Interesting slant

Heading out to mail some stuff, put a check in the bank & pick up the papers before it rains. Freezing (literally) here - "feels like" 24F, so best I put another sweater on before heading out. No big plans for this evening - just went through a couple yarn bins - how did I accumulate all that stuff? And couldn't find what I was looking for so now I have to search all the other stash hideaways to try to track down the fugitive yarn.

Interesting shape

Wow - 13F outside & "feels like" 3F. I had to stand in line so long at the P.O. yest. that I decided to postpone grocery shopping 'til today - too much fun in one day otherwise. ;) It's _much_ less windy today, so that's good for carrying groceries to the car. There are several articles in a recent NY Times that I'll forward all today, at the risk of overwhelming you, lest the paper hang around here for days waiting for me to get to all of them. Have entirely too much of _that_ already. This house is on the same street as yesterday's photo.

Toddling down Alban Street

We happen upon this turqoise maison. It's unclear to me if this is a single-family with two front entrances (for "Preferred" & "Hoi-polloi"* perhaps? Heading out the the Post Office soon & if it's not too brutal (25F - "feels like" 10 now - though the sun shines, Nellie - wait, I've heard that before), taking a swing down to the local Tedeschis to pick up the papers. Thence to a grocery shopping run in Cambridge - I'm hoping everyone will have been out yesterday since the temps then were much more clement. Then the uzhe - tootling, stitching. Andy's working from home again - refuses to wait for buses, etc., in sub-freezing temps. Wimp.

* <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoi_polloi>

Thus begins the Ashmont Hill Series

On Nov. 11 I took my first (recent) stroll through the Ashmont Hill
area of Dorchester a few blocks from moi (you know its fancy because
it has its own sign).

Our tour begins on Alban St. <http://tinyurl.com/yez7apv> with what I call
Wowza. Just above freezing now with a forecast high of 41 and rain
scheduled, though the sun shines [now], Nellie.* Perhaps I best get
out early for a walk & then tootle & stitch (why does that sound
vaguely off-color?). This rather stream of consciousness missive ends
with a big hug and the hope that all's well with you. OXOXO JR

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wait_%27Till_the_Sun_Shines,_Nellie> -
who knew stock traders sang?

All the leaves are brown (all the leaves are brown) and the sky is gray (and the sky is gray)

Got down on my knees . . . OK enough of that - recognize the song?*
Raining here this AM & weather widget says a high of 50F is forecast -
the snow disappeared literally overnight with some apparently heavy
rain (but who knew? I was sleeping - and, thankfully in a warm(ish)
dry house!). Some chores, tootling & finishing up a vest on my docket
today. Next knitting project will be a cardigan in some lovely Rowan
yarn for my chunky yarn project & I'm not sure what exactly on the
smaller size yarn - I've decided to keep a few projects going on
various weights of yarn just to mix things up - though being a project
polygamist means any one of them takes that much longer to complete -
and if it's a particularly complicated pattern, one has to keep close
notes as to where one left off or it's hell trying to figure out where
you were when you pick it back up after awhile. Speaking of notes,
happy to report those knuckle breakers in Peter & the Wolf &
Prokofiev's Classical symphony are beginning to sound better. Not that
I have to play them soon (thank God) but one want to be prepared. :)

* <http://popup.lala.com/popup/432627069321242532>

Plastic Rover behind bars

Grey day here - 38F going up to 39F according to my weather widget - mid-40s re the weather dude. Heading off to the Stitch House Dorchester in about 1 hour - 1/2 off some yarn that I'm hoping they'll have colors for a sort of Norwegian design sweater that's kicking around in my head. Later for some Polarity work & then I have to get back to tootling - I've more or taken the last couple days off. Don't wanna sound like caca @ the Jan. 4 orchestra rehearsal! Snitch has just joined me - she's doing her rotating kittie thing trying to find her special position on my lap.

