Vin, Fromage, and the scent of Lavender...

Greetings from Dieulefit, France! We're here staying in a lovely house with some friends from the Netherlands: Jan, Willy, Lucia, and "kleine" Jan Scholten. Jan (the father) was my dad's exchange student in high school, and our families have kept in touch ever since.

We're enjoying the markets, which happen just about every day in some nearby town or another. We can pick up ingredients for a homemade dinner each morning. Keith and I have contributed a couple of meals, including oven-roasted vegetables with chicken and French-style Feijoada--there weren't any black beans in the supermarket, so we used red beans and lentils instead! Other local activities have been wine tasting, hiking, horse riding, and card playing. It's very relaxing here.

Today we went to Avignon, and saw the Palace of the Popes, from the time when the Papacy was in Avignon. The structure was beautiful, and we really enjoyed the elegant decorations in the few rooms that had been restored. Unfortunately, the building was heavily damaged during the French Revolution. We also saw a beautiful Virgin and Child painting by Botticelli in a museum of medieval and renaissance art.

On our way south, we had a lovely day in Paris. We saw the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame, and we generally walked around the city. We were pleasantly surprised that no one was rude to us or refused to speak to us! Amazing!

More updates hopefully soon, when we next find internet service! More stuff is on my parents' blog. Love, Celia, Keith, and Rebecca (Sorry, no time for pictures... three or four people are waiting to use my computer!)

Greetings from England!

I'm writing from a lovely bed and breakfast in Derbyshire! We're on a walking tour, and today's walk was very wet. The clothes are hanging to dry in the bathroom. We had good weather the last two days, though. Walking is fun!

We were in London first... a bit of a letdown, especially since our hotel was an overpriced dive. Oh well, we're not there anymore. We saw lots of cool stuff: the Tower of London, the Globe Theatre (from the outside), Greenwich, Kensington Palace, the British Museum, and the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. Some pics are below...

Keith and Rebecca say hi too. :)

Sitting in the chairs that cost 2 pounds... we couldn't find the sign, but they wouldn't just let us get up and leave...

Tower of London

Rebecca admires Henry VIII's armor.



Massaging our aching feet at the British Museum.



Greenwich, near the Prime Meridian... picture complements of Sarah Pyle, and old friend of mine.



The Houses of Parliament at night



Eating Fish and Chips in Tideswell

More pictures (mostly of sheep) coming soon. :)

Where has the summer gone?

I can hardly believe that over half of our summer vacation is gone... I guess I should say "my" summer vacation, since Keith is still busy with his Exegesis class (that's historical/cultural/literary study of the Bible, basically).

I don't really have too many pictures of our summer activities, since I have been too busy doing things to take pictures. I really have to discipline myself in that regard, or I will regret it later. Anyhoo, here's what's been going on...

I've been working with Julia, one of our pastors, to plan worship services for our church. We've been meeting most weeks that I've been here to plan. I've also been leading vocally in church, and encouraging others to do so as well. This is new for our church (vocal leadership, that is), and it has been well received and helpful to the congregation.

The garden is flourishing! The herbs have doubled in size, and I've harvested kale and lettuce several times already. The zucchini plants... 4 of them... are huge!!! There's tons of flowers. This is actually very exciting to me. The tomatoes and peppers are looking great too.

We went to Boston! It was GREAT to reconnect with many friends and enjoy the delights of BEMF (Boston Early Music Festival). I played a little concert at the ungodly hour of 9:00 a.m. (and this was 2 days after arriving from the west coast!) which was really quite well attended, considering. I really enjoyed preparing the music, since I had the opportunity to play great music with some really talented people. It was over too quickly!

Another highlight of the time in Boston was the BEMF opera, in which my friend, Tess had a role. She was superb! Many others were too, but we had eyes only for her. The whole production was eye and ear candy. Yay for French Baroque operas!


After spending 6 days in Boston, we went to Connecticut to spend some time with Bob and Gerry, Keith's aunt and uncle, and many cousins. Keith's daddy drove out to meet us there. We ate lots of good food, had good family time, went to the Mark Twain house/museum in Hartford, and I played with the kitties, even though I really shouldn't, since I'm allergic. When I got out my viol to play for everyone, I definitely had a captive audience with Bailey the cat... reminds me of Indiana... he used to try to climb on my lap when I played cello. I also made a very successful cherry pie! Everyone said it was the best ever. I picked the cherries at cousin Cathy's house. They were delicious, and perfect for pie!




