California gold

I've had a bougainvillea in a large clay pot for over a year now that I've been wanting to plant in the ground. The past week of rains provided a good opportunity to quit procrastinating and "just do it". If all goes well it should take to its new home next to the east wall running along our property line and, come spring, provide "bowers of flowers" just as the song "CA Here I Come" promises.

Winter thoughts

To read a poem in January is as lovely as to go for a walk in June. 
~ Jean-Paul Sartre

Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart. 
~ Victor Hugo


One kind word can warm three winter months. 
~ Japanese proverb


If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome. 
~ Anne Bradstreet


Perhaps I am a bear, or some hibernating animal underneath, for the instinct to be half asleep all winter is so strong in me. 
~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Grace

Grace called with a simple request. Could I help her with a cello piece she'd like to play at her church. For a few years we would meet together to go over fingerings, bowings, and most of all, counting for her chosen pieces. I introduced her to Dotzauer and Bach Suites. Grace was not youthful but open to my suggestions and I think I gave her renewed confidence in her playing. It became difficult for her to drive and so I would go to her lovely old house in the village. As the years went by she had a few medical problems and the lesson times became fewer and further apart. One day a for sale sign went out in front of the 100 year old house. I left a message and never heard back and so I was not sure what had happened. Lo and behold I received a Christmas letter this year explaining her move to a retirement community and the difficult process of selling her home and moving. She has kept her cello though, and so today I'm off to visit and maybe we'll plan some duets in the future.

Old car, new car; no car, zip car

  (next car?)

The prospect of an impending sabbatical gives one time to think about their "car situation". First we get rid of the old one before we leave, then we make-do with public transpo/bikes/walking/zip cars, or whatever, when we get to where we're going for a year (New Zealand looks probable). On return we buy a replacement late model vehicle that minimally holds two people and a string bass. (Or three people and a cello.) For larger hauls we'll use the Zip-van from the colleges or rent one for the occasion. The problem is that Mini has just released a maxi-mini (the Countryman)! Now, I have a year and a half to work on my husband to see the beauty of buying a crossover mini; a small (but not too small), fuel-efficient, safe (all wheel drive), cute car that offers our exact capacity requirements :~).

Monday, monday...

(wasn't that an old 60's tune?)

Always so much to think about at the beginning of the work week (and so many other things I'd rather be doing). The college orchestra resumes tonight (yippee to regular rehearsals again), it's a busy week for Xandie (after-school art class, playing incidental music for a drama production, and an out-of-town school friend staying overnight), the elementary strings district concert letter has to get out, there are not 1 but 2 minimum days this week at the jr. high (one reverse and one normal) to figure out rides for and, of course, cello lessons to schedule around all of this stuff.

Clean air and little damage

(photo info)

Seems we've escaped major storm damage here in the LA area and the air is beautifully crisp and clean. The surrounding mountains are gorgeous with their new blanket of snow covered tops but don't even think of going up this weekend; total gridlock, unless you're a local or start driving up in the early hours of the morning.

Sticky keys and other musical maladies

(this is an actual piano)

If you are a piano-nut you have to check out this site!

 About a month ago our piano started to have a "sticky" d and e below middle C. After a call to our beloved piano technician, the problem was swiftly solved. Just as I have seen our recent wintery weather affect the hundreds of string instruments I tune on a weekly basis (Claremont's elementary school string students), the panel under the keyboard had slightly warped and was preventing the keys from returning back into position. Now I can get the "tonic" back in my playing, especially whenever I accompany my students in the key of D!

Rain drops keep falling on my head...

(Pierre Auguste Renoir ~ Umbrellas)

We are in for a serious series of storms this week in So. Cal. People living in burn areas from last summer are sandbagging and/or evacuating. Luckily, we are in the "flats" and only have to worry about hydro-planing and speeding drivers. After experiencing a few downpours this afternoon, I can easily understand the dangers of flash flood warnings in effect. The tornado watch announced earlier today seems to have fizzled out though, thank goodness. I guess we'll only have thunder storms, high winds and water damage to worry about now.

