Morning Glory Studio

sunday baroque and devotions ...

 

7:08 am: Sunrise. Sunday Baroque.* Hot tea in my mug. Several good books including Mary Oliver's Devotions, just received yesterday. Gently, I open the book, peruse the table of contents, turn to this page and that, taking, along the way, not only a sip of my tea but also the words there on the pages. Strong yet gentle. Poignant and soothing. New and familiar... comforting and inquiring... I pause to take a photo or two or three and then decide to make a collage to capture this/these moments. Satisfied, I return to my tasting of the poems...and feel a smile cross my face: This! This is the one! 

"At Blackwater Pond"

At Blackwater Pond the tossed waters have settled after a night of rain.

I dip my cupped hands. I drink a long time. It tastes like stone, leaves, fire. It falls cold

into my body, waking the bones. I hear them

deep inside me, whispering

oh what is that beautiful thing that just happened?

~Mary Oliver  Devotions 2017. Page 393

 

*Sunday Baroque is a radio program I listened to religiously in the early 2000s and then for some reason, stopped. Several weeks ago, one Sunday morning, that memory popped into my head... I did a google search and was delighted to find that it was not only still on the air but also featured the hostess that I knew- Susanne Bona- and was celebrating its 30th year! If you like baroque music, worth a listen. 

Cheers~

 

celebrating 30 years ...

 

            In 1988, the University of Maryland began the National Orchestral Institute. This month-long event is a venue for the country's most talented young orchestral students to study, practice, learn and perform. Participating in the Institute requires a rigorous audition. During the month of June, performances take place and The Institute culminates in a week-long series of events and concerts. The concert I attended Wednesday evening featured musicians from the Havana Lyceum Orchestra, beginning with a brief discussion from some of the members discussing their trip to the United States. 

The Havana Lyceum Orchestra "represents Cuba's most talented orchestral musicians." Their performance only underscored that statement. They performed Mozart's  Piano Concerto no. 23 in A major, K.488, featuring pianist Simone Dinnerstein. T'was heavenly. Just plain heavenly. They also performed Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet, Fantasy Overture. And a Cuban piece ( sorry, not sure what it's named) that was fun, playful and delightful. You can hear/see a bit of it on this YouTube video  here.

From the program notes: "This program is all about the joy of friendship and the possibility of communication between cultures and across time." It was that indeed!

Visit the NOI website for more information and especially a few photos...since cameras are not "quite" allowed...Happy to share a bit of "heavenly music."

Cheers~

the cleaning lady*...

 

 8:45 am ~ The morning was crisp, sunny and  cool, so the cleaning lady* decided to take a walk before she began work. On today's chores list: laundry; clean refrigerator; mop kitchen floor and vacuum...not much but enough to keep her busy in between short breaks to jot down a note, a thought, add to the grocery list...the larder is rapidly becoming barer, etc. So, grabbing her iPhone - she's started a new book: The Storied Life of AJ Fikry, and a bottle of water, she headed out the door, planning to be gone about 30 min or so...

The morning temperature - low 70s - was even better than she'd expected - relatively low humidity and a breeze! Before she knew it, she'd walked to the Franciscan Monastery, 13 blocks away. And as she expected, the grounds were lovely and inviting...so, she meandered , took quite a few photos, enjoying every second of sights and sound. Occasionally, she laughed out loud at the story in her ears. 

(the Koi pond has been transformed into a lily pond - I  saw one koi but it eluded my camera)

"Time's a wastin'"  she said out loud - to no one in particular - and headed on the path home. She arrived to find the man of the house just about to sit down to his breakfast. The cleaning lady decided she might as well eat, too before she got to work... About 11:25 am,  brunch finished, she started on the chores. The man of the house went to his computer, continuing the work he and his son began Sunday. In the background, as they both attended to their to do lists, classical music was playing - her favorite.

Just before she finished folding the last load of laundry, her most favorite piece in all the world: Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor began playing**. The cleaning lady decided no one would mind if she took a 30 min break and listened...especially since she was nearly done with all the tasks on the list...and she deserved a rest or so. After all: all work and no play makes for a dull day...

 How was your Tuesday?

Cheers~

*Seems that the cleaning lady looks a lot like me!

**I found this YouTube video after I wrote the post...the pianist also conducts the orchestra! I shall return many times, I know! [sigh]

dec 24 | a musical Christmas Eve memory ...

 

    

                    The other night we watched an old time Christmas movie, well rather Norman watched; I think (know) I dozed off, only to be awakened by a boys' choir singing Schubert's Ave´Maria. I thought at the time...and still do...that Ave´Maria is one of the loveliest of songs, especially when rendered by the tender voices of young boys. The experience stirred a favorite childhood Christmas memory:

On Christmas Eve, after my sister and I had gone to bed (early, of course to hasten Santa's arrival), my parents would sit in the living room, drink eggnog, spiked with a tad bit o' whiskey and listen to Christmas music and arias from my mom's favorite operas. I know this of course because I would wake up - before Santa arrived - and go see if he indeed had. Nope - though I was assured that we would be awakened when he came - but not before midnight. So I was encouraged to return to bed. And, lo and behold, shortly after midnight, Santa came, delivered presents and we were awakened. My parents watched us as we hastily ripped off wrapping papers, accompanied by oohs and aahs... and played with our new toys

After a while, time came  for all of us to go to bed. My sister and I did and fell fast asleep, perhaps clutching a new baby doll or stuffed animal. My parents too fell fast asleep, knowing that they could sleep in in the morning and wouldn't miss out on our joy at seeing what Santa brought. And that we would play quietly until they awoke.

