the cabin {part one}: another scheme to move somewhere beautiful

i'm pretty sure i introduced myself to every horse

in the valley on our drive up to the cabin.

why is my family not a horse family?

i'm going to have to change that somehow at some point.

for now, i'll just get to know the neighbor's horsies

as much as i can through that barbed-wire fence.

fortunately there was no riot after the orchestra played stravinsky...

the first audience to ever hear stravinsky's "rite of spring"

{the original title in french "le sacre du printempts"}

erupted into a riot: the music and choreography {of the ballet}

were too much for the traditional crowd. stravinsky begged the

orchestra and the dancers to stop, but they had agreed before-hand

to continue no matter what happened.

stravinsky's "rite of spring" has a pulse like no other

composition had had before. it changed classical music forever.

and the amazing thing is no one has even attempted to imitate it since.

i'm in love with both "the adoration of the earth"

and "the exalted sacrifice"...it's intense and abrupt

with a primal pulse throughout the entire piece.

what a dream to hear it live.

here's a link to a fantastic interview with swiss orchestra conductor, tierry fischer,

about the piece and stravinksy.

brilliant.

happy about the weekend so far...

having a lovely fall-spring weekend...can't wait to show you all the details soon

happy holiday weekend...

hoping for at least one morning of sleeping in...

especially after our day yesterday: hanging out with 3rd graders; i as queen helen; younger brother as mr. tumnus.

weekend plans include: the symphony (ives, strauss, stravinsky), a cabin, and maybe an island.

your plans?

intermezzo #1 by manuel m. ponce

on my "new" piano...that is really my sister's.

thanks for letting me "borrow" it. i love it.

if i'm not careful my entire house will be filled with different versions of these nightstands...i love them!

i finished my nightstands over the weekend!!!

i'm quite in love with them, and they were super simple.

i could have completed them within two days,

but the schedule didn't allow it, so it took me

a couple of weeks as i worked on them a few minutes

here and a few minutes there.

what do you think?

materials: poplar wood, all-thread, nuts, non-toxic wood stain

tools: power drill, paint brush, wrench

they were so so so easy to make (once i got over my fear of the drill).

would you be interested in a how-to tutorial, or is this pretty obvious?

by the way...

this "impossible project" film is quite impossible:
the only images that have turned out for me
are shots taken indoors...and they only work if you
immediately shove the image into a dark box as soon
as it pops out of the camera.
every shot i've taken outside (and immediately shoved into a box)
has been a disaster.

and it's $3 a pop. no thank you.

please bring the real polaroid back. please.

in love with these pages and petals

currently reading about elizabeth, shakespeare, donne, and milton...

i love studying for classes that allow me to learn in such depth

about the history surrounding such genius literature and poetry.

and these spring flowers (peonies, ranunculus, and tulips in particular)

are really making my study areas and office so incredibly pretty and light.

i think having fresh flowers to help me study or work is going

to be a difficult habit to break.

the rest of the washington recap

well, it was just lovely...i think ceej even slightly enjoyed

their ski-trip-gone-bad as he and my big brother hiked

through rivers {with their skis on!} and over avalanche

debris, the likes we've never seen. my favorite part was

watching the video of them launching their skis over

fallen trees and hiking in their ski boots. yes, ceej

likes anything to do with skiing. luckily, they had a better

day of it the next day through lovely spring corn snow.

i'm still thinking of good food, pretty gardens, and living on the ocean...

if i had all the money in the world i'd create reserves like crazy : the bloedel reserve on bainbridge island

i get so greedy when i start to think of all the places

i could reserve and keep safe from development...

i suddenly get the urge to pinch every penny

and work 80 hours a week to get money, money, money--

all so i can dump it into a giant fund to preserve

beautiful places...you know, like a modern beatrix potter.

was happy to visit such a reserve: the bloedel reserve.