Band Camp

In spite of my distaste (MOUNTAIN MAMA- I WAS NEVER A BAND GEEK IN A FORMER LIFE!) for marching band, my career as an elementary music teacher would not have existed without moments of band camp geekery. This post is about observations made and lessons learned.

High School- band camp lessons learned-

Your legs do not look better if you leave the Nair on longer. In fact the opposite is true. Happily it was my best friend you can ask about this and not me. I've been a stubbly legged doofus all of my hair growing life.

Maybe steer clear of the girl who likes to give massages all the time. (not that there's anything wrong with that)

The instructors had WAY MORE FUN than we did.

It's easier to direct the band than it is to carry an instrument- you don't have to carry all that crap around and remember what notes to play- you also get to hear a little more of what the instructors are laughing at.




College- band camp lessons learned-

As a music education major (in college), one semester of marching band was mandatory. I did it in my sophomore year and realized through observation that there was a level of band geekery that I would NEVER go to.

Click here for an article on Dawn "Grandma" West who has been a member of the Mountaineer Marching band for 26 years. (not that there's anything wrong with that.)

After college I got a job as a junior high band director and had band geekery on two levels. One as the band director and the other as a lowly camp instructor. Most of the lessons learned were as the instructor rather than the person in charge.

Band directors that behave as though they are martyrs (weeping and saying "can't you guys do this for me") should be reported to Child Protective Services.

There was (and probably still is) a good reason for WV to establish anit-hazing rules in the public schools.

If you don't drink enough water, you will get a UTI and end up in the emergency room.

There are still creepy camp instructors who hit on young girls and believe that proper punishment for disrespect is cleaning toilets with a toxic combination of chemicals. (as an aside- Parents, trust your instincts. If the sleazy looking trumpet instructor looks like he might be a child predator, keep your kid away from him no matter what his references are or how well his students play.)

I have never laughed harder in my life than in the after hours with other band camp instructors. Never. Take a good knit night laugh and times it by 100. (But NEVER with the creepy camp instructors)

At one point I found myself with a group of band people that were way too intense. I mean seriously- We were standing on a hill about 50 feet above the field and the director was screaming at a kid to move 2 inches to the left in a 100 yard field. This nonsense was not for me. I was always the funny one walking on the field keeping kids morale up and the drama down. More than one kid got in trouble for laughing with me but no one ever cared.

High school kids will gladly march perfectly if you carry around music note stickers. They will be sad and jealous of their friends if they don't get one.

For the seven years I was the person in charge of 40 junior high band kids, I learned that junior high kids CRACK ME UP and that I was not perhaps the greatest music educator with them because I enjoyed their company too much.




When you are no longer a band director leading junior high kids in parades, it takes about 5 years of going to the occasional parade before you can stop laughing at the insanity of the job you used to have.

These days my only connection with band geekery comes in the form of teaching kids to play their instruments in the first year. This is magical. It's their step out of childhood and into something a little bigger. I do cringe though when, once they are able to play a note or two, I see them trying to march and play at the same time. One time at band camp....

Hey- here's an idea- I know that at least one or two of you have a favorite band camp story. Don't be shy- you can even post as anonymous- don't worry about the comment length- just share a story- then come back and see if anyone else did.

Daily blogging

I'm blogging today because I like to blog- fair warning in that I have little to say.

There's a new song going through my head. It goes like this- "The Dog goes on vacation but the cat stays home." (l dd ll ss ff m r d for the Friends of Solfege)

Packing-I am a thorough packer. (switch that around and it sounds like a name in a mystery novel- Packer Thorough.) This comes from about 15 years of "going to band camp" (yea, I know "one time..") Band camp packing is different from rental house packing and I think I'm finally beginning to get the hang of the switch. (how sad that for many years, band camp WAS my vacation?) With great effort I try to remember the things we never have when we get there. That said, coffee, filters, laundry detergent and garbage bags are ready to go. I may forget the obvious but we WILL have coffee.

