I love the way young children take to the Internet and embrace it. James had not seen a computer without a mouse and, after a brief show and tell, he was up and running. PBSkids has some wonderful games for his age group and he loves them all. However, Curious George is by far the most important game there. There are all sorts of fun things that he can do with that website and he is darn good at all of them. I see where my children have gone with computers when introduced to them as children, and I know where I am with a mature adult introduction, makes me wonder where this generation that gets them from birth on will go. There is so much positive that can be done with computers if they will just learn to master the negative and put it in the trash where it belongs.

And the other thing I love about this picture. Look at that amazing posture! I spend my life trying to remind myself to stand tall, and heaven only knows I have suggested to Lawrence a million times that he needs to stand tall. He and I are the worst in the family. But our little J-bers, my oh my but that is good posture. I sure hope he keeps same but I acknowledge the reality that he probably won't.

Winter dinner at beach

We had a family gathering at the beach and used the new bar for the first time. We can seat seven people at the bar with comfort. We put the kids at the bar, minus Logan, and the adults ate in the living room. Then we finished off the dinner with Caramel apples thanks to Linda. Messy but oh so very good. She helped the kids make their own and let them dip them in m&m candies.....what's not to love?! I will do some serious mopping on Monday but it is well worth the clean up, and the kids were really good about them. It would have been nice to have them go outside to eat them, but something about it being well below freezing made that not such a good idea. We miss the summer outside but it is still a fun place to gather. All my designers and workers have made a nice family place and I am enjoying same.

in

Thanksgiving Dinner

I love holidays that give a person an excuse to focus on dessert! 2 apple and 2 pumpkin pies, now that is a topic that I can totally invest in. While thinking of the myriad of things I am thankful for one must include being thankful for food in all its abundance. What I eat today is wonderful but I want something different tomorrow, and the life style that we are allowed to live allows that privilege.

We had Thanksgiving with Emily and her family. She set a beautiful table, my father would have been proud. My father always disliked the reality that we carved the bird before we presented the bird. He allowed as it looked like left overs before it had ever made a first appearance. I do agree, but it is ever so much easier to carve it at the kitchen and then present the food to be eaten. Emily did it on the table and it worked well. We needed a few more people however, because we didn't do much damage. Truth be told, we are not much for turkey, most prefer the dressing to the bird. But the two have to go together and we all love the soup and will enjoy an encore performance tomorrow.

And, as is tradition in the family, we will get together again this evening for a major snack and dessert. One eats the main course for a noon meal and then just enjoys the desserts later in the day, like at dinner time. It saves a person feeling the need to over eat as much. I love it this way and am pleased my children have continued the tradition started by my Grandmother. She knew what she was talking about when it came to food!

Happy Birthday Nancy!

Today my baby turns 23 and is awaiting the birth of her baby. Life is certainly made up of circles. I waited and now she waits. And there will be a time where this child shall also wait for the birth of the next generation. It just keeps rolling on in a God-given pattern. I love the peace that those circles give. No matter how crazy life can get, and it can get mighty crazy, the patterns just keep rolling on as God has intended them to roll on.

But who would have predicted my cute blond baby would become the woman she has become. I knew from the beginning that she had potential to move mountains, but I guess I never really thought she would actually do that. When Nancy puts her energy into something things happen, be they mountains moving or other things less dramatic. I am in constant amazement as to what she manages to do and how she does it with such class. That is a gift she came from Heaven with because I have neither the knowledge nor the skills to teach that one.

And now I will move on to the circles of today....not as dramatic but equally as interesting and important.

Try again....

Stuart the Ninja. Claire the princess. Amy the Fairy Princess. Kristin the pioneer girl. James the Iron Chef and Peter as Jack Sparrow. It has taken way too many tries to get these pictures posted. Someday I will learn how to do this a whole lot better, until then I will just keep trying. But the results were worth the effort and there is daylight savings time coming to an end tomorrow so I will hardly notice how long it has taken with my extra hour in the morning! What ever works, works in my book!

We had a good Halloween on Island and hope everyone else did too.

Million dollar view

This is a beautiful picture of my front lawn, so to speak. I live in the $5,000 shack with the million dollar view! Mind you, my intentions were to post the Halloween pictures but this is what came up when I attempted same. I will try again, but the picture was too nice to ignore, so I am including it.

Halloween before the party

As a child I did not much like Halloween, it was always a bit of a disappointment. But as an adult with more control I think it is a fun little tradition. As a young child we would go to Woodland Hall and the community club would have a party for all the kids in the community. That was fun, but it stopped happening when I was around 10. From that point on it was just another day and I felt left out of the loop. But now, I get to be part of the loop and I completely enjoy the whole build into the candy rich festival.

The season started for me when I was able to participate in the selection of Garret's first Halloween costume. He will be a duck tonight in a costume hand made by his mom with his Grandmother watching on. It will be fun to see the finished results in pictures. The costume was cute, but the hat was the defining part of the critter, and the hat was not done when I left. And, true to the age, he is not fond of keeping hats on his head. Putting them on is fine, but keeping them on is a totally different story.

Linda and I made J-boy and cute little Chef costume that pleased him and looked really good. He got sick on Friday so I am pretty sure he didn't get to wear it to his pre-school and that was sad. But there is a church function tonight and, if all are well, I know he will enjoy wearing it there. And I don't know what Logan is wearing, but it will be cute, of that I am sure.

And then the biggest chunk of family, the Campbell contribution. Kristin is wearing Nancy's pioneer trek gingham dress and looking amazing. We had to shorten it a bit but it is going to work just fine for her. She also had another costume for the M.S. band concert, she was asked to do an interpretive dance to one of the songs and dressed in gypsy garb...i.e. an old dress I found and cut up and made into a flashy skirt etc. She looked great and Danced well too. Peter is donning a funky wig (Captain Jack Sparrow), a home made shirt with black laces up the front, a detested pair of church pants cut up and other stuff. Stuart is the Ninja and is pretty much going in black. Claire is the princess. We made her a wonderful costume with lots of Tulle and fluff, a coned hat with tulle coming out of the top, the whole thing. She is so cute and the costume is just as cute. Amy is the little fairy princess complete with wings and flowers...a purchased costume that is perfect for her.

