Janet Lanier

Well, the extension on the English horn worked out great!  In my previous post on "Hacking the English horn", I posted about a solution to a problem in the English horn/3rd oboe part of the the Mahler First Symphony. There was a low B-flat in the English horn part.  Since the EH only goes to a B-natural, a solution had to be found before my next rehearsal with the Amarillo Symphony.  I searched the internet and found extensions for sale for about $160, but being the cheap-skate (ahem, frugal person) that I am, I decided to try the instructions for making your own English horn extension for about a $1 written by Larry George.  Once again, Larry, thank you for posting this solution! The extension worked great and the low B-flat was in tune (actually better than my B-natural) and the response was there.  The only people that realized I had an extension were my  neighbors in the orchestra and the assistant conductor who came up to find out what I was going to do about the low B-flat. I even had time to take the extension off within 6 bars to play the next section that required a low B-natural.  So, in the future, if I ever run into any more low B-flats, I will look forward to them with confidence.

I am now a proud owner of a new reed case thanks to my husband, David who thoughtfully bought it for my birthday.  (He took pity on me when I begged him to let me open it before my official birthday.) For over 40 years, I have used the same oboe reed case that an ex-boyfriend made for me in high school.  I still remember him cutting the beautiful piece of walnut in half and using a router to gouge out the inside.  His mother lined it in red felt.  My old oboe reed case may have been the first of it's kind.  This was around 1972 maybe?   I don't remember seeing wood reed cases before.  After my reed case was designed, my ex-boyfriend made clarinet reed cases with plexiglass in them to keep the single reeds from warping.  He started getting all kinds of orders for these reed cases.  After that, I started seeing more and more of these wooden reed cases on the market.   My old oboe reed case has held probably hundreds, maybe thousands of oboe reeds over the 40 years.   When I took up the English horn in college at the University of Akron, I then purchased a wood EH reed case.  It's been through the same wars as my oboe reed case. 

Today, I get to retire both cases with honors for serving me faithfully through rehearsals, performances, and reed making sessions.  I now have a new, made in Germany, dark walnut EM reed case which holds 3 EH reeds and 9 oboe reeds (purchased from RDG).  Life is so much simpler now!  Above is a pic of my old reed cases and the new combination case. The great thing about this case besides the beautiful wood finish and the black lining are the pop-up springs that individually come to attention as you press the spring tab at the bottom.  The EH section has a resting area just above the wire and the oboe reeds have individual slots notched out around the thread wrapped area to help them stay in place during transport. Thank you David for getting this for me.  I'm a happy doubler now!

Did you know that even though the English horn and the oboe are fingered the same, the oboe's lowest note is a B-flat but the English horn's lowest (written) note is only a B-natural?  Well, don't feel badly if you didn't know that (unless you're an English horn player) because there was a brilliant classical composer who didn't know it either.  I'm speaking of Gustav Mahler and his First Symphony (3rd movement).  Mahler is not alone but I'm bringing him up because in a couple of weeks I'm performing the English horn/3rd oboe part in the Mahler First Symphony with the Amarillo Symphony.  Ravel and Stravinsky apparently made this mistake too. In the third movement of Mahler No 1, the English horn has several low B-flats and it is an exposed part.  The part and score are both marked that if the EH player doesn't have a low B-flat, they should leave a measure out or the single note out.  Well, I'm like most English horn/oboe players, my pride won't let me leave a note out. 

There are extensions designed for the English horn that allow the player to go down to low B-flat.  Two reasons I wanted to avoid purchasing these extensions:  1) the price was about $160, and 2) the extension may or may not fit my instrument.  They were designed for Loree English horns and I have a Chauvet.  So before I purchased one of these, I did a Google search and I found very interesting documentation by Larry George on how to make your own extension from PVC pipe.  The cost would be a $1.00.  I had nothing to lose by trying Larry's idea first.  I downloaded his instructions from here.

Voila!  It worked!  I purchased an elbow joint of PVC tubing, sanded the end using Dremel tool and sand paper to narrow it into the bell of the EH.  Larry did a good job of inserting cork on the inside of the his PVC joint that connects to the EH but I was pretty lazy and used a few layers of white duct tape.  I figured that the tenon had cork already and I wanted to avoid cork rubbing against cork. Pictured are my results and I have tried them in the first rehearsal of the Mahler.  The only musicians that knew something was unusual were my neighbors and the conductor who saw the note in the score.  The pitch was right on so that elbow shaped PVC pipe was just the right length.  The only thing I noticed is that the tone is just a tiny bit brighter with the extension but it definitely is a characteristic EH tone.  So thank you Larry George for your generous sharing of information and saving me $$.  I love people who share!  OK, I agree, it does look very funny but how many people will really see it?  At least I painted the PVC black to match!

