Autumn Beauty

Our trees are rapidly losing their foliage. P seems to enjoy this very much. Especially since I taught him how to jump in a leaf pile. He has also started a leaf collection. Anyway, I just found this beautiful Bradford Pear leaf for him, and I had to take a picture. Just thought I'd share some beautiful fall color. Enjoy!

Pecan harvest has arrived!

I'm so happy! I actually managed to rescue some of our pecans from the squirrels this year! It's not much, maybe about 1 1/2 to 2 cups shelled. But I just love it when I can harvest edibles from around our house! I also got some good practice at shelling them. I think I've gotten pretty good at getting mostly whole or half nuts from the shells!

Now, what to make with them. Hubby would love a pie, but it's not enough for that. Maybe some pecan snickerdoodles. That sounds yummy!

Buzz Lightyear and Mama to the rescue!

I went to the fabric store today to get a few supplies, and what does my darling P find? Buzz Lightyear fabric, and he just has to have it! In fact, he needed it! Being a sucker for cute 3 year old faces and easy projects, I promised him a new pillowcase. There were several different prints, but this soft cotton flannel was his favorite. And it really is quite snuggly. So we bought a yard and brought it home. 30 minutes later, voila! An excellently executed pillowcase with french seams and a double stitched hem to seal in the edges. The best pillowcase I ever made! And I have a very happy little boy! If only it will encourage him to go to bed when I tell him to....

Yamaha 221 Bass Clarinet on Ebay

This is a download for a recording of my husband, Jeremiah, playing the Yamaha 221 Bass Clarinet we currently have for sale on ebay. The listing will end this Sunday, August 8th, so go check it out! If you prefer not to download the recording, use the player in my sidebar to stream it.

UPDATE: Bass Clarinet sold and was sent off to a very happy customer across the pond.

The Sailor's Sonata - New Music for Flute

This is a 3 movement sonata that I wrote for my Dad on Father's Day a few years ago. He has been saying for years that he would like to buy a boat (and has yet to do so), so I thought a sonata related to sailing would be appropriate.
The Sailor's Sonata is written for solo flute. It is my attempt to evoke feelings, emotions and scenes related to the ocean and sailing. The first movement is called "The Ship at Sea". The rolling flute lines should sound a bit like waves or the rocking of the ship. The second movement is called "The Waves are Calling" and is meant to evoke the torn emotion of a sailor trying to explain to his beloved why he must return to the ocean. The third movement is called "The Dancing Sailors" and is a theme and variations movement meant to evoke images of sailors trying to outdo each other while dancing.
Please see the media player in my sidebar to hear it, and I hope you enjoy listening to The Sailor's Sonata. If you are a flutist yourself, or you know one, and you would like to order a copy of the score, please visit my etsy shop Vividly Dreaming Blue for more details

No Christmas cards this year?

I feel so hmmmm...interesting today. With the rapid descent into the holidays, my family and I are in the midst of the busiest time of our year. Nov-Dec is really quite hectic for us.

It starts with the birthday of my SIL mid-Nov, followed by our dog's b-day (not a huge deal, but fun none the less), followed by Thanksgiving (which we celebrate at my parent's home), followed by my brother's b-day...And that's just the second half of Nov.

Dec brings several gigs for DH and I (both musicians), including my holiday orchestra concert and his 2 middle school band concerts. We also have to help our SIL move this month, go to a wedding, and celebrate my dad's b-day. Don't forget that we still have to shop for some gifts!

(Did I mention, we also have to squeeze in time to paint the room SIL is moving from and rearrange it for DS?)

Finally, we get to Christmas! I leave the Christmas prep to my mother, since we celebrate at their house...but that still leaves me with a very excited 3-year-old (who finally understands about presents and Santa) to deal with. Whew...I hope I haven't lost you yet, because we're not done yet! Then, after Christmas we get a minor lull for a couple days while we try to figure out what to do with all DS's new toys, and then we're off again for my DH's New Year's Eve gig, where I finally get a break with nothing to do, but read, knit, crochet, and listen to DS breathe while he sleeps. (Sigh of slight relief) But, the holidays are not over for us yet, because we have DH's b-day to celebrate, while squeezing in a dentist appt and eye doctor appts all in the first week of Jan.

So, I hope I will be forgiven if I don't send x-mas cards this year. I just don't think I'll have time to do it.

Yeah, I suck at blogging, so far...

Ok, I haven't been the most avid of bloggers since I started this, but I am becoming quite an avid crafter! Most of this creativity has been spurred by my recent shop opening on etsy (http://flutistyva.etsy.com/). I started the shop quite some time ago but just started posting items about a month ago.

I've sewn diapers, flute and piccolo covers, and knit and crocheted a couple hats! I even sold my first item a few weeks ago, a set of coasters. So this has thoroughly spurred my creativity and now, the only thing I can seem to think about is crafting. What can I make? What would sell?

I've also been checking out some message boards, and came across basket coiling. "Hmmmm, what's that?" my crafty-brain wondered. So I googled it and found out some information. Then my crafty-brain kicked into hyperdrive, and said, "You must try this!" But what to use for the core....Hey, what about plastic bags. I have a million-zillion of them cluttering up my mudroom! What a cool way to get rid of them!

So I used plastic bags for the core, and pulled some yarn from my stash to start my coil! Yay, so easy, and totally fun....

Flash forward to 4 days later....

Man, this is tedious. What the hell was I thinking! Anyway, I am definitely NOT coiling with yarn again. But I do think I can adapt the technique to strips of cloth and make a larger basket quicker. I can now feed my basket addiction without having to buy baskets! YAYAYAYAY!!!

Anyways...here's my one and only coiled yarn basket. Just big enough to use as a cell phone holder.