I took Amy with me on Friday to play with the "Fun Band" at the senior center for their monthly dance for the altimers patients (no spell check help but you can figure it out) and seniors in general. She entertained everyone and got out on the dance floor and did her hokey-pokey along with the rest of them. She is really good in front of people and found a whole room full of grandparents a good place to be. I think I will take her back with me when I help out again. We made a good team!

And now I need to collect myself and be of some help to someone. Emily is in charge of the whole thing tonight so her plate is really full. She is good at this kind of thing, however, so I am sure she has it all under control. Now I need to post pictures which means I need to take them.

Easy remodel of the beach kitchen

I want everyone to know this is the easiest remodel that I have ever done. Michelle and Emily both drew up plans and I loved them both. And then Yukiko gave me a whole bunch of un-used new cabinets, but old cabinets, so that I could plug in as many as I could on the girl's design. Curtis then turned the bar around to seat more and now I am off and running.

Larry ripped out the kitchen on Thursday and the floor was being installed on Friday. Then the cabinets will be put in, the sink moved a little from where it has been and a dishwasher installed next to the new sink. Once all the building is done Emily will select a counter top and it will be completed. And while this is all happening I am on the road in my Connie P headed down to see Lawrence and Michelle and then on to Jace and Nancy. A remodel that I do not have to participate in is the best kind of remodel. I am not particularly picky, this is a beach cabin after all, and I am sure it will be wonderful. (and I have no idea as to why there is a color change but let it stand....why not?)

Music of Nature

When you step outside the door at the cabin you hear the serenade of hundreds of black birds. Now the humble black bird is not much to look at, although the red winged black bird is rather interesting. However, when you put a whole bunch of them in the trees on top of the bank and all trying to out sing their neighbor, the sound is rather amazing. You have this total wash of bird songs and it is breath-takingly beautiful. You have to look hard to see them in the trees but they are there. I have no idea how long they will be gathering before they make the final statement and head south, but I certainly am enjoying their songs at present. Let's face it, sea gulls are not the most wonderful singers on the Island, so the black birds are a welcome change.

The salmon are still running. This morning Doug was gone less than two hours and came home with 3 fish...and yes there were two people in the boat. Nice looking, about the 4 to 5 pound variety I would guess. They cleaned them in the waves so that the gulls cleaned up the mess. Then they brought them up onto the bulk head and got out the pressure washer and blasted the scales off them. That was a new concept but it seemed to work well from my perspective. At that point they were filleted and taken into the house to freezer probably. Oh it makes me jealous when they do that. Particularly when I know I have a fisherman that would love to be doing the same each and every morning. It will happen eventually but not this season. Poor LJ, he probably is not enjoying reading this now, but so be it.

The beach certainly offers me a different pallet on which to make my day. I think I needed the change because I am really enjoying something different. And it is fun to have Amy around occasionally. She is my side kick a couple of days a week, and she is a fun little side kick to deal with. Tomorrow Linda is bringing Logan and James and I have Claire and Amy, we are going to get together at one of the parks and let them have fun. Then home for naps each in their own space. It should be a fun outing for all of us.

Canning is beautiful

You know, in a world of many beautiful things I find one of the most beautiful things to be canning placed on a shelf. The jars are canned peaches and/or peach pie filling awaiting a trip up to the house to be placed lovingly on the shelf. Canning and I have a love/hate relationship. I always go through the full spectrum of feelings while I can, I hate the mess but I love the results. I am empowered by the process but annoyed by the slowness. Yah, I hit them all, but nothing is as beautiful as shelves full of good food. And as a side light, if you can pale peaches you get pale product, if you can a peach with good color you get a good colored product. These are O'Henry peaches and they are vibrant before canning and can up beautifully. Or maybe I have been canning too many pears recently when you aim for as near white as you can get.

That all said, I need to go teach some piano lessons. Like canning, it is a love/hate relationship. I love it when the student is prepared and wanting to do better, I hate it when I am pulling them through the literature. Yah....doesn't that describe life in general.

Even birds take naps

The morning was well underway when I saw this great Blue Heron on the post. His head was drooped down and he looked to be sleeping. I was talking to Emily on the phone so I hung up and located my camera. By the time I got the camera he was starting to wake up, (and of course I have the pictures posted backwards so number 2 is actually number 1) and the second pose is his full attention on the sounds I was making. I will have to admit he had probably been out hunting for food for many hours before I saw him, but I had never seen such a tired bird on a post before.

There are days that I feel the same way, but give me something to occupy my brain and I come right to attention. He was not sure if I intended to eat him or just watch him and paid close attention until my intentions were clear. And then he lost interest and headed out into the air to find a more private place to take his nap.

One thing I can not complain about is the neighbors at the cabin. When you can claim blue heron as your closest neighbor then you know you are living in the right place. There are at least 3 on the beach all the time, foraging food or just watching the coming and going of tides.

news flash

My family has lived in the Maxwelton Valley for over 100 years. My mother kept track of the high and low marks in the valley for well over 50 years on a daily basis, prior to that it was just on observation but not recorded. She said she had seen 99 degrees but never 100, and she had seen 1 but never 0. Well, today we broke the century mark but good. I saw 105 on the thermometer in the kitchen for most of the afternoon! No, that is not a typo, that is really what I saw. It is hot beyond belief and has been all week, building to this record breaking day. According to the news folk it has shattered the recorded temperatures in Western Washington. Shattered by several degrees records that have stood a long time and, with a little bit of luck, will stand forever or until I no longer care. What a miserable day to be trapped in heat beyond reason! There is nothing one can do. Even the pool is so hot that dipping in the water offers no cool, and the sun is burning down enough to burn the most tanned of bodies. Yah, this day will be one to remember and one that I want to forget really soon.

