La Llorona

My sleeping pattern has changed lately. I have gotten up at 5:30 every morning for years and years. Once in a blue moon I sleep in till 5:45 but really I don't often waver from the 5:30 time. Lately I have been waking at 3am or 4am. This morning, 3:45. I don't really find it frustrating in the morning but at night I can't keep my eyes open. My normal 10:00 bedtime has changed to 9:00 but I feel like going to bed at 8:00. What to do?

My son and his family leave the island today. I wish they'd had better weather. They didn't get to the beach as a family but my son did go jet-ski with his sister. I'm sure my grandson will remember this trip for a while as he had lots of fun with all the family members that he sees only occasionally. He got to see Clarke in person after previously seeing him only in photos. Grandma is certainly glad he's a cat lover.

Today's upload: Two versions of the latin standard La Llorona. Both are very good and very different. The version by Chavela Vargas is wonderful. This is what Amazon has to say about her 2003 gig at Carnagie Hall, which is what this version is from. On September 15, 2003, an adoring and sold-out Carnegie Hall audience gathered to pay tribute to a true legend and revolutionary. Everyone in attendance was aware of the magic and history on that stage, and was in awe of how an 84-year old woman making her Carnegie Hall debut wielded fearlessness and heartache to command the venue. Fearlessness is what brought her to the public's attention in Mexico in the late '50s when she dressed in men's clothing, smoked cigars, carried a gun, and chased women in a time when this was unimaginable. She openly seduced women with "Rancheras", Mexican folk songs of love and loss intended to be sung by men that became a transgressive force in her mouth. She's been an inspiration and muse to countless artists.

Happy listening on this last day of June, 2006.

Come Rain or Come Shine

I'm pretty darned organized, had everything under control, and there was no need to be scared of yesterday's horoscope. Opening day went very well indeed with nothing falling through the cracks. Good staff make all the difference and my staff are great. Nuff about work.

We are expecting rain again today. So far since my son's vacation it's rain, rain, sunshine, rain, rain, sunshine. He leaves tomorrow. This week went way too quickly. They've not made it to the beach yet which is part of a visit to PEI but on those few sunshine days, they had other things to do.

Upload today: Come Rain or Come Shine by Dr. John.

A Long, Long Day

I've been awake since 3 am. Wouldn't normally bug me but I have a very big day at work to face. It is opening day and I won't get home till 8:30 or 9:00 tonight. That makes for a very long day. I just read my horoscope for today and it scares me. I think I have all the details covered then I read this.... Bravado will be your best ally. If you're stuck in a situation that's a bit over your head, call upon your best bluffing techniques to get you through. Whatever has fallen through the cracks might rain down on you, but you'll have fun dodging the bullets and dancing as fast as you can. This will all be a great lesson on how to prioritize things in the future. Don't be too rough on yourself -- you're sharp, but you can't possibly stay on top of every little detail.

Download today: A live version of With God on Our Side by Bob Dylan. That's the kind of day I need after that horoscope. I planned to upload Martha Wainwright's, When the Day is Short but I have it on the music page already...way back there.

Wish me luck today.

Life is a Bubble

Even with the yucky weather and not eating outside, yesterday was wonderful. My dad brought my seventeen year old niece over as a surprise and I love surprises. The food was good but the company was better. Lots of laughs. My dad and my friend David are both storytellers and we ended the night listening to the two of them trade stories.

Now it's back to six days a week of work. What can I say about that? Boo Hoo maybe.

A work song to upload: Prince's, Black Sweat. I was thinking of saying that further down the music page is Nina Simone's version of Isn't it a Pity but realize I have one by Rosemary Clooney too so I'll add Rosemary's version. That's how I feel about having to go to work today

Future Motorcyclist

What a great weekend and one more day off work to go. My dad is coming over today to see the great-grandchildren. The weather hasn't co-operated with the vacationers. It poured rain on Friday and Saturday and again today, it's raining. Yesterday was beautiful and we were outside all day. My oldest son mowed because he enjoys it and hasn't mowed this lawn for eleven years. No complaints from me!

The spaghetti dinner with everyone including some friends is tonight. I guess we'll be eating inside though, not outside as planned. University son returned to Halifax last night so he'll miss seeing his Grampy.