Morning frost

One of the things that gets me out of bed on a cold morning is to see what wonders Mother Nature has created on the window. The stained glass is one of Dad's creations. A lovely Christmas morning here though with temps forecast to be above freezing the next few days, the snow will diminish. We're apparently headed for another deep freeze next week, so maybe it won't ALL be gone by then - and fingers crossed that the "wintry mix" that we're forecast this weekend has a chance to dry before it hits, or getting around will be (sarcasm on)a joy(sarcasm off).

Tired Rudolph

Of course the ground around him is snow-covered now (though not for long with temps above freezing forecast for the next few days & rain on Sat.) - and if he's so tired already . . . I dreamt last night that I was living in an old folks home & decided it wasn't a healthy place for me since everyone there was either slightly demented, ill or otherwise encumbered - though for some reason I could see no way out. Upon awakening I realized it's only 20 years until I'm 75 (I should live so long) and who knows what shape I'll be in then? Kinda bleak for a Christmas eve, but there you are. But, to quote my mantra, I won't live in Dread, it's a horrible place and I absolutely refuse to stay there. For today, I have a lovely cat sitting at my feet keeping me company, plan to head out soon to the Post Office & a morning constitutional (since it's finally warm enough - 31F - to contemplate doing that without freezing my tits off) and then on to whatever else the day (or my plans) has/have in store.

Save me!

This poor little puss was just around the corner from the Christmas colors building. It's beautifully sunny here with temps cold enough that the snow should stick around. Freezing rain forecast for Christmas day evening - blech. Heading out soon to mail Christmas cards, grocery shop & then back for (even more) vacuuming, tootling & stitching.

Christmas colors

This photo, from Halloween, was ahead of its time. Heading out for an Alexander lesson soon - then the usual, tootling, stitching, and, if I'm feeling ambitious, some vacuuming. I wish the weather forecaster who was bemoaning the "refrigerator" effect of the snow would focus instead on its benefit to the bulbs & seeds that otherwise lie under ground exposed to the elements. <http://www.adn.com/gardens/story/550298.html>

Lonely lookout

For some reason this caught my eye on a 2009/10/31 walk. Lovely 10" or so of snow on our yard and it looks like it'll be around for Christmas. Andy's working from home today. Since he hangs around in the kitchen to do so, I'll have to work around him doing laundry. Did manage to get my music from Franklin the other day (have I told you already?) and discovered a great fabric store there with a moderately interesting yarn collection. I got fabric to back a canvas that Andy stitched eons ago, though it's circular so I think I'll probably farm it out to be finished unless I decide to undertake a really challenging project for my first attempt on the Singer 301A (from the 50s - the newer Singers by all accounts are crap) that I won on Ebay a couple weeks ago. Happy to have a warmish house to live in. Andy made molasses cookies yesterday. Yum.

Game of chance

Snowing now - though I doubt we're going to get the 10" (ooh, baby!) they promised. Nice & quiet outside. Off soon to tootle, etc. Might try toddling down to the corner store (about 1/4 mile away) to get the papers later - maybe if I wait long enough Andy will shovel?

In case you're interested, here's a list of Czech pubs selling "craft" beers and here's a list of Czech breweries <http://aliancepiv.cz/> and here <http://pivovary.info/> - and in case you're curious, there was an article on craft beers in Prague in a recent NY Times Travel section. Student coming today, as, apparently, is (are?) 7-14 inches of snow. Yippeee! Two years in a row of a white Christmas. Thank goodness it happened _this_ weekend & not last. Can you spot the lone walker?

All gone

Heading off soon to an acupuncture appt - though I'm thinking of scheduling them later in the morning so I don't have to rush out the door @ 9AM. So far we're not forecast to get any of the snow this weekend - a pity for the poor bulbs that are experiencing these single-digit temps with no blanket of snow to protect them - not to mention the (normally 3 out of four) chance of a not-white Christmas here. Oh, the pic is of a tree whose gradual balding I was tracking this fall.

