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rusticrevivals · 7 years ago

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"What's the best of country life?" Many ask us daily "Is it the scenery, quiet, nature, veg?" Nope - it's celebrating gaily With our small communities, Like Perth or New Den-Mark It's singing, acting, being part Last week - we're angels! HARK! You've heard about the mass choir To mark 150 years You've read about the nursing home, And Pastor Ralph's old dears You know about the pageant And the summer's Founder's Days You've heard bits about Still Standing... (But in spring, to coin a phrase You'll hear lots more, for 'teasing' Is how telly's publicized- And as we're in the 'teaser' I'll be keeping you apprised.)

teaser screen shot for Season 4 of Still Standing, Julie, Leanne (visiting from Scotland) and Mom/Joy, beside the CBC logo. Ironically, Richard, who insisted we take these reserved seats for ‘Founders Day Organizers’, is out of shot to my right! To see the full trailer/teaser, look at the Still Standing FB page, 2nd video, or try this link: https://www.facebook.com/stillstandingtv/videos/692295784304421/

I'd like to speak in detail About our church's 100th year And the celebration for it That many came to hear. And then I'll show you fun From the last two weeks of song With the Perth-Andover choir And the concerts we've put on! Back in the mid-summer, I was asked to c'ordinate The entertainment portion Of St. Peter's-at-the-Gate, Our little church up on the hill That I've shown you before (But will remind you once again With these photos I've in store:)

The Danish herring-bone wood designs covering every inch of the interior of St. Peter’s Lutheran on top of the hill just next to us

You’ve met her before in several blog postings. This is an amazing shot taken just after St. Peter’s 100th celebrations this fall, by our local professional photographer, Tiffany Christensen. St. Peter’s is on the right, just across the road from the slightly-older Anglican church called St. Ansgar’s.

To make up the fun night After a catered Danish meal We all put in our off'rings Of creative zest and zeal! It started with the Danish band That played some peppy tunes Then the "Minstrels" (or a handful of...) Sang a hymn with their soft croons, Then added another song I'd written for the night As a tribute to St. Peter's And its builders' strength and might.

Then Richard, in his debut Stepped up alone to sing Another piece I'd written Called "Where the Bells do Ring"

Thanks to Mom/Joy for taking most of these photos. To hear “Where the Bells Ring”, Richard’s first full solo (I add some background harmonies as well as the piano accompaniment), go to this link, which we recorded at home: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KStOMmr8WYs

After this bit of song, The pastor had a word About the history of the church -Then, something quite unheard! We came out to do a sketch As if from 100 years from now! (So, the 200th anniversary- It gave the crowd a WOW! Not because I'd written Such a finely-honed & gifted script, But rather, 'cause our costumes Were wild, and long - Zeb tripped! As 'teased' before, back in Sept., We all wore togas white With sashes of sparkly colour And dyed sheep wigs delight!

Richard, Zeb and myself at the meeting of the 200th Anniversary committee (sketch)

Curtain call for the 200th anniversary of St. Peter’s sketch, Pastor announcing. L to R Richard, Zeb Godbout (playing my son, Ned Kram, which is Den Mark backward) Peter Jensen, and seated, myself and Barb Christensen.

We’d had many rehearsals in our living room/meeting room at the farm and while we didn’t actually have all our lines memorized, the oddness of the skit got quite a few laughs, and the pretended ‘frustration and violence’ between us as our sketch showed that meetings don’t change much from century to century, really hit home for those in the community who sit on several boards and committees!

While we changed back out of costume The band once more would play The fiddler, 93, was sick Had been in ER all that day!

But like the true-blue Danes He would not back down, be weak There he was at suppertime To fiddle with his up-beat streak! And then some poetry I'd gathered About the early N.D. times Were read by Miss New Denmark With good old-fashioned rhymes:

But for the big finale Of this 100th year divine I asked some pastors, two from past And our current Ralph, to SHINE. Miss N.D. Megan spun the wheel That Richard made that day And the crowd laughed hard as at "Pastors' Trivia" we would play I'd written 70 questions From categories galore Like Church History, Pete the Saint, General 1917, and more... The pastors, how they struggled To come up with answers right But in the meantime, they were FUNNY And the crowd enjoyed their fright

Pastor Ralph appears to ‘give up’ on the question, as the others have a giggle…

They rang in on their buzzers (One was Smitty's squeaky toy!) But often they'd not get it, And that was JUST my ploy!

The crowd would hoot and holler, And eventually THEY won By answering the questions That the pastors hadn't done. One of the questions I best liked "1917" was the 'try'... This painting of a church was done So like our own, up high:

This painting by Georgia O’Keefe was done the same year our church was built, in 1917, and is very representative of how St. Peter’s towers over rivers and valley and nestled Appalachian homes.

So, it's my belief that all had fun, That sweet September night When St. Peter's turned 100 With audience delight:

At this table, Megan Bach, Miss New Denmark, her grandparents, as well as Richard sitting beside Leanne (in gold top), and across from them, Mom/Joy. Being too busy and too nervous of everything to come, I am standing in the background having some punch. Behind me is the old piano, on top of which I had made a 1917 lady’s church-going display.

The 1917 Lady's Church-Going Display:

a variety of hats from my drama trunk, along with gloves, a fan, a lace hankie, a turn-of-the-century scarf and matching hand-bag, and a special contribution from Pastor Ralph – a hymnal actually FROM 1918!

There I sit, 200 years in the future, wearing a toga and some of Mom’s sheep’s wool on my head, with the full program for the Entertainment Portion of the night written out on the wall behind me.

And so, that last event was done And while the harvest kept us crazed We still went to Perth each week To practice for our concert days. The first series, in fall, was with The Youth Orch-EST-ra grand! A full 80-piece symphony Where we joined the "150 Expand" (The same voices with which we sang For July 1st's big event. They come from towns all o'er the vale And it's Glorious, Heaven-Sent!)

