Another day spent in the kitchen

The latest issue of Cook's Country magazine arrived last week.  I actually managed to flip through the whole thing pretty much right away, and of course I found a couple of recipes I wanted to try right away.  The reduced-fat pastitsio just came out of the oven a few minutes ago and smells a lot like the traditional recipe I haven't made in years (because a. it takes 1.5 hours just to put it together and b. my cut-down version makes enough for 12-15 people).

Yesterday I bought fresh ginger and garam masala for the first time, for chicken tikka masala.  It must be fate - just a day or two before the magazine came in, someone had posted a chicken tikka masala recipe on Facebook.  I plan to make the Cook's Country version because it's lower in fat.  Can't wait to get to it, because the garam masala smells fabulous - looking forward to using it in LOTS of things, not just this.

Next project, however, will be applesauce from a few aging apples.  I love it - ever so easy, and it makes the house smell oh, so good!

I can tell I mostly do musicals because...

I learned the other day that I've been cast in "Death Takes a Holiday".  First read-through is tonight, and the producer sent out a preliminary rehearsal schedule yesterday.  It looked awfully short to me - 6 weeks of rehearsal before we go into Tech Week.  That's actually pretty standard for a play.  It's just that for someone like me, who's used to the 8+ weeks typical to rehearse a musical, it seems a bit compressed.

I had considered auditioning for a December show, but since this one runs until the weekend before Thanksgiving, that's too much overlap.  Even a January show might be pushing things.  February, however...

The review is in...

One of the local community theater groups has its own annual awards.  Each company submits one show from its season for consideration; the Yeomen of the Guard I did earlier this year was the one that company submitted.  A few days ago we received the consolidated write-up (I think different adjudicators rate different aspects of the performance).

I'm excerpting the comments on my role not because I like them, but because I agree with them; starting to beef up my lower register once I was cast wasn't nearly enough time, and I need to learn how to do "commanding stage presence".  With that, here's what the judges said:

Acting
Dame Carruthers’ role requires a certain robust authority which [I] lacked and she did not make a very formidable Dame, despite her confident stage presence.  [Well, I like that bit about the "confident stage presence". ;)]    In Act II she picked up energy, and the duet with Sergeant Meryll was a nice romp. [Because I got to dance! :D]

Singing
[Carruthers] and [Sgt. Meryll] were both weak in their lower registers, especially for Carruthers in her Act I song, lacking the required range. 

Throughout the rehearsal process I felt like the weak link in the principals chain.  While I'm sorry to be right about that, I also feel that, if I were to sing the role today, not 6 months later, that weak lower register would have more power & resonance.  Ah well; I'll keep plugging away and eventually I'll be ready for the roles I've already done. ;)

The latest audition

I went to another audition Thursday night.  I almost didn't go, for several reasons:

• This company tends to cast young and I'm well over 30;
• I'm neither a hoofer nor a belter;
• I didn't really have an audition  piece ready.

The audition piece was the biggest problem because my voice has been in transition since I've been working with my latest teacher.  That's not a bad thing, but it means that right now none of the audition pieces I've used before feels comfortable and I haven't yet worked up anything new.  I ended up using something I've used (unsuccessfully) before, but about a fourth lower so that it sits squarely in my chest voice.  Naturally, "Last-minute Linda" here didn't really start working the song in the new, lower key until a couple of nights before the audition.  As a result, as late as dinnertime Thursday I was debating whether to go.  I did go, though, and a good thing, too.  A friend was there ahead of me in the order and stayed until I finished.  He told me I sang my piece with better resonance than when I did Carruthers, which was encouraging.

But the really encouraging thing was when they called me Friday to say I was being called back for the ensemble so the choreographer could put us through our paces.  Unlike the disaster that was my last dance audition, this one was fun and funny, and I remembered all of it.  The demographics were typical for community theater - 3 men and 11 women.  They didn't say how many ensemble members they're looking for.  ("How many people does he need?  How many boys, how many girls?")  I imagine it will depend in part on how their music is scored and therefore how many people they'll need to cover all the parts.

My friend was called back too, for one of the principals.  There are 4 possible outcomes: he gets cast and I don't; I get cast and he doesn't; we both get cast; neither one of us gets cast.  They promised we'd hear one way or the other by Wednesday night.  Now I just have to distract myself with my sewing and my voice lesson "homework" while I wait.

Prepping for the Chief's surgery

To get ready on the home front for the Chief's surgery, I'm making him a couple of pairs of elastic-waist lounge pants so he can pull them on and off one-handed.  I also laid in a supply of velcro "buttons" to be sewn onto several shirts so he doesn't have to try to deal with buttonholes or pull shirts on and off over his head.  I may also sew a casing and run elastic on one or two other pairs of lounge pants, just so he'll have more than 2 pairs in summerweight fabrics.  (Flannel he's got, though one pair is "seasoned" enough that it's about ready for new elastic.)

Some days are just like that.

At mass last night, my lengthy prayer list was really weighing on my heart.  I don't know why; it wasn't an anniversary of anything, and I hadn't gotten any bad news about anyone that day.  Some days are just like that, I guess.

"Nice save!"

August 15th is the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary or, in the Eastern church, the Dormition of the Virgin.  None of the parish's three choirs was scheduled to do music, which isn't unusual for weekday feasts.  However, after the final blessing, the priest asked if we could sing a song for Mary.  Then began the looking around, looking away, not meeting anyone's eyes.  After a few moments, I started "Immaculate Mary", and everyone joined in almost immediately; at least one person was even singing harmony. :)  I had a few people thank me after mass, and one gentleman, who has one of the best voices in my choir, came up to me afterwards and said "Nice save!" :)  As I told him, someone had to do it, and since no one else seemed eager to do so, I started the Marian hymn I know best.

It's a good thing I came to this mass and not the one I'd originally planned on. A fellow parishioner told me after mass that the memorial mass for their son is tomorrow morning (poor little guy died 2 years ago, at only 6 years old).  Now I'll be able to be there (the Chief is at the cabin this weekend) and swell attendance, however slightly.

Regency project stalled

My Regency dress project is completely dependent on having stays that fit properly.  The ones I ordered seemed a bit small.  I notified the vendor but held off on answering her questions or returning the stays until I had my chemise roughed in and could try the stays on over the garment that would be going underneath.  I got to that point on Monday and finally tried the stays on over the (still-unfinished) chemise.  No good.  I took several pictures, emailed them to the vendor, and took the stays to the post office. 

I had hoped to wear the dress to Saturday's wedding; obviously that didn't happen.  Ah well; I now have lots and lots of time to figure out how I'm going to redo the neckline casing, which is too narrow to thread anything through it.  I've already trimmed the seam allowance, so I can't just pick out the stitching and reattach.  I may have to cut out a new one and replace the first one.  :(

I also need to come up with some petticoat fabric.  I wanted white microfiber but an hour spent searching on line turned up nothing suitable.  I ordered some "china silk" but, as I expected, it isn't what I had in mind at all.   It turned out to be that shiny, rather stiff lining fabric.  Now to send out an SOS to several costumers of my acquaintance and to the owner of Sense & Sensibility Patterns and see what they recommend.

More reasons to play in the dirt

This morning I visited the friend who used to have a small nursery

specializing in hostas and, to a lesser extent, ferns. He sold off the nursery business a coupla years ago and now gardens just for himself. He's trying new plants in the space, some of which are "prolific reseeders". He gave me a big clump of a few - cardinal flower, Black-eyed Susan, sweet William, ajuga, and threw in a blue mouse-ear mini-hosta just because. He also gave me a big bucket of compost. He would happily have given me lilies or any of several other plants he was thinning out.  If I had the space and the right conditions, I'd've taken some, too.  I planted the ajuga in a couple of bare spots, will try to get the rest in the ground tomorrow.  I told him I need to reciprocate with dinner or something - a nursery would've charged me plenty for all the plants and the home-made compost he gave me for free. I also picked up my iris order.  I picked up a few extra rhizomes from the bargain basket, and he asked me if I'd like a few free ones. Of course I said yes! When I get a chance to see how many I actually ended up with (he always includes more than you ordered), I'll have to work out where they'll all go. I garden pretty haphazardly, filling spots as they open up, buying (or "adopting") plants on impulse.  It's a wonder the yard doesn't look an utter wilderness!

Sometimes you find perfection in the most unexpected places.

Today it was the cafeteria at work, of all places!  Very stressful morning, trying to get too many things before leaving at lunchtime.  Dashed thru the cafeteria to get something to eat in the car; I stopped at the DIY sandwich bar. Rye bread, honey mustard, rare roast beef, lettuce and some beautifully ripe tomato - perfection!  Seems silly, but with every bite I marveled at how good it was.  Maybe it's just been too long since I've had a "proper" roast beef sandwich?

Regency project, day one

A while back I got this bee in my bonnet to make myself a Regency dress (think Jane Austen), complete with underpinnings.  I even bought patterns for two kinds of stays, though I quickly realized that would be a MUCH too ambitious project for my relatively rudimentary sewing skills.

Tonight, after a month or two spent in pondering fabrics and buying patterns, I got the chemise cut out.  The assembly looks pretty straightforward, so with luck, I'll get it sewn up tomorrow.

I ordered custom stays, but they seem to be too small in the ribcage. The maker had some diagnostic questions for me; I owe her answers.

Still to do: a petticoat (dress fabric is dotted swiss, which is on the sheer side), the dress, and a bonnet.  Yes, I'm crazy enough to try to attempt my own millinery; good thing I was able to find a pattern on Etsy.  Oh, and I need to find a pair of shoes to go with this ensemble.  I hope to find a pair of plain white ballet flats, but may have to settle for something else.