Fallen Leaves

Wow - 16F outside & feels like -3F. Heading out soon to Franklin to pick up the music then back to hunker down in the nice, warm(ish) house. Turns out the bassoonist has rehearsals every Sunday PM, so so much for the house concert - at least until the orchestra breaks for the summer. Probably for the best - finding rehearsal times btwn now & the end of January when the concert was proposed would have been tricky. And more time to work out the (few) tricky licks.

The runner & the knitter

Runner: "Why don't you just buy socks?"

Knitter: "Why don't you just take the bus?"

The photo I'm calling purple 'n pink. Obviously the flowers in the picture are long gone (well about 1 month & a half, anyway). Heading out noonish for lunch with my friend & former supervisor (plan to wear & show off the sweater I made with some of the yarn the dept. gave me when I retired), followed by (I hope!) finally being fitted with my night guard that is designed to halt the "Center, Ho!" (and not the lead player on a prostitutes' basketball team) migration of my teeth. 29F with a forecast high of 30F here today (they say it feels like 17F right now, so best I bundle up.

Interesting detail

Here's a porch detail nearby that caught my eye (internal rhyme anyone?).* Heading out soon for errand running (meds, yarn, cat food, groceries, yadda, yadda, yadda). I discovered yesterday that I managed to leave my 3-ring binder with the picc part to the Tchaikovsky in Franklin so I have to schlep down there on Thurs. Well, at least they found it - I'm pledging to myself to work on some of those licks during the course of the year to _really_ get them nailed down. 42F & partly cloudy here but what do I care, I'll be in a car. (Where DOES one put the question mark in a sentence like that?) Since I've not posted in a couple days, I'm including a couple photos I sent around to my daily email group. 1 of moi @ Melrose & the other another house.

*<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_rhyme> Gotta love a posting with footnotes.

Mary Ellen's shawl

Here's a copy of my neighbor, Mary Ellen, and the shawl I made her after her husband died several weeks ago. I thought she might need something to keep her warm this winter with hubby gone. I'll have another crack @ those picc licks tonight. How they went last night is best passed over in silence. Tomorrow I'll have to go miles out of my way to and from Franklin to avoid the traffic from the expletive deleted Patriots home game. :(

Peaceful puss

I'm sure glad she's inside today (not that she ever goes outside except for trips to the vet). Apparently it's 25F out there & feels like 6F with the wind. I'll be heading out (heavily bundled) for a walk soon, then getting ready for the rehearsals that begin @ 4PM. I cancelled my acupuncture this AM figuring I needed the 3+ hours it would take me to get to & from (esp. since I had to wait 30 minutes _twice_ for an expletive deleted Ashmont train yesterday - and it wasn't even inclement weather) to practice, etc. Laundry, here I come. :)

What's wrong with this picture?

Again, I hope I haven't sent this before - I need to come up with some kind of system that tells me whether I've posted a photo or not when I go out of sequence. It's a new store on the corner & I haven't had the heart to tell them - not that they'd necessarily care. Heading out soon for an Alexander lesson - anxiety grows for the Nutcracker licks, since we rehearse tomorrow. I'm hopeful that the acupuncture treatment I'll get Friday morning can address that - that and more slow practice. If you've heard of heavy, wet snow in New England, we got none. Driving-wise, I'm grateful for that, even though it would be nice to have a white Christmas.

I imagine back in the day the subject line for this msg. might have been (mis)taken as a headline for some kind of fracas in the Soviet Union. I hope I haven't posted this picture before. Of course, those leaves are long gone (the photo is from 29.Oct.2009), and we're having the aforementioned wintry mix - right now it's just a little snow but with the flakes getting smaller & smaller which is a sure precursor to the switch to rain (according to my weather widget it's 36F out there now). Thank goodness I'm not a mail carrier today! The whole day to practice, vacuum (?), & stitch. I'm working my way though The Six Wives of Henry the VIII on Netflix (I remember them when they were first broadcast & I read a THICK bio on him as I lifeguarded that summer) as well as reading Wolf Hall, winner of this year's Booker Prize <http://www.themanbookerprize.com/>. It's a novel of the period seen through the eyes of Thomas Cromwell. I hope when I've finished both that I'll have a clearer of who exactly all the characters in this real-life drama were.

