I have been complacent

This thought bubbled to the surface as I flipped through the Feb. 2020 American Organist issue. This magazine is “professional reading” for me and usually can be read cover to cover in a few minutes. Frequently, I stop the skimming and read thoroughly. What caught my eye this month? The article originally written in 1944 by E. Power Biggs “Modern Renaissance of the Organ” reprinted with an introduction by Rollin Smith. For the organists who automatically do a small trill with their feet whenever E. Power Biggs is mentioned, this article came from The Etude magazine secured expressly for them by Myles Fellowes from A Conference. Yes, those people! 

For the non-organists, E. Power Biggs was heard each week playing all manner of organ music. (The 1940’s was the heyday of organ concerts. One could hear local performers each month along with nationally broadcast shows on the new technology of the time: the radio.)The excerpt from his talk is a bit of a call to action. 

Here’s what caught my eye:

It’s very easy just to react to the demands we perceive. Change the crying baby’s diaper. Feed the hungry teenager. Dust the shelf, vacuum the rug, scrub the bathtub, bag the groceries, answer the email…. Create the birthday/Christmas gift. Replace a worn pair of earrings.

It’s a whole different thing to make sure the important things are done. What’s important? 

Well:

Learn the recital piece you really love to hear and play it! (Sacred and secular)

Tat the design you see in your mind and share it! (Tatted pieces and the pattern)

Fix the worn out window weatherstrip (save on the energy bill too)

The article ends with an admonition to make sure we remember to fit in “further exploration of the astonishingly rich organ library.” I would add to explore the astonishingly rich creativity we have in each of us. So, I'm off to get those chores done and make sure the important things get some time and energy.

The river runs

The atmospheric river is running again. That’s overall a good thing. We need the rain. Less wind would be nice, but the plants are looking much healthier. Of course, we Mother Nature so active in the yard, I’ve had less time for inside pursuits. 

The chores are piling up. No choice but to set aside work for a day on the tatting and music, and get things done!

If the weather holds!

Oh, and the Pattern page will be back up next week. I didn't realize it was down until today. Apologies to those looking for the patterns.

laughter helps with focus

I’ve been focused lately. I’ve really tried hard to stick to my goals and accomplish what’s important. So far, I’m succeeding. That’s why there’s not much to post here. Most of my energy has been directed towards keeping house, keeping the yard, volunteering in music, and volunteering in stitches. I like the sound of that last bit. I like to keep a humorous outlook on life. Laughter is far better than tears to me.

So, what have I accomplished? Besides a bit of laughter? Our house has been “inspected” by ye ole ‘ouse ‘spector. He didn’t find much to document. We’ve kept it up fairly well.

Our persimmon tree is picked as well as a human on a ladder can; the rest can feed the birds. The hummers like the fruit quite a lot.

Our choir is rehearsed for Lessons and Carols. No, I don’t think I’ll have a B flat, but then again, we’ll be singing in the evening.

Our stitchers have 15 canvases prepped for stitching except for mounting them on a frame. We are still attracting new volunteers to the group. And we have a good start on finished canvases ready for the upholstery shop. Just a few more to go and we’ll have the minimum they asked for with each round.  

I had an “aha” regarding the chair canvases and our impending move: I don’t have to be the one in the driver’s seat for timing the move. I can respond to what comes our way with grace and rolled up sleeves. We thought the chair project would be a 20 year project. Well, we’re half way done after just 2 years. We would like to move within 5 years. We’ll see what happens!

a dead end and a beginning

Spring is here. It’s a good thing. My forays into the Saint Saens design past where I stopped Thursday turned out to be duds. Yes, duds plural. The math just wouldn’t work. I’m not deterred as I learned last month that when the math isn’t working, it’s usually because I was taking my values from the wrong facet of the music. In other words, I was looking in the wrong place for my visual cues. A little like reaching for the swell when I should be reaching for the choir. So, a big fat void where there should be lace. It’ll likely take me several days to get back to the design.

Anyway, as I started to say, spring is here. We went plant shopping Sunday afternoon and found some candidates for the front yard. I hope they work. We’ll know in a few years. Yawn!!! We also found a surprise: a Chicago Peace rose. Now, I know for you rose aficionados, you should buy bare root in the fall from a rose grower. I bought a potted version from a mass market nursery. I don’t know if it will survive and do well, but I couldn’t resist. You see, my mom had a Chicago Peace in her front yard. The bush was HUGE and produced rather large blooms 10-11 months a year. It hardly had any problems like disease and pests, just enjoyed growing. I hope my little plant does half as well. We’ll know in a few years. Yawn!!