Too hot already

I live in Washington for a reason and that reason would be the fact that I am a wimp when it comes to heat. With that statement made, I do not approve of the weather that has settled onto the Island this week. Today I have seen it as high as 94 degrees and it is not as hot as it will get...but more than hot enough to heat me plenty. If I wanted to live in the heat I would move to it, it does not need to move to me! And they say it will get worse before it gets better. They are talking a three day climb before it breaks at the end of the week. We will see if this all happens....but lets hope it doesn't!

Last week Kristin and I went to Sun Lakes to enjoy some time in the sun, and, of course, it rained. I get used to this kind of stuff but it still makes me laugh when it happens yet one more time. Eastern Washington in July should be pretty dependable but it can not trump my ability to find bad weather to camp in. The Connie P solves that problem however, it really could care less if there is rain or not. We enjoyed the weather from the inside looking out....and even got some time to go swimming between the showers. Or rather Kristin did, I sat that one out. I am certainly a fair weather swimmer in my old age!

the Brides of yesterday and tomorrow

Many years ago I decided that I wanted to have a picture taken of all my daughters in their wedding dresses. I decided that this would happen when the last one married. Well, Nancy did that this past December so I felt this was the summer to do this. And everyone was to be here on the 4th of July so we celebrated the 3rd of July with Bridal pictures. And let me tell you, it was one of the funniest picture shoots you could possibly imagine! Spain has the running of the bulls and we had the running of the brides...all documented of course....as we came from the porch and down the hill to in front of the roses.

And, as might be expected, some of us did better getting into our dresses than others. Nancy is the most recent bride but she has lost weight with her training for yet another marathon so her dress was rather loose. Linda's dress was too big when she wore it and still is, but looked beautiful on her all the same. Michelle has a 5 month old baby which explains her challenge with zippers really well. Emily has 5 babies from 3 to 11 to justify her situation and I claim the 32 years between wearings to explain the fact I could not zip mine. The future brides didn't have those concerns!

Kristin wore the dress that matched Nancy's (She wore a bolero jacket at the wedding but it was hot so we omitted the jacket for the pictures). Claire wore the dress that matched Linda's wedding dress (worn by Kristin in the actual wedding pictures) and Amy had a beautiful white dress that Emily came by. They were as excited with this day of dress-up as we were!

Then we did individual shots with the husbands in shorts etc. and the wives in wedding dresses. An interesting combination that showed the true spirit of the day. We did a serious picture and then some really stupid ones....and stupid we do really well! The final Amen came from Nancy as she did a full lay-out back summersault on the trampoline while in her wedding dress. It was breath taking. When I think of all the money invested in those dresses it just makes me smile to know we can have fun with them.

I have decided our next visit with these dresses will be at the next wedding in the family. Several years away at this time, but we will need several years I think to better what we have already done! Sometimes you just have to take a step backwards and see the fun in it all...we did and it was a great day.

paper or paperless

All bank statements and other bills of the sort always ask if you want paper or paperless. Nice thought but does it really work? I always check paperless in that I can print things off at home if I truly want them. Being of the paper generation I prefer to have things in a hard copy for my files, so I do opt to print most things at home. However, if it is paperless then how come I spend so much of my time shuffling papers? Seems like I sit down to my desk and there is always this collection of papers that need attention. They need to be filed, they need to be paid, they need to be read and so the list goes. And my complaints are minimal in the grand scheme of things, after all, my life is not that complicated!

The radio keeps talking about help getting folks out of debt and that makes me wonder how much paper the average person has to deal with. I don't have a fraction of what many have. I wish the world knew the simplicity that used to exist before Credit cards. You had the money, you purchased the item, no money no purchase. It was a pretty simple formula but it did not give the financial institutions the scope to make massive profits. Credit cards came into being and banks sprouted up like dandelions in the yard. Where there was one bank there are now eight banks, and all seem to be doing quite well as far as I can tell. Of course, they are all working off of my money, mine as in a tax payer, but their top echelons have to have their yachts and bonuses you know! Boy would I love to close all banks but a couple and then have the CEO make no more than double the line worker. All would win and maybe we could stop spending what we don't have.

Back to my papers and then to a walk. Should do it the other way around but I am waiting for the day to warm up a little before I take off.

Another use for canned salmon

It is always fun when you come up with another use of something you have. And that something is canned salmon. It needs to be used, 2006 variety and aged a plenty. So, with that in mind, I was thinking what I could do. I have made fritters and they are amazing but I wanted something different. So I did the old Hot Chicken Salad thing but substituted Salmon and added some fresh lemon juice and fresh parsley. I then served it with chives on the top and, though no one is home to eat it but me, it is mighty fine. I get so tired of the same foods and am always trying to come up with new ideas. This is not a new idea, but a turn on an old idea that pleased me greatly.

I think that is one of the reasons I enjoy eating out so much. The idea part, the taste part and let us not forget that they do the dishes after all is said and done. I have been watching the "food network" on T.V. some evenings to harvest some new ideas. And I have found several things that I have either tried or intend to try. It isn't as much fun as eating out but it is more fun that eating alone and eating the same stuff you have been eating for the past century (and I can honestly say that!).

Todays enlightenment from the food network was deseeding roma tomatoes. Easy process and it makes them better in many salads. Cut them in half and then grab them and squeeze the seeds out of them. Chop up the other parts and away we go. What a simple concept and it will be helpful in many things. I loved Chopped tomotoes in things, but sometimes they just get too seedy and runny, this will solve the problem. It is nice to learn something new!

