My Mother's Music Room / Alex's Visit

Song:  O Grande Amor

Aritst:  Zhang Zhi Yong  (Bass Flute)

My mother's piano was supposed to come last Friday...

however, it was delayed.

It arrived this afternoon.

I had arrived at my mother's in the morning...

as I didn't know the time of delivery.

So...

in the meantime...

for breakfast...

I butter sautéed scallops...

fire roasted shishito...

and made rice and miso soup.

I use 1/3 a stick of butter...

and melt it before adding the defrosted scallops.

This was my plate.

My mother loved the meal.

She exclaimed how delicious the meal was.

In the early afternoon...

her Yamaha 143 R arrived.

She had first honors at sitting down at her new piano.

The keys are weighted and the sound...is just like the Yamaha Grand Piano.

I wanted her to redevelop her ear...

and her touch, to a realistic playing and sounding piano.

It also has 50 pre-recorded piano music pieces...

so she may listen to them for hours on end.

There is also a hookup for headphones...

so we may practice different pieces without disturbing each other

during our daily music practice...

unless we are performing a duet.

I set up a daily routine for us.

I go to her home in the late afternoon.

I will then cook supper...

and we will then practice for 3 - 5 hours everyday.

I will then have her exercise and take a hot shower...

and I will then put on the TV...

usually a good Korean Drama or a movie...

and I will set the TV timer to shut it off after a few hours.

I will then depart to allow her to fall asleep as she pleases.

Once a week...

I will be taking her to a nearby residence for private piano lessons.

My mother hasn't played the piano for decades.

I wanted her to redevelop her passion for music.

With me practicing in the same room with her...

I can get her into an established routine...

and with us playing duets in the future...

she will feel motivated to practice a lot.

My mother was like a child on her new piano.

I took Alex to visit his grandmother to see her music room.

I also had Alex try my bass flute.

It has been several decades for me since I had played the concert flute with any regularity.

I am also starting out from the beginning once more...

only this time...

it will be on the bass flute.

I am finding myself picking it up fairly easily...

as the fingering is essentially the same.

With our practice schedule...

we should both advance without too much trouble.

It is only recently that I could devote myself to music...

as Alex (my son) is almost off to full time university...

and he is really very independent now.

This is the perfect time for my mother and I to develop our old passions...

and to really enjoy playing music once again.

This is where I will be practicing everyday.

Last night...

I had practiced for 3.5 hours.

I will build up to practicing for 5 or so hours.

I will have to build my mother up to practicing for the same amount of time daily.

With this routine of supper...

music practice...

and finally, exercise, and a hot shower...

she will be engaging life and experiencing it...

instead of passively watching it.

With comfortable surroundings to practice in...

and with each other's company...

my mother will become much happier...

while developing a passion which gives so much in return.

I wanted to show the set up.

Hana loves listening to us play.

She will fall asleep in her bed as we practice.

After our practice...

my mother's exercise and hot shower...

we will then sometimes just listen to some music on the pictured iPod and speaker system...

as I scent the air with the joss stick incense (Japanese).

I had moved around the chairs to accommodate the piano.

After many hours of practicing the bass flute...

my back and shoulders crave a good massage on this massage chair.

After today's quick visit from Alex...

I took him back home.

I will soon be going back to practice some more...

and tonight is pizza and movie night...after our practice.

My mother is very much looking forwards to tonight.

My mother is so much happier with our new schedule.

With music stimulating her mind and her passions...

and with exercise and a hot shower fully relaxing her...

she will then experience much more sound sleep.

She is looking forwards to our daily routine...

and to improving her piano skills...

from the beginning, once more.

Later on (much)...

I will record some of our duets...

and play them on this blog.

Flute Mama?

Song:  Ave Maria

Artists:  Bass Flute / Flute - Mirella Pantano

Piano - Nicoletta Evangelista

We started out with supper.

I had made Beef Tataki the night before...

so we had that along with Somen...

and Fire Roasted Shishito.

This is a Bass Flute.

Can Mama play it?

NO!

I am just having her pose with it.

The relaxation room is now the Music Room.

The Bass Flute is mine

(Di Zhao Bass Flute).

It just arrived today.

I had been saving up for it for years.

I had ordered it from this great music shop:

Ron McCarley

805-452-6611 mobile

Ron’s Music Studio

CCFlutes.com

I had talked to Ron personally...

and he had given me a great deal.

He was very friendly, and the service was very quick.

He will ship anywhere in the US...

perhaps elsewhere...

talk with Ron.

I played it today...

until my upper lip started to swell  :)

My mother ordered herself a Yamaha Piano 143R...

which will be delivered this Friday

(From Amazon).

It is supposed to have weighted keys like a real piano...

and it is supposed to recreate the sound of their acoustic Grand Piano.

She had once taken piano lessons.

She will be taking them once again.

We will practice together everyday.

My mother is looking forwards to playing duets together.

Music is such a good way to enjoy life...

and a great way to keep the mind sharp.

You may have noticed...

we had to switch around the chairs to make room for her piano.

My next article will be this Friday.

I will show my mother playing her new piano.

In the future...

I hope to be able to include some video of some of our playing.

I will be transposing some of her favorite Japanese music for us to play...

along with some of my favorite songs.

We are looking forward to spending hours everyday...

practicing...practicing...practicing.  

Music is a pathway to the enrichment...

of the mind...

of the soul...

of life.

Mochi Mochi

Song:  Into Dust

Artist:  Mazzy Star

My mom just got back from visiting her youngest daughter in California.

She had been there for several weeks.

My little sister is now visiting my mother at her house.

On her first night back...

we went out to eat at a Korean restaurant.

My mother loves eating out.

On the next day...

I had to attend to some business in California...

so, I made my way over the Sierra Mountain range in the morning.

The clouds were lying low in the mountains.

It added a mystical feeling to the crossing.

I am almost at the summit here.

In a few hours I would have to make the drive back to Reno.

I had my younger sister start soaking the sweet rice so we could make mochi

when I returned in the afternoon.

I started the mochi machine on the first batch.

I also had my mother prepare the mochi station.

We are all set to make mochi cakes.

The mochi machine's lid pops as soon as it has finished steaming the rice.

The impeller then starts the kneading process.

The first batch is ready to start making into individual cakes.

This is how many cakes each batch makes.

We will end up making about 10 batches over the next couple of days.

We will freeze some for my mother...

I will take some home...

and the rest is for my younger sister to take home.

My younger sister started making mochi soup for our supper.

She started soaking Shiitake mushrooms.

As well as Konbu (dried Kelp)

She then cooked some chicken for the meat and to make broth...

in combination with fish soup stock  (Hondashi).

She then began cooking the mushrooms and the kelp...

and after a while, she added the cooked chicken, the mochi and the Wombok cabbage.

We made a total of 5 batches on this day.

On the morrow...

we will make at least another 5 batches.

My mother's supper of mochi soup and fresh mochi.

My mother loves her daughter's company...

as they do things everyday.

My mother will soon be going back to visit her daughters again.

----------

One word of warning:

Many people each year in Japan...

die from choking on mochi.

The young and the elderly should never eat mochi alone.