And This Week...

More stuff happened! Hooray!

Well, some of it really was "hooray" worthy.

I contracted stomach flu over the weekend, which was not really hooray-ed. Spent a miserable Friday night in the depths of ick, and then Saturday in that 101 degree state between waking and nightmares. I don't know: do any of you hallucinate when you have a fever? Or is that just my bizarre brain-frequency causing extra activity when the physical side of me is on hiatis?

Anyway; I'm over that. Dad has it now, but luckily he has the week off of work and can rest up.

Yesterday I had my first voice lesson with Dr. Downs up at MSU. Promising start; the summer should go well. She talked me into signing up for the musical theatre camp that they hold up there, so I'll be participating in that in a couple of weeks. Intensive vocal training begins...now. Literally, she landed me with the Italian. At least I get a piece from the Phantom of the Opera.

We now have a whole herd of little baby goats running around in the goat pen. I probably should take pictures and post 'em when I have time.
 
July 4th is today---happy Independence Day to all you fellow Americans! I think we might spend the day cutting hay, but some friends of ours invited us to a party, and they have a pool, so...we might spend the rest of the afternoon over there.

Our parents have promised us a trip to Lake Michigan on Friday; preparation is underway for that in the kitchen right now. Yum.

Saturday will most likely be spent baling hay. Not even going to go into that.

And Sunday...is Mom's birthday! So we'll be celebrating on that day. 

It's been a lovely summer so far, even with all the difficulties. Garden is growing splendidly, the Farmer's Market is going well, life rolls on in the sleepy sort of way that it always does in Michigan farm country. Sometimes it's almost Shire-like. *Cue flute-music*

Anyway, here's me, signing off.

Recap of August

Sooo, what happened during August?

Nothing much out of the ordinary. I was asked to play with the pit orchestra of our local acting group’s production of The Wizard of Oz. I’m the only violinist, which puts me in a very scary position. I mean, just look at this music:

Anyway, I’m plugging along with that. Show doesn’t play until the second or third weekend of October, so I’ve got time.

Of course, I was looking through the music when I first got it and going, "What is that?". So we watched the movie to get the jist of things, and now everything makes sense. While we were watching it, the commentary was rolling:

"They had color in 1939?!"

"She's not wearing the shoes in that shot!" 

"Wow, compared to the Munchkins, the Winkies have pretty awesome voices."

"The Tinman untied the hot air balloon! He's a traitor!"

 It was much fun. ^.^

We went to the Civil War reenactment again this year. The kids just love (and I hate) to see the battle and hear those cannons roar. I like to stay to the back of the park while that’s going on; not too fond of gunfire. However, the shops were fun to browse through; they had clothing, cookingware, weapons, and all sorts of stuff from the Civil War era. They even had a drummer and a fife player, and some other random soldier who danced an Irish jig. We stopped at a woodcarver’s tent, and the lady gave Jesse quite a few tips to use on his own projects; Lydia was given some sewing lessons, and came away with some kind of handkerchief embroidery thing.

I’ve been keeping up with reading and writing, of course, and a little drawing. Just sketches of characters and random little people, really.

Oh, and another thing: I now have glasses. Not all-the-time glasses; these are just for reading because my eyes aren’t strong enough to handle the amount of reading that I’m doing. A source of headaches has been discovered; apparently my eyes get tired and just quit, and my head starts to pound. It’s funny, really; I, who have been an avid reader since the age of five, have weak eyes. Hmm. Well, that’s how it stands.

Here they are:

Yes, they are large and dorky. I liked the color (at least, over some of the others that were covered by insurance) so I snagged these (plus, the co-pay was much smaller).

Anyroad, not much else has happened this summer. I finished piano and violin lessons last week, and auditions for choir and orchestra are on Saturday. For violin, I’ve got Handel’s “Sonata in D Major” and for choir “The Infinite Shining Heavens”, which is an aria and I don’t know why on earth I chose it. It was under the list of songs for high voice. *Shrug* It’s in a horrible key and even worse time signature, but, oh well. Wish me grace.

Dia leat, mo chara.

Oh, and I almost forgot; I got this painting at the farmer's market in exchange for a bar of soap. I watched the girl do it entirely with spray-paint. Impressive, eh? It's hanging above my desk.