Red diamond

Title a la Kandinsky. When I passed a house this AM (early - before
9!) that had simply painted over this detail, I realized what a
difference just a little bit o' paint can make. The thing I learned,
too, is that the sun really _isn't_ up so far in the sky @ that time
of day this time of year, so in addition to it being just a little
above freezing, it was kinda shady, too. I'd left early to get the
jump on some errands before the lines got too long & to cast my vote
for a potential new senator. We'll see who wins. I imagine it's going
to be our attorney general, who has the greatest name recognition, I
certainly hope it isn't the part-owner of the Boston Celtics who works
for Bain Capital. Snitch is settling in my lap & kneading my left arm
purring all the while, so I guess she things I'm going to be here for
awhile. On to practicing, vacuuming (yeah, I lied - I didn't get to it
yesterday - did get some laundry done). We're forecast to get that
miserable "wintery mix" tomorrow (something I always maintain should
be reserved for serving at holiday parties) starting as snow & then
turning to rain. Blech. At least I don't have to go anywhere & this
weekend is (so far) supposed to be cold but clear.

Curvey detail

Sorry I didn't include this with the curvy house picture yesterday. It's a closeup of the detail on the roof. We're up to 32F now, woo hoo, so I'll head out to deposit the corporate gig check soon. Then I get to stay @ home all day, yippee! Good news, too, since the laundry is to the roof (I exaggerate only slightly), and for some reason we have whore's wool of cat hair all around the house just begging to be vacuumed up (I don't know how I ignore the racket). And of course all the knuckle breakers in the Nutcracker waiting patiently for their daily workout. Once that gig's over, I can settle in for a long winter's nap until January. Of course Dvorak 5 is on the books for the March Melrose concert but a quick look @ that yesterday didn't reveal any particularly hair raising sections (though, goodness knows I could use a few of those) and one never knows what hellish tempo the conductor will take in the fast movements.

Nature's cathedral

I'm jumping ahead with my photo sequence to this morning (and hoping I don't resend this one like I did the pumpkins). :| The overhang makes mail delivery, etc., a little difficult (unless one realizes that one can go up the side steps to get to the porch. Left last night @ 4:30PM, got home @ midnight. Makes the $/hour a little less than overwhelming, but the dinner was good (I was happy to have been given the stuffed chicken entree & not the steak since I don't trust the FDA's mad-cow screening), it was good to see Matthew Doherty, the harpist, & the tunes were fun (except for the really chromatic ones in the fake book since the melody line is so small, my weakening eyes can't decipher them so quickly). And here's hoping mother nature's gotten weekend snow storms out of her system at least until after NEXT weekend when I have to schlep down to Franklin 3 times for rehearsals & performances.

Blue curves

Have sent my Sat. student off to work for the next two weeks, heading out soon for a Polarity treatment & then back to iron a shirt & see if any of my dark suits still fit for the 4-hour corporate gig (they also feed us dinner, so, assuming there's something other than red meat on offer, that'll be good). Hope all's well by you. OXOXO JR

Funnel Tree

Someone on Dakota Street obviously thinks this is a good look for a tree. Quite the the blustery day here - with a high of 63F (on Dec. 3!) forecast. Unnatural I calls it! It's apparently 66F outside now so someone goofed. The sun's now pouring through the clouds. I had thought I'd postpone the walk until later, but maybe I'll head out now.

