May after thoughts....

Beckie and Quinn

CIS string quartet plays for the Mother's Day Tea at Candlelight Lodge

Nancy, Paul, Helen in back.  Hope in front

Ruth Marshall at the Tea

May news

School is OVER!  I knew this past year was going to be rough – and it was.  But, now it is suddenly done. 

My last day of classes was Wednesday even though the kids were in classes until Friday.  I had Baccalaureate Tuesday evening, CIS senior recognition dinner Wednesday, and CIS Commencement Thursday evening.  My grades are submitted.  Keys get turned in this coming Tuesday. 

So, now I have to catch up for the entire month of May – yikes!  So, here are the highlights:

Mother’s Day weekend – Steve and I traveled to Indiana to visit Julina and Alex.  We saw Alex’s home in Greenwood, 

 

went to a minor league baseball game, 

 

checked out the airplane that Alex is working on.    

And, we visited Emily and family on the way back.  It was a great time.

Grandma with Quinn

Rock Bridge – the joint concert with Hickman orchestra went very well.  Six members of my ensemble were seniors.  Even only knowing them for just one year, I am still going to miss them.  

my RBHS orchestra 2012-2013

 

  We had the first annual orchestra end-of-year picnic …..current and future orchestra members were invited and I was happy with the turnout considering that half the invitations were inadvertently not sent!  

picnic photo

 

Home improvements began anew two weeks ago.  This time around, Ricky has been working on the sports room and Noah’s Ark room.  Being in the basement on the end of the house that has done the most settling, they needed the most repair work.   I moved all the stuff in both rooms are crammed into the family room and my music studio Thursday morning

this is the sports room

 

 

The Noah's Ark room

How our kitchen looked for a week while drawers were in repair

our countertops full of the belongings of the drawers

 

 In between applications of mud on the drywall, he has been doing lots of other little projects.  We now have new lights in the upstairs bathrooms, a new vanity top in the master bath, and our kitchen cabinet drawers are the sturdiest they have ever been. 

 

 

 I have nine cans of paint and last Thursday, the first day I didn’t have classes, I began painting the ceilings in the main and downstairs bathrooms (these were repaired back when we got the new doors – a couple of months ago! ).  I will be painting throughout the summer since every room in the house got new doors and the new framing is smaller than the original molding.  So, I need to paint each door and the wall that they are in.  And, almost every room also either has a patched crack (settling) which will need painting. 

Last weekend, Steve and I went to St. Louis - to the temple and then to watch Noah's T-ball game.  Steve gave Noah his temporary sunglasses he got after an eye exam and dilation.  Noah REALLY LOVED THEM - he said they made him feel like a Transformer.   Beckie flew in from Hawaii that morning and she also came to the game.  We have her for two weeks!

Noah swings away

Lucy at the game

walking back to the car

 Yard update:  Here is how my irises looked a couple of weeks ago.  So pretty!  I have little peaches apples, plums, pie cherries, and blueberries.  We created a strawberry bed and a raspberry bed and planted 20 more asparagus plants.  We also created a new garden spot in the south part of our back yard. Steve is in the process of digging up the front grass strip that sits between the street and sidewalk.  We transplanted our two hazelnut bushes out to this spot and we are thinking of making the rest of it a rose garden.  (hey, less grass to mow - which we have been doing A LOT lately thanks to all our rain).

pictures to go with the last post

Trissy and Sadie with their new hair-dos

 Late spring hail and snow

Trissy's reactions to this unsettled weather

 

Steve at the Piano Guys concert

my attempt at a self portrait with my phone camera

attempt #2

attempt #3 - and, we're giving up.

Sarah's birthday

RTO performance at Candlelight.  Steve is behind his euphonium so all you can see is the bell of his instrument

Sorry to be so long

I cannot get pictures loaded onto the blog today - not sure why.  But, today is my window to blog and so I will just give you a short update of our past month.  What a crazy April it was. 

Crazy weather.  We had cold, wet weather almost all month.  It snowed the last week but thankfully, it didn't stick.  We had a short episode of golf-ball size hail but we didn't have any damage.  Heck, the weather is still crazy in May.  We set a record for the lowest high temperature last Thursday. 

Crazy busy.  Steve and I, in between rain and cold, and when we have some free time (in April, those two variables rarely met) are trying to increase our home produce enterprise.  We planted a peach tree (our 3rd), a pear tree (our 2nd and a pollinator for the 1st) , and a sweet cherry tree (again, a pollinator for the 1st).  We created a bed for raspberries against the west part of the house under my music studio window.  Steve has built a second raised garden bed by our south fence.  It will get a whole lot more sun than our existing garden on the north side.  When things dry up a bit, we have two "honeyberry" plants to set out.   The Starks catalog says they are of the honeysuckle family with berries that look and taste like blueberries.  How cool will that be???

Crazy full of music.  Duh.  CIS orchestras gave their spring concert last Thursday night at Sacred Heart church.  It creates some logistical challenges (moving the alter and candles, bringing in music stands, shuffling big, heavy chairs, arranging to get the key) but provides an amazing acoustical experience so it is worth it.  Since it was my last concert ever with CIS, the students and parents surprised me with a beautiful hanging outdoor plant and a gift card to Hobby Lobby.  This is my last week with Central Methodist:  string juries are Tuesday and the final in on Thursday.  I will be so happy to have the additional time and lower gasoline budget but I will actually miss that beautiful drive twice a week.  I had some extra trips up to Fayette in April - taking part in some recitals with my cello.  So, of course that meant extra rehearsing.   We had our first two Prairie String weddings of the season the last Saturday in April.  Both the same day.  Yeah.   The RTO had their spring performance on Friday night at Candlelight Lodge.  We had sixteen musicians performing:  4 violins, 2 violas, 3 cellos, 2 flutes, and 1 each of clarinet, trumpet, euphonium (go Steve!), trombone, and tuba.  And, they sounded great.  We are now on summer hiatus. Rock Bridge orchestra concert is this Wednesday.  And then, we round out the year by playing for Baccalaureate.  I had my studio recital last weekend - actually, it was two recitals - one Friday night here at the house and one Saturday morning at CIS for those who are a) allergic to my pets or b) couldn't make Friday night.  And, the last musical event to report was the Piano Guys concert that Steve and I attended in Kansas City last night.  Oh wow, what a fantastic two hours of pure entertainment.  They are so musical and so creative and so funny.  It was so worth the late return home (12:30 am). 

Finally, a book and movie report.  I listened to Robinson Crusoe and I LOVED it.  I bought a very nice hardback copy of it for a penny (Amazon used - booyah) that is beautifully illustrated.  I am currently listening to Don Quixote and am not really loving it.  Robinson Crusoe was on 10 discs.  Quixote is on 35 discs and I am only just finishing #4.  I finally broke down and looked up the plot and commentary on-line to see if I want to continue.  Haven't decided yet - I may give it a couple more discs.  I did manage to squeeze in a few movies over the past month.  Even though my schedule is always wall-to-wall, I sometimes just have to escape and watch something.  But, you know me, I am usually doing something mindless with my hands as I watch but there were a few times when I just sat and watched.  Steve and I watched his April choice - Field of Dreams - always a great film.  I watched Shall We Dance - cute.  I convinced Steve to watch Rise of the Guardians with me - we both enjoyed it.  I saw Little Bit of Heaven - kind of crass, I thought.  Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day - cute.  The Boys are Back was good. 

OK, I hope that the photo glitch is just temporary and I will post photos of Sadie and Trissy sporting their summer cuts, of our hail and snow, of Sarah's birthday, and my pathetic attempts at self-photo at the Piano Guys concert.  Until then....