You all are so great! cat tail, your lessons sound like what DD's teacher says -- that there's a right way and a wrong way...and I completely hear you about being bummed about how you *used* to be able to play - that precise feeling is what's keeping me from really sitting down and practicing again. I just can't do what I used to be able to do...sounds like the "old man" in "Man smart, woman smarter" LOL So it looks like I'm going to be shopping for a new teacher. DD's teacher does have a lot to recommend her, seriously--she is great at explanation, infinitely patient, has amazing pitch (more nuanced than mine, and I was told mine was extremely good (relative perfect, but that's not the same as being able to hear intra-tone sharp/flatness), even though I was a pianist LOL)--I've vetoed a fair number of other teachers because of their demeanor. This dear woman is SO patient and yet so good at explanation and guidance -- we do owe it to her that DD has come so far so fast and developed the enthusiasm she has. I don't want to kill the love of music by getting her with an 'old school' demanding career-focused teacher...she almost definitely won't go into this professionally (she's not a real in-the-blood musician like I am--memorized all of Beethoven's 5th to sing straight through at age 5--didn't think that was odd until I had a kid LOL), but I want her to have a long-lasting love of music forever. We'll take it step by step and make sure that any new teacher focuses on love and enjoyment in addition to technique. And now I've started digging around the web, thanks to harriet's link...I found something interesting on a *sax* discussion group, of all places--thought I'd share it: -------------------- "The conventional pedagogical wisdom about flute vibrato seems to be that you initially teach it as a pulsation of the abdominal muscles, which, with time and practice, somehow magically moves up into the throat. What is always unclear in this explanation is what, exactly, is moving in the throat to cause vibrato? The true vocal folds? The false vocal folds? The muscles of the neck? Part of the tongue? I find both the abdominal and the throat explanation to be dubious at best. I tend to believe the theory that the pulsation comes from the intercostal muscles, the ones between your ribs. This theory seems to be strangely unpopular with many flutists, though it is not new and is pretty well documented (see Putnik's 1970 The Art of Flute Playing, for one source)." ----------------------------- So now here's a *third* option...guess that book is my next stop, along with more web searches...

Honestly, the blue ones are pretty for display, but since blue foods tend to be unappealing to most people, they do affect the appreciation for the wine you serve in them. The test tube ones don't look in proportion and seem to lack the grace you could find in a lovely flute. I think I would either pack them up or give them away, both sets and find something new (doesn't have to be expensive) that really celebrates your style. You could even buy an inexpensive set of flutes and hand-paint or stencil them with glass-friendly paint. Now THOSE would be worthy of your style, and your guests would find them enchanting.

I like to make a fresh ginger syrup by infusing simple syrup with grated or chopped fresh ginger. sieve out the ginger, and mix sparkling wine with fresh orange juice and ginger syrup to give it a bit of peppery flavor. is this autumnal? I suppose you could taste cider + sparkling wine together to see if that's the direction you are hoping to go.

They don't get that big here in the ground or in pots. Generally speaking, they get 50 to 60 percent of the advertised size. My old stand-by, So Sweet gets about 14" high and about 30" wide but the advertised height is 22". The advertised leaves are 5X7, but mine are 3X6. I've had one of these So Sweets for about 10 years, so they are fully mature. I just went out to measure Krossa Regal, it's leaves are 4X8, the advertised size is 7X11. I just looked up the two on myhostas.be and hostaregistrar.org. According to the hostaregistrar, they are similar in size, with KD being slightly taller. FF is not detailed on myhostas.be. So, while I was at it, I looked up Blue Angel and Sum and Substance, which I've had. They both did fine (except BA is subject to anthracnose), so the size does not deter me. Using the comparison tool on the HL, I think I like KD better. Thanks. bk