Q&A | Piano music, auto-feeders, photo books, + more
I’ve been enjoying hearing your Instagram posts playing the piano. I’ve gotten in a rut with my piano music and wondered if you would consider a blog post sharing some of your favourite piano music/books to play through?
Ahh, that all depends what mood I'm in.
Generally, I'm looking for something that's not too hard to play, though; when I'm playing just for fun, I'm not trying to learn a college-level classical piece!
Sometimes I pull out soundtrack books (I like Pearl Harbor and The Piano!), sometimes I pull out classical pieces that I've learned in the past, and I've mentioned recently that I downloaded Gibran Alcocer's collection of Ideas.
Show tunes can be fun (and usually pretty easy) to play.
I also have a couple of books that are collections of classical music from various eras, and those are nice because I can thumb through and pick out whatever era I'm in the mood for.
I don't know what level you play at, but if you want something quite easy, Martha Mier and Margaret Goldston both wrote a series of student books in a romantic style, and those are handy if you want a low-effort, high-reward session.
(my piano students loved those books!)
Is there a way to get notified when someone responds to my comment?
-Maureen
Sadly, no. There were some plugins for this back in earlier days of blogging, but since comment sections on most blogs have died down, the relevant plugins have not been updated for newer versions of WordPress.
In short, I'd love to have that functionality, but I don't know of a way to do it, other than having someone build something custom for me.
But, here is a workaround to reduce scrolling time when you look for responses: you can use your browser's search function. On Windows, if you are on a webpage, you can just hit ctrl-F and a little search box will come up.
Then you can type in your name, and you'll be taken to that spot on the webpage.
You can use the little arrows to go to the next instance of that word.
I know that's not ideal, but hey, it will at least take you to your own comment a little faster.
I believe you can hit "Command-F" on Macs to get the same search feature.
I remember reading a comment on your recent DITL about cat feeding. Do you recommend an automatic feeder? I was thinking it would be great for both weight management and small weekend trips, cutting down on needing a cat sitter.
-Andrea
Yes! This has been the only surefire way we've been able to get Shelley to a healthy weight. She was overweight when we adopted her, and without the feeder, we never managed to be consistent enough with her feeding amounts to get her to lose weight.
I think for a small weekend trip, it would be very helpful too, as long as you have sufficient water set up as well.
This is the one we've had for several years, and so far I have no complaints about it.
Are you interested in continuing your education after nursing school?
-T
Well, I definitely will get my bachelor's degree once I have my R.N. (which is just an associate's degree at my school.) I can do that part-time while I'm working, though, and it's likely that my hospital will help pay for that.
Beyond a bachelor's? I don't know. Right now, there's still a lot of school standing between me and a bachelor's!
But perhaps down the road, I will consider getting a master's degree so that I can teach in a nursing school.
One step at a time, though. Right now, my focus is on getting through to next May. 😉
Do you still like AdoramaPix for photo books? The most recent blog post that came up when I searched your blog for photo book was from 2018 and featured AdoramaPix.
Ahahahah, well....my life really went off the rails in 2018, and never quite got back on track.
At least, not on the old track!
While I am in a new normal now (and I like my new normal so much!!), it's not really a kind of life that lends itself to making family photo albums.
So, all of that is to say that I have not used any photo-book-making service in quite some time, and I honestly don't know if I will.
However, AdoramaPix (now named Printique) is still an elite photo-printing service, and if I were going to make a photo book, they are 100% the company I'd go with.
(Not affiliated! I just think my books from them are so beautiful.)
All that said, their books are definitely not the cheapest option out there, so if super-high print quality doesn't matter to you, a Printique book may not be worth it to you.
Readers, do you have a good current photo book suggestion?
And feel free to chime in on any of the other questions as well.
We just bought a feeder for our three cats because they kept waking us up in the middle of the night. They have a slow feeder during the day, but my biggest one still eats it too fast and then throws it up. We have only had it a week but love it already. We're still learning what is the best schedule.
@MommaJo, Kristen I was happy to see you have a feeder too. I felt like we were being very bougie buying this, but its improving our sleep so its justified!
Oh, for sure! Your sleep is 100% worth a $60 feeder.
