Surprise Ending

There is a beautiful day is apon us here in PEI and instead of enjoying the fresh air, I am fulfilling my blogging obligations because once again, it is more than a week since I've posted. The truth is, I was out this morning so it is not a terrible punishment that I am enduring by staying indoors. After today's painting group I had a visit with a friend who lives in a beautiful spot but has a long driveway. The snow is slushy and I was afraid of getting stuck so walked the distance. She and her husband feed birds so chickadees met me at the first tree and accompanied me on my journey and back. It's truly beautiful in the countryside these days so it is very good to be outside taking it all in.

Sorry for the interruption though of course, you didn't know I was gone. I had some wonderful company drop in , a couple of drinks, started supper and was away from the computer for a couple of hours. During supper preparations my oregano had disappeared and I spent a long time looking for it. Found it when I was cleaning up. I have to continue giving stirs to the supper but from this moment forth, you'll never know when I've been gone.

I am still readying my computer to set up the Christmas gift from my daughter. It was a turntable that allows me to convert my vinyl to mp3 files. The fact that the Olympics are on 24/7 on one of the two channels I get has given me some extra time. I've missed Oprah and American Idol terribly but soon I will have this machine working and I am very excited about that. There is so much good music in our universe and I want to hear every bit and share some of the old songs I have that you may not be familiar with or are very, very familiar with.

To have Bonnie Raitt's first two albums, all of Joni's, Dylan's, Dan Hicks' early albums, Phoebe Snow' s, Aretha's and more albums than I can name right now available anytime I want is a dream come true. All my vinyl is sitting upstairs and I've missed it terribly. My daughter had a boyfriend a few years ago who wanted to see how turntables worked and changed the weight on mine. It is beyond my expertise to change it back to how it was.

I brought up Bonnie Raitt first because I know I have one song, That Song About the Midway, from Streetlights on mp3. I also have my favorite Phoebe Snow song. It's actually a well known Gershwin song but in my opinion it is sung best by Phoebe Snow. It is There's a Boat that's leaving Soon For New York. It is one of my top three favorites and I've featured it on this blog more than a few times.

When getting the Phoebe Snow link, I read that she suffered a brain aneurysm in January. I have to read more and find out how this has turned out. Perhaps you will too.

Wonderful Winter

Where does the time go! I've not been here in more than a week. I managed to fill every minute of it with work, chores, painting, making jewelry, having visits here and there, and one trip to town. It is customarily the summer season that we're most busy and when I think of all we'll add to the mix when spring and summer come along, I wonder how I will manage. I take it one day at a time though and some night's falling into bed feels better than others.

My daughter and her beast, as well as her boyfriend, are visiting this weekend. It's wonderful to see her though she is not staying here. Only one serious mishap occurred involving the pooch and it is more my fault than the dog's. I put the cat's food bowls on the large jewelry table in the studio when the dog started to eat the cat food. I forgot to put it back on the floor for the cats. One of the cats jumped on the table through the night and knocked a whole box of earrings onto the floor. They were everywhere and hopefully there are none missing.

Winter has been extraordinarily beautiful this week. The cold temperatures of the previous week were gone and we had light snow a couple of times which made the landscape really gorgeous. We had a bit of freezing rain on Friday which covered tree branches with a thin layer of ice. Heavy frosts occurred twice this week, as well, so frosted trees greeted anyone out on early morning drives to work.

Here are a couple songs to celebrate this wonderful season. It used to be I wanted to be in warmer climates in the winter. Since my 'shoulder/arm/kidney' winter two years ago, lots of things changed about me and one is my renewed enjoyment in winter. Here's David Francey with February Morning Drive and Emily Smith with Winter Song. Both sing with Scottish accents but David came to Canada years ago so we get to claim him.

I also have a song for Valentine's Day and it is an oldie but goody. Dusty Springfield was so great in her time and I love her singing The Look of Love. Enjoy the Day.