I’m off now to reproduce things that were lost that I only discovered were missing 15 minutes before I needed them. I muddled through, but I need to replace them.  

TIAS 2013 Day 10

I should know better than to try to be clever when I’m in a hurry in the evening. I normally get the portion of the pattern tatted the day Jane releases it. But, today was one of those days……

TIAS 2013 Day 10

 

So, here it is after

I picked out the next to last ring

I caught up on the chores leftover from yesterday

I had my cup of coffee…or 2 or 3 cups.

I can’t wait to see what we tat the last day. And is this a hint, Jane?? Will you and your family be making an announcement soon?? Or are you hinting to my children?? (If so, PLEASE let them finish college before pressuring them with such hints.) Seriously, I’m off to do today’s chores and get ready for tomorrow. It’s Open House for the teachers at Jo-Ann’s in the afternoon. That’s always fun. If you’re in the area, stop by the table and let me know.

October is here

It’s October. Whew! Here in my part of the world, that means that temperatures are a bit cooler, the rains haven’t begun, school schedules are in full swing, and life changes course a bit. I’m back to a regular schedule of tatting, puzzling out how to express music in thread, and learning more about it all. I’ve been reading a bit about Bach Cantatas lately. The scholarship is thorough, the comments enlightening, and the love of music shines through the page consistently. I had not really paid attention to Cantatas in my organ studies. Just didn’t have enough time and mental energy. Now, I’m finding them fun to romp through. As if you could even romp through Bach! It is more fun cleaning out the fountain while listening to the music!!

organizing and such

Whew! How does one stay so busy?????

Ok, dreaming up large projects often has something to do with how busy I am. This blog is one of those large projects. And it’s still a work in progress. I would like to add a gallery and several other…..widgets….(I think that’s what I’m thinking of).

Another large project is getting my possessions thinned out and organized enough I’m not stepping over boxes to get to stuff. Never fear, I don’t consider that interesting enough for blog material. Occasionally I repurpose items left behind by the kids as they grow into other interests. One item is a storage system my daughter bought with gift cards and used for beads, toys, robot parts, and other small items. After a scrubbing up, it’s holding my small spools of thread quite nicely. I need to do something about all the paper that has piled up though……

Today I’ll finish a few more snowflakes. When it’s all done, I’ll post a picture. Hopefully, they will entice more to sign up for classes at the store. Off to tat.

organ factory tours and such

Well, my idea didn’t work too well. I just need to tweek it, but that won’t happen for a while. Other things to do.

Like visiting an organ factory.  Now, before you roll your eyes, let me say that I joined over 30 people on this tour! A bus was rented to get the group from South Bay to North Bay. That meant that on the way, we were treated to a DVD of a tour of another organ company’s factory, a short excerpt of a talk by a third organ builder, and plenty of time to chat with other organists and curious people. It was a wonderful day! I think the comment that I enjoyed the most was from a non-musician. And the commercial at the end of the DVD for the shows visiting other factories (over 300 have been taped) really “tickled me” as my Mom used to say. If you're in the Bay Area and love to see what people do working with their hands creating cool stuff, call and see if you can stop by. They don't always have an organ being put together, but they lots of cool parts.

Like tatting the earring pattern in Sulky “Piano Keys"

I need to finish another one to make a pair, but I can’t decide which one to match. I would like to wear the for the Memorial service this week. So, best get busy eh?

Like having fun at Exclamation Point demonstrating tatting and the different techniques used with different tools. I’ll be working on my supplies for that later.

Like cleaning house (ugh!) and paying bills (double ugh!) and maybe even completing another pattern in the TAT binder (I have to stay focused!). And there’s the list of errands…….

Pattern page is live

Last week was very productive. I conquered Beanile style tatting, made good progress on some original designs (more when they’re finished nicely), and learned how to add a page to my blog with links for folks to download the documents. Just click on the bar above my picture and it’ll take you there. Whew!

But, no time to sit back. I have a demonstration to do today and it’s Mother’s Day tomorrow. And since we ran away yesterday to Monterey in celebration of 27 years of marriage, the chores have really piled up…..literally. Now where is the shovel I use for laundry????