This pair is nearly ready for a heel. Maybe an inch more of the arch ribbing.
My new recliner diamond painting is ready to set up. This guy is cool! I can hardly wait to get started.
My new project. Ponytail holders. The red band will probably not show once I crochet the lime green around it.
Info about the yarn.
I had made progress of about 4 rows but found an oops. Can you see the blue marker in the top of the sock on the right? Ugh. I felt watermelon would make me feel better these days. Oh, well.
No light shows progress on my sunset beach diamond painting.
With the back light on bright you can see my progress into the water. Me stepping in…
I’m finally getting my piano groove going again. I’m keeping sessions short and as successful as possible.
I finished all but the Dexter movie. Can’t seem to find it. But both series(es) done. I miss the music. Trying to find a good piano copy of the sheet music of the beginning theme and end theme.
My allergies kept me from the recorders. I don’t like playing them with a sore throat or sneezing.
I am finding progress on my Enya Ukulele. Even my B flat seems right every now and then.
The groove still sits empty. No bike, no walk, once with recorders–maybe when I finish writing this. A couple nights with the new Enya Ukulele. No piano. Haven’t straightened or sealed Dock Diamond Painting.
New slipper socks are moving along.
I haven’t touched these. Until this moment.
Same story here. Darn if touching these and writing this isn’t making a spark of desire click in.
So maybe this blog of self-awareness is keeping me honest to myself.
ADHD plays a part here. Flitting from idea to idea gets nothing done. Before I left the obsessive side was helping to get things done. And the arthritis side kept me from getting to the point of being crippled from any one hobby.
The only obsession this week has been finishing my old Sudoku book and reaching
On the other hand, it’s been nice to hang out with my husband this week.
Okay now time for Enya.
I know. Not a Uke but Bitmoji doesn’t have one for me.
Yay! The dock is finished. It still needs to be straightened and sealed. Soon, it will see its new owner.
The socks have 3 inches until heel time. I’m pretty sure they will be finished before I leave. Yay!
My finer yarn socks are waiting patiently for me to finish the slipper socks. They will come with me to keep my hands busy while peopling. Yikes! I love travel, but I have to be brave and meet new people!
Having a timeline for my hobbies is hard for my ADD brain and arthritic fingers. I find having a lot of variety helps me get things done. Too much focus when it hurts, or I’m distracted makes me give up.
An example was sometime this week when I sat to play piano, people distracted me. Even my thoughts distracted me. I couldn’t find my hyper-fun focus. So I quit for the day. Also, my shoulder was hurting, and my neck seemed stiff. Hmmm. Was that there before or after the attempt? So, with the tension of the next few days, I don’t see a lot of playtime at the piano. But while on my trip, I am sure I will have alone time to think about music. As they often tell us about Olypian contestants, sometimes picturing the job can pay off nearly as much as jumping in full-bodied.
Because the next few days are house-cleaning and packing for the trip. I may have very few piano sessions.
I might take my roll-up to run scales daily. I don’t have to have sound on to do that. I’m also taking my practice fingerboards for the ukulele and guitar. I downloaded music to play around with. I won’t be able to hear the instrument, but I will practice moving chords.
I have an old recorder that will be good for pretending to play. The sound isn’t great, but it’ll be okay to keep up fingering work. If I lose it or give it away, no problem. Again, I’ve downloaded music to my phone to play around with. I just don’t want to lose the habit of music.
My other habit I’ve been happy about is the stationary bike and door exercises. I’m assuming that the trip itself will offer walking and moving around. I don’t know how I am going to feel like I’m keeping that up while on a completely different schedule.
Oh, and blogging. I’m going to try. I know I can share a bit on my phone. I’ll try to get the book reviews done before I leave, as they need the laptop. But saying “hi!” daily may be easy. Same with Duo. Five minutes can be done. I probably won’t be able to hit all the languages. I may just stick with Italian, as it is the easiest for me right now.
Okay, back to finished. I did finish a pile of stuff that needed to be tackled. I have so much more to do, but I have to give me a pat on my back.
I just learned that I might get to travel to Washington for a friend’s birthday. Oops! No money what to do for a present? Heck, I have yarn! Slipper socks! But, hopefully, these will be big enough. The sizer/blocker doesn’t go far enough for the recipient’s great understanding. Winging it!
