The nights before Christmas

And all through the house

not a creature was stirring

because no one was home!

We have been nutty with Nutcrackers.

The work this week looked like this:

On the way to work

Da boys in da back row

Camera goofiness

It was snowing in the pit - all over me!

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy Hannukah ~

Thanksgiving Weekend

Here is a pictograph of our past two days:

The pie went in like this

And came out like this

While Jim and David were hanging the Christmas lights

The turkey breast was in the rotisserie

And came out delicious.

Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the cooked turkey breast - it was yummy and really pretty!

Then we ate and went to some friends' house to share our pies

And some laughs

Then the turkey bones became stock

Today we went to work -

Here is our concert master taking the tuning note

And my husband concentrating more than me

Our music is the Nutcracker

Here is the oboe section

And my surreptitious photography of the dancers

Whew! I'm glad no one caught me...

Tomorrow is rehearsal with Sandy Patti... probably will not be able to sneak any pictures....

I hope your Thanksgiving was great! See you in a few days.

A beautiful fall day here

Good Monday Everyone!

The sun is shining, the temperature is pleasant, the leaves are rustling in the light breeze. All in all, a perfect fall day.

Thank you for your thoughts. The health issues are almost gone and so are quite a few pounds from not eating at night! Who would have thought?!

I am halfway through another Ice Queen, but in black. I have a colleague who I think will like it.

Jim's Cobblestone is progressing amazingly well. I ditched the Sirdar sweater (too much seed stitch) for this easy-peasy pullover. I am using Sirdar Country DK, Options #4 needles and knitting the 2nd largest size. My gauge is 22" instead of the called for 18" so I am hoping this will fit.

The short row shaping is fabulous! And by knitting the wrap with the stitch, there are no holes :-)

And here is a shot of the sleeves attached. I think this will be an FO very soon.

I planted some sweet little violas this weekend -

I love the tiny size of these flowers and the look of pansies. All in all, a perfect flower.

What are you all doing for Thanksgiving? We are having a friend eat with us and he and Jim will put up our Christmas lights. Then the seasonal insane schedule of rehearsals and performances begins. Nutcracker is Fri, Sat and Sun along with a rehearsal and performance with Sandi Patty.

I hope your Thanksgiving is filled with joy. I feel thankful for my beloved husband, wonderful mother and family, dear friends, both in person and cyber-space. My best wishes are with you all -

The hare and the tortoise?

Contrary to popular belief - I am no fast knitter. It is more like the hare and the tortoise here and I am the tortoise. I just sit and knit slowly and steadily and eventually an FO bursts forth. The last sweater was a fast knit even for slo-mo me due to the pattern itself. And the backs of the newest sweater projects are going quickly simply because they are easy-peasy.

Yes Twig, our season is going to be a busy one. But it is a really good thing - at some point people aren't going to hire us to play anymore so if we can make enough $$ now and sock it away, when they stop calling we can still eat. And buy yarn. Especially buy yarn.

We did lay low on Thanksgiving to get geared up for the next weeks.

LarjMarj - yes, we play Nutcrackers every year. This one was with Lakecities Ballet. It is a sweet production - nice costumes and sets, good dancing and two stars from NYC to dance the Cavalier Prince (Damian Woetzel) and Sugar Plum Fairy (Julie Kent). Here is a picture I shot before we began yesterday:

If you look carefully, you can see my husband in the back on the right with silver hair. Although there is no photography allowed during performances, I snuck out my camera and surreptitiously took one during (I think) the Waltz of the Flowers. The angle is a bit wonky since I couldn't very well stand up and shoot at the stage.... You can see my colleague James' hands on his oboe and the stage and a few dancers in the back.

The next Nutcrackers I play are with the Metropolitan Classical Ballet in December. Mom will be here so I hope she will come to see a performance. She has never seen live ballet.....

Wednesday and Sunday are rehearsal and concert at FUMC with the Texas Boys Choir. And Thursday - Saturday is RSO. It should be some good uplifting music this week :-).

I hope your week ahead is a good one.

And I should have some knitting content for you next time

See you soon~