It's that time of year where all of us good little harpers start working up our Christmas music or if you're like me and need more time to work up pieces, you've already started in the summer! Here is a free arrangement of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" that can be played on lever or pedal harp. There are no lever/pedal changes and there are a few fun glissandi to give your holiday music a little sparkle. Have fun with the arrangement!  I have more music for the harp at my composition website here.

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen PDF

David video taped our whale watching tour in Bar Harbor.  He did a great job putting his video to the music of Benjamin Britten’s “Peter Grimes”.  Please watch and enjoy!

Whales near Bar Harbor from David Lanier on Vimeo.

There is a place in the Acadia National Park that was very special to me. It's called the Jordan Pond House.  Jordan Pond House is a restaurant (the only one in Acadia National Park) located at the top of a grassy lawn with blueberry patches extending towards Jordan Pond.  Jordan Pond is a beautiful lake with a three and a half mile trail around it.  It's a quiet lake.  No swimming is allowed and only kayaks and canoes can be used.   Built in the late 1800s, Jordan Pond House was built to serve the growing number of sophisticated summer visitors with afternoon tea and POPOVERS (light, hollow muffins or rolls made from egg batter that swell or "pop over" the top of the muffin tin while baking.)

We went to Jordan Pond one mid-morning during our week-long vacation to Bar Harbor to enjoy the pond and then have lunch.  What a gorgeous morning!  The air was cool and it was perfect for wearing shorts and a hoodie.  We first walked down to the pond as we passed one of the many the carriage ride paths.  Not many people were there yet so we felt like the lake belonged only to us.  As we explored the trail to the right of the pond, we found many places that we could sit on the rocks and dream.  I brought along a book recently purchased at Sherman's Bookstore in Bar Harbor called "Juicy Pens and Thirsty Paper" by SARK and David brought his video camera.

It was very relaxing, sitting on the rocks that were warmed by the morning sun and watching the tadpoles, frogs, and minnows in the clear waters. A flock of seagulls were centered on something far out in the pond.  Maybe it was good fishing there.  A couple of kayaks were cruising the lake in silence.  This was a perfect lake for kayaking and after experiencing kayaking on Lake Champlain last year, I would have loved to try it on Jordan Pond.  More visitors started buzzing about the lake since it was getting closer to lunch time.  I couldn't help noticing that many families were here and the parents were taking an opportunity to really teach their children about nature.  We started watching a duck-like bird out in the water to the left of the seagull congregation.  Luckily, we thought to bring our the binoculars.  We were so excited…. it was a LOON!  He was so handsome!  We noticed he would dive for his mid-morning snack off to the left of the seagulls.  He would dive and stay under for quite a while and then just briefly pop up again.  Next, he would move closer to the seagulls and spent quite some time preening his feathers.

It was lunch time so we headed back to the Jordan Pond House.  People were already out on the lawn sitting at the many tables.  The setting here is what makes me feel like I'm going back into time.  The seating was very different with the bench-like chairs and tables with the green umbrellas.  I couldn't help hearing the tune "A Day Together" in my head from "Somewhere In Time" and I could almost see Elise McKenna strolling by with her parasol. We had eaten at the Jordan Pond House the day before with David's sister, Karen just to try the tea and popovers.  At that time, we ate inside because the wait was longer for the outdoor tables so today we knew we wanted to eat outdoors on the lawn.  Surprisingly, we didn't have to wait long for an outdoor table this time and we were immediately taken to our table right on the lawn's outer edge.  We had a perfect view of the pond below and the Bubbles in the distance.  As we looked around at the other people enjoying their lunch, we saw many people who had their pet dogs with them right next to the table.  I wish there were more places like this because taking your dog to lunch with you is so fun.  We would love to take Sadie with us to a restaurant.  Our lunch was leisurely with popovers, of course, a creamy lobster stew and a spicy seafood chowder.  It was delicious and I couldn't imagine a more beautiful atmosphere.  We even had great entertainment as we watched children playing tag on the lawn in front of us.  This is a great family-friendly location.

After we finished our lunch we sat on the lawn below the eating area and just enjoyed the sunshine.  David took a nap and I drew in my journal.  I think if I lived in Bar Harbor, I would probably come to Jordan Pond all the time.  It was just the best place to relax and have a proper perspective on life.  We could all use a place like this in our lives.

Bar Harbor has many interesting shops in their downtown area.  One of my favorite is the Song of the Sea shop, full of fun folk instruments.  It's a small intimate shop just a few doors down from the whale watch tours.  As you enter, you see all kinds of interesting items to play with.  One that was particularly unique was the THUNDER TUBE.  It was a cylinder with a long coiled wire attached to the bottom.  When you shake it, it makes the sound of thunder.  Different sizes of thunder tubes make a very realistic thunderous sound. 

Song of the Sea has a large assortment of bagpipe supplies, recorders, percussion instruments, dulcimers and my favorite…. harps!  As you enter a small room towards the back of the shop, you could see several sizes of harps (all safely tied up to the wall to avoid mishaps.) Song of the Sea even had the same kind of harp I own, a Lorraine 29 string harp made by Stoney End, plus, they had a kit to make your own harp.