Richard’s bald head 4 in at back, and I’m far left, hiding behind the curtain. We sang the Howard Shore piece Shore to Shore, which was WRITTEN for this New Brunswick Youth Orchestra for the 150th, as well as our old favourite We Rise Again (also sung July 1st for the big celebrations). We sang for school groups with a chamber orchestra, on the day before, then had this enormous concert over the weekend. You can hear a small part of We Rise Again at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEezCOAVgXE An interesting bit of trivia, and to prove how small the Atlantic provinces are, when the conductor moves aside at 0:44, you’ll see a dark, curly-haired lad playing in the first row of the 2nd violin section. My sister started him in violin in St. John’s, Nfld 15 years ago! A neat connector!

The choir in quaint Perth-Andover Is directed by the mayor A lovely lass from Leamington; There's many here from there!

Our Perth-Andover choir director (and mayor, and Book Club Organizer, and…) Marianne Tiessen Bell, from Ontario, warms us up before a performance.

Our Christmas series started Just at November's end. The hospital in Perth Has become our new best friend As both Mom and Richard twice a month Have teleconference talks And oncological care, so - We sang for Womens Aux.! Then just last week-end, 'Angels' sang 6 hours in the snow To raise some funds for Food Bank. "Bethlehem"'s winds did blow For this interactive nativity That's now a big crowd-thrill We entertained the masses Lined up for miles on the hill

While I’ve been in all kinds of performances in my life, I’ve never actually been able to witness my audience approaching from this far away! Police, firemen, traffic controllers and a radio station were all involved in keeping an orderly pathway to Bethlehem!

To get a really great feel for what this whole night was about, see: LIVE DRIVE-THRU:

or, slightly less exciting – the slide show: https://www.facebook.com/perthandoverbaptist/videos/1682963368441021/

These productions were both done by the hard-working and energetic Rev. Michael Fredericks of the Perth-Andover Baptist Church. WHAT A SHOW IT WAS !

We sang as angels in the heavens Pointing to the stable, close While Richard posed beside the inn And I got my daily livestock dose:

I'm not sure even Bethlehem Had as many farm-yard critters Some were small, like geese and hens And some were really heavy hitters!

That's right, a choir of angels sang Beside Alpaca's Paddock And beside THAT were market stalls Of bread, and tools, and haddock!

Marianne Bell front row, far, I’m right behind her. We are both ‘gettin’ down’ kinds of angels. Richard and Marianne’s husband are a little more unbendy in near back row. Notice all the alpacas are staring up at the star over the stable. Just as they should do.

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We know not where she finds the time But Mayor M.B. also made that bread! And still remains relaxed and calm As she chats with King Herrod!

On the Sunday night’s performance at the nativity, the snow was falling beautifully and romantically and it wasn’t even that cold! I’m crouching because we’re dancing about, not freezing – plus we had a lovely barrel of fire beside us both nights!

On Tuesday night, in Johnville, We hooked up with a choir That came from just 'downriver' In a church that did aspire To give us but a chance to sing From choir lofts above As we sang in echo'd refrain To Vivaldi's Gloria of love

more amazing totally-wood-panelled church work (like St. Peter’s) in the Johnville St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic church, where we sang opposite Peter McLaughlin’s Tuesday Night Singers from the lovely choir loft. (Vivaldi’s Antiphonal Gloria)

Finally, our last big gig Was filmed upon a Woodstock pew- (How strange that in Ontario I lived near Perth & Woodstock too!) My camera propped on hymnals On the first of many pews 'Neath Saint Gertrude's glor'ous arches Marianne led our cues: Youtube wasn't working But we hope you'll link up-- though It's hard for some not on FB- Still, we think it's 'quite a show'!

Saint Gertrudes is the lovely big church in which we sang last night, in Woodstock, along the Saint John river.

me with hat, far left, Richard with men, far right

stunning choir loft arches of St. Gertrude’s

the sanctuary of St. Gerts

Like our concert Tuesday night in Johnville, we sang again with/opposite The Tuesday Night Singers, Peter McLaughlin’s choir. You may remember from reading back in July that it was he who directed us all in the mass choir (150 voices) on July 1st in Perth-Andover.

part of our choir warming up last night. We had a strong men’s section (4 is STRONG for small town N.B.!) and 3 of the 4 are all spending a lot of their spare time with horses out in the bush! What is the connection, you ask, between men singing and horsemen? Have you an answer?

Thank you to Marianne Bell and Peter McLaughlin – some brownies I made for the wrap-up party

And so, this Christmas season, But actually all year long We owe a debt of gratitude To those who led in song. For what a year it's been Full of music, drama, prayer To get us off the farm, And join pastor, teacher, mayor!

Cast of Thousands "What's the best of country life?" Many ask us daily "Is it the scenery, quiet, nature, veg?" Nope - it's celebrating gaily With our small communities, Like Perth or New Den-Mark It's singing, acting, being part Last week - we're angels!

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rusticrevivals · 7 years ago

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Happy Canada Day! Having lived and taught on ‘the rez’ for 4 years, I do understand how the indigenous people of our nation may feel about this 150th celebration. And having lived twice in England because I’m such an Anglophile at heart, I also don’t necessarily agree that having gained our ‘independence’ from Britain is such a perfect condition either, but I did try to throw myself totally into the spirit of the special holiday, and WITHOUT adding anything more to our carbon footprint than was necessary. I don’t really believe in fireworks, anymore, as the damage it does to wildlife is shocking – but we did make some very loud noises of our own, and, as per psalms 98:4, we DID ‘make a joyful noise unto the Lord’, as the pastor was with us, and therefore I believe all God’s creatures, great and small, were undisturbed. Oh, that’s not quite true – our singing DID upset Cammie and Chevy a bit last week – more on this later!