My watermelon socks are coming along.Another pair of no-show sneaker socks are nearing the heel.
Here are all the pieces I’m playing with. Embarrassingly, that Music of Today book, I think I learned in 5th or 6th grade. So many good! But my husband says he heard a lot of improvement. Just when I thought no one was listening. 😥. By the way, at the far left is Succession. I didn’t like the show so much. I watched it for the music. But I’ll have to work up to it.
I’m having a lot of fun with this book.
This is one of the easiest songs. Can’t wait to learn guitar! But first I’m conquering the uke. I’m planning on giving my $11 Memorex to my son when I upgrade to an Enya. By the way, the Memorex regardless of price, holds tune very well and despite my ineptitude still sounds nice.
In this book with my recorders, I’m teaching myself to do harmonies so I can record me playing with myself. Keep it clean! You know what I mean!
For example, see how at the bottom of the page is the alto playing melody. Above is both soprano playing melody and alto playing harmony. I’ve worked through most of the book and can finally do both recorders’ melodies. Now learning the harmony.
Just because I think they’re pretty.
The dock is coming along. Though I’m working on it upside down to make it easier on my arms and back, it’s fun to see the picture right side up.
Ah, but here’s the problem. These “hard” ones in this EASY Sudoku book aren’t fun. I need lots of penciled hints. Even then I have to cheat and look up a few. Do I keep it up and finish regardless of difficulty or move on to another book where it starts very easy. Oh, the dilemma!
My other socks took a sideline as I finished the slippers. So I’ll take pics next week.
The dock is nearly finished. It reminds me of my son-in-love and daughter’s wedding dock At his parents’ home, at a lake. It is so beautiful there.
I feel better about my piano. We have love/hate moments. I do learn a lot with each sit down. I play not practice. I do work on problem areas. I work on my concentration. I see my playing as meditation. Here’s a thought. Check. Don’t dive in. A slight thought given attention can bring about a mistake tornado. Distraction of any kind can throw off the fun.
Take for instance, today I wanted to analyze the few pieces I shared last week. By thinking about key signatures my fingers lost their groove.
I’m much happier about the ukulele now. Being able to sing while playing makes this instrument far more fun than piano or recorders.
See those post-its? I can sing and play 16 songs in this book. No, not for an audience, but for fun. Still, I stumble, but it is fun. Isn’t that what counts?
This is that songbook.
Recorders seem to be helping my breath control. Note recognition between the soprano and the alto instruments is getting better. I still have goals of playing duets with myself. I need to learn how to record like that.
That’s about it for now. Time to get to Duo, and the recorders and uke.
Remember way back when I mentioned I might start a podcast? I can’t remember what I thought I’d call it, but a new title comes to mind as I started day # 3 of piano reawakening. “Warts and All”
We are so used to seeing the end result of endless practice. That makes sitting in front or with your art impossible. “I’ll never be that good. Why try?” So many negative things we tell ourselves, and because of that, we will never know what enjoyment we might bring ourselves or others while waiting for perfection. Follow your passions. God, muses, whatever you may call it, gets the credit for your curiosity drive. Do we dare let our defeatism lead the way? So I’m taking you on the ride. I took piano lessons since I was 5. I rebelled my way out around 16. After marriage at 21, I had to wait a while to get my old piano. My second son was teething when I got my piano back. I was rusty but could still enjoy the below pieces and much more, nearly totally memorized. I would play so hyperfocused that that piano had teething marks as the poor baby begged for my attention. So, I had to keep the practice to light bits.
When we moved to my first desert, Antelope Valley, the house was so small I had to keep the piano in a chicken coop. It was an old upright grand. It looked quite at home there. I would get up and go out in my heavy coat and gloves, scarf, and cap. As I did the scales and warm-ups, layers were released. I was starting to fall in love with my kidnapper. Stockholm Syndrome? There was a lot of angst from the psychological damage that practicing piano imposed on me.