Beans and Fishcakes

It's high time I checked in with my old faithful friends. I'm not sure how I maintained it before, writing every day, but I'm certainly not able to do it any more. I'm having a wonderfully cre8ive winter and am dancing with the muse or whatever it is that ever keeps me feeling this way. Part time work and part time art making is perfect though I must live on a shoestring.

The weather's been very cold so people aren't out walking, snowshoeing, skiing, or enjoying outdoor skating. I think people would like to be though there can be all that wonderful 'tucked in by a warm fire' aspect to the cold days. A romantic image, I'm sure.

I met a friend for lunch today. We were early, about eleven. We had to wait a bit so I could have the special of fishcakes and beans. My friend wanted bacon and eggs. At about eleven thirty, our waitress started a CD and the first song was one by Johnny Cash. Sadly the CD turned out to be a compilation but I was thinking of the late Johnny being like beans and fishcakes or bacon and eggs - with us since early childhood, in the background, providing us with comfort. His unique voice has always been comfort food for me .

I know I played a version of Sea of Heartbreak quite recently. Here it is again, but by Johnny Cash, for the bacon and eggs, and here is Four Strong Winds, his version of Ian and Sylvia's great song, to accompany the beans and fishcakes. Because everyone knows Johnny Cash, I didn't feel I had to link his name to his website or Wiki article. I instead linked it to his YouTube version of Hurt, the most beautiful cover of another person's song that there ever was. In my humble opinion.....

Storm Day

We are in the middle of a storm and thus a long awaited, 'storm day' on the Island. We've discussed them here before. I believe it is the first one this winter though I may be wrong. We did have some storms earlier in the season. I got a day off work as did all students and many other in the work force. The wind has not begun in earnest yet and the conditions will worsen toward evening but it was all enough for a snow day.

The ground was bare to begin with so it looked like a first snow. I got outside for some photos mid morning but did not venture out again. It was so very pretty out there. I kept thinking the winds would soon blow all the snow covered branches clean but the winds have not been as wild as predicted. The day is not over yet though. Just enough for a snow day.

I really felt I needed a day off as I've been working extra shifts and have another tomorrow. I have also been painting and making jewelry with no down time so am enjoying this well-deserved break. I've had a lovely day finishing up some chores and general housework and relaxation, all mixed up into one delightful day. I'm behind in all blogs but have not even begun any on-line work yet.

My son is trying to get my car out at the moment - just to see if he can. If he can I have an errand so am letting him try with my car instead of his. He's just called and got out easily so is running my errand right now.

Catherine MacLellan won several awards at the PEI Music Awards recently. One of her songs, Snow Day, celebrates this kind of day most beautifully. A couple more from the files will do that too. Kate Rusby with Let the Cold Wind Blow and Eels with Girl From The North Country will work quite nicely I think.

Addendum: After Sonny Boy found he could easily get out of the driveway, he's off to town on an errand of his own. The silly boy should stay home I think! Most of the Island is shut down. They've declared it a snow day!!

Moving Day

I sit here, exhausted, in new surroundings. I've been thinking about and hemming and hawing about changing my studio space into something more workable for a long time. Today was 'doing it' day at last. I've only just begun but have all of the painting supplies moved to this room and partially set up. I will tackle the empty room on Wednesday as tomorrow is completely booked. That room I will set up with beads and jewelry supplies and for once will be able to practice two crafts at once. If a glass commission comes in it is much easier to clean up the room of beads than painting paraphernalia. They are all in trays that are easily stacked and put away in their storage spot in a half hour.

The window I will look out of when painting is filled with old blue bottles and heart shaped shells and rocks. It might be inspiring. I am leaving a patio door sized view with a large bit of light. Now I will have two large windows with a light source from two directions, one being north. I think it will be very good.

I've been spending time with two women who recently had their heart's broken in relationships. One woman is young and one is in her fifties. It matters not the age. The feelings are the same. I am feeling heartbroken too watching what these women are going through. The music today is for them.

