It is hard for me to believe that the Christmas season is upon us already!  It seems like just a week or so ago that we were basking in the summer sun and sweating up a storm–now we are bundled in our wool socks and coats and coveralls when we go out…  Where does the time go?

This is actually from this time last year, but it looks pretty similar!

We are thankful though for the time that God has given to us to enjoy this last several months; I guess that’s why you haven’t seen us here: we’ve been busy living life!  But I do want to chronicle a few things here, and so starting from when we last left off in July….

It was a pretty good year for blueberries around here…we picked a few…buckets-full.  We froze some, ate a bunch fresh and made some into blueberry-banana muffins :) YUM

Our pre-freeze drying rack!

I think we got about three 5gal pails of berries this year.

August was a fairly uneventful, steadily busy month.  We had Jonathan’s new piano arrive and he has had many many hours of enjoyment from it–either playing or tinkering with various inner workings.  It’s a bit more crowded in the living room now, with two pianos, but the possibilities for dual piano duets are vastly improved!

Hi folks, it’s me again, and I’m excited about some musical happenings that are occurring around here.

Let’s start at the top: 88 keys, 5 1/2 feet long, around 600 pounds, selling for $500, at 2001 E Grand River Ave. It’s a Baldwin baby grand piano, and I pick it up on Friday (or rather, the piano moving company does.) Mom found a classified add in the local paper from a Unitarian church that was downsizing (good thing), and had no more room for the piano. It seems they didn’t (or don’t) know what it is really worth, which could be in the neck of $5000 (if everything is in as good a shape as it looks). I was expecting a rusted old piano that hadn’t been taken care of at all. What I found was an instrument in pretty great shape that has been tuned every six months on schedule and was played primarily by a professional musician (a band instructor at the local public high school).

Baldwin is one of the best pianos made (behind Steinway and Bösendorfer, perhaps), and this particular instrument was built in one of their best periods in the 1950s. Definitely a used model, the piano is a bit beat up on the frame, but that doesn’t affect the sound at all. The fellow from the church thought that they probably bought the piano new in the 50s, so it’s probably had one owner.

To conclude, it’s a definite gift from God. The very fact that the price is so low and the quality so good, and that I was the first to look at it provides for pretty unusual circumstances. And the fact that I have a piano budget right now, which brings me to B):

I’ve got 59 hours to go as of now, and am over half way in my funding. By the end of the day on Saturday, I need to raise about $850 more to complete the project. Checkout the current funding levels right here:

I am accepting offline donations toward the goal as well, so if you prefer to send a check, let me know as soon as possible what amount you’re able to contribute, so I can put it toward the goal before Saturday.

If you’re not able to pledge toward the project, sharing it through Social Media and other contacts right now is very valuable as well.

And I covet your prayers! That’s all for now!

– Jonathan