Winter has finally come

(Morph the Dwarf in winter)

We are finally into our rainy season and boy do we need it. This is when all the native flora turns green and starts to bud out. I read in the paper this weekend about not trimming trees after Feb. 1 because of the earlier and prolonged nest-building habits of our native birds, particularly hummingbirds who position their tiny nests at the very end of branches. As we Claremonters know (in the land of trees and PHDs), we have many prune-happy tree trimming companies around our town that don't really know how, when, or what to trim when it comes to our beautiful shade-giving, sound-muffling, oxygen-producing trees.

Comfort food

Something comforting about a casserole in the oven on a rainy evening. Experimenting with a lambless moussaka sort of dish, using chopped turkey meatballs and artichoke pasta sauce. At the momemt it smells pretty good  (a nutmeg, garlic, cinnamon and wine enhanced tomato sauce over a noodle kugel base) and with luck the family will enjoy it....about a 1/2 hour more and time will tell.
p.s. It was very tastey!

San diego safari

Time to visit the animals again. Like Dizzyland we do this park about every 5 years. I'm not crazy about zoos but in this case it's nice to see "wild" animals in a place they can roam. G. got new camera equipt. and X. a new camera for Xmas and so they had conspired to arrange a trip to San Diego to "shoot the animals" this weekend. I have to admit that I did enjoy the tethered balloon ride 400 ft. above the park and the famous "African Adventure" tram ride. As theme parks/zoos go, it's a pretty good one.

Meeting, prepping, reporting, performing

Our music program is nearing the time for the first round of elementary string (and band) concerts. There is much planning and coordinating to do in the next few weeks in addition to the newly resurrected progress reports due at month's end. Today our instrumental music staff will meet over lunch to work out all the minute details, of which there are many! I think it's going to be a l-o-n-g meeting.

Music in the schools

Quartet Euphoria

We have such a wonderful community of artists, musicians and teachers in Claremont. I'd recently asked a Scripps music professor if her faculty string quartet might have time to visit and play for the jr. high school orchestra class this year. Lo and behold they offered to come this week during their winter break at the colleges. What a treat for the kids to get to hear a string quartet perform "up close and personal" and have the opporunity to talk to them afterwards. Truly an inspirational morning for both teachers and students!

Wonder if it's snowin' up on Baldy?

(mt. baldy cam)

Whenever it rains down here I wonder what it's doing up on "Baldy". Often we have to wait awhile for the clouds to clear before we know if there's snow at the top. I've discovered there's a webcam up there and often visibility is good. One can even ski if so inclined after a good snowfall.

Time to transplant

Time to transplant before the rain on Wednesday, or at least the predicted rain. I have a few succulents that I've been wanting to group together for awhile now. The idea of trying to create little colonies that live in low-water zones is becoming more and more appealing as the years of drought go by.

Strange sounds

(Ladder-backed Woodpecker)

It was the sound that first caught my attention; it was unusually loud and not one I recognized. I've learned that your ear draws you to the location of many birds before you actually see them and in this case I heard it from the back door of my kitchen. I've also learned to grab the binocs fast or you might miss a good sighting. It was a male/female pair of Laddder-backed woodpeckers (our usual visitors are of the acorn woodpecker variety) and they were hopping and pecking about in our neighbor's unknown deciduous tree. They didn't stay for long but it was a nice little early-morning treat watching them in their search of "bugs for breakfast".

Sun days

Sunday is the day I try to catch up from the week before, however I'm still catching up from winter break two weeks ago. I willl be getting Monday mornings off for the rest of the school year now, so perhaps that will help with my catch-up back log. It's such a gorgeous day today (sunny and in the 70's) that I need to go outside and soak up a few rays before I return to all my mundane chores.

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Airshow time of year

(Cable Airport)

It's that time of year again. When we first moved here 11 years ago I heard the roar of what sounded like a war plane or an airplane-crash-waiting-to-happen above our house one January morning. I ran outside and saw what I thought was some foolish dare-devil pilot flying his small plane in loop-de-loops over my head. Then came one after another and I eventually realized this must be an organized effort. We've now come to look forward to this aerial treat; some years we drive on over to Cable to watch and other years we sit in the front yard and marvel at those fearless flyers and surprises in the sky.

New year's resolution

A good dentist is hard to find and I am glad we found ours:~) One of my 30+ year old fillings has finally given up and needs a crown now. I love a dentist who sees you on time, gets you in and out quickly and with minimal discomfort. It's always good to start the year with those medical/dental appts. and annually restored co-pays. My new year's resolution will be to make (and keep) those appointments.

