Good Morning, Moon!

We had a new moon sometime last week, and, as often happens with a new moon, a change of weather. Today our high was +26º (73ºF). Only the third day in September that we were above 20º. The farmers are finally able to get back out in the fields to harvest the crops.

At 3 a.m. last Thursday morning, the moonlight was brilliant. You could have worked in the garden by its light. And when morning came, the moon was lingering in the western sky.

You can see in the photo that the pea field across the road was only partially harvested up to that point. To the left of the spruce the peas have been combined. To the right, the crop is still on the land. Our neighbor is out there at this moment, combining peas. He'll work until late in the night, and start again very early tomorrow morning. We pray the weather will cooperate now, as this is terribly late for harvest.

I had such a great weekend! On Saturday our string quartet performed 2 hours of classical music at the Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller. The reception was on a second floor, outdoor patio. We were thankful the day was warm, but struggled mightily with the wind. Our music was held fast to the stand by many clothespins, but we still had some accidents, with music being blown right off the stand. After an hour of struggle, we moved into the lee of the building, and that was a much better situation. Doesn't sound like fun, but we really love to play, and our music was well received.

Many government people were present. Our Premier was there, though I didn't see him, being focussed on the music. Past Premier Peter Lougheed came by and greeted us individually, shaking our hands and asking our names. A real gentleman, and a politician we all respect.

In the evening Jim and I went to Red Deer for the first concert of the season for the Red Deer Symphony. There were just two numbers on the program: Schumann's Cello Concerto and Beethoven's First Symphony, in that order. The cellist was terrific, and we had wonderful seats in Row F, just left of center.

During intermission I went backstage to greet Norbert Boehm, from whom I took violin lessons in the 70's (after not playing for 14 years!). I hadn't seen Norbert for 32 years, and it was a treat to talk with him again.

Here are the last three blooms on the Hibiscus for this season. I've been clipping down the stems, three a day for some time. This morning, I snipped off these last withered bloom, and will now give Hibiscus a rest for a few months. If I've timed it right, it will be in bloom again in January.

Today's accomplishments: 4 pints of tomatoes canned, big pot of minestrone soup made, 3 pages of detailed instructions for paper piecing written out and printed. Tomorrow I will be teaching paper piecing at the town quilting club from 1 p.m. until sometime in the evening. Later this week I'll post some pictures of that session.