@MommaJo, Exactly the reason we got a feeder! My husband and I married 5 years ago and the cat would not leave him/us alone. Hubby is a softy with animals so he would feed him during the night. The automatic feeder helped so much!
A caution I will mention for others - it seems like after I fill it, mine tends to not work right away. I may have to shake it to clear the clog or just click through the scheduling panel and then it's good.
@Cindy, Same at our house. And it does make me worry less about leaving our kitty alone for a quick weekend trip compared to just filling up a big food dish.
Ours actually has 5 pre-portioned sections, and then rotates at the specified time. I have heard there isn't as much consistency in amount from the ones that release the food into the dish. It has also been a good way to help reach and maintain a healthy weight for our cat.
@Carla G, here is the one we have: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000GEWHNS
@MommaJo, I'm confused about this. I have three cats. One I would feed outside because she is half feral. But how do you get the other two to only eat their share?
@Anne, we have two very large cats who are dominant. The third is younger and is a little munchkin. She doesn't eat first, but doesn't seem to want to eat at night. Hubs puts food out for her in a little dish during the day and watches her eat. He's very protective of her! She found us a few years ago, took over our front porch, won him over, and eventually we adopted her.
I was late to the frugal party yesterday, so let me say here re: anyone unhappy with their kitchen counters: Contact paper is magical. Yes, contact paper! We've had our speckled formica covered in heavy grade peel and stick vinyl for nearly two years now, and it's held up a treat. $40ish for four rolls = a new counter and kitchen cart tops. I will say that an old credit card or gift card works best when applying the paper, and an Xacto and ruler are a must. Our counters were in great shape, we just didn't like the color, which now we decidedly do!
@N, for the record, we cook daily because of my husband's medical diet, plus we've three cats who like to jump up to the kitchen window. The contact paper has been put through its paces!
Dang it, posted too fast! This is what we have: UPREDO Blue Stone Adhesive Marble... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07K8R8F4N?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
@N, I did the same thing at our old house! It lasted 3ish years until we moved. When we were getting our house ready to sell, our realtor didn’t even realize that it was contact paper and said to leave it on. I’d highly recommend this route for someone who wants an update on their countertops for very little cost.
@N, OMG! That's beautiful!
I think you just saved me several thousands of dollars.
Except that I couldn't get a sheet of contact paper to go on without bumps, to save my life.
Hmmm....who could I get to do this.....
@Fru-gal Lisa, Just start in a corner that is unused and/or has stuff in it most of the time so no one can see your learning curve. Our giant spice rack hides where I first applied the paper and had a few crinkles, which is precisely why I started there. Once you get going, you get the hang of it pretty quickly! The stone pattern is particularly forgiving, and a needle takes care of stubborn bubbles.
I’m also late the countertop game, but I really wanted to recommend a paint. When we moved into our house we had old Formica (it had gold flecks in it) and it was peeling up in several places. So we ripped off the plastic top part and painted the woodish underpart with this paint:
https://daichcoatings.com/shop/spreadstone-mineral-select-countertop-finishing-kit/
It has held up for over five years now through lots of baking and cooking and daily use from five kids and two adults. I’d highly recommend it for anyone that has really bad counters but doesn’t want to pay for new ones.
We’ve actually thought about using it on plywood for cheap counters when we gut and redo the kitchen in a few years. It has been that good!
I just used Mpix for my wedding album! A book with 66 pages was about $70 with a discount code. I'm really happy with it.
Thank you for the feeder recommendation!
I also recommend Mpix. I haven't used them for a photobook yet, but just did graduation pictures and announcements for my son and the quality is excellent!
You can use the search function when you are on mobile too. On Chrome hitting the three dots will pull down options including Find in page.
Jess, thank you! I had played around a little but didn’t discover this solution for searching in Chrome. Very handy!
I was gifted a gift card to make a book of my life, and though I finally did it, I really failed on it. The prompts came nearly daily, but my days seemed so busy, I just didn't have time to think and properly write. My book is less than 60 pages, and that includes a few pages of pictures. So I don't think I'm going to ever make a photo book. I don't play piano, my old cat passed, and as long as I have Mr. 3-legs, I doubt I will have another cat, because he strikes all of us as a dog that would chase, harass, or even kill a cat. He's a sweet boy, but very *intense*, shall we say, around other animals, with the exception of our other dog, which he liked immediately. He might be fine with a cat, but I don't dare try it.