I could get used to this

I don't know who has messed with the climate on Island but I could really learn to like it the way it is at present. For the past two weeks we have had as close to perfect weather as they give forth in this world. High temperatures around the mid seventy range and lows in the upper 50 range. What could be better? Mornings tend to be overcast but the sun has been out and on full display by lunch and remained that way for the remainder of the day. OK, this is not typical but I am liking it all the same. Makes it a little hard to get tasks done but the cool, overcast mornings aren't bad for working and then, of course, the sunny afternoons are excellent for not working!

People that live further South don't get it. They seem to think the glory is to wake up every morning and have the sun out. I could rapidly learn to detest that. It is the fact that it is not out all the time that makes it so wonderful. Washington is always in a state of change, if it is raining and you are unhappy about that, well, wait a bit and it might change. Our hot spells never last all that long and the rain, well, OK, sometimes that does go on way too long. But it only makes the breaks in the overcast more special. I don't think I could enjoy a climate that was even remotely predictable. I look at the high dessert folk and sigh because they always have sunshine and it gets old fast, or at least for me. Give me variety and I will be a happy girl.

Thank you

I did the first of my piano recitals last night, the most difficult of the two because I had to play that darn Beethoven that I have complained so much about, plus a Clementi and a Kuhlau Duet. Went well, didn't play near as well as I would have hoped but my hands are really well trained and when I get started crooked they just seem to know how to bail me out. I deleted a couple of runs that were just too risky and improvised them...worked OK. Remind me to avoid pieces that accentuate the 4 crosses with these hands. They just hurt when I do too many of those crosses. Maybe I should just stick with chords and/or slow pieces.

But that was not really my topic. Several of my students brought me flowers (the best kind, home grown) and cards (equally as perfect as they were home made). Why is it we, as a society, believe it is not important to say thank you. Even more so, not even acknowledge that something kind has been done. Are we really so selfish that a short note is too much of an investment? I don't do things for the thanks, but it sure makes me want to invest the next time and when no thanks come occasion after occasion I just kind of stop investing my thoughts and send (or not) perfunctory things.

I think the ones that hurt the most are the ones that you really invest in. I am not talking money here but thought and love. You spend hours and hours working on something either physically or mentally. You give something that you are so heavily invested in and they either say nothing or a short little thanks. I walk away feeling like I have made a huge mistake and that I should not have done what I did. Does that mean I give for recognition? I don't think so, I guess I just need the validation that you appreciated what came your way as much as I invested in giving same to you. Tough subject, and for those that don't subscribe it is a subject that causes much hurt. I just know beyond the shadow of a doubt that the vast majority of problems in this world could be solved if people would just express, either verbally or physically, their thanks. We are told to offer our thanks in prayers, but we also need to offer them to each other.

That said, I had a wonderful whirlwind of a trip to Utah for Garret's blessing and I am beyond words thankful that I have the family that I have, one and all. I hope my actions as well as my words convey that because I try to do that. And now my actions must convey paint to the walls of the bedroom at the beach. Ah the variance of the word convey!!!

Memorial Day

It is sad when memorial day becomes more a celebration of no school and/or work, and the reality that the sun is actually shinning on the Island and has been the entire weekend. With that said I was reflecting on the real meaning, the reality that a lot of people have sacrificed themselves so that I can appreciate the day of no school/work and the extra weekend day of beautiful sunshine. Some sacrificed by laying down their lives, but I think the greater sacrifice was for those that layed down the quality of their lives for the rest of us. For all those "walking wounded" that live out there, many on the streets where few care if they live or die, and many carrying around burdens deep in their souls that can only be removed with the greater light that death will bring us all. That said, it is amazing how little war has directly affected me.

Both my parents were World War 2 participants, Dad in the Navy communications division and mom was a P.T. in the medical Corp of the Army. Larry served during Viet Nam as a jet mechanic on a carrier off the coast of the country. My brother opted not to serve and I wanted to but didn't....long story, bottom line, I didn't. I knew only one person that was killed in Viet Nam. He was a local boy that was just big, kind of a bully and not too bright. But in death he was honored like he never was in life, honored and I suspect forgotten by most of us. (Jim Langworthy if anyone needs a name). But I reflect back on another childhood friend, Everett, and the burden that he has carried since Viet Nam. There is a part of him that never came back, an important part that allowed him to bond. Maybe he saw too many of his friends taken at too early an age, I don't know, but I do know it has affected him greatly. His wounds will only heal when he passes from this life. And the wounds his challenges have caused also. The mother that loves him and has been removed from his life for years and years. The friends and siblings that are not welcomed beyond superficially.

Yes, war stinks but freedom smells really sweet. So today I do not mourn those that gave their all, I mourn those that gave their yesterdays, their today's and their tomorrows. And with that statement I will try to be more sensitive to others and look beyond their put-off kind of behaviors and give real thanks for their sacrifice and pray it will not be asked again. And yet knowing that it will be asked again, asked of me and mine.....but knowing there is a plan from our Father in Heaven and all will be well. So I celebrate it all today....and then hit a rehearsal to celebrate a young man that has practiced enough to master his music!

Silage

They are starting to bring in the first cutting of grass on the ranch as silage. It is a great week to do so, the weatherman says great weather for almost a week, and that is not common for this time of year. It no longer matters in my life but it sure brings back a pile of memories.

Silage and haying seasons were some of my favorite growing up. Those two times I was part of the team, not at home doing girl things i.e. cooking and the sort. It was afternoon and evening work thanks to the dew that always blankets the Island. In the morning they would either cut more grass or, during haying, use the tedder to fluff up the hay to encourage more drying. Shortly after lunch it would begin. One man on the tractor picking up the grass, two men in trucks transporting same to the pit (or barn if that were the case) and my father on the tractor in the pit packing and putting loads where they were needed. I was never allowed to participate in silage, it came about after I had graduated, but it still affected us in that Larry did a lot and Lawrence was always available to help, but never asked. He rode miles and miles each season in the hopes of being asked. It was a heartbreak for both of us.