Friday June 30th and Saturday July 1st were wonderful days for those of in New Denmark and surrounding rural valleys, who love music. But yesterday, July 2nd was probably the best blog-point my readers will most enjoy, since they can’t actually hear our music (unless it’s later posted on Youtube or we buy and upload the recording that was made…) It has been said in the last week that one of the things the rest of the world likes the most about Canadians is that we don’t take ourselves too seriously. And you can start with one of the leaders of our little community, Pastor Ralph Weigold, when you want to examine how to be self-deprecating whilst still making a firm point. How did Chevy’s parade polo wraps from 2 week-ends ago, end up as a stole for the dear pastor yesterday? Read on!

After discovering that we were unable to feel fulfilled (we weren’t joyful enough for the Lord!) with only a small choir singing in unison for just Christmas and Easter in our churches (there are two Lutheran ones here in New Denmark, for which Pastor Ralph is responsible), I went in search of a larger choir that sang in at least 3-part if not 4-part harmony. What fit the bill? Perth/Andover’s Community Choir, led by their indomitable mayor, Marianne Tiessen Bell (who is also in several other musical groups as well as leading the town’s book club, as WELL as leading a campaign as mayor to help the victims of flooding ((due in part to the massive clear-cutting this province gets up to – see my previous post “Taken At the Flood”)) and to put in place a plan to prevent further flooding from doing as much damage!) see latest re: this campaign here: http://globalnews.ca/news/3361542/province-to-review-perth-andover-flood-adaptation-plan/

Richard and I will be joining her choir in the fall, but in the meantime we were awestruck at the power and beauty and passion involved in singing with the 150 Voices Choral group that she was responsible for assembling, under the brilliant direction of Peter McLaughlin of Second Wind Music Centre in Bristol, to the south of Perth. (Peter is a retired music teacher, thus, I believe, the most excellent name of the group). I have known a number of Peters in my lifetime, and not one has ever failed to inspire me to better things, or to motivate me to present the best I have within me. Mr. McLaughlin did not disappoint; I don’t believe I’ve ever sung as strongly, or read the music with such quick and sharp glances so that I could get back to watching him conduct.

While we couldn’t travel down to their regular rehearsals, an all-day workshop was being held for those of us that couldn’t make the other practices. This was on Friday, the day before our big scheduled performance, so Richard, myself and our church’s organist, Sonja Pedersen travelled down to take part in a completely exciting clinic for singers, led by Peter. It was held at the St. Mary of the Angels Catholic church, which had stunning acoustics for us. These two shots were taken by a P/A C C member who was singing in the alto/tenor section. While I’m too far away (in the many sopranos, both 1st and 2nd) to be seen, you will notice Richard, in white, sitting beside the gentleman named Don Kelly in the pale yellow:

We were both surprised to see rather a lot of women singing tenor in this grouping, in fact Richard thought there were more there than in the alto section!

We were introduced to, and practiced such an amazing variety of music, all with Canadian ties: Oscar Peterson’s beautiful and uplifting Hymn to Freedom, Coco Love Alcorn’s (the daughter of jazz musician, Owen Sound’s John Alcorn) The River, which we were ‘allowed’ to ‘jazz/spiritualize’ by throwing in our own harmonies and descants, Klee Wyck, about Emily Carr and her importance to Canadian art (both the latter two had some wonderful drums, incl. native sounds I haven’t heard since ‘the rez’ !), the incomparable Rankin classic “We Rise Again”, fitting as Peter went to uni. with the late Raylene Rankin – this song was also popularized by the also sadly-late Rita MacNeil), and my favourite – our country’s second anthem – “This Is Our Home”. To hear it sung with orchestra, try this link: https://youtube.com/watch?v=rdXGZ4vYKGg although I hope our own recording may be available at some point soon. Having finished the afternoon session we were treated to a smorgasbord of fine dishes, both hot and cold, hosted by the Perth/Andover Choir and the ladies of the St. M. of the A. church. It was massive and delicious. Here’s a shot of Richard and me (in cap) chowing down with a fellow who looked and sounded like Jimmy Stewart. Kinda spooky!

Richard and I had despaired of ever finding anyone with a talent for choosing such amazing and inspiring choral music and of being led by anyone as excellent as Carlisle, Ontario’s own Heather Olaveson, but to our relief, Marianne and Peter have brought us happily back to that wonderful place once more. Unfortunately, due to the month of constant rain we’ve had, the outdoor venue for all this music had to be set aside, and the tent and staging area set up in the arena instead. Let’s just say that the acoustics were NOT what they were in the Catholic church the day before, but they certainly had a lot of microphones hanging from inside the tent to help us project out!

Before the choirs- including this mass choir of 150 voices- were to perform Saturday, however (we had a dress rehearsal from 10-12, so were again in Perth all day July 1st!) Marianne had organized several local instrumental groups to play, for a half-hour each.

First, and to Scottish Mom’s delight, were the Southern Victoria Pipe Band, who also marched in New Denmark’s parade, you may remember from the photos. Second on the program was “Wildwood”, a local band that plays a combination of folk/pop/ and rock-a-billy music. Again, the theme was to be all Canadian connections, so our ears were opened to new pieces for many of us, as well as a taste of the old folk songs that used to resound throughout these northern Appalachians.

Third were the Wednesday Evening Fiddlers who ALSO graced the New Denmark parade a few weeks ago (on a float, rather than marching the 4.5 km as the poor pipers – and poor Chevy and Champ had to do!) And fourthly was an utterly fabulous group from the Sistema program of offering orchestral music to ALL children. Many of these kids playing were from the local ‘rez’, or from lower-income families, and for Mom and myself, having spent decades listening and watching those taught ‘the Suzuki method’, this was a heart-warming experience – to see AND to hear:

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Both groups played a variety of Canadian music – the fiddlers some of the ‘good ole tunes’, but the group from Sistema really ‘brought it home’ with some movie connection titles, some rock connections, and adding in a sprinkling of classical and folk to boot!

