No, I do NOT want to play with the new kittens

Contrary to what these photos might lead you to believe, Dolly was growling the whole time, even while trying to grab Georgie's tail behind the safety of the file cabinet. Silly cat.

I don't believe it

Two days in the office and the Vanalikalikes have already figured out how to get filed. All except Pi, who is a portly little fellow. I also notice that all the papers in this drawer have a filigree of perforations from tiny teeth and claws which beg the question of why I am allocating them storage space at all.

It's almost time

My bout of severe cello avoidance, over two months long now, may be coming to an end. This week I thought about playing my cello. I watched a couple of cello videos on YouTube - The Chicago Cello Society has posted all twenty performances from their recent Popper concert in honor of Janos Starker - and indulged in a little retail therapy. I am trying on ideas for what I might like to play this year.

This is what I bought:

Possible solo pieces
Goltermann Capriccio, Marais La Folia (arr. Gendron), Vaughan Williams' Six Studies in English Folksong, Bridge's Four Pieces for Cello and Piano. I am also thinking that I would like another pass at Goltermann Concerto #4, to get the fast parts fast, and still would like to start Haydn C Maj concerto.

Chamber Music
Dvorak American Quartet. It would be lovely to be able to play that on demand, and it has lots of juicy technique. For the same reason, I want to work on the von Weber trio (flute, piano, cello).

For violin and cello: Lee Duet #2, Op 125 No 2; Gliere 8 Duets Op 39, Berg 16 Duets; Bartok Hungarian Folk Melodies. One of the violinists in the quartet I read with has expressed interest in playing some duets, and I really had nothing in my library.

For flute and cello: Villa-Lobos The Jet Whistle. The flautist from my trio would probably willing to play with me. I don't even know what it sounds like, but I'll bet it's fun.

Movie Scores
Music from Titanic and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, arranged for cello and piano. A totally uncharacteristic purchase, but I'm longing to be able to take simple tunes and make compelling music out of them. I thought this might be fun.

Fun. The operative word is fun. The last three years with T- have been so worthwhile, but somewhere along the way I forgot how to have fun.

Last week at church the orchestra played for the first time without prior rehearsal (and I played for the first time in a month). At one point during the read-through before the service, the choir director dashed over to me (while still conducting), bent over, ear to f-holes, and said "I think you're a little sharp." Yikes! I didn't think I was, but maybe my chops are flabbier than I think, and my hearing has even deteriorated.

I think it's time. Maybe next week I'll touch my cello.

Mortal danger

This is the crabapple tree a few feet from our back deck. You can see our railing in the picture. If you have very good eyes, you might be able to see a large brown spot near the top.

This is a closeup of the spot. You can see it better if you biggify.



That is the home of my new neighbors, a colony of bald-faced (or white-faced) hornets, which are actually from the same family as yellow-jacket wasps. I was not excited to discover them in the neighborhood, as I am allergic to vespids - the anaphylactic kind of allergic, not the my-arm-swells-up-really-big kind of allergic.

The representative from my homeowners association expeditiously sent an exterminator to my rescue, but unfortunately the nest is too high and too far away from the deck to exterminate safely (from the point of view of the humans). I learned that this type of wasp mounts two sentries near the door, who if disturbed rally the inside members to attack. The distance to the hive is small enough that the bug man's pole could reach the door, but far enough away that installing the powder of death would be difficult. That didn't sound like an optimal situation.

I also learned that at the end of this season the workers will die off and the fertilized queens will hibernate, and they generally do not recolonize the same nest next year. And I've also observed for a few days that they are not really active outside the nest, possibly because I don't have any plants on the deck to attract them.

So in spite of my fear, I will be living with my unwanted neighbors for the rest of the summer. I have dug out my Epi-pens (and will give DH a refresher on how to use them, in case I am not able). Every day I do a little meditation, sending peaceful thoughts to the hive. But I thought, just in case this blog goes completely dead (so to speak) - you can blame it on bald-faced hornets.

