My Hips Don't Lie

This was Monday morning's sunrise, passing by very quickly but awesome.

I do not like shopping for clothing but bit the bullet today. I have never liked shopping for clothes but my size changed after I turned fifty and I don't recognize my new size when it is hanging on hangers so now besides not liking it, I also find it difficult. Eighty percent of what I brought into the change rooms was too small. I've never worn such big clothes. Everything that ended up fitting looked way too big when it was on the hangers.

I'm not overweight. I actually did a Body Mass Index (BMI) test this week and it was classified as normal. It's that my shape has changed that makes the clothes come in a completely different size. I commented to my doctor about five years ago, " I could have put these boobs to better use thirty years ago..." I finally have an hourglass figure after being a stick my entire life. But what big clothes I have to wear!

Since I can't find a song called This Body, This Weight by Van Morrison has to be the song of the day. It's on the music pages already so you get at least two more. Beautiful Me is perfect too - says it all really, and a song full of pure funky soul is a bonus. It's by Shelly Bhushan and it's a fabulous song. My Hips Don't Lie by Shakira was a big hit last year and is the big hit for here today. Ha, I have the Latin version. Enjoy!

In The Past

I've had a few disappointments lately when going to my YouTube bookmarks. Some of the performances that I watched regularly are gone. I linked Nina Simone's early version of I Loves You Porgy here a couple of times. It is gone. There is one of her performing it as an older woman that is still up but the six minute version where she's very young and so vulnerable has no comparison. I made a comment on the newer version and have had notifications from Youtube that there have been replies. It seems as though several people have been missing it. One person said that s/he watched it every day. I watched it every month or so.

Many videos of Van Morrison concerts have disappeared as well. I watched these regularly as well. The bookmarked pages say that the media has been removed due to a copyright claim by Van Morrison. I don't understand how someone can own a performance. Once the sound waves are out there and the concert has been performed in public can the person who sang a song own the performance of it? It's all very confusing to me. I just know I miss these wonderful performances and hope they come back again. I will keep checking.

I just clicked on I Loves You Porgy by Nina Simone on my music pages and discover that it's gone from there as well. Another essential song to reinstall. One of the YouTube Van videos I played a lot is This Weight from one of my favorite albums of his, The Healing Game. They're the picks for today.

Update: Ralph's suggestion in the comments helped me find a copy of the 6 minute Nina Simone. I'm so happy to share this wonderful, wonderful version of I Loves You Porgy....for the third time.

Out Like a Lamb

What a quiet day it's been. I miss my sister!!!!! Come back, Cath! It's toooo quiet. When I had a phone call at about eleven am, I had to clear my throat. I had last spoken at about six-thirty when my son left for work.

We are expecting snow again tomorrow. No, we haven't seen the last of it yet . My sister sent photos of the huge amount of snow that awaited her when she arrived home. Unbelievable!! Spring is notoriously late in Atlantic Canada and this year is no exception. Green shoots are growing up and growth will advance very rapidly when warm weather hits. Several people, as late as this morning, have mentioned wanting (needing) to get their hands in the soil. I had big plans for gardening but have decided not to devote so much energy there. My normal amount of gardening will be just fine.

I just had a look at the forecast. That snow will turn to rain as the temperature is going to be ten degrees. Awesome!

Van has an appropriate song for the beginning....So Quiet In Here. Did I ever say I was Van Morrison's biggest fan? I'm also a big Ruthie Foster fan. Here she is with Prayin' for Rain and Another Rain Song. I so wish I'd been able to see her when she was in the Maritimes. I have a lot of rain songs. I created a playlist with just rain and storm songs on it and it fills several cds. You can search the blog for Buckets of Rain for instance. I have several available, I believe.

Never Letting Go

What a gorgeous, gorgeous day we had today. I got out walking and the fresh air and sunshine does a lot to enrich the soul so I am feeling enriched. I visited a few friends who can't get out walking like I can. We sat outside and watched the melting around us.

Tomorrow night we are supposed to have a massive ice storm. I have to pay careful attention to the forecast as I have to be in hospital at 7am on Monday. Yesterday, the forecast said that the freezing rain would be lasting till Sunday. If this is so when do I go to town? It is a play it by careful ear situation. I have a place to stay if I want to go in early and my son is flying in on Sunday and he has tons of places to stay so we're not worried about that. It is driving from the country that is the problem.

