Christmas tree ...

I have kept my 1940s White Rotary busy these past few weeks making Christmas ornaments for a small tree that I'm donating to the Enfield Shaker Museum for their annual Christmas tree festival. It's been enormous fun picking out fabrics and buttons, and faux gems to finish them off with. The tree, along with several others will be raffled off to raise funds for further restoration of the Great Stone Dwelling. I pieced together a small skirt to go with it, in the style of the table runner I recently completed.



I made the garland with the ruffler attachment and a strip of fabric. It's my first time using a ruffler--what a neat contraption! It makes a perfect decorative garland. I may make more from wider strips of fabric to hang around here for a festive air.

Who would have thought it'd be December already! We had our first snow of substance this morning, minor as it was. It was only a light covering but it hung around till later this afternoon, and had me singing to myself, "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas..." Although snow is a little later this year, it has been cool enough on some days. These icles were gracing the rocks along Halls Brook Road last week:



Our string section rehearsed Handel's Messiah Wednesday evening and it was a complete and total joy. Oh my! We'll have two more rehearsals I believe, then we'll play for the sing-along at Lebanon's Congregational Church on the 20th. Next Wednesday evening, myself and 4 other cellists in our class, along with our instructor, will be playing Christmas music for the Lebanon Chamber of Commerce Christmas party. I think it's going to be a blast. We rehearsed some 3-part Christmas music yesterday morning.

In other news, Ciello is flying!! It took all year for enough of his wing feathers to grow out enabling him to make sustained flight. I'm wondering if he's ever been able to fly like this in his life? He may have been clipped since his early days. A sad thought, but it's a joy to see him flying now.

I bought a very different kind of Amaryllis this year--aren't Amaryllis fun!? They shoot up so quickly. It's green, not red, and the petals are thinner than the typical Amaryllis. It fits right in amongst my blossoming orchids.



I stumbled upon this video today and it's much too good not to share. The US Air Force Band in Washington, D.C.'s Union Station ...