All that to say I don't have a lot to comment upon here! However, Daughter #1 used a fountain waterer for her cat, and the cat loved it. However, she also had to leave water in a bowl when gone, in case the waterer quit, because if it did, there was no way for the cat to get to the water in the fountain. I know this was about feeders, but I thought I'd toss that out there.
@JD, That's good to note. I'm planning on doing a gravity waterer (sort of like a jug attached to a bowl), so there's no electricity involved with water, and the automatic feeder just for food.
We also have cameras up to watch the criminal dog daily, and always turn them to the cats' food and water to monitor when we're away, even when petsitters come.
I usually am a luddite, but when it comes to pet tech, I guess I'm going all in! I did abandon the roomba I bought used for pet hair because it kept knocking over all those pet bowls LOL.
@Andrea,
We used to have a pet water fountain for our cats - I think it was electric -and it worked great at first, but was one more thing that needed to be cleaned. ( we do clean our dog's and cat's dishes, bowls, etc., but the fountain had multiple parts that made it an annoying chore). If I remember correctly, it didn't last very long before it stopped working....maybe we didn't clean it often enough, lol. Keep in mind, this was at least 10 years ago, so hopefully, they're made better and easier to clean now.
We do have a gravity water feeder, as well as a gravity dry cat food feeder, both of which are easy to fill and to clean. One of our cats lets us know when the food level is getting low. 🙂
How do you deal with the automatic feeder and two cats? We have one that is a Hoover and one that is much less food motivated.
@Nicoleandmaggie, I know there are some automatic feeders that are tied to pets' microchips! Not sure if that's the case for Kristen's.
I just replied to someone else with the same question! 🙂 Sorry to repeat myself here but: Shelley WAITS by the feeder for at least a half hour before each scheduled feeding and she gobbles up the food lickety split. There is no way another cat could get even one piece of kibble.
I don't know how her internal clock is so accurate but it IS.
@Kristen,
That's so funny! One of our cats (Lafayette) gets special vet prescribed canned food twice a day, and he absolutely knows when it's time for breakfast and dinner! (We don't use an automatic feeder....yet).
About your automatic cat feeders. You have two cats. How do you prevent one cat from eating both?
Haha, Shelley WAITS by the feeder for at least a half hour before each scheduled feeding and she gobbles up the food lickety split. There is no way another cat could get even one piece of kibble.
@Kristen, then how do you feed Chiquita?
She gets her kibble hand delivered in a different room. 🙂
The Control-F takes Mac to a search function. Thank you for an excellent tip!
Never heard of Printique, but they are now bookmarked. I've been using Shutterfly ever since Kodak croaked. Thank you for another excellent tip!
I think you could make several excellent book/albums about your new life: photography from your walks, DIY projects, fun with your daughters. . .
@Central Calif. Artist Jana, "Just Cats" by Kristen
@Central Calif. Artist Jana, except for the "show more comments". I do that before I do the F(ind). Expand them all.
I really like the highest end photo book from sutterfly. They often have coupons or deals for free extra pages or various upgrades.
I've used Printique in the past year and it's still top-notch!
Here's a plugin, Kristen:
https://wordpress.org/plugins/comment-reply-email-notification/
Of course, I don't know how your blog is set up, etc.
Hmm, that one WAS updated in the last 7 months. Maybe worth a shot. Altho one review says it doesn't work with the latest version of WP.
Also, if I need/want to buy camera equipment, Adorama or B&H Photo are the way to go. No scams or gray market items.
@Rose,
B & H Photo rocks. My DH and I buy used camera equipment there on occasion, usually for gifts for each other (DH also buys video equipment from them for work).
@Liz B., For many years, my go-to gift for my now-ex was a GC to B&H. My parents and his parents also gave them.
Yes! I love those two.
I love seeing so many similar piano books in your collection! We're about the same age, so it doesn't surprise me. I haven't pulled any music out in awhile, though, and it was kind of fun to see how I immediately recognized the Hal Leonard and Arnold publishing styles.
I'm adding The Piano sheet music to my wish list now!
