New Snow, New Buttons, New Yarn

New Snow.
It just doesn't end. It's been a week since we've had more than a foot at once, but we keep getting little "refresher" snow falls - one to three inches almost every day.

The little snowfalls all add up to huge piles of snow that will still be melting well into the spring reminding us of a winter to remember but one we'd rather forget.

Sympathy to all of you who endured the ice storm, especially if you had a power outage. That's the worst in wintertime. We just caught the very northern edge of the storm. No ice, but three inches of snow.


New Buttons.
This has to be one of the most unusual but beautiful Christmas presents ever.

Brother Dave, the trumpet maker, is making precious and semi-precious stone key pads for his clientele. My favorite stone is Tigereye and I now have Tigereye key pads on my trumpet.

I've had them for a few weeks but it's been a challenge to capture their beauty with a camera. I still haven't, but the picture is good enough so you can imagine their shining beauty.



New Yarn.
A birthday gift from friend Sherry.

Two skeins of Blueberry Borscht Peace Fleece, 30% mohair, 70% wool from Russia.

Sherry and I both knit for CIC and Mittens for Akkol and I'm sure she was thinking of them when picking out this pretty warm wool yarn. It's not enough for a sweater, but should be plenty for a vest. Or maybe socks and mittens. I'm looking forward to casting on with it.

The Opal Petticoat is going to be for me. This is the same colorway I used for Gail's Christmas Socks. At the time I felt generous knitting up and giving away an Opal I would have liked for myself, and now I've got more of it. There may even be enough for two pair of socks if I use the little left over balls from Gail's pair.


And More New Yarn.
A birthday box from Idaho. I love it when they pick out yarn for their own socks so I don't have to agonize over if they're going to like their birthday socks.

The pastel Trekking is for Sydney. It will be the first socks I've knit for her since she was a baby.

The green is Plymouth Yarn Happy Feet for Son John's birthday socks. The gorgeous Kaffe Fassett dark jewel tones are for me. At least I think so. They had tags on them that said "Grandma B.". I'm checking with John to make sure that's what he intended.

The bumper sticker extra says Harmony Yarn in the small print.

Sweet! The Whole Story

Until the last few days only a few select people knew I was taking trumpet lessons. I wanted to feel confident I could master it in time and with practice before talking about my new adventure in learning.

After a few lessons, I leaked my secret to a couple more people, including my brother Dave Monette, a professional trumpet player and crafter of the best profession trumpets ever made.

Believe me, I had no idea what would happen next.

Dave told me that as soon as possible I needed to get exposed to a good trumpet sound so I would know what I was aiming for. Then he asked what kind of horn and mouthpiece I was playing. The answer: a student rental, which he called a "piece of crap". He said he would be sending me a Monette mouthpiece.

Next thing I knew Dave impulsively decided to fly from his home in Portland, Oregon to Kalamazoo and take me to the Wharton Center in East Lansing to hear Wynton Marsalis. This was Wynton's only Michigan gig for a while, and Dave felt we should not miss the opportunity for me to hear Wynton's great trumpet sound.


Wednesday morning Fedex delivered a Monette Trumpet. A little more than a new mouthpiece and about a million times better than my student rental.

Dave arrived later that afternoon and gave me a trumpet lesson I'll never forget. It wasn't a music lesson, it was a lesson in breathing and body mechanics. Dave works with many of the top trumpet players in the world and it was a lesson in what they do to get sweet music from their horns.


Then it was off to East Lansing. We arrived early enough to have a tasty dinner at India Palace. Highly recommended if you're in East Lansing. It was so delicious I've located a India food restaurant to try in Kalamazoo.

Although I know next to nothing about jazz, I do know a bit about music and totally enjoyed the entire performance.

During intermission, we went back stage where I got to meet Wynton and some of the band members.

Being an introvert, I thought this would be a bit overwhelming. It wasn't. The musicians all know and love Dave and extended that love to his sister with hugs and smiles. It was totally great. And then I got to go back to my seat and hear them play the second half of the concert including the world premiere of Wynton's new composition Two and 3.

Jenn asked if Wynton is as nice as he seems to be. The answer is YES.