But the part I wanted to focus upon was later in the day. Meals were catch as catch can when the work dominated during those times. So we would all eat together, my job was to make sure it was ready when needed and easy to eat and run. We usually ate outside under the trees between my parents and grandparents and had a barbecue. I would fix salads and desserts, then grill whatever was needed to be hot when they arrived. Heading toward the barn someone would say this is the last run before dinner and I would hop to it and be sure all was ready. Everyone ate together and it was always a party, it was always fun. The crew would head back to the work and I would start cleaning up and getting ready for phase two....watermelon under those same trees when the work was done for the day.

I never really gave my mother credit for being much help with those days, but in retrospect, she was very much involved. It was her ideas that told me what to make and what to do until I got things more under control. She was the one that would make the schedule for me to follow so that everything was ready at the same time, a skill that is extremely helpful to me to this day. Some of my ideas were great but not practical, and she would cross out those ideas and substitute more practical things. Lasagna was great, not so much spaghetti, that kind of thing. One held it's heat really well, the other was a problem. I didn't appreciate how much thinking went into those meals when I was doing them, but now that I am responsible I understand that she really did an amazing job of leading me through those lessons.

So the grass in now down and being picked up, and I sit in my kitchen and watch with a normal day in front of me and a little piece of me feeling very sad to be excluded from something that was so important to me as a child. No big meals today....but I will invite Joyce over for dinner again tonight so there will be more than two of us. A small blessing and a good blessing.

Beethoven

I love the music of Beethoven. It is so moody. It has such power, power in strength of volume and in the power of silence....both of which he uses really well. However, I love later Beethoven and not the early stuff. The early stuff is too Classical for me, too many notes just buzzing up and down with virtuosity being more of a focus than emotional fulfillment. That said, I am supposed to have the Spring Sonata for Violin under my hands in a couple of weeks. It is a beautiful piece of music to listen to but I have never seen myself playing same. It is classical and just buzzes with notes rushing from point to point only to rush back again in a whirlwind of accidentals and other pitfalls.

Can I play it? Yes I can, and rather well actually. However, the rub comes when we start to discuss the tempo. I do a pretty amazing job of it at 100, but it is scheduled to be performed at 116 minimum, with 132 being more correct. Not with these hands! I worked it hard a few weeks ago and had it near 116 without too many major mistakes but after a few days my right hand hurt so much I put it away and have just dusted it off again. 1 - 4 crosses are not my thing these days....pulls something that does not like to be pulled. I do better with the 1 -3 cross but even that sets my thumb into fits if I do it too many times in one session. And the sad thing is Gloria is the soloist and she plays it brilliantly! I am going to keep working but I suspect I will be doing the fake-job before I get done. I am good at what I do and I know what to drop and what must play, and I will do some serious dropping of notes to make it all happen. And that bothers me, I really don't like to do that but I am not too sure if my hands will hold up without the dropped notes.

That said, am I going to go get my Left hand done any time soon? No, I don't think that is on the schedule in the foreseeable future. The hand works even though the thumb is rather a useless hammer part of the time....but it works! I get more frustrated with my right hand when it comes to pain and runs. The left hand falls down when it comes to anything requiring strength, heaven forbid you have move rapidly through octaves! I can't depend on the hand to do what I ask of it, hence I avoid that kind of music too. One of these days....

And until then, I pick and choose my music wisely and play for myself more than for others. Works for me!

Sewing on the Island is getting to be a difficult thing to do. On Thursday Avery finished off two skirts that she had in process. When you finish projects you start planning the next, only logical. But there is no place to purchase anything other than cotton fabric i.e. quilting materials, on the South end. Heck, I don't think there is anything more than that on the North end either. We have become a total "Island" when it comes to fabrics. One has to venture across the water to construct anything at this juncture in time. That just seems wrong....but I am not offering to open a store to fill the gap!

So today when the urge hit to sew I decided to sweep instead. Mind you, the sweeping was necessary but the sewing was what I wanted to do. And it is unusual for me to want to sew, then to have to plan so far ahead. When with Emily and Michelle I purchased several new patterns and one of them had my name on it....but it takes interlock or something that has a descent amount of give. Next trip off Island I will try to remember to get fabric and then see if the urge comes again.

And are the floors beautiful....not so much, I sat down and am writing this as an avoidance.

The Utah Family

I decided to get off the Island and head to Utah for spring break. Most of my piano students were canceling so why not, I wouldn't have income even if I had stayed home. And there was this little grandson that I had never seen! A major incentive as if I needed one to hit the road. Anyway, arrived at the Campbell/Godsey home on the 4th of the month. had the usual breakdown complications that just seem to be a part of my travel plans...but I have had the resonator go out enough times that I know what it feels like and I know what to do about it. Frustrating at best, but it is something that I have faced before. It delayed my arrival by several hours and caused a lost night of sleep, but not too much more. Part was still under warranty so the cost was in time and not money.

Master Garret is a very pleasant young man. He is full of conversation and loves nothing more than to lock his baby-blues onto someone or something and then just study it at length. He really responds to being spoken to, you talk to him and he talks back with his little goo's and all. He had some skin issues but Michelle has those well under control now....I remember those with Emily, annoying but something that you can control. He remains rather angular but 100% a charmer. Lawrence and Michelle seem to have divided up the work/fun of taking care of him really well. Lawrence's awful work hours puts him getting home from work around the time that Garret takes a nap, so the boys just nap together. It is really sweet.

Emily is down to 3 days of school left before her B.A. degree and she is more than ready to have this phase behind her. They pull together really well but this has been one very long, hard pull. Kids are all well, I am constantly impressed at how well they all read. Stuart is only in the 2nd grade but reads scriptures as well as I do! And little Claire is learning to read too, she starts school in the fall. Amy, well, she is just busy and bright but reading is not in her day to day plan right now! They should be getting news from the U of W on the Ph.D. program as early as this week. Everyone has their fingers crossed and prayers wafted on high.

