An Italian Symphony

On Saturday night our orchestra is playing The Italian Symphony by Mendelssohn, and this week my head is full of all things Italian...snippets of Italian conversation , images of Venice, and Florence and Rome, the sound of whispered voices and feet in churches, the church bells in Assisi, my own steps on the stone pathways in Orvieto, and many more.
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Puccini statue in Lucca

It has been lovely to revisit all these memories again, almost as good as being there.

We are playing some Puccini, Verdi and Donizetti too and there will be a huge amount of energy released in the auditorium that night. It is going to be our last concert for the year and then we have a party and talk about the programme for 2010.

This year has flown so fast and the other day I discovered my amaryllis in the garden about to open up. I can hardly believe it has been a year since I saw her last in all her finery.

To help with the build up of pre-concert energy, I have found spinning to be wonderful. The rhythmic flow of hands and wheel is perfect to free up the mind to listen, and just be.

I dyed some corridale fleece in soft watercolours and then have spun it over the last couple of weeks. It is always a surprise to see the colours that appear after dyeing. This soft mint green and wisteria blue is one of my favorites. I am adding this to my shop this week.