Busy Summer Days

This is the first time in 15 years that I've stayed in Houston for the whole summer, and I'm finding that I'm busier than I expected to be. Oddly enough, all of my oboe students are continuing lessons over the summer, and I've picked up several new students, so I'm teaching two days a week. Of course, that means I have to keep providing these kids with reeds, so I've also been spending lots of time making lots of new reeds. Now, I've been making reeds for a long time, but it's always been a hit-or-miss kind of enterprise. Sometimes they turn out good, and sometimes I cut up most of what I start. Right now I'm in a good "groove," turning out good reeds from maybe 85% of the blanks I tie, so this is a good time to ramp up production and get ahead for the next few months. I have made some adjustments to the way I scrape, so I'm hoping that has something to do with the high success rate and that it will continue.


Last week we had a visit from Ben's sister, Suzanne, who lives in Thailand. She had to come to the states for some specialized training, so she arranged for a couple of weeks vacation to spend some time with family. She arrived last week in the wee hours of Tuesday morning and left early on Thursday to go to Lexington. All of us enjoyed getting to spend a few hours with her, and we even got in a game of spades on Tuesday evening with the kids.




I've also been negotiating over the last couple of months with a fellow in Florida who decided to buy our old '64 Dodge Dart. Last week, the guy he hired to deliver the car to him was finally able to pick it up, so I actually drove it up onto the trailer for him to take it to its new home. About that other car sharing the trailer...I'm thinking that whoever bought that thing paid too much for it (and believe me, that picture shows its GOOD side!)!




Last Friday evening, I played a program of music at University Place, the very nice retirement community where Aunt Carla lives. I had been asked to do an oboe recital, but that was too scary for me, so I played three oboe solos, one English horn solo, and six pieces on the hammered dulcimer, with my guitarist friend, Jim, helping. I was very fortunate in having Daryl Robinson, our church organist and an incredible pianist, accompany me. He also played a couple of solo pieces, and the program was quite a success.

And here's another Ginger story for you. I received a package in the mail, and while I was opening it up, I realized that Ginger was backing away from me. It turns out that she's scared of bubble wrap. In fact, if you put a sheet of bubble wrap on the floor in front of her food bowl, she has to work a little harder to get her dinner! It's always amusing to see the lengths to which Ginger will go to get food.