Stunned Silence

When I left the gym this evening, I glanced up at the televisions which were displaying some shocking news... ..that Michael Jackson was dead. Now, I am sitting here in stunned silence, watching the assorted coverage of his life.

Love him or hate him, he was one of the world's top performers. Remember the MoonWalk, and that silver glove, and Thriller.

I will mostly recall him as the adorable little guy with the Jackson 5. He was one of the five brothers who went on to be something huge.

Yes, he had a sordid past which overshadowed everything else that was possibly positive. Yes, he was a child molestor. Yes, he was a little strange. But he was also incredibly generous, probably almost to a fault. Remember Neverland.

He will now join Farrah Fawcett, who also left this earth today. Though her passing was expected, the beloved Charlie's Angel is now at peace.

Two great people gone in one day. Life is short and oh so fragile.

Scratcher

I may have coined a new term here. A new term for me that is.

One of my favourite hobbies is making my own cards from scratch. I use scrapbooking materials, but I also like to use other things as well, hence the scratch term. Now, in most circles, and Sue is the most knowledgeable about this, the term Scrapbooking is used, and the people who practice it are known as Scrapbookers or Scrappers. These folks also work their creative magic and turn precious mementos into scrapbooks.

I don't enjoy doing this as much as making cards.

So, I guess that makes me either a Scrapcarder or a Scratcher.

....but feel free to coin a proper term for what I do....

Bits and Bites

I acquired My Sweetie's tools....many of them....most of which I haven't a clue what to do with. I do know that some of them weigh a ton. and may need a small forklift in order to move them around...kidding! Now I am okay with some tools, usually the manual kind, but the electric rechargeable scares me a bit (did you get the word pun there?!?).

The first part of this fear dealt with the fact that the drill only had one drill bit. Of course, the screws that I had needed different bits. Unable to find the rest of them, I bought a neat set of 'things'....since there is no instruction manual (and I am really into instruction manuals, since that is what I create for a living) I was at a loss as to what these pieces all do. The guy in the store rattled off the purpose of each (he is smaaaaart...like most men when it comes to tools and such), but once I arrived home, I sat on the couch and stared at the box...unable to even open it.

So, I did my evening routine, and after dinner, I started to tinker with the drill and the 'bits'. Not so bad. This goes here. That goes there. This attaches to that. Simple right? Well, yes, pretty much. I have a piece of wood that is now my test piece, and I am not doing too badly.

So I have a couple of projects which will require me to use The Drill. No sweat ;)

p.s. - I also plan to visit Home D when they have their courses For Ladies Only....

A Voice from a Window

First of all, I want to thank those who have returned to visit my blog. It is nice to see followers once again, and to follow on a regular basis.

In a past post, I talked a bit about where I now live. The area has a mish-mush of residents. Some are single (actually a LOT are single), but there are also quite a few families (I know this because the school bus route passes by my window, and I get to see the little buttons meeting up with their Mommies).

There are also a few century homes here. At first, I thought that these homes were inhabited by a single family. I later learned that these places have been converted into multiple apartments. One of these buildings is across the street from me, containing four apartments. All of the residents are quiet, in fact. I have only seen one of them.

Until today....when I heard a voice from one of the upper windows.

The building is for sale, and the owner is usually there to try and fix one thing or another. While he was there today, I looked out and saw him looking up and talking to one of the upper windows. The voice was asking for something cold to drink ?!? Now, I have been here almost a month, and have never seen anyone there.

Maybe vampires?!?

New Hobbies

A few months ago, I began meeting up with one of my cousins at an establishment which featured a Blues Jam. What is a Blues Jam you may ask. Well, it is an afternoon of, mostly, blues music, with the stage featuring a core group of talented musicians. In addition, anyone can get up and join in, either in a vocal capacity or with any instrument they play. On any Sunday there might be sax players, trumpet players, slide guitars, and the list goes on. Lately, there have been two very talented young guitarists - one who is 16 and plays like the next Stevie Ray, and the other who is classically trained, but can play anything. Both of these fellows always command the attention of the audience. We also have a keyboard player who used to play with the band Max Webster.