Much has been written in blogland about what a knitter should pack. I am slowly overcoming my need to pack the entire stash. This success relates directly to the fact that I've heard there's a nice yarn store in Cape May. But- of late there has been both crocheting and knitting in these parts and I am hoping there's enough room to include both giant bags. How much space can 20+ skeins of wound Cascade take anyway? The knitting is all lace so I'll be able to fit 5-6 projects in a similar sized bag.

The availability of books on-line (I use the kindle reader app on my iphone- the actual kindle clicks too much when I change the pages-I should have waited for the iPad) make for much lighter travel.

I'm also a big fan of the Old Time Radio and Vintage Radio podcasts of "Suspense" and "Lights Out" (and others) so I will stock up on those as well. I finally found the old-time radio channel on Mr. Sophanne's XM radio so if I'm driving, he'll be in for a surprise.

I considered purchasing a prepaid mobile wireless internet (addicted much?) because I fear this beach house (which doesn't have phone service) may not have internet. Looking into, it I found too many similarities to the cell phone industry and decided to wait.

This blog began as a knitting blog. In just a while or so I will have some huge knitting to show. I've finished chart three of the giant Queen Anne's Lace in white malabrigo lace-weight. I really think it's going to be gorgeous and gigantic -if I have enough room to block it. Patience, my pretties, patience. I anticipate finishing that and Babette the 2 by the end of the summer. Then it will be time to get the sweater mojo going again with some handspun (not my own) in a tiger's eye color.

dinner- for us and the bunnies

This morning's beautiful Purple Queen bloom is gone. I hope it was yummy, bunny. It's once again a lovely decorative plant. GardeningNeighborMarilyn came by this morning and reviewed the troops We've got daisies- maybe some digitalis-definitely not a weed and something I never even noticed- strawberry plants. No wonder the bunnies and deer love us so. I'm not going to count on any fruity products but there will be no more Mr. Sophanne weedeating over there.

The creamed chicken was good. I've tried creamed dishes before- usually whipping cream and flour in some combination- an alfredo sauce of sorts. This cream sauce had the above and also included egg whites. It was very light and fluffy- not a heavy cream sauce at all.

I made an excess of mashed potatoes but really is there such a thing? And they reminded me of my grandma. And they reminded me of how hard she used to work when we went there for dinner. So much homemade food- the kitchen always hot and steamy- winter or summer. I just felt her there in the mashed potatoes. It was lovely.

There was fresh broccoli as well and enough leftover for a sweet little lunch tomorrow. For once "makes four servings" was telling the truth. It wasn't difficult but quite time consuming. I've added a "dollar store" paring knife to the kitchen supplies and had a nice time mindfully peeling potatoes. These recipes were no doubt in the time when the mama/wife had all day to put them together. It was also nice to have something tasty and chicken-y with fresh ingredients that didn't involve "add one can of cream of chicken condensed soup."

Soon we will be vacationing- the remainder of the week will involve preparing supplies for traveling to New Jersey with the dog. New Jersey? Really? We're headed to the bay side of Cape May- Reed's Beach.

The last time we went to Jersey I did not have a blog. This is a good thing. We rented the bottom of a house next to a noisy-water-craft rental place. It was the first post-marriage coming together of Mr. Sophanne's family members and I- things are always rocky at the beginning- we love each other muchly now. And at the end of the week, Mr. Sophanne lost his brother.

I'm hoping there's no Jersey hex or we're in for a doozy.

Today's blog post is brought to you by Nature

Who needs a gardening book when you have brilliant blog friends? That's todays motif. Clicking makes the pictures a little bigger but I hate a slow loading blog so not very much bigger.

The first item up for display is a known entity. The unknown factor is the bloom that appeared this morning.



I thought these were more "decorative because our leaves are purple" sort of plants. This morning this one said "Surprise!"

I can (I think) identify some of the ground cover in picture number 2 as myrtle, yes? What about that yellow flower? A wildflower maybe or something more definite?



