Glanalaw - delighting in pure song

This has been such a long week.  I won't go into details, but between the stress of school projects coming due, all the storms earlier in the week, my final choir concert at Union, and several losses, I'm feeling emotionally run down.  The last few days have been a constant struggle against tears.  It seems ironic somehow that so much grief should happen in the week right after Easter. I'm spending the weekend trying to finish projects and trying not to get sick.  And trying to remember that  "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death" -- which means that someday, it will  be destroyed.

We're under a tornado warning for, oh, about the sixth time in the last two weeks?  So far campus, my apartment, and all my friends have remained safe, but they are predicting several extremely strong storm cells coming through tonight, with high winds, hail, and possible tornadoes.  Not to mention the monsoon that's currently going on outside.  There's danger from flooding as well as from high winds, which is never great. I'm not scared of storms - although maybe I should be? - in fact, I find a good thunderstorm exhilarating, but this is getting so old.  I hate the sound of the sirens, and I hate being cooped up inside in the safe rooms.  (I'm glad they exist , in case we do get hit, but I don't like small enclosed spaces with lots of other people in them.)  I also don't like that the library keeps being closed down early, so I've been unable to get the books I need for my research project! On the other hand, I've been able to see a lot of real...

Guess what I got in the mail today? The Vogue/McCalls/Butterick franchise were having a sale last week -- Butterick patterns for $1.99 and Vogue for $3.99 at their online store.  And at Hancocks the McCalls patterns were 99 cents.  So.... I stocked up! The official reason for ordering the Vogue/Butterick patterns was to get the pattern I need as a bridesmaid's dress for this summer.  It's a Retro Butterick pattern 6582; I'll be making version C, with the full skirt.  I also found the fabric at Hancocks.  It's a pure silk duponi, lovely and light, but with the crispness of hand I was looking for. The Vogue patterns are all ones I've had my eye on for a while, but I was waiting for a sale.  I'm so excited to own them now! Hancocks also has this delightful rack called "Value Fabrics" - everything here is $1.95 or $2.95 per yard at regular price, and the day I was there they were having a Dollar-Off sale!  So I got enough of a soft grey knit (...

Well, last Friday I presented my senior voice recital.  It's basically the performer's equivalent of a senior thesis; I had an hour of music, sung from memory.  There were moments of panic and moments of sheer terror and I won't even try to pretend it was perfect, but on the whole it went really well and I'm so glad I had the opportunity! This will be mostly a picture post since I'm pretty sure what most of you are interested in is the dress ;-)  I've got a friend who's offered to do a photo shoot, so eventually I'll have those photos and more information about making the gown, but for now, here are some shots from the recital and from the weekend.  My whole immediate family, plus aunts, uncles, my grandfather, and assorted cousins, came down, so it was like a family reunion.  Fun stuff! My wonderful pianist and equally wonderful page-turner.  Couldn't have done it without these two! Singing Delibe's "Flower Duet" with my best...