Sweet Hour of Prayer - Ambleside's May Hymn

Hi Everyone!

Here is my version of Sweet Hour of Prayer (https://docs.google.com/open?id=0Bzn5JnBFIS3TNDNTbzhOQzFiczA), Ambleside Online's Hymn of the Month for May 2012.  Thanks again to Cyber Hymnal for their midi file (used within their guidelines) of this public domain song.  Don't forget to print their PDF, and here are their words I made into a printable document since they're not written in on the sheet music.

You Tube:

Note: There are a LOT of recordings of this, so go ahead & search some more - if you find something really cool, leave a comment & share with the rest of us! - PS - I check the comments before they're posted, so it may be a day or two before it shows up.

Neat version by Acapella (drops last verse):  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNloFl4oIZc
Non-professional recording, but beautiful acapella version with all verses & WORDS!!:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjYfN20H2sM&feature=related
Beautiful choral arrangement:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8ZyCIqe1wU&feature=related

Copyright - I claim copyright for my voice on the recording, but you're welcome to use it for personal, educational, or church use (all non-profit).  Please contact me if you would like to use it for any other reason.

:) Blessings! 
Jen

I'm Not Ashamed to Own My Lord (AO April 2012 hymn... finally!)

Hi Everyone!

Here is the link to my recording of April's hymn, I'm Not Ashamed to Own My Lord:  https://docs.google.com/open?id=0Bzn5JnBFIS3Tck9EUnlITWltWDg
 
SORRY it's so late (for those of you who follow along with my family).  Alas, taxes, planting an orchard & new trees, family trips, & family in the hospital have slowed me down this month.  I'll try to be on top of it next month!

Thanks again to Cyber Hymnal for their midi file & printable PDF (again, you'll have to print the words out separately this month).  

You Tube Links:

Here is a beautiful organ arrangement (just organ):  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=perIke0jIjo
An interesting baptist accapella version:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaQT6cAeddM

Once again, I claim copyright for my voice on my recording, but I'm happy to share for your private use; educational uses; church uses.  Please do not distribute otherwise without my permission.  Thanks! 

:)  Jen

I'll Praise My Maker (Isaac Watts, 1791), AO's February Hymn

I'll Praise My Maker, by Isaac Watts, is the hymn my family is studying for the month of March (yes, we got a little bit mixed up!).  It is very meaningful to me, as I have watched several loved ones pass through death's doors over the past few years.  I look forward to learning this hymn well over the next few weeks, and maybe, one day, drawing on the comfort of its words for myself. 

Thanks again to Cyber Hymnal for their midi file and printable PDF.  Since the PDF doesn't have the words this month, I printed the words out separately as a poem and placed them side by side in our family worship binder. 

This You Tube video is the closest I've found to the original tune & words of this hymn.  It is a choral anthem.  It's not a very popular hymn, so it's difficult to find good recordings.  There are plenty of recordings out there if you are looking for a different, or a modified, tune. 

Again, here is the link to my recording:  https://docs.google.com/open?id=0Bzn5JnBFIS3TeGRoZHdIUjdURjJkYW9sYjZRc0NtZw


Note:  I do claim copyright for my voice on the recording.  Please do not use or distribute it outside of the following non-profit uses:  private enjoyment, education, or church/worship use.  Please link to my blog if you would like to share it with others, and contact me if you have an inquiry about any commercial (for-profit) use.  Thanks! 

Hepatica - before it blooms

Hepatica buds, downy soft, were hiding under dead leaves

 Today we discovered Hepatica in the woods on a hillside above a creek (and, lower down, lots of skunk cabbage!).  We had to step off the path a few feet to reach this patch.  It's hard not to step on them because they're so hard to see! 

Back side of a hepatica leaf is purple with tiny hairs

Close-up of tiny hairs which cover hepatica

 We'll have to return next week so we can see the blossoms! 

Hepatica leaves blend in with dead leaf cover

Close-up of the top of a hepatica

Another spring beauty - Yellow Wood Anemone

Bud about to blossom

Rays of sunshine on a cloudy day!  What a great destination for our nature walk.  These early spring bloomers were on the side of the road, at the edge of a woods.  Beautiful!  

Yellow Wood Anemone closes in cloudy weather

Spreads using runners underground

Leaves join flower at base

The First Flower of Spring!!!

I'm a bit silly for posting about skunk cabbage again this year, but I just can't help myself!  I introduced our AO nature study group to them today, and no one else (but my family) had seen them before!  Here they are in all their camouflaged beauty:

Hard to see!  Blend in with dry leaves in swamp. 

Tiny flowers are on yellow bump inside

The do possess a certain beauty

Wynken, Blinken & Nod Lullaby

As a child, my mother sang this version of Eugene Field's Wynken, Blinken & Nod to my siblings and me.  The lilting tune will put you to sleep if you fall asleep to music!  It mimics the rocking of a boat, which is appropriate for this sea-based poem.

This was my firstborn son's favorite lullaby.  I've sung it hundreds & hundreds of times!  Here is my acapella lullaby version for you or your child.  

This is also one of the poems in Ambleside Online's Year 2 curriculum (term 2:  Eugene Field). 

Enjoy!

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0Bzn5JnBFIS3TZTRmNGU2MDQtM2MyMS00YmViLWJlNzktNDNlYTRmNDIxZTI3

PS - Please feel free to download this for private use, but please don't publish it or copy to other sites without my permission!  :)  Jen