There's a historic home in our area that holds Regency- and War of 1812-themed events.  When (not if) I finish my sewing adventure, I'll have to find out when their next event is.  I'm not ready to subject myself to the scrutiny of serious reenactors - my hand sewing is not up to that challenge - but if I can pass for a decent amateur, that'll be good enough for a maiden attempt.

There's an event coming up Aug. 2nd; wonder if I could finish at least the dress, if not the bonnet, in time?

Updates to follow; costume fans, stay tuned.

"Here I come to save the day!"

Last week I got a somewhat panicked email from a director I've done a few shows with.  She's directing Sound of Music, opening in mid-July, and was there any chance I could play Frau Schmidt?  After checking with the Chief that we didn't have any plans, I agreed to do it.  Then I looked at the calendar; I'd just agreed to take a role (good thing it's a small one!) in a show that opened in just TWO WEEKS! =:o

I've now had 3 whole rehearsals and am already sorta off book.  Good thing, as we tech in this Sunday.  Monday we have an open rehearsal (i.e., with a paying audience), so I really want to be off book for that.

Costume fittings tonight.  I'll be wearing a brown dress, several sizes too large, but elastic at the waist will make it work.  Brown is definitely not my color, but I don't mind. After all, I'm the housekeeper, not the lady of the house.  My sartorial compensation is that I also have a walk-on as Fräulein Schweiger in the concert scene near the end, so I get to finish the show in my authentic Austrian dirndl.

Audition update

So, that "lovefest" audition.  I got a very lovely response with a lot of positive feedback.  I shared it with my voice teacher and with a friend (himself a voice teacher and performer). All of us were very impressed with how much feedback they gave me - not just "nice voice but not what we're looking for".  And to think they did something like that for every single one of the people they didn't cast!

I also auditioned for a production of The Wedding Singer.  I've auditioned for this company before and gotten nuttin'.  I'm guessing it's because a) I can't belt (yet) and b) I'm over 50.  Got the "thanks but no" call last night.  Not a surprise.  Not only did I go into it expecting not to be cast, but I crashed & burned on the dance audition.  The chunk they tried to teach us was complicated and FAST!  I remembered the beginning, the end, and the occasional scraps scattered thru the middle.  "Good for my humility," as a college roommate of mine used to say.

 Now I'm focusing on a sewing project, then it's back to hunting up auditions for fall shows.

Made a sale

I managed to make one sale.  The last customer was discussing her purchase with another vendor - what sorts of things would go with her new bra-belt set.  I brought over one of my skirt sets, which just happened to include a skirt in one of her favorite colors.  Sold!  I really would have preferred to sell more, of course, but at least I made one sale, and that one enough to cover my vendor's fee with a little bit of profit.  It was a nail-biter, though; I had already started packing up my items.

Trying not to get discouraged

I brought a suitcase full of stuff to my first bellydance swap meet, full of hope that I'd come home with an empty (or nearly so) suitcase.  An hour and a half into the 3- hour event, I've sold exactly nothing.  Not the bargain-basement-priced beaded costumes, not the skirt sets, not even the dirt-cheap fabric remnants!  I need to sell something just to recoup the cost of my table rental; I'd really rather not go home with everything I bought and have spent the vendor fee (and my time and gas) for nothing. :(

But there's still an good hour to go - maybe someone will arrive who's the perfect size and coloring for one (or both) of the costumes, or for whom one of the skirt sets will be perfect.  I can dream...

Squash and rudbeckia are planted; now to see how they do.

Today I took the plunge and planted my rudbeckia and butternut squash seedlings.  The squashlings are 2" to 3" tall and pretty robust.  My baby rudbeckia are a little shorter and much more delicate-looking.  They also didn't get quite as high a real-dirt-to-clay ratio as the squash, as they're in a spot where I haven't planted before, so this is my first season improving the soil.

If my gayfeather ever germinates (it's hard to be patient when the other seeds have sprouted and are now in the ground), I'll put them in the same spot as the rudbeckia, since there's plenty of room there. I do hope that happens; it would make for a very cheery color combination.

Panic resolved - whew!

After being out of town last weekend, tonight I checked back in with the "Arabian Nights" cast.  I was pleased to find that they are now completely self-sufficient with their make-up.  However, one woman arrived in what should have been plenty of time, only to realize that she'd left her make-up kit at home and didn't have time to go back for it.  Panic, with a large side order of swearing at herself!  I offered her the use of a few of my supplies, and there's a drugstore conveniently located right upstairs, so she ran up and bought what she needed to get stage-ready.  When she came to me for a make-up check, I was able to assure her she looked fine.  She later thanked me, twice, for "talking me down off a ledge!"  All part of the service, folks. :)

One of the other cast members relayed that friends of hers came to see the show and commented on how remarkable everyone's eyes looked.  Yes!!  That's exactly what I was going for!  That, and one of the techs commenting on how "fierce" Shahriyar looked in full make-up let me know I accomplished my goal with the make-up design.  The one audience member I chatted with at the opening night reception who commented to me about the hair was surprised to learn that only one woman on stage is not wearing at least a hairpiece if not a full wig.  That tells me that what I put on that stage looks natural.  Striking make-up and natural-looking hair that still balances that make-up - my work here is done!  :D

A different audition experience

Friday I auditioned for the Christmas Revels on my way out of town for the weekend.  I was first given a name tag and ushered downstairs to get my picture taken.  I was then sent up to the mezzanine to learn the dance combination, which turned out to be a piece of an Irish set dance, complete with a couples turn.  That part was fun - it had been much too long since I'd done that sort of thing and I had to restrain myself so I wouldn't throw my partner & me into a wall or another couple. :D  We ran that sequence several times, then I was summoned back to the main floor to sing my two a cappella pieces.  Each of us went in individually, so unless you listened at the door, you didn't hear how anyone else did.

The singing was enjoyable, too; very "live" room, unlike some, where you can't hear yourself so it's easy to oversing and go off pitch.  No, I knew exactly where my pitch was, and the room seemed to be just the right size for my voice, which was feeling pretty good.  It certainly didn't hurt that the young woman who seemed to be there in an assistant capacity had a big smile on her face the whole time I sang, and the music director pulled one of those "not bad!" faces.

After everyone in my group had done our solo pieces, the whole group was called in to do the dance sequence.  We ran it once, then were told to do it again while talking with each other: "This is a social dance, after all!"  Then again, "and this time make some noise."

They gave us a few minutes to catch our breaths before having us do a little group singing.  The MD gave each of us a copy of a section of a 3-part kyrie, assigned each of us a line to sing, went over each part, then had us sing together.  There were 6 of us, so 2 on a part, and we seemed to be pretty well matched.  I thought we sounded pretty good, anyway.  The MD then had 2 of us switch parts, then we all sang the kyrie again.  It was a very pretty arrangement; I wouldn't have minded singing another repetition or few, but we were only the first group of the evening and they had to move things along.

For the last part of the audition, two of us chose the option of reading a few lines, available ahead of time, "in your best Irish accent".  Considering that I'd never attempted an Irish accent before, I won't vouch for how well (or poorly) I did, but at least they didn't laugh me outta there. ;)

The unusual part was how everyone treated us.  I had auditioned and been cast once before, but had to withdraw when I got assigned an extended business trip.  That was 7 years ago, yet the couple who are the life & soul of the local Revels organization both remembered me and even recognized me, despite my weight loss and hair cut!  They and everyone else working the auditions was very welcoming and encouraging, wishing everyone good luck. 

But what impressed me the most was Mrs. Revels' response when I asked when we might hear back.  She told me we should all hear by Wednesday, with the Yeses hearing last.  This was because she started with the Noes, giving each person feedback!  They anticipated 70-80 people auditioning; I don't know how many they'll cast.  Even if they cast 40, that's still a LOT of individual feedback emails!   Every other company I've ever auditioned for notifies the Yeses first; those not cast usually get a form email.  Which is fine; it's certainly better than not hearing at all.  But feedback on an audition?  That NEVER happens!

The toadlilies are spreading

Last spring I really had to wrestle with my toadlilies to separate them and they seemed to take the rest of the year to get over the trauma.  They did bloom, but not as profusely as in the past.  This spring, however, they're coming back with a vengeance, having spread a few inches to send up an outlier under the downspout, and a bit further to send another outlier where I had some begonias last year.  I may put just one begonia in that spot this year, and let the toad lilies fill in the rest.

The foliage isn't particularly noteworthy, but when it blooms in October, the flowers are well worth the wait - like stems full of little orchids, lavender with tiny purple "freckles".  The fact that it likes shade and damp is a bonus.  If I thought the deer would leave it alone, I'd take some out to the cabin and plant it in the beds with the hellebores.  Actually, given that the deer find something in the hellebores to be an irritant, maybe I could plant the toadlilies behind them and let the hellebores "stand sentry" over them.

They look great!

The Arabian Nights opened Friday night.  The cast did a good job - good energy, story-telling and movement (and the director has given them a LOT of movement!).  As I expected, they look fabulous!  She built wonderful turbans and other headgear for men and women alike, put them in lovely, rich fabrics in both muted and vibrant colors. The set includes "oriental" rugs all over the floor of the performing space, which also makes it look richer than the usual black floor one always sees in community theater productions.

The cast also did a good job of getting their make-up up to the level we wanted to go with the rich-looking costumes.  Many of them had trouble getting used to applying as much eye make-up as I kept urging them to do, but by Friday they were there and are even starting to like the effect.  (One woman, who came in a nice dress for opening night, decided she likes the dramatic eye make-up for evening wear.)  The hairpieces are working well, too; everyone has gotten so comfortable with them that if I didn't know they were "add-ons", I wouldn't be able to tell.