What not to wear

Yes, I am a fan of the TLC show What Not to Wear. I pick up a practical tip now and again, but what I really enjoy is talking back to the TV when Stacey and Clinton clean up a mother of toddlers or dog walker or construction worker. They may end up looking nice, but it's not very practical.

This is my current "look", as foster mom to five kitten toddlers.



No, my closet is not full of sweats, I just wear the same set over and over. Every couple of days I throw them into the wash with the kittens' bedding. That's my dirty little secret, so to speak.

Note the shoes. I normally wear flip flops this time of year, but have resorted to clogs to protect my toes from their little needle toes.



This is not what you think it is. I had just washed this, then proceeded to drip guacamole on it. Sigh.

BTW

Don't you like that name? Pookie Vanalikalike - I love to say it. So much better than what a friend, who shall not be further identified, was calling him - Horny Toad Hitler (in honor of his two little horns and black mustache).

Eewwww

The Vanalikalikes (and Spud) have been eating exclusively from a dish since Friday. While on one hand that's a good thing, because syringe feeding is time consuming and I can only feed one at a time while the others scream around my ankles, on the other hand it's more work because the kittens need to be bathed after every meal.

Pookie, whom you see in post-meal glory above, is by far the worst. This video demonstrates why.

If at first you don't succeed...

You gotta admire persistence.

Two days ago I started letting the Vanalikalikes out of the tub in the Nursery and into the Playground for a couple of hours after meals. They absolutely love the new (washable) cotton rug that they can run on without their little frog legs splaying out from under them, and the wedge scratching box with the hidey hole underneath was an instant hit. Good thing they're small, because they insist upon cramming all five little bodies under the step when they are ready for a snooze.

The entry to the Playground is closed by my big wire mesh cubes, with a trash can wedged in the last open bit so that I can step in and out without the hazard of moving the wall.

Two days. They grow so fast at this age (4 weeks +). Here's Puddin (the littlest kitten and only girl) demonstrating that, when you're hungry and you hear "Mom" at the computer, a little trash can is hardly sufficient to keep you away. Even if you fall in the middle.

Poopy Day

	It started with a poopy head. (That's Georgie on the left with the poop behind his left ear.)
	It ended with a poopy face. (That's Pi, and it wasn't just on his face.)
	And a botfly belly in the middle. (That's Spud, who just arrived today.)

I haven't been blogging much lately, but I'm not sitting around twiddling my thumbs.

Enumerating News

OK, OK. In response to a complaint that two weeks of seeing the Clik a Pad on top of my blog is more than enough, I am writing a new post.

News for July:



1. I got a new set of four bottle babies last Monday, 3-4 weeks old. For the past week I have been very busy feeding, pottying, cleaning, and weaning. My bigs are wonderful, every so often going in to check out the babies (as Sharae is doing here) but leaving them alone to squirm and wrestle in the Nursery. They're not very interesting yet, unless you are their Mom.

2. Finnegan and Fergus have gone to their forever homes. While not together, they each have a new big sister, are adjusting well, and their new people love them.

3. Molly had a family visit last night, but not the right one for her. I will be very sorry to see Molly leave, even though she is going through an adolescent phase of overturning trash cans, scratching the couch, and suckling at 3am. She's a dear.

4. Sharae, Seri, Dolly, and Molly all went to an adoption event at a local Petco last weekend. The verdict is unanimous. We all hate them.

5. My Board review course was very interesting, and very long. My hip still hurts from the week of non-stop sitting, now several weeks ago.

6. I got in three good days of clutter work at the DC house. Four huge paper recycling bins filled, but the bulk of the work was moving the clutter to a more organized and out-of-the way place. Sigh.

7. I've started participating in a new workout program called CrossFit. I am doing the version scaled down for us Buttercups, and even with that have been marveling at how long it's been since I felt like puking after a workout. The barbell work came in very handy with #6, as I found I could easily lift a 40 lb book box over my head using a clean and jerk technique.

