Piano Surgery

I'm posting some pictures of my piano - the one Grandpa Roy gave me that was Munner's. It has needed repair - some major surgery - for a long time. Many of the keys didn't play any more because plastic elbows that helped little weights go up & down & move the keys were breaking one by one. Grandpa had told me that they all needed replacing, but I just never had the money to do it, nor did I know someone I thought would care about my piano and treat it with loving care.
After saving some money, having some of it gifted to me, and Brian finding a man we thought could do the job well, I am so happy to report that the piano now sings again!
At the top of the blog, you see the pictures of the piano being disassembled. Below are pictures taken last evening when Mr. Frisbie came to reassemble it.

As you can see, Mr. Frisbie had quite a job to do! He replaced dampers, elbows, tuned the piano, and lastly "fluffed" the hammers' material which had grown hardened by hitting the strings over the years of use. It now sounds wonderful! After he finished putting the piano together again (a little Humpty Dumpty allusion there), Mr. Frisbie sat down & played a little concert for us! He loved being filmed, and I think he was a bit flattered at my enthusiastic response to his work and to the heavenly sound of the piano. I have missed its voice for so long. Keep in mind that I recorded the following on my Kodak camera, and given the acoustics in my living room and the conversion here to a digital file on the blog, well...I think this video doesn't do the lovely sound of the instrument justice. So, you'll just have to come visit, sit on the bench, and just play it yourself if you REALLY want to hear it in its full glory. Meanwhile, listen to a little bit of "Unchained Medley" performed by Mr. David Frisbie.

So...that's it for now. Come back another time when my blog will feature Katie Dog Fritz singing "When the Bone is Called Up Yonder," accompanied by me playing the harmonica. (Yes, this house is full of music of various kinds!) Until later then, you be blessed and thank God for the music!

SNOW FUN

Hello again. I'm dedicating this post to some pictures and video we took while having SNOW FUN. Ya gotta love it! Of course, Katie wanted to play ball. One main problem - if she drops the ball, it gets lost in the snow drifts! Then Katie & I went out to the fort to see if Kitty Kitty's house was full of snow. It was, so I cleaned it out for her.

Since the snow was in deep drifts, allowing for CLEAN snow scoops, and since it was so fluffy, I thought I'd try making some Snow Ice Cream. I looked online for a recipe and found many from which to choose. I'll post the one I used below:

SNOW ICE CREAM
1 c. evaporated milk
1 c. sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 - 3 qts. (10-12 c.) clean snow
Beat all ingredients together except snow; mix well. Add snow and mix well. *******

Yummy! Wish you were here to taste it!

One more fun thing below....I've uploaded a video taken yesterday when it was still snowing. Katie had so much fun!! I hope you've enjoyed my SNOW FUN blog post. Have a blessed weekend!

Spring Has Sprung...and then some!

After experiencing a winter of exceptionally dry and and warm weather, we are now seeing a record-setting late-March snow storm! Sacrificing our Good Friday holiday off from school, the school district had no recourse but to cancel classes today. As of this evening's pre-bedtime romp outside for Katie Dog, we find snow drifts about waist-high! The sky has blown snow down upon us since about 5am this morning; it hasn't stopped all day. I see drifts out my north kitchen window reaching up to the bottom of the neighbors' windows. While the weather has forced us inside, along with the dog and both cats (yes, Kitty Kitty has been granted indoor sleeping arrangements due to the extremely cold conditions outside), we are SO THANKFUL for this much-needed moisture. The howling wind and freezing temperature draw the winter nesting instinct to the surface of the heart and prompt activities like baking cookies and drinking hot chocolate.

So I finished a book today, fielded phone calls and emails that cancelled a UIL academic meet I had students competing in (or rather NOT competing in), worked on my Beth Moore "Esther" Bible study, and I watched two movies with my Honey - "Superman Returns" and "Miss Potter." Delightful!

I hope that whatever your weather has been like...whatever your me-time has found you doing, that you are BLESSED, knowing that each day is a gift, and each moment affords opportunities that can never really be recaptured any other time. So seize the day!

Born to Retrieve

I'm here to tell you - Katie Dog has come into her own. Yesterday Brian & I took her to her favorite place for a romp - the Southeast Dog Park. We've taken her there often since the park first opened, but yesterday Katie had her very own special, doggie epiphany.

Now, in recent weeks since the Amarillo Parks Department opened up a several-acre, large, fenced-in section of the family park especially so that canines could run free and play, Katie has learned to know two words that have quickly defined her sense of fun: DOG PARK. We cannot talk about going to the DOG PARK unless we are ready to crawl into the van and go there immediately. Katie knows the words, she knows the route we travel to get there, and she knows what to do when she arrives.

She can barely get into the fenced-in doggie portion of the park without stopping to sniff the ground every two inches to detect what new dogs have been there since she was last a guest at the park. It doesn't matter when she last took a "pit stop" in our back yard...she must anoint the area no less than 5 times in more than one way - if you get my meaning. After her usual sniff & anoint routine, she then darts off at a full trot towards the far end of the area where there is a sort of land bridge that takes her to the opposite side of a reed & cattail-filled stream. She has crossed that little stream a couple of times, soaking her "necklace" (doggie bandana) and causing us to have to dry her off before putting her back in the van to go home. Ah...but she LOVES the DOG PARK ~ the freedom, the acreage, the outdoor smells, the sound of the ducks in a nearby pond.