#3 is a bit of a mystery that may or may not be solved before vacation. My heart of hearts is hoping it's a dahlia but that seems so unlikely. It also may just be a gianter leafed version of #2. Or it may be a giant weed



Finally (#4) there's this little something something living happily in the "bad dirt.".



My zen mind says "flowers are flowers- there are no weeds." My "want to be a little bit of a garden planter mind" wonders "garden member or eradicate?"

In fiber news-the crochet afghan is moving right along as is the Queen Anne's Lace. That lace is going to be a doozy. The spinning wheel is going back into time out. It's more frustrating than happy-making right now and I'm all about the happy.

In cooking news- That Jello-mold high lasted well into the late evening yesterday. I was laughing and joyful all day long. It wasn't just Mr. Sophanne who was the funny guy although he did have the best line of the day. *insert Brooklyn accent*

You know what comes after jello don't you? long ominous pause puh-ddin'

There may or may not be jello molds arriving from ebay in the next week or two.

Today's mission- unless I change my mind- will be to cook some chicken in that ceramic pot. (I'm thinking if I put chicken broth and garlic in there on a low temp for a few hours, I can't go wrong.) Then I'll turn said chicken into creamed chicken (as per a recipe in the Woman's Day Encyclopedia of Cooking (now and forever known as WD-EOC). I'll mash some potatoes and see what fresh vegetable I can find-comfort food city- unless I change my mind.

This is one summer that will not be filed under the category of "Wasted."

Jello Mold Heaven

Do you remember "bff and creator of cool stuff", The Claw?

He sent me a facebook photo of his mostly circa 1950 kitchen to remind me that I had access to jello-molds a plenty- Let the planning begin!



(I think the picture will embiggen with clickage)

I wish you could have heard me this morning.

It became obvious to me last night that while I have eaten plenty of jello in my life, I have never really MADE any jello.

Just before bedtime, I checked the progress and found myself quite gleeful when I saw that it had mostly hardened. I said "Well look at that- that cracks me up."

This morning I woke up (and again thanks to some buried "my mom made jello molds" factoid) I put the jello mold in hot water in the sink. I accidentally got a little hot water in the mold but it didn't matter much.

I pulled out the cake plate and

VOILA!





Oh the laughing and hilarity that ensued. I insisted that Mr. Sophanne leave his comfy chair and come and look. He said "it's a jello mold" He just doesn't get it. I MADE A JELLO MOLD! ON THE FIRST TRY! It was powder and water and fruit and now it's a piece of (albeit simple) food architecture. It seriously cracked me the h-e- double hockey sticks UP! I've even been taking laugh breaks as I type.

The recipe came from Victoria Belanger's blog, Basic ingredients - knox gelatin- gingerale-water- fruit. She called for champagne which I would think would make it yummy but was too complicating for a first try.

Why, my friends, does this make me laugh so much? What is my deal-io? Do you recall your first jello-mold/jello making experience? Was it similar or does it mean that perhaps I've achieved enlightenment because such simplicity astounds me? Do I now actually have something to bring to the "let's all bring something to eat" parties at school?

I'd like to thank my wise and wonderful blog friends for pointing out that it was indeed a jello mold I acquired yesterday. After doing a little preparatory jello research, I discovered that those goofy copper molds are actually used as jello molds and you can be sure I'll be flea-marketing for some of those in the near future. Even if I never eat a bite, the joy it provides will be worth the seventy five cent investment.

The masterpiece is in the refrigerator, recovering from a close call with hot water. This afternoon I will acquire some cool whip to complete the fabulousness. Oh what a life I lead.

ETA- it's Tasty too!

Pampered Chef?

Not so much.



A visit to the Humane Society's annual yard sale netted some more kitchen clutter. This collection cost all of $2.50. The electric wok works-though the inside is gently seasoned. I got it because when I tried to make chicken lo mein a few weeks ago, I ran out of pot.