8. I started #7 after I found out in PT that the reason I haven't been able to run without pain yet is that I don't actually use the muscles around my knee during stance to push-off. That has gotten much better with the squat strength-training. I also stopped jogging, and started running as far as I can (about 200 ft <g>) then walking in intervals. I hope I can run 2 complete miles by winter. Reconditioning is so much harder when you're 50. Sigh.

9. I have had one adventure in travel, getting stranded for an extra day in DC because of weather the day before I was supposed to fly home. I've never been delayed a whole day before, and was glad I was in a place where I had somewhere to stay.

10. I have played my cello four times since my last concert in June. I don't know what happened; I've simply lost my desire to play. And now I have also lost much of my finger and thumb calluses, and if I just jump in to play for fun I aggravate my right tennis elbow. It's not looking good on the cello front right at this moment. And I haven't tried to play the piano since June.

Clik pad

Did you notice the little thing that looks like a calculator, sitting next to the four-inch stack of course materials in my last photo? It's not actually a calculator - it's called a Clik A Pad. Every few minutes we have a clinical multiple-choice question, and the 'audience response' breakdown is diplayed a few seconds later. It's a great ploy for keeping the brain engaged over 40 hours, and evaluating whether you know the material well enough to apply it in a clinical situation. Sort of like a very slow speed interactive video game.



Feedback is good.



Also note the tab number on the open book. Last day...

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Fire hose

As in, drinking from a fire hose. That's what I'm doing this week, attending a week-long Board review course. The photo shows the stack of course materials.



Half-way through!



Oh, and note to self. Next time don't wait 20 years to review EKG interpretation.

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BFF

Keeping cool

Sleeping in the sink is a great way to keep cool, but I wonder if it works as well when a friend joins you there?

It's hoooot here

I saw David's boyz curled up together this morning, lethargic in our current heat wave. Looked a lot like my baby boyz on Sunday. This is what they looked like yesterday. Lucy likes the cooler strip of wood off the carpet, those warm mammary glands turned up into the breeze, but was too tired to move after lunch. She tolerated those snuggling babies for quite awhile before she sought out another, cooler, spot.

Me and my brother

I put one of my new Ham Micks in the office, and Linus promptly decided it was his new sleeping place. Charlie Brown has a little more trouble climbing up into it, but once there it proves an excellent spot to curl up with his new brother.

A second good use for a Ham Mick.

Double decker

No, the solution to the chair problem is not more chairs. Or, maybe it would be if the deck was bigger, but it's not. And of course everyone wanted to be at the 4th of July picnic, so we came up with this creative solution.



Here we see an excellent use of a Ham Mick, the Double Decker Picnic Chair. We tried several unsuccessful placements of the Ham Mick around the deck, but this one was the winner. There's something about being at the table.

New little bro

This is Charlie Brown. He's about three weeks old, and Linus at five weeks is about twice his size.

Charlie Brown was delivered last night after being rescued from a family who was trying to take care of a "give away" who was much too young to leave his mother. We were hoping that Lucy would accept him into the family, and are making some progress - Lucy washes him while hissing and growling. No suckling yet, and I'm not sure Charlie Brown remembers how. But he's a good eater from the syringe, and I'm taking care of that part of mothering (every few hours), plus periodic litter box trips.

It's truly a team effort. Linus was a bit hissy at the beginning (taught well by his foster mother Lucy), but warmed up within minutes, clearly delighted to have another kitten for company. His favorite time is when Charlie Brown is eating messily from the syringe, and he gets to lick the extra milk dribbling down his chin. He is also happy to provide the sticky baby with a thorough bath after meals.

Charlie Brown participates in pouncing and wrestling, and when he wears out Linus is happy to continue the game with much pouncing over, rather than on, the baby.



He's such a big brother.

Capacity

Summertime, and the livin' is easy. The table is on the deck, the cushions are on the chairs, and the umbrella is up. Time for some serious vegging.

One small problem.



With two people, three bigs, and a variety of little fosters, it's first-come first-served on the chairs.

What, you want me to share????



It took some doing, but we got things sorted out.



Good thing Molly will take a lap in lieu of a cushion.



Now, how do we fit DH in?



Excellent idea!

