Counting the Good

I didn't have the greatest start this morning. Usually at 5:30 I hop out of bed feeling great. This morning I was still tired. I got up and after about fifteen minutes decided to go back to bed. It just didn't work and I laid there for fifteen minutes or so knowing I would not get back to sleep. I got up and put the coffee on and here's proof I was still tired. I forgot to put the pot under the basket. I had a huge mess to clean up. All is ok now. I didn't scald myself in the shower. I didn't spill shampoo. There was milk in the fridge for my cereal. I'm on my way to a normal day.

I'm going to be working 13 to 14 hour days on Mondays. Needless to say there won't be any blog post for that day. There has been a change in shift times at work and the only way to keep full time was to work six days or the extra-long shift. I walk 16 to 20 km. per shift according to my pedometer. I can't wait to see how many I walk on Mondays.

It's been a while since I had any Gotan Project music on the blog. I love this band so much and play them a lot. One of my favorite songs had been posted here but has disappeared. Here is Tango Cancion once more and another favorite Mi Confesion.

Aftermath

I had an appointment in town today and forgot my camera at home so didn't get any storm photos. There were trees down here and there but not as many as after Hurricane Juan. There was part of a roof and part of a wall blown off a barn that looked as though they were ready to blow off anyway. One poplar about 6 -7 inches in diameter broke here on my property and there are a few small branches about but that's it. Came through fine.

We lost our power during the night and it remained out till ten after one in the afternoon. I went to work then. Luckily I have a propane campstove so could boil water for coffee and sponge bathing. I learned during Hurricane Juan to have a day's coffee already ground and stored in the freezer. It's very frustrating to be able to make coffee and have nothing but unground beans.

Tomorrow is hiking day and I'm quite anxious to get out. The weather is to be cooler this week so it's wonderful for fast walking. The photo above is the one I had taken just before my friend fell into the sinkhole. I had passed by the spot where she got sucked in before she came down so am very lucky it didn't happen to me. I might have cried rather than laugh like she did. She has property with beaver ponds so I'm going to walk her property with her later in the week.

I haven't put up any Gotan Project for a while. Here's Una Musica Brutal from the album La Revancha Del Tango and from the album Lunatico, here's Amor Porteno which also features Calexico, another band I love. Every playlist should have one of Gotan Project's songs.

Weather We Do Or Not

One of my favorite activities in the whole world and anywhere in that world is filling vases with flowers. I've just finished doing that and am in a very satisfied space. I have a beautiful red, frosted, and carved glass vase filled with white lily of the valley beside me and the odour from it is wafting under my nose. Is this heaven?

The photo above is of outside a minute or so before I sat down. There are thunderstorms happening to the northeast but the sun is shining and it is absolutely gorgeous here. My son was just visiting and he may be heading into them as he's going into Ch'town on a fundraiser pub crawl. We could hear thunder a ways off.

Since he left I've been out in the gardens cutting flowers and taking photos. The sky is absolutely beautiful with the thunderheads rolling by. We live in this funny little weather pocket here and these storms historically pass us by. It often rains or we have thunderstorms around us while we remain dry. In the summer of 2000 we experienced this all through the summer and had drought conditions. The communities surrounding us were fine and there was even severe flooding in Charlottetown in August.

For music today I wanted something with flowers. La Violetera is quiet, lovely and dignified Gotan Project. Since I'm already here in their file I'll give you another. Gotan Project is always dignified and lovely so you'll get that in both cuts but this second song, Queremos Paz is a more lively selection from the great band. I sure do like them and include them on almost every cd I make.

Update: The thunderstorms headed southeast and have passed us by. It's still beautiful out. That's where I'm heading.

Sat ur day

Every time I walk to the beach I see this screw hook imbedded in the pavement. Yesterday I took a photo of it. Such excitement in my life! It was colder today with a north wind so I didn't walk. I guess I'm wimpy though because the favorite ex walked down here for a visit. She said it was nippy.

This photo of Clarke is very popular at Shutterchance today. It's at the top of the Movers and Shaker's list. Last Saturday a photo of Kenz was also very popular. I think I'll be sure to put photos of cats up on Saturdays.

I am having a yawn fest at the moment but 4:46 is too late for a nap. I'll soon go prepare supper and hopefully that will wake me up.

Music: Something a little different today - French Hip Hop. This song is called La Tribu de Dana and is from Manau. It has the standard hiphop beat thus it may be something my kids like but has an orchestra which is different than the standard. A song from Gotan Project is something I like. Confianzas is definitely worth a listen. I sure do love this band.

***Update: I was quite taken by the Manua song and looked up the band on Wikipedia. This is a paragraph about the song uploaded today. "The band set to work on their new single, La Tribu de Dana and it was released in May 1998. The song rocketed to the top of the charts, selling a huge 1.7 million copies^{[citation needed]} to date, 1.5 million of them in the first few months after its release. "La tribu de Dana" means "the tribe of Dana," and is the name of an Irish tribe described in L'épopée Celte." The rest of the article is here.

Let's Tango - Whatever Lola Wants

We're expecting weather again; a massive storm is coming up from the US but it's uncertain at this point what PEI will be getting. At least there will be a break in the cold. Oil prices are so high and this is a big house. I've had quite enough of winter already. Bring on the daffodils. Of course there are a few plusses to winter. There are always beautiful birds at the feeders, it's absolutely gorgeous driving in the country, some bugs (earwigs) are dying in the ground, foods like soups and stews are on the menu and mosquitoes or black flies are on their annual hiatus.
Yes, we have to find beauty and gratitude even in winter.

The radio's weather forecast is now in. Tomorrow night: snow changing to ice pellets then rain at midnight. Plus one celcius by morning and windy throughout. We can take that. We'll just dance through that.

Today's music is to get those dancing shoes warmed up. It's some of what I've been dancing to. I love Gotan Project and have some of their music up already. I really like them and play them a lot. They are definitely a band I would love to see live. Today's selection is a remix of Whatever Lola Wants with Sarah Vaughan and Last Tango In Paris.

Dancing as Fast as I Can

What is the world coming to? Just looking at this British luncheon meat, I can tell already, I'm allergic. I wouldn't eat that for a hundred dollars. It will be fed to kids though...hopefully not my grandchildren.

Anybody want to work for a couple of weeks? I desperately need a break. I think I've become run down; an ear infection last week, a cold now and I'm exhausted. The 70 mile yard sale was even busier than expected with people waiting an hour for a table....were they crazy? I had even made seating for twenty more for the weekend. We ran out of food and the cook brought home a huge pot and bought ingredients to make chili to get us through Sunday. God bless her because I couldn't have done that on Saturday night. She didn't put the miles on her feet that I did though, so was able to. I had a quick bite to eat when I got home, called my Dad to wish him a happy 75th birthday and went to bed at 8:30. I didn't even have enough energy to call my brother who's birthday is the same day as my Dad's. I've never needed a day off as badly as I do today.

Music: Dos Gardenias by Maria Rita Mariano is a nice version of my favorite slow dance song from my well-played Buena Vista Social Club album. I have a bit of Spanish and could never quite figure this song out. I asked a Mexican friend of mine of the lowdown and it was what I had been getting all along. The man gives his woman two gardenias and if they die that means the woman is cheating on him. I couldn't believe this was actually what the song was saying but it is. Oh well, poetic license. I hope that equasion is never faced by anyone I know. Song number two, Tango Cancion by Gotan Project, good music if you want to tango. I'm a little tired for tangoing myself but I'd highly recommend it if you have some energy. For song number 250, keeping with the Latin theme, and this time, a more energetic dance, try on Mambo by Lila Down's band from her album Trazos.