Back from Maine!

We are back from our be-awesome trip to New England. Our first stop was Toronto,where we visited Casa  Loma, a mansion built in the style of a medieval castle. It had beautiful gardens. We drove to Vermont from there. It was fun going through Québec. People would try to talk to us in English sometimes, and it was very funny! McDonald's menus look different in French. In Vermont, we hiked, climbed trees, roasted marshmallows and ate well. From there, we went through the White Mountains (gorgeous!) to Boothbay, Maine to visit our friends. After a dinner of lobster, we drove down to the beach. After we had spent the night there, we drove up to Rockport, Maine, where the Schooner Timberwind awaited. We boarded that night after dinner at a local deli. Four days of sailing, then we were on our way Boston. After some time there, we left for home, spending the night at Niagara Falls.  

Home at last! After a wonderful trip to Missouri, I am very tired. I did more horseback riding than I had ever done in my life. The first horse I rode, named Star, was nice, but the ride would have been more enjoyable if my legs hadn't been dragging on the ground. She also enjoyed my grunts of frustration when she went under a tree. Other than that, she was nice and fairly easy to control. I also rode a horse called Dandy. A beautiful horse, she was big enough she felt like more like a normal-sized horse. Unfortunately, I did not like her and she portrayed her same views about me quite often. She particularly enjoyed acting tired and sluggish, then bouncing into a lively trot whenever she felt like it. Then there was Charlie. Everybody warned me about his quirky moods and habit of looking for things to spook at. At 17 hands high, he really fit me and I felt like I fit him. I never had any trouble with him after we found out what the other wanted. He was my favorite horse by far.
What is it about the movie Megamind that makes me laugh even after we have watched it five times in the same trip? 'It boggles my mind! I am extremely boggled!' I just can't figure it out. What is it about the word 'cello' that makes you sigh? How do you explain that freeing feeling when you can let your fingers fly up and down the piano and bask inside the sound of an orchestra? Why does moldy applesauce that was left in the fridge over your trip make you shudder? Why do the words 'video games' and 'wasted time' go together so well?
My glasses fogged up when I walked outside today. It is humid and hot, but I can be thankful for air conditioning, T-shirts, swimming pools, couches and cameras. Shade, fans, iced tea, and lunch on a shaded patio or deck. Running water helps out too.

Raining and Pouring

It's raining, it's pouring...Just when it looked like the weather was getting better, I look outside, and, gasp! Could it really be? It is raining. What's that? As I write, I hear my siblings rejoicing, quickly donning rainboots and running out the door. It reminds me of this passage:

Behold, God is great, and we know him not;

the number of his years is unsearchable.

For he draws up the drops of water;

they distill his mist in rain,

which the skies pour down

and drops on mankind abundantly.

Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds,

the thunderings of his pavilion? 

Behold, he scatters his lightning about him 

and covers the roots of the sea.

Job 36:26-30 

Hollyhocks

Driver's ed is going ok, but I'm alive, so it's not all bad. I'm still not allowed to practice with parents for who knows how long...I have to spend 6 hours of instruction in a car and 24 hours of instruction in a classroom. I have spent 18 hours in a classroom and 1 hour in a car. I also have to finish all of this by the end of July. Today is Mom's Birthday! Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Mom, happy birthday to you!!!! I asked her what she wanted for dinner & dessert, and she said: Creamy Chicken with Linguine with Chocolate Chip Cookies for dessert.  I have our chocolate chip recipe memorized!! Hee-hee. I have been having some fun on my clarinet lately. I don't have viola lessons thru the summer, so... more time to practice other instruments. I walked over to a bookstore while our tires were being changed... I LOVE BOOKS. I found so many things I needed, er, wanted. Cookbooks, CD's, an awesome book that taught you spanish by using lines from movies like Princess Bride, Finding Nemo, most of them were movies I have watched. It went on and on. If I ever stumble across $1,000, that is where I would go. I could spend that much within five minutes. The End for now.
PS- Answer to joke in last post.... "Hampede!!"

You can draw otters

Radishes grow fast. I checked out a 280-page book at the library last night and finished it before bed. Now I have to find someone to drive me all the way to the library to get another book. I was not supposed to read it that fast. When you are surprised, try saying 'Gasp!' with a lisp. It would sound like this: 'Gathp!' It makes people think. Books are fun to read. I have to leave. I had hoped I had had more too say. Wow! I fit 3 "had's" in one sentence! That is neat. Note: What do farmers yell when a multitude of frenetic pigs are quickly progressing in one direction? Answer comes next post!