Unlike Ontario, where people are much more, shall we say, – er- strung like a tightly-tuned fiddle? – here in the Maritimes, people just get up and dance in the aisles or at the base of the stage if they like the music. Either in a male/female couple, or female/female, or in the case of the one lady, far left in fuscia, just clog-it on your own!

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Then came a very scary time: the debut of my little group, the New Denmark Minstrels. As we were the smallest choir we were the first of the local groups to begin the Choral Concert. Yikes! We’ve been rehearsing once a week for the last 10 weeks. However, in that time we’ve gone from 14 who said ‘yes’, to 10 ‘committed and practicing’ to 8 when one soprano and one alto quit for a variety of reasons that change every time I hear them, then back up to 10 (now incl. me, though I was playing piano, guitar and trying to direct as well) when I persuaded Mom/Joy and pastor’s wife Ellen to join the alto section at the last hour (2 weeks prior)… All this upheaval for just 2 songs and in only a 10 week period for full commitment! I heartily thank all those who stuck it out, remembered to show up (some on the correct days, and some not!) practiced over and over, and even while most had to miss SOME of those 10 practices, and a few ‘section’ rehearsals had to be added, we did manage to sing the correct version for at least 65% of the required 3-part harmonies we were attempting! Not TERRIBLE for our first time out, and in a very large venue as well! Especially since only a few of the Minstrels can read music! In our last full rehearsal on Wednesday, we performed both pieces (a Canadian pop-song medley I arranged and the “Ida May” folk song I wrote – about, if you’ve been following this blog, the pioneer gal who settled our farm and raised a family – see Log Cabin Legends posting) IN OUR BARN. Because most barns around here are quonsets, constructed for ‘potato barns’, the echo in there is better than any shower/bathroom in which you’ve ever yodeled. We enjoyed singing with that wonderful arc of tin over us, resonating our harmonies more deeply and sweetly than we could have imagined! However, as stated above, Cammie and Chevy who were ‘in’ due to the weather/flies that afternoon, were NOT the appreciative audience for which we’d hoped. Cammie bleated throughout (trying to join in, said Pastor Ralph, but I think not) and Chevy was kicking madly at the stall wall. I’d like to think it was a large horsefly, but when I went to check I saw nothing… and it started again when we began to sing again!

The pieces included in the medley, both sung and instrumentalized by me on piano as a segue between vocalized melodies were:

Dan Hill’s Sometimes When We Touch, Paul Anka’s My Way (made famous by Mr. Sinatra himself, of course – and the 4 men did a beautiful strong rendition of this one without the ladies adding!) Hagood Hardy’s The Homecoming, Joni Mitchell’s Clouds, Buffy Saint Marie’s Until It’s Time for You to Go, Gene MacClellan/Anne Murray’s Snowbird, and Mom suggested, as we’re from Tillsonburg, a couple of measures of Put Your Hand in the Hand… For the lyrics to Ida May, which I accompanied on a VERY quiet guitar as I only know four or five chords, see below at the bottom of this post.

As the altos preferred to be away from the other groups (I know that feeling from singing alto in Carlisle for 3 years!) and as the sopranos (2 plus me where I could manage it) needed strength so as not to be drowned out by the uber-powerful men, I separated them up along the stage for the medley (3 parts) and had a mic on the sops. It had some rocky moments, but we managed to complete without a break-down! (click on each photo to see in full and enlarged).

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The men think they should have their own quartet now, called the Bald Bass/Baritones. I think you can see why; no need to hear them! I made the duo-tang books with our music to look like the Danish flag, with a few swift masking tape tear-offs.

As mentioned above, the average practice attendance out of 10 was 7, due to several funerals in the valley (of course Pastor was needed at those, but being a close-knit community, there were usually a few others who were related to the deceased as well.) However, a good fishing day could also interfere, and of course Joy and Ellen didn’t agree to join us until we were just a few weeks away! But the cutest story of a near-miss was down to Pastor Ralph himself.

Since Chevy and Cammie arrived here, both with illnesses and both losing weight at an alarming rate, our minister has taken as much interest in their respective healths as he does of his human parishioners. So one Friday afternoon nearly all the choir was sitting in our living room-cum-meeting room waiting on two people to show. And one of them was Pastor. After we did some voice warm-ups, we were about to start without them when the phone rang. I ran to answer it, and sure enough, it was the Good Reverend Ralph. “Oh, dear, what’s happened? Nothing too terrible I hope? ” I blurted in to the phone. “No, nothing’s happened”, said Pastor, after a slightly odd and awkward pause. “I was just calling to see how Chevy’s feeling these last few days”. Now it was my turn to pause. Then a big grin came on my face as I realized the enormous coincidence in timing. “Well, Pastor Ralph, I’d be glad to tell you how Chevy is when you arrive over here and get sat on our couch !” I let that sink in and then he laughed. “Oh, good heavens, I forgot what day it is! Be right there!”

Anyway, on Saturday, after the Minstrels had finished Ida May (which went better than the medley, though it’s had much less practice!) and we took a succinct joint bow and scurried down to our seats, the Scotch Colony Choir was up next. They kindly mentioned that it was the Danes in New Denmark who first helped THEIR immigrants to keep from starving in the very ferocious winter of 1873 when they arrived. They got this from the lyrics I wrote in Ida May (printed below), so, as Mom says, I guess the audience heard at least SOME of the words ENUNCIATED correctly. (If you don’t know my mother, she’s HUGE on proper enunciation!)