Randy Newman always has the right music. Real Emotional Girl pretty well describes me lately. I just have to Roll With the Punches so that's the plan. Only three more sleeps. Van Morrison always has the right music too. Contacting My Angel is of course at the top of the list of what I'm doing. I want her to See Me Through. Phoebe Snow knows the truth though. I'm Never Letting Go.

I've Had a Screw

I'm home at last. Five days in hospital is way more than enough especially when you are waiting for the first two and a half. I didn't have my surgery till Saturday. I have to go back for staple removal next week and hope that I've seen the last of that place for a while.

I started this blog two (I mean three) years ago on the 20th. I wanted to share music and didn't have a clue how to do that at the time. I figured out a way and chatted about this and that along the way with the music. Not many have commented or encouraged me to this point except my family. I have decided that that all I'm going to do from now on is share the music since this little life is not of interest to many other than my family. Carol, Dan, Ralph, and Ekim are exceptions and I can communicate with them through their blogs.

There seems to be network problems. I started this at five and Blogger wasn't working. Now it's eight and Putfile is having problems. I'll put up music when I'm able. For today, So Quiet In Here and Why Must I Always Explain by Van Morrison. I believe the reason Putfile was down is that they were making some changes...changes that confused me a bit. They're back up now.

Two Part Post

Kenz was featured on today's Shutterchance post and Bella was a little put out. By her expression, you can tell she's very sad. No more sadness now though. She'll be pleased.

The cats have stayed out of my way today. I was doing that January ritual of cleaning out file cabinets and shredding. They don't tolerate either job very well. I was sorting and tossing papers from the file cabinets to piles on the floor. That's way too uproarious to a cat's sensibilities. Like bombs going off in an uncertain pile. Then shredding with the whining shredder motor. They did not even realize that shredded paper may be fun to play with. Kenz is making up for it now. It's very hard to type.

I had an unexpected departure and paused the post for a couple of hours. It's a little late now so I'll get straight to the music. I never did post additional covers of Bring It On Home to Me. Here's Van's and Sam Cooke's that were already up. Today, listen to a version by Al Jarreau and George Benson and one by James Cotton.

Where There's Smoke.....

I have a ninety something year old friend who I visit quite often in the nursing home where he lives. He has all his wits about him but does get a little mixed every once in a while. This afternoon while I was visiting he said, "Did I show you my horse?" I immediately got a little oh, oh feeling thinking that he was having a mixed up moment.

I said, "What do you mean"?

He said, "Come on downstairs and I'll show you my horse".

I was a bit concerned but decided to play along and off we went on our slow little trip with him using his walker. We took an elevator and went into a big common room and over in the corner was indeed a horse. It was a mechanical pony probably three feet high. It moves it's head, it's mouth, wags it's tail, munches on a carrot and neighs and makes other horse sounds.

The joke was on me. I'm sure he knew what I was thinking and got the last laugh.

I went to a function last night where we had a bit of an adventure. Someone put one of those fake chemical-sawdust logs in the fireplace and the draft or baffle would not open. The whole building filled with smoke. A bunch of guys tried to fix things but the draft could not be moved. Someone got the bright idea to take the log outside with a shovel. As soon as they touched it, the log fell into a million pieces and could not be picked up. They ended up bringing buckets of snow inside and smothering the log that way. The smoke then turned to steam. It was a mess and I had some pretty smelly clothes to deal with this morning.

Music: A link from the past. This was the first song on a cd I put on today while painting. It goes with the last paragraph too. It's Swati with Bruce Springsteen's I'm On Fire. You can find other versions of this song that I've already put up with a simple search at the top left of the page. New today are songs from Van Morrison. I am so looking forward to seeing my daughter and these Van songs, Someone Like You and Contacting My Angel, remind me of her. Someone Like You is such a great song. No one will ever do a better version. Van Morrison owns it through and through.

One in Five

They say that one in five women you know will get breast cancer. I have a friend who was just diagnosed with cancer in both breasts. I am in total shock. This vital, amazing woman is in for the fight of her life, literally. She is strong and she's a fighter so I'm betting she beats this and teaches all of us a whole lot in the process.

I've been painting for a couple of weeks but keep saying I feel like doing glass work. Last night I got a probable commission. That should satisfy the itch. Makes me get at the painting with earnest too because I can only do one thing in my studio at a time so will have to be done with the paint so I can put it away.

On Monday I usually look forward to tomorrow's hike but my mind is only on my friend. Today's music is for her. And The Healing Has Begun and The Healing Game both by Van Morrison come to mind first. I already have The Healing Game up so here's another Van classic, Did You Get Healed. This is from his Live In Montreaux 1990 bootleg.

