We loved watching Kinshasa Symphony this week (from Amazon). It documents the efforts of a group of dedicated amateur musicians in the Congo as they put together a performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, on a shoestring.
Combining so many of our family interests--classical music, West African culture, and thrifty creativity, how could we not love it?
It's easy, it's cheap, and you can keep the ingredients on hand. And you can pass it off as Asian if you want to--I'm always stumped about what to serve to drink with Chinese or Thai . . . .
•Green Tea Punch•
Bring 8 c. water to a boil. Pour over 8 regular or decaff green tea bags and let steep according to teabag directions.
In a very large jar or pitcher, mix 1/2 a can of lemonade concentrate and 5 c. water. When the tea has cooled, add it to the jar.
Stir in 1/3 c. sugar til dissolved. Add a big handful of fresh mint from the backyard, and serve over ice.
Then, generally, the thrifty housewife will plan to make punch again the next day to use up that half-can of lemonade concentrate sitting in the freezer.
One whole coconut, grated onto clouds of seven-minute frosting, and pillowed into vanilla cake layers . . . good thing tonight was potluck at my house.
It's good to have a more at-home week. I had been ignoring the cleaning needs in my kitchen but this week I'm working my way down a list: light fixtures, floor scrub, cabinets sorted and wiped down.
And the sitting room needed a deep clean. Out with the orchids past their prime. Out with the amaryllis bulbs I'm STILL waiting on. Not interested anymore!
More in the mood for a big jug of privet cut from the hedge. Oh, the subtle fragrance!
The real last times won't come until August, but already some of her Life Til Now is wrapping up.
Last symphony concert this weekend. For six years the Composer has been taking her every month to Sunday afternoon concerts. They've had the same seats down near the front, near the too-loud theatrical lady who warbles and coos over the soloists. But they just went to the last performance.
Next year she'll be in a different place, different concerts. Same red shoes, I hope.
Hung over the tub.
I love these colors. They can rule my house.
This gorgeous piece was an early effort of a friend of my mother's. She used to pass along all her "extra" paintings.
Our bathroom progress has been going at a more meditative pace as we wait for the second coat of oil-based floor paint to dry.
Finally we can tiptoe around, and I got a curtain hung, and I can take a bath. All my recent curtains have been plain canvas. When they're closed, they give you privacy. But most of the time, they're pulled wide open on their rings, and I love the rumpled drape they have.
I am really trying hard not to bring new fabric home, but some did find its way into my suitcase in New York. And Pennsylvania. Apparently my subconscious had issued orders in a brown/gray/orange palette that I had not heard about before, but what can you do?
This beautiful gray print was my one purchase at Purl. I love it, and wonder what it will be. Isn't it a perfect match to my late 1940's cookbook?
Isn't it time we talked about this? About how beautiful the designs are, how generous the pattern count is, about how a person could spend the next decade hand-stitching from this book alone?
Natalie Chanin, you are a genius with jersey.
This pattern can definitely go dressy or casual, depending on fabric choices. Someday soon I'll make it up in satin for fancy, but first I tried it out in two kinds of cotton gauze, in Bella's signature soft orange.
Textured on the bodice, plain in the skirt, it makes a comfortable frock.
I was actually quite short of fabric (a passalong in the stash) and cut the skirt far narrower than the pattern would have had it. It's still plenty full for every day though.
"Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.
Your righteousness is like the highest mountains,
Your justice like the great deep.
You, Lord, preserve both people and animals.
How priceless is your unfailing love . . . . "
(Psalm 36)
Daisy has convinced Phyllis to bring Luscious Kandy and Sinnamon over here to live in our barn.
They settled right into Felix's abandoned chicken pen. It's just right for the two of them; they're quite dainty. Luscious is about the size of my big cat.
At least twice a day we bring them out on their leashes to graze around the yard, preferably not in the flowerbeds. The goats are a huge block to productivity. Basically Daisy and I sit there on the green grass, under a blue sky. I never get anything done.
Luscious wants you to see that her collar is purple, with sparkles. How did this happen?
I never meant to be a farmer.
After five days in Cityland, the unbelievable greenness of this place is . . . noticeable. I am happy to be back in my leafy paradise. With a few urban goods.
In a frenzy of spring travel I am off this morning to visit Giles and then my beloved cousin Sally in Philadelphia. Japanese bookstore! Purl! Thrift stores! Fabric! Giles' face!
Fitzwilliam will rest at home.
See you next week!
We are not building Rome in a day, but we are making some progress in the bathroom renovations. My bathroom is glowing in its new coat of English Hyacinth (Benjamin Moore). It's two shades deeper than my bedroom (Lavender Secret) and looks marvelous with the white trim and, of course, the dreamy travertine tiles.
Roomier pictures to come, as Rome gets more built.
Colossal chocolate cake from the Low Country, with a gargantuan frosting recipe. Fifteen cups of powdered sugar? We cut it in half, then only used a part of what we made.
A very impressive and towering three layers but secretly, I think we all preferred our old standby.
This charming suit pattern promises that when the peplum laps over in the back it will create "a novel effect."
I think it does! Clara wears it in navy cotton twill for spring.
Log cabin baby quilt and a stack of utility cloths in pink and brown are here.
Clara's been using up her leftover cotton yarn by crocheting a set of washcloths.
She chose three different stitch patterns and made simple squares. I love the contrasting textures . . .
and of course the fact that she's feeling the using-up-the-scraps love.