Today's uploads are to do with home; Sophie Millman's, Back Home to Me and Goin' Home from The Skiffle Sessions with Chris Barber's great trumpet opening and Van and Lonnie Donnegan's great vocals. Dr. John sits in too.

Waiting is Hell

Oh, heart be still. My son and his family were supposed to arrive around 4:30. Because of a flight delay and rental car delays they are arriving at eight. I can't stand it! My youngest son is on the same ferry by coincidence so that's cool......for them.

Uploads today: On a Slow Boat to China by Renee Olstead. Wish it could be named Slow Boat to the Island. Also, Them There Eyes by Billie Holliday, which my kids grew up hearing me sing to them.

Hopefully I won't be electrocuted before this posting and uploading are over - we're having a wicked thunderstorm. I hope my grandchildren aren't afraid of thunder.

Summertime

The hay is made....forty-eight hours between photos. There is so much talk about every crop being early this year and I don't have tomatoes or beans in at work yet. New potatoes were in a few roadside stands and stores last Saturday...the earliest ever recorded in PEI. Time flies even when you're not having fun.

For uploads today you're thinking I'm going to put up a couple of versions of Summertime. I could do that. Instead a goodbye to spring with Jolie Holland's Springtime Can Kill You and a short melancholy number by Blossom Dearie, Once Upon a Summertime. Oh, you know I can't help it. Two versions of Summertime. One fabulous latin-accented version by Susana Baca and a really swell one by Renee Olstead. I actually thought Renee's was already on the page.

Back to the regularly scheduled SUMMER!

The Last Lupins

How to cause an uproar on PEI...... Cut the lupins down! Yes, that was the leading story with the local media yesterday. The Department of Transportation is cutting the lupins out of all the ditches on the Island. They are considered weeds. Lupins are featured in every tourist brochure and postcard, have been on the cover of the government's tourist guide and the telephone book and are a wonderful symbol of the Island.

They do spread into fields but farmers can plow them out if they invade. They seem to control themselves from taking over. Where they were thick, they get thin and start in a new area. After thinning out for a few years, they disappear in that area.

I have a new photoblog for weekly photo challenges. It will have different photos than the other one...photos specific to challenges.

I can see Clarke out on the lawn with a mouse. What a hunter! I no longer feed birds. I had the girls trained from birth not to bother birds. Birds would actually land beside the cats without fear. Then came Clarke. No training would work for him so I gave away the bird seed and look at bird pictures and listen to bird sounds on the net. I still love him.

Brave Kitty

I can't tell you how freaked out I was yesterday when I walked outside and Clarke runs toward me with A SNAKE in his mouth. I had at just that moment said hello to my father on the phone then screamed and yelled, "He's got a snake!!!!" My Dad is partially deaf and said, "Who's asleep?"

Weird but blogger turned the bottom photo around. My version on the hard drive is horizontal with Clarke's head on the top right.

If you liked the rhythms in Saturday's upload, Black Horse and Cherry Tree, you'll like today's. Juana Molina's, La Verdad is great for the rhythms and a kind of weird kind of scat. I like it a lot. Just read that Susana Baca has a new album. I will have it soon, for sure!

Less Than a Week!!!!!

Musical Friends

In anticipation of my son's family coming next week, I am cooking all day today. He needs a fix of his Mom's spaghetti sauce, of course. When I go visit him I have to make some for the freezer while I'm there. He says it's the room and board fee.

On his birthday many years ago (13th or 14th, maybe) he had a sleep over. His friends wanted a lip sync contest and wanted me to be in it too. I did the song I'm uploading today. The boys just sat there, mouths open, staring and declared me the winner before they'd all had their turns. I've heard lots of versions of this song but no one does it like this....well maybe me lip syncing. Phoebe Snow's version of There's a Boat That's Leavin' Soon for New York. Also for my son who is Bob Dylan's biggest fan, a version of Bob's song, Girl From the North Country by Dylan and Johnny Cash.

One Hundred and One

I didn't realize that yesterday was my 100th post. Darn, could have been an excuse for celebrating, probably by uploading some celebratory song or something.

In one week I'll be playing with my sweet little grandchildren who will be visiting for a week. I'm so excited!! The little boy is excited about coming because he will get to see Grandma's cats in person. Clarke is great with kids and will happily be held and carried around by little ones. The girls will probably hide for a week .

