love the look of these: 

The Original Morning Glory Muffin of Pam McKinstry

Needless to say, the taste was delicious and I would recommend the recipe to anyone who wishes to know it. My other cooking experiments of late have been...

Farm Stand Greek Salad with (homemade) Classic Red Wine Vinaigrette

And...

Fresh Tomato Pizza with Pesto, Goat Cheese, and Arugula

And, last but not least...

Grilled Shrimp with Tropical Salsa

All these recipes are taken from The Earthbound Farm Organic Cookbook: Food to Live By. The authors are Myra Goodman, Linda Holland, and Pamela McKinstry. Of course it would be nice if we lived in an area where organic produce was a little less expensive and little more accessible but we're making due with the goodies we can afford at the present and as far as the recipes, we're loving them so far.

Death Valley

Fear not, the title of this blog has absolutely nothing to do with my current state of mind. In fact, I feel mountainously happy at the moment. I just returned from a fantastic vacation, part of which was spent camping in the Death Valley National Park of California. My favorite sight was the sand dunes at dusk...

Second favorite was the Badwater salt flats...

God's creation is so vast and that speaks only of what is visible...I cannot begin to imagine what heaven will be like. 

P.S. Props to my hubby James for his fine photography skills.