For the birds....

I'm giving their room a new coat of paint on two walls and they are being extremely patient with me. I found paint from Benjamin Moore called "Natura" that is non-toxic and odorless so I can paint even when they're in the room.... I left the door open so the less adventurous amongst them could fly into the dining room while I primed and painted but many of them--surprisingly--stayed around to see the old surface away behind the primer and then to be the first ones to see the new colors. I'll post a pic when I'm finished.

Yes, you may be thinking: What if they flew into the wet paint? They didn't. But I didn't leave the room until it was dry to the touch, and Natura dries very quickly. (I should write a post about the time one of my birds flew into a strip fly catcher and got all gunked up with it! She recovered fine. I'll leave the details for some other time.) Also, I'm painting the room bit by bit for a few reasons. Firstly so that I don't have to protect them from a vast area of wet paint and secondly so I don't spend more than an hour at a time in the room. I like to give them time to rest from my intrusion and catch up with food and water.

I still have the stencils I used years ago throughout my apartment (long since covered up with fresh coats of paint) and decided to stencil a wisteria vine on one wall of the bird room. It's looking real nice if I do say so. Stenciling is fun.

Cello....

I've just started extensions (reaching up or down from 1st position). Well... It's going to take a bit of practice! I absolutely love that feeling when something that seems impossible starts to unfold and a glimmer of possibility appears. The glimmer is there... now how to make it shine? Practice, practice, practice! :)

A few recommendations... continued...

The Yarn Tree in Williamsburg. 347 Bedford Avenue between North 3rd and North 4th Streets.

The Yarn Tree carries only natural fibers--yarns and spinning fiber. The best spinning fiber selection in the city. Everything from yak to silk to bamboo to wool of every sort. Dyes, equipment, spindles, wheels, looms. She also has several hand woven articles (scarfs, rugs) brought back from India and Mexico for sale.

The proprietor, Linda LaBelle is very knowledgeable and helpful. A former costume designer, she now spends a certain amount of time in foreign lands teaching underprivileged people how to weave and dye. I highly recommend a trip to The Yarn Tree.

Check out "Stories of Hope" on The Yarn Tree's web site.

Cello...

Working on a forte sound. Whew! Going to take some work... especially on an up bow... especially near the tip. Albeit very enjoyable work. There's a lot more to bowing than meets the eye. For sure. I absolutely love the Dotzauer exercises that I've been doing. Though string crossings are a big part of them, they have me focusing on my left hand more than on bowing.

Looks like I'll be done with Suzuki Book 1 in a few weeks. I started the next-to-last piece this week--a Bach Minuet in C. That's followed by another Bach Minuet. Went to Sam Ash's over on 48th St. this week to pick up Book 2. I could get lost in Sam Ash's stores... I think they have 3 stores all next to or across the street from each other. Get lost amongst the keyboards and music and cellos. I suppose if I were really lost no one would see me walking away with a keyboard under one arm and a cello under the other... heehee.

Now that the weather is nice I'm contemplating taking the cello out to the back yard for practice. How lovely would that be!? Can't do that with my piano. I wonder if my neighbors will be able to hear me from there? I don't sound all that great when practicing (well let's face it I don't sound all that great period at the moment!), but as we all know good practicing isn't meant to sound great. (If practicing sounds great there's a good chance it could be playing or performing instead of practicing.)

I am realizing how important core support is to cello playing. It's a real workout.

For the birds...

I notice that my mind is more at ease having a "flock" of Lovebirds than when I had just four of them. There is something complete about the current situation. To be sure I've had to make some changes but they too have been for the better. The birds now have their very own room. When I had four they shared with me and I with them but now, though we are in the same apartment, they have a room of their own. I don't have to try to keep my things clean because my things aren't in their room! This makes it easier. It now amounts to an hour each morning picking up the prior day's chewed up newspaper, washing down the counter top and doing a maintenance floor washing. I don't try to get the floor spic-n-span every day. I take care of the bad spots where the newspaper was removed by the birds. It's enough to give their room a cleanish look and then on the weekend I do the whole shebang which goes pretty well because of the daily maintenance. Once a month (if I'm diligent) I have to wipe the window casing and special valances within which are their perches.

Did I mention that their room used to be my kitchen? Heehee. That's why there's a counter top in there. My fridge and stove are now in the room which used to be my dining room but is now an eat-in kitchen! Ha!

I dream of having an outdoor space for them in the summer. That would be so lovely.

For the birds...

I was able to have the window open wide today (with a screen in place) and they were very noisy. And loud. I sometimes worry it may bother the neighbors. But it's been several years and so far no problems. Knock on wood. My birds as far as I can tell get into fights with the birds outside. It would be nice if I could understand them.

I love them to bits but when they get into a noisy mood, man oh man, they're loud! I've taken to wearing ear plugs some days when I'm doing the morning cleaning. I think they can hear the tinnitus that sometimes rings in my ears. Maybe, or not. When my neighbor first made that suggestion I thought he was crazy but I've since wondered. They seem less agitated when the ear plugs are in. Hm.

I think I'll design a needlepoint pillow of love bird feathers. I've collected many from the floor. Here's some:

Catch up... cello, piano and needlepoint

Well! It's been almost a whole month since my last post... time to catch up...

In 2 weeks it will be 6 months since I started cello and that's hard to believe! The time has flown. I originally committed myself to 6 months and it didn't take long to extend my commitment to a year. Now I'm pretty sure it will be with me for a long time to come. I'm loving it.

Working on lots of C Major the past month. This week my exercises are covering all 4 strings which means I can do arpeggio's from low C to high C in the Dotzauer book. Bowing is still pretty difficult--so many angles to attend to.

Work on the cello is complimenting work on the piano and vice-versa. On weekends such as this one I can get 2 hours a day on the cello and 2 on the piano. Wish I could manage that every day. It works out really well to do an hour of cello early in the day and another hour in the evening.

On the piano I'm relearning Beethoven's Op. 49 No. 2 since one of my students is learning it. It's a fun piece. I'm also going through his Op. 31 No. 2--ever so lovely! In addition to the other pieces I'm working on at the moment.

Piano needs tuning. The harpsichord needs a technician and I wouldn't mind a nice German cello. Is there no end? :) It'll all happen. Eventually.

On the wool front I'm nearing completion of my first Candace Bahouth needlepoint which I copied from a book. I'm enjoying this very much too. She has 6 patterns which she gathered into a rug. I have found 4 of them in 2 different books plus 1 more on the cover of one book. I may try to do them all and make a rug too. I like the patterns a lot. Here's where the squirrel is at this evening. Just the tail remains:

Knitwise, the sweater is going kinda slow but that's OK since it's spring and I won't be needing it anytime soon. I'm doing most of my knitting on the subway these days apart from the 1.5 hours every two weeks at the LGBT Center knitting group plus the 2 hours every month at Lions Brand Studio's men's night.

There are a couple rugs waiting for me to start but I'm not in a hurry. They'll get started soon.