One upload today is music introduced to me by my best friend, recently introduced to her by her son. Usually I introduce her to new music, not the other way around. Anyway, she knew I'd love this song and I do. Black Horse and Cherry Tree is by KT Tunstall. It has great rhythms which is how my friend knew I'l like it. My daughter had requested something by Blind Boys of Alabama so I've added People Get Ready.

I'm attending a friend's garden party this afternoon. Last party for a while for me cause after Wednesday I'm back to working six days a week with only Monday off. Boo Hoo!

We'll Be Hearing Mowers Today

What a morning already! I already have sheets on the line and the cats are rolling around looking up into the sun and rejoicing like everyone else on PEI. After all that rain, we're all feeling a bit mouldy. It promises to be sunny for three to five days. We got the leftovers from tropical storm Alberto and got much more rain than was expected. It was pouring like you only rarely see and it was for about eight hours straight. Enough already!

If I'd known how wet it was going to be I could have uploaded a couple from Bob Dylan; Watching the River Flow or Buckets of Rain. Ian Tyson's, Sixteen Inches of Rain, would have been appropriate and Higher Ground by The Blind Boys of Alabama would have fit too. But that was yesterday.

Today, The Sunny Side of the Street by Ella Fitzgerald has been uploaded as well as one by Billy Preston that I promised last week. It is God Planned It and I bet he's talking about a day like this.

A Pretty Sky

We are supposed to get rain this afternoon leftover from Tropical Storm Alberto then some sunshine. I'm always going on about how we need rain and we do but dreary days for a week is a bit too much. I live in a little microclimate where we hardly ever get rain but it rains all around us. That has happened all week here but we still get the dreary clouds. I am looking forward to the sunshine. I mowed a week ago today and the grass is so long I'll probably have to rake.

Country Friends

An update on the robin eggs..... When BF's father found the eggs they were covered in oil and antifreeze. He wiped them off and put them back in the nest. BF has never seen a robin leaving from under the hood when he gets in the truck so maybe the mama has already abandoned the nest. He came to my work yesterday and showed some workers there. We were all oohing and aahing and suggesting possible outcomes.

We played our last night at trivia and came second. The rest of our team has been gone for a while but two of us hung in there till now. We gave our pitcher of beer away because we won't be there next week to have it and had already had our limit of two for driving. We'll be back at it in September.

Did I tell you I'm a collector of songs? I have a few songs that I love, love, love and collect lots of versions of those songs. One of these songs is I'll Take Care of You. Today's upload is two good versions, one by Bobby Bland (and BB King on guitar) and a slow one by Etta James who is in great voice here. Bobby gets bored and ends early. That's one of the earliest versions I have. I first fell in love with the song after hearing Van sing it which also happened with the song Help Me. He's such a great singer and chooses great songs. Help Me is another one of my favorites and I have lots of versions.

Quel surprise!

My daughter's boyfriend is here sleeping and I so want to wake him up before I leave for work! I'd like to see this nest in person. BF's dad went to change the oil in his truck the other day and found this nest with three robin's eggs under the hood. If Mama Robin is sitting on the eggs, they probably won't hatch because when BF is off to work or here (on the other end of the island) she's off the nest too long and the eggs would cool too much. She could still be laying and this morning is looking all over for her nest. Either way, the end does not seem promising.

A Cloudy Day on the Island

Bella likes the lupins

Clarke likes the new stones

Just walked up the road to pick some lupins. Got three beautiful vases full. I have tons in my yard but they're mostly purple with just a few pinks. The ditches have more variety.

Because of my short walk I missed a phone call from my surrogate aunt who lives in Florida. We e-mail almost daily but don't get to talk that often. She is my mom's first cousin and they lived side by side growing up. My mom was an only child so this woman is the closest to a sister she had. That's why I think of her as an aunt. She's taken care of me in the past when I needed it and always treated me very well. I hope she calls back.

Blogger really is not working well these days. I want to upload three photos with this post but so far only one will upload. I'm assuming the problem is blogger but then again, my son is home from Halifax and he's connected to my modem with his laptop and is most likely downloading movies at the same time.

I give up. Two photos will have to do. Check out Pictures and Pursuits for more if I can get them up on there.