Remember when I said I was doing laundry yesterday? Well, I lied. Since we were forecast to get rain (which we did), I decided I'd wait since I'd be hanging it up (or rather draping it over drying racks) just before the rain moved in. So it's (the laundry's) on the docket for today. That damned Bb scale still eludes me from time to time even @ mm 35 to the 1/8th note. The picc is much more susceptible to movement so I have to push harder against my lip to keep it steady. Since that's not what I usually do, I tend to forget. Fascinating, eh? I should alsways have such problems.

Odd angle

There are some houses around here that certainly have odd angles build
in. Heading off soon for the morning constitutional. Will pick up a
paper to read the text of Obama's speach last night (we watched Merlin
instead). There was some interesting commentary on Charlie Rose last
night after the fact. <http://www.charlierose.com/#schedule_lower>
(I'm not sure that link will work - it's taking too long to load &
I've got to get going). I'm curious to read what others have to say
with at least a few more hours to digest it. Ask me, we're
doing no good there & should get out now.. Thereafter,
tootling, housework which today consists of laundry & vacuuming
(_where_ does all that cat hair come from???), & then stitching &
watching a version of Dorian Gray on Netflix.

Another Dakota Street scene

Someone else likes kitties, too. Heading out for a morning's worth of shopping, I'm afraid - then cramming to get my practicing in before my student shows up this evening. Sunny here today, but only 36F - forecast high of 44. We'll see. I think it's the first really cold (well comparatively speaking, anyway) we've had this season. Happy (?) World AIDS Day. <http://www.worldaidsday.org/>

Now _that's_ a color

Another Dakota street house. Finished off our T'day left overs last
night - that's one down side of not having a turkey - we're usually
eating off the bird (what with sandwiches, pot pie, etc.) until
Christmas. Sunny, 44F with a high of 52 - the wind seems to have died
down. I noticed as I turned into the driveway this morning after the
Sunday morning grocery/paper run that all the leaves are even off the
oak in the yard, most likely a result of yesterday's bluster. Time to
rake? Am working on my vest, a sweater & a sock (in varying
thicknesses of yarn). The trouble with not being a project monogamist
is that any one project takes that much longer to finish. Oh well,
can't have everything - where would you put it?

Interesting siding (or is it shingling?)

From our very own Dakota street (if I remember correctly). From our very own Dakota street (if I remember correctly). <http://tinyurl.com/yd9y2ek> A very blustery day here - though the rain's subsided so I imagine I'll head out for a stroll soon. Then perhaps some laundry (though there's been so much accumulated because of the rain that I don't know that I'll have room to hang it all), tootling & stitching. I'm doing my best to follow Julius Baker's advice that the nearer the performance comes (first - well, only - Nutbuster rehearsal 11.Dec) the slower one practices. It worked pretty well for the Melrose Nov. concert, & he was, after all, flutist with the New York Phil, so, hey, why not? A very blustery day here - though the rain's subsided so I imagine I'll head out for a stroll soon. Then perhaps some laundry (though there's been so much accumulated because of the rain that I don't know that I'll have room to hang it all), tootling & stitching.

Final flowers

This from almost a month ago (I'm that behind in my photo diary). Rain, rain, rain here today - so much for a walk I guess. I headed out yesterday around 4PM - lots more people out & about then than mid-morning - though it was a holiday so I suppose normal weekdays are quieter (or not?). I only got 1 round of practicing in yesterday - was heading in to do my second when Andy told me dinner was ready. Even though we had a vegetarian meal (vegetarian shepherd's pie with seitan,* haricot vert/brussel sprouts & mashed potatoes/celery root) & who wants to to practice on such a full stomach? We're already only 1 degree shy of our forecast high of 46F today - and there are sounds of a cat fight in the kitchen. Why can't those sisters get along???!!!