Not knowing a whole lot I'm going to guess that the two pans are a bundt pan and an angel food cake pan. I'm assuming they are two separate entities intended for very different uses. I'll let you be the educators in the comments. For 25 cents apiece, if nothing else I can take them to school and let kids bang on them.

I think the ceramic pot was the best deal- it was $1. I have memories of a friend putting stew meat in such a container, putting the oven on low and cooking it for several hours. I'm not a big meat fan but it was the best time I ever wanted seconds on beef.

Last November, my mama sent me a "magic bullet" for my birthday. Having blown out several blenders and automatic little choppy machines, I was reluctant to get it out. Yesterday I picked up an assortment of berries and some plain yogurt and ice and made a smoothie. Go figure. I even put the appliance in a kitchen cupboard (where Mr. Sophanne does not visit) so that it will be handy.



In gardening news- the first of the purple/blue plants is indeed Scabiosa. The second is Veronica- also called Speedwell. Thanks to all who helped me figure that out. The roma tomato plants have one yellow flower each which I anticipate disappearing in the next several days unless Liza was fierce enough to keep the groundhog away permanently.

I purchased volume 7 and 8 of the Woman's Day Encyclopedia of Cooking on ebay (so mama you don't have to worry about finding/sending them). Now I think I'll go look in volume 1 and 2 for bundt cake and angel food cake recipes- (stay tuned for macadamia cookies- Mr. Sophanne's favorite- they are in the M's which is volume 7!)

Spin Try #3

This is not plied yarn- (obviously?) but my singles are improving... I'm calling it a day- time for a nap.

easy street

The heat wave of late has been a little taxing on my brain. Combine that with a few attempts at spinning and I don't really feel like thinking too hard about my other handcrafts so much. I also came to the realization that in spite of the fabulous plan I had for my Kaffe Fassett stranded knitting project, that really is one of those things I'm never going to do. Dear Knitting, Purling with strands is too hard for me.

Given these circumstances, I pulled out the crochet hook and the scads of Cascade that I bought for that workshop and started another Babette of sorts. When all else fails, mindlessly double crochet granny squares of varying sizes. I started thinking about which colors to use when but gave up on that after the center block. The only real method to the madness is that I'm trying to start the "next" square with the outer color of the previous one. Beyond that I'm trusting the colors to play nice together. However, no matter what it's next to, the yellow-gold on the far right center offends my sensibilities regularly.



Two more plants have been added. This first one had a tag but it's nowhere near me right now. I do recall that the tag says it attracts butterflies- and I saw one last night.



The second has no tag and I'm inclined to drive the 30 minutes back to the nursery to get it lest my garden journal be incomplete but have not yet done so.



I think butterflies might like it too. When pointed out these two plants to the kind helping guy at the nursery I referred to them as "purple." He gently suggested "Do you mean the blue ones?" Does blue = purple in gardening? Is there a secret color code that I don't know about? So much to know.

really?

So after posting about our little groundhog encounter yesterday, I went through my GoogleReader blogs and jellidonut had this to share about her back yard visitors. Elk? Really? They're giant and I'm pretty sure would chortle at the thought of confetti poppers.

It was a knit night last night and while there were only three of us it was one of those evenings where everything seemed funny to me.

Marc said "the joke around our house was that when the smoke alarm went off we knew dinner was done."

Claire told of the squirrels in her yard sitting on the fence post cracking open burred chestnuts to get to the sweet meat. And of the birds that sit on the ground beneath the squirrel to catch whatever he drops. I just pictured birds who have migrated from Jersey to Pittsburgh saying- (insert Jersey accent) "Hey squirrel- throw us a bone here" or "You gonna eat all that or what?"

There was a job interview taking place a few tables over that we could not help but overhear bits and pieces of. Mostly the woman asking the questions was the Loud Talker so we heard those but not the answers. Tell me about a time when you set goals and how you worked to achieve them." My answer in my head "I'm here aren't I?"