I love you

...but would you hold still so that I can give you your bath?

Treating ear worms

The best way I've found to treat an ear worm is to replace it with another one. Today I'm trying a different tack, actually spending more time with it in the practice room, and as a by-product creating my first dual track Audacity project. Hasn't worked yet, but I'll let you know.

This is a song we played in church last week. It has a simple cello ostinato line that is quite addictive. We started our pre-service rehearsal with both of us playing the ostinato introduction, but didn't like the effect. Two string instruments playing in unison is the most difficult combination. So between us, we decided that it needed to be a cello solo. Usually the other cellist plays the solos, and I am happy in my role as Cello 2. But somehow, she passed it off to me, just before we went live.

I wasn't too distressed, as it's not difficult - just exposed. And I'm quite proud of my performance anxiety management - when I caught myself thinking "Now don't screw this up and get all tense" I immediately changed that tape to "This is a beautiful line and I am going to release any excess tension and play it warmly." I don't know how beautiful it was, but it felt pretty good. DH commented after the service that the cellos had a big part, and that it sounded nice. Good enough for me.

But that simple ostinato has been caught in my ear since Sunday. Today I wanted to just play something fun to start my practice, so I looked through my Suzuki books, having heard that La Folia is in there somewhere (variations on the ostinato theme). Unfortunately, whomever I overheard must have been talking about the violin books, because I didn't see it in the cello parts. So I decided to record the ostinato part of the song from last week, and then the other cello part, which Cello 1 played, and mix them together in Audacity. A fun little project.

You'll hear that I am not quite exactly aligned, but well enough to get the gist of it. Think of all the duet options...



Ostinato mix

Trained

We have a problem. I can't sit at the computer in the office without turning to see Linus climbing up the prison wall, and he's become a very good climber. But definitely not a good climber-downer, and probably not a very good faller. He hasn't fallen yet, but that is only because I notice he is climbing, usually as he nears the top, 5 feet off the ground. I'm sure a fall from that height could cause a kitty concussion.

So, obviously this post is not about training kittens, but a kitten training me to facilitate his jail breaks. Smart kitten.

The first time I took Linus out yesterday morning Lucy was busily eating breakfast. When Lucy is eating, she has a one track mind, and it's not on the baby. I realized something was up when mother talk intruded on my consciousness as I was typing, in escalating volume, and I turned to see her frantically searching in all the corners for Linus. I just called her attention to the baby in my lap, and she laid down, eagle eyes fixed and unwavering on Linus until I relented and let her out, too.

Office door closed, of course. We did have a few loud discussions under the door with the bigs outside. Not ready for integration (for a variety of reasons) for another week or two.

For a cat rescued from a dump, Lucy is exceptionally sweet and people oriented. As soon as I let her into the office, she came over, jumped in my lap, and took up a post on the desk. An ideal blogging companion.

Casualty

My Dr. Beat sits on top of the piano, within easy reach while I am practicing. It seems like a flat, secure place, so I'm not sure why it ends up on the floor at least several times a week. It's a sturdy little machine, so in spite of multiple falls, yesterday was the first time it appeared to be damaged during its adventures. That circle to the right of the "70" should have a big orange dial on top of it.

Fortunately, I can work the dial without the cover, but I got to thinking that I should find it soon, if I had any hopes of ever seeing it again. Thinking like a cat, I feared it was finally time to clean out all the toys lodged under the couch.

	But before going spelunking, I did a visual scan of the area. Wait, there's a flash of orange! Wasn't it kind of Sharae to provide some complementary visual interest in the area my eyes needed to see?
	A little closer. That looks promising, but uh, oh, I think it may be broken in half.
	Phew. It's just fine, lodged under the fireplace tools.

Bummer for the cats, though, The rest of the toys are still under the couch.

Window cleaner needed

Sometimes I think I would like to get a "real" camera, but then I'm surprised by what my little point-and-shoot Elph is able to do. I figured no way it would focus on the window rather than the trees outside in this shot. I think that must mean that this window is very, very dirty, to give it a solid plane. Sheesh.

