Chris's Guitars

My dear friend Chris is a professional musician.  He writes his own music all the time, plays guitar and signs the songs he's written.  I truly love listening to him playing his guitars.  Yes, plural, more than one, several in fact. I've noticed that every one of Chris's guitars are the same, though I suspect they are all tuned differently for different songs he plays.  I don't know what kind of guitars they are, though am sure if Allen and Heath at Guitar Center were to see them, they would know right away what kind they are.  I know enough about guitars to be able to say they are acoustic, though not enough to tell you what brand they are. Whatever they are, I can tell you that they make extremely nice music when Chris Madsen plucks or strums those strings.  It is truly a blessing to sit quietly and listen.

My guitar is not a thing. It is an extension of myself. It is who I am.
~Joan Jett~
 

An uncle of mine emigrated to Canada and couldn't take his guitar with him. 

When I found it in the attic, I'd found a friend for life.
~Sting~

My New Computer.... errrr, PHONE

For awhile now I've wanted and even needed a new cell phone.  23 months ago I took out a 36 month contract with Telus Mobility, and I got a nice new phone for free by signing that contract. Just a few months later, I accidentally ruined my phone by forgetting to take it out of a jacket pocket before washing the jacket.  It was only in the sink of water for a couple minutes before I realized what I had done and grabbed it out, but that was enough, too much even, as it was beyond saving already.  My friend Dan loaned me his old phone for around a year, then my friend Joyce's daughter Melissa gave me an old phone she no longer wanted or needed.  She couldn't find the charger for it, but it was Samsung which is what I had ruined, so I still had the charger and it worked.  After about a year or so with this phone, I was really wanting a new one.  This phone liked to unlock itself and pocket/purse dial, so made too many calls without my knowledge.  Also, even with it on top volume, I often could not hear it ringing and was beginning to have trouble hearing the person on the other end of the call talking.  No, there is nothing wrong with my ears, but the phone was on that slippery slope to 'done'.

Yesterday, I found out that it would cost me $58.31 for my 'equipment buy out' since I needed the new phone with 13 months remaining of the 3 year contract.  I was told this when I phoned the Client Care at Telus Mobility,  yet when I was at the phone store, I not only had to pay that charge, but also an 'in store' non-wavable charge on $30.  For this they show me the phone and talk me into buying it.  Oh, okay, so they also put in SIM card, or since my old phone didn't have one, she put one in, and changed my 101 Contacts over to the new phone as well as switched the memory card from old to new phone.   She tried to sell me a 'care package' for $70 instead of the $30 thing, but I said NO.  So, $91.70 (12% tax on the $30) later I have a phone worth $650.00 plus the 12% tax.  So that is, when you think of it, pretty good I guess.

Given the choice of blue or white, I chose the blue phone.

The plan I had was $46 plus taxes per month and included: 200 anytime air minutes, unlimited incoming local calls (not sure if it included long distance incoming calls), free unlimited evenings and weekends starting at 5pm, caller ID and Voice Mail.  I now have a different plan for $50 plus taxes per month: 200 anytime air minutes, 10 Favorites so I can call them or they can call me free of charge and I can change who is on my Faves List whenever I want to, evenings and weekends starting at 6pm, caller ID and Voice Mail.  I think that covers everything. The gal at Telus, who I talked to over the phone before going to the store, told me the 3 numbers I talk to most... and she figured I would get better use of this plan than I did of the other one.  I'm going to have to check and see if those are just local calls or include long distance ones too, I think it includes all within Canada.

Now.... I need to buy a screen protector and a case, 

though most cases seem to come with the screen protector..... and the big thing.....

I have to learn how to use this newfangled computer they call a phone!!

I am very grateful to have this great new phone as I need my one and only phone to be dependable.
I am grateful I had the money with which to buy this fancy new phone.
I am grateful I get to go back to the store to get 45 minutes of one on one instruction, provided by Telus Mobility to purchasers of the Iphones and Samsung Galaxy S3.

Happy December Holidays!!

 I wish you and all your loved ones

 on this day

2012!!

May you all have a VERY

If you don't celebrate Christmas, that's okay!

I honour you and whatever it is you choose to celebrate.

 

Do you celebrate any of the following?

December

5 - Ashura (Islamic, Muslim)

6 - St. Nicholas Day (International)

8 - Bodhi Day - Buddha's Enlightenment (Buddhist)

8-16 - Hanukkah* (Jewish)

12 - Virgin of Guadalupe (Mexico)

13 - Santa Lucia Day (Sweden)

16-25 - Las Posadas (Mexico)

25 - Christmas (Christian, Roman Catholic, International)

26 - Boxing Day (Canada, United Kingdom)

26 - Kwanzaa (African-American)

 Or, do you celebrate none of the above??

Whatever you do or do not celebrate in December, I wish you

 

Signing In

I've been having a real challenge getting into this blog account lately.  Finally I get in, but it is only after a great deal of fiddling around and over coming problems.  I sure wish it would quit doing all this and become easy to sign in to again like it once was.  I am grateful to have this free blog space, so I do thank the people at Blogspot for it, and I thank them for whatever they can do to make logging in here go more smoothly.