Now that I have an award nomination on my resume, I'm eligible to be a presenter at next year's awards ceremony.  I'd love to be the one to present the award for Outstanding Costume Design in a Play to our costume designer.  I'd bet serious money that she'll get a nomination for this show, and I won't be AT ALL surprised if she beats out the competition.  No, it's not about the awards, but I'm THAT impressed with what she's done - gorgeous work!

I hope they make it

The Chief and I spent last weekend with my family, as Mother's Day fell on Mom's birthday day this year.  While we were there, Sister3 dug up some of her lilies-of-the-valley for me to bring back.  These are special because Mom had transplanted the originals from her mother's house, so the flowers aren't just from my sister, it's as if they're from Mom and her mom, too.  I finally got them in the ground this afternoon; I hope they do well.  Got my fingers crossed that they'll bloom next year.  (The pips Mom brought me several years ago never did bloom, hung in there for a few years, but finally gave up and died.)

I also started some butternut squash, rudbeckia and gayfeather in "Cowpots".  I knew I wanted to try the squash again this year, but as we told the gentleman helping us at the nursery, last year's attempt produced plenty of flowers but only that one tiny little squash.  He recommended attracting pollinators by planting something butterflies love, suggesting 4 different flowers.  We settled on the rudbeckia (black-eyed susan) and gayfeather.

The rudbeckia sprouted first, but the squash is catching up fast - this morning's tight little sprouts have already opened a few leaves. We're still waiting for the gayfeather to sprout, but my online searches tell me they take anywhere from 20 to 45 days to germinate, so we'll just have to be patient.

Quote of the month!

Sometimes my voice teacher will have me beat on my chest while vocalizing, to release tension or distract me from the bad vocal habits I'm trying to unlearn or some such.  Yesterday she had me doing the chest-thumping thing, then had me sing without it.  She obviously was pleased with the results, as she declared, "I think you should beat on yourself more often."

Did they really expect us to consider that a serious offer?

The Chief and I decided the queen-size futon is just too big for the guest room, so I advertised it for sale.  We bought it new only 3 or 4 years ago, barely used, so listed a price 1/3 of what we paid for it.  We got one person who seemed seriously interested - wanted details on size, pictures, etc.  Then came the counter-offer - less than half of our listed price!  Did they really think we'd consider that a serious offer?  The frame is solid hardwood, and everything's in like-new condition.  I replied "no, thank you."

The wigs will have parking places

Eight of the nine women in the show will have wigs or hairpieces, all of which I bought yesterday.  Oh, and a few wig heads to put the wigs on.  I brought the lot to rehearsal tonight and asked our producer if he or someone else could put some dowels onto a board to hold the wig forms with their "residents". That will keep the styrofoam things from toppling over from the weight of the wigs, which will help keep the wigs and pieces in some semblance of order.  I should have it by next Monday, just in time for tech week.

Home after a quick but lovely weekend away

The Chief & I spent a quick weekend in Baltimore in honor of our anniversary.  We didn't get to dinner in Little Italy Friday night as originally planned - we got no more than a few blocks from our hotel before the rain & wind suddenly kicked up, so we turned tail and had dinner back at the hotel.  A bit pricey, but the lamb was good and the chocolate dessert was worth every calorie!  Yesterday we spent several hours at the aquarium, then strolled around the Inner Harbor a bit.  Went to mass at the Basilica of the Assumption (the organ there sounds fabulous!), then walked into Little Italy and had a lovely dinner, where I was reminded how much I enjoy pasta w/ clam sauce.  We walked back to the hotel because a) the temps were still mild and b) we wanted to walk off at least a little of that dinner. ;)

We learned Baltimore has a free Charm City Circulator bus, but finding a map or schedule proved surprisingly difficult; we finally got one at the hostel across the street from the basilica.

As we were driving back today, we decided we need to go back for a longer stay - too many things we didn't get a chance to do.

Can Pilates make me a better singer?

I started taking Pilates classes at my gym a few months ago.  I'm still a long way from being able to do several of the moves, but my abs are definitely starting to feel stronger, or at least less weak.  I was noticing in my voice lesson today that the technique of breathing really low in the abdomen is getting a little easier; whether it's because my abs are starting to build up or because I'm just more aware of them I couldn't say.  I do know the Pilates is helping my posture; I don't hold myself well automatically yet, but I do catch my bad posture and correct it a lot more often now.  This is good in general but also for singing, because good posture brings the breathing apparatus into optimal alignment, and the better your breathing, the better you'll sing.

Forgive the self-indulgent blather, but the Pilates work and the techniques my voice teacher has me playing with are all experiments in physical self-discovery.  A lot to process, but it's keeping me learning.

Spring? Winter? Yes

We finally got gorgeous weather this weekend, so Saturday the Chief & I went to the nursery and spent way too much money on bedding plants, most of which he got planted on Sunday.  (By then, the pollen count was too high for me to go out and play in the dirt.)  Sunday the high was in the 80s! Wahoo!

Today we got a front moving in that brought rain, wind and MUCH lower temps - we have a freeze warning tonight, so the Chief & I went out and tucked all those new plants under "blankets" to protect our investment.

Shorts on Sunday and 2 days later I need my winter coat, scarf & gloves again.  This weather is whackadoodle!

Still excited

Tonight's production meeting involved a lot of down time while I waited for them to work around the table to me, but then Laurel took several of us to "tour" the costumes she's identified so far.  Gorgeous!  She's going for a primarily warm palette (peaches, burgundies, topaz) with a few bits of green, blue, a dash of black.  She's making turbans and similar headgear for the men, has a few gorgeous headdresses for the women already - I'm going to have to do some serious research to bring my game up to her level, and I'm looking forward to the challenge!

The set will include carpets all over the floor, pillows around the perimeter, a couple of tapestries hanging on the back walls, and a few set pieces that will multi-task.  I'm really looking forward to working on this show and contributing my little bit to the whole.

Looking forward to my first production meeting

Tomorrow night is the first production meeting for "The Arabian Nights."  I've been itching to get started on this, have already collected the cast's headshots off the company's web site.  What really has me psyched about this production, though, is the costumer.  She's a longtime dancer, ethnographer, and ethnochoreologist.  We've already been exchanging emails; she's going for a "medieval Baghdad" look, including turbans and beards for all the men.  She's also asked about braids for at least a couple of the women.  I don't think any of the women have hair long enough, so I'll have to look into finding wigs.

One make-up feature that will nail the look will be "cupid's bow" eyebrows.  I'm hoping the director will let me put them on at least 2 or 3 each of the men and women.  We've got an attractive, ethnically diverse cast; they'll be gorgeous once Laurel and I finish with them.  :)

I still think they should tell us.

When Southwest announced that people could start flying with their small pets, the Chief asked how someone would know ahead of time whether any of one's fellow passengers were 4-footed.  The answer boiled down to "you won't."  Not a good answer when you're allergic to cats, dogs or both.  

Finding out only at the gate that you'll be spending however many hours in a tin can with one or more allergens means you can't prepare medically or try to get a different flight.  They're potentially putting people's health at risk.  They need to do better.

Eggnog trifle

Thursday night I finally got around to making the KAF eggnog cake mix that's been sitting on the shelf for ages.  Apparently I didn't prep the pan well enough, because a significant chunk - and I do mean chunk - of the cake didn't want to come out of the pan.  So much for taking it to work for a Happy Spring cake.

Instead, I made trifle.  I've only made trifle a coupla times and the last time was years ago, but I figured "How hard can it be?"  I broke the cake into chunks and put half of it into my biggest plastic container, then covered it with half a small box of vanilla pudding (made with a bit of eggnog extract added), then sprinkled on about half a cup of gingersnap crumbs.  Oh, and one layer was half the glaze that comes with the cake mix. Topped that with the rest of the cake, glaze and the pudding, then decided that wasn't enough pudding.  Made a second small box of vanilla pudding with a splash of eggnog extract, poured it, still hot, over the trifle, sprinkled it with another 1/2 cup of gingersnap crumbs, then topped the lot with a small container of cool whip.

It wasn't bad, and people seemed to enjoy it, but there are a couple of things I'd do differently:

1. Use a big box of pudding, and maybe even a small one in addition to the big one.

2. Maybe use a big tub of cool whip so I can add a layer in the middle of the trifle, not just on top.

3. Next time, grease the cake pan really, really well!  :)

In the course of browsing for ideas for my mangled eggnog cake, I found a recipe for gingerbread eggnog trifle, made with gingerbread for the cake.  I'll have to try that sometime...

The local version of the Tony awards

Last night was the awards ceremony for the local community theaters.  The venue, usually used for concerts (think Leo Kottke and Mary Chapin Carpenter), has an odd main space - broad but with a low ceiling.  Last night was packed, with about 500 of us at the various tables, nearly all of us in our glad rags.

I'd guess about half the non-black dresses worn last night were red, mine included.  A significant proportion of the remaining dresses were purple, with a few fuchsia and at least one turquoise dress that I could see.  I loved seeing everyone's finery.  There were even a couple of little girls there; one of them had on a turquoise chiffon dress, and her daddy had a matching tie and pocket handkerchief - very sweet.

I was one of six people nominated for Outstanding Hair Design in a Play (there was also a category for hair design in a musical).  In other words, the adjudicators put my work in the top six of the 72 hair designs considered.  Pretty good for my first time designing hair for someone besides myself!  I didn't win, but just being nominated is definitely encouraging!  Good thing, as I'm about to do more hair and make-up design, this time for more people.  Maybe the award nomination will paper over my lack of experience. :D

My next project

I've just been asked to design hair and make-up for a production of "The Arabian Nights", which should be fun.  The cast member who suggested me (we were in "Guys and Dolls" together) introduced me to the producer last night.   I mentioned that, after years of middle eastern dance, I've collected a few costume pieces and other things that might be useful as costumes or set dressing.