Marianne Bell also sang (despite having lost most of her voice, bless her, after all the days of singing, organizing, socializing, etc!) with the Scotch Colony choir, pictured here. I’ve never seen people get up and dance to a CHOIR, but they sang so many ‘golden oldies’ that people’s feet were constantly tapping even in their seats!

Then came Marianne’s own Perth/Andover Community Choir, which Richard and I hope to join in the fall. For this Marianne (in white) conducted through some, but also, as in the last pic, played piano much better than I did, for them AND sang. Look how much fun she’s having in that photo!

Lastly came Peter’s own choir that he leads on a regular basis. And of course everyone was sticking very well to the all-Canadian theme and telling some of the histories of the songs as well, which was very enjoyable. That’s Peter in the first photo, at the end of the line following his choir to the stage. I said to many that he reminds me of the 1970s songwriter/singer/comedian/actor Paul Williams – not just his appearance and stature, but his vivacious energy and humour as well. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Williams_(songwriter)

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Finally, the great climax of so many months of planning, hours of rehearsing – the 150 Voices mass choir, also led by Peter. Poor Marianne was way up back in the soprano section near me, and could hardly utter a sound by then, but it was so much her own brainchild that I know she still was thrilled. I told her after that she really needs to start planning to solve the peace problem in the world – I KNOW she could do it with just musical organizings such as this! It was incredibly powerful to be singing those amazing anthems and compositions for 4 part harmonies with so many gifted singers!

Now, while I was way in the back, but happily positioned myself to be less squashed in than most, and also so that I could see Peter better, Richard, in his usual way, had somehow managed to wangle a spot RIGHT in front – and in front of Peter as well!

That first photo is JUST the soprano section (both 1st and 2nds), so you can imagine the power of the voices rising and falling, crescendoing and decresendoing as per the music and Peter’s very busy hands. If you look carefully, you can see the big grin on my face, whenever my mouth wasn’t shaped in the appropriate ‘O’.

One of the tenors behind Richard captured him in this shot as well:

This was actually taken at the dress rehearsal that morning, though – which explains the empty seats in ‘the House’!

It was such an honour to sing with this large and strong group. Upon ending with the passionately patriot “This Is My Home”, there were several pairs of eyes with tears in them, including Peter’s when he talked about his enjoyment in leading this large a choir. Also, I know that the next day at church, several others in our New Denmark community who also sang with the 150 Voices said it was an experience-of-a-lifetime, and that they were so glad not to have missed out on it!

Too, it was a special event for Mom/Joy, because, though she didn’t sing with the mass choir, her alto contribution to the New Denmark Minstrels meant that she’s had TWO of those once-in-a-lifetime performances on very special days. When she was just in public school in Tillsonburg her school choir sang for the Queen! (HRH’s train simply pulled into the station and the choir sang from the platform, but still, that was a big choral day in Canada for Mom, and now in her senior years she can claim another first and only!)

The last story I must share with you is, of course, the reason for this post’s title. You may have noticed that, to tie us more ‘formally’ together, I gave each of the Minstrels a ‘stole’ to wear of red, with a white-painted New Denmark flag on its right side, and a musical note or two on each. I thought, even if we weren’t always singing together and at the same tempo (the Minstrels need to learn to ‘watch’ and to ‘listen’ to each other!) at least we’d LOOK like we were ‘tied-in together’.

Now, the only red fabric I had around the house when I got this last-minute brain-wave was left over from what I cut Chevy’s red polo wraps from, for the Founders’ Day parade. And the cat had been sitting on THAT for a few weeks, all day long! So it was full of cat hair, and Chevy’s two bandages had manure stains and horse hair and dried sweat all over them. And when I cut up the remainder of the fabric, there just wasn’t enough for all of us, so I did have to use the polo wraps as well. (I cut the ends of the other strips on the diagonal for a ‘finished look’, but didn’t want to cut the two polos because I might need them on Chevy again! So that meant that Richard and our minister, the tallest two, would have the dubious honour of wearing those as they were standing in the back and theirs could hang longer and not have the diagonal cut!) Well, of course I washed all the strips, and hung them on the line to dry. But as we all know, that isn’t enough to get rid of animal hair! So, on Friday morning before we left for all-day rehearsal, I meticulously vacuumed and Scotch-taped each strip, front and back. Then painted them with the flag and notes.

On Saturday, no one complained about wearing them, which rather shocked me – they were all very compliant! And I DID chuckle with them over their stoles’ origins, and the amount of work it took to get them acceptable, but I’m not sure Pastor Ralph Weigold heard me…

Because – yesterday morning in church he appeared coming down the aisle at a PARISH SUNDAY GATHERING (both N.D. congregations combined) wearing Chevy’s bandages AROUND HIS NECK on top of his lovely vestments and his green silk stole! Now, I know he likes our horse, and considers him worthy of his prayers and concern, etc. But I really just made those strips for a 7-minute performance at an outdoor event with most people in shorts and T-shirts! Yikes! I was squirming in my pew, which of course got my hand wrapped by Mother Dearest. But Pastor wore Chevy’s leg wrap through the entire formal service, communion and all, saying that he was proud of how well the New Denmark Minstrels had done on their debut performance, AND that he was proud to be a Canadian, still celebrating that on July 2nd as well. Good for him. God bless him!

And now, as promised, here’s the lyrics to “Ida May”, dedicated to her daughter, Phyllis MacDonald (which I announced to the crowd on Saturday, but apparently she and her son, Bliss didn’t make it, so Richard and I may go over there and sing the 2-part harmony duet to her one day) . In the last verse, the word “Bliss” is mentioned as a tip-of-the-hat to Ida’s grandson. And the last spoken words, which Pastor Ralph himself read aloud, refer to “Feel Us” (the ghosts) which was as close to “Phyllis” as I could get within the context of the poetry/rhyme. (for the same reason I used 1870, although most N.D.ers came here in 1872 – it fit the meter/rhythm of the line much better!) .