Of course, I had to try out the 34 string harp (pictured above), which I'm sorry to say I didn't really look at the model but I think it was a Lyon and Healy Odgen Harp.  It was so fun playing in the lower octave (which is missing on my harp.)  Very rich sound on the low C!  I also tried some of the smaller harps like this one pictured right.

The best part was going through the harp music.  I have purchased many harp books on the internet before but it's so much better to actually look at the music to see if it's written for my level.  I look for things that either have no lever changes or just one or two and I look for music that's arranged nicely but not too many notes at once.  I went through their collection of harp books while David and Karen explored other areas in Bar Harbor.  The Song of the Sea owner let me bring the harp books over to the harp room and try out as many as I wanted. It was so difficult to narrow down what books I wanted so I ended up buying 8 books! I think I got a nice variety of music to use for the programs I provide in Amarillo such as the nursing home programs.  These are the titles I got:

• 22 Favorite Hymns for 22 Strings arr. by Pamela Dorian & edited by Mary Radspinner
• Early Music for the Harp by Deborah Friou
• Ballads and Court Dances of the 16th and 17th Centuries arr. by Deborah Friou
• Celtic Harp Solos by Kim Robertson
• 50 Irish Melodies for All Harps arr. by Sylvia Woods
• 40 O'Carolan Tunes by Sylvia Woods
• Irish Dance Tunes for All Harps by Sylvia Woods
• 52 Scottish Songs for All Harps by Sylvia Woods 

We located a bed and breakfast to stay at while we vacationed for a week in Bar Harbor.  The Primrose Inn was one of the many reasons our time in Bar Harbor was so fantastic.  The Primrose Inn, located at 73 Mt. Desert St (pronounced like dessert because it's French) and Holland Ave. is right on the edge of all the downtown shopping areas. The original building was built in 1878 as a private residence for Colonel William F. Holland, a native of Savannah, Georgia and businessman who opened a bank and exchange in 1882.  Later the house passed to Reverend Christopher Starr Leffingwell, who was the pastor of the St. Saviour's Church and who owned much property on Holland Ave. 

The house is a "StickStyle" Victorian and is "characterized by the use of exposed vertical and horizontal timbers, wide verandas, tall windows, bracketed gables and eaves, and a noted lack of white paint."  I couldn't help noticing how all the windows and door frames looked brand new so I inquired about them from the host.  Jeff told us they did have new windows put in (84 total I recall him saying) and were about $900 each!!  Wow, our house is nice but we only have 11 windows.

Our room was number 11 and it was so lovely.  There was plenty of room because in addition to the bedroom, there was a private bath and a sitting room. 

Everything was decorated so beautifully throughout the inn.  Furnishings, color choices, wallpaper, turkish towels, 600 thread count sheets, every little detail was so inviting and comfortable.

 The hosts, Catherine and Jeff were such a sweet couple and what a team they were!  This was their second year of running the Primrose and I must say they knew what they were doing.  They said they really enjoyed running a bed and breakfast because they only had to work 5 months out of the year.  Jeff and Catherine keep the inn open until the end of October and then they have 7 months off until the next opening.  That sounds like a good deal but I can tell you that they seemed to be solidly booked and those 5 months are constantly busy for them.

My favorite thing about this lovely bed and breakfast was the FOOD!  Catherine did all the cooking.  She finds recipes through the winter months and also uses some from the previous owners.  Each morning Jeff went around to recite the breakfast menu to each guest, took orders, brought out the food, and cleaned up.  The breakfasts were fantastic with a choice of a savory or sweet menu each morning.  Breakfast was served between 8 and 9:30 am.  We had a choice of eating in the dining area or outside at one of the cozy tables on the wrap around porch next to the garden. 

The savory menu included eggs Florentine, smoked ham and gouda cheese strata, or chili relleno torta.  The sweet entree choices (served with Maine maple syrup) were orange French toast, buttermilk pancakes with fresh Maine blueberries, or fluffy Belgium waffles.  You also had a choice to add scones, muffins, bagels,  sour cream coffee cake, granola and other cereals, Canadian bacon (low fat), Dijon potatoes, spicy cornbread pudding, fruit desserts, orange juice, Twinings teas, and Carrabassett coffee.  Whew!  

The afternoon tea, between 4 and 6 pm offered iced or hot tea, coffee, lemonade, or Maine apple cider with two choices of freshly baked treats.  We were so busy exploring Bar Harbor and sometimes missed the afternoon tea but if there was a way we could work it into our schedule we would make a point to return to the Primrose for afternoon tea.  They provided treats like almond cream cheese cake, double-fudge brownies, Maine blueberry pie, or freshly baked cookies.

A couple of times, David's sister Karen joined us for breakfast and afternoon tea and our hosts said there was no extra charge.  What a bonus to an already great place! 