Here's Sea of Heartbreak by Gray Sky Girls. I know the Roseanne Cash version is hot right now. I have her new album and her Dad's version but I like this cut better and have played it here before. The other song is true in both of these cases. The Guy Who Says Goodbye to You Is Out of His Mind by Griffin House. The men who have hurt these wonderful women so badly will be the losers in the long run.

What I Believe

I started this post over two hours ago. Got a Sunday visitor, always welcome here in the country. I had just returned from the rink. I was on ice for the first time since my shoulder dislocation/broken arm two years ago. It did not go well. Putting all my weight in a gliding motion was too irritating to my wonky hip. Kind of an Eeeekkk pain which was too sharp to ignore. We don't have enough snow yet but I hope that when we do, I will still be able to snowshoe. To lose two of my favorite winter sports in one winter would be too much to bear. I'll tell you, getting older is not easy. How can your heart feel so young and your body so old?

I'm glad cre8ivity is not something that wanes with age. Happily it doesn't sag or droop either though, of course, a few wrinkles can appear from time to time. I was thinking about this yesterday after discussing a glass project with another drop-in friend and possibly, client. I actually pointed him in the direction of a DIY routine, with a bit of a course/tutorial, for his project. I don't think he can afford what he really wants with me doing it for him. Anyway about cre8ivity, I believe it blooms with age. You begin to know your way through roadblocks when you have them and with age comes experience in your various artistic leaning. I believe the old adage of 'practice makes perfect' comes to really mean something now. It is an advantage finally, to be older.

A friend of mine turned 65 this week and I asked him at a dinner on Friday night if his employer required mandatory retirement. Luckily for him it does not but another of his employers requires full time staff to be under 65. He is a session prof thus part time in that job. I feel better every day that I get older in regards to cre8ivity and I hope you can too.

I made a wonderful CD this week in time for Friday night's dinner party. It was entitled Girlfriends and is kind of special. The dinner was not restricted to girlfriends but it was a definite theme with a good number of the attendees. Ha! I just looked back to a misspelling alert and had written Girlfiends. Too funny!

I'll share a couple of the songs from this CD. These two songs may not seem to go together but they fit quite well into the context of the whole. Yep, age has it's benefits in that I'll say "Respect your elders," if you don't agree. Here's All Grown Up by Holly Golightly and Company of Friends by Danny Schmidt. The latter is one of my favorite songs of the decade and had been featured here more than one time. I believe the words in this song. It is about what you believe.

New Year Hello

Click: Happy

Click: New

Click: Year

Holiday Hello

It is amazing that our landscape is bare of snow. This shot is from our walk three days ago but I dare say that bit of snow is now gone. It was +5 at ten before I went to town this morning and the sun came out after that. Two years ago, I was skating on the pond at this time. It is the anniversary of my fall tomorrow. This year there is no ice at all in the pond. The ice in the bay was thin and is now broken up and I saw only slush in Charlottetown Harbour. I am amazed at how winter has changed since my childhood. We still get snowy winters from time to time. The winter of 2000 is an example and we had some big snowy winters in the 80's and a few in the 90's with other years of hardly any snow.

I had a wonderful Christmas and it seems everyone around me did too. It ended too quickly though as my daughter was home only a short time. She had to work today. I am certainly and truly glad the weather was good for her travels.

I went to town for the Boxing Day sales today. Charlottetown decided to remain closed on Saturday and Sunday just like on Christmas Day and chose today to be the commercial Boxing Day. Government offices and Doctors remained closed today. I got one really excellent deal at La Senza. Their body lotions and shower gels, etc. were 10 for $30. I had specifically gone to town with a gift certificate for Body Shop from my son. I was hoping to get the now discontinued Warm Amber scented anything as that is one of my favorite of their fragrances. I got a few items there but then found that La Senza carries an amber fragrance that I like very much. I bought five of the ten items in their Amber Romance.