Stopped down to Cedar with Kristin to see the Oliverson portion of the family. Jace had to work the night shift but joined us anyway, heck, who needs sleep anyway! They are both well and looking good. Jace has lost a descent amount of weight and Nancy has lost some too. She really didn't need to loose but is supporting her husband and has lost too. Her exercise routine keeps her firm and thin, and adding some good eating habits has made her a little more thin. She is the only girl in the family that plays with being too thin! Nancy has had a couple of really tough weeks but she is in good spirits and is doing a great job learning all the home skills that she needs. That girl may learn to be a good cook if she keeps trying like she is!


And now I am headed back to the Island. I am settled into a park, got the piano down and played some Beethoven that I need under my hands when I get home, and then some stuff that I just enjoy. Not everyone has a piano in a 23 foot RV but I do, and I really love it. Practice time at home is always hard to come by, too many interruptions and complications, but on the road I have minimal of both. I could become a very spoiled girl if life allowed me to live like this more!

Giant Daffodils

Quite a few years ago a new woman moved into my circle of friends. Her name was Barbara and she came to the Island via Utah, having entered life in the U.K. We quickly became friends as we had a lot in common, but that is not why I am writing this post. Today I was out and about and saw something that always makes me smile and always makes me think of Barbara.

Her first spring on Island she told me that she had seen some giant Daffodils and that she really wanted to have a start of them in her yard. I had no clue as to what she was talking about and told her that. She continued to explain where she had seen them and the light of recognition went off in my mind. Yes, I knew the giant daffodils that she was wanting. So, being the kind friend that I am, I suggested she ask at the local nursery for them under their common name (if I would have had time I would have given her the genus specie but I didn't have time) and their common name was silly but it was the only name I knew them by....skunk Cabbage! Unfortunately she got smart before she went and asked! So I didn't get my final laugh, but I get entertained every year as the glorious yellow flowers appear in bogs throughout the area. And after Barbara's input I look at them differently, they are, in fact, beautiful. Mind you, their beauty is something that has to be observed from afar as they have a very strong, pungent Oder!

I wonder how many things in life fail to get due respect because of something like an Oder? Skunk Cabbage is truly beautiful but I had never taken time to look at it, I just judged it bad because it smelled bad. It makes me think that one needs to re-evaluate things every once in awhile just to make sure something of great value has not been overlooked due to prejudice in one form or another. And, yes world, I love avocado....my mother would gasp to know that fact. Sometime in the last 50 years they must have improved because they were bad years ago and they are wonderful now. Just an example of what I mean.

Primroses

I wandered out and spent a few minutes in the yard today, pulled some weeds and other fun things like that. Kind of between sun shine and not, trying hard to hit the real thing and actually missing it totally. Such is early spring in Washington, changes rather frequently. My circle of primroses caught my eye and made me think. The table decorations from my parents memorial were primroses, and then my friend Avery Wilson purchased more for me rather than sending flowers or a card (by the way, she was probably 11 at the time). I enjoyed all the bright colors of the primroses until they no longer had color to share and then I planted them in my flower bed and encircled them with rocks to give them some structure. Every spring they make their much welcomed statement in the early spring and every year I remember my parents and most particularly my mother as she loved her gardens way more than I, as a child, thought healthy! I am sure she is smiling from her home on high on those beautiful flowers, and so am I. They were a gift to honor my mother from a young lady that I enjoy working with, a very thoughtful gift to me and to my mother.

And that made me think further. I have this wonderful contorted filbert that I love in front of the house. It probably garnishes more comments than anything else I have growing outside and I love it. When Larry's sister died we were given a planter filled with spring flowers and, like the plants from my parents memorial, I love their bright colors until they were all gone and then I emptied the container into the flower bed by the filbert. Each spring I have a beautiful display of deep purple minature Iris and some minature tulips and small daffodills that are among the earliest colors in the garden. They make me remember Susan and all the positive things she taught me. Her life was kind of a tradjidy, but she taught me the power of honesty. She made mistakes and she paid high for those mistakes, but she was so open and honest with me and taught me many things.

I love spring flowers, but most of all I love spring flowers that mean something to my heart as well as to my eyes. (Humm, spell checker is not working so you get this one raw. Does not this stupid computer know I need all the help I can get when it comes to spelling!)

Passport

I took myself up to Langley today to officially apply for a passport. It is something I have wanted to do for a long time but found ways of not making it happen, something I am completely too good at! Anyway, I downloaded the application off of the Internet, filled it in, got my birth certificate and off I went. I came to a realization here awhile back, things don't have to be complicated if you just don't make them complicated. My background is completely clear and easy to understand but I don't have complete documentation on some points of interest to those that really delve into these things. Point at hand, I have documentation of Long going to Franco, and Long becoming Godsey but I have nothing that bridges the point between Franco and Godsey. And that gives the authorities fits! It takes a simple leap of logic to connect the dots but they leap not at all. So how did I manage it this time....simple....I deleted the Franco name and it sailed through. So why did it take me all these years to come to that realization? Heck if I know, but it did. And now, in 4 to 6 weeks, I will be available to run around the world at will....anybody taking a trip that needs my supervision? I will soon be available!

All this documentation is kind of a farce anyway. They make it feel like they are enhancing national security as you get this passport, but the reality is they allow all sorts of people with negative intentions into the country every day while they stress out about the Franco/Godsey situation. The only thing I have ever blown up was a potato in the oven and that has been years ago...you stick them first and then they don't blow potato chunks all over the oven to be cleaned up later. Potatoes are simple, passports should be too.