Memories.....

Have you ever noticed how little things can trigger memories?  For example, a smell such as fresh hay drying in the field or of bread fresh from the oven.  For me, the hay reminds me of growing up on the farm as well as riding behind Marcelle on his motorcycle, a black Yamaha, though I forget the CCs it was. Those at least are the first two things that come to my mind, and there are others.  The smell of bread baking makes me think of my Mom and how she always baked so many things for us while we were growing up.  Between her 5 children we went through a lot of food, so growing her garden and baking went a long way to feeding us healthy food while keeping the costs down. Earlier, when I read the words "Les Paul guitar", my mind went back to a boyfriend I used to have... no... make that 2 boyfriends that I had over the years who played guitars in bands. So many evenings listening to the band play while I served drinks in the cabaret, or while I danced the night away.  I really loved those days when I was young, loved music and dancing, and had the world by the tail with a down hill pull. I wonder what ever happened to those boyfriends, hmmmmm.  Now an advertisement that is playing on the TV reminded me of when I had horses in my life and rode them a lot, along with friends.  That memory reminded me that while riding motorcycles with friends today I saw a horse that looked soooo much like Wonder. I would have loved to stop and call the horse over, call it Wonder and see if she/he came to the name, and if it is a mare, if it has the same spots that it so loves to have scratched. Could Wonder even still be alive after all these years since I last saw her? I mean, she was already up in years back then.  But this horse is a 'dead ringer' for Wonder.  I must call PatZ and see if she remembers how old Wonder would be now and if she would like to take a drive out to see this horse, to see if it is Wonder, and maybe take my great-niece Nicole who, from age 5-7 or 8, rode Wonder all over the ranges with us. Wow.... memories sure can lead one down an interesting lane of thought.  I am so very very grateful to remember these memories, and to have lived through the events that the memories reflect.  I am so grateful to have had horses in my life and the dear friends that shared my life on and off horses at that time.

CMA Music Festival

Last night, the CMA Music Festival was on TV.  3 hours of country music by some of the best of the best.  I wanted to watch it and something on another channel at the same time, so I recorded the CMA Music Festival while watching other things.  Today, I turned on my TV and watched a couple things, then I decided to play back the CMA while doing some house work here.  It would be great to sit and watch it, but so long as I can hear it that's the main thing.  I cranked the volume up and went off to get some of my work done in the kitchen then in my bedroom. I popped in and out during the show, so I did see a little here and there; Alan Jackson, Hank Williams Jr., etc. etc. etc. I'm not up on my instruments or equipment, but may have seen a mpc 5000 musicians friend on stage... or not.

I'm really grateful I recorded this show and I have decided not to delete it as I usually do after I watch the shows I record.  I want to be able to play this again while doing house work, and to at some point sit and enjoy watching the entire 3 hours.

I've been sick!!

I have been rather ill the last while, which is not actually normal for me. First one evening I was on my way home from visiting a friend and I noticed my throat was quite sore.  I thought I better drink more water, am maybe getting a little dehydrated as I know I haven't been drinking enough, it has been very hot, and I ride a motorcycle which tends to make one drier. 

The next morning I was to go on a long day's ride with friends from one of the motorcycle riding groups I am part of. I had really been looking forward to this ride as well as riding with the BC Lone Wolves again. They are such a great group of people!  Unfortunately, I had to change my plans and stay home as my throat was even more painful and I didn't want to be sick on a long ride like that. After texting to let Buzz know I would not be able to go along, I went back to sleep and when I woke up I found that my voice was barely working.  Hmmmm.  It has been many many years now since I have gotten a flu or cold, yet obviously something was going on in my body that I did not like.  That afternoon I went to a walk-in clinic to see a doctor and was told that I had 'viral laryngitis' and that it would go away on it's own in a 2-3 days.

A few days later sees me stuffed up in my head, sneezing and blowing lot of 'phlegm' out of my nose.  I also was coughing and hacking up phlegm from my lungs!  But hey, the sore throat was gone! I decided to go back to the walk-in clinic because I have had lung problems before, including bronchitis and pneumonia and know better than to mess around with that!! So, back I go and see another doctor who listens to my chest a bit and informs me that I do not need any antibiotics as there is nothing at all in my lungs.  I have sinusitis and the phlegm is running down my throat into my lungs and that is what I am coughing up. He says to get a Nedi Pot and rinse out my sinuses and all will be good.  A friend lent me his big syringe that his doctor had given him awhile back for flushing out the sinuses, and all I had to do was wash it before using it.  Hey, I can do that and save $20.00!! Flushing the sinuses was a bit tricky, something I'd never done before, yet do it I did and yes, it did seem to help some.  Still, I had the nasty cough and lots of phlegm coming to light.