Autumn's Child

My sweet little granddaughter turns two today. Her grandfather, my ex, was seeing her and her nearly four year old brother for the first time this weekend. I could never have waited that long. Never! How could I have not had a look at that sweet face?

Believe it or not, I'm not sick of turkey yet. It's on the menu tonight, as a matter of fact. Dinner at my friend's was wonderful. The turkey was really great. Yesterday's meal was better in the sense that I didn't prepare it or have to clean up afterward. I brought homemade pie , pickles and cranberry sauce, a new cd and bells on my toes.

I did my walking this morning and had plans for the afternoon but then said the heck with it, relaxed instead and read a bunch of medical literature that I'd been putting off as I never had time. Today, I had time. Tomorrow I'm taking my elderly friend visiting and helping him with some errands. We're starting at 9:30 and I'll be wanting a nap by afternoon, not him. He had a lot of energy for someone in his nineties.

I made a cd for Thanksgiving. I picked out songs about autumn, food, thanks, harvests, fields and crops. It turned out that a good percentage of the songs are country or bluegrass or have a folk/country feel to them. Not surprising, I guess, but it certainly the most country cd I've ever made. Here is Patty Griffin with Making Pies because that's what I did for two days and still have to make one more. The Field Behind The Plow by Stan Rogers is because well, it's Stan Rogers and Golden Autumn Day is for my sweet little granddaughter. Happy birthday, Little One.

My son is downloading stuff on his laptop using my wireless so this is taking a long time and of course, this is a day when I planned three songs. I'll be back....

Oh what fun! A friend just called and is on his way over with an incredible story with which he needs my help and won't tell me any more. I'm intrigued. I hope it doesn't require money or spiked heels.

Only one post has taken this long. It was when my son was downloading something else a while back. He doesn't have high-speed, you seed. I started around three-thirty and it's now 6:o1. My friend should soon be here!!!

Where We Go

I and everyone in my community is in shock. A happy, healthy seventeen year old has suddenly had an embolism a few days after knee surgery and has passed away. Her grandmother and I closely work together as she is on the board directors of the organization I work with. Her dad worked with me at our family business when this girl was born. Entering grade twelve in a day or two and was showing her brother around the highschool for his upcoming first day there. The shock runs deep. I have no words.

I went visiting a couple of people after dinner. Brought a houswarming gift to one and had a regular visit to my senior friend. Ha, he would be a great-great uncle to this girl. These things hit everybody in a community.

Music: Where I'd head to for music at a time like this is straight to Van Morrison. I could choose from so many wonderfully fitting songs. Here are two I already have up: Across the Bridge Where Angels Come, Whenever God Shines His Light, . For today, Contacting My Angel which has personal meaning for me with this child. Van and Bob Dylan get together for Knocking On Heaven's Door. Just found out that it was already up too. Not surprisingly, all three were up on a post when my friend lost her Dad in March, two days after the funeral for my other friend's Mom on the aniversay of my Mom's death. Yes, Van's where I go.

Roots

I must say I feel like an old fogey tonight. My ex sister-in-law and I have tickets to the Chucky Danger Band concert tonight, one of the two dates they are playing on the Island this summer. Both of us are too tired to go thus have given up our tickets. The event is sold out so our tickets will be welcome to others who want to go. The boys are giving a three song EP to each person at the concert tonight but Robbie said he's sending me the whole cd to put some cuts on the blog. When I get it I'll put some songs up. Mowing - that's what I blame for this. It exhausts me.

The dog nursing the kitten that I mentioned last night was not the same dog that I'm familiar with. It's cool though. The owners talked about how the dog is keeping the kitty happy by running around letting the kitten chase it's tail.

I mentioned the other day that I have lots of versions of Bring It on Home to Me but had none on the music pages. Here are a couple; one by Van Morrison and one by Sam Cooke. Great song!

I'm Mobile (Hopefully)

My car is fixed! My car is fixed! I don't know what it cost and I hardly care. This past two weeks of being house-bound has been difficult. The problem was a faulty coolant switch. Toyota is shocked and they should be after what their solution was to be. They said their $13,000.00 computer was supposed to pick up the problem. The independent guy's didn't either when looking for a code but when looking at what has happened as it stalled, they were able to pick it up.

My favorite ex (sister-in-law) is taking me over to get the car after the garage closes and I'm heading straight to Charlottetown to a memorial service for a friend who died of breast cancer last week. That's another story........