Mr. Sophanne and I have been watching bits and pieces of "The Last Comic Standing." Come to find we both occasionally imagine ourselves doing that. I told him he'd be the kind of comic that would be like fireworks finale time- pow then pow- then p-p-p- powee!

At first I thought I'd be the dry delivery with a punchline girl. After last night I was thinking I'd be more like the escalating series of funny funny funny. Today though, I realize that i would be a terrible failure at it because my set might include lines like "so there was this squirrel eating chestnuts on a fence post- isn't that hysterical!?!" I mean who really has time to go into all the details? Can't you make your own jokes?

thank you internets

Thanks to a Spinning 101 video from knitting daily, I am now speaking to my tension knob and it's beginning to learn who's boss.





I'm not a Tour de Fleece girl but company loves misery- or something like that. I think after a few more "10 minutes a day" (any more and you'll lose your mind) spinning practices, I'll be liking it again.

Crouching Liza Hidden Groundhog

Just when you think that the only thing to blog about is how hot it's supposed to get outside, nature pitches you a blogpost.

I woke up this morning to the dog barking frenetically and Mr. Sophanne yelling "get the camera!"



A closer look at the invader-



Being the "more like city-folk than anything else" that we are, we first watched the goings on sort of like a nature documentary. Finally it occurred to us (when Liza got too close to the GH and he snarled and surged forward) that someone might get hurt and maybe we better "do something."

Mr. Sophanne said "I'll throw some rocks at it- maybe it will run away." I suggested that it wasn't going to run anywhere lest it be chased by the dog so I managed to get Liza inside.

With dog inside, Mr. S began throwing some rocks. GH was unphased. Seriously, what are a couple of rocks compared to a barking dog-

Then he said "Get the confetti poppers!" (these were left over from his birthday celebration.) Our thinking? Maybe if it sounds like a popping gun shot the groundhog will run.



After wishing the unmoved groundhog a belated "Happy 4th of July," we analyzed the situation. Was it hurt? Was it rabid? Was there blood on Liza's mouth? Are we in danger? What should we do? Thankfully we don't own a gun (yes we are Western PA anomalies).

Mr. Sophanne went to the bedroom to put on his "smack him with a shovel-make sure you've got a good ball cap and long pants on"- outfit.

I made a phone call to my favorite school custodian. I described the goings on and she said that the groundhog thought he was hiding. She essentially gave me the "Little Bo Peep" cure. "Leave him alone and he'll go home, wagging his tail behind him." Which he did. Although if you would ever meet Shirley the custodian you would be more likely to believe that the groundhog overheard what she said and behaved accordingly.

Those with true wisdom

know it's time to take a break from trying to spin BEFORE they look at the tension knob and defiantly mutter "you suck" at it.

I *heart* Lydee

Lydee my friend in blogland AND real life posted a great idea in yesterday's comments- A Garden Journal. I so didn't want to throw those little informational tags away and was afraid I'd forget what I had going on out there- it's Brilliant.

It also coincides with my right brain desire to do some drawing- and plants don't move around much. I'm not that great at it but I love love love the way paper and lines of ink become something else. Talk about an exercise in letting go and not being perfect. I could only tolerate it for about 20 minutes- this will be a skill to practice.

I won't post these regularly- it would be a journal of a journal and that seems a little silly but here are the first two pages because I'm so excited about the idea.

The real reason

that I got fake nails is because I wanted to play "dress like twins" with Aunt of Sophanne when we went for dinner at Sister of Sophanne's. The search for a blonde wig was fruitless although I could have purchased Paris Hilton hair for $40 at the local Sally beauty supply. Why did I do this? To crack myself up.




My entrepreneuring niece set up a blanket after we left and sold 4th of July beads I brought for everyone at a 500% mark-up-just in time for vacation. There's one girl that won't have to worry about collecting too much stuff.