After our breakfasts, we would head out to the downtown shopping area and the sea shore.  It was wonderful to be in such close walking distance from everything.  Parking is at a minimum downtown so it was great not having to worry about it.  The weather was perfect the entire week.  We were prepared for a typical chilly and rainy week but we had no rain that week and 70 degree temperatures.  Even the locals were commenting on the beautiful weather.   What a perfect vacation!

David and I went on vacation to Bar Harbor, Maine for a week.  Why Bar Harbor?  Well, David's sister, Karen got a graphics job with the Acadia National Park this summer and we thought this was a great opportunity to visit a state neither one of us had ever visited before.  We LOVED Bar Harbor!  I will be posting various events from our trip, so keep checking back.

One of the more exciting events on our trip was the whale watching tour.  The Bar Harbor Whale Watch Co. gives a long tour out into the ocean in their catamaran which has three decks and can accommodate around 300 people.  On a good day, you can see whales, puffins, seals, porpoises and other interesting wildlife.  They give several tours throughout the day, so we signed up for the 4:30 pm Sunset Whale Watch.  We were hoping to see the puffins on the island of Petit Manan but we were informed that the puffins migrated the very day we arrived in Bar Harbor. It was a warmer than usual day for Bar Harbor (low 80s) but we knew that we needed to be prepared for chilly temps on the tour.  Once you get into open seas and you feel the brisk winds, you really want to be wrapped up.  We had extra layers of hoodies and wind breakers and we were very glad we did!  I even brought my wrist warmers which were perfect because I could still operate the camera.

We scurried to the top deck to be able to have a wide open view of the ocean and so that we could clearly hear the announcer yell out "whale at 11 o'clock!" or hear interesting information about the wildlife we were seeing.  The announcer was a young woman from the College of the Atlantic, who had great enthusiasm and was a wealth of knowledge.  Sometimes a tour will result in no whale sightings and the company will give you a voucher for another tour time which I thought was quite fair.  Fortunately, we had a great day for viewing and we saw many whales come up several times.  It was a beautiful day and we were told the seas were calmer than usual.

As we sailed out, we could see the many lobster traps with their brightly colored buoys floating.  Each buoy is painted uniquely so that the fishermen can identify their traps from the others. 

It wasn't long as we got out into the open sea, that we started seeing whales.  The Gulf of Maine is host to humpback, finback, and Minke whales.  First we would see the spray from the whale's blowhole.  It was like looking for the smoke of a steam engine train in the distant.  As we got closer, we could see the whale's back and dorsal fin slowly rolling into the water.  You could tell when the tail was about to come up and flip just by how the whale curled forward.  Whales are identified by their tail markings and our announcer informed us that we were seeing some whales that had only been seen a few times, so she was very excited about this particular tour.

Sometimes we would see two whales and they often would come up at the same time in sync.  It was a beautiful sight!

In addition to a few porpoises that swam by, we also saw a seal far off that was bobbing up and down in the water.  We were told that seals will often bob like this when they're sleeping. The thought of this made me chuckle.

We were so glad that we went on this trip.  It was worth the price and I would do it again if I had the chance.  The catamaran is a beautiful and speedy ship with plenty of comfortable seating, good views, and a galley with food and beverages.  If you ever visit Bar Harbor, the whale watching tour should definitely be on your schedule.

The Globe News featured four Amarillo composers (including moi) in their Sunday, August 24, 2008 paper.  Reporter, Brad Newman wanted to show that in addition to the large number of talented musicians in the area, Amarillo had quite a few talented composers.  Besides myself, Dr. Norman J. Nelson (my composition teacher in the 80s), Jim Gardner, and Dan Hall were featured.  The article can be found here.   Photos and sound files were included in the article.  Photographer, Michael Lemmons took some photos of me playing the harp even though I explained I'm not an expert harpist.  He wanted to demonstrate that I used the harp to work out the harp parts in my composition.

David and I just returned from the Renaissance Festival in Larkspur, Colorado which is between Denver and Colorado Springs. We went to the festival about 10 years ago.  I recently got some old pictures out from our first visit and it looked so much fun, we decided to go again.  The festival, which runs from June 14 through Aug 3 has grown so much since we last attended.  The Colorado Renaissance Festival is located on a huge open meadow off I-25.  You drive the backroads far off the highway so you really get a feeling you're going back into time. Just before entering the festival, you have the opportunity to rent a costume at the "Costumers" shop. All the employees are already in costume but it's amazing how many attendees dress in costume.  If you don't have a costume, you can always purchase a hat or fairy wings in the festival just to get you in the mood. 

At the top of the festival entry way, all kinds of Renaissance characters are greeting the visitors and when you walk through the archway, you become transported in time. An entire village from the Renaissance period lays before you.  You can see shops shaped like a jug, a quaint home, a castle, even a pirate ship! 

