Saturday, October 31, 2009

October Ends



Happy Halloween, Spooks and Goblins. For the second year in a row it will be light when the kids go out trick or treating. I actually like that the return to Standard Time was two weeks later for the last two years but Halloween night really suffers. To me as a little kid, being out in the darkness was part of the eerieness and excitement. I have such great Halloween memories with my brother and friends and then again with my own kids. My sis-in-law, who doesn't like Halloween, has asked me to pass out treats for her but she won't let me scare the kids. I've begged but she is adamant. I have only one mask that isn't frightening (???) so will use it perhaps.

That sentence begged a photo so I found the mash and took a few shots. It's scary but not frightening to children. I don't think...

We've had an absolutely wonderful hiking week. We turned things around and have done wood trails instead of dirt roads and this morning went exploring. We went through farmer's fields to go to a spot where there was once a bridge and the mouth of the stream where my pond feeds into the bay. It was so great. The habitat was wonderful but very dirty. My walking partner and I are amazed at the amount of trash we find out in natural areas. I could go on for hours about this but I won't.

I had quite a week with my computer trying to figure out and resort all the little pathways that my songs and photos took last weekend during my daughter's major overhaul of my C drive. Just today I got everything placed where it should be though I'll always have some photos popping up in two or more files. I defragmented this afternoon too and everything should now be right as rain.

On Sunday after lovely daughter erased my C drive I felt ill - weak, dizzy and very strange, like I might faint. I wasn't that extreme the rest of the week but the job was quite stressful. This Irving Berlin song came to mind several times - What'll I Do. Here's an excellent version from the Wainwrights, Loudon, Rufus and Martha. After hours of moving and deleting photos and music and moving one playlist at a time over to the Media Player, I thought of another song - The Thrill is Gone by B B King. The experience was quite a siege but it's over now.

I'm glad the thrill is not gone from Halloween for me. I'm going to dig out some hair and clothing to go with the mask.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Autumn Awesomeness




Goodness this month is going fast. Already it's the last week of October. It's been a beautiful month, though a bit wet at first. We got several walks in again last week so there has been no repeat of three weeks ago's constant rain. This weekend was rainy and windy but beautiful yesterday with warm (13) temperatures. An overnight of 3 and very windy again today stopped our getting out this afternoon. I danced instead and worked up a good sweat so I got some cardio and fun. You should try it.

My daughter and her dog were home again making a record breaking three out of four weekends. I didn't see much of her though as she was celebrating things in her dad's family. It's wonderful to see her anytime so we had fun when we were able to get together. The photo of Baxter is not from this weekend, by the way, but from a day at the beach in the summer.


I'm painting quite a bit most days and am going to be finishing a stained glass project this week (sorry Steve and Ellie), both good activities after long walks in the woods. The time will change next weekend and because of the importance of light to both activities, schedules will change again. I'd like to work on all three of my disciplines at the same time and am thinking of ways to arrange things in the studio and study (this room) to maybe accomplish that. The computer may end up in a smaller space is the only drawback. I love the big, airy, elbow-room space around my computer with it's big window view.

Still into simple folk music at the moment, ok, more than into, I'm obsessed. I've got some Fred Neil for today. Here is simply Little Bit of Rain and Fred Neil and Vince Martin with Morning Dew.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Bright and Beautiful


Autumn continues and is still beautiful. We were expecting a nor'easter mid-week which would have taken the leaves down but thankfully, it didn't materialize. It is windy and rainy this morning so we won't be walking today. I opted out yesterday which is unusual but had a concert to attend.

I saw Stan Carew and the Magpies at the PEI stop on their theater fund-raising tour. Stan is the host of a very popular, Halifax-based, CBC radio show called Weekend Morning. Stan and I have had correspondences several times over the years so it was great to put faces to the names. The show was very enjoyable with a Texas swing or Rockabilly country style.

I'm hoping for some nice weather this week to finish up the outdoor chores. Saturday was beautiful and I did a bit of these jobs but was quite exhausted from the earlier hike so did not finish. It's ironic that on nice days when it's good for working outside it's good for hiking and rainy or windy days are good for neither. I am still painting chairs so have chores to do no matter the weather.

With the weather forecast featuring Nor'easters and lots of wind and rain these days, I thought I'd provide some appropriate music. First, here's Ollabelle with The Storms Are On the Ocean and a favorite of mine, Buckets of Rain. This Dylan song has been covered many, many times and I have lots of versions but here is the original from The Bob himself.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Autumn Acts


I seem to be doing the same thing I was doing the last time I was here. I'm cleaning up after having guests for the Thanksgiving long weekend. Last week was from a different family celebration.

This weekend I was responsible for the food but received quality help from my daughter and her boyfriend. My daughter wanted to learn to make pumpkin pie from scratch. We did that and also made two kinds of pumpkin soup, both of which were delicious. She likes cooking and is ready to learn more complicated methods and recipes. She uses recipes and I rarely do so it's a learning experience for both of us. I also encouraged her to be cre8ive by having her make a blueberry crunch cake substituting blueberries for apples. It turned out so good that she won't be intimidated at making a change like that again.

We had eight for a traditional turkey dinner with stuffing, many, many vegetables dishes and condiments, all home made, some even from my garden. I met two very nice young people, my daughter's boyfriend's sister and his best friend, who were both alone for the holiday. I think it was my favorite weekend in a long time.

I have been taking a weekly painting class and after the class today managed to get in a much needed walk. My walking partner and I have different schedules and then there's the weather factor. We hadn't walked since last Tuesday! We both enjoy it immensely and it's hard when we can't get out. I just finished my homework for the painting class so after tomorrow's rain and no one expected for the weekend, it should be clear sailing. It's so beautiful out there these days.

'Tis Autumn by Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass seems like a good choice for today because there's no getting past it. It is definitely upon us. I always hope summer will last forever but of course, it never does. Autumn Leaves is my other song choice for today. I love this Stephane Grappelli version and hope you do to. I hope you can get for a walk wherever you are and enjoy the autumn because A Change Is Gonna Come.

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Up Hills and Down


I hate to be constantly saying that I'm having a hard time finding time for this blog but that is the truth of the matter these days. In my spare time I can choose to hike or blog. On a sunny, beautiful morning like this morning, I chose to hike. It's been non-stop with things to do and the list does not seem to be shrinking. I feel like last post's title - I'm paddling as fast as I can.

I had seven guests staying here for the weekend and a friend from Australia and one from Summerside visited on Saturday but weren't sleeping here. I prepared for the company for a few days and am now cleaning up after the weekend. We even used couches for sleeping so that makes a lot of laundry.

We had a really wonderful weekend. It was a lot of fun to see everyone; even my daughter's dog, Baxter. My brother and his girlfriend were here too and that was fun. I attended a party and stayed up late for three nights in a row. From that I have not recovered yet. I woke at nine this morning. We had to delay our hiking time a bit and I still feel like I'm jet-lagged or something like that. I had hoped the walk would fix me up.

My daughter is coming again this weekend because it's Thanksgiving. How cool is it to have the sweetie and her beast two weekends in a row. I'll feed them all well and hope that this weekend will be a little more relaxed than the busy schedule we maintained last weekend. If the weather holds I might be able to get Girlie and Poochie to the woods with me.

Here are a couple songs fitting for the time of year - October by Rosie Thomas and Thanksgiving by Loudon Wainwright III. I do hope to get here more often. The autumn has so many chores. I swear it is the busiest season for me.