I've already started to think about how I want to style things, wondering what colors the costumer and lighting designer will be using, etc.  If I can't be in the show, working on the design team is the next best thing.  Not to mention that it introduces me to yet another community theater company.  I'm looking forward to this...

Taking the smartphone plunge

Now that the Chief is official as an Enrolled Agent, he's been looking into all the business stuff he needs - business cards, advertising and the like.  In pondering what vocal challenge or project to take on after Yeomen, I decided to start putting myself out there to sing at weddings.  We decided it might be a good thing for tax purposes to have a separate, business phone number.  Or more accurately, numberS - one for each of us.  This afternoon we hit the mobile phone kiosk at the Exchange (15% military discount) and came home with one new account and 2 new smartphones.

I imagine we'll take our own sweet time learning all the tricks these things can do, but we'll get the basics right off the bat.  Only trick is that, as we are reserving these strictly for business, they may not see much use for a while.  At least mine won't.  As April 15th nears, the Chief may find his phone getting quite a bit of use.

When freezing hummus...

Lesson learned upon pulling things from the freezer for a post-funeral reception:  When freezing hummus, use very small containers - no more than a cup.  Otherwise, that lovely, dense stuff will take days to thaw!  

First Sitz as a principal

Today was the Sitzprobe (first musical run-thru with the orchestra), my first as a principal with this company.  First time I've sung with an orchestra.   It was a little intimidating at first, and a lot of work to make sure I could be heard.  However, I think this is gonna be fun, especially once we have our set, costumes and - best of all - an audience. :)

It's almost here!

Tech week, that is.  Saturday is the Sitzprobe w/ the orchestra and Sunday is load-in, with the cue-to-cue that evening.  Tech week!  When the theater magic happens!  I'm practically bouncing in my seat as I type, looking forward to seeing all the costumes (mine is navy) and the set, seeing how much luck I have projecting to the back row in my low register, finally being able to set spacing because we'll have the actual doors, "houses" and so forth.  There'll also be a "green room sweatshop", so I'll take my sewing machine to the theater along with the rest of my gear come Sunday.

I've always loved tech week, but for some reason I'm particularly excited about this one.  Maybe because this is my first role with this company?  Maybe because I'm psyched about the set & costumes?  Doesn't matter; gonna be fun.  Even better is the fact that I was able to take the week off work, so I'll be able to sleep in after getting to bed late after rehearsal every night.

TW is getting involved too.  He's already been out to the scene bay twice to help with the set and plans to help with load-in Sunday morning.  He's also planning to usher the last performance, then stay to help with strike.  What a great guy!

What a sweetheart!

The woman who has done hair & make-up for the company for several years came to rehearsal today to meet those of us new to the company.  She's seen me do many a show with this group, always in the ensemble (once or twice as a featured ensemble member).  She came up to me after my first featured number and kept repeating how "tickled" she was to see me in a lead.  She thought I was doing well, sounded good, but what really amazed me was that she actually had tears in her eyes, she was so happy for me!  What a sweetie!

It shouldn't surprise you to learn that, when she does your make-up, she "signs" her work with a kiss on your forehead. :)

Getting excited

We load in 2 weeks from today.  We started running the show at rehearsal (as opposed to running certain chunks) a week ago, which is always fun (if a little scary at first).  Today our producer/costume brought the first few costumes for fittings.  Some wonderful fabrics there - this show is gonna look beautiful!  Our director didn't have all that many notes for us after rehearsal, and those were mostly fine-tuning.  TW helped work on the set yesterday and told me it's essentially built except for the painting.

Things are shaping up nicely - getting exciting! :)

Busy theater weekend

Quite the theater weekend I had.  Rehearsal Friday night and again Saturday morning/afternoon, the strike & after party on Saturday, then Sunday I went from the cast rehearsal that afternoon to the orchestra rehearsal that evening.  Audition last night, voice lesson and rehearsal tonight - whew!

Tomorrow night's choir practice was cancelled, so I actually get a night at home for a change.  TW might not recognize me!  :D

Another audition behind me

Had another audition tonight.  Felt good going in.  Seems that was misleading, as I not only felt like I was struggling thru the register shifts but managed to go up on the words as I was going back into the A section. :( And they didn't have us dance, either.  I can second-guess myself all night - "I shoulda picked a different song," "I wish I'd had more time to prepare".  Doesn't matter; it's done, so on to the next.

Two more auditions coming up next week, both straight plays.  We'll see how they go.

Long theater day

Yesterday started with a 10a.m. rehearsal, which covered all of Act I.  From there it was off across town to help strike the set for the play I'd done some make-up consulting on.  Then we got to our just deserts - the strike party.  I'd forgotten that this director, a very sentimental soul, gives little gifties to *everybody*, including the person who shows up for one rehearsal during tech week, does a make-up demo, goes home, sends everyone detailed instructions, then disappears.

I got home more than 12 hours after I'd left the house, and put close to 100 miles on the car for the day.  I'm still recovering from the long day, but don't regret any of it.  :)

Got a half a snow day

As I expected, we went in to work (or many of us did; many others opted to take leave) but were sent home around lunchtime.  No pilates class, but it turns out we wouldn't have had class anyway - today was the last day the group fitness classroom was closed for floor refinishing.

I opted not to go to my voice lesson, but my teacher offered an alternative - a lesson via Skype.  It was a little weird, especially as she couldn't accompany me due to the time lag, but we managed to get some good work done.  I still prefer an in-person lesson, but with an audition next week and Yeomen opening in a month, I'm glad I didn't have to miss this week's lesson.

TW fired up the snow blower, with some difficulty, this being the first time we've needed it since the double-whammy blizzard 4 years ago.  He's made 2 passes, one this afternoon and a second after dinner, and the white stuff is still coming down. 

I wonder how much we'll end up with?  Various forecasts have upper numbers of 8-10 inches.  I'm starting to wonder if we'll have a delayed opening at work tomorrow, or if we'll be closed for the day.  I'd love to sleep in, of course, but I have a deadline that I was on track for and more time off will really wreak havoc with that project.  Oh well; if we have a snow day tomorrow, I'll just have to fall back and regroup when I get back to work.  And in the meantime, a snow day would give me a good, solid chunk of time to spend on learning my Yeomen material and brushing up my song for next week's audition.

Please don't send us home too early...

We're under a winter weather warning for tomorrow.  Snow's supposed to start sometime tomorrow morning (after I'm at work, at any rate), with a forecast total of 4-8 inches.  All the signs are there for work to send us home early.  I'm just hoping they don't send us home too early, as I want to be able to get to the lunchtime pilates class at the gym in my building.  If they send us home early, the gym will close early too. :(

I've only had one class with this teacher so far, but I definitely want more.  It's way beyond me right now, but nothing that isn't achievable if I keep at it.  Please don't make me skip a week - my core needs the work-out!

I guess I did pretty well, especially for a maiden effort

The area community theater community (over 30 companies!) has a recognition organization that does our own little awards ceremony every year.  The 2013 nominations were announced last night and, to my shock, I was on the list!  I was nominated for hair design for my November show.  Surprised me because, of the 7 cast members, only 3 had hairstyles that needed any research or special attention.  (The others?  One military cut, one old-fashioned bun, one daughter in pigtails, one daughter in a snood.  No challenges there.)  As I told the cast, though, they had as much to do with it as I did.  After all, while I did the style design and showed them how to achieve them, they were the ones who did the actual styling the adjudicators saw and scored.

This didn't feel like nearly as much work as, say, when I costumed the Pirates I was in a few years back.  I certainly couldn't have styled 3 heads without making the owners of said heads show up as much as 2 hours before curtain.  Since I trained most of them to do their styles (one woman was already well versed in doing period styles), then left them to do their own hair, I really do feel that the cast earned this as much as I did.  I didn't see the other productions that were nominated, so I don't know what we're up against, but maybe Sybil's victory rolls will tip the balance and earn "my" cast an award.  We'll find out at the awards ceremony in March.  Good luck, ladies!

Hmm.  Maybe the awards ceremony would be a good excuse to buy a ballgown... ;)

December birthstone - blue!

Saw yet another FB ad for a mother's bracelet and suddenly decided to look up December's birthstone.  Apparently December babies have 3 choices, all beautiful - tanzanite, turquoise and blue topaz!  Should I decide I want a mother's [piece of jewelry], I've got some pretty great choices for the stone.

End of an era

When I moved in 20 years ago come August, Ed was one of the first neighbors I met.  He seemed much younger than his 60-something years - fit and full of energy, and the block grandfather/mayor.  TW likes to tell of how he went over to borrow a ladder and Ed got it from the back yard, tipped it over the fence, then vaulted said fence to carry the ladder over to our house.  Avid football fan - don't dare call or come to the door during the game!  Always out working in the yard, held housekeys for probably everyone on the block.  Then he started to get sick, to the point where his daughter moved back home to help him.  There were a few ambulance calls that had us all worried for him.  When we got hit with the double-whammy blizzard a few years ago and TW ran his snowblower up & down the block, he also helped shovel a gurney-sized path from the street to Ed's front door, just in case.

Last night Ed died.  No more pain and medical trauma for him, but his caretaker daughter and the rest of his family are grieving, as are the neighbors who were privileged to know him when he was still hale, hearty and friend to everyone.  Rest in peace, Ed, and may flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

I thought I was over this cold; not quite yet...