Musicians fill the air with their ancient instruments, actors act out historic events, and jugglers, hypnotists, and comedians draw crowds to the various stages.  My personal favorite musician of course was the harper, Matt Schwarz but the carillon player (Cast in Bronze) was fascinating too.  The most famous of the entertainers was Arsene of Paris, a mime/comedian/juggler, who is well known throughout the world.  He has performed at the White House and for Disney.  It's amazing how his entire act consists of communicating with the audience and he never speaks a word.  His gestures and facial expressions are priceless.  A very talented quintet of ladies called the Merrye Madrygal Mavyns sang some great songs.  David video taped them and has two of their songs on VIMEO.

Many animals roam the festival grounds. 

You'll see hawks, owls, elephants, camels, llamas, greyhounds, and even some dragons and unicorns.

(OK, the last two were in costume but they were great.)  The raptors were rescued animals and the greyhounds were part of an adoption organization.  As we stroll from vendor to vendor we hear "Make way for the elephant!"  As we look up, here comes a huge elephant walking right through the crowds. The elephant, camel, and llama rides are very popular at the festival.  I wasn't brave enough but I did enjoy watching them.

There is so much to see for all ages at the festival.  Children especially have much to do.  They can start out at the "Enchanted Hat" and pick out their favorite hat.  I can imagine little girls especially enjoying this.  The selection is wonderful and even I can get caught up with trying on hats!  Boys will enjoy stopping at the sword and shield shop and then they can practice with a swordsman in the open area just outside the shop. 

Watch out though, those swords are made of wood and not the flexible rubber you see in the toy department! A bungie area was popular and I could tell one little boy thoroughly enjoyed jumping on the trampoline and leaping high into the air with his bungie cords safely attached.  There was a special area called the "Children's Realm" that had much to do for the wee ones. 

The Lady and Her Spinning Wheel was very interesting.  She had her basket of wool and demonstrated how she spins the wool into yarn.  She invited all to feel the softness of the wool in the basket. 

A huge waterwheel adds to the atmosphere bringing a cooling and tranquil effect to those of us who have been walking around for hours. 

It was a beautiful day with cooler temperatures and low humidity but by the afternoon, that waterwheel felt wonderful!

The actors were scattered about the festival in their exquisite costumes.  You would often see the King and Queen and their court strolling throughout the grounds. 

The Queen's gorgeous scarlet dress and the parisols of the court caught my eye.  I could imagine how hot those costumes would get, especially for the man wearing that suit of armor!

The food was plentiful and delicious.  Of course, the ales and wines were quite popular but other selections such as the turkey drumstick, roasted corn, and scotch eggs sold quickly.  My favorite was the cinnamon pecans (also almonds and cashews)…. YUMMM!

Did I mention that David had a great time?  He looks great in his hat and poet shirt!  Don't you think?

Huzzah! Thank you my Lord and Lady for visiting my post!

I finally repainted my studio in the house!  When we moved into our house in 1999, my studio was one of the first to be painted because it was the previous owner's baby room and had a very cute painting of friendly bears on one wall.  Loved the painting, but it was not quite what I had in mind for a composer/musician studio. I wanted to try a deep color and blue has always been a favorite.  I've enjoyed having dark blue walls because the wood colors look so rich with it but over the years I found the blue was affecting my mood.  I needed something brighter (something to wake me up in the morning!) and I needed something a little more sophisticated.

Finding a color among the billions of paint colors available is difficult for me.  A color might look great in a paint store but when you get it home… well, that can be a different story.  The pro decorators say, "Just try something. You can always paint over it if you don't like it!"  True, but who wants to paint their room over and over?  Moving furniture, prepping the walls, clean up, etc. is not something I want to do over and over so I wanted to make one choice and stick with it.   I brought paint chips home whenever I was at the home improvement stores.  I even tried using a graphics program to picture my studio in various colors. I used GIMP (a free open source graphics program) to bring in a photo of my studio and then I cut out the blue wall color and tried other colors with it by using the layering feature of GIMP.  That was rather helpful but even finding the right shade is not quite the same in a graphics program as it is in reality.

I watched videos of various painting techniques and saw a "parchment technique" on an HGTV website here.  I really liked how it looked and was told on the video it was very easy.  The word EASY got my attention right away!  So I took my sample sheet to the paint store to pick out the three colors for the parchment technique.  Once I got all my supplies together, I blocked off a 4 x 4 section of wall and practiced the technique.  It did seem rather easy at the time.  Painting a 4 x 4 wall is easy compared to a full studio of 4 walls but I went for it and I'm glad I did.  It took me about 5 days to do all 4 walls but I was taking turns moving furniture away from walls and also painting base boards, door frames, and edges of ceilings.

