After an unseasonably frosty week, during which we had to put our plants into the garage and park a car outside, warm spring has returned – we hope for good. Here is a video photo montage of our latest efforts:

Dear Miss Barrett has a full cast now! Full cast list to be announced soon. They are pretty much an all-star group, though. Rehearsals begin on May 4! Scary, but exciting. You can buy tickets already!  Just CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS. Since Crystal is playing the title role, she is already busy learning her part, off book. (That means memorized, without looking at the book with the script. Prior to this we have only had on-book “readings” of the show.)  

My radio show continues, with new, already recorded, episodes airing on Brahms (this week), then Rachmaninoff (next week); and this week I’m recording our tenth episode on Bach. To hear the seven (archived and free, streaming) episodes that have already aired, just click on the “Adventures” link at the top of this page.

To go with today’s garden theme, I have a new article in the Epoch Times today about music inspired by springtime and by roses in particular. There is some exquisitely beautiful music written about roses that I list in the article for you to enjoy hearing, HERE and HERE.  Trust me, it will be well worth it! Here is a link to the pdf file of the article, complete with beautiful photography:  The Scent and the Sound of Roses

I’m happy to share a personal mini-goal achieved. I have now lost 20 lbs.! Fellow sufferers out there, be encouraged. It does take time. You can’t really visualize how much 20 pounds is until you pick up two heavy, 10 lb. bags of flour and realize “THIS is what I was carrying around all that time!”  Imagine strapping them on to your torso or carrying them in a backpack ALL the time. That’s what I was doing. So, I asked a total stranger in the store to take this photo, a kind of country-lady who thought I was crazy, but she was nice enough to comply. She said, “Jest wait till I git home! I’ll tell ‘em, ‘You won’t bah-leeve what happened ta’ me at the grocery stow-er!’ “ Now, onward to lose the next bag of flour or two! Best wishes to all, till next time.