I've been lucky in that this cold has been merely annoying, for the most part, instead of making me utterly miserable.  (Thank you, healthier eating habits!)  However, I'm apparently not out of the woods yet.  Today the chorus at work sang the national anthem at a ceremony this afternoon.  Because of the numbers, I ended up singing melody instead of alto.  Usually that's no big deal, but today the top notes were a real effort; I may even have been a touch flat on the Fs. :(  Fortunately, the other soprano is good and solid (operatic training, thank you very much!), so I just backed off and let her take it. :)

Tomorrow's rehearsal shouldn't be as bad; Dame Carruthers' music sits pretty low, and I think most of what we're working is ensemble stuff anyway.  That's one of the scarier things about having a principal role - no fellow ensemble members to cover you if you're not feeling up to par.

I guess we're the holdouts

I noticed tonight that none of the neighbors' Christmas lights were on tonight.  Ours were on, but that's chiefly because we haven't gotten around to unplugging the timer. That'll probably happen Sunday, when the weather should be halfway decent for that sort of thing.  (It's supposed to rain pretty much all day tomorrow.)

Finally got a lead w/ this company and adjusting to how it feels

As I noted once before, I've worked with this company for years but this is the first time I've been a principal, not an ensemble member.  Friday and yesterday we blocked some of the bigger scenes.  It seemed weird to be singing by myself out in front of everyone else, instead of being blocked with some of my chorus buddies.  (There's one woman in particular with whom I always get blocked when we're in the same show.)  I'm having fun, of course, and enjoying the process of learning how much I can really do (which is why I was sorry to wave off this week's voice lesson), but given that I've had leads with other companies, I'm a bit bemused that it's an adjustment now that I've got a lead with this company.

People have been encouraging.  My one chorus buddy told me the other day that she noticed an improvement between that rehearsal and when I sang the same bit at the read-thru.  It was kind of her to mention it, and gratifying to know the voice lessons with my new teacher are already working.

Tried to dodge it, but no such luck

TW came home from Christmas with a cold, spent New Year's coughing and blowing his nose.  Good thing our friends only planned to stay the one night; I hope they managed to escape the contagion.  I was doing pretty well - made a pot of chicken soup, taking preemptive Zicam, making sure we had plenty of oranges on hand.  By Saturday evening, though, I could tell I was not going to escape the germs, and by last night I could feel it blocking my sinuses.  This morning I got the sore throat and the cold started moving into my chest.  The symptoms aren't too bad so far, so maybe the full-court anti-bug press wasn't a complete waste of time and effort.  If I can continue to keep the worst of it at bay, I'll declare victory and be glad it wasn't as bad as it could've been.  I went ahead and postponed this week's voice lesson to next week, and was relieved when my director called to say tonight's principal rehearsal was cancelled because the principal who's in everything we were going to run tonight had to leave town for a funeral.

As my director said, better I have the cold now than during tech week or, worse, during the run of the show! =:o

Pumpkin vegetable soup

Yesterday I was roasting some pumpkin and decided I didn't have enough for soup so I pulled a second container from the freezer.  Puréed everything, added some veggie broth, then poured into the soup pot in which I'd sautéed onions and garlic in olive oil.  (Because isn't that how so many of the best things start - with sautéed onions & garlic?) We had some old veggies on hand, so those went into the pot too - few potatoes that had started to sprout, a zucchini and a yellow squash that were starting to shrivel, some leftover carrots.  Added some barley because soup is so much better with some sort of grain, whether barley, rice or noodles.

Are you getting hungry yet? ;) TW decided he liked it better without all the extras, but I think it's pretty darn good, especially for a spur-of-the-moment thing.  With any luck, it'll freeze well, too.

Learning a new "language"

I arranged for some dialect coaching, since the director wants Dame Carruthers to sound English and I know I need "professional help" to pull that off convincingly.  Fortunately, I know a professional actor through church who, conveniently enough, is not only English herself but has taught dialect classes.  She gave me several very useful "substitutions", as she called them, that will get me a long way toward my goal of sounding authentically English.  I think the various "o" sounds will present the biggest challenge, but I've got time to get this down.  She's even offered to listen to how I sound once we get into the theater, when the acoustics will change dramatically and affect how I need to produce my sound.

As I told her, all those years I spent sitting in foreign language classes, trying to master the pronunciation so I don't sound so American, are continuing to pay off.

Notes on a first blocking rehearsal

[A little background:  I first worked with this company 20 years ago, but this is the first time I've had anything other than an ensemble part (not counting a "named ensemble member" with a handful of spoken and sung lines).  In other words, with this company, I'm used to being blocked with the rest of the ensemble 99.9% of the time.]

We had our first blocking rehearsal the weekend before Thanksgiving.  Not nearly as painful as such rehearsals so often are, which was nice.  The chorus number we started with went pretty smoothly - not complicated, but enough staggered entrances that it should look animated and not very "director told me to enter when ..."  Sgt. Meryll and I have a tiny bit of business that we may need to get more specific with, but for a first rehearsal, it all went quite smoothly.

The following number is Dame Carruthers with the yeomen.  That was a little weird - me and most of the men's chorus (some of them are "townies").  The director has me blocked downstage for most of it, with the yeomen upstage, and not where I can see them most of the time, which is a strange feeling for someone used to being part of the ensemble, not downstage from them.  As I told the yeomen at yesterday's music rehearsal when we finished rehearsing this number, "I'm not used to having back-up singers!" :D

Maiden attempt at quinoa

Finally got around to making quinoa tonight, using some tri-color quinoa I bought at the "organic" market a week or so ago.  Very pretty stuff - ivory, nearly black, and a sort of reddish-brown.  It smelled for all the world like peanut butter while it was cooking, though of course it didn't taste like it.  I think I either toasted it too long at the beginning or needed to add more water than the instructions recommended, because it was a bit dry and tasted a little scorched.  I may have to try it a few times to get the hang of this.

Unwanted excitement

The Chief and I spent Veterans Day weekend at the cabin.  When we arrived, we started the usual cold-weather opening routine: bring in the groceries, turn on the water and heat.  The propane heater gave him some trouble; first the pilot didn't want to light, then the blower didn't want to start, etc.  The capper was when smoke suddenly started billowing up from the back of the thing, and it's mounted on a wood-paneled wall!  That's when things really started getting exciting - the smoke alarms started going off, as did the alarm system, then the phone rang - the security company checking on us - while the Chief called the gas company to get some "immediate" help.  After we opened all the windows, it took several ear-splitting minutes to dissipate enough smoke for the bells, whistles and sirens to quit, and now it's only 54 degrees in the great room.  Brrr!  Me, I retired to the bedroom, where the baseboard heater slowly warmied the room (64 degrees sure beats 54!) while the Chief showed the gas company guy where everything is.

Turned out the problem was the new siding, or rather, its installation.  The installers didn't account for the additional thickness, so the heater vent no longer fit properly, causing all the problems.  The gas company ordered & installed a new vent pipe, the siding company redid the siding around the vent (it started to melt in one place!), and now we're keeping an eagle eye on that heater when we use it!

Good thing we like turkey!

We got a 10-lb turkey for Thanksgiving, which TW and I shared with a friend from church who had to cancel his travel plans.  We sent him home with leftovers, of course, but still had plenty of turkey for us.  Friday night's dinner was Thanksgiving leftovers (yum!).  Saturday we dined on turkey & dumplings.  Last night?  Home-made turkey soup.  (I love home-made soup!)  Turkey & dumplings again tonight, & tomorrow, too, with enough in the big freezer for 2 more meals at some later date.  Ditto a container of turkey soup.  Yes, it's a good thing we like turkey, given how much of it we have on hand!  After we finish this container of turkey & dumplings, though, I think we'll go for something a little different - fish, or pork chops, or maybe eggplant parmagiana...

Just bought my first leek

I seem to be developing a King Arthur Flour (KAF) company addiction.  Ever since I liked them on Facebook, I keep seeing all these great recipes I want to try.  The latest is for turkey and dumplings, to use up post-Thanksgiving turkey.  Sounded delicious, so that's what's on tonight's dinner menu.

The recipes calls for frozen mixed vegetables, but suggests using "leftover odds and ends" if you like.  One of the veggies they suggest throwing in is leeks.  When I went to the grocery early this morning to pick up a few things, I added a leek to my purchases.  Only problem is, I've seen 'em but never cooked with them.  Thank goodness for the Internet, where I can learn which part to use (the pale part), how to cut them up, and so on.

Between KAF and the Internet, I find I've become a somewhat more adventurous cook.  Doesn't matter if I don't know the first thing about making this recipe or using that ingredient - between the Internet and KAF's wonderful baking hotline, expert instruction is readily available.

Now to clean and prep that leek...

Santa, if you're listening...

I've become a wee bit addicted to King Arthur Flour's sites.  Lotsa recipes to try, but also learning of new kitchen toys, er, tools that I need.  The latest - a bench knife, and a couple of donut pans so I can make their pumpkin doughnuts.  In the meantime, maybe I'll use my mini-bundt pan or a muffin tin until I can get donut pans.

No more squash

I checked my little squash when I got home from work on Friday and was disappointed to see it on the ground; it had fallen or gotten knocked off the vine. :(  I brought it inside, but threw it out yesterday afternoon when I saw it was starting to turn brown.  So much for any hope of getting anything from that attempt at growing my own squash.  It remains to be seen whether I try again next year.

Branching out on the tech side

I've auditioned for lotsa shows since "Daddy's Dyin'" closed in January.  Got a few callbacks, which is always gratifying even though I wasn't cast.  I volunteered to do hair & make-up for one of those shows; set in 1943, I had visions of victory rolls.  That didn't pan out, but I'm still getting a few of the women in period hair, which is fine.  