When we returned to Seattle, Keith worked on a project in Dad's wood shop... a special bench for practicing cello/viol with drawers for accessories and slots for music I am working on. I don't have pictures at present, but I'll get some soon! Good for Keith, he used recycled wood (old shelves). Yes, I am a tree-hugger.

I've also been doing some stuff around the house. Last week there was a very large quantity of strawberry jam. My friend, AnnaMarie and I picked 7 gallons of strawberries, and made most of them into jam, syrup, and preserves. Unfortunately, my beautiful soup pot got ruined in the process. :( Hopefully the warranty will cover it. Tomorrow's project is ginger ale!

Last weekend we went to Jane and Allen's wedding. Dad and I provided music (mostly hymns on treble viol and baroque guitar). There are many pictures of us playing, but I don't have any. I do, however, have pictures of the bride playing badminton at the reception. The day after, we went canoeing down the Skykomish river between Sultan and Monroe with my family.

Yesterday we went hiking with Matt and AnnaMarie, friends from church. We forgot our cameras, hence no pictures, but that's not all we forgot... Keith left his boots behind. Thus we hiked 11 km with Keith wearing my outer socks and his birkenstocks, and me wearing hiking boots and hiking sock liners. As a result, I have some spectacular blisters on my heels, and Keith (and my socks) escaped unscathed... even though we were hiking on snow and mud much of the time!

What's next? We are going to North/South Dakota and Iowa next week to see Keith's family and meet our new niece and goddaughter, Elizabeth! Here she is with Sarah and Nate, her proud parents.

Then we're on to England, France, and Germany to see friends and go to a wedding! My parents and Rebecca (Keith's sister) are going too. We're going to London, Derbyshire (taking a walking tour!), Paris, Dieulefit (southern France), the Mosel region in Germany, Wernigerode, and Kassel. Looking forward to it!

I hope everyone is having a lovely summer. :)

Our cute little garden

Yay, it's almost summer! I'm having a great time planting things and watching them grow. We've been enjoying our little patio area, having lots of people over for meals, and just sitting out there in the afternoon.






So, we've got some herbs growing, also kale, lettuce, zucchini, butternut squash, tomatoes, peppers, a whole bunch of pansies, and our 4 little trees. The peppers and tomatoes live in a planter box Keith made me for my birthday out of recycled wood (it used to be my parents' garden boxes).

Many thanks to Mommy too, since she gave me new pots for the trees, potting soil, the herb plants, and some seeds for my birthday! Hopefully we'll be eating well this summer. I already harvested the kale once and the lettuce twice. Yum!

To our friends in Boston...

Keith and I will be arriving in Boston for Boston Early Music Festival on June 12. We will be in Boston until June 17, then in Connecticut with family until June 23. I don't know if any of you actually look at my blog, so I'll probably be emailing too.

I'm playing in a "fringe concert" for the festival called "Gamba Gamut" at (gasp) 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, June 14 at St. Paul's, 138 Tremont St. I think it's free, but I'm not sure--a donation may be requested. If you like viola da gamba, you can stay and listen to viola da gamba mini-concerts all morning. I'm playing with people I met last summer through the Viola da Gamba Society of America Conclave.

We're hoping to see many of you, so send us an email or leave a comment on our blog!

Present State

This is me at the present moment, surrounded by mess, particularly books. That's right, I'm procrastinating! I am currently supposed to be writing a paper (which is due tomorrow) and/or studying for my Systematic Theology final (which is also tomorrow). Oh well, I don't think I can take any more of that stuff at the moment. I spent my birthday, which was Monday, in Systematic Theology class... for 4 and a half hours! When finished, I felt a little loopy, and got rather upset that people were talking on their cell phones in the library (which is really rude and not allowed), so I went home. Keith made me food.

Anyway, that was all very random. It's all been school, school, school around here. Well, tomorrow at 4:30 (when the paper is due), I will be done until September... and that's a good feeling. Can't wait to do more cooking, get the apartment into a habitable state again (you should see the living room, visit friends and family, plant stuff in the garden, etc.