Of course, like most DIYers, I had to try the technique with my own twist. I first painted the base coat a nice creamy and light color called Cocoa Mocha.  Already I could tell it was going to brighten up this blue room.  I used the KILZ Casual Colors because I didn't want to paint a primer coat over the dark blue if I didn't have to.  The KILZ did a great job of covering the dark color on the first coat.  After the base coat dried, I started the parchment technique.  I took two plastic tubs and put about 1 part water and 3 parts paint in each. (The video said to use a glaze but I'm lazy and wanted to try it without.) The colors I chose were called Terrene Brown and Trenchcoat Khaki (also KILZ Casual Colors).  As the video showed, I made a squiggly line on the wall with the brown, followed by another squiggly line of the Khaki on the wall.  Usually the two lines were somewhat parallel.  Immediately, I took a wet cheese cloth and started making figure eight wipings on the edges of the squiggly lines, blending the colors together.  You can do this technique so many different ways depending on how soft of look you want.  If you choose colors that are closer together, I would image you could get an even softer look. There are two challenges about this technique:  1) I tried to be fairly consistent with my technique without making too much of a pattern but when I got to the final wall, I had to be careful about blending into where the first painted wall started, 2) I tried to do "fixes" like the video suggested but it wasn't working for me.  If a section was too harsh, I couldn't adjust it because it kept getting muddier looking and stood out too much with the rest of the wall.  I found that I had to take the full strength base coat and repaint the small section and start over with the parchment technique. One thing I think would help me if I ever tried this technique again and that would be having more cheese cloths available.  I think I could have achieved a softer look and more consistent look if I would have rinsed out the cheese cloth more often and maybe changed to a new one more often.  I used one cheese cloth per wall but could have used more.  So here is the result of the technique.  I really liked the results and would definitely try this again (but just not right away… whew!  hard work in my opinion!)  It was worth the work.  I love how it turned out and I enjoy walking into my studio every morning!

We enjoy eating our meals on the patio.  A few yards of material freshened up our table and chair coverings and a fresh coat of paint on the plastic chairs really helped this year. I think those light green chairs (celery spray paint) have about 6 coats of different paint colors on them. 

Everything tastes better outside and we love watching the birds flying around.  It's like an airport for birds in our back yard because the bird garden is just around the corner from our patio so we see them swooping in for a landing to the bird seed or bird bath.  We see the usual robins, doves, finches, sparrows but we also see red winged blackbirds, blue jays, kingbirds, and cardinals.  We get occasional glimpses at the rarer birds like indigo bunting, waxwings, and yellow warbler.

It's nice to see flowers returning from last year's planting, such as the red rose bush and salvia.

This year was a sad one for our redbud tree.  I think it started to bud out and then we got a freeze.  I'm thinking of cutting the tree down and recycling it into an artificial tree.  Has anyone out there every tried that?  The size and number of branches would be perfect for a large indoor tree.  I think I could drill holes in the wood and then hot glue leaves, branches, and maybe blossoms on it.

I haven't seen this idea much on the internet so I thought I would share it.  We had an old gas grill that needed to be taken to the trash but I decided to turn it into a planter. 

I removed the propane tank and outer hardware and spray painted it a copper color.  I lined the bottom with a coconut liner and soil, then filled it with a combination of tall and trailing plants.  If the plants don't do very well in the location I have right now, I'll be able to move it around because the grill has wheels on the base.

I've been playing the folk harp for some of the retirement homes and nursing homes in the area.  I started out just doing it on my own a couple of years ago.  Actually that was part of the reason I wanted to take up the harp… to play for nursing homes.  I started out by playing for my husband's grandmother.  She is living in Bivins Memorial.  I would take my harp into her room and give her a little recital.  While there, some of the staff members heard me play and asked if I would come play it for the other residents too.  When I play, I usually try to bring the residents a variety of music:  folk songs, celtic, scottish, and familiar tunes.  I also tell them something interesting about the music or the harp and I often ask questions.   The most popular music selections I bring to the residents are the good old fashioned hymns.  The residents also really enjoy it when I ask them to strum my harp.  Some of them really get into it too! 

This past year, our Chamber Music Amarillo received a grant to send musicians into the nursing homes for an hour of music.  My Shepherd's Trio was a good ensemble for this project because we had so many arrangements of familiar hymns.  I really think the people enjoyed all the concerts we brought them this year.  We had concerts with Christmas music, religious music, inspirational music, and we even played a pops concert!  (You've not heard anything until you've heard "Peter Gunn" on the English horn!)  I was also asked to solo with my little folk harp as part of the CMA Elder Care Program.  At first I was a little hesitant because I had only been playing the harp for a few years compared to the 44 years (yikes!) I've been playing the oboe/English horn.  However, the residents at all three of the facilities, Bivins Memorial, Bivins Village, and Childers Place all seemed to really enjoy the harp, even though I was clearly the most inexperienced of all the ensembles sent out.  They came to my harp concerts to listen to live music, not to be wowed by fabulous technique.  They just wanted an hour of pleasant music and they enjoyed listening to such a unique instrument.