Tide Coming In

Well, we've had a true gift. The weather forecast was rain from Thursday till Monday. Yesterday, it became sunny at about 10 am and clouded over when we went to the beach at 3:30, then the sun returned in time for us to sit on the deck for the rest of the afternoon and evening. I managed to get the rock I needed to complete the back step and have it in place.

Today the sun was out all morning and we are having showers now at four in the afternoon. I went to Charlottetown this morning to buy a new microwave and got a few plants at different garden centers. The garden centers were very busy. It's perfect transplanting weather with warm, wet showers happening oround the island and the risk of frost past it's magical June 10th date.

Today's uploads: Another version of I Think it's Going to Rain Today by Randy Newman and a great version of I Can't Get You Out of My Mind by Sonya Kitchell. Really good! Any Requests? I've been finding some really great stuff lately. For instance I just found a really great Ani Defranco song that I didn't know.....Marrow.....one of her best, I think.

Wanna Buy A House?

Kenz was feeling a little left out.

I need to do some serious thinking. The real estate agent I met with yesterday told me I'd be crazy to move. He is sure he'd never be able to find me what I'm looking for and told me that if had this property he'd never let it go. Oh, what to do!?!? It is so expensive for just me to have this huge one hundred and twenty-five year old house to heat and look after. It really is getting to be too much.

Uploads today: That's My Home by kd lang and Tony Bennett in honour of the thinking I have to do and I Think it's Going to Rain by Nina Simone for the five days of rain we are getting on PEI. We need the rain so I'm not complaining but many people are. Heck, I have a couple of friends coming over for the night and one is coming right after lunch and we're going to spend the afternoon at the beach in the rain. It's only water and I shower everyday so a little more will never hurt.

I had planned to upload some Billy Preston who died this week and will soon.

Are We Fixed Yet?

Blogger seems to be working again after experiencing troubles for a couple of days and being totally down yesterday. I actually had someone e-mail me saying they missed the blog...sweet!

Clarke has been helping me in the garden....he is playing supervisor. Of course he's staying in the shade whenever he's not chasing bumblebees and butterflies.

I have a real estate agent coming over today. He has a hard job ahead of him finding a house to my specifications. I have many but number one is not being near a potato field so that in itself will be difficult.

I've spoken too soon about blogger being fixed. Like the other day my third photo is stuck somewhere. I can't see it here in the dashboard but can on the preview. Hmmmmm!

Upload today is Lonesome Road but not the same song as I uploaded the other day. This one is a very, very fine example of perfect harmony. I don't know who the other voices are on this cut other than Kate Rusby's but it sure is nice singing together. I am also uploading Sunshine on a Rainy Day by Zoe. This is not the song you think it is but it's a nice boppy song for a rainy day like we're having here on PEI.

Goodbye to a Cool Site

Blogger wasn't working well yesterday but seems to be ok so far today. Just home from work for lunch. It's nice to have that ability to leave when I want to because once we are open I'm at work for 48 - 60 hours a week and can NEVER leave. I have someone meeting me there at one o'clock so no long lunch for me.

Uploads from yesterday are Lonesome Road by Madeleine Peyroux and 1984 by Anais Mitchell. I just discovered Anais Mitchell this winter and like her a lot. Lonesome Road is a song I know from Van Morrison but don't know who first recorded it. Good song though. I wrote about Madeleine Peyroux back here.

I will be taking Blog of the Day off the links section because that page is ending after today. If you bookmark it, the old page will still be available so that you can still check out blogs that are listed.

Blogger is not working that well. The third photo I uploaded is not showing up here on the dashboard but is on the preview. I will submit now but if there are only two photos I will fix it later. I have to get back to work.

I'm Wearing Out The Road

Made it to my acupuncture appointment at the right time and on the right day. A man arrived at the same time as me and he was on the wrong day. He chose to have the acupuncturist treat him in a sitting position in the waiting room rather than come back in two days. Another example of how things aren't really that bad with me. He had a very hard time walking and was holding and using an oxygen tank. I only have night sweats and a sore hip. Whew!

Was talking to one of my best friends yesterday and he made a comment about how difficult it was being a genius child growing up with a mentally ill mother. He was recently at his mother's hoping to store some things in an upstairs bedroom. She wouldn't let him, said, "Stop it, you're going to wear my stairs out." How funny is that!