The DUCKS! Sometimes they fly into the dog area & land in the grass. Katie has found it a joy to chase them into the air on a few occasions. Yesterday was no different. She galloped towards a flock, and they flew away....while Katie continued to run like the wind after them, her head held high in the air, almost as if she could take wing & fly after them...all the way to the fence where she had no choice but to turn around and continue her park romp.

On her way to the land bridge, she flushed out a small flock of ducks that happened to be floating on the stream. She splashed into the water after them, delighted to see them all take to the air in response to her antics. All but one of them, that is....one that for some reason didn't fly away. It was at that moment Katie Dog the labrador - - that baby of mine who wears a bandana necklace every day of her life and is so well-mannered and sweet and cute and expressive with her hand shakes and big beautiful brown eyes -- that labrador who experienced her epiphany: She was BORN to retrieve.
A determined look popped into her eyes, her whole demeanor screamed "Get it!" as she pounced on that duck, flailing in the water, splashing through the reeds, until she emerged triumphant, bird in mouth, as if to say, "Yes! I AM a Retriever!"

I have never seen anyone or anything so confident of who they are....what they were born to do. In one way it was a beautiful moment, observing a level of God-given, natural instinct. On another level, I was concerned for the life of the duck and ordered Katie to drop it. :-) I didn't know if she'd killed it (in which case Brian would have to take it to the nearest dumpster or get the shovel we carry in the van out so we could have an instant duck funeral) or if it was still alive (in which case we'd need to take it to a vet or an animal shelter or the Wildcat Bluff nature center where it could be nurtured back to health & returned to the wild). While I sent Katie back towards the van, Brian and I talked about the options. Meanwhile, the duck rose like Lazarus and waddled over to a small opening under the fence & managed to squeeze himself through to safety...on his way back to the duck pond...a little worse for wear but nevertheless alive.

So the duck's alive and Katie has had her coming-of-age, doggie revelation of who she really is. Needless to say, the words DOG PARK now mean more than ever to her. It is now no longer just a place to romp & play; it is a hunting ground!

Final note: Shouldn't we all be so sure of ourselves - so sure that we're doing what we were BORN TO DO? Most days I think I am. I think, though, that I think too much. Maybe I should be more like Katie - run on the God-given instinct in my heart & just dig in with gusto & not worry so much about what others think. Hmmmm.......

Happy New Year!

January 1, 2009...another new year...another opportunity to see what the Lord has in store for another new year. For anyone reading this post, I wish you the Lord's joy and Shalom - peace - for the duration of this year. As time passes, we must surely know that EVERYTHING is about HIM - all that we do, all that we say, what happens to the nation's economy, what occurs during the administration of the new president, what consumes our days - ALL OF IT is HIS.

Rather than limiting my thankfulness to the Thanksgiving holiday, I tend to reflect and find myself thankful at the beginning of a new year. I am SO THANKFUL for my husband - My Man, as I like to call him - Brian.

Brian & I went out last evening to the Amarillo Globe News Center's festivities. If you've never been to this Center, I'm posting its web site link in case you'd like to visit it online. It really is a magnificent building: http://www.globenewscenter.com/

Brian began our evening out by presenting me with a beautiful shawl he'd purchased from a ladies' specialty shop here in town - all on his own. It is a pretty pink of various shades - prettier than the one I had picked out & put on my Amazon gift wish list. He had gone out earlier in the afternoon to return a computer he'd fixed for someone and had then gone shopping for me. This loving gesture of choosing one thoughtful, beautiful gift, touched my heart. Brian is so thoughtful & kind; I am so thankful for him!

The Amaillo Symphony presented a concert featuring Steve Lippia, a singer whose voice is reminiscent of Frank Sinatra's. Following the concert, the Globe Center was full of food, dance music, and festivities. Since Brian & I had taken ballroom dance lessons this past year, we were practiced-up and anxious - ready to "cut a rug," "shake your booty" or whatever you'd like to call it. We had a lovely time together celebrating, laughing, smiling, and dancing. We had a blast & I am blessed to have a man who would help create a wonderful memory of New Year's Eve for me. I'm going to try to post a picture taken of us last night - including goofy head gear. :-)

One other note of interest as we begin this new year: If you follow any blogs, I would encourage you (primarily if you're female) to follow Beth Moore's LPM blog. You can find it at this link:
http://livingproofministries.blogspot.com/
She has challenged her sisters in the Lord (endearingly called "Siestas") to memorize two scriptures a month and to sign in on her blog & post them there. I have decided to accept this small accountability measure and join the leagues of women who want the Word of God to penetrate their hearts and minds so that their days will be filled with the Word and their lives with the manifestation of the fulfillment of the Word. I have my index cards ready and my heart and mind open to have the Word change me from the inside out. Let me know if you, too, would accept the challenge of scripture memory. We could be partners in His Word.

As I close this blog, I want to wish you a blessed, Happy New Year. May the Lord of All fill your heart with His love and peace.