Today

Sometimes driving with dad I see my life flash before my eyes as he whizzes through traffic on the freeway just squeezing between semis and other vehicles at 75 miles per hour. Tonight I was nearly sure he was trying to run the semi in front of us off the road! We made a quick trip across the mountains to Renton this afternoon to pick up a riding lawn mower to replace the one we just killed last week, I was along in case he needed a hand with loading. My payment was a chocolate milkshake at the end of the day. Yes, I know the tires are flat...we had to let the air out so it would fit into the back of our mini-van.

This past week we had quite a load of entries at our local fair. It took about 10 hours on entry day to gather all of my entries and fill out the forms...thankfully it only took one and a half hours to remove the items from display. Not counting anyone else in our family I entered about 75 items, mostly vegetables from my garden. Rivers and I both won the vegetable combination exhibit for our age groups! They kinda look sad after a week on display...

Though veggies are normally where I have the most fun, my favorite entries this year were my sewing projects. I didn't win all blue ribbons but it was nice to get the feedback from the judges on the forms.

A Long Day And A Violin

I found out earlier this week that Dad was planning a trip to Portland OR on Thursday to pick up some equipment for his business. As soon as I heard, I knew I had to go with him. The promised violin for my birthday 3 weeks ago still wasn't in my hands and I knew we would find a violin shop in the city. So, a 10 hour round trip plus six hours in Portland...let me tell you about my day.

We hit the road around 6 AM everything still frosty and snowy. While Dad drove I enjoyed the new book I ordered on improving one's piano studio. Less than 50 miles from home there was no snow to be seen and the temperature was in the upper 40s! We stopped at our favorite gas station in Biggs OR and it was there that dad realized that he forgot his wallet, thankfully he still had his cash and I had my checkbook or we may have been driving back home mission unaccomplished. I drove the rest of the way to Portland. Dad picked up his first load which only took about 15 minutes.

Next stop the violin shop, they weren't open when we first got there so we waited in the car for a few minutes with the rain pouring down. It was so much fun walking into a violin shop with violins, violas, and cellos everywhere, yes it was my first time in a violin shop. Here's what happens when you live in a small town all your life: When you walk into our local music store, what you see is guitars everywhere and 2 violins, an acoustic for $100 and an electric for $500.

Knowing I had a tight budget to work with, I asked to try out violins below the cost of $1500. If you don't know anything about violins you may think that is expensive but it is not uncommon to see violins for many thousands more. Then there is the bow which can range from $60 to thousands of dollars! Anyway, I knew I didn't want to torture myself by playing around with anything I couldn't afford. I played through a line-up of violins and one by one eliminating the ones that didn't sound good to me. After choosing one that I liked, I asked for the prices and discovered that I had chosen the most expensive one in the line-up. Then learning that it didn't come with a case or a bow and that it would go over my set limit I decided I would need to try a few more and hopefully find one that I liked that wouldn't go over my limit.

We decided to take a break at this point and head over to Vancouver to pick up Dad's other load and visit Racz European Violin Shop. Mr. Racz played us a sampling of some of his beautiful and original compositions. Here is a link to once of his pieces being played by Tatiana Kolchanova Parente http://www.youtube.com/user/Flaviflip?feature=mhum#p/a/f/0/Ydr53BVLHx4

Then he allowed me to play one of his violins which was MUCH nicer than what I've been playing on and though not expensive, was above my set limit. Mr. Racz helped me with a few tips and we played an easy duet. He complemented me by telling me "you should play the violin". Feeling encouraged I reluctantly said goodbye and we headed back into Portland to find a violin.

In the car I told Dad that my goal was to never play my old violin again so we had to find something that I liked before we left for home. Dad chuckled and asked what I'm going to do with the old violin. I told him that I will hang it back on the wall for a decoration.

Back in Portland I began the process of elimination on a new line-up of violins. At first I was at a loss, many of them just did not sound good to me. Finally I narrowed it to 2 violins that I couldn't decide which I liked better. One had a brighter tone and the other was warmer. I asked Dad for his opinion. I would play the same song on each and Dad would insist that the bright one sounded best, then I would play a different song and he would insist the warm one sounded the best. After going in circles like this for some time, I would torture myself by playing the one I had found earlier that I liked which was above my limit. We were both tired and starving and the shop was closing soon so I made my choice. I then tried many different chin rests until we found one that fit comfortably. With violin in hand we hit the road once again.

It poured rain like we haven't seen for a long time, the streets looked like rivers and there were huge puddles in the freeway. We got supper in Hood River at 7:30. Driving was a pain, I was sore from head to foot, the heated seats in the van are a blessing to a sore back. In some places there was fog so thick we could not see more than 20 feet ahead of us. We arrived safely home just after midnight. The cat and dog were both thrilled to see us back home. Mom wanted to see my new violin and as soon as I got it out of the case the cat claimed the case. I booted her out but she just sits next to it like it's her great treasure. Mom could tell right away that the new violin sounded nicer than the old one(I should hope so).