Because her family was leaving for vacation today, I didn't bring this cake



and instead opted for some healthier cantaloupe that would travel better as leftovers. GoodNeigbhorMarilynn told me how to do this one- It's a purchased angel food cake sliced in three layers. The topping is pudding, coolwhip, and mashed ripe bananas. I froze it overnight and it tastes like a nice light cake and ice cream. Looking at myself in the "dress like your aunt" picture, I think the next one will be made with sugar/fat free pudding and cool whip!

Something has discovered the garden- a deer or a bunny or a bear (possibly what LizaJane was barking at All.Night.Long) and I woke up to find a little yellow flower missing.




Should this continue, I may rename the garden "Sophanne's House of Fast Food Carry Out"

Here's a closer look at what I added last week next to the tomato plants. I don't remember the name of anything and these flowers were saved- possibly by a barking dog.

Passions and Hobbies

Today I realized that a person can have both.

My passions are knitting and making good music with kids. I do my best at both. I will spend a great deal of time and money to get better at both. They are the two things that take up most of my creative brain thinking time.

Lately I've ventured into cooking and gardening. I do not feel an overwhelming passion for either. I wouldn't want to do either as a profession, but sometimes I have fun while doing them. I'm calling that a hobby. Too much time with either and I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be fun anymore.

Today I hobbied. I extended the "garden"



I bought some cake doilies



and I got an almost complete set of these cookbooks at the thrift store for $4.50-



I already have #2- #7 and #8 are missing. I think my mom has the set but I'm pretty sure it would cost more than $4.50 to send them. Maybe she'll dig out seven and eight. The good thing about these is that they look alike if you don't look too closely so Mr. Sophanne won't know how many books I actually brought into the house today.

And I bought these:



Jason (at this blog) blogs about drawing every person in New York. His simple pen and ink drawings inspire me with every post in an "I can do that... Can I do that?" kind of way. It's another one of those fleeting whimsies that you'll either hear more about or you won't.

I am fairly certain that without this blog and the the blogs you write, most of these hobbies would become another one of those things I'll never do. So hey blogland friends- thanks for reading my blog- having blogs of your own, and inspiring me to have adventures.

...also known as "What I did on my Summer Vacation"

Which is really what the latest round of daily posting is about. When I have to go back to work, I want to be able to remember that I did more than just sit on my donkey doing nothing.

Today I mowed what we call the "back 40." It's not really 40 and it's as much above as it is in back- That's Mr. Sophanne's burn can in the middle.



I also went to "the big city" and had my nails done. That Cracks Me Up. Ninety percent of the nails pictured are not my own. I am not a nails kind of gal. Truth be told, I barely bathe on what most of the world considers an acceptable basis (but regularly if I know I'm going to meet blog friends, so fear not) And yet now I have a french manicure. I went for the square tips because it's what Aunt of Sophanne has and I couldn't remember what the other kind are called. Go ahead and place your bets in the comments as to how long I'll keep this up.



Finally, while wandering around the house yesterday I found this guy and stuck him next to the lemon balm to keep it in line. He's got a girlfriend hiding in the house but I don't remember where.



I've finished the straight stitch of goodlyneighborEllen's traveling woman shawlette. Off to see if I can get it done before vacation so that we can bribe ask her to water the plants and feed the cat while we're gone.

In other knitting news, I accidentally spent a fortune at the yarn store yesterday. Once these 10 in 2010 are done be prepared for socks. The ones I made last summer were so useful all winter. Also- I think I'm going to get married to the Namaste circular needle organizer. Just as soon as I get used to not having a snake-like mess of unknown sizes of circs surrounding me at all times. I also acquired one of those fancy knit kits. I was slow to get one because I hated the shape. I think it looks like one of the old fashioned (or not so old-fashioned) birth control pill dispensers. But after not having scissors for the past three knit nights, I indulged.

What's summer..

without a trip to the flea market?

Me and the girl (LizaJane) took a walk to the fairgrounds for the Tuesday morning flea market. It's the first weather day in a while that I could not come up with an excuse not to go. I slipped a ten in my pocket just in case I saw glass mixing bowls or one of those woks that you put over a stove burner. I found instead a cake plate for $5. I think I'll hide it until the next cake. No sense advertising kitchen clutter.