* <http://www.vrg.org/recipes/vjseitan.htm>

Day of thanks

I'm taking a moment today to remind myself of how rich my life is because of the many friends and family in it. Today's photo is a detail of the one from yesterday. The lid on the glass is because Snitch assumes that any container containing water, wherever it happens to be, is provided for her personal consumption. :)

My own little corner

Here's another of my own little corner series - it's a picture of the book shelf in the guest room where I sleep now to avoid Andy's snoring. Rain forecast throughout the Thanksgiving holiday weekend - or at least through Sat. 46F with a high forecast of 53F. I'm heading out soon to the auto shop to have the oil changed - figure (hope) there won't be many people doing that the day before Thanksgiving. Then the uzhe, practicing, stitching, watching movies stream over Netflix.

My favorite lap warmer

Though in this pic she's on Andy's lap. Heading out soon for an Alexander lesson - and maybe to pick up a size 11 circular needle for the aforementioned bulky yarn project. Then it's lunch, tootling, & some housework. Thereafter, stitching, of course. Still the occasional sneezing coughing fit - I hope not during said lesson. Wouldn't want to spread the wealth. :| Overcast & rainy here with a forecast high of 48F.

Golden explosion

Potter's sleeping on my cardigan on the office chair I usually sit on when composing these missives, but she doesn't seem to mind that I've brought the desk chair over & am typing next to her with the keyboard on my lap. Heading out soon for the daily walk & to deposit the check I got for 1/2 the payment for my old picc. Yay! The total is only 1/4 of what the new one cost, but every penny helps. :) We're due for rain later so they say but I find cloudy days nicely contemplative & my friend, Jim Dennihan, who's now living in MN, likes them best of all. Heading into the home stretch on the cardigan & then on to a vest with some lovely Fleece Artist yarn <http://www.fleeceartist.com/>& something with a bulky yarn for the more immediate gratification. :) Tootling in my future as well. I'm going to nail that lick yet! :)

Christmas colors

Well, the stores are doing it (pushing Christmas already) so why not moi? Anyway this photo is from late October. I was by the house the other day & the red is all gone. Ou sont les feuilles d'antan?* I will go near no more grocery stores until after Thurs. The local one was already a madhouse before 8AM this morning! Lovely sunny day here. 47F with a forecast high of 50. No wind yet. So much for weather forecasters.

Some tootling & stitching in my future today (& maybe some library vacuuming) - I'm working on that horrendous The (French for tea - for the Nutcracker movement) Bb picc lick SLOWLY with a metronome (which, as Tom Nyfenger pointed out, could be a dwarf that lives in the Paris Metro) so we'll see how that works. Otherwise, am picking up stitches for the button band on the cardigan I'm working on and then, after sewing up the pockets I'll be done, done, Dr. done with that project! It's turning out quite nicely, happy to say, despite all the alterations I made to the pattern. Hope all's well by you.

* In case you missed the reference <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Villon>. Who knew it was Villon?

Fool me once, shame on you

Fool me twice, shame on me. Here's an overview of some of the arguments against health care that you'll hear today. Turns out they're retreads of arguments that have been around since as early as 1935 - and have been trotted out every time an attempt to overhaul the health system is proposed.

http://tinyurl.com/ylg4za6

Feeling a bit more energetic today. Flute student just left & now to laundry, tootling & stitching. My copy of the Flutist Lexicon , all 900+ pages of it (!) & to which I contributed three articles arrived this week. Now where is the 10 euro fee I was promised in exchange??!! 53F with a high of 56 forecast and sunny - we're apparently in for a blustery day tomorrow - which will most likely remove most of the rest of the leaves from their branches.

Late asters

Even with most of the leaves down around here, these blooms are still hanging on. Raining cats & dogs (again) this AM. Andy's working from home so I hope I can entice him to venture out to the local pharmacy (to pick up a prescription 4 him) & the local yarn store (they're having a 1/2 off sale & some yarn @ $2.00/skein - who can resist?) later on. FINALLY this cold that has gripped me (pun intended)* seems to be easing up.

* <http://www.thefreedictionary.com/grippe>

Is symmetry beauty?