I know this was a rather long post so I'll end here but be watching for my next post which will include a photo of my new violin and maybe a video if I can polish something nice to play by then.

Home from Sukkot

Wow, what a trip! We drove over 900 miles the first day making it to Belle Fourche SD by bedtime. On day two we visited the Laura Ingalls homestead in DeSmet SD, it was 5 hours out of our way but we had promised my niece that we would go and it was worth the stop. After that dad decided that we would drive nonstop to Indiana so we drove all night, arriving at our destination the following morning.

We tried to catch up on sleep before the first meeting but there was just no way. We nearly got scared half to death that first day when there was a misunderstanding and we thought we had to sing at the first meeting, thankfully it was only a misunderstanding! The feast was wonderful, we met so many people! We played music on several occasions, went horseback riding, hiking, there was a BBQ, pioneer day, visiting around the camp fire. Every day there was at least one service. We learned many things and saw 11 people baptized!

On the way home we drove 1100 miles to Rapid City on the first day, on day two we visited aunt Helen and uncle Art and cousin's Sue and Rich. We also saw Mnt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and Cosmos. On day three we drove through Sturgis and visited cousins Julie and Bill, then we drove on to Belle Fourche and took Rachael through the cemetery where our great great grandfather is buried. After that we topped off the day with a stop at the BBCR(Big Bonato Canyon Ranch) where the original Bonato homesteads still stand. Rachael had never been there so I took her on a hike to the Greslin homestead. We had to crawl under or over about 7 fences and walk probably 2 or 3 miles. We collected a few rocks and a deer scull. When we got back, Martin had showed up so we stood around visiting for a bit before getting back on the road. We drove till Big Timber MN where we stayed for the night. Our last day of travel we stopped at Butte to look at the mines, in Alberton we checked out the bookstore, and in Haugan we visited the souvenier store, 50,000 silver dollars. After that we had no motivation but to drive till we got home.

At home I found Flavia waiting for me, she was so happy that she sat by me for hours just watching and purring and occasionally meowing at me. Sadly, my 15 year old cat Mimi was likely eaten by the neighbor's rowdy dogs while we were gone. We looked all around for evidence but found nothing. Only Uncle Tony's story of chasing the dogs off, later he discovered that not all the cats were showing up for meals.

I'm not so happy to get back to farming, I sure would like it to be the dead of winter right now. I had to pick up my 5 goats from the goat sitter, I think I'll sell them as fast as I can and buy new ones in the spring!

It is good to be home though, in spite of all the work that is staring me in the face. At least I have my own bed to rest in and all the wonderful comforts of home.

Sukkot Preparation Odds N' Ends

Sukkot is getting so close now and I'm excited! Since we are traveling for Sukkot there are many things to prepare. I packed my suitcase already just so it would be out of the way and I won't have to think about it anymore until it's time to load the van.

Today I delivered the goats to the goat sitter then mom and I made a huge batch of veggie juice and green smoothies. We are going 100% raw for a few days before and after Yom Kippur. Since she is trying to improve her health and I'm trying to keep mine we thought it was a good time to insert a bit of a fast before a fast followed by another bit of a fast. :) Though right now I'm craving cheese and corn chips, I'll resist the urge and drinking my peach, blackberry, spinach, banana, and swiss chard smoothie, which by the way is quite delicious!

Tomorrow dad and I will drive to either Biggs OR, or Portland to pick up my niece Rachael who will be keeping the feasts with us. I'm very excited to be including her. She will miss 3 weeks of school so my job through out the feast is to make sure she stays caught up on homework in between high days and Sabbaths. I pray that by including her, Torah observant lifestyle will affect her life positively in the long run.

So somehow between now and early Tuesday morning we have to pack the last minute stuff like ice chests with food for the road and fresh produce from the garden, and yes, of course we will take our Champion juicer...I'll be juicing each day whether in a hotel or a sukkah. Perhaps I will sew on the last of my buttons for the new jumper I made while dad is driving.

The bright side of all this busy-ness is that we have Shabbat to rest on and Yom Kippur as well. Two days to set aside all busy plans and preparations and focus on Yahweh. During this season, extra days off from work are SO appreciated!

Then there is my poor cat Flavia, she doesn't get to keep the feast with us this year :( Last year we took her to the mountains with us and even though she hated the drive she enjoyed the stay. This year the amount of miles we have to drive, I decided would be harder on her than being separated from the family. She thinks she is a person after all, sleeps on the bed, watches tv, and she likes me to watch her eat several times a day. Sometimes she won't touch her food unless I stand there and watch, it's crazy! Also she is best friends with our dog who gets to come to the feast...it's just not fair being a cat I guess. Hope she eats while I'm gone.

Anyway after 2 and a half days of driving we should reach our destination in Indiana, Yahweh willing.

May Yahweh bless your Yom Kippur and Sukkot!