This past Tues, the Bivins Foundation held their annual banquet honoring those who volunteered in the nursing homes.  All of us in the CMA Elder Care Program received invitations.  I've been to the banquet before (last year) and enjoyed it so much because it was held at the Amarillo Botanical Gardens and because all the people who are invited are a very giving and caring type people.  I was just happy my husband, David and I were invited.  Then I received a great surprise!  At the beginning of the ceremony, they announced the Volunteer Entertainer of the Year for 2007.  When they called my name, I was totally shocked!  It turns out that many of the residents often ask "when is the harp lady coming back?"  This just goes to show you that you don't have to be the best at something to be recognized as something special.  Many thanks to the Bivins Foundation and all the staff and residents!

To finish up the weekend of gardening projects, I finally took time to paint a design on a butterfly house my sister Judy gave me.  She a hired a man in her area (Florida) to make it and asked him to leave it plainly painted because she knew I would have fun painting a design on it.  Ours sisters know us very well, don't they?  So here are some pictures of the finished house.  I may be an amateur at painting but still, I think the house turned out cute. It hangs proudly on one of our front yard oaks next to the flower garden and blossoming tree.

It was just in time too because we have been seeing a lot of butterflies out and about now.  Our snow crab apple tree has been inviting the painted lady butterflies to our yard with its honeysuckle scent.

We're pretty lucky here in Amarillo, Texas that we don't have long, long winters.  Lately, our trees have been showing off their blooms in style.  We've had many 70 degree days (even an 80 degree one day) and the white blossoms of the pear trees throughout Amarillo have been so beautiful.  We could easily get another frost or spell of cold weather between now and May but I always take my chances with getting some color out in the front garden.  My favorite part of spring has been our snow crab apple tree in our front yard.  My husband, David planted it in 2004 and it is coming along nicely.  Unlike the pear trees that start out with white blossoms and then fill in with green leaves, a snow crab apple tree starts the spring with tiny green leaves followed by the most delicate of white blossoms. The combination of green and white makes it look like a bridal bouquet.  And the scent of these blossoms is so delightful!  It's just like a honeysuckle and I always have to stop to take in this wonderful perfume as I walk around the front of the house. 

I mentioned that this tree was planted in 2004.  Please don't think my memory is that good.  I can't tell you from memory when things were planted.  I keep a garden journal, thanks to my friend Denise who gave it to me.  I keep information about when plants and trees are planted and what works and what doesn't work.  I even have a page in the journal describing the 13 different kinds of weeds we have! Ha!

So the snow crab apple tree started as a young sapling in 2004 as seen in the photo (below) from my gardening journal.  Our neighbor gave us good advice when he suggested we try putting a PVC pipe next to the tree trunk down to the roots to allow water to be applied directly to the roots of the tree. I think this had an impact on how well it grew.  As you can see in the picture below, the tree was about even with the top of the window.  Four years later, it's now above the bottom of the roof and much fuller.  

 I highly recommend to anyone who loves to garden to keep a gardening journal. It's easy to forget how small trees and plants were when you first put them in the ground.  A journal lets you compare from year to year just how much everything has grown.  And if you ever decide to move, I think it would be a great thing to have your gardening journal on hand for those who decide to buy your house so that they know how much progress has been made from your gardening care.

I wasn't sure what colors to plant this spring in the front garden.  I usually have Victorian colors but wanted to try some new plants.  I remembered the old rule of thumb of finding an inspiration piece.  My sister, Judy gave me a small garden flag and it had some great colors in it so it became my inspiration piece.

I planted burgundy and yellow snapdragons, pink and white dianthus, and next to my bunny friends, purple verbena. My favorite perennial grape hyacinth faithful came up again and a pansy from last fall planting surprised me.  Today I bought some burgundy and pink columbine and will plant those this weekend.  I'm hoping the bearded iris will bloom this year.  I  had a lot of blooms the first spring after we moved to our home and transplanted them from our old home but over the past few years, the blooms have been less and less.  I guess I need to separate them and read up on any nutrients they may be missing.

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My new website is now up and running with content.  Please visit www.janetlanier.com to see a listing of my compositions and arrangements plus some information about my music ensembles.  You don't have to log into the site to make a comment so I'd love to hear from anyone browsing through. Thanks!

I have a new website that will focus on my composing and arranging.  The site is still under construction but should be mostly completed by the latter half of February.  Please log on to www.janetlanier.com to get to the new site and while you're there please fill out the provided form to notify you when the site will be ready.  The site will focus mainly on my compositions and arrangements but will also have some information on my performances.  Sound files, video, sample PDFs of the printed music, and purchase/contact information will be listed.  

Instrumental and choral works will be offered including new works commissioned by Amarillo High School Bel Canto Chorale Men for the 2008 TMEA performance, the Amarillo Civic Chorus, Shepherd's Trio, and more.  Thanks for checking out the site.  In the meantime, you're welcome to browse through my personal blog until the new website is ready.