Only one person's music always makes me feel good.....Van the Man. Here's a couple that do just that. In the Afternoon is very sexy and can't help but make you feel good. I really love that song! I also have an old live version of Here Comes the Night. I actually like his voice as it matures and sometimes I wish these old ones has the vocal depth of the last ten years but I love, love, love Van Morrison in almost any song at any age. Voice isn't everything.

The Pleasures

I've had a wonderful, wonderful day filled with skies, horses and friends. I took one friend to see a newish (one month) baby foal and then went to visit a friend with two horses in a pasture and one more delivered to said pasture while I was there.

The sky was incredible all day. The temps were higher and the sun was around with mackeral clouds but it was still quite windy. My friend and I walked for hours. I took 153 photos and felt those endorphins soaring.....my aim in life. I had a friend waiting for me when I arrived home. A grand day altogether.

The music today is to remind me of the lovely day I had. The Healing Game is from a Van Morrison album of the same name. It is one of my favorite Van Morrison albums. Carie Curtis has a great song, It's a Wonder, that kind of fits in for today. Give it a listen.

Number four in the series of coincidences: Twin Boys, twin lives
The stories of identical twins' nearly identical lives are often astonishing, but perhaps none more so than those of identical twins born in Ohio. The twin boys were separated at birth, being adopted by different families. Unknown to each other, both families named the boys James. And here the coincidences just begin. Both James grew up not even knowing of the other, yet both sought law-enforcement training, both had abilities in mechanical drawing and carpentry, and each had married women named Linda. They both had sons whom one named James Alan and the other named James Allan. The twin brothers also divorced their wives and married other women - both named Betty. And they both owned dogs which they named Toy. Forty years after their childhood separation, the two men were reunited to share their amazingly similar lives. (Source: Reader's Digest, January 1980)

Mourning in March

My Dad as a Teenager

Reality takes another bite. I spent the morning on the phone with a friend of thirty years. Her Dad died yesterday. He had cancer and was getting sicker but they had no idea that his death was iminent. She visited him at his home on Sunday. He was in hospital less than twenty four hours. Her dad was the same age as mine and a retired RCMP officer. Another funeral for me this week and I honestly don't know if I can take that again so soon.

We didn't get a lot of snow in our storm but what we got was blown around by very fierce winds. It is still very windy today which I'm sure has caused bad road conditions with the drifting snow. Schools were closed for the day and some businesses. A day off walking and dancing. Since I spent the morning on the phone, I had other stuff to do.

Music for my friend's Dad to help him pass through or to comfort my friend is provided by Van Morrison and Bob Dylan, the most spiritual of songwriters. Across the Bridge Where Angels Dwell is from Van's album, Beautiful Vision. Knocking on Heaven's Door has Van and Bob singing live at an unnamed concert. Here's a link to Whenever God Shines his Light.

Off to the Races

We are having the weirdest weather today. We had major flurries this morning that left about a centimeter of fluffy snow on the ground. The temperature went up, it sprinkle-rained a little bit and now the sun is shining brightly. It was too yucky to go for my walk at the usual time so I think I'll go now instead. More traffic this time of day is the only drawback.

Because of the bright sunshine this afternoon, Van Morrison's Whenever God Shines His Light seems like an appropriate song. Van has a song that's appropriate in any situation doesn't he? This one is not for the occasion but it's a favorite Van Morrison song of mine....Steal My Heart Away. I get flutters hearing it right now. Whew! Oh, it does have the line, "Like the sunshine after rain" so it fits in nicely.

Off to walk.

Day of the Green

Funny how Kenz likes to help me blog most days. I type with my arms around her, pushing and manipulating her body so that I can see and use the keyboard. Every once in a while it annoys me but not very often.

My daughter is downloading movies on her laptop with my wireless connection so it's using up the upload/download juice. Took a long time to get this photo up. I'll probably not attempt any new music today but link some songs instead.

We're going out to supper and to a movie tonight which will be fun though I didn't ask what movie everyone wants to see. I only watch comedies so we may be in different movies which has happened many times before. It's going to be sad to see my girlie go back out west.

One music link for St. Paddy's day is Whatever Gets You True from Paddy Casey. Couldn't think of a name more appropriate for the day. The man from Belfast has to be featured too, of course. Someone Like You, a beautiful, beautiful song from the one and only Van Morrison is my wish for the top of the day to you all.