I was watching the tail end of a PBS show Closer to Truth that's on btwn. 7 & 8 AM here. (though I've yet to find where they hide the transcripts). They were talking about science & the arts & the narrator stated as fact two things that I immediately said "Really?" The first was that symmetry is part of beauty - and since I tend to find it boring, I immediately wondered at that one. The other comment: that Nature is beautiful, which I found a bit sappy (and not in the tree way). The Nature is beautiful comment had as its backdrop a lovely forested area in front of which the narrator was standing. I immediately thought of a jaguar bring down a gazelle & wondered how that was beautiful, or as I said to my friend, Pam, as we walked through a butterfly garden and watched a bird attack a butterfly, "Mother Nature: the downside."

Heading off to my walk soon & then to Cambridge for my bi-monthly grocery shopping @ Whole Foods & Trader Joe's. Andy said it was "too soon" to think of getting stuff 4 Thanksgiving (I think we're having a vegetarian one). Fine, as long as he doesn't expect me to go out the day before & battle the last-minute crowds!

Harlem

Unfortunately Potter's sleeping on the chair in front of the other computer so I'll have to send something from this one in the library - it's from the street near Margi & Michael's apt. in Harlem where I spent several days in August @ the flute convention. Sorry for the size - I don't have Fireworks on this machine to filter it down to fewer kilobytes. Feeling a bit better today but think I'm going to clear the decks of appts. tomorrow & Friday to save energy (my own - would take public transportation to & from but who wants to get into an enclosed space with (potentially) other sickees when one's not feeling well? Pas moi as they say in frogland.) Heading out (again) to the Post Office and then to a neighborhood stroll then on to tootle, vacuum, & stitch. One of these days I'm going to tackle that dissertation.

It was a purple day when I took this shot (19.Oct.2009) - too bad the shadows of the (is that a ginko?) tree disguise so much of the house. Am heading out soon at least to the post office thence determined by how I feel once I get there. I'm thinking of postponing my semi-monthly treks to Cambridge to visit Whole Foods & Trader Joe's
until Thurs. hoping by then to have more energy. After the constitutional, the usual tootling, stabs @ housework & stitching (still awork on the aforementioned sleeve - one nice thing about doing them top down is the rounds go faster & faster as you get to the cuff - by the end, one is quite dizzy). A student/colleague coming for a lesson tonight (and hopefully bringing the check for the first 1/2 of payment for my old piccolo that he is conveniently buying from me) - I think I'll sit on the other side of the room to avoid spreading the wealth. :|

Last rose

Whatever this thing is that's got me seems to be turning into a horrible cold. Thank goodness I don't have much to do next week.
Outside is beautiful with all the gold & brown & red in the leaves - most of which are on the ground now - except for our fire bush (that's really more like a tree) outside the window here. 57 outside with a forecast high of 62(!)F today. Dove-grey overcast skies. Lovely (no, really, it's beautiful). :)

Purple lady

Feeling somewhat the worse for wear from my trek (2 hours' worth) to & from the sewing machine place - they called Friday re the machine I'd left there saying they were "getting ready to throw it out" and what did I want to do with it. Not exactly the way to win my business. Raining cats & dogs (so far we haven't let any in) so driving was fun.

Off soon to get some caffeine stimulant in my veins to see if I can muster the energy to practice - gotta keep the lip up for the Nutcracker picc stuff next month - not to mention practicing that expletive deleted Bb scale to try to whip it in shape. Gotta say it sounds a lot better on the Keefe which I've decided to name Konjee (a word I heard on Flash Forward - though I'm having a hard time tracking down whether their interpretation of its meaning was correct) or Kiki for short.

Porch pot

Back on Thurs. from NYC - with a slight fever - hope I didn't pass it along to
Bill & Dale. Had a great time seeing cousins Watty, Eddie & Anne &
spending a couple days in museums with Dale. This is a photo from
19.Oct.2009. Off to stitch & hopefully to practice if my energy picks
up. No walk today. We've already reached our forecast high of the day
& rain is forecast. Hope all's well with you. OXOXOX JR