Apple ice

Today was a very busy day, with a long orchestral rehearsal this afternoon and then the concert this evening. I also had to spend nearly forty minutes in the back yard at lunch time, digging my car out from under several inches of snow and defrosting it as thoroughly as I could, before setting off for Chipping Campden. So I didn't have much time for photography, and I was therefore grateful to this little squirrel (one of four that were in the garden at the time) for suddenly pouncing on one of the apples I'd thrown onto the snowy lawn for the birds, just when I happened to have a camera and 500mm of lens in my hand. If there had been a little more light, and I'd had a bit more shutter speed, I'd also have been able to capture the moment when it suddenly threw the apple away and leapt into action to knock seven bells out of another of its clan, who'd apparently overstepped some mark that wasn't obvious to a non-squirrel. Another time, maybe.

The concert this evening went pretty well, though as always I find myself more focused on the mistakes I made than all the bits I sang well. The conductor seemed generally pleased, and so did the lovely young musicians from the Birmingham Conservatoire who provided our orchestra. But the most important reassurance I received that it was an enjoyable concert came from R, who never flannels just to make me feel better because music is too important for that - so when he caught my eye and smiled at one point in the second half, and then again as I walked towards him at the end, I knew we must have done OK.