Titles Are Hard

There's ice on the pond. We had below freezing temps overnight and finally some ice is forming. Not all that long ago, when the kids were young, we would be skating on the pond during Christmas vacation. It's proof to me that the weather has changed a lot because I've not been able to skate on the pond since Feb. or March 2003. Even then, there was a large open area. It would not have been suitable for children.

Lots of visitors have been around. It's great but I haven't done my promised visits to others. I find it very easy to stay home. Tomorrow night is a friend's annual Eve Eve Party. We'll definately be making an appearance at that. It's big and crowded and the dance floor is always packed and we have a blast. We're tired of leftovers so we're eating out first. Not turkey or ham or lobster....anything else is fair game.

A couple of songs for the music page. Just random favorites......I've been listening to latin all day but these are not. The first is a song I love. I have the Blind Boys of Alabama version up already but this one I love the best. It's People Get Ready by Phoebe Snow and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Tupelo Honey by Van Morrison was a lways a favorite of mine. When I first heard A Night in San Fransisco and heard this version with Brian Kennedy beginning and Van coming in, I almost melted. It's SUCH a great version! Enjoy!

Fire and Ice

This is the collage of the school house fire I wrote about a couple of weeks ago.
It looks very hot.

Very heavy frost overnight last night. It didn't get above zero till about ten am.

I took this photo at 9:23. It looks very cold.

I'm very excited to be going to see some live music tomorrow night. A couple of musicians are playing at the Confederation Center Theater, a nice, soft seat venue. I saw one of them, JP Cormier there in February during the ECMA's. The other, blues guy Matt Andersen, we tried and tried to get in to see at that time but he was always sold out. Speaking of February and live music, I found out last night that Van is playing in Calgary on the 27th of February. I called my daughter immediately but for some reason she's not as excited as I would be. She is suggesting that I come visit her at that time. I just might.

I had my walk today but had several stops so didn't really get a long cardio session happening. It is quite nice, warm and sunny after the cold night with the heavy frost. The Island beauty will release endorphins even if your walk is not so fast or prolonged so I'm feeling pretty sweet.

Music: One of the many live versions of Moondance by Van Morrison is always in order. Today's photos are of fire and ice. I have no such song but I do have Fire and Rain by James Taylor, a great oldie, in my opinion.

For a link I have a great photographer who photographs Burning Man and sorts the photos into categories. I've always been extemely interested in Burning Man and would love to go sometime so I like this site. I have the photo a day page of the official Burning Man site on my blogroll so visit it every day. Those photos are from many photographers. Today's is very cool.

Normal Is As Normal Does

I'm working on a cd for a friend who turns 50 on Friday. I thought I'd have it finished in plenty of time for mailing today but it's been a hard one. I like to tell a story with the order of the songs but it also has to sound good. I know I have a lot of slow ballady music but I don't want 50 to be anything but a celebration for my friend. I'm still working and will express post it tomorrow.

Today feels like my first day off. Seeing the daughter off this week made me a bit anxious and far from feeling relaxed. Today, seems back to normal. I cleaned like a fiend and have a whole lot more to do. I have three empty bedrooms and will completely gut them and start again. I walked but didn't make it to the beach. Maybe Wednesday.

Music today: Something from the cd I'm working on for both my daughter and my fifty year old friend who has moved in and out of my life so many times in the thirty years we've known each other....You've Got To Move, a live version from a benefit by Greg Brown. Also, from the playlist, Someone Like You by Van Morrison.

The link: My friend and artist Greg Garand called this morning. I told him about my statement yesterday that I was going to link to local PEI artist whose works I have. He's happy for the exposure. I have probably the largest collection of Greg Garand paintings of anyone. I love his work. I have early and recent and he keeps getting better and better. So here's Greg Garand but please note that he wants to update his site and add new paintings. Life is such a rat race. There are never enough hours in a day.

Promises

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I hardly watch TV though I'm going to on Thursday nights.....ER and Grey's Anatomy. When work is finished for a month I'll be watching Oprah. I love that show!

The autumn weather is so beautiful here in PEI. It's warm but crispness is nearing, the light is vivid but shortening by the day and color is enveloping our landscapes with more richness. I have a month off soon and I've decided to walk to the beach or in the woods every day. If I don't I'll probably put on weight and brisk walking can release endorphins. I can use a few.

Music: One of These Days - Mose Allison and Van Morrison and the honey sounds of Eva Cassidy with Oh, Had I A Golden Thread.