I tried a new crochet pattern for a beret.  It turned out very well, don't you think?  The pattern looks pretty simple at first but then you realize you have to count stitches as you start from the center and expand.  I got a work out on my multiplication tables making this!

BTW, the beret does fit my head but the bunny's hair (hare) looked better today than mine! HA!  Instructions for this beret pattern are at this link:  Yarn Lover's Room

It's getting close to the time where David and I will be going to TMEA in San Antonio.  I've been at TMEA once playing oboe in a quartet but it's been many years ago.  This year I'm going as a composer.  The Amarillo High School Bel Canto Chorale Men commissioned me to write a new piece for them to perform at TMEA.  This is a very big deal for them and their director Susan Hinrichs and for me too.  Susan and I have known each other for many years now and I was honored to be asked to write something for them.  Susan wanted a piece to help honor those who were serving in the military and their families.  We looked through a lot of possible texts to use and we both liked a poem by Mary Frye.  The poem was never copyrighted and has had some some changes made to it by various people over the years but this is mainly the poem she wrote back in 1932.

The AHS Bel Canto Chorale Men have been working long and hard on this composition (since the beginning of the Fall 2007).  Yesterday I went to one of their rehearsals.  At the earlier rehearsals in the Fall, it seemed pretty clear that this was a young group of singers and it was pretty evident that my scoring of Mary Frye's poem was going to be quite difficult and challenging for them but we had time in our favor so I was not worried.  The rehearsal I attended yesterday was like listening to a completely different group of young men.  Great work guys and great work Susan!! Susan had brought in other choral conductors to work with them over the past months such as Steve Weber from Amarillo College.  I really admire Susan for seeking out help from those she respects in the choral world to come and work with her choir.  Next week, she will have Robert Stovall work with them.

Something very meaningful happened at this rehearsal yesterday that I will always keep in my heart.  Before the rehearsal began, one of the young men made an announcement to the rest of his colleagues.  They were already aware of a serious medical situation with his mother and were now being updated.  This time, the doctors reported an even more serious discovery of the mother's condition.  I am not going to say what the condition is out of respect for the young man's privacy but I want to tell you that all of his fellow singers were so supportive of their friend and colleague, told him they were with him, told him they loved him.  What a moment of sadness for all of us in that room.  We felt so much emotion for this young high schooler.  My next thought was "and now they're going to rehearse this song… Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep?"  Susan did not know that this announcement about the mom was going to be made so she asked the young man if he wanted to rehearse the song.  If Susan would have asked me, could we rehearse this another day, I would have agreed with my whole heart but the young man said it was OK.  I sat in front of the ensemble, closed my eyes and listened.  It's difficult to describe what I felt but I can tell you what I heard was the most warm and sensitive singing I've ever heard from them.  I felt like there were a thousand loving arms reaching out everywhere in the room ready to nurture.  Wow, I'll never forget it!  I know I'll be excited for them when they perform at TMEA but I don't know how they can top the feeling I felt in that room that day.  Thank you AHS Bel Canto Chorale Men and Susan, bless you for all your work!

My husband, David and I enjoy watching movies.  We discuss the plot, the acting, and a lot about the technical parts of making a film.  Sometimes we enjoy the special features of a DVD as much as the movie.  There's so much to know about making a film and we, the audience just sit back and enjoy the ride.  David has been learning on his own camera and getting quite good on Final Cut Pro (software).  I've already posted his video of the Magical Gingerbread House which was all done without a video camera - just a regular camera and Final Cut Pro.  Now here's the most recent addition to his videos:  "Amaryllis Awakening" which was also done with just a regular camera (Rebel digital).  My sister sent us an Amaryllis bulb before Christmas and it started to bloom.  What a great subject for a stop action video!  The camera was set up on a tripod for about 5 days as the gorgeous red petals of the Amaryllis unfolded.  I love how the shadows from the window move around the room throughout the day too.  Of course, I had to get in on the act some.  I provided music for the video.  I'm playing one of my harp compositions called "A Garden Stroll" which was not only a perfect length, it was a perfect title for the video.  Hope you enjoy this!

Amaryllis Awakening from David Lanier on Vimeo.

The 20th Annual Bassoon Bash will be held March 1, 2008 at West Texas A&M University in Canyon, TX.  All bassoonists are welcome to join in a fun day of playing bassoon ensemble music and chatting with other double reed geeks (I mean that in a loving way).  For more information contact Tina Carpenter at WTAMU. 

But now, here is the unveiling of the Bassoon Bash T-Shirt!  (Admit it, you know that's the only reason you stopped by.)  TA DA!  If you're a bassoonist, you'll understand the puns.

If you're interested in seeing the past Bassoon Bash T-Shirt designs (since 1999),
find the "Categories" section in the right column of this blog and click on "Bassoon T-Shirts".