Summer is just around the corner... my siblings believe its been here for almost a month now, but if you go by the calendar, we have to wait till June 21. Yesterday I performed in the festival of the arts downtown. It is indeed a strange feeling to be in front of a crowd outside on a windy day, only to have your music blow off the stage. It didn't happen to me, but I did still had to secure my music to the stand with six clothes pins. You have no idea how hard page turns are when you have to undo six clothes pins, turn the page while holding down the other ones, and put all the clothes pins back in place while playing Haydn's Symphony No. 104., Mvt. I. After the performance, I had the brilliant idea to buy some ice cream from a concession stand, and didn't realize till afterward that I had to eat it before it melted while carrying my viola and music. What an adventure. Snacktime...oh, by the way, today is national cello appreciation day. So listen to some cello music if you find time. Better yet, if you play cello, play. And if you don't play cello...ask someone you know that does if they can recommend a teacher. And remember, harpsichord appreciation day is the 11th. 

I like toffee

I like toffee. My name is not George. Here are some recipes you might enjoy.
1. (Caleb, this is the one you requested)

Chocolate Toffee Trifle

1 devil's food cake mix, made as directed

1 small instant chocolate pudding mix, made as directed

16 oz. whipping topping

6 Heath bars

Freeze Heath bars. Make cake as directed, in a 9" x 13" pan. Cool and cut into 1" pieces. Make pudding as directed. Crush Heath bars (note: A sledgehammer works best!)

Layer 1/2 of the cake pieces, 1/2 of the pudding, 1/2 of the whipped topping, 1/2 of the Heath bars in a glass bowl and repeat. Cover with clear plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

                                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2.

Chocolate Delight

German chocolate cake mix                            8 oz.  non-dairy whipped topping

1 can sweetened condensed milk                    6 Heath Bars

1 jar butterscotch/caramel sauce

Bake cake according to package. Punch holes in the top of the cake after it is baked (but while cake is still warm) using the handle of a wooden spoon. Pour can of condensed milk over the cake, making sure it dribbles into all the holes. Spread the excess around. Pour 1/2 to 3/4 of the butterscotch/caramel sauce over the cake in the same manner. Cool completely. Spread whipped topping on cooled cake. Crush Heath bars and sprinkle on top of whipped topping, chill until you find time to eat it. Caution: Ingesting this material may greatly multiply one's love for desserts in general. Side effects include: Raiding the local Meijer, smearing whipped cream over one's face, and the overpowering desire to count blades of grass. Have fun!

Translation

Something along the lines of... Can you understand what I am saying?  

Wait!

I can read German, it just takes a while...warning to people who try to rub in that they know more German than I do! (That means you). Be right back
P. S. - If you are confused about the meaning of this post, I am responding to a recent comment. 

Concert coming up!

Our next concert is coming very soon, and I can't wait! The youth symphony is doing Rhapsody in Blue, which I love. My orchestra is doing Beethoven's first symphony and Schubert's Overture to Rosemund. The day after is the Skip Gates Concerto Competition. I will be playing Telemann's Concerto in G, Mvts. I-II.
I am very excited about the warm weather! Daffodils are poking through the snow, and the muskrats are out of hibernation and swimming around in the parts of the lake that have melted. I am also hoping the grape hyacinths I planted last year will come up soon. Opossums are ugly creatures! We have seen them on and off lately. Fortunately, they don't seem to have any fear of humans, which make them much easier to... dispose of.
Heehee! I have a great idea!
I have to write a short story this semester, and it will be mysterious and haunting. Coming to a bookstore near you June 14, 2011.

Short update

No deaths have been caused recently on account of sledding. Just wanted to keep you updated! I have to go to orchestra practice now. Bye! 

Sledding

Since I told some people I would post a post on my blog, I am. Sledding gets better every day. Big hill with  trees, ending with a patch of thorns, followed by a thin patch of ice on the edge of our lake which does not hesitate to break when stepped on. I have not broken through myself but I have seen it happen many times to some people (their names will remain unspoken for sake of privacy due to embarrassment). Luckily, the water is only about a foot deep, but underneath that is about three feet of mud. Many a sled and bone hath been broken upon the tree stumps hiding under the snow. They are about an inch or two around and about four inches high, and joyfully await the chance to impale a person, along with a sled here or there. According to one person, one stump even succeeded at dislocating their hip. Later, we deduced that this information could not be considered credible. To add to the excitement, we made a jump out of hay bales and post snowball-throwers to distract you on the way down. We also challenge each other to see who can weave in and out of the trees the most with out getting hit. The Judges then grade your performance on a scale of 1 to 10. In the past, there have also been contests for the most impressive crashes.
All this is considered great fun by those who have not perished, but don't tell our parents. You never know how far they'll go. They already ruined one game by saying that we're not allowed to break through the ice on purpose :oP. I wonder why? I can't seem to comprehend why such a rule would be established. I didn't do it of course, I just stood and watched. It brought joy to my heart to see the person that crashed into me on the way down the hill willingly plunge themselves through the ice and into the water. The reason the ice is thin at the bottom of the hill is because our geothermal heat system discharge goes out into the lake there. Mud galore! To be continued...