Today was the first dress rehearsal.  As I told the women I was helping with their hair, today was a "first draft," to learn the specifics of achieving their look, testing it with costume changes and seeing how the colors read under the lights.  There's still some tweaking to do, but the director was happy with how everyone looks, so I'm claiming "victory" in this, my first attempt to do hair or make-up for someone besides myself.

Comments heard upon wearing a dirndl to work on Halloween

I used Halloween as an excuse to wear my dirndl to work today, complete with "ethnographically correct" shoes & socks (which you can't see in the photo).  It was interesting to hear some of the comments:

• "Are you Anne of Green Gables?"  (My hair is neither red nor long.)
• "I'm getting a Little House on the Prairie" vibe".  (Dress isn't ankle length.)
• Coworker 1: "You look like Alice in Wonderland."  Coworker 2:  "No, that's a blue dress." Me: "Only in the Disney version." And coworker 1: "No, it was black-and-white."  (Obviously someone familiar with the wonderful Tenniel illustrations.)
• "You look absolutely precious!"
• "You look like Little Bo Peep."

Judge for yourself:

I called that wrong!

Had my audition Friday night, thought it went pretty well - if nothing else, I managed to make the director laugh a coupla times.  I had fun with the little piece I read (they had a selection of readings for us to choose from) and really enjoyed the dance combo.  That was set to the end of the Pirates of Penzance overture, so the choreographer had us finish with "random swordfighting".  There were 4 of us in my dance group, so we paired ourselves off.  My partner "killed" me, so I had fun dying big; ended up on my back on the floor, legs in the air, which came crashing down on the last chord of the music - hit the "button", so to speak.  Yep, great fun. :D

I was delighted to get an email the next morning inviting me to callbacks for Dame Carruthers Sunday night!  The email directed us to follow the link to the sides & music for the role, and I have a copy of Yeomen, so I loaded Carruthers' music onto my iPod and wore it out.  There were 3 of us being called back for Dame Carruthers, one of whom was a lot younger than I would have expected them to consider.  We all read the side a little differently, and I thought any of the readings could be valid; no clues there.  When we got to the music, I ended up singing first, followed by the other two, both of whom sang quite well.  The director then asked me to start the audition chunk again (though she ended up letting me sing the whole bit), which had me wondering how I'd screwed up the first time. :p

Monday was a long day, trying not to think about the waiting to hear.  Checked my email as soon as I got home - nothing.  The afternoon wore on, still nothing, so I started wondering which of the other two "contestants" had gotten the role.  After all, they always contact the "yes"es first.  I finally got an email shortly before 6 that began like every other "Thanks but no thanks" email I've ever gotten:  "Thank you for auditioning for..."  I skimmed over it - general rehearsal schedule, uh huh; dues, OK; first read-thru Sunday, got it.  Then I looked again - they were offering me the role!

At long last I've ended this year's string of auditions with callbacks but no roles!  What's even better is that it's the biggest company I've worked with to date in terms of the size of the stage.  Not as big a role as Sara Lee, but I'll get a solo (with chorus back-up), a yummy quartet and a duet to sing.  The solo goes pretty low - a G below middle C, I think - so I'll definitely need to work to learn to project those low notes over the orchestra.  Can't wait to start! :)

Yes,definitely squash!

Checked my tiny little incipient butternut squash again this afternoon.  It hasn't gotten appreciably bigger, but it's now yellow.  I wonder if I'm gonna end up with the world's tiniest ripe squash...

Another audition

Got another audition tomorrow night, for some G&S for a welcome change.  I haven't been working on my audition piece as I should so I'll probably end up in the ensemble, but that's OK.  I haven't been on stage since January and I'm going through withdrawal! :D

Squash?

I checked my squash plants again the other day and was surprised and delighted to see that my latest blossom has a little green nubbin at its base which, while barely an inch long and quite green, is exactly the shape of a butternut squash!  I've got my fingers crossed that I may actually get at least one squash from this plant after all.

"Actual size"

Passed a Mini Cooper in the parking lot at work yesterday.  I noticed it had one of those clings in a rear window which read "actual size".  It would have been even funnier on a Smart car...

Another callback

Monday's audition obviously went well, since I was called back for tonight.  I'll be interested to see how many of us are in the running for the 2 grandmothers.  

If I'm not cast, I'll probably offer to help with some aspect of tech, just because the director is such a great guy.

This feels weird

Being furloughed is a very strange feeling.  I have a job and yet:

- I'm not allowed to report for work. At least my inbox won't explode while I'm gone, because almost everyone who'd send me email is in the same boat.

- I don't know when I'll get my next paycheck, or how much it will be.  Thank God I did get one last week, so the mortgage is paid for October.

- I'm eligible for unemployment benefits!  That's the weirdest thing of all.

Goldilocks weather

In other words, just right!  One advantage to being furloughed is that I've been able to take advantage of the gorgeous weather 2 days running so far and take a nice, long walk through the neighborhood.  Yesterday it was at home, today at the cabin.  Saw a lot of deer, or at least a lot of tails as they took off upon hearing us approach.  We did see one 4-point buck with a small entourage of 5 or 6, but they headed into the trees as we got closer.

Observations on my very first 5K

Walked in my first 5K today.  It was a beautiful day for it - a bit chilly when I checked in shortly after 8, but quite comfortable by the end, and sunny with just the tiniest breeze.

• I was surprised by how many people showed up with their dogs - big dogs, little ones, puppies and adults. The organizers were ready, though - they had bandannas for them in the same day-glow green as the race T-shirts.
• This was a fundraiser for cancer research and prevention, so there were several teams with matching shirts.
• Part of the route ran along a river, where I spotted a few common loons.  I didn't realize we had them around here!  I also saw some egrets or herons; they were too far away for me to tell for sure.  (can you tell I'm no birder?)
• Lots of people participated with their children; the youngest one I spotted was only 8 or 10 months old.  Several of the kids were having a great time racing with their parents, playing with the dogs or each other, throwing sticks into the water - the usual kid stuff.
• Starting at a ballpark meant real restrooms, not the portapotties I'd expected.  That's a good thing!
• I was disappointed that one hip decided to start bothering me as soon as we left the starting point.  Fortunately, it didn't hurt constantly, so while I did limp rather a lot, I still managed to finish in under an hour.
• I was surprised by how hungry I've been since I got home!  Yes, that was a lot more walking than I usually do, but I was walking, not running, and I didn't feel I was pushing myself all that hard.
• Being new to this 5K business, I had no idea what to do with my stuff (keys, wallet, etc.) during the race so I wore cargo pants and loaded up the pockets.  I had wanted to take a book to read on the subway but it would have been too uncomfortable so I left it at home.  Instead, I snoozed on the train and people-watched once I got checked in.  That was certainly entertaining.
• They played an instrumental recording of the national anthem shortly before the starting horn.  Yes, of course I sang along. :)  I don't know what key it was in, but it was a little higher than I would have picked, especially at 8:45 a.m.  I still managed to sing it all, and the highest note actually felt pretty good, so that was a nice little surprise.

I'm already signed up for another 5K.  This one's at work, the day after Halloween, so they call it a "monster dash", complete with costume contest.  Now to decide how to dress up for the occasion.  It needs to be comfortable for walking and not too bulky, since I'll be bringing it to work in a gym bag along with towel and toiletries so I can shower afterwards.  Any ideas? :)

They'll have to reunite without the Chief

The Chief and a buddy from his old Reserve unit have been organizing a reunion, to take place in Manhattan the Saturday of Columbus Day weekend.  Nothing very fancy, just 3 hours' worth of drinks, hors d'oeuvres, and getting caught up.  The other night the Chief spent a few hours on line researching hotels and fares.  Short of staying in a VERY spartan room and taking one of those cheap buses, he didn't see any way to do even 2 nights, let alone 3, for less than $2000 for both of us.  Especially given the way we've been spending money to fly out to see Dad while he's still alive, he just couldn't justify the expense.  Maybe we should buy a lottery ticket...

Another day spent playing in the kitchen

Big kitchen plans for the weekend:

• I got 2 nice spaghetti squash this week, which are now in the oven.  They should fill at least 5 or 6 2-cup containers.
• I also have a pair of butternut squash to cook; need to replenish my supply, as last week's soup finished off what I had left in the freezer.
• A batch of rather old apples are currently on a back burner, cooking down to applesauce.  They needed a little moisture, so I poured in a slosh of boiled cider; can't wait to see how that works out.
• I want to make a batch or two of lemon loaf (if I can find the recipe again), to take to work on Tuesday, assuming we aren't furloughed.  My excuse?  Tuesday is the first day of the new fiscal year.
• And then there are those mushrooms to be sautéed and added to a jar of spaghetti sauce, which is great served over spaghetti squash.

Still auditioning

I auditioned for one production, got called back, had fun with the improv exercise, but wasn't cast.  I replied to the email that I'd be interested in helping on the tech side but haven't heard back.

Then last Saturday I auditioned for another show.  The director asked me on my way out if I could make callbacks; yes, of course!  Sunday was the 2nd day of auditions, with callbacks scheduled for Monday.  I was therefore a bit confused to get a "sorry, you weren't cast" call Sunday night!  Turns out I had too many conflicts (the show has a rather compressed rehearsal schedule), and the director was able to cast from auditions.  Once I got past my confusion, I consoled myself with having been called back, even if I didn't actually get to callbacks. :D  I also offered to help with hair; 1940s hairstyles should be fun.  I won't be able to do it alone, though - 6 women to coif?  I'd need to start around 4 p.m. to have them all ready for curtain!