"Ida May" - lyrics to original folk-song by J. Johnson, music written 1989, originally performed as "Katherine Fields" at Murphys Point Provincial Park My Danish name is Rasmussen But they call me Ida May My family came to Canada Which is where they now will stay. In 18 hundred and seventy We settled all the land In mountains high and valleys low Where the dark blue forests spanned spoken- man: Ida May, you'll marry me? I've cleared the land for you. woman: Oh, dear man, I'll marry you! Tho' I'm but 16, 'tis true! In a little cabin on Bluebell Road I moved in with my John 5 children came, we built more rooms And the years were quickly gone. I planted lilacs and apple trees We lived for fam-i-ly And then came the time I got too sick I was only thirty-three. spoken- girl: Mommy, Mommy -don't send me away! I don't WANT to live with Aunt! woman: child, go now, be at peace. to keep you all - I can't! But I gave my children all my love Before I passed away So young was I, so old a soul For my name was Ida May! *************************** refrain: Ida May! Ida May! Haunt me on a summer's day In the orchard where I play... Haunt my memory, Ida May! *************************** A hundred years have passed us by Since I left my girlhood thrills And went to start my home and farm In New Denmark's rolling hills. My life was short upon the earth But I float up here in BLISS I look down on my legacies And my breeze blows them a kiss. spoken-You are here, the ghosts of all we loved. Forevermore... FEEL US, children; feel us sing, The ghosts of those before... ****************************************************************** Here are Bliss and Phyllis. (Remember Ida May's story is at the Log Cabin Legends post, and another entitled Log Cabin Legends, Part II: Phyllis. Just type those tag words or titles into this blog's search engine and both posts should come up for you to read and enjoy!) HAPPY CANADA DAY!

The Pastor and the Polo Wraps Happy Canada Day! Having lived and taught on 'the rez' for 4 years, I do understand how the indigenous people of our nation may feel about this 150th celebration.

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rusticrevivals · 6 years ago

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Richard’s been a very busy dude this last month or so. Since the end of October my ‘good’ knee has steadily become worse than my ‘bad’ one (the one scheduled for surgery on Jan. 18). So I’ve mostly been lying on couch or bed due to pain AND just trying to save wear and tear on them as they are both now ‘bone on bone’. Meanwhile poor Richard has to pick up all the extra chores I can no longer manage as I’m mostly on my walker (kept, thank goodness, since my back surgeries). So he’s doing ALL the barn chores, PLUS milking Cammie and running up and down the basement stairs attending the furnace fires, and even some meal prep -with shouted instructions from the adjoining bedroom, of course!

Yes, I know some of you do not have snow, but we had our first big snow storm at the end of October and have had several more storms since then – and big winds as well! So, there’s a lot to do outside as well as in! Richard IS very much enjoying his new ‘toy’, though:

He decided his hip couldn’t handle pushing our snow blower up and down the laneway again this year. Personally, I’ve always thought that in winter our entire laneway and parking lot/barnyard doesn’t need to be plowed, – we could just park near the front of the house and leave the rest – but R. still is a bit of a suburban Yuppie in some of his thinking. He feels ALL areas should be cleared – and by cleared I mean RIGHT to the pavement (which of course only causes more potential for dangerous falls on ice in my opinion, but we have this argument several times every year and I never win). Thus, we got the attachment to the John Deere this year and his brother once again came to the rescue with help in this big endeavor:

I can’t seem to get Richard to protect his head (and mustache) properly though, and he always comes in with icicles hanging from his eyebrows and upper lip. I looked at getting him a plastic ‘tent’ for around the top of the mower as a Christmas gift but a) they are pretty expensive considering how much we already spent on this contraption, b) we try not to BUY gifts for our family, just make them and c) you all know how I feel about adding ANY plastic – even a piece of Saran Wrap – to my carbon footprint, so I didn’t feel that was a good choice. Of all the hats and toques Richard’s been given over the years JUST since moving here, including a balaclava which would help the stache-icicle problem, and including the red one with the pom-pom which his mother bought specially for all of us to MATCH, in Christmas 2016 and which he REFUSES to wear…

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(The last hat is from the CBC show Still Standing – one of the producers gave it to me for doing some admin. for them getting the still photos they used, and getting waivers signed, etc. and I passed it on to Richard last Christmas as it’s a lovely green! If you still haven’t seen the episode in which we/New Denmark appear, the link is here:

https://watch.cbc.ca/media/still-standing/season-4/new-denmark-nb/38e815a-00f0c4c14f4 )

…the one he seems to now be preferring is one that isn’t MEANT to be his! His brother gave him a slightly used winter coat for ‘good’ and inside the sleeve was tucked his BROTHER’S favourite toque. Which Richard has now taken a Finders Keepers motto about and decided it was MEANT to be his own!

We thought it would be nice if we gave our old snowblower to neighbour Pierrette and her son Zeb who have helped us out so much since moving here, and who live like hermits WAY back off a tertiary road in the middle of the woods. So hubby just went past my window again making sure everything is working properly before we turn it over to them. And yes, that IS his brother’s toque covering most of his noggin. Again. Plus he’s wearing the big black parka Mom gave him last year to – ‘cover what little bum you have whilst snow-blowing!’

Another snow-job is to get food out to Chevy who, until he leaves to go to his wonderful new owner Dec. 13, has been allowed to have his summer pasture area still open to him. When the snows get heavier this isn’t possible as they cover the electric fence, but for now he’s usually found WAY up at the top of the hill, and Richard likes to feed both him and Cammie up there sometimes as it keeps the stall and corral area cleaner. So, out comes the toboggan and away goes the food:

Sometimes, though, when R. thinks he’ll have the luxury of dragging back an EMPTY toboggan, others have a different idea!

