Ah, Musik

What a wonderful 24 hours of music it's been.

Last night I went to the Schubert Club concert featuring 4 amazing singers who performed Brahms' Neue Liebeslieder, which is usually performed by a chorus.

It was transcendent.

And then this morning, The Wedding was jam-packed with so many magical musical moments.

I Was Glad

Jerusalem

And a new exciting setting of Ubi Caritas.

Say what you will about the media attention surrounding this wedding, I think it's nice for a change to concentrate on something beautiful and filled with love.

Add to all of this excitement that it's a spectacular day outside, and tonight the Elder is dancing in her first recital, I am feeling pretty good about this Friday!

Have a great weekend everybody.

Yarn Along

It's (almost) Wednesday, Happy Yarn Along!

Since I finished The Hour I First Believed last week I haven't started reading anything new. In fact, I can't believe that it's been a week!

I'm feeling a little nostalgic this week, so I am deciding between these 4 titles. They are all old favorites, but I just don't know what I feel like reading.

In knitting news, I am making another pair of socks.

Now, if you knew me personally, you would realize that this is out of the ordinary for me.

Usually I am the person saying "you can buy socks at Target for a buck, and why would you want to spend all that time on something that will go inside your shoe anyway?"

However, I am eating my words.

Having a sock on the needles is really satisfying.

Totally portable, fun to wear, and who could resist those big fun stripes?

Head on over to Ginny's for more fun knitting and reading.

Simply Ten Good Things

Amanda inspired so many of us this morning with her list of ten simple things that make her happy.

Here are some of my own

going out on a kids and mama date when there's no school

knitting at the park

seeing the SUN

new friends

lego madness all over the place

seeing them play together

a fresh hard-boiled egg for breakfast

making music

the smell of a wood fire in the backyard (a neighbor's for now, but we don't need to wait long for our own)

new paint in the kitchen

Caritas Vocal Ensemble

Caritas Vocal Ensemble is a group of singers on a mission. We sing benefit concerts to raise funds and awareness for local non-profits who provide basic human services to our friends and neighbors most in need.

Now holding auditions for all voice parts.

Please contact Jessica Bandelin at caritasvocalensemble@gmail.com to schedule an audition

For more information about our mission and our music please visit www.caritasvocalensemble.org

Happy Easter!

I got to hear this both services today, and I wouldn't mind hearing again right now!

To put a cherry on the top, this was with a brass ensemble this morning.

I hope the bunny treats you well.

Yarn Along

Happy Wednesday

It's time to Yarn Along again!
I have a couple of finished things this week, I finished the hooded scarf that I was working on two weeks ago as well as last week's sock. The cuff of the second sock is behind me, and I may finish the pair by class next Monday.

This week I have been reading The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb.
It is so good! There are twists and turns and some really hard stuff (it starts with the shootings at Columbine High School).
There is something that I just can't resist about Wally Lamb. His stories draw me in and I just don't want to stop reading. When I read She's Come Undone, I just sat down and read all night through. I literally didn't want to put it down. Unfortunately, this leads to a little less laundry and a little more computer time for the Younger. It's a good thing it's so rotten outside so I can justify the sitting and reading.

Update: I finished the book this morning, despite the fact that my eyes were dilated from my eye appointment, and wept.

What a writer that Wally Lamb is.

Free Plants!

A neighbor down the street had a big pile of shrubs out on their boulevard with a sign -
Free Plants Please Take.
How could I resist?
Despite the coming storm, I pulled down our compost pile (we had planned on moving it anyway), dug some holes, mixed up some fertilizer and water and transplanted these babies this morning.
At first I thought they were all this fringe-y shrub that I recognized from the neighbor's yard, but then I realized that 2 were lilacs.
I love lilacs and I have always wanted a big yard-full of them.
As a bonus, I found this lilac that I had assumed dead, budding and beginning to leaf in the middle of my compost pile. I threw it in there at least 18 months ago, but the benefit of not turning your compost seems to be that the outer layers insulate the inner ones.
Now, hopefully, in the summer I won't have to look at that not-too-attractive chain link fence.