Day 1 April Blogging - Downsizing, Piano Lessons and More




When I read that Effy invited us blog for the month of April I got excited.  I do like to blog but don't always know what to say.  Like I said, I got excited.  Then the thought of having to think what to blog about for a whole month made me feel tired.  "I don't want to HAVE to blog every day" I told a friend.  I still feel somewhat the same way.  But I will try and not be too hard on myself if it doesn't  happen.

We moved last summer after downsizing from a 2 story house with a full basement into a one level manufactured home in an over 55 development.  It is lovely with a big clubhouse that has a library, a workout room and kitchen and dining.  There are monthly potluck dinners and special get-togethers.  We have a place to walk that is flat which is good living in the mountains. There is a lovely park and a library branch directly across the street. We love living here. Our other house was on top of a mountain and we got snowed in a lot during the winter.  We had 14 stairs to climb from the garage to the kitchen and that got old. Every time we come home from grocery shopping we are thankful we can walk right into the kitchen and not up all those stairs. Not only that but I have a washer and dryer right off the kitchen behind bifold doors.  I now LOVE doing laundry. No more hauling laundry up and down the stairs from the basement.






This "new" house was completely furnished including a piano. I've heard that it is hard to get rid of a piano these days.  We tried but no one wants to haul it away. So I decided to play. I have several boxes of music that I'd collected over the years that are still packed away.  But this wasn't how I wanted to play anymore.  A friend told me about a piano course on Udemy for only $9.  I thought that was too good to be true.  What a surprise though.  It is all about learning chords and how to play open chords, closed ones and how to change chords easily moving up and down the keyboard.  Then it goes on to explain and show how to add rhythm.  So different than when I was a child taking piano lessons.  I hated practicing so bad I spent that time standing in the corner for punishment. It wasn't fun. But playing chords is fun.  I had so much fun that I bought two more courses and I just play as I want, no "shoulds", no pressure.  Because the courses are online I can access them any time I want. 


The piano needs work.  It needs tuning and something was spilled on the keys.  I can use it as is.  I'm not sure who to call for an estimate yet.  I do have a portable keyboard though, so I will always have something to play on.




9 comments:

Shandy said...

I love the idea of the Udemy course. I’ve always wanted to play piano. But I never have learned. I did try a different site a couple years ago which was awesome but then I stopped practicing cause life got in the way and then I got rid of my keyboard. Enjoy!

Jean Maurie said...

Thank you Shandy for posting. Yes life has gotten in the way for me too. I so want to keep on practicing. I enjoy it. But then grocery shopping happens, raking leaves, errands and more plus a retired husband. No complaints though.

Keyboards are not real expensive anymore. Maybe you want to try again? Maybe you don't. I hope I will continue.

Morgaine Pendragon said...

How fun that your new home came with a piano!
I wish we lived that close to a library. I miss going to one.
Even with the closest one, because we are considered rural I would have to pay
for a card annually.

Effy said...

I love that your home came with a piano and that you're using it!!

Jean Maurie said...

I cannot imagine living that far away from a library Effy. Are you aware of Hoopla Digital?
https://www.hoopladigital.com. You would need a library card to borrow books on it but maybe paying a yearly fee for a library card would be worth it. Our library also offers a way to download and read magazines. This has been a such a joy for me. Ah I think I just found my next blog to write! You could use your library card for a lot of things.

Thank you for commenting. Yes I do love my piano lessons. I stopped practicing but hope to get back to it soon. I think I need to set my portable keyboard up in my bedroom/office. That way everything is right here and if my husband is watching baseball in the living room I can practice here.

Sophie said...

Wow, I would love a house that came with a piano! I had lessons when I was younger as have a keyboard now but have not played a proper piano in years.

Unknown said...

How fun! It sounds like you are in a lovely community and playing the piano brings so many hours of enjoyment.

Jean Maurie said...

Yes Sophie, this was awesome, although it wasn't the selling point. Do you play your keyboard at all now? If you want a piano and have room for it many people are giving theirs away. It's just the cost of moving them that is daunting. Thank you for posting.

Jean Maurie said...

Julie I am very happy in my new community. I am not playing my piano as much as I thought I would but I do want to continue. Hopefully I will make more time to play and have fun. Thank you for replying.