It has been summer here for exactly three days now, and in the glorious morning light I can see how busy this window has been over the winter. It's in the office, next to the Orbitor, one of my two large cat trees. I love the 6 or 8 inches of paw prints over the scalloped snotty-nose spots border. But I'm not sure what that long vertical streak in the middle is.

Insipient jail break

Not too shabby for not quite 4 weeks old. He's going to be a handful. Fortunately, he gave up and dropped down a few inches later.

Prison?

I decided the Nursery really had to be cleaned today, but I didn't want Lucy and Linus breathing in concentrated bleach fumes. So I devised this barrier, my old cube shelves from downstairs. (That was a project, carrying them intact up my curved staircase.) As you can see, they are pretty tall, and definitely heavy, but easy to swivel aside so I can get in and out.

While I was cleaning, Lucy rushed any visitors to the wall with her foaming-at-the-mouth growly hissy fits, and then returned to supervise, calm and wanting pets. Linus discovered the rolling jingly ball I brought in as his first toy, and made some tentative swipes to get it rolling, but really was more interested in the twitchy tail Lucy provided for him. He was very interested in the cleaning process, so I was glad I had someplace I could move him out of the way.

I went back out to the kitchen to dispose of the cleaning water and clean a couple of patches on the kitchen floor (Dolly again?), and turned around to see the silhouette of a stripey cat with a skinny tail. Wait, that has to be Lucy, I thought, and indeed it was, skulking quietly through the upper floor, not bothering the half dozen others who were there playing and helping me clean. I checked the "wall" which was unmoved, so figured she must have climbed over it. Silly cat, but she went back in quietly.

And then resumed growling at anybody who came near the wall, starting with Seri. At the moment Seri is in defilade by the desk, watching intently as Lucy nurses Linus under the sink.

The rate of Lucy's hair loss is definitely decreasing. She has lost almost all of her ticked fur, leaving a very short, very soft tabby coat in a subtle classic gray on gray pattern. I am thinking more and more that this is a result of an outside cat moving inside rather than illness or a stress reaction, though would never rule out a role of post-pregnancy hormones. You can blame just about anything on those. Lucy seems much happier with the door open so she can see me at the computer, and she's still segregated from the cats - except when she climbs the wall!

No, wait, I see her pushing with her paw between the shelves and the wall. I think I probably left too short an overhang on one side, and she squeezed through. Regardless, I'll close the office door while I am out and things should be fine.

Highs and Lows

It's been an interesting musical month. If you read my practice blog, you may have noticed that I listed the sessions I attended at two professional music teachers' organizations. My head is filled with new things to try this summer, the makings of my own personal music camp, since I'm not attending anything formal. Heck, I'm not taking lessons, and my scheduled play dates are not for rehearsing.

I've had several performances in the past month.

• Current Orchestra. Played the Overture to the Marriage of Figaro, Vivaldi Spring from the Four Seasons, and the Bach Double featuring violin and oboe on the solo parts, plus a variety of pops selections. Fluffy program, but the audience enjoyed it and we played well.
• Cello Trio. I thought this was going to be an adult chamber music recital, but it turned out to be "All School," and we were the only adults on the program. Due to a last-minute schedule change we played right after a group of 7 or 8-year-olds having their first quartet experience. Adorable, and a hard act to follow. Went well, though, and we were so well-rehearsed that I still can't get the music entirely out of my ears. It keeps popping up in quiet moments.
  
• Old Orchestra. Last weekend I was in my old hometown for a long weekend that happened to coincide with the last scheduled concert of their season. They graciously allowed me to sit in, and I learned Schumann's second symphony and a von Weber overture in four days. I alternated focused technical practice with play-throughs accompanied by John Eliot Gardiner and the Revolutionary and Romantic Orchestra, my favorite recording. The tempo was faster than the Old Orchestra played, but it was an excellent exercise for learning context, designing faking strategies, and pointing out exposed parts that really needed to be mastered. Plus, Current Orchestra hasn't played a symphony in two years, so I had great fun. The other good news is that the Mendelssohn-like Scherzo has partially supplanted the Cello Trio ear worm, probably a side effect of the total immersion approach.

