Five faves

With the early snow in Calgary and the sharp turn of the season, I look back on some summer moments, music, singing and dancing…

• Here are a some young musicians who have worked together for just a week at the Valhalla Summer School of Music (VSSM) last August in New Denver and Silverton, BC.
  • Ben’s chamber group
  • Heather’s chamber group
• A highlight of VSSM was the last night of camp, Friday night after the concerts lying in the cool dry grass of the field close to the campground staring into the starry sky watching for the brief traces of meteors of the Perseid shower. One of the parents, an astronomer from the radio telescope in Penticton, had brought along a telescope and invited us to view the moon’s surface and some of the oldest star clusters and nebulae in the universe. The young musicians were hanging out at the beach away from parental units and then later out in the field in a cuddle puddle, with parents in their own huddle by a fire, eventually deliberating on who was going to spoil the fun and call an end to a delicious night, a delicious experience at music camp. A few weeks ago, in the middle of a sleepless night, I wrote this haiku.

Ha ha made you look!

Was all the shooting star said 

See? Universling

• The Stampede Bollywood flashmob was a success. I just found the video this month. (I’m about five rows back on the end wearing a yellow bandana.) Thanks Erin, for inviting me back into the Bollywood groove.
• Despite sometimes feeling like the music gene skipped a generation, I have started to learn ukulele. I rented one for $8 a month from Long and McQuade. Here is a great free ukulele tutorial to start with. Ben keeps hoping I switch to guitar, but can be found playing blues chord progressions on ukulele and generally making me look bad. But it’s so fun!
• I’ve been making small batches of grape jelly and unripe apple jelly using Julie’s jelly making method. 

  

This trellis is finally catching a few tendrils of the western white clematis planted 2 years ago. You would think that a  transplant from this vine (below), would do a bit better, but maybe with time and compost it will take off.