In the meantime I haven’t been out of the house in a month. One month yesterday, to be exact (more on that in a moment). I am most comfortable in bed, as it has the best view, is supportive in the right places, allows my legs to spread out away from each other so the knees don’t touch, and has enough space to spread my various projects out around me. The couch offers none of these, but once in a while I go into the living room for a change of scenery and to have a fire in the fireplace. If my poor over-worked hubby (don’t feel too sorry for him, he’s spending MOST of his days cuddled up reading or napping!) is willing to make us a cozy fire, that is, since I can’t go fetch in wood myself or even stoop down! I am primarily involved in writing a stage musical, one that’s been hatching slowly on the back burner (talk about mixing metaphors!) for some years now. And I needed to do some research first, so since I can’t go to the library these days (getting in and out of the house is painful, and even more so is getting in and out of the vehicles!) one of the things I LOVE about the province of N.B. is that you can mail-order your books! A big black pouch arrives in your mailbox, and you just put the return label on and send them back when you’re ready – for FREE! So, without giving too much away about my musical, you can get a glimmer of some of the subject content from these: (I know any cousins or extended family will know where I’m likely going with this subject matter…) :

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The next problem I faced, however, was that while most of the script (‘BOOK’, in correct musical theatre lingo ) and the lyrics to more than 20 songs have been written in the last month I could NOT sit at the piano to compose. Sitting with my legs bent, as an upright piano necessitates is painful. So I asked for a melodica for Christmas and my mother very kindly arranged to get it here well in advance and allow me to have it right away. So, most of my days are spent like this:

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Which the cat just HATES because a) until the last 30 days, he’s used to having the bed uninterrupted all day long with plenty of room to spread out and b) neither he nor Smitty can STAND the sound of the melodica. Smitty comes up to the bed and whines, and the cat tends to run down to the basement yowling in anger. I also am having hot flashes again (thought I was done with those a year ago, so I can only guess it’s thanks to complete lack of exercise now) and I frequently have to throw the blankets off my legs- which in and of itself is cause for a hefty scowl:

As many of you will know, especially if you follow my FB pages, I come from a shortish line of theatrical as well as musical and literary personages. “Song’n’Dance” men as well as women! And by that I mean we can tell a good fictional tale as WELL as literally treading the boards. Grandma Johnson wrote many novel manuscripts which were never published because she only tried once, was told she needed more ‘boudoir’ scenes and never approached another publisher… I have a trunk still full of most of these manuscripts which I always promised her I would try to do something with one day – not that SHE cared, it was wholly my own idea to not let those years of writing be completely wasted (possibly, because I feel like all my own years of writing are being wasted in the same way!) “Like Grandmother, Like Granddaughter” in more ways than one, then. This first pic was Grandma J (Ivanel) circa early 1930s, and the bottom, from one of my newspaper clippings, is me in similar pose (although you can’t see the red blinking lights on my nipples —- I was playing one of the prostitutes in “No Sex, Please – We’re British”. Which really should have been Grandma’s motto considering the reason she stopped approaching publishers! )

Since writing, music and drama have all been such an important part of my life (and in fact my degree was a combination of all 3, as Queen’s allowed for an Artist in Community Education B.Ed. if you had experience in at least 3 facets of artistic life and a previous degree in 2 of them! Eek! ) I decided to also base my musical on an important-to-Canada family who have all 3 as an integral part of ITS life. And who also, as I do daily, fought to keep the environment protected. (AND who, incidentally, have several towns of Perth cropping up in their various lives, as I have had 4 of them be important to me! There’s a LOT of Perths out there! ) I didn’t think this musical would ever actually get written until, on October 26th Assistant Perth-Andover Choir Director Sandi Tattersall and I did a ‘ditty’ (“What Baking Can Do” from the musical Waitress by Sarah Bareilles) for a charity show:

At one point I was to go behind Sandi as she sang a lovely and upbeat solo verse (she’s got an amazing voice and has had proper singing lessons for years, so it would have been MORE fitting if I’d just stayed behind her through the whole thing!) and duck from one side to the other of her. As my ‘good’ knee had already gone fairly ‘bad’ at this point, this ducking/deeking was pretty much the end of it. CR-A-A-CK !

I tried one time after that (on Oct. 30) to make it to the choir rehearsals for our Christmas concerts and knew I wasn’t going to be able to keep going. Richard, incidentally, IS still going and they had a very successful first concert on Thursday night with a few more to go. I missed the concert season in the spring from having that 5-week virus, and now I am missing this whole season as well. Very frustrating! HOWEVER, as the love of the performing arts has CLEARLY been passed on to my 12-year-old nephew, who at this time last year was on European tour with the Atlantic Boychoir, I am NOT missing out on his first-ever singing solo. AND it’s in a professional cast of over 130 with his mother accompanying the show as part of the small band/orchestra they’ve hired. This is a BIG deal! Sydney is even mentioned in the Arts & Culture Centre’s flyer as a featured performer, which is pretty amazing for a kid, I think:

There are 5 performances (one’s a matinee) next week with sold-out crowds of over 1,000 people at each performance —- and Mom has already flown to St. John’s to help with all the extra craziness going on in a musicians’ household at the run-up to Christmas. Of course my sister always plays, as part of the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, for the annual Nutcracker concert, the annual Messiah concert, and has numerous other gigs right now, as does Sydney with his school concerts, his ‘cello, his viol-de-gamba, his choral singing with the Boychoir and now soloing in the big Diva’s show. That’s “big Diva’s show”, NOT ” Big Divas’ show “. Please note difference! He’s singing the gorgeous melody from The Greatest Showman, called A Million Dreams. If you haven’t heard it, you MUST; it’s luscious. Here’s the young lad , Ziv Zaifman, that sang it for the soundtrack. No doubt there will be no recording done of poor Sydney’s efforts, as seems the case with most of his performances, and of course we lowly family members (even those who have to province-hop and go doped up on painkillers and in a wheelchair!) can’t take recording devices into theatres, so this is the closest we’ll likely have:

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I DID, however, do up a little ‘gif’ of my sister playing for the Divas show last year (they had an Irish/Celtic theme then) and of Sydney on CBC radio last month for the Boychoir.