The red STR traveling woman shawlette is now in the happy hands of Gardeningneighbor-plant sharing-Marilyn. She belongs to the Red Hat Society and "oh won't those women be jealous." She even brought out one of the outfits that she planned on wearing it with to show me. She also suggested that GardeningneighborEllen might be a tad jealous of it and I agreed. Today I'll wind the sweetpea socks that rock yarn and whip up another traveling woman. Ellen looks good in black an white.

Yarnhog kindly returned the book that accidentally found its way to her house and included one of her duplicate purchases. It's definitely a read that I'll be interested in and would not have purchased for myself. There are advantages to forgetfulness.



I can't bring myself to get out the spinning wheel (though today would be the perfect day.) The last time I used it was with relative success but I think I was traumatized early on by the flywheel perpetually flying across the living room floor. It's the only feeling I can remember when I think of spinning.

No clever recap here- just another day in the summer.

Sesame Street

actually... Sesame driveway after I dropped an $8 bottle of sesame oil on the way home today.

After reluctantly replacing it I tried the chicken lo mein recipe from this book- Saving Dinner by the FlyLady's friend, Leanne Ely.



The recipe makes much more than we needed but I didn't "half" everything. Instead of actually shredding cabbage and carrots, I bought the broccoli slaw in a bag in the produce section. It tastes good- it's a little unbalanced- I used half as much chicken, the called for amount of vegetables/sauce and more angel hair pasta. It's edible. (for anyone new to this blog- I post the fact that I've cookedas a small miracle-not as one of those "hey look at and try this recipe" sorts of blogs.)

There's a baked rigatoni recipe in this book that's good as well. It's really balanced in the beef/fish/poultry/pork/vegetable- I would probably would use more of these recipes if I could convince Mr. Sophanne to eat fish, and vegetables.

Speaking of Mr. Sophanne, he cracks me up. Every morning around 5:45 am when he's leaving for work he wakes me up to give me a phone message (sort of the opposite of snow day calls.)

Wake up honey, school called. You have to go to work today.
Wake up honey, your principal called, it's take your dog to work day.
Wake up honey, your mother called. She said the school called her and said you have to go to work.
Wake up honey, the school called. You have to go on a field trip today. You're going to the doctor's office.

Oy he makes me LAUGH and LAUGH! (Seriously- he really does- much to the surprise of knitnightmarc who wondered when I was gonna slug him!)

ROFLCOPTOUR

That's what the summer 2010 tour of Wizard Rock is called. The artists info page is here. We saw everyone on this page in an acoustic setting at the front of the library. They had mostly tuned guitars and about 35 fans in attendance. The crowd favorite seemed to be ALL CAPS who used pre-recorded techno-pop dance party background music for their "set."

There were no real costumes in the audience per se but one parent drove 6 teenage girls (ages 12-16) 5 hours in this van to get there.




The songs, in addition to being Harry Potter based, occasionally had a message of acceptance and "let's all just be kind to each other no matter who we are" feel to them.

There were a couple of Wizard Rock Loving grown ups that I found to be a little creepy. Sadly one was a parent from my school who got a baby-sitter for her daughter so that she could come. Another was a 60-something woman I didn't know who had a temporary Hogwarts tattoo on her face and was bouncing around dance-party style with the crowd.

The fans knew the lyrics better than the artists and there was the occasional mention of the "merch table." The performers ranged in age from about 20-24. I've got to think that their parents (at least some of them) said "You're doing WHAT? this summer?"

MaggieMay and Drewby seemed to enjoy themselves. Eleven year old Drewby's post-concert facebook entry read:

Awesomest Day EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This Day made my whole year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :))))))))))))

MaggieMay tweeted some pictures to the band and got a personal reply- the performers seemed really sincere, kind and unassuming.

I'm calling it a success.

In unrelated crack me up news, Mr. Sophanne accidentally threw "the duck" in the tree and Liza was not amused.

and then there are these..

