Category: musical notes

Ring in the New Year!

January 8, 2021 a good book musical notes rhymes
Happy 2021! May this new year bless us with hope and health, truth and light and peace. I have often heard the expression “to ring in the New Year” without giving much thought to what it meant — aside from churches ringing their bells on New Year’s Eve. But this…

New Mexico in winter

January 20, 2020 a-roving family matters life lessons musical notes
We landed in Albuquerque mid-afternoon on a Saturday — in fact, just before the start of the 49ers-Vikings playoff game, which was a must-see. So our first order of business after collecting our rental car was to track down a sports bar where we could watch the game. Craig and…

Sing we joyous all together!

December 18, 2018 family matters holiday cheer musical notes
Chanticleer’s annual Christmas concert is one of my favorite holiday treats and — lucky for me — Craig also enjoys this event. (If you don’t know, Chanticleer is a fantastic 12-voice men’s choir, based in San Francisco.) After so many years, we know the structure of their Christmas program by…

Hearty vegetable chowder

September 18, 2018 eating well in the kitchen musical notes
Having friends visit is always an occasion for cooking up something delicious, so when my friend Lisa came out from Philadelphia, we seized the opportunity to cook together — something we both enjoy. I made my favorite pan-roasted chicken thighs for one dinner, along with the simple boiled potatoes that…

Blackberries from the vine

July 24, 2018 a good book in the kitchen musical notes
I picked eleven pints of blackberries on Saturday morning. Well, maybe twelve — there’s no saying how many disappeared between the vine and the basket (though my purple-stained mouth offered a clue). Craig has a wonderful garden patch where he grows two kinds of blackberries — Navajo and Triple Crown…

Play it again, Spira!

July 17, 2018 a-roving musical notes the eye of the beholder
My visit to Bath this past May coincided with the start of the annual Bath Festival, and I couldn’t miss this chance to hear a concert in the ballroom of Bath’s famous Assembly Rooms. Painted robin’s egg blue and sparkling with crystal chandeliers, the ballroom was well known to me…