Blogger is not letting me upload photos; I've tried seven or eight times. I'll post now and come back later to add photos of a fishing hole I drive by all the time. One side of the road is calm (and surrounded by lupins) and the other side is all rushing water because of rain all weekend.

New Sites to Peruse

With my love of ducks, you know I love this photo. This is probably a bad thing but I'm using a photo and can not remember from what website I got it. I know I should credit it but I didn't write it down and with my note-taking way, if it doesn't make it on to a note, it is unlikely to stay in this menopausal brain.

I've just had to put Clarke ouside so that I can get some peace. He wants attention and has been jumping up here and knocking said notes and papers to the floor. He's been walking on the keyboard, trying to knock my camera to the floor, and pulling all of the pencils out of the pencil dish. I closed the study door on him twice but he kept meowing and scratching at the door so now he's out in the rain. He gets matted from the rain so this afternoon I will be cutting mats out of his fur. Oh, for a few minutes peace in which to blog!

I wanted to mention that I added two links a few days ago. Growabrain is a daily listing of several cool sites or articles. The blog a day link that I've had up for a while is just one page of Growabrain's huge website. Check out his/her links section.....whew!

Another blog that checks out and features cool websites each day is Spy's Spice. More art oriented websites are featured here and I've been introduced to many new artists through "The Spy".

Looked outside and it is really raining so I let Clarke inside. He's not come into the study yet snd is probably off licking himself dry.

The Wonder Of The Sky

We were blessed with a gorgeous day yesterday and the sky was one of the best aspects of the day. Add a couple of friends on the deck, conversation and laughter, the smell of lily of the valley and lilacs, a couple of drinks, lobster, and mussels and you have the almost perfect day. If only my stereo was fixed we would have reached perfection. The computer is just too far away from the action to hear music. I miss it sooooo much!

For downloads, a couple more versions of A Change Is Gonna Come, if you can stand it. It is truly one of the best songs ever written, in my opinion. I have tons of different versions and am not sure how many I have uploaded to putfile but I can say for sure that you'll get to hear a few more before I'm done here.

Cats and Dogs

I thought I had an acupuncture appointment yesterday and when I got to my accupuncturist no one was there. I waited for a while then noticed my appt. card showing that my appt. is not until Monday. Anyway, my friend's Newfoundland pup was hanging around, drooling on my pants, walking to the road till I called him back and just being a dog. I realized at that moment that, although he is a nice dog, I AM A CAT PERSON! Dogs are smelly and kind of dumb. I loved our dog Benny and she was perfect, but I AM A CAT PERSON and will never own another dog.

The above pictures say is all, I think. What is cuter, three kitties or a dog? I know it is all a matter of opinion. My sister would say that the answer to that question is cows. The other cat with Kenz and Bella is Billy, a former live-in bully. We refered to him as Billy Bin Laden, Billy the Bully, Bad Boy Bill; you get the picture.

I've uploaded Taylor Hicks American Idol audition song, A Change is Gonna Come and his version of Heart and Soul. The audition is cool to listen to because of the judges conversation about him at the end. Simon has been proven wrong in this case, that's for sure.

Experts

Work on the beach is finished for now but I plan to do a bit more before I'm satisfied. I need a large rock for the lawn edge. It's for the space right behind Kenz's bum. This gives me a great excuse to go to the beach again and this time I'll bring my camera. It looks ok just needs a bit of tweaking. Beachmaking is a job that never ends. I told the kids a few years ago that if I reach the other side of the driveway, get me help (psychiatric), until then leave me be. I'll post a final picture when I'm finished.

I've spent two days with online support with the expert guys because, believe it or not, the regular online assistants at the telephone company are trained in only Outlook Express. If you use other mail programs they have to send you to the experts. Anyway, it seems that there is a glitch with Norton that if you check your e-mail while Norton updates it's files, you can no longer access your e-mail. I checked my own sources and found out that this is true. My e-mail account was changed in the fall by the telephone company and they screwed things up too so it all came to a head and I've had no mail access. Anyway after two regular techies and three experts, I am finally running again.

PEI was supposed to get showers today and Charlottetown got them in the morning but we did not. I wish we would get more rain. We need to be cleansed and watered.....a really great spring rain.

Upload today is Allison Crowe's version of Halleluja. I think I have a few other versions on the page now as I have eight on my hard drive. I like this one. I noticed no one has listened to Lila Downs. Hmmm?