We celebrated Easter by going to church (we sang in the choir and I played cello), and cooking and eating lamb. It was delicious. Here is a bad picture (of me at least) on Easter.

Good luck to everyone else who is or is soon to be in the midst of finals...

Concert Announcements

Keith and I are involved in a couple of upcoming concerts, and we're really excited! This year we've both been singing with our church choir, the Regent College Gospel Choir, and Keith recently joined the Vancouver Bach Choir. So...

The Regent Gospel Choir will be performing on Friday, March 30 at 7:30 p.m. at University Chapel on the UBC campus. This will be our leader, Ben Keyes' arts thesis presentation, and we will be singing new songs that he wrote. This concert is free, but please buy a cd, since that will help offset the costs! Also, if you are coming, come early, as we anticipate a very full house...










Keith will be performing Israel in Egypt with the Vancouver Bach Choir on Saturday, March 31 at 8:00 p.m. in the Orpheum Theatre. If you want tickets, tell Keith and he can order for you, since we think it's cheaper that way.

Email, call, or leave a comment if you want more information! We hope to see you at one of our concerts!

The Saga of the Blue Sweater

It took five years... but it's finally done! I finally finished the first major knitting project I ever started! I did lots of major knitting projects in between, but this one is the biggest, and it's for me! Here's the story of the blue sweater I never thought I would finish...

March 2002: I pick up knitting again after a 12 or so year hiatus, knit a couple of scarves, then decide that I wanted to do a sweater... and not just any sweater, but a sweater with a complicated cable-knit pattern.

June 2002: The gauge is a nightmare... the back of the sweater is finished (with a couple of major mistakes in the pattern), and when I got halfway through one of the front pieces, I realized that it was significantly smaller than the back piece. Grrrr! Not to mention, the back is also smaller than it's supposed to be. In my frustration, I begin work on another major project, a vest, which doesn't have any fancy cable knitting stuff. Consequently, the new project goes a lot better.

January 2006: I discover the beauty of blocking: simply by getting a piece of knit fabric wet, it is possible to stretch it to precisely the right dimensions, and it STAYS when it dries! I've also picked up quite a few more tricks along the way...

August 2006: This blue sweater is taking up space in my closet, and I'm feeling pretty guilty about buying all that yarn and then not using it. I have a conference with my mother, the expert, on what is to be done with it. I try making a swatch, and look, I have the right gauge!

September 2006: I rip out the unfinished front piece, keeping only the finished back piece... and start all over again!

October 2006: The front pieces are done, and I'm working on the sleeves...

November 2006: ...and the hood. I'm also learning to knit without looking. This is helpful; I can get a lot more knitting done when I do it while reading for class. The added benefit is that my mind stays more focused when my hands are active!

December 2006: (brief break, as I'm busy making Christmas presents)

January 2007: I look at the pattern with puzzlement, realizing that the button and buttonhole bands are to be knit separately and sewn on. How dumb is that? Note to self: never, ever follow the pattern. I can always improve it. Patterns always make you sew too many seams. I hate sewing seams.

February 2007: The lengthy process of sewing the sweater together. I cannot imagine a stupider pattern in terms of construction. Next time I will rewrite the pattern if it's this dumb. And I've found that most patterns ARE this dumb. Oh well, it still turned out okay... I find that I can use the detached button and buttonhole bands to jump rope while I'm wearing the partially assembled sweater.

March 2007: I finally find the time to dump my sweater in the bathtub, get it all wet, and stretch it out... amazing, the sweater is the right size! It's done! Hooray! Now where am I going to put it?

What I'm doing for Lent

This may sound a little odd, but I'm "giving up" being-a-bad-steward-of-the-earth for Lent. I don't think I was doing too badly to begin with, but I can do better. I invite all my dear friends and family to join me, too! (Also, you can leave comments with other good ideas.) Here's why I'm doing this:

1. I love God. I believe that God created the world (no, not in the literal Genesis 1 sense, with the 7 days... this account is POETIC, not scientific, and gives us information about who God is, and about his relationship to us and the rest of the created order), and I believe humans are called to be good stewards of all that God has given them.
2. I love the earth! I love trees! I love animals!
   
