Hope all the moms had a great Mother's Day! We celebrated with our son's family and our daughter-in-law's parents at great restaurant buffet, then went back to their house to celebrate their third son's 9th birthday. It was a great day with much fun and laughter!

Practice tonight was 45 minutes. The Ash Grove for 30, Breton Gavotte for 10, and ended up with about 5 minutes of Amazing Grace with several iterations of trying for standard tempo and better tone, then with improv for the fun of it! Good practice, even after a long day.

Almost as tiring day, new washer/dryer installed complete with leaking water to clean up, air conditioner failed and had to have it repaired. Unseasonably hot weather with no A/C.

Didn't practice the usual stuff, but got 40 minutes in playing Danny Boy, Daisy Bell, Misty Mountain, Nearer My God to Thee, Blind Mary, Oh Shenandoah, Waves of the Danube, Ode to Joy, Bridge Over Troubled Waters, Love Theme from Romeo/Juliet, Man of Constant Sorrow, and Improv.

Needed to play, just not practice.

Only 30 minutes today. Did the grocery shopping today and am a little tired. Played The Ash Grove, Breton Gavotte, Spring, and Wayfaring Stranger. The Ash Grove is not coming along as well as I would prefer. Been working on individual phrases, which seems to help (as it should).

Thirty minutes tonight playing The Ash Grove, Breton Gavotte, Spring, Ashokan Farewell, and Wayfaring Stranger. Early morning start (5:30am), driving in Chicago traffic for 45 minutes to get to my destination and then an hour to get home definitely tired me out! A/C still not working right and no repair available until a week from Monday! Hopefully it will actually cool down a bit.

I try not to be too negative, but sump pump problems, furnace needing replacement, central air conditioning going out, and new washer/dryer having been purchased, plus now the A/C in the car not working (and yet to be fixed), these have been trying times. And with all these expenses, the purchase of dentures keeps getting pushed off! lol Glad I can still eat most foods except for chips (the American kind) and nuts.

@ELCBK - We're hoping things will settle down, too, although the refrigerator seems to be noisier than usual. And our car is getting old, 2007 Dodge Caravan.

@stringy - Your boiler estimate is about what we paid for our new washer/dryer! And yes, been trying to take it easy and usually it's not bad. Trips into Chicago are not too bad except when it's so early. And practicing is usually fun and helps me forget other problems. 

@Mouse - High of 85° today, mid 70's tomorrow and Monday, and then upper 60's for a couple of days, then low 80's again for two days, then cooler. So, not too bad. Sorry that your arm isn't letting you enjoy the cell/violin/viola! Glad you chimed in again, been missing your comments!

Whoo hoo, an hour tonight! Didn't start with my usual and first played Green Green Grass of Home, Oh Shenandoah, Bridge Over Troubled Waters, Man of Constant Sorrow, House of Rising Sun, Griogal Cridhe, Dark Island, and Blackest Crow. Ended with The Ash Grove, Breton Gavotte, Spring, Down by the Sally Garden with ornaments, and Ashokan Farewell.

Just felt like I needed the "fun" tunes to warm me up. I also experimented a bit with my two bows. One I got with the new viola and rosined up with the supplied rosin. And then with the gifted bow and the gifted rosin which has become my favorite combo and remains the favored pair.

@ELCBK - Bows are pretty well identical and this way I can have one with the gifted rosin and the other with the rosin that came with the viola.

Another day, another practice session. Forty minutes today playing The Ash Grove, Breton Gavotte (recorded), Spring, Down by the Sally Garden, Ashokan Farewell, Wayfaring Stranger, and Simple Gifts.

Finally recorded Breton Gavotte so I could join the gavotte party.