My daughter gave me a grand Christmas gift. She gave me a turntable that converts albums to computer files. I have not even opened the box yet but will tomorrow. I managed to get some other gifts set up and even used already. My sister-in-law gave me the Cadillac of pedometers. She knew I was heartbroken after recently losing mine. This has two clips so you have a pretty good chance of not losing it if you attach both. I tested it yesterday with a walk in the woods and the day before to the shore.

I am excited about my old albums becoming computer files. I'll have some real treats for you then. I do manage to find some of my favorite old songs here and there but I do have some gems. One of my favorite albums when it came out was Joe Jackson's tribute to his father's music, Jumpin' Jive. I loved that album so much. I was always a fan of that era of jazz and liked his take on it. Here is a couple of his interpretations of that wonderful era of silly lyrics and lots of booze, What's the Use of Getting Sober and You Run your Mouth and I'll Run My Business. My kids grew up on this album. My daughter still loves Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby from this album though she has a different favorite version. I'll be checking out that wonderful new tool tomorrow.

'Tis the Season

I can't believe a week has passed again. It's been a busy week. Like everyone else, I'm knee deep in Christmas preparations along with everything else and hardly have time to turn around. My son, who was just into the Christmas baking, said when I complained, "You can just make more." "Hmmmph", is what I said.

I took a lovely stroll to the woods yesterday to find a suitable Christmas tree. I found several hardwood saplings instead and bound them together into a passable Christmas tree. I set that up last night while I listened to a couple of Christmas playlists I'd made. It looks rather nice though birch would have been nicer. I used what I had. I made a few swags and sprays out of some fresh white pine. A large branch from the white pine tree in the yard broke off in the wind a couple of weeks ago. It was nice to have a use for it. I still have two other wreath forms and will make some pine wreaths if I have time.

Get Me Through December is still my favorite Christmas song for the month . It goes on every December playlist. A couple more nice seasonal tunes that I've been listening too are Maybe This Christmas by Ron Sexsmith and Go Tell It On the Mountain by Desert Noises. The new Andrea Boccelli Christmas album is also really good. Angelic is the first thing I think of when thinking of his wonderful voice.

I will try to get back here before the big day. Until then, work, work, work, do, do , do. "Tis the Christmas season.

Come By Storm

How is that for relaxed! This is the normal Kenz. I see no strings in the shot but they are there; a couple of shoelaces or the like. She lies and rolls beside/hind me, bonding with me, her catnip pillows and strings. She has an added camera bag and pair of shoes here for extra rubbing materials. She can sit and lie in a spot without moving a muscle for twenty minutes. It's amazing. Her eyes are wide open, staring straight ahead. When she's lying down it would seem she's asleep but her eyes are open.

I've been madly shopping and wrapping, boxing and wrapping, labeling, getting parcels ready for the mail. I'll soon be finished but have to send my camera off for repair so still have to do that. I'm going to miss my camera but it is something that must be done before warranty in a couple weeks. I am making CD's to put in parcels as well. Busy, busy, busy.

I has been extremely windy and cold for the last three or four days. The Confederation Bridge had their longest period of restrictions since the severe White Juan storm a few winters ago. This time, thankfully, the rain had melted most of the snow and hardened what remained or we would have had snow issues like white-outs to contend with. It has certainly curtailed our walking schedule. My hiking partner told me this morning that it is suppose to get warm again soon. I need my hikes and walks.

My niece who lived here for the summer three and a half years ago just had a baby girl on Friday. This makes my baby brother a Grampy which hard to believe! The new baby was born on the 11th, one day before my nephew's birthday on the 12th. This is the usual way in our family. Birthdays are one day apart or on the same day several times, happening over and over. It's very complicated, the dates of birth and death, I believe. It is in our family anyway.

I downloaded this song the other day because I loved the title. Turns out it was pretty good. Here's I'm Not Broke But I'm Badly Bent by Lattie Moore. Check the link on her name. It has the most unusual (and funny) song titles you've ever seen. The other song is for the new baby. I'm assuming it was as windy as it was where she was born as it was where we are. Here's Come By Storm by Laura Gibson.