Now, for the longest time, I would just be a part of the audience. I would order a light lunch and become immersed in the music, escaping the world for a few hours. It was also a fine opportunity to bond with my cousin. Then one day I was asked if I could sing backup on a song or two. Now, I can sing. I sang in the Sears choir for 5 years. I sing in the shower and in the car, but have never sung into a microphone...in front of people....until this one day. But, when I finally did this, I had a blast. I even had a few people come up to me later saying 'I didn't know that you could sing'. I was thrilled. After that, I continually kept coming out to the Blues Jam, and would pick up the odd percussion instrument...tambourine, shakers, maracas, whatever was handy.

Today, the jam was at one of the band members homes in the country, with the stage set up on his deck. What a perfect day. I was onstage for the entire afternoon. I played various percussion instruments. I sang backup a few times. But, the greatest part of this is that I learned that I am going to have a dedicated mike for me!!!

woohoo!!!~

Stay tuned.....

The Cottage

Two weeks ago, I moved away from Barrie and closer to the city, but still outside in a relatively small town. My house is referred to as The Cottage, and the surrounding nearby area is referred to is similar to a cottage community.....small, quaint, and friendly. This is not suburbia with cookie cutter homes. The houses are all quite old, and have their own sense of character (and, yes, there is a melange of characters that may dwell here). There are big, old trees everywhere. I have a woodpecker who lives on top of the telephone pole just outside my house. There are cardinals and bluejays, squirrels, and many neighbourhood cats.

I have a garden and a backyard that I am not quite sure what to do with yet, in fact, I am slightly intimidated by all of it. Maybe there are garden teachers out there who give lessons on these things.

BJ has settled in pretty nicely. He spends the nights with me, and part of the day. He has found a neat spot of ducting, and there he prefers to hide when strangers visit. I am okay with this. I can always go and see him whenever I want, since I know where that spot is. He is happy and I am happy if he is happy. He has also discovered the windows, which allow him to see 'stuff'. I think he likes that too.

This afternoon, I spent some time with a Contractor who is going to do some work for me. This is Contractor #2, however. Contractor #1 was supposed to be doing the work once I moved in, but there were a few problems. For one, he never returned my phone calls, and for another, due to his nationality, I could not understand him (and I have the strong feeling that he could not answer me as well). Contractor #2 came as a referral through another referral. So far, I am quite happy with what he has been doing.,,,and he is Irish...so I understand him (yay!). He even came shopping with me today to pick out a new door for the side of the house, and window blinds (since most of my windows were bare, and I was tired of feeling that I was living in a fish bowl). He even installed 4 of the crucial ones for me....another yay! I think that Contractor #2 is going to work out fine.

Have a good weekend peeps....

It's Been A Long Time Coming

Gonna be a long time gone.....

Those were some lyrics from a CSNY song....and with that, something to signal my return to the blogworld.

Now, what to talk about. Well, I could discuss the weather...the crappy and cold weather that has befallen us. But no. Not the weather.

I could discuss work. Nah. Work is work, and besides, everybody seems to find it necessary to discuss work for some reason. So no. Not work.

Hmmm. This leaves me with a few hot options for possible topics. Like Farmer's Markets. Yes, the Farmer's Markets are opening everywhere. I went to my very first one last Saturday. It was very cool, especially since I can walk there. So I grabbed my travel cup of tea and my knapsack and headed out. The old downtown here is quite small and quant. The vendors were all friendly and managed to have something in store for everyone. I picked up a basket of veggies containing an orange pepper, small cucumbers, 2 tomatoes and 4 potatoes. Cool. This menagerie provided for some nice salad fixings throughout the week. I also picked up a blueberry streudel and a raisin sourdough bread, which I sliced, bagged and stored in the freezer to be enjoyed throughout the week. Sweet.

Wow...so glad that I got that off my chest :)