3. I love doing things outside, and I want "outside" to be a place worth going, now and in the future.
4. I love people. It is the poor that will be affected most by climate change. It is also my children (well, the ones I will probably have eventually) who are going to experience climate change. I want them to inherit a healthy earth. I'm not the only person on the planet! We are all in this together!
   
5. I want to be a good example, especially to others who also love God. Bad theology (the "it's all going to burn anyway" sort), selfishness, and ignorance are major causes of earth-abuse. We cannot use these as an excuse! (And no, I'm not going to stop this stuff after Lent!)
   

Anyhoo, now I will get off my soapbox and say what I am actually doing.

1. Turning off the lights whenever I'm not using them, and unplugging things that I'm not using. Apparently this saves a lot of energy.
   
2. I changed the power settings on my computer. The monitor turns off after a shorter time. I'm also being more careful about not leaving it on when I'm not using it.
   
3. Cotton balls and maxi pads: it pains me every time I throw one away. So, I'm getting reusible ones! (Yes, I know, sounds gross, but women were menstruating for hundreds of thousands of years before the invention of disposable maxi pads. Likewise, babies were pooping before the invention of disposable diapers. My children will use CLOTH DIAPERS.) I think I will also be making some nice lace-edged hankies using my new crochet skills, in order to cut down on kleenex use.
   
4. Being conscientious about water use: shorter, less frequent showers, not letting the tap run while brushing my teeth, etc. I also found that I can fill the Brita pitcher while I'm waiting for the water in the kitchen to heat up. I'm going to talk to our landlord/neighbor about getting a rain barrel to use to water the garden in the summer.
   
5. I'm going to get a drying rack for the summer, so I can hang my clothes out to dry instead of using the dryer. Unfortunately, I can't do this year-round in Vancouver (it's pouring outside as I write this...)
   
6. We're going to plant some veggies outside in pots on our lovely new patio! They'll be nice and fresh and organic, and they will cut down on transportation costs.
   
7. We don't own our house, so we can't really make home improvements, nor can we adjust the heat, since there's one thermostat for the whole house. However, as the lights burn out, we'll replace them with more efficient bulbs.
   
8. This summer, we're doing some significant travelling, since we love people, and we're attending a wedding, a baptism, and a music festival. I will research carbon offsets (planting trees and whatnot), because of the major pollution caused by air travel.

Things I'm already doing:

1. Taking the bus whenever possible (yay for the UBC student bus pass!)
   
2. Walking to the grocery store
3. Composting and recycling whenever possible
4. Reusing jars and plastic containers: cheap and useful. I also really like that some pasta sauces come in mason jars, which I can use for canning! Yay for not wasting food!
   
5. Using energy saving settings on the dishwasher
6. Wearing clothes more than once, using towels for a week, and using sheets for several weeks... thus cutting down on the frequency of laundry.

Please consider joining me in any or all of these activities! Every little bit helps...

Back to school again

When people ask us what we did over Christmas break, I usually explain that we spent the break hibernating. That's pretty much the case, if "hibernating" refers to "not doing anything remotely like schoolwork." (Ahhhhh...) It also means "sitting on our butts on the couch." This included various activities, including the playing of Pinochle, the watching of movies, the making of various things (see pics below), and the reading of non-school-related books.

It appears that we picked good classes, so the semester should be enjoyable, if busy. Both of us will be taking Systematic Theology, continuing in our language studies (Keith is taking Greek and Celia is taking Hebrew), Celia is taking a book study on Romans, and Keith is taking Church History.

We celebrated the new year in the typical fashion with the Gardners, although the pot and pan "band" continued to play for about 15 minutes, provoking my father, who was at home, to come out on the deck and add to the racket with his trombone.

Keith helped clean up the chocolate fountain.

I learned to crochet with the help of Keith's mommy and sisters, and completed an entire blanket, which I gave to my brother.

I made pillows for both of our mommies. I used scraps from the quilt I made for Keith.

Keith's special project was to make a bookshelf to house our new set of the writings of the church fathers. It lives under our piano.

I made a pair of mittens for my friend, Carla. This was my first try at making my own pattern (other than scarves, but those don't count). They turned out pretty well!

I had planned to post pictures of this project a long time ago, but never did it. It's a little hat for Fabian, Helga and Rene's new baby.

Here I am trying to wear the hat.