Enter humbled musician

House Show - Molly Parden [part 2] from Sheldon Frazier on Vimeo.

This girl is amazing.  I went to hear her play at a local venue tonight, and I am not sure whether I came away more slightly discouraged or beautifully inspired. Hm.  I think I'm leaning more toward the latter (though I am quite jealous of her voice and songwriting skills).  Sigh!

Please check out her music.  You will not be sorry. :D


Molly Parden

Enter Music Snob

If I hear one more contemporary song with the chord progression VIm-IV-I-V I might hurl myself out the window.  The lack of musical creativity these days, especially in contemporary Christian music (which is sadly unfortunate), is really shameful.  It gives off a such a "manufactured" feel--often because said music is manufactured.  Give me raw, real, and original any day, even if it's a bit rough around the edges.  I'd love to see musicians aspire to greater heights than the norm, the standard, or what potentially makes the most money.

Sigh.

Ok, I think that's all.  Please excuse the snobbery; I temporarily reached my wit's end and simply had to vent.

~Bessie

Remeniscing

My sister Sarah brought out a huge bag of photos from the 90's this afternoon, and I have been looking through them and remembering a time in my life that I haven't thought of in a long while.  

Most of the pictures date back to '96, the year that Jennifer was born.  What a cute baby!  Some of the photos are a little earlier, like the ones I've posted up here.  Above is a photo taken by my father from his bike.  We were biking the trails at Calaway Gardens.  As you can see, little Susanna enjoyed a comfortable ride in the bike buggy!  

Here we are after the bike ride.  Check out my super-cool hiking boots and bike shorts!  I lived in bike shorts back then.  From L to R (and from youngest to oldest): Skylar, Susanna, Ben, Sarah, Me.

Oh!  This picture is dear to my heart because it is of me playing my precious little keyboard.  My dad bought me that keyboard when I was five years old, and it marked the beginning of my musical creativity and inspiration.  I used to play on that thing for hours and hours.  I remember the day when it finally died.  Thankfully by then my parents had bought me my lovely little Wurlitzer.  :)

Ah, memories.  

~Bessie

Slowing Down

I was reading through an old journal and found an entry that was particularly convicting and inspiring.  I don't know about you, but it seems to me that life has been flying by extra fast lately...and I am pretty sure it is because I am constantly busy.  The sad thing is, a lot of the "busyness" is manufactured by myself because...well, I'm not sure why.  Why do we feel the need to fill up our schedules with things to do and places to go?  Hm.

Well anyway, I thought I'd share the entry with you, along with a cute picture of my little brother Eli.  What a darling.  Please excuse any funky grammar--I am going to present the entry exactly as I jotted it down several years ago in my journal. ;)  Enjoy!

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"Come with me, together, we can take the long way home..." -Norah Jones, "Long Way Home"


I was listening to that song this morning and thinking about how much I love it.  It's like a "me" song, you know?  Given a choice, I'll always take the long way home.  It seems like this country is so fast-paced--we just want to get things done as quickly as possible and get on with our busy schedules.  I want to live a life of peace, with leisure, treasuring every moment.  It's hard to do that, but when you try it you find that it is worth every effort.  Take yesterday, for example.


I was bustling around the house getting things done, when Eli came up to me and said, "La la?" with a huge grin ("la la" means "movie").  How could I refuse the cute little guy?  So I went over and put in Fraggle Rock for him, and sat down on the floor while I waited to push play, thinking all the while of everything I had to get done as soon as he was occupied.


Well, in the midst of my thoughts, little Eli plunked himself down right on my lap and gave a contented sigh.  I though, Oh no!  Now I'll never be able to get up because if I move him he'll start crying.  The the Lord checked my bad attitude and said, Make this a treasure.  I looked down and saw Eli's tiny hands and his precious little self in my lap and my heart was filled with love, and I thought, How could I have ever neglected this before?  


I think that's what makes life last longer.  Treasuring every moment God gives you to the fullest.  


Take the long way home--you don't have to get anywhere that badly. 


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Hm.  Exactly what I needed to hear today. :)  I shall take my own advice, and work harder to treasure each moment to the fullest.

~Bess

Pillows and Paintings

I have re-claimed our pottery room as my temporary art/sewing studio, and have thus been able to paint for the first time in months.  It is very inspiring to actually have space to work!  I also finally put together a couple of pillows I have been meaning to make since the beginning of the year.

My younger brother Eli (age 6), quite the artist himself, was very excited about my new art room and asked if he could come down and paint with me.  How could I refuse?  This turned into quite a painting day, as John, Sylvie, and Esme all wanted to paint too!

Above is a still life I began last week.  I'm pleased so-far.  Ah, so good to be painting again! :)


Here are Eli and John's paintings:

An abstract by Eli (which, he informs me, is not yet complete)

Three trees by Eli (he loves to paint trees like this).  This was painted on top of one of my old canvases.

A flower garden with a river running through it, by John (age 4)

The Pillows!

I used this wonderful Alexander Henry fabric (which apparently is no longer available) called Del Hi Pom Pom Sun, and applied colorful vintage zippers for insertion.  The second pillow case sports vintage pom-pom trim as well. :)  I am in love.  I am also itching to sew more pillows...

(this is just an empty case--I need another pillow to go inside of it.)

Lastly, this is a pretty top I'm working on.  It's a copy of a top I own and really love.  So far, so good! Some of the lace used in the below picture was purchased by my grandfather in Japan during WWII. :D

That's all for now!

~Bess

The Boys

Um, Jerry, you have some hay on your face.

Such a beautiful goat!

Jerry is quite a runt. These two were born only one day apart, and the difference in size and stature is really amazing.

Dean and Jerry have found a devoted friend in Gracious the kitten. She likes to watch them eat hay and bat at their ears with her paws. The ear-batting doesn't seem to bother Jerry, who is a very laid-back sort of fellow, but it aggravates Dean quite a bit. When he has had enough of Gracious' taunting, he lets her have it with a little head-butt. It's hilarious to watch them interact with each other! I think I am going to paint this picture:

Jerry's coat is really coming in now! It is very different than Deans--not quite as much curl and crimp--but is is really soft and fluffy.

A Wonderful Week

Photo by my lovely sister, Skylar.

What a wonderful week I just had. Mom and Dad went away for their 26th wedding anniversary, and I stayed home all week to nanny for them. All week. At home. Sewing and cooking and playing with kids and cleaning house. You may think I'm crazy, but I was in heaven.

One thing I was able to do this week is begin/work on some sewing projects, namely these cute corduroy overalls for Cael.

I was going to use the included bunny transfers, but decided that they looked a little too...er...evil. Don't you agree? Might give the poor kid nightmares.

"Mwa-ha-ha!"

Other projects I have been working on include this hand-sewn blouse made with green cotton lawn and vintage lace:

And another of my favorite butcher aprons, this one specifically for use in goat care/grooming (hence the goat appliqué on the bib front):

I am not ready to go back to work yet. :p Which is good, I suppose, because I will not be going back to work for another week. I'm leaving heading north tomorrow with my friends, the Bread Beckers, to work a curriculum fair in VA. Fun! Thus I must off and pack, etc., while I can.

Have a fantastic day!

~Bess