Hello Dolly

Linda and I are doing something unique and different....we are going down to the Fifth Ave. Theater to see Hello Dolly on stage. I haven't been to a professional live production in an extremely long time. They are expensive and I detest going alone. I don't think Linda has ever been! So when Hello Dolly came up I thought this would be a good one. I played the local production and Linda was in the cast. We both know the show upside down and backwards thanks to those hours of rehearsals. I, of course, never saw it, but I still know what was going on...one of the joys of being the rehearsal accompanist and then in the pit. I can't help but think it will be a fun day.

She is leaving the boys with Lisa so we are truly alone for a time. It will also be her first trip away from Logan for more than an hour or two. See, lots of firsts today! Beefy-boy should do well and there is a back-up plan, Lisa is still nursing Isabella. Should be a fun day and the boys will be fine too.

Friday the 13th is good

Today is a good day on many levels. Garret is a whole month old today. It is hard to be so invested in someone and still not have even set eyes upon them. It was never my plan to have my family live a long way away so I had never thought about having a grandchild that I could not see with slight investment of time and energy. But that is the way things are right now. As a grandparent I want to be available but not in the way, and sometimes it is hard to see the line between the two. 3 weeks from today I will be on the road headed south to see this young man and I greatly look forward to the experience.

And it is good that this week is over and the wounds can begin the healing process. I so respect the young people I work with and how they feel so deeply but embrace tomorrow with so much health. They honor and love Katelyn but today they have moved on, she is still in their hearts and minds, but life is for the living and so they must live. What a healthy way of being and how I try to emulate them. All challenges are just that, challenges, and it is how we carry the load that is the measure of the person.

That said, Romans 8 and some before and after address being joint-heirs with Christ. What an amazing thought. Inheritance has been such a rats nest in my life and it is good to hear it all put in proper perspective. If we are to live worthy as joint-heirs with Christ what does it matter how things unfold here and now on this confused earth? It is of only temporary significance and I need to remember that all the time. I most certainly lost the battle but I feel so assured that the war is mine....I will be joint-heir with Christ and that is the true prize. It isn't in money and/or acreage, it is in the good you bring to others.

Ya, Friday the 13Th is a wonderful day and I am glad I am here to embrace it...and now I want my shower and breakfast, they too are in need of my embrace!!!

Some days are hard.

Today was a hard day in seminary. Some people think teaching seminary at 6:20 a.m. every day is a negative thing, but I really do love it. Weeks like this one make me realize how important it is and how blessed I am to work with the young people as closely as I do. The death of Katelyn last week has hit most of the kids really hard so today we honored her with a DVD which they will play at her memorial tomorrow. Kip assembled it with the help of some of the other kids, took most of the night to put it together and it was very touching. To say there was not a dry eye in the house would be an understatement. We all intellectually understood that Katelyn was gone but seeing the final frame with her birth and death dates on it, well, that was just difficult.

And, yes, I know....guns don't kill people, people kill people. But when guns are involved it just makes it more difficult. One of the things we all did was try to find the positive in this extremely negative situation. The positive is the love of a Heavenly Father and the gift of the Holy Ghost. We just need to learn to listen to those promptings and then maybe things like this would not happen as much. None of us know if Katelyn had time to react, time when she knew she needed to stop the game and get out of the room, but we all know what it feels like to have the comfort the Holy Ghost can provide. It affirms to me that I need to invest more energy into listening to those promptings, no matter how small and act upon what I know to be right.

And Katelyn will be missed but she will live on here on earth as well as in the Celestial Kingdom beyond the veil. She lives because she touched a lot of people here on Island and in other places too. She lives because there are many people that will remember her with a smile. More than that a person can not ask I think.

Service, doing what is needed

Service is an interesting concept that I love to do, but that sometimes I forget what it really is and avoid doing it for those reasons. Service is doing what is needed when it is needed, or at least that is my definition for service. I will put it another way. If you are walking through the hot desert and the sun is baking your brains, your body is demanding water to make the trip and you see someone coming towards you in a jeep. They get out of the jeep and hand you the most beautiful dress you have ever seen, jump back in, grab a quick drink from the gallon of water they carry, and roar off into the sunset. Is that service? Yes, it would be nice to have that amazing dress, the one you have always wanted, but no, it is not service. Or rather, it is self service, done for the giver and not the receiver. Service is needs based, the needs of the receiver and not the giver!

Yesterday I had the opportunity to do some service and a few people have looked at me as if I had a cracked head. Stephanie and I did special music for a singles conference. I admit, that was weird, there are so many single people that could have done an admirable job but they asked us so we did it, and we did well or so I believe. From there I went shopping, heck, I was on the mainland with almost 3 hours to fill, got some new slacks, a skirt and a top....all in all a productive day I would say....but that is not the point.

In the afternoon I went down to the Temple, dressed in white and sat down at the organ to play for the first session of our ward conference in the Assembly room of the temple. I played about 15 minutes of prelude, the opening hymn and then postlude until the room was again empty, found a stepping off point and cadenced. Walked back to the escalator that took me to the locker room, changed into street cloths and came home. Someone made the comment that I had not done a session and didn't I feel bad. I don't think they liked my answer because I assured them I felt great about my service. I had done service for the living and not the dead, but I had offered my service with a grateful heart at being asked. Yes, there were others that could have done what I did, but they asked me. Service is what is needed and not always what we want to do. It would have been rewarding to do a session but it did not diminish the rewards I felt for doing the service I did.

Heavenly Father has a plan for us, an individual plan as well as a group plan. It is our responsibility to keep an open heart and mind so that we can hear and feel what he would have us do. I know he gave me back my music so that I could use it to serve others, and through that service help people find their way back to him.

Garret Oliver Godsey

I started out this session trying to up-load a picture of Lawrence and his family onto my blog, but all I get is a series of numbers etc. Not what I had in mind so I will just do nothing on that angle. Sometimes I wonder why I can up load pictures and why I can't....I swear I do the same thing both times. Such is the life with a computer I guess, they are truly unpredictable under my hands!

