Music, Music Everywhere -- Blues Music in Durham

My dear peeps,

Dang. I sort of feel like something is missing sometimes, and I guess this is it. I miss my peeps. Tumblr is a nice platform for visual but not really easy to interact with others. The big pain with blogging for me right now is putting pictures on the posts. No desktop. Just the iPad, though Jason says I can use his anytime. But I just hate using other people's stuff. You know? It is his. I guess I'll figure out a way to do it quickly. My life is going by too fast to spend two hours putting up a blog post. oh, you all are worth it but there are not enough hours in the day!!

I have enjoyed so much wonderful music lately. What a privilege to get to see Frazey Ford earlier in the week at Motorco. She is one of my favorites!! Amazing songwriter and very one-of-a-kind voice. She's a soulful singer. I just love her!




Right on the heels of that we saw (at the Blue Note Grill) Ruthie Foster, another wonderful performer, a woman who sings the blues! She actually has a strong gospel influence in her music as well. I am only scratching the surface with my descriptions, so please forgive me.



A few weeks ago Jason and I performed at a benefit to raise money for Susan G. Komen. A friend of ours has had stage IV breast cancer for over 6 years. She has an attitude that just cannot be beat. And a husband who is just absolutely her biggest support and friend. The Komen foundation had a lot to do with one of the meds that has worked so well for her. Her husband, who has taken some lessons from Jason, also played and sang with us. Jason and I played Chemical Vessel, a song that I wrote; Old Fashioned Morphine, a great song by another of my favorites, Jolie Holland; and, 4 and 20 Blues, a great blues song that Redbird does. I sang the first two and then Jason sang the third while I sang backup. When our friend Mike played with us we did Don't Be Cruel by Elvis, wherein I did the background be-bops; we did Peggy Sue by Buddy Holly, and Mike sang that; and then, at Mike's request, I sang Let It Be Me by the Everly Brothers. It is a song that Mike meant for his wife. It was a great evening!





I really believe it went well. Onward and upward!

Finally, we saw Tony Joe White together for the second time. The first time we saw him I had just started playing guitar. Tony Joe has a sexy voice going on people! He's a great guitar player and performer. We just thoroughly enjoyed it all. Now I have new guitar fever. Ha ha.



Enough for today. Stay tuned for the latest pictures of Sidetracked.

Enjoy this day.

It Could Be Winds-day

Lots of Wednesdays I picture Piglet riding off into the sky, holding on to the end of a piece of yarn from a quickly unraveling scarf.

Maybe I should have used colored pencils. Then again, my brain is still in black and white mode at this time of the day. I am only half way through my morning coffee.

Also in black and white is this awesome George Harrison T-shirt that arrived in my mailbox yesterday. I ordered it from Amazon with a gift card I earned recently from my insurance program. It is a great T shirt! I am happy with the quality from this company on Amazon.



That is an affiliate link, by the way.

Now for something really spectacular.

Another unbelievable photo from my stash. I would LOVE to know the story behind this. I have no idea when it was taken. I am planning to have an antiques dealer friend near the shop take a look at it for me. I will be sure and share what I find out. It amazes me how everyone in the photo seems to be doing their own thing. I love the details in this. And it is in very good shape. Here are some close-ups that hopefully are clear.

I must run for now. I have an appointment looming on the horizon.

Enjoy this day!

Lynn

"Relic-ing" A Guitar

Dear Friends,

I am tired this evening. I hate to start a post with a complaint, but there you have it. I have missed some sleep lately and I am certainly the kind of girl who needs 8 hours a night. If I don't get it, I feel it. As I have gotten older I find that I am sometimes okay with 7 hours but under 7 and I turn into Evil-lyn.

About the post title, maybe some of you will remember when I got the Fender two years ago and started playing. Well, that Fender is a very introductory not-expensive guitar and it had been damaged and repaired at some point. I love the guitar and won't part with it, but it does not sound as good as something a little nicer. These days I play only my (Jason's) Martin. I love that guitar. Yes. It was with wild abandon that I set about this afternoon distressing the Fender.

Peeps, I would NEVER do this to a new guitar. The fact that the Fender has some structural issues made me feel very comfortable with messing around with it. I am not done yet but maybe you can see a bit of the pink vibe I am going for. Speaking of guitar, I need to do my two year progress video soon. Has it really been two years! I cannot figure out how to embed a video with the iPad but here is the link to the one-year mark.

year 1 progress video

I need to practice more! I feel I should be so much further along than I am but I am not going to stop. I guess I will figure out something to play and do the two-year video soon.

In other news, I wanted to share a picture of Greyson watching Sponge Bob Square Pants. (Love that show!)

He reminds me so much of his dad and yet Joe was not this stocky at this age. He was maybe taller but definitely thinner. It could be that Greyson is just as tall as Joesph was at this age. It is hard to tell due to the weight. Anyway, Joseph is the biggest of my three boys, er uh, men. It will be interesting to see how Greyson grows.

Now, my other boy, Vlad, is pretty big too. He weighed in at 16 pounds last week. Goodness. I call this shot of Vlad "Put Me Down." Vlad's sister Lucy weighed in at 12.2, so she is no featherweight.

She is a pretty girl.

Finally, I wanted to share another recently scanned photo. Look at her collar and the cross and the flower pinned onto her blouse. I would love to see the whole outfit. Again, I wish I had more info.

I am off to practice a bit and then to bed.

Enjoy this day.

Lynn

Into The New Year 2016

Dear Friends,

Do you have New Year's resolutions? I am torn about my need to make one this year. Ha ha. I make it sound like a huge life decision. I know it is not. Remember last year I made The Brutally Honest Journal. I remember sitting and creating that journal and indeed I kept it all year, though I did slack off greatly after opening the shop. Opening a shop is a busy thing! And speaking of the shop, here are some recent images.

Pretty pot of half curtain rods sits in the garden. Yes peeps. If you see the ones with the lovely crystal-like ends, they are cute in the garden!!

Pretty pink arrangement.

My latest creation hangs in front of the caboose in a little patio scenario. I will try to take some pictures of the chairs and table that I have been dragging out for display.

Inside the shop -- vintage containers, a dark castle and a sweet hat.

The top of a linen jacket I made: shirt turned jacket, added bling.

Love this page from a vintage how-to-paint book in the shop. This painting by Paul de Longpre.

It is overwhelming to think about all of the photos that I need to scan. I have oodles. This is one of them. Would you just look at the ornate hat! Is that feathers? And flowers? And how about her collar?

On a totally different note from the shop, I rang in the New Year listening to some fabulous music! That is Jason on the left. I hope it is a sign of what is to come -- learning more and more about the guitar in 2016.

With that I will say good bye for now. I have enjoyed a wonderful day with my mom, Henny Penny, today.

Currently I am working on more of the garden spot in front of the caboose. I have a metal bed frame that is about to be painted pale pink. Well, at least the headboard. I bought the COOLEST cast head/shoulders for inside the shop. OMGOODNESS!! You will have to see it soon. Looks like cement but not that heavy. It is so awesome. I promise to share pictures soon. Stay tuned.

Enjoy this day!

Lynn