Yesterday, I talked to 2 friends on the phone, both heard my cough and both told me what I had already been thinking. It was good to hear the support!!  They both said "Go to another doctor. Get a second opinion!! This guy is wrong!! That is a very nasty cough!!" or things of that nature.  I called my own family doctor to see if I could get in, ya like that would happen the same day!!  Well, it did!! Usually it takes several days to a week to get in, but they fit me in about an hour after I called.  Guess I sounded sick!! haha.  Well, he agreed that I have sinusitis, though he also feels I have either bronchitis or pneumonia.  He gave me a requisition for chest x-rays and a prescription for antibiotics and off I went.

Today I had the x-rays done so will find out next week which it is, bronchitis or pneumonia, and in the meantime I will be working at getting back to my usual healthy self!

I am so grateful that I have friends who care about me, both here in town and even on Facebook!! I so cherish these people in my life!!

Random List ...

Some things I've read on the internet today:

- World's Largest Pyramid Discovered, Lost Mayan City Of Mirador Guatemala CNN

- "The Church says the Earth is flat, but I know that it is round, for I have seen the shadow on the  moon, and I have more faith in a shadow than in the church." ~ Ferdinand Magellan (148-1521)

- An interesting recipe for making your own First-Aid Antiseptic Ointment

- A web site where they have vestax mixers for sale.  I think I should tell some of my musician friends so they can check this out if they have a need for this kind of equipment. Some of my friends get together on a regular basis and we sing and chant, drum and Chris plays his guitar, even play the didgeridoo! This is a really great group of spiritual people that I so love being a part of!

- The OFFICIAL website for the BC citizens' Initiative Petition to stop smart meters in British Columbia, Canada

- 80 Uses for Coconut Oil and on another web site, 160 Uses for Coconut Oil. This truly is a wonderful, health filled oil

 - The Old Farmer's Almanac, giving Gardening tips 

- The Happy Brain Chemicals: The neurotransmitters dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine, etc.

There were other things I read online too, but I think this gives you an idea that there are so many different and interesting things for us to read and learn from here on the internet.... in case you didn't already know, lol.

 I am very grateful to have a good computer, internet connection in my home, and hydro to run these things. 

Trike Make-over

Here are some photos of the Trike Make-over.

This is the front of one of the fenders.  I bought the fenders and Phil, a very good friend of mine, built the brackets to attach them to the trike box.  This box needs to be replaced, but for now it is what it is.  Phil straightened it up as much as possible and make it strong enough to last another year. 

 Here Phil is drilling a hole to bolt the bracket to the box frame, and holes to attach the bracket to the fender.

 This is Phil cutting another piece of aluminum to make a bracket for the back of the fenders.

And this is the bracket he made and how it attaches to the fender and box frame.

We  used acorn nuts to attach the brackets, front and back, but for the fun of it Phil put a 'spiky nut' on, just to see what it would look like.  I love it and wish I could afford to buy a bunch of them and do it all in 'spiky nuts', but the acorns will do for now.

I am so very grateful to have Phil as a good friend, and I am grateful that he did all this incredible work for me.  He really made my trike look beautiful!!  More to come in future posts.

My Garden Adventures

A friend of mine at the Food Bank where I work told me this winter that they have had great success growing vegetables with a Lasagna Garden. After looking on the internet, doing research on this form of gardening, I decided to give it a try.

Today I was in town so bought some plants while at the grocery store. I got Kale, Marigolds and Irish Moss. I came home and did a bunch of work in the yard, including:
- prepared a raised bed garden for planting... cleaned it up from last year. Planted the Kale plants in that raised bed garden.
- worked more on making my Lasagna Garden. I brought a fairly decayed bale of straw over from where it was in another part of the yard and dumped it out of the wheelbarrow. Took the wheelbarrow over to the compost pile on the other side of the yard, filled it with partially decayed compost, brought it over and spread it on what I already had made of the Lasagna Garden from another day (branches, old boards, old cardboard, etc.). Spread some of the straw over the compost layer.
- cleaned up the Iris plants, removing last year's, now dead, leaves & flower stalks and putting them onto the Lasagna Garden.
- cleaned up the last year's, now dead, growth from herbs, from Lavender, from Tomatoes, etc. and again put it all onto the Lasagna Garden.
- stood up the toilet that had fallen during the winter, made sure it won't fall again, planted some of the Marigold flowers into the tank and the bowl of the toilet. Put the rest of the Marigold plants into some dirt to protect them until I am ready to plant them elsewhere, not sure yet where that will be.
- decided to extend the Lasagna Garden a couple more feet, right to touching the stacked tires which are planters, so found a couple more bits of wood to use as frames for the bed, also packed some bricks over to fill in a gap. Still need to find a bit more to finish off the frame extension then will put down thick layers of newspapers and start putting layers of compost, straw, old wood bits, etc in that end too.

Now, after all that work, my body hurts rather badly... and yet I feel good about having done all of the above. I actually didn't want to come in, but knew I had to.

I am so grateful that I have a yard and that I can grow my own vegetables, herbs and fruit. I know that I am blessed.

Watch Out For Bikers!!!

When you are out and about in your car or truck

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

watch out for my friends and I as we ride our motorcycles!!

We want to live and to love our families and friends for as long as possible!!

THANK YOU!!

Gratitude

I am grateful that I have so much to be grateful for!!!