Garret Oliver Godsey came to this world on the 13th of February weighing in at 8 pounds and standing 20 inches in height-length. He has a light dusting of black hair but it looks like the kind that will soon be history. And in the only picture I have seen of just him, he looks a lot like Lawrence at the very beginning. Emily says he is a calm little boy and that is good. She said she has hardly heard him. I know that he is well cared for, of that I am certain, Michelle has wanted this baby forever it would appear. I understand, I was there when Emily was born. I didn't think I could have children and then there was Emily. A pretty amazing experience any way you look at it.

The birth of Garret really slides the family into boy mold. We are now at 3 girls and 5 boys, and if you include the grandchildren of choice (Luzvie's kids) it is 7 boys. I am glad I like little boys a whole lot because I think that is just a fine number! I will say it also makes the three more special because they are so unique. Family is what it is all about and I get great pleasure seeing my small beginnings start expanding. Coming from a mom that was an only child and a dad that had one surviving brother to this is breathtaking. I could not be more pleased. The next generation of the family is composed of a whole lot of remarkable souls, remarkable in all ways.

Just listen folks....

I am always amazed at what teachers assign students to perform. Do they not listen to the student to ascertain if they are capable of playing the piece or do they just hear what they want to hear? There is a major concerto competition coming up with the auditions on the 24th. I am playing for 4 students. There is Adam that will do just fine, maybe fine enough to win a place and maybe not, but he will not embarrass me or him. Needless to say, he is my student, I started him with his first 1 1/2 reed and still work with him on Stamatz concertos. Then there is Zoe, plays a very competent viola but practices the art of Sorta-pitch when things get moving. Her teacher doesn't seem to notice that so I just try not to notice too. She should do well, probably getting a seat because she is a really good young violist, albeit a little pitch handicapped. Next we have Wyatt, not my student, playing the extremely fast Quantz Concerto. He is very good but he has not mastered the art of tonguing at that fast tempo. So would it not be better to play the slow movement and show off his remarkably good tone and control? Nope, we are going with blazing fast that shows off all his weaknesses (thank heaven's there aren't many). Lastly there is Jacob, a trombone from the north end. He really knows his instrument and he gets from note to note with speed and accuracy. Intonation is remarkably good too, but he has one volume and it is loud. On and on it is loud with no contrasts at all. And he is playing a transcription where the instructions so no transcriptions. We will see if they honor their own rules because he really is very good. And last of all, a mid-island clarinet that is trying to get some scholarship money from WWU. She is doing the slow movement of a Brahms Sonata and refuses or has no clue as to how, to count. The accompaniment offers no support to the solo and she is all over the place with her notes. It will never hang together unless I just throw the music out the window and improvise around her random notes.

So why do teachers do this to students and why do students do this to accompanists? No answer, only I hope I never do it to the students or to myself in that I do all my own accompaniment work. I think we get our egos too involved and somehow think that the student playing a more challenging piece makes us look better. True, but only if they can pull it off with authority.

Meanwhile I will continue practicing those hard runs and go out there to showcase those I am working with....and maybe guide the one young lady away from Brahms.

A Full Day

Sometimes I wonder why I do what I do, then I remember it is because I like what I do! That would be today. What a long day. Started off going to the gym for my average but brief workout. I figure it is better to go and do something than stay home and do nothing, so I go with that something in mind. Works eventually. Anyway, taught a piano lesson and then sewed with Avery for a couple of hours. Booked it up to Oak Harbor to teach some lessons and do some accompaniment work for the upcoming concerto competition. Came back to attend the WICO rehearsal (Whidbey Island Orchestra Organization) and now I am back at square one. I am tired but all in all it has been a good day. Avery learned the fine art of zippers, single flap and double flap. A necessary skill but not one that I find easy to instruct so I brought in Tarey to do the deed!

While up north I picked up stuff at Wal-mart and Albertsons. I figure that I might as well take advantage of the trip and do some shopping while out and about. I also discovered that you can not purchase a freezer in Oak Harbor, or the portion that I was shopping anyway. So it means I head off to the mainland tomorrow after my lesson and rehearsal to look at Sears. I figured Home Depot would have same, not a one! That came as a shock! But I am rather certain Sears will come through on this department. I will purchase same tomorrow (hopefully) and Larry will collect it on Monday. Will work for both our schedules I think. My chest freezer is not holding temperatures as good as it once did so it is time to get a new chest freezer for long term storage.

Time to decompress and head to bed. Tomorrow is another day, and it might even be a sunny day. That is an extra plus this time of the year. There was some nice sunshine today as I was locked in a practice room with students. Earning money can be such a drag but I am so grateful that I am able to do just that. There are many that have no income at all, I get to do what I want pretty much when I want. Not such a bad routine!

They always say that a picture is worth ever so many words....and this pretty much says a bucket. We had some deep snow just before Christmas and my one and only went outside to make a snowman, or snow pile or something, in his pajamas. No gloves, no boots and plenty of cleavage! Some families are known for their cleavage on the front side, some for the cleavage on the back side.....mine would be the latter. I would have thought the snow crawling down the obvious cleavage would be ever so cold but he stayed out there for well over an hour. I took the picture form the bedroom window. Heck, I am smart enough to stay inside where it is warm and dry, don't need to be out there getting snow in places snow has no need to be!

When he finally finished his project it was the tall pile of snow. I thought it was an igloo but it was just a pile. He then walked around to the deck and put the flag on the top of the pile. But that wasn't good enough....if you are going to be "poor white trash" you need to take the final step. He went and got some clear plastic and covered the pile so that it would not melt. So I ended up with a flag sticking out of a pile of snow covered with plastic wrap. Oh I was proud! Well, at least I was entertained! I sure hope it is more genetic than environmental. I would hate to think I have populated the world with more Cleavage baring snow piling, flag sticking, plastic wrapping off-spring! Ain't life grand?!