Monday I have yet another audition.  I'm not too optimistic about that one, mostly because the women's roles consist of 2 grandmothers and one 20-something.  If the demographics hold true, there'll be plenty of us trying out for those 2 grannies - tough odds.  Later this month I can then, finally, audition for a coupla musical things - 2 G&S shows.  I'd love to get either Dame Carruthers (Yeomen of the Guard) or Ruth (Pirates of Penzance).  For someone my age, the only other option is ensemble, and I've already done ensemble in both shows (twice in Pirates).  I might do it for Yeomen, but not for Pirates - that'll be a summer show, and I try to keep the summer a "theater-free zone" so the Chief doesn't spend too much time as a theater widower.

I've been auditioning for things but not performing (unless you count the sing-out) since Daddy's Dyin' closed in January. This is the longest I've ever spent auditioning without being cast in anything.  I might have made Guys & Dolls had I been willing to take ensemble, but that group rehearses just far enough away that I wasn't eager to make the drive to repeat a "role" I just did last summer.  The artistic director of last summer's group asked me to replace someone in their production of Quartet, but I just couldn't make the schedule work.  I'm glad I got to work my "pipes" a little at the Sing-out; it was the first onstage singing I've done since last summer's Guys & Dolls, which is way too long to go without!

Time to take another look at what's being done this season to see what else I might want to audition for.

"Meals on wheels"

I spent last Sunday making soup for people - veggie beef for the neighbors with the new baby, and squash soup, which is nice and smooth, for the friend w/ cancer who has trouble swallowing.  The kitchen smelled wonderful, of course, and 3 guesses what was for lunch that day.

Fall weather always makes me want to cook up vats of soup; so nice to have a good excuse to do it, and someone to give it to so the Chief and I aren't swimming in the stuff.

No squash this year, I guess :(

I keep checking my squash plants for fruit and finding nothing.  Not sure if they didn't get enough water, or the soil isn't what they need or what, but I keep getting blossoms and nothing else. What's worse, one of the 2 coworkers who got my culls came up to me a few weeks ago now, delighted to be able to tell me that she'd just harvested her first squash!  I'm jealous - everyone else who's got squash plants has squash by now.  Maybe another coworker was right - "You gave away the good ones." ;)

Held together with, well, not tinfoil & baling wire...

Dad gave us a bit of a scare the other day - fell and hit his head, needed to be patched up.  They closed the scalp gash with staples and the cut behind his ear with glue.  We had to tease him about his hardheadedness and being held together with staples and glue. :)

Ack! Too soon! I'd love another week to prep.

Doing Daddy's Dyin' made me a Del Shores fan, so I was happy to see that another company will be doing his Sordid Lives this season.  However, I just checked their web site for updated audition info - the auditions are tomorrow & Tuesday!  =:o  I need a 2-minute monologue so I'll probably come up with something from Daddy's Dyin' - can't think of anything else I can come up with on such short notice.  Wish me luck!

At least I know there won't be a dance audition, so I don't have to worry about crippling myself again/more. :D

Squash!

Back this spring I planted 8 butternut squash seeds, all of which sprouted and thrived.  I ended up giving away 5 plants to coworkers.  The 3 I kept are continuing to flourish - I guess they're enjoying our unusually cool summer this year - and this morning I noticed a few enormous blossoms.  One of the vendors at the farmer's market this morning told me that the butternuts he had available were his first of the season.  I planted late, so maybe I'll be able to start "harvesting" by Labor Day.  I'm looking forward to being able to pick my own and cook with them!

Last week I bought a little anise hyssop bedding plant.  The vendor told me they attract the "good bugs" that eat the critters that eat my plants.  The hyssop also has a nice, light anise smell and a pretty little purple flower that kinda reminds me of a very tiny thistle.  Here's hoping it thrives and does indeed keep squash borers and other vermin away from my squash plants.

Auditions can cripple!

Or so it would seem after this week's round.  I auditioned (unsuccessfully) for a musical.  The dance combo included a little sequence in which you came down on one knee, then reversed and came down on the other.   Repeat that sequence several times, with quads that are not used to having to work that hard, and it's no wonder that I wobbled out to my car afterwards.  In fact, my quads didn't stop swearing at me until yesterday; musta gotten tired of it, though they still mutter a lot, especially when I go up or down stairs.  In an effort to ease my seized-up muscles, I made myself take the stairs instead of the elevator, get up more often to top up my water, or take the longer route when going from point A to point B.

However, it seems I still managed to do something wrong.  Thursday I noticed I was getting an occasional twinge up (or down?) the back of one leg.  By yesterday, it was much more pronounced (woke me up at 4:30 a.m.!) and pretty nearly constant, so that I was afraid I might have torn something.  My doctor told me it was my back (!); turns out I managed to give myself sciatica! 

Now I've got a set of back exercises and stretches I need to do, recommendation for a body pillow, and orders to swim.  First, though, I've gotta find out where all the local pools are, what their hours are, whether any have an adults-only swim period...  Today I got as far as picking up a flyer from the (outdoor) pool that holds a Saturday farmer's market (where I also got some lovely veggies).  Maybe I'll go back tomorrow and actually swim, or at least walk in the pool.

He's plotting travel again...

The Chief has been on the phone with one of his Reserve buddies starting to plan another reunion of their unit.  This time they're looking to hold it somewhere in New York City.  The Chief's buddy mentioned that the Marine Memorial Club has reciprocal arrangements with 3 or 4 nice clubs in Manhattan and Brooklyn.  That got the Chief to wondering what other clubs the MMC had reciprocity with.  Let's see - not just US clubs, but clubs in Canada, France, Germany, the UK, Ireland, Belgium... He's already starting to plan our next trip. :D

My inner reference librarian is at it again

I sometimes joke that I must've been a reference librarian in a previous life because I'm always happy to help people research things, or to share my own notes on this or that topic with someone else.  This weekend I had a chance to prove that to myself yet again.

First a theater friend commented that her little one might have a gluten allergy.  I sent her a few links to gluten-free resources (which I'd started compiling a coupla years ago for my sister when one of her kids needed to go GF) and offered to share some of the xanthan gum I bought over the weekend for future GF baking.

Then a neighbor told us she'd been diagnosed as diabetic and asked for recipes.  I not only sent her some of the recipes I've found online but found a few discounted diabetic cookbooks which I ordered for her.

Got a question? Need some information?  Just ask! :D

Squash update

A month or two ago I planted some seeds from the last butternut squash I cooked, crossing my fingers that they'd sprout.  Not only did they sprout, but they're doing so well in the relatively small space I have for them that I'm going to have to thin my 8 plants down to 3 or 4.  I may hunt up a large pot or two for the culls; we'll see.

Speaking of squash, there was a gentleman behind me in line at the commissary on Friday who was buying a whole crate of butternut squash!  He told me he liked to roast it.  When I asked if he'd tried squash soup, he said he'd only had it from cartons, so I gave him a very quick rundown of how to make squash soup from scratch (the cashier was finishing ringing up my groceries).  I wonder if he'll try making it?

All in a good cause

A company I've done lots of Gilbert & Sullivan with is hosting a G&S Sing-Out over Labor Day weekend, during which we'll sing through all the music (no dialogue) of 12 of the 13 surviving shows, with piano accompaniment.  (The company will be presenting a concert version, with orchestra, of Utopia, Ltd .)  Yesterday was the committee meeting that's always the longest - assigning roles to people who'd requested them.  Lots and lots of moving parts to this piece of the process:

• We had over 130 people sign up and request at least one role (most requested several, chiefly to indicate everything they'd be willing to sing, not because they expected to get lotsa roles);
• Where possible, we try to give people one of their top 3 choices, where they stated a preference;
• If we know the people involved, we try to match voice sizes when casting people to sing duets together;
• we try to give at least a comprimario role to people who requested a role and are trying to break out of the chorus;
• we try to make sure everyone got something;
• We try not to give anyone more than their fair share;
• We don't want to set anyone up for failure (giving someone a part too big for their stamina at the end of the weekend marathon, or too high/low for their range, etc.).

Fairness is one of the hardest things to achieve.  Tenors get more roles, simply because there are fewer tenors requesting roles.  We weren't able to give principal roles to all the women because there were a lot more women, and fewer women's roles.  Good thing Grand Duke has 4 female comprimario roles, and we doubled up on bridesmaids in Trial by Jury.  

Committee members were offered first pick of roles, but we limited ourselves to something we wouldn't be likely to be cast as.  I chose Phoebe (Yeomen of the Guard), since I'm too old to play her on stage.  However, I ended up ceding Phoebe to someone who, I was told, was an excellent singer but who had nothing when we finished. The other committee members were funny; "Are you sure you don't mind?"  I didn't want to be greedy, and I'd've felt bad if the other woman got nothing at all.  Instead, I'll now be singing Angela (Patience), with a side of Baroness (Grand Duke).  And of course I can sing all the choruses I can stand; I'm OK with that. :)

At it again

The group I've done most of my G&S with is doing a "sing-out" over Labor Day weekend, when we'll sing all the music from all 13 of the surviving G&S shows.  12 of these will be done by all registered comers, with conductor and piano accompaniment.  The host company, however, will be presenting a concert version of "Utopia, Ltd", with full orchestra.  Auditions are coming up Friday and Saturday.  I managed to get one of the first slots Friday night - the "get it over quickly" slot.  Competition for the role I'm interested in will be fierce, but I'm not gonna take chorus without at least *trying* for something bigger.  If nothing else, it'll be a good warm-up for auditions for fall shows.  Wish me luck!

Perfect!