Planning for 100 years

 

One of our last visits together in San Francisco

(Grandma-mom, Mom-daughter, Daughter-grandchild)

Next month my mom would have been 100 years old; she actually lived to be 97. My sister (5 years older and wiser) and I thought it would be only fitting to celebrate this anniversary in style by meeting in San Fransico, where we were both born, for a post-humous  birthday of sorts. We've begun to make our reservations and "tribute lists" and it's interesting to see which memories (both poignant and humorous) are surfacing. We plan to go to as many places as time and memory allow that will bring back those days when we were "Peggy's girls" and share them with my daughter and both our husbands.

       Margaret "Peggy" Florence Crandall Born February 20, 1910 Stafford, England. Died April 14, 2007 South San Francisco, CA. Born to William and Margaret Wise, Peggy lived a life of service to others. She met her husband, Eugene "Gene" Crandall, while he was serving as an American civilian with the Royal Air Force in England during World War II. They were married in San Francisco on June 15, 1946. Peggy was the loving mother of Carolyn (Alan) Butler and Patricia (Geoffrey) Kuenning; proud grandmother of Alexandra Kuenning and Christopher and the late Angela Butler; dear great-grandmother of Tyler Butler. Family and friends will remember Peggy as a devoted homemaker and dedicated Volunteer. During World War II, British citizens not serving in the armed forces were required to support their country through community service. This ethic became deeply ingrained in Peggy's character, and she continued to serve others for the rest of her life. In 2005, at the age of 95, she was recognized for over thirty years of volunteer service to Seton Hospital. Fiercely proud of her British heritage, Peggy also wanted an active voice in the affairs of her adopted country. Following an intensive course of study on United States history and civics, she took her Oath of Citizenship on August 19, 1958 and never missed voting in an election. Peggy enjoyed gardening, crocheting and knitting, reading, attending theater and opera, baking her famous sausage rolls, hosting family gatherings, and playing a good game of Scrabble. Her home was a virtual Bed & Breakfast for many English friends and family visitors stopping in San Francisco on their trips to the U.S. Peggy touched many lives, and her memory will be honored by all who knew her. 

What I really want to do is ...

(The sound of strings is truly music to my ears)

Sometimes I feel like the luckiest person alive. I can remember years ago saying to Geoff, "I'd be so happy if I were just teaching strings." Going back to work this week made me realize how truly fortunate I am to do what I love for a living, that I work with such dedicated colleagues, and how wonderful the kids are that I teach (including my own).

*  *  *

Speaking of sabbaticals

(next sabbatical?)

One of my Xmas gifts was a handy-sized travel book on New Zealand. So far, this location is one of the "up and running" candidates for our next sabbatical. Professors have this amazing opportunity every 7 years (except for some fluke of luck we were asked to take ours one year early due to too many profs going in 2011-12). Unfortunately, I've just realized that means we have to be packed and ready to go somewhere in only six months time!!!

Sleep deprivation

(~|~)

All three of us experienced the effect of serious sleep deprivation this a.m. I'm hoping that the sunny weather and returning to our normal time zone (plus getting to bed at a reasonable hour) will help remedy the problem. The house is almost stripped of holiday trimmings and the third load of laundry is about to go in. Why do I always feel I need a vacation after the vacation to recuperate?

Up in big sky country and home again

Just flew in from the great northern plains after we spent 5 days in Great Falls to visit Geoff's mom and take care of much business in order to put her house up for sale. It was cold (down to 10 F.) and dry (no snow falling from the sky to speak of) but the couple inches of snow on the ground looked pretty to Xandie and me as long as we stayed inside. During the day we were busy filling a dumpster with trash and old food, surface cleaning the floors, furniture and kitchen so that the realtor and estate sale lady could help us plan the eventual sale. At night there is not much to do; we ate at all 3 of Geoff's favorite restaurants, listened to public radio (the T.V.'s aren't connected), watched DVD's on G.'s laptop, read books by the gas fire, and played cards. Oh, we did have our version of a New Year's Eve celebration with hats, hooters and a bottle of champagne...  We made it home this morning after rising shortly after 4 a.m. (ouch!) and arriving back to sunny So. Calif. by 10:30 a.m.

It's sure good to be home!

Wishing all a Happy New Year