Restingmotion

This past weekend we attended the last concert of this year's chamber music circle and it was both fabulous and disappointing.  I realized as I was driving home that I haven't written about any of these concerts this year, and it is mostly because of this good/bad dichotomy which I have been feeling in relation to this series.

The musicians were fabulous (The Daedalus Quartet), the program gorgeous (Mozart, Brahms, Dillon) and yet the whole thing seemed over-amplified and it truly distracted from the sound.  With the Mozart it was not so much the volume, although that has often been a problem, but the way the amplification muddied the sound, muting the clarity that should have been there.  I must admit I didn't notice as much in the Dillon, but I am not as familiar with Dillon, and the music was at times much more spare.

The Brahms really got to me though.  We listened to the Piano Quintet in F minor, Op 34, and as I mentioned the performance seemed fabulous.  But the piano was overpowering, deafening really, as were the combination of the strings with the piano.  This is a very small hall, seating around 100, with lovely acoustics on its own.  There is no need for amplification, in fact the amplification works against the music.

And yet no one seems to notice or say anything.  I really don't know any of the board members, and I do wonder if it is just me, although G notices the same thing so probably not.  I think I shall have to inquire at the board meeting next month.  I hope I'm not just becoming one of those grumpy old ladies who complains about everything.  I would expect the volume and the amplification at a rock concert but not with a string quartet.

I think I've had it.  I've reached the end of my rope and things have to change.  I can't live like this anymore.

Not to worry.  I'm talking about the electrical wiring in my house.

There are times when I think there was no zoning enforcement when this house was built.  I don't know if there were no laws, or if it was just that no one enforced them.  But I do know that I have needed to do something about the wiring for some time.

Since we moved here we have had electrical work done, and probably not always by the best person, but I was young and I learned as I went along.  I do know that an electrician did not have to be licensed to work in this town until fairly recently so there were all kinds of electricians running around the county who could work here but not there and so forth and so on.  Some of them of have worked on my house.  Hell, some of them probably worked on this house when it was being built.

But back to the issue at hand.  I am tired of something going bad, needing repair, and then finding out that the whole things is crazy wrong and needs redoing.  Now it has taken me a while to find an electrician I trust, who will come back to the house, and is willing to take on the job, because, as I said, although the house is not THAT old (it was built in the 60's) it is the kind of house in which almost every job is complicated.  And I'm just plain old tired of "complicated".  

I left the skirt fabric out on the cutting table for a while so I could play with different placement options for aligning the print and laying out the pieces.  I am not sure I am completely happy with what I have, but it did seem to be the best option at the time, after several hours, spent in small increments, moving the pieces around on the fabric.  After I get the skirt basted together I'll see what I think and then decide if I need to cut the back again, or if this will work.  Luckily I have fabric and time.

Otherwise, progress came to a standstill right after the skirt pieces were cut and marked.  I prefer to get the cutting done before I start sewing, but the lining will not take long.  I can probably get to that by Monday as the weekend is completely filled, although I may break down and sneak off for a little cutting therapy, or even hand-basting therapy.

In the meantime, many things that have been in the negotiation and planning stages for months are suddenly moving forward and I am busy and there is much piling up.  Would I have preferred that some of these things happened sooner? of course.  But it is what it is.  

I am still catching up with the garden, and waiting for some plans and estimates to come back from the landscape designer.  I am behind on my work, but other projects and the weather have not always been cooperative.  Whatever happens I am way ahead of anything I accomplished over the prior three years. 

The lights went out in my sewing room.  It was not a circuit problem but a wiring problem, and although I temporarily have light again, that circuit has to be completely rewired as does the entire electrical panel.  I knew this would have to be addressed eventually;  the problem was finding an electrician willing and able to do it.  Admittedly however, I would have preferred that it not happen right now, when so much else is going on.  My goal remains reaching a point in our lives where we are not reacting to one problem or another and things just work smoothly.  I do actually think I see this place on the horizon, and that is a huge step ahead of where I was not so very long ago. 

At the moment, I think I can just relax and enjoy this brief period of calm before the next flurry of activity.

Inspired by this weeks finds in the Farmer's market:

Salmon with Sorrel sauce

Gnudi (ricotta and spinach dumplings)

The salmon is obviously not local, nor is the parmesan cheese and tiny bit of flour (gluten free) I used for the gnudi.  Everything else was inspired by our first trip to the farmer's market this season:  sorrel, spinach, fresh sheep's milk ricotta, butter, cream, and eggs from local farms.

I did not sign up for Me Made May, I had doubts as to whether I had enough stuff to do it and I certainly didn't have the willpower, although I do like wearing things I made.  However, it occurred to me, as I was perusing blogs, that I had worn something I made the first 4 days of May so I thought I would see if I could continue.  As I would expect, as soon as I decided to follow the plan, I was itching to get out of it.

 I made it for six days straight.  On the 7th, I started out with something I made but then decided I hated the outfit and took it off as soon as we got home from an appointment.  The clothes I did want to wear were not made by me.  So goes it.  I did notice, as I was putting up these pictures though, that I have worn my favorite robe, made by me two years ago, every day this week, including the days I did not wear things I made out in public.  So I added the photo anyway.  Besides, some of the things I wore in public, were barely noticeable (hand knit socks or a gray tee under the spotted sweater). Yesterday was cold.  We went out.  I wore something I made.

I am now bored with this exercise; not with wearing things I made, just forcing myself to dress from a fixed and limited palette.

I am however eager to make more things and work them into regular rotation.  If I have learned anything it is not to save things for "best".  Wear them or let them rot.

Mother's day is the opening day of the Rhinebeck Farmer's Market.  We were there, braving a cold wind and temperatures in the 40s for the first produce of the season.

There were some new vendors and farms this year, and we had a good time wandering around looking at the offerings.  It is very early in the season yet, and aside from greens, radishes, and last seasons apples, there was not much produce.  Luckily for us we love greens in all their forms.

 There were more cheese makers than last year, and several farms selling their own meat and poultry.  We had grazed beef, lamb, venison, free-range heritage pork, and several varieties of chickens, game birds and rabbits.

The guy who sold fish was not there, and is not on the vendor list for this season, which is a shame, as he had the freshest fish I've been able to buy around here.    

We did go to the fish market, which required an extra trip, because I was inspired by the fresh sorrel to roast some salmon with sorrel sauce for dinner tonight.  

As for the rest of the day, I intend to spend the remainder in the garden.  It is less garden time than I had hoped for, but running to the fish market was apparently more important.  Still, if I want to not only get the yard back in shape but actually improve the place and do more planting, I do have to spend some time outside.  

I'll leave you with one last photo, the first batch of poppies.  I'd show you the irises but they are all lying in the grass after yesterdays rainstorms and wind, staking them back up is my first task.