Days of '47 2009 A Smashing Success

Performing a concert in Abravanel Hall is always a thrill. When Sterling changed it to two nights, I was concerned because of the 300 mile round trip drive. Not only for two nights performing, but for the two mandatory rehearsals that week as well. But I made my peace, found a place to stay overnight, with one of my daughters in the area, and enjoyed myself.

Sterling, our conductor, is very talented at picking out the songs, arranging for a good mix of guest performers and making up a very wonderful program that seems to reach every member of the audience and choir in many different levels.

This year we sang to a practically packed house two nights in a row. We had several guest performers, Joshua Creek, Joseph Paur, Jessica Poulson, Jenny Simmons and Dave Beecher.

Joshua Creek is, in their words, "a unique blend of country-esque music and inspirational lyrics of faith." Their harmony is beautiful, and they have a fun sense of humor to add to the mix. Not normally a fan of country music, I really enjoyed their sound and their lyrics. My favorite song was Flying to Freedom. We got to sing along with them in two of their numbers. They orchestrated and arranged it for SATB. It has a John Denver feel to the song, and has me singing it over and over in my head.

Joseph Paur, best known for his role in the Feature Film's musical Rigeletto. His classically trained voice is perfect for the part, and he reprised two of the songs from the movie in the concert.

Singing with Joseph was Jessica Poulson. Jessica sang beautifully in a solo, then a duet with Joseph. Jessica is Sterling's daughter, and you couldn't have seen a prouder look on his face as he directed the orchestra accompaniment.

Another highlight was when two of our choir members sang solos. It was so fun to see them standing up there and sounding so perfect. Jenny Simmons and Dave Beecher sang the solos from Showboat in a medley. Jenny's perfect soprano voice carried us all away, back to that era. And Dave Beecher's wonderful low bass was perfect for Old Man River.

Donny Gilbert wrote a piece especially for this concert, entitled Celebration '47. His work is always amazing, he is a genius.

The main reason I joined this choir was to sing in a four part choir, and because of our weekly practices, I am singing all the time. The music Sterling picks is always beautiful and uplifting. The opportunities we have been given because we are members of this choir are beyond anything I had ever dreamed of.

Saturday's performance went off perfectly. There were no mistakes, well except a tiny part where I totally forgot how my part sounded and I just mouthed it. shhh don't tell Sterling.

The audiences were amazing. They really make a difference. It is such a thrill to look out and see their faces smiling back, hands clapping to the music and responding to us. We end up playing off each other. The more enthused they are, the more responsive we become. I found myself surprised at the intermission and end of each program, thinking, "Already?" The only downer is handing in that music. I sort of want to keep it near me and go over the words again as I sing to myself.

At the end of every single concert, I say to myself, "That was the BEST concert I have EVER been in, there is NO WAY Sterling can top this!" But he does. I am just so thrilled to be a part of it.

Thank you Sterling. You are amazing.

~a

Our Garden

I found two of these solar lights at Target when my sister bought some for Mom. And I had to have more than the only two they had left. She offered to look up in all the Targets in Salt Lake to see if any other store had any left and they didn't.
Then I spent a good deal of time looking for them on the internet. I found some and ordered three. Then decided I wanted another one.
When I put them outside to charge the first day, I realized one rattled. Sure enough, it was broken. The website was so great. I registered that it was broken and they sent me a return label over the internet. I printed it, put it back in the original boxes and shipped it back, applied for a refund and ordered two more.
Now I have six. They glow seven different colors. I had Sailor take some night shots. He fiddled around with the settings on my camera and figured out how to get some great shots.
The first one shows that they are crackle balls, the second shot shows the colors.
I love them. In the middle of the night, when I get up to get a drink, there are my happy solar lights smiling at me. They are so nice.
The other thing I love in our backyard is the wind chimes.

The End of the Tree o Love

Sailor, my husband, wrote a very nice post on the demise of our big tree to the north of our house. I think his pictures are perfect and his post says it all.
It was called the Tree 'O' Love, mainly because the kids went up there in the tree house, and carved their names into it. They also carved "Tree 'O' Love" into the trunk as well.

The guy who took it down told us he would save that part of the bark when he saws it into lumber.

We are working every spare minute, hauling away the branches and sawing the rest into wood. I might get the courage to download my pictures and write a post on it later, but for now, go to his blog.
have a great weekend.
~a

Mulberry Jam

Today it rained again. While Sailor was painting his father's 50 year-old table, I began to pick mulberries.

It seems like the robins haven't discovered them this year. Usually we realize the mulberries are ripe because our tree is filled with robins. But this time, the branches are weighed down with ripening mulberries.

I don't know if it is because of all the rain, that they haven't discovered them, or if the rain has made so many more that the robins aren't eating them as fast as usual? Either way, I am enjoying the rain while we still have it, and decided to not let this abundance go to waste.

Sailor mentioned he wondered what Mulberry Jam tasted like. Like nothing else in this world, I thought.
I brought out a bucket and just held it under a branch, then gently milked the branch and the berries fell into the bucket. Sailor finished painting and grabbed a bowl and helped. We stopped when it began to rain too hard. But later I went back out and laid an old sheet beneath the tree and shook. I got more than when I picked. We ended up with a 5-quart ice cream bucket of berries. As I picked I think as many mulberries fell to the ground as I put in the bucket.