The counting got away from me at the end of the first one- the frosting tip got away from me at the beginning of the second one. So glad that wasn't reversed.

Prune Much?

Not so much.



I felt a little world weary at the end of my "day off." Sort of pointless and useless as it were. To combat a repeat of that feeling I thought I'd spend some time outdoors trimming forsythia and lilac bushes. It has been some time since these have been attended to never.

This (neither a forsythia nor a lilac) specimen gave me pause for thought



In addition to mixing bowls (which we now have) I'm thinking some sort of wheelbarrow would have been useful for carrying refuse today. Fortunately Mr. Sophanne doesn't consider a wheelbarrow "clutter" and in fact would be all in favor of a tractor with a thingy to haul stuff at the back of it. (Just as long as we don't have to store it in the kitchen.) In the meantime I managed to get it out of the way with no injuries.

Liza's favorite game is to grab a branch and run, hoping beyond hope that I will say the magic words "GIVE ME THAT STICK!" which causes her to run in circles with abandon.





Finally a sneak peek at the "garden" (can I really call it that?) revealed that a spider appreciates the textures



and the sage posed nicely for a photo-op



Tomorrow, my friends, might have RBP (real blogging potential.) As I have mentioned before, MaggieMay loves Harry Potter- perhaps a little more than a soon to be high school sophomore really should- but whatever. Wizard Rock is alive and well in the University City. I am taking Mags and younger sister Drewbee to a Wizard Rock show at the local library. I can only hope that there will be costumes and I won't have camnesia.

Catchup-Catsup-Ketchup Day

Today was a day off. Thunderstorms- dog in the closet-sleep past noon kind of day.

Chart One and Two of the Queen Anne's Lace are finished. This would actually be spectacular if this item were a simple stole or a wrap. Given that there are about 75 more rows to go and every other row adds about 30 stitches, I'm thinking I can call it halfway finished when I get to 140 or so.

The deep purple-y silk is in the process of becoming a Forest Canopy Shawl. I had forgotten the simplicity of that pattern. I think it will be a nice fiber/pattern mix.

The plants were pleased with the rain and are looking like they belong there each day.

And if you have 22 minutes and 16 seconds like I do today, there's always this...Vitameatavegamin. I think Lucy is darning a sock at the beginning.

it's a start...

The plant before the oregano is some kind of flowering garden plant/bush that I forget the name of that came from neighborMarilyn. The oregano, chives and sage came from MountainMama. The dill lemon balm and lavender also came from neighbor Mariliyn. The small fonted diagonal is pointing to a purple herb that she says is Japanese but that she doesn't know the name of. She aslo is searching her beautiful space for a moon flower to transfer. I don't want to add too much until I get the names of things in my head.

We had a nice thunderstorm this morning (I put most of these in the ground last night)- Liza found refuge in a closet. Today I believe I will go forth in search of MiracleGrow potting soil, a little mulch, and some mixing bowls.

Though- when I told Mr. Sophanne I was going to get mixing bowls he complained that "just because you made ONE cake doesn't mean we need mixing bowls." I said "I'd like to do it again without having to use cooking pots!" Every now and then he just doesn't get it.

Updated to add-

Here's what a little potting soil, mulch and 2 roma tomato plants will do. There's something in the mulch that got Liza's attention. What cracks me up is that I met both GardeningNeighborMarilyn and GardeningNeighborEllen buying potting soil and mulch.



and as long as we're adding- some silk came in the mail today and it is as luscious and shiny as it appears!

I'd have baked a green blob...... Part Two of Two

BWAH HAH HA HA! I'm not much of a froster after all. The cake was plenty cool. I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that buttercream frosting doesn't take too kindly to heat and humidity. I'm going to pretend that it will all firm up in the refrigerator. I'm going to pretend that it looks like polka dots.

I crack me up.

In further buttercream news, the wool peddler's shawl (in Malabrigo Buttercream) is finished.