Sunday, December 30, 2007

Introducing...Joeltoven



Joel is filling the house with beautiful sounds of piano music




The piano is on the eastern wall of the living room, to the left when you walk in the front door. We painted the wall a moss green. The piano, besides sounding incredible, is a beautiful instrument.



**Joel is now talking**

I will be describing the piano in a more technical nature. I posted the previous photo, especially for Christopher, because I thought it might interest him, as it did me. The piano is branded "Cable Nelson," which is an American piano manufacturer prevalent in the early to mid 20th century. The brand was recently bought out by Yamaha, who, along with Steinway & Sons are generally accepted in the piano community to be perhaps the two best mass produced piano manufacturers in the world (not counting companies like Bösendorfer in Austria that produce only a few hundred pianos a year). So the piano was designed and built by Yamaha. Their "Cable Nelson" line has a lot of the character and quality of the expensive Yamaha student pianos, but reduced in cost. One example of the cost reduction is that they have a soundboard formed of a few "slices" of spruce laminated together, instead of solid spruce, saving about $2000USD from the start. It's a wonderful sounding piano. I think it's the nicest piano I play on a regular basis (between home, school, etc), perhaps only second to the 9' Concert Grand Steinway at East 91st Street Church. It's a real joy to finally have a real piano so I can learn piano "right".

Please Vote



Which of these photos should be posted as my Blog Profile Picture?

Casual Leisa or Professional Leisa?

Leisa's Christmas from Eli


Eli made these beautiful ceramic gems for me at school. There is a great VERY SPECIAL ARTS PROGRAM where all the kids in the class get to make things. Eli would have chosen which items he wanted and which colors. There are stamps on the pieces with symbols Eli would have chosen as well as his own ELI stamp signature. The teachers and aides do the rest of the construction -under Eli's oversight. There is a set of four coasters complete with felt pads on the bottom! and a holder for the coasters. The brown item is a tray, complete with handles and sides.

Note also (especially for the gardeners!) the Amarylus. Referring to Tamara's blog of Oct. 11th with discussion about these Hippastrums which grow beautifully in the ground at Moololah, but only grow in pots indoors here in the winter. The white pot was planted about 2 weeks later than the ceramic pot.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007




We have had a lovely Christmas on this side of the world, with lots of eating and visiting with friends. Our Christmas Day menu:

Butternut Squash Soup
Spring Greens Vinegrett with Blue Cheese and cranberries
Peppercorn marinated Pork Tenderloin
Roasted Baby Red Skin Potatoes
Steamed Asparagus
Apple Cranberry Crisp and Vanilla Ice Cream

The next few days will be fun finding creative uses for the leftovers. We have already enjoyed an Asparagus Risotto. Risotto is a delicious grain (actually a rice) that requires some attention while cooking - unlike usual long grain rice, but the end result is worth the effort!

Monday, December 24, 2007


MERRY CHRISTMAS
sending love from Leisa, Eli and Joel

photo taken Christmas Eve 2007

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Winter in Australia


I'd rather be with everyone in Caloundra for Christmas this week. I suspect it's a little warmer than when we were there in July - but when you compare the differences in "winter" in these 2 photos I'd take winter in Australia any day!!!

December in Indiana


First substantial snow fall for 2007.

Experimenting with my blog

I love reading Garry and Tamara's blogs and being able to see what is going on in their home. This is my first experience with blogging - so these first few posts will be experimental in nature.
This is the inaugurial posting for my newly created (albeit boring right now) blog site.