So, what's the low? Those all sound like highs to me.

Yesterday I met with my flute/piano/cello trio for the first time since our Mother's Day performance. We read through arrangements of several Handel suites, and Beethoven: Op. 20, an interesting piece that was originally scored for a rather unusual septet that included clarinet, horn, bassoon, violin, and bass, but was so popular that Beethoven made arrangements for a number of other groups, including the flute trio. As an aside, we listened to parts of the septet recording near the end of rehearsal, and I liked that arrangement much better.

Anyway, I hung in for the rhythm and tempo, but anyplace that requires fast shifting or Trouble Clef still sounds pretty awful while I'm reading. I know, I know, sight reading only gets better by doing it, but I really expected that there should be some carry-over from working on more difficult music. I was feeling discouraged when I left yesterday.

But buck up, today's another day, and writing about it takes away the sting. I see that I need to include sight-reading practice in my summer program. And my apologies to those who read my blog for the cat pictures, but I need to do some more thinking aloud about practicing.

Water babies

Dolly and Molly are my first experiences with Maine Coon mixes, and I have discovered a couple of unique characteristics. They're very people oriented, and very gentle and cuddly when they aren't too involved with playing. They have huge, soft feet that are black on the bottom, and very soft claws that you don't notice at all if you keep trimmed. They have cute little chirping voices, but these one don't use them very often. I'll take that as a compliment. No need to speak up if you are already getting everything you need. And they love water.

The only time I had to give Dolly a bath (because she had stepped in some liquid stool), not only did she not struggle, but she hunkered down in the sink, quite happy in the water. And last night I took a bath for the first time with this group (no comments- I usually shower) and it was quite entertaining to have all the gray fuzzies, but especially the girls, lined up on the tub. I wasn't too concerned when they kept pawing the water, but if I got too close to the edge of the tub they tried to climb onto me, and that made me a little nervous. No dunkings when I got out of the tub, so I figured I was home free.

Not. Molly saw the water going down the drain, and had to get in to explore. There was probably four inches of water, so she just got her legs and belly wet, then jumped out in surprise. I started to chase her down to dry her off, but decided a naked woman running around a well lit house with no curtains at night might be too much for the neighbors to deal with. So I got to mop the floor as well as the kitty after I got dressed.

Good thing they're so darn cute. And Molly's fur is awfully soft after her impromptu bath.

Summer schedule

Piano class. Done.
Vocal Ensemble. Done.
Orchestra. Concert last month, and done for me since I am not playing in the July concerts.
Cello lessons. Last one yesterday, until October. T- suggested another teacher I might like to take lessons from over the summer, but I'm not thinking seriously about it (yet).
Flute trio. We'll still rehearse, but not more than 1-2x/month.
String quartet. Monthly, maybe, depending on whether we can work out schedules.
Cello trio. Last rehearsal last night, and recital is tonight. Still thinking about whether to resume in the Fall, but done for Summer.

I do have my first opportunity to be a "ringer" next weekend, joining my old orchestra for a concert. I rehearsed with them once about two months ago, just for fun. They're playing Schumann's Symphony #2 in C, and the von Weber Overture to Beherrscher der Geister. I'm kinda looking forward to the challenge, now that some of my other stuff is winding down.

No music camps planned for this summer. My main goal, believe it or not, is just to practice for the sake of practice. I've picked all of the low-lying fruit, concentrating on specific changes to my technique, and what I need most now is Butt-in-Chair time. I though it could be avoided, but have been forced to conclude that the only way to really make progress at my level is through repetition. So I'm switching my focus from variables helpful in learning new skills to the variety of ways one can make repetition palatable.

It's empty

Really.

One word

...for why I did not practice this morning.



Pancakes!

The time was not nonproductive, however. I was working out bowings for Haydn C in my prolonged hypoglycemic hypnagogic state.

Sharae and John had no such excuse. They are merely suggestible.