Celtic Cross meets Dutch Pipes and Drums

Just a few photos from Milwaukee and our latest rehearsal.  Deb and Rob are hosting Willie and Jose (pronounced Josie or Yosie) from The Netherlands.  Willie is the Pipe Major of Dutch Pipes and  Drums and his wife, Jose, is a piper in the band.

Deb and Rob at Massed Bands, Milwaukee Highland Games

What it looks like from a piper's viewpoint in Massed Bands.

Pipe Major Ted Kerrn tunes Willie's pipes.

Playing in the circle.  Paula and Jose.

Willie, Paula, Jose

Ben,  Bill, Ted, Dave, Jean

Episode 28 A Baby Surprise from Elizabeth Zimmermann

Listen here or from the Flash Player in side bar.

Show notes at Knitting Pipeline blog.

There is a letter from Elizabeth Zimmermann in this episode.

Vacation Glimpses

Bob took this photo of the band tuning before the competition at the Milwaukee Highland Games. We got 3rd place in our division.

I had to take my pipes apart to dry them out after the showers at the Games. It took a while to get them nice and dry.

We chase sunsets in Door County, usually to Gills Rock.

On our first day we hiked for an hour along the beach at White Fish Dunes State Park.

St. Patrick's Day--A Day for Pipers

St. Patrick's Day is a busy day for Celtic Cross Pipes and Drums. We started the day by gathering at the parade site by 10:00 AM. The band leads the parade along with city officials and cheerleaders from the local parochial high school. These photos were taken as our Pipe Major, Kevin, tuned our pipes before the parade. The morning was chilly and foggy, but the sun came out and burned off the fog. By the afternoon we were quite comfortable in just our shirt sleeves.

As we were tuning I wore a blue lace shawl over my jacket. The Oak Leaf and Acorn shawl was knitted over 25 years ago from a pattern in Knitting World by Linda Carlson. It is still one of my favorite shawls and is the perfect blue for our Flower of Scotland tartan. Before we headed to the front of the parade I loaned it out to one of our band "support staff" as she was shivering in the cold. I'll try to get a photo of it when she brings it back to me.

After marching through Peoria's downtown we played at Sully's, a popular bar downtown. Then we hiked back to the beginning of the parade route and drove to the second bar of the day. In all we played about 10 places. By the end of the day (8 PM) my shoulder and arm were sore from putting pressure on the bag and my feet and legs were sore from wearing ghillies all day. Still, it was a fun day and we were able to add a sizeable sum to the band coffers.