I searched for Ave´ Maria and found all sorts of versions; I chose this one*, by Pavarotti, one of my mother's favorite tenors. I hope you enjoy listening to it and that it brings happy memories for you, too. This version was recorded in 1978 and I thought it was more in keeping with the memory...both my parents were still alive then and would have spent their Christmas Eve listening to music...

 

Merry Christmas!

 

*Sorry, you will need to skip an ad. 

ten on tuesday | on my playlist ...

 

Today's Ten on Tuesday prompts us to share our favorite playlist found on our iTunes, iPods, etc…well, I don't have any such playlist and began to scour my brain for something to share and post…immediately, my mind jumped to creating a list that I might turn into a playlist. And so, I brainstormed and then, searched YouTube - so, the links are YouTube videos:

1. Vivaldi's Four Seasons;
2. Anything and everything  by Mozart; 
3. Handel's Messiah sung my the Mormon Tabernacle Choir; this clip features the Hallelujah chorus;
4. Time to Say Goodbye - I love all versions of this song; this one features Andrea Bocelli & Sara Brightman;
5. Let the River Run (theme song, sung by Carly Simon from  Working Girl, one of my all-time favorite movies…);
6. Whitney Houston's I'll Always Love You (from The Bodyguard) - if not the movie's entire soundtrack;
7. Almost any/everything by Nat King Cole;
8. Miss Otis Regrets by Ella Fitzgerald and almost any/everything she sang;
9. Carmen McRrae's New York State of Mind
10. Celebrate by Kool & the Gang. This one always gets me movin', no matter where I am; Enjoy!

(and true to form, I jumped up and started to move…)

So, I've spent way more time on this post than I thought I would…and enjoyed every minute, listening, reminiscing. And this is just the tip of the iceberg! Visit the other links on the Ten on Tuesday blog, here

Cheers~ 

planning holiday happiness...

        I wish I could take credit for this quilt, but alas, it is not one  workt by my hand. It is the handiwork of a member in my  quilting association . It consists of  simple flying geese blocks made in  Christmas fabrics ~ she says she's made 11 between Thanksgiving and now; some had an autumn theme. I chose to share this quilt for today's Painted in Waterlogue photo because I liked the colors and I wanted to see how the photo would come out. Works for me.

I also thought the photo represents how I've spent this, another rainy, cold, raw day: planning and making lists for the next 22 days before Christmas while downloading Christmas themed music albums to my iMac. The songs coupled with the weather have both contributed to a pretty productive and relaxing day here:

• made a crock pot of chicken chili
• baked pork chops for future salad
• washed three loads of laundry 
• started adding photos and words to my December scrapbook album

I awoke this morning at 4 am and I'm afraid I'm not going to be much longer for this world...I'll probably crash about 9 pm tonite. But until , I'll continue working on my album and listening to the music. Hope your day was productive and relaxing too.

Cheers~

a december friday afternoon...

Honoré here: My quilt guild is sponsoring a 2-color quilt challenge; the idea was inspired by this exhibit in New York City last spring. For our challenge, we just have to choose two colors, not necessarily red and white.

Pat and I have been talking about creating complementary quilts  since we were in Sisters OR last July. There, we decided on the colors: green and blue  for her; green and purple for me. Today, we finally got together to plan the quilt and decide on our next steps---in other words, create a design and develop a plan. We did and we're pleased with our decision. Even though the quilt isn't due til September 2012, one can't get too early of a start. And It feels great, too, to have taken this step.

Over the next 9-10 months, I will share parts of the quilt, as it evolves ...because essentially, it will  be created  as we stitch...which is my absolutely favorite way to make a quilt...serendiptiously. 

Tomorrow we have our third sock knitting class, using the Addi  12-inch circular needles. These are really great needles for socks; I like them so much better than the dbl pointed ones - I say this as though I was an expert...these socks are  just my second pair. Nevertheless, I do enjoy using the needles and I can see lots more socks in my future.

This has been a really "wonderful" day - I am listening to For Unto Us a Child is Born by the American Bach Soloists on Pandora Radio - thanks Mary for leading me to this Internet radio station. It added just the right touch to a very nice way to spend a December Friday afternoon with a good friend, good music and lots of good creativity.

Cheers~

oldies but goodies...

Honoré here: Most mornings, Norman greets the day singing a song or two. He absolutely loves and knows the lyrics to all the popular songs from the 40s, 50s, 60s, especially those of the jazz and big band singers and songwriters. Yesterday, he was singing "Just You, Just Me,"  a Nat King Cole tune. And one totally unfamiliar to me; you can hear it here.

That spurred him to pull out a bunch of Nat's albums - and those of other songsters: Sarah Vaughn, Nancy Wilson, June Christy. We had a couple hours of wonderful music and then, I had to leave for a knitting class. We hadn't played any oldies but goodies on a Saturday morning in quite awhile. It was a nice change of pace and sets the stage for pulling out our Christmas albums and CDs, later this week. 

What favorite oldies but goodies haven't you listened to in a while?

 

Cheers~