So some time around Thanksgiving, I deployed the heated birdbath because it was getting cold enough at night that ice was forming in the summer birdbath. The heated birdbath only sort of worked - ice formed in the birdbath on cold nights, but it didn't freeze solid, so I was able to just pull out the "ice pizzas". But that means that there's still ( Read more... )

Yanno, I haven't started the Christmas letter yet. I should do that if I'm going to get the cards in the mail by Orthodox Christmas (Jan 6).

Christmas was very quiet here. Mum sent us a gift basket of holiday breakfast (add buttermilk and breakfast meat of choice) and musical dominoes -- not the kind that make music (sigh), but the pips are musical ( Read more... )

and relax. The holiday performance season is done, mod Bell Choir. I barely count those as performances, as they're very low stress. Oh, right -- I've gotten drafted to cover Song Leader for the Sunday after Christmas, but again, that's very low stress (I know most of the audience members, I can sing most of the Christmas carols in the hymnals ( Read more... )

Monday was FCB rehearsal. It was snowing as I drove home. 50mph on the freeway and 35mph on the rural roads. Took me over 90 minutes for a drive that usually takes 45. (OTOH, I stayed on the road, which was better than a few cars I saw.) When I went out in the AM, the rear wheel wells on the car were still *full* of snow, and the fronts were not ( Read more... )

maybe. Yesterday was Livingston CB rehearsal, at which I found out that I'll probably be swapping back to barisax for the March concert - the guy who's been playing bari will be out of the country the weekend of the concert, and the section leader would rather have a bari than a tenor if she can only have one.

Still flailing at Sleigh Ride, but ( Read more... )

Did some yardwork, although not as much as I should have, but it was cold and/or rainy. (well, and there was snow last week that lasted for a couple of days. It's melted now -- we had a really warm day yesterday, with rain squalls in the evening.) There are still trees losing leaves, so we probably won't be done with raking for another week or so ( Read more... )

Yesterday morning, I went to the CVS site to schedule my COVID booster - there were openings for early afternoon! So I booked one of those, got my booster shot and did errands after.

Errands finished up in the rain & wind, as a cold front went through. In the morning, before I left, I raked up five barrow loads of leaves & branches. You can almost ( Read more... )

COVID test was negative. Today will be errands! (and scheduling my booster.)

I was very surprised that I did not have a cat sleeping with me last night. J has a bladder infection and is feeling very sorry for himself, *and* he doesn't sleep well with others when he's sick, so I'm going to be sleeping upstairs in SR's old room until he's better. ( Read more... )

The Livingston concert on Sunday went pretty well. In general, the Livingston band is very good at what they do, which is stuff that a good high school band will do. (And to be fair, I've heard a lot of high school bands that would struggle with the things that Livingston plays. And many would struggle with doing a 75 minute concert....) I did not ( Read more... )

Which is to say, very little new and interesting going on here.

I have been working on a blouse for the Livingston Halloween concert, and talking the upper saxes through easy Gay 90's costuming -- white blouse, long skirt/full pants (because we sit in the second row, no-one will be able to tell whether it's a skirt), ribbon tie at the neck. "where ( Read more... )