A few decades later, after letting myself enjoy other music, singing, playing the recorder, and playing the ukulele, I felt like I wanted to try to bring it all back. Three days ago, I figured out a time of the day I could schedule my piano time. My first day was a lot of cleaning my baby. We get a lot of dust out here. And the darned mice. Lots of cleaning. But hey, that old piano in the chicken coop was pretty bad, too. And I love this piano. How I got it is another story. So cleaning it was, is now, a work of love. I did start playing that day for a few minutes. It went well. I kept it to 15 minutes. For some reason, yesterday’s practice made me want to cry. Today I decided to start recording myself and sharing the mess and progress with you. You are not required to listen to these as if they were elevator music. It is merely how it is when you try.
Solfeggietto by Carl Philipp Emanuel BachSarabande and Variations from Suite no. 4 in D minor George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)Prelude No. 1 from Well-tempered Clavichord by J. S. BachSix Variations by L. van Beethoven
I did play this a bit, but I want to start fresh on it. I love this piece.
Enough of music. I’ll share the uke and recorder progress later.
I’m nearly halfway through the Dock diamond painting. The light behind shows the need to use a straightener. Wow!
I got a few more rows. I love the watermelon socks! MINE!
I thought I was on the decreasing part of the heel when I realized that these won’t fit my son; they are almost too small for me. Mismeasuring happens to me sometimes. I can measure my own feet, but other feet are in other cities! So, it’s time to frog back to the beginning of the heel. Still, I love this yarn so much that I ordered more. I love my own slippers from this peacock yarn.
This yarn is so much fun, visually I worked far more than I should have. Shoulder and hands are crying. But aren’t they adorable?
These haven’t progressed but maybe a row or two. The watermelons were much more fun!
Same with these. They are closer to the heel now.
The dock is coming along.
This is a ukulele chord trainer. Just for practicing without disturbing the household. I still need the ear training but my fingers need more touching. This I can do while watching TV.
This two sided poster helps with positioning and the second side helps with composition, harmony, and scales, etc. It’s been a long time since music theory classes
So these are the things in the making here. Hope you had a marvelous Monday.
My #2 son’s slippers are now to the arch. Chiaogoo red-laced cable needles, 40″, size 8, Two-At-A-Time. Turkish Cast-on, ribbed arch, will have Fleegle Heel.
I don’t know who these will belong to. But heading for the Fleegle Heel. Chiaogoo red-laced cable, 60″, size 1 needles. Because they have finer yarn and needles my hands have to take it slow.
Mediums are harder in this book. But I feel proud not to give up and I still try. Maybe someday mediums will be easier.
Making music still. Still working on Ash Grove. Learning flats. Playing both alto and soprano recorders. One of these days I will be coordinated or brave enough to record my own duets. This book is still quite challenging.
I know, now, the underlined chords. I’m working on the circled ones. My fingers are callused but so uncoordinated.
I’m also learning to play melodies. After decades of piano, I find this non-linear scale tough but fun for my brain.
I am learning scales, too!
Besides Bernadette’s 30 Day plan on YouTube (which is taking far longer!), I’m working in this book, too. Though I’m getting ready to order the next grade up. Maybe not a kid’s version. Suggestions?
A song involving chords and melody. I’m getting better.
Shooting the Curl will be finished tomorrow. I just need to fill the strays, seal and stash away.
12 languages. I don’t work on all of them everyday. But I do most of them most days. Sometimes I barely make it through one. But I only work on things I enjoy. Follow the passion.
Finished the remake of this pair of slippers. They will probably be too big for the first recipient.This was the finish because I ran out of the bumpy cotton yarn. The brown was too tight and needed to be frogged back.
Empty needles call for new projects. Turkish Cast-on is my favorite. Too more rows, then the foot. Two-At-A-Time Chiaogoo cables size 8 40″
Almost finished. Just a piece of sky. Do I hear Barbra Streisand in Yentl?The sunset. This weekend Oregon might see Aurora Borealis. So far not much in the sky but stars. There’s a lighter part of the sky but could it just be light reflection? No colors. But twilight and pre sunrise are the times to watch.
There are a few more projects. I just ran out of writing energy. I did finish “Leave the World Behind.” The review hits Sunday.
Working on my series: Haven.
Doodler (zendoodle.com)
Music major: voice and piano
Mom of four great adults
Reiki II practitioner
I have been on disability/retired for 10 years now from depression, anxiety and fibromyalgia.
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