Sadly not many diamonds reached the beach this week. This and my piano on the south side of the house are too hot to sit for long. Succession is coming along. The first page is starting to sound like it has promise.
The scrunchie is done. Yay! Time to start a new one. It’s an easy crochet pattern I found on Etsy.
Empty needles called for more socks so toes are nearly finished.
Huggable Arch is coming along.
Ready to do heel increases.
I had to get peg drops for my violin 🎻. I’m learning basics like tuning and putting rosin on the bow. Finally making notes sound halfway like notes. So much so that I’ve managed the first line of Twinkle, Twinkle.
I’ve nearly memorized Imagine on the uke.
With smoke the recorders aren’t getting attention because deep breaths and scratchy throat make this a bad choice for now.
With smoke and heat the only exercise I get is on the stationary bike.
It is getting cooler. And September seems closer. Let’s pray we all make it. Fires on our coast, floods to the east. I hope we all make it to Fall.
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.
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.
It’s been an interesting week. I’ve been busy and am tired. So the bits I can grab and report are these:
Shooting the Curl is finally finished. It still needs sealing. There were a lot of black and dark colors so I’m glad to be done. My eyes cross in the parts mostly 310 (that’s embroidery black).
Just started what I’m calling The Dock. It looks easier on the eyes.
Look what UPS just delivered! It’s just too hard enough to be a challenge. But not enough to be discouraging.
And for my rhythm inadequacies, this too, came UPS. It’s pretty and no battery or wires.
My son’s slipper socks are at the heel stage. Hopefully I’ll finish them by midweek.
These are getting hard. Sometimes I have to go get a hint. Almost every answer needs to be checked. If it isn’t right it can get so messy it’s hard to recover. I figure I need to keep at it as sooner or later I’ll figure out how to do these harder puzzles. It’s still fun. When it isn’t I’ll find something else to do.
Now it’s time to play uke and recorders. Have a great weekend!
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.
Readjusting an older pair to fit a friend better. Lots of tinking to get to this stage. Two more rows to tink then I need to find a good yarn for the heels and cuffs.
I think these will be mine. Another pair of crazy socks. The next row starts the heels, so the end is in sight.
Shooting the Curl is three/fourths done. I have to turn this upside down next as reaching up hurts.
I’m halfway through the new Sudoku book.
Hey, the part that is the hardest and happiest: I’m learning Imagine by John Lennon. I’m not very good but here’s how I’m learning it.
My fingers have developed calluses but that is bad for recorders because now it’s hard to tell if the little holes are closed tightly so I get more squeaky noises than I did before picking up the Uke. Ah, well, I’m having fun.
That’s not all but all I have energy to report.
Oh, my hair is growing and I’m adding messy bun hairpieces to my short ponytail.
Viewing Shogun all day today was a valiant effort. We binged all ten episodes. So soon after reading (listening) the book, it was interesting to see how well it was interpreted. Now, on Monday, I should receive the older version with Richard Chamberlain. I advise if you can, to read the actual book first. I did in the 80s. But I wish I had read it more recently. But my vision isn’t good enough for the printed volume.
Meanwhile, I have a bunch of socks nearly finished. My hands have been hurting with the weather changes. So not a lot of progress on any of the projects. But here ya go:
Still working the arch.
Getting ready to do cuff and cast-off.
Another cuff and cast-off.
I’m trying to make sure the ukulele strap is extra long because of the curling of Tunisian Crochet.
Almost finished with the bottom fourth. Didn’t even work on it for two days. I miss when I don’t get to play with my diamond painting.
Didn’t get enough time yesterday so Pictures will lend a weight.Almost finished with the bottom of what I’m calling, “Shooting the Curl.” Yes. Another beach diamond painting.My mixed slipper socks are at the increases for the Fleegle Heel. I like the arch ribbing I learned on the no-show sneaker sock.I seem obsessed with Sudoku. I’m already on 35 of the new book.Said new book.I’m finally on the decrease part of the Fleegle Heel of the cotton socks. These I’m testing the elastic thread to strengthen the heel. That thread is hard to work with.These are slower but turning out nice.My daughter is making a pair out of this yarn. It made me so excited I had to find this watermelon yarn. With seeds built in! I have to wait for the fine needles to be free. But I can’t wait to start!I found Kindle books for my Ukulele andFor my recorders. Just for something new to fiddle around with.
None of my music pursuits are quiet. But I need to get busy on them. So I have to quit writing.
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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