Firefox has crashed multiple times in the making of this post. Stupid, human-made technology. 

Poetry for Thought

Oh, summer has clothed the earth In a cloak from the loom of the sun! And a mantle, too, of the skies' soft blue, And a belt where the rivers run. And now for the kiss of the wind, And the touch of the air's soft hands, With the rest from strife and the heat of life, With the freedom of lakes and lands. I envy the farmer's boy Who sings as he follows the plow; While the shining green of the young blades lean To the breezes that cool his brow. He sings to the dewy morn, No thought of another's ear; But the song he sings is a chant for kings And the whole wide world to hear. He sings of the joys of life, Of the pleasures of work and rest, From an o'erfull heart, without aim or art; 'T is a song of the merriest. O ye who toil in the town, And ye who moil in the mart, Hear the artless song, and your faith made strong Shall renew your joy of heart. Oh, poor were the worth of the world If never a song were heard,— If the sting of grief had no relief, And never a heart were stirred. So, long as the streams run down, And as long as the robins trill, Let us taunt old Care with a merry air, And sing in the face of ill.   ~ Paul Dunbar

The Glad, Golden Days of Summer

We’re halfway through summer already, and it feels like I haven’t gotten anything done. School, my very last few months of school, is threateningly close (the last time, though. Ha!) and auditions are coming up. Not only do I have to audition, but three of my siblings do, too. So they have to be prepared. 

What have I been doing all summer? Laundry, mostly. I’ve moved mountains of it, trying to catch up by doing six or seven loads a day. The wasps and I have a slight disagreement over the clothesline zone, so hanging up the wash is a little dangerous. I’ve finally gotten the endless stream from my brother’s room under control (oh, and something wet just flew up against the window. I wonder what they’re doing with their spare time?). 

I’ve also been making stuff to sell at the Farmer’s Market, and playing violin at our table. I actually got my first “gig” there, as somebody among the listeners asked me to play at an event in August. 

The other day, one of my brothers managed to step on a rusty nail and drive the thing right to his bone. After letting off a railway-style shriek, he booked it for the house and got a nice trip to the ER. Funny how my brothers can scream at a pitch higher than I. Needless to say, he got several days off from chores and sat in the living-room like a little tyrant, ordering his siblings around. One of his subjects rebelled and gave him a nice earful of dishwater. I won’t say who, though it wasn’t me. 

I’ve been trying to do a lot of writing this summer, but haven’t really accomplished much. I’m still polishing up my Nano novel, Tempered, which had to be renamed The Listeners because of major, unexpected plot developments. When I finish up that, I’m going to start working on a story that I made up for my siblings, called The Motley Four. It was inspired by Edith Nesbit’s The Story of the Treasure Seekers and the sequels, The Wouldbegoods and The New Treasure Seekers. Those books always had me shaking with laughter when I was younger. Also in the works is a collection of short stories, only a few of which I have mapped out. “Survival of the Fittest”, “The Glass Heart”, “Weaving Words”, “The Paperback City”, and “The King’s Champion” are the only ones I’ve got typed up. If anyone’s interested, I could stick some up one of these days. Most of them are written for my siblings’ amusement. 

I actually want to be reading a bit more this summer. It seems like I haven’t gotten my hands on much, though I did read quite a few classics earlier in the year. Wuthering Heights (which, I thought, was kind of ridicules. All of the characters were downright nasty people, and there was no redemption or character-reformation involved), Jane Eyre, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, re-read Pride and Prejudice, The Cat of Bubastes, all of the Anne of Green Gables books that I have, snagged a bit of Shakespeare, and worked through everything that I have of Edith Nesbit’s, which amounts to nine books. I also re-read The Hobbit because Jesse had gotten it from the library and I caught it lying around. Also stole some of Dad’s commentaries. 

I suppose that the last few months haven’t really been uneventful, but they felt quieter than they usually are. There’s been plenty of time to play violin, read, think, and do housework. The garden is coming along nicely, the cow is about ready to calf, and the stupid goats snapped one of our apple tree saplings in half. I tried to tie it upright to a bar, so hopefully it will just grow back together. I’ve heard of grafting branches, so maybe this will work, too. 

And now, I really need to get off this thing so I can finish the day’s laundry.

Dia, mo chara