Snow Day

I am watching our first snowfall. We had wet flurries one day that did not accumulate but this is real snow. It is covering the tree branches and grasses and everything else in the landscape and is oh, so beautiful. I'll see if I can dig out a photo from another time for the spot above. We are expecting fifteen cm.

I've been lucky all these years to have a studio which gives a wide look apon the natural world. In winter, to see a variety of wildlife through these windows while I summarize a daily weather report can be magical. Today reminds me to add birdseed to the town list. I painted all morning and intend to go back after lunch. Yesterday was very dark and natural light for painting was not so good. Today is excellent. The days are noticeably getting shorter with less afternoon time. That will change shortly though with the equinox, much to my pleasure.

I am still thinking about a way I could be working on at least two of my art forms at the same time. I cut out little models of all the furniture in this second studio room and have been moving them in various locations around a drawn-to-scale room with windows and doors. I have two large windows in the room and the challenge is to have each table looking out the window while I do my things.I have become resigned to the fact that my computer will occupy a much smaller table but it must allow me to look out the window at my beautiful landscapes.



I could not find a photo of my view with a first snow except for a first snow with the pond frozen which it is not at this time. The photo above is my friend's little shed a few days after a fairly heavy first snow. It does show how pretty it is at the first of the year. There will be a time soon enough that I'm tired of the whole thing. I will enjoy it's beauty for today.

I always play this song at this time of year. I am not a big fan of Christmas and sometimes can barely tolerate it. This year has not been so bad but this song is often how I ground myself during December. Our talented and beautiful Maritimer, Natalie MacMaster plays fiddle so wonderfully in this song by the talented and beautiful as well, Alison Krauss: Get Me Through December. One of the songs I 'collect' is Baby, It's Cold Outside. Though it's not that cold it's wintry (See poll on right for another day or two or read last post) out there. I was making a Christmas CD for my jazz-loving aunt and uncle last night and added this version of it by Liza Minnelli and Alan Cumming. For some reason this song doesn't seem to be uploading. I will try one more time but may have to come back. This happens quite often.

Looking In On the Best

Yesterday and today are the first days we've experienced November like weather this month - of November. Our weather has been delightful, warm and mostly full of sunshine. Yesterday was rainy and very windy and cool. Today is much warmer and not windy but it's been dark and drizzly off and on. I certainly appreciate all the nice weather we've had as I love to be outside and prefer this to cold, wintery weather.

I have a poll for you. The spell checker is telling me that the proper spelling for the second last word in the above paragraph is wintry. This looks wrong to me and thought wintery was the right word. Which is it?

We canceled a long hike yesterday because of the weather. I went Sunday shopping for the first time instead. I was planning a trip to town someday soon to get a birthday gift but received an invitation to share a Sunday dinner with good friends. Seemed like a perfect idea. A leg of lamb was served and the meal was outstanding. My friend is the best cook I know. She also joined me for shopping for part of the afternoon. We fought the crowds. I had no idea Sunday shopping was so popular. I dare say it must have been busier yesterday than it was on Saturday.

For twenty four hours Oprah is offering a couple of songs on her website. One is the Christmas song What Child is This by Andrea Bocelli and Mary J Blige. It is the best song I've heard all year and was so pleased to be able to get it.

If there is no poll, I can't remember how to make one. Give me a few minutes.

Cooooold....

This is how I felt this weekend but especially today. My fifteen year old oil tank had to be replaced, as is the law on PEI. I canceled oil delivery months ago waiting for this fateful day. Somehow I knew it would be the weekend when I ran out of oil and so it was.

I had been painting ceilings for a couple of days and because I didn't want to put a painting hat on wet hair waited till Sunday morning to wash my hair. I turned the shower on, had a pee, which is exactly the right time required for the shower to become hot, and jumped into the shower head first. I got the shock of my life! If course with dirty hair you have no choice. You must go ahead... and wash your hair. With long hair, as I have, there is also no choice. You have to condition your hair. I would never get a brush or comb through otherwise.

