Concerts were limited again this year because of recording projects underway. Concerts included:

1. The Dance Flurry Festival, Saratoga Springs, NY
2. Kribstock, Hadley, NY
3. The Victorian Streetwalk, Saratoga Springs, NY

New sites were also set up at Enchanted Folk for Lise and The Spirites Consort.

The "Wing’d With Hopes" CD (which Lise made with The Spirites Consort) was offered through European record company, Inandout Records.

Kim Thompsett of Rye in East Sussex, England came out with a new album. On her poster she mentions The Spirites Consort here.

"Pull Me to the Sky", one of Lise's original songs from The Goldenrod album was played on Community Cafe Music Hour in September.

New greeting cards published in 2008 included:
Spirit of Autumn, Spirit of Winter, Spirit of Spring, Spirit of Summer, Spirit of Christmas, Spirit of Love and Thank You.

Impressions of Saratoga, a shop in Saratoga Springs, NY began to carry some of Lise's work.

I guess I have fallen into the habit of writing here as a yearly event (at the new year) as a way of recapping the experiences of the previous year. So here it is for 2007:

I thought we would have our CD done in 2007, but alas. Perhaps I should refrain from saying it will be done soon (& just let time decide).

By far and away, the apex of my singing and music career was performing at Troy Music Hall. Our group, Saratoga Faire, performed at the hall in January (2007) to what I was told was a crowd of about 1,000 people. You can read my blog about the experience here.

In March I was diagnosed with osteomalacia (which is the same disease as rickets; i.e. lack of vitamin D caused by lack of sun, living in the northeast, wearing sunscreen a lot & some hereditary factors). Two weeks later I was diagnosed with skin cancer (basal cell carcinoma which is caused by too much sun & probably some hereditary factors also: light skin, light eyes, blonde). One doctor was telling me to get more sun, the other not to get sun. Hmmmm…. So, that was my health dilemma of the year.

We had an absurdly long winter in 2007. The cold weather lasted until April 19 (literally meaning winter coats, gloves, scarves & wooly hats). In fact, we had huge snowstorms on April 12 and April 15 & 16.

In May, we took a trip to New York City to see 3 huge designer shows where I had the delight of shaking hands with the talented and very successful greeting card designer, Patience Brewster (she also slipped me a few helpful tips which was nice of her). We also met many other artists and designers. Highlights included a long and somewhat comedic discussion with a paper sculptor named Doll Barnes and a young fantasy illustrator named Leyla Akdogan.

Also in May and June, I was rushing to get some new designs done for a new greeting card run for the summer season. Unfortunately, we ran into trouble on the digital end of things, so we had to postpone the printing for this year.

We performed again at Kribstock at the beginning of August. Since everyone else does a more mainstream style of music, we feel a bit odd at this festival. But, John, who runs the festival, has us perform every year for the sake of variety. I’m not sure anyone in the northeastern part of NY is doing anything like what we do. A lot of our audience seems to come from Europe and the west coast, but we like the fact that there is somewhere to turn to in our own neck of the woods who reaches outside of the box.

Our Inlet concert was a bit out of the ordinary in that a black bear showed up on the lawn of our venue (a lot of the audience ran over to the window when they saw him: he was in close proximity to a group of children playing outside: yikes!). Then when the excitement was over, a torrential rainstorm pounded the metal roof of the building & drowned us out for a couple of minutes. I love playing in the Adirondacks! Adventure & the unexpected! And the audiences there couldn’t have been more appreciative!

At the end of August, I got a freak foot & leg infection with a high fever which landed me in the hospital for about a week & on crutches for a couple of weeks afterward. Our experience at the beginning (the emergency room experience) was the most interesting part. The Dave Mathews Band was playing the same evening we went & ambulance after ambulance pulled up, dropping off kids who were drunk, passed out, on a bad trip & some who had torn open their hands trying to jump the fence. I have never been to an emergency room in a situation like that (the staff was overwhelmed & the whole ward smelled like a brewery). Supposedly the hospital hires on 3 more doctors and several more nurses than usual just for Dave Matthews concert nights. Wow.

September was harvest time. This is the most labor intensive part of gardening, especially the making of the pesto. I don’t get as much done in September in terms of music and art as other months of the year. But, we do eat well and we don’t have to shop for veggies very often!

Our garden was not as large this year due to a roto-tiller failure, bad back & a broken septic system nearby (all of which happened at once). Our garden was about half the size that it usually is, but we did get a good crop of lettuce, beets, beans, broccoli, corn, basil, potatoes & cabbage. The tomatoes still did not produce the kind of fruit that other gardens in this area seem to generate (maybe we need a different kind of soil?).

As for October, everything just seemed to go wrong. We had a sudden sewer pipe break from roadwork and blasting nearby. 8” of sewage in the basement: so icky! But that wasn’t the end of our troubles. It was like break-down galore month: washing machine, dryer, kiln, water heater. Isn’t that incredible? Like an avalanche of bad luck with man-made objects.

But, I learned something about the insurance company involved in the sewer pipe break (Allstate) and insurance in general. Allstate seems to have a particularly bad reputation (for an eye-full look here and here and here and here and here and here and here. Ugh! Even their Wikipedia article is rife with criticisms). Talking to carpenters, body shop repairmen, plumbers, electricians and a lawyer who works for insurance companies (all except this one) was also an eye-opening experience. So, my advice about insurance: find out from your local trades-people which insurance companies really help their clients during a claims process and don't forget to google!

Thankfully, November and December were much better and the downward spiral seemed to stop.

Research and studies in 2007 which influenced my art and music included looking at lots of horses (wild, bred, carousel, race, etc), crows and ravens, dreams and the universe. I noticed more birds this year in upstate NY than in years before (not as many pesticides & herbicides being used?). I spent spring and summer always looking into the trees. A lovely tree outside my bedroom constantly showed a wave of birds coming to sit: morning doves, cardinals, blue jays, finches, black birds and an occasional crow.

DOVES IN A DISH © 2007 by Lise Winne	DOVES IN A GOBLET © 2007 by Lise Winne	TREEE, BIRDS and NEST © 2007 by Lise Winne
CARDINAL (detail from SPIRIT OF WINTER) © 2007 by Lise Winne	HUMMINGBIRD (detail from SPIRIT OF SUMMER) © 2007 by Lise Winne	HERE IS A WORK I DID IN 2005 CALLED "PORTAL" (so birds were on the brain then too!) © 2005 by Lise Winne