The Chief and I headed out to the cabin Friday.  I had to come back yesterday and almost decided to stay home; I am SO glad I didn't!  When I woke up yesterday morning and wandered into the great room, my eyes still half shut, I turned to the window wall.  The view immediately opened my eyes fully - the sun was streaming in through nothing but trees, their dewy leaves sparkling in the sunlight.  The trees always look best at that time of day, when the sun is still low enough to be shining through as much as on them, but yesterday morning the trees were fairly glowing!  The temperature was very comfortable, the humidity too low to be worth mentioning - the kind of day that makes you rejoice in God's creation.

That sort of morning not only makes you glad to be alive, but makes you feel more alive.  That must be the origin of the exclamation "Great day in the morning!"

A surprise hit

Again tonight, the dinner menu includes green beans from the farmer's market, cooked in sauteed onions & garlic.  Prepping the beans made me think of the last time I served these - out at the cabin, when we had some friends joining us for dinner.  (Went with the "drunken chicken".)  I was surprised at the way our guests raved about the beans.  The woman next door wanted to know exactly how I'd fixed them, as it was the first time she'd seen her husband and son eat fresh veggies willingly, not just out of politeness.  "Um, easy - sautee some onions & garlic in a little olive oil, add the beans, let 'em cook for half an hour or so, until the beans are no longer crunchy."  You can add any seasonings you like, or other vegetables; it's one of those recipes it's easy to improvise with.

I don't usually choose bread pudding

The Chief and I went for a seafood buffet for dinner tonight. The tomato-crab bisque was wonderful, and of course the rest of the seafood offerings were pretty impressive too. The dessert selections weren't quite as good - I'm not a fan of crumb pie crusts - but I decided to try the warm pineapple-chocolate bread pudding, with a bit of hot chocolate sauce ladled on top. Oh wow - worth EVERY calorie! Bread pudding is not usually something I'm all that interested in, but this was outstanding!

George has lots of company today

We were driving past Mt. Vernon and spotted THIRTY-TWO tour buses parked all in a row! Figuring 80 people per bus, that's a LOT of visitors! I sure hope George and Martha can handle those crowds.

Feeling sorry for Frankenstein's monster

I had to get an EMG last week, which involved getting a slew of leads stuck to my skin so the doc could test my "circuitry" (he even described himself as an electrician for the process). It was not exactly a fun time, though my fingers didn't do any lasting damage to the exam table. As I was lying there getting zapped, I found myself thinking of Frankenstein's monster. If the creature was subjected to far higher voltages than I was enduring, well, no wonder he came to life roaring!

Drunken chicken

Also known as "beer can chicken", in which you stand a chicken over a 3/4-full can of beer and grill or bake it. The Chief and I tried this for the first time over the weekend. It took a bit longer than we'd expected, but the results were WELL worth the wait - even the breast meat was very moist and juicy. We went with a mesquite marinade mix and added mesquite chips to the charcoal. Can't wait to experiment with other marinades or spice rubs.

I've also learned that a mesquite-grilled chicken carcass makes for some rather funky-smelling but very tasty chicken soup.

"I don't want minions; I want accomplices"

I rather like this view of auditions from the director's side of the table.

Nice little nap

I rarely nap - kinda frowned on at work, and by the time I get home, there's no time. Today, though, I came home with a migraine. I'd taken some medication for it, but it hadn't reLly kicked in yet, so I lay down for a bit when I got home. Boy, was that the right thing to do! When I got up, not only was the migraine gone but I actually felt rested. (A "migraine nap" usually just chases the migraine without actually being restful.). Here's hoping I'm able to sleep tonight...

Guinness bread

Made a second batch of Guinness bread tonight.  BOY, does the house smell fantastic!  I find I love making soda breads - you get that fantastic baking-bread aroma without the hours a yeast bread requires.

Last time I made a free-form loaf; this time I used a loaf pan.  We'll find out tomorrow at breakfast whether it affects the taste, or merely the shape of the final product.

Spending the weekend in the garden (or trying to)

The Chief and I spent most of the weekend in the yard.  He spent yesterday afternoon making a bit more progress in the shed, while I hit the nursery and came home with a coupla trays of bedding plants and a head full of ideas.

It seems the seed impatiens that have been the mainstay of the bed by the front door are victims of a downy mildew.  Apparently this nasty little bug is airborne and can spread for miles; worse, it can last in the soil for 5 years!  The nursery staffer who told me about it said that's why they wouldn't be carrying seed impatiens.  The good news, however, is that new guinea impatiens isn't bothered by this plague, so we can still have vivid color in our shady spots.  I'm also trying begonias for the first time.

The Chief and I are also trying something else new - roses.  We bought 2 climbers for the north side of the house.  Since a few nearby trees have been trimmed a LOT over the years, between storms and arborists, I think we'll get enough light that they'll do OK. The Chief put in a little arbor on that side of the house a few years ago, so this afternoon we planted on rose on either side.  He let me pick the colors.  The nursery didn't offer a lot of color choices in climbers, but I decided to get 2 different roses.  Valentine's Day promises a profusion of small, vivid-red flowers, while Purple Splash should have larger, very fragrant flowers.  We also have a bracket on the arbor for a hummingbird feeder - with any luck, we'll get more hummingbirds this summer, attracted by the roses.

What else are we growing?  The "impatiens bed" is getting one new guinea impatiens, some begonias, and a low, foliage plant called hypoestes.  It'll be interesting to see how they do.  It may be too sunny for them until the trees leaf out; I hope they don't get sunburned.

The planters for the deck railing are getting a geranium, 2 white cosmos flowers, lobelia, a couple of really lovely coleus varieties (colei?) - finger paint and kiwi fern - some miniature sweet william ("wee willie") and a superbell variety called "lemon slice".  I'm looking forward to seeing how those look once they get established.  I had bought a spreading torinia but decided the planters would be too crowded, so the torinia is now nestled between a couple of azaleas, where it should get enough shade to protect it.

I was delighted to see that one of the 2 peonies we planted last year and which didn't do well at all is coming back this year.  We've got our fingers crossed that it'll actually manage to bloom this year.

Also back for a return engagement:  my oregano (its 3rd summer, so I'm starting to believe it'll be a true perennial), rosemary, spearmint, and parsley.  The spearmint & rosemary spent the winter in planters under the deck, where we secured them before Hurricane Sandy last fall.  The spearmint survived despite a few inches of standing water in the pot - that's some hardy stuff!  The rosemary turned dark reddish when the weather got cold, but it's starting to look a bit greener now and is getting new foliage.

I bought another basil and a thyme plant today.  Those will go into one or two planters; haven't decided yet.  I want to give the basil plenty of room to spread, so maybe I'll put the thyme in the other end of the rectangular planter the rosemary is in.

The windowboxes on the shed will get begonias, a new guinea impatiens, a dahlia and a spreading torinia.  I may let the Chief plant those himself so he can have the fun of playing in the dirt too.

Missing Mom

This is the time of year I used to call Mom most often, with updates on the latest signs of spring in the neighborhood - first the early bulbs, then the bradford pears, forsythia, etc.  And of course telling her about my latest purchases for the garden - which flowers I was planting where, how they were doing.

This year's purchases include the "obligatory" red flowers - a geranium for one of the railing planters and a new guinea impatiens as one of the flowers for the front bed (which is getting an assortment this year).

Finally playing in the dirt

Yesterday it was finally mild enough that the Chief and I could go out and play in the dirt.  We dug up the patch where I tried to grow squash last year, sifting through the dirt to look for and remove squash borer grubs.  I've got some seeds saved from a butternut squash that I'm trying to start indoors.  If they germinate, they'll go into that patch. Now that I have a better idea of what to look for, I'm hoping the squash borers will leave my plants alone this year.

We also did some cleaning up - raking up leaves, cutting back ivy & vinca, doing a good bit of weeding.  I also planted one little phlox plant in the bed next to the driveway.  I hope the ice plant doesn't crowd it out.

The Chief has some anemone (bulbs? corms?) that he bought a couple of years ago.  We'll finally get those babies into the ground sometime this week and hope they grow.

I've had a pretty high mortality rate among my bulbs.  I don't know if something ate them or they died of thirst, but we plan to buy a big batch this fall and hope they come up next spring.

Soup, soup and more soup

I've made quite a lot of soup over the past couple of weeks - 2 batches of pea soup for the Chief, 1 batch of an "Italian-inspired" veggie soup into which I like to dump a bag or 2 of frozen salad shrimp, and a couple of batches of the veggie-beef soup that's oh, so good made w/ oxtails instead of stew beef.  This time, because I didn't have any of the cabbage the recipe calls for, I substituted a bag of frozen chopped spinach.  I've been making this soup and improvising on it for years & years; I can't believe I never thought to dump spinach in it until now.  You can't really taste it, but I rather like seeing all those bits of spinach swimming around in it.  (I'm a spinach fan; what can I say?)

Oh, and I can't forget the awesome batch of pumpkin soup I threw together a couple of weeks ago for an ailing neighbor, and just "happened" to make so much that there was plenty for me, too.  (The Chief isn't a fan so I had it all to myself.)  It was definitely one of my better batches; not only was it nice & thick, but the last-minute decision to throw in 1 tsp of cumin was a very good one.

Still to be made: my nephew's boeuf bourguignon, now that I have a dutch oven to make it in.

Happy birthday, Pride & Prejudice!

I first discovered Pride & Prejudice on a high school summer reading list and have revisited it repeatedly.  I've read the other extant Austen novels, of course, but P&P remains my favorite, with Emma in second place.  I've read several of the take-offs (the novels about other characters, about Elizabeth & Darcy's children, etc.) and while I don't consider myself a full-fledged "Janehead" or "Janeite", I have been enjoying the articles about Jane & her works.  Here's a good one:  http://www.thesmartset.com/article/article12211202.aspx