I shivered through the task and I must say this was all very, very uncomfortably cold. There was not an ounce of warmth in the water. I must have ran out of oil on Saturday evening or very soon after midnight as there would have otherwise have been some heat left in the water system. I was shivering the rest of the morning till I got out of the house, into the car and off to a friend's for the day. I went to another friend's house for dinner and went to bed as soon as I got home.

Today was terribly cold in the house. Even with frost on the ground this morning it was warmer out of doors. I had to stay around all day because of the installation thus couldn't escape like yesterday. Thankfully it is all over with. The workers had everything finished at 11:30 and I got oil around 2:30. I spent a lot of time on the deck as it was so much warmer outside.

We have broken all records with the glorious weather we've been experiencing this month of November. In my fifty plus years, I can't remember better November weather. This cold weekend kind of hurt in that way. I just will try to remember that the cold was only inside my house. The long woods walk I took yesterday and the two wonderful walks earlier in the week I had are what the world really was like....all warmth and beauty. I've had meaningful gatherings this week too - four different dinners, two here and two at other friend's homes. A good week...

In honour of cold, I'm playing a favorite old-time country song. I grew up on Hank Williams and here is one of his best, Cold Cold Heart. Phil Campbell has a wonderful song too that will fit perfectly. Give a listen to Cold Engines.

Staring Straight Ahead

Where does the time go? I'm here less and less and don't see that changing anytime soon. I'm just too busy for this type of blog. Posting photos on the other blogs don't seem to be a problem but finding the time to write is next to impossible.

We have had incredible weather the month of November. We had rain and wind today for the first time whereas rain and wind are the usual for most days of November. We've had temps in the double digits and lots of sunshine instead. I haven't heard any complaints from anyone and doubt I will. Who doesn't like sunny warm weather in November?

I had a couple of friends over for dinner last night and that's the impetus for today's music. I've always liked Cab Calloway and his song Everybody Eats When They Come to My House. Reaching back but not so far is Bonnie and Delaney and Friends with Come on In My Kitchen. Now if I could get someone to cook for me....

Friday Frappe

Thought I'd better check in here every once in a while though it seems to be the same old news most weeks. There was a major change in my rhythm this week though. Due to scheduling differences with both of us, my hiking partner and I last had a walk on Saturday. I am itching to go out and stretch my legs and will tomorrow for sure. I miss it very much.

With walking not on the schedule I got a lot more painting done, the outside chores finished and have started on some fall indoor jobs. I am going to put removable caulking on the windows in the next couple of days and a plastic storm window on one window. We had snow today though it did not accumulate here. I saw on a news preview that some of the Maritimes did get quite a bit and it just as well could have been here. I must make an appt. to get my snow tires on too. There seems to be an awful lot to do to get ready for winter and I don't even burn wood.

Kenz is lying in my arms as I type. We have this position worked out where she fits herself in and lays happily here unless I have to use the left hand shift key a lot. I only mind it if my arm starts to fall asleep then I use capitals (and the shift key) as much as possible. LOL

With no way to store music at some spot on the web I have to re-introduce music that has been featured here before. How can you not have the opportunity to play these two fabulous songs any time you want. The marvelous, wonderful, awesome, fantastic, stupendous music of Chevela Vargas should be at everyone's fingertips all the time. It is much like eating oysters to me. Her music somehow enters the body and mixes with vital fluids that are of life itself. I feel that way about Van Morrison's music as well but he has forbidden people to hear his music on blogs. Here are two songs from Chevela that do it for me: La Llorona and Paloma Negra. You may recognize the last song from the soundtrack of the movie, Frida. I am listening to a longer version ( over 8 minutes) of La Llorona at the moment and it is giving me the shivers.

Have a good weekend everyone.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.