As you’ll have noticed in the above, like me, my sister is very dramatic, facially – especially when playing. Some of you may remember that she has always been this expressive since our early days playing as children. However, as you can see by this video of a gorgeous piece by Franck, which SHE just did this year for a charity concert, her playing is unrecognizable compared to what it was when we were children!

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Anyway, I leave for St. John’s on Friday, being pushed through the airports and to the theatre two nights in a row (thanks for the ticket gifts, Jennifer!) by the good folk at Air Canada, and my poor brother-in-law! Wheelchairs courtesy of Air Canada and the Red Cross. Thanks very much!

While I’m plugging Atlantic Canada professional stage shows here, I should also mention that my singing partner from above, Sandi Tattersall, has an equally talented sibling and nephew, the former who is appearing in the professional cast of Beauty and the Beast in Moncton in a few months (Curtis Sullivan is often seen in a lot of Drayton Productions in Ontario, and I’m sure many of the Ontarioites reading this blog will have seen him in those. My theatre-loving compatriots from the Stratford teaching days will surely recognize him as the Drayton company has expanded so much recently, hasn’t it?) Sadly, I don’t THINK my knees will be rehabbed enough to make it to the Moncton production, as I’d planned when it was originally announced, but if you’re in that area (which, in N.B. means – ANY OF THE ATLANTIC PROVINCES!) here’s the link for tickets and a cast summary:

https://www.facebook.com/notes/th%C3%A9%C3%A2tre-capitol-theatre/beauty-and-the-beast-cast-announcement-annonce-de-la-distribution-des-r%C3%B4les/2400399146645048/ Sandi’s nephew is a phenom. in his own right, and I pray/hope/expect my own nephew may be following along these lines – for the purely selfish reason that I can have years of exciting and proud theatre to see! His name is Jeremy Leo Curtis and he just finished a run in downtown Toronto as Joseph, in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Jeremy got stellar reviews, one of which – by the Gaisins for the Ontario Arts Review -says: “The title character is portrayed by Jeremy Leo Curtis and methinks this young man has a promising potential theatre career. He can sing up a storm; utilizes his face & posture to advantage; is obviously charismatic…and in addition – movie-star handsome.”

MORE photos and reviews here: https://www.theatreunlimited.ca/joseph

So, Ontario theatre-goers of whom I know many are reading this blog (despite it supposedly being about how to live self-sufficiently on a homestead in the Maritimes!) – keep your eyes open for Curtis Sullivan and/or Jeremy Leo Sullivan! Now THAT’S a musical theatre family! (but still not the ones I’m writing my own musical about. You’ll have to wait for another non-homesteading-themed blog posting to find out more about that!)

Also in Perth, and if you’re in the Maritimes you might have heard about this on CBC Radio Noon yesterday, https://www.cbc.ca/listen/shows/maritime-noon our Choir Director (and esteemed mayor) suggested to her young and massively creative Baptist minister that they do what is apparently a ‘first’ – possibly in the world. (Remember we sang as ‘angels’ last December for the same church’s drive-thru Nativity? if you don’t remember and want a peek, and yes – one of Richard wearing yet a DIFFERENT toque on his noggin, see this blog posting: https://bluebellmountainblog.wordpress.com/2017/12/09/cast-of-thousands/ ) . Marianne Bell and the Rev. Michael Fredericks with another cast of ‘manymany; have filmed a series called ‘Online Advent’. Each day, starting today, they will have a little clip of their ‘show’ telling the Christmas story and yesterday on air Rick Mercer said, (even if it MAY have been tongue-in-cheek) that’d he’d consider being in their production another year as it ‘has all the production quality of Murdoch Mysteries’!

Here’s Jessica Theriault , and Sheila Cummings, who sings with us in choir and went to Moncton to Choralfest with 6 of us in October. This is taken from the ‘trailer’ to which I’ve also given the link below:

Now, whilst musical theatre season (and in England also silly ‘panto’ season!) is very HOT in December, this blog posting isn’t particularly Christmassy OR Homesteady as yet – so as a build-up to your festive season, and to not get off track TOO much (too late!) re: living self-sufficiently, here is what to do when you have lots of fresh goat’s milk and eggs:

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HOMEMADE EGG NOG – take 3 or 4 day-old goat’s milk (want it to have sat in fridge for a few days for best thickness and richer taste), fill up half a blender, throw in up to 6 fresh eggs from your chickies, add 2 tsp. of vanilla, 1/2 a cup of sugar or Stevia, 1/2 cup of vanilla frozen yogurt (your own if you’ve some made up!) and some cinnamon and nutmeg. Blend it up – if your eggs were very fresh it should be yellowish in colour, but not to worry if it isn’t — and when it’s finished put only a very SMALL amount of rum in, if you wish. I find more than a dollop ruins the whole lovely beverage, though I know many who will disagree!

Cardinal card by our wonderful artist friend (and my former art teacher!) Jane Wright. Richard has been inspired by Anne Schultz to suddenly enjoy cardinals again, as he once did… so I might make the next blog posting a Christmassy-red-snowy-Cardinal-based posting!

Nogs, Noggins, Song’n’s and Toboggans Richard's been a very busy dude this last month or so. Since the end of October my 'good' knee has steadily become worse than my 'bad' one (the one scheduled for surgery on Jan.

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