Also, not to overwhelm you, but I think you would be an INCREDIBLE nursing instructor. You have such a deliberate, careful way of communicating, and you do so with such empathy that any students would be lucky to have you prepare them for a caring profession like nursing.
Aww, thank you; I take that as a sweet compliment. 🙂
A Sheet Music Tip: Our library Friends Group conducts quarterly book sales. Basically, we sell whatever is donated to us. We almost always have a good variety of sheet music, which we sell for cheap, cheap, cheap. Sometimes we sell everything we have and other times it's left untouched, which always makes me a little sad. (I do not play an instrument, so it's possible it doesn't sell because it's junk.) So, check around and see if your library has used book sales.
Tip #2: If you have time, you can volunteer to help with sale set-up. Volunteers get first choice!
Starting a whole new subject here. Need the hive mind.
As I have mentioned before, temperature wise, I live on the front porch of hell. We're in shorts here nearly five months a year. I really have no problem with this except that I am DOLLY....PARTON.....white. The sun does not penetrate and darken these legs. I glow.
In the past I have been been using tanning lotion, but it is a bit of a hassle and does not last very long. As summer nears again, I have been considering a spray tan although I don't know a thing about how it works.
Has anyone here had any experience with commercial tanning? Good, bad, absolute idiocy? Any of your friends and family that did it? Any advice would be appreciated.
(And yes, I do remember Ross on "Friends" doing it and getting sprayed three times on the same side.)
I have never tried this but I'm super curious to hear what everyone says!
@Anne, Why not just embrace your natural skin color? I'm pale and freckly and that's the way it is. (After hating my freckles as a kid, now people get them tattooed on. Crazy.) Nothing wrong with being pale.
@Rose, in one word.. Vanity. I hate the way my legs look.
Come on ladies and gentlemen, somebody out there must have spray tanned.
@Anne, I live on the West Coast. I used to work for an East Coast company. They totally expected me to look like I came straight from the beach to our company meetings and trade shows. They were a great company, so I had fun playing along with it. I had no interest in actual tanning, so I tried spray-on tans. I was pleased with the results, even if they were a little bit spendy. What you get out of it depends on how much you put into it. Follow the instructions e-x-a-c-t-l-y.
Unless the process has changed, you strip down in a private booth, put lotion on the places that don't normally tan (palms, cuticles, fingernails, soles of feet, heels, toenails, also ears, and hairline IIRC). Once you're prepped, you step into the spray booth and follow the instructions to the letter. Afterwards, they mean it when they say to wipe down well. Any drips will turn into...drips. It takes a day for the tan to fully develop. During that time, be very careful about wearing light colored and especially white clothes.
Sound like a lot of work? It is, but you do get the hang of it. Now that I'm retired for over a decade, I'm done with all of that, but it was worth it for a certain time in my life.
@Anne, I've done the spray tans...and didn't wipe the bottom of my feet once. Talk about orange! The drawback is they don't last long, and tend to fade unevenly. I've been using a brand for home tanning called Tan AF. It's not orangey and is an easy to apply foam. Before that I used Beauty By Earth self tanner. Both are super easy to use, and while not super cheap, one can/tube should last the summer, and is FAR cheaper than a spray tan. I typically use it a couple times the first week, then weekly or so as needed. My legs don't really tan well and I'm on the pale side.
I do not have anything relevant to add about auto cat feeders, photo books or piano music, but I did just want to comment that I just love Chiquita's little white foot in that picture. Every part of her is just so darn cute!
A master's degree will put money in your pocket. Have a family member with one, hard work but made good money and was able to retire well before age 65. Plus he's a godsend as he's the cut-through-the--doctor's crap. He's maintained his license since he retired. May I be able to repay all his help come the day he needs it.
I do à Shutterfly book. One for every year. I try to wait and order it with a promo... Sometimes I even get a free book, just pay shipping.
If cost is a factor, Walmart does photobooks quite reasonably! I wanted to make one for my toddler- so not, like, an heirloom!- to help her understand where her older brothers are when they are with their dad, and it came quickly and wasn't too $$. I was happy with the quality.
There is sooo much more you can do with a masters than teaching. Many hospitals require a masters for any management position plus there are NP and CSN positions
I was so happy I got an MSN.