I looked up berry jam in the Joy of cooking. Basically use as much sugar as berries. So we did.

We had to stir the whole time. Sailor insisted on adding some water, which helped the process speed up a bit. Bring to boil, and boil 15 minutes, continuing to stir.

Pour into jars and seal with new hot lids.
As I stirred, Sailor suddenly said. "that's it!" and he grabbed a container and headed downstairs to grind wheat.
Yeah, we got homemade bread and freshly made mulberry jam today.
Talk about carb Heaven. There is no way a picture will ever let you know what a unique flavor mulberry jam tastes like.
It reminds me of Grandma.
It looks good enough to eat. What do you think?

Home made bread, fresh from the oven and freshly made mulberry jam.

heaven

~a

What do we do with our left-over tires?

I stumbled across this site today. It is Used Tire Art. Click on the link to see the whole gallery. How clever are these people?


My blog-buddy, Katie will get a kick out of this I'm sure since she lives in a Tire House this summer. Go visit her as well.

Have a great day
~a

yuck

I feel like c**p today. Notice my biorhythm on the right hand side of the blog? Everything except intellectual are all below the mid-line and heading south.

Funny thing. I never check my biorhythm until I am feeling just awful and then it all makes sense. Speaking of intellectual, guess what I have been doing today instead of getting ready to drive to Salt Lake to choir? I have been having great fun studying and ordering stuff from this site.

I have been looking into replacing the shades in our bedroom for quite some time. I have a beautiful quilt that I made for this room. I received the purple "Sweepstakes" ribbon at the local county fair a long time ago when I made it. When I purchased the fabric, I had absolutely NO idea how much you need to purchase, so I have an orange box filled with the left over fabric.

Today as I googled "hand made window shades" and among other sites I found the one in the link above. It seemed to have all the answers and most instructions. I had no idea how much it would cost me in the end, but with the left over fabric on hand, it should cost less than custom made ones. I even purchased some drapery lining fabric which is a light-blocker. How cool is that? We live in the city limits and the street lights shine so bright, you can walk outside practically without stubbing your toes. I found I sleep much better with no light. For instance when I am at my mom's home, I sleep like a baby. She lives in the country and no light comes into the room except if an animal pass the motion sensor light. Also at the hotel last week we had such a nice dark room, I slept so peacefully. So I guess this is a good investment. Now, how do you block the barking dogs or the train a block away as it sounds its lonely horn when passing through the intersection? See why we are still looking out in the country for a place?

I looked into custom made blinds and they quoted me $300 a piece. Are You Kidding Me? For teeny tiny little inconsequential windows like the ones in my "master" bedroom?

So I guess I will design my own. I am so excited.

But in the mean time, I just took the old roll-up blinds off and replaced them with a piece of cloth the same with and length with serged sides and top, and a hem wide enough to hold the wood pull. I replaced the tape with new double-stick tape and adhered the cloth to the roller. It looks better than sheets or cloth draped over the top.

This cold gets me down, but my mind is working overtime.

Last night something weird happened. The cat decided he could climb my screen to get to the lattice roof. I was NOT happy. Scared me to death to hear that, then look out to see this large animal climbing my screen. YIKES. I opened the shade and he jumped down, only to start again when he thought the coast was clear. grrrrr. I yanked the shade and knocked it off trying to get at the window, so I could open it and spray water on him, but he had accomplished the dastardly deed and was on the lattice. I'm AWAKE NOW. Couldn't go back to sleep for at least an hour. Sailor says he will put a piece of board over that part of the lattice so he can go nowhere when he finishes climbing. I would love to make some sort of moat for him to pass through to get to my screen. What a stupid cat.

I started coming down with a slight sore throat on Sunday. I didn't believe it. I never get sick in the summer, but I did live on the edge last week, staying up late for several nights in a row. Yesterday I sort of lounged around, but still exercised in spite of how bad I felt. I reasoned that if I got my blood circulating, that the bad stuff would be washed out, eh?

Today I am worse. Just one of those things, in spite of all the stuff I am doing, including OTC drugs, nothing seems to get me better. Sailor called to see if I would like him to drive me up to choir tonight and just be there to listen, even if I sat away from everyone and recorded. My heart wanted to do this more than anything, but my body rebelled. I told him, I would see how I felt by 3 pm. As soon as the Dayquil wore off, I was back to yucky. He called around 2 to say that he, too, was feeling down.in.the.dumps. And was aparently rescinding on his offer to drive me. That was fine by me. I was ready to tell him "thanks, but no thanks, not going."

So the two of us "sickies" will just chill tonight. Hopefully not getting chills, but rather just veg instead. Going to bed at a decent hour and resting. I have already consumed about a gallon of liquids and my throat still feels dry. Glad I didn't have this last week. That trip was SOMUCHFUN!

Luckily you, the reader, can't get anything contageous while reading this post. I hope your day is happy and you are NOT sick. Now I am going to open the windows and try to smell this wonderful rain.

Onto happier stuff. It's raining. I LOVE the rain.

Oh I *LOVE* the RAIN! Bring it on, I could take this kind of rain every.single.day.

God Bless,
~a

Found this on someone elses blog but I don't want to lose it. . .

This is a fun and imaginative movie with great music.
Now I am singing Beatles tunes. That is happy.
~a