On The Side Of The Shed

that was his work shop is a lean to where Dad had his forge, his tractor, his band saw and his drill press.  Recycled scrap tin was added to the open side of the shed so the water would not affect his equipment.

When we moved here I decided the old advertisement on the tin needed to be covered so I began to paint a mural.  To the right of this stream is a mountain.  I think the entire piece has seen better days.

One of my projects this year will be to repaint this.  The paints will tell me.  I never know which direction they'll take.  I love working large and abstract so it will be a surprise for all.

Today We Mourn

the passing of a great man and phenomenal musician.  Mr King has been one of my favorite musicians for many years.

Andrew and I went to see him in concert  when Andrew was fifteen and a budding young musician himself.  I even let Andrew skip school and drove to Mississippi for us to see him in concert.

I did not push Andrew in the blues directions, he traveled there himself.  He plays by ear and eye, he can watch a musician play and pick up what he has seen and heard. Many have called Andrew "an old soul" so maybe he has played before.

Today we mourn,  The skies cry here for BB King.  I like to think this man who learned how to play with wire strings on a porch post is jamming with the best of the ones long gone.

Oh, God!  We will miss you, Mr King.

Flags of Friendship

Thanks, Cyndi!

As We Age

there are just some things we can no longer do...like climb trees, move refrigerators by ourselves, or wrestle a calf to the ground.  Just little odds and ends that remind us we may no longer be in our prime.

Jobs that once were done swiftly by one now have to be managed with cooperation of two or more.

Yesterday was a fine example.

Our phone land line was out.  No phones and after doing all the tests that we are required to do before we call in for repair service, we knew without a doubt, it was their problem and not ours.

Here's the dilemma...how can you report a telephone outage if your phone doesn't work?   Luckily the computer did work.  I "chatted" with three different people who told me that was not their department.  I found them from the repair request page.  Hmmmm, could this be a failure to communicate?  Same phone company just one department cannot contact another department or transfer me on the computer or even take a simple message for me. Granted they were all polite and overly helpful regarding anything else I needed.  (I think they take a happy pill before they answer phones for the day)  I didn't need new equipment.  I didn't need to move my service.  I didn't need to upgrade my service.  I just needed the service I was paying for (and they checked that too to make sure I had paid my bill in a timely manner)

After I had reached my frustration peak...which is just before I repeatedly slam the phone with a rock, insist they remove all my services or begin a detailed discussion about their ancestor's origins and abilities .

We live in a valley.  Cell phones have no signal in the house.  We have a multitude of options to remedy that from standing on the bow of our boat holding the phone high in the air, standing on a rock in the back yard and extending phone to get two bars, or driving to the top of the farm to get full signal.

After much debate, Hubby said climb on the rock and call them.  I don't use a cell phone anymore so that would be like giving a Neanderthal a microwave and telling him to cook!  I did try to climb on the rock but my balance took all my attention.

Hubby climbed on the rock and called the phone company. He gave the wrong social so I wrote that in the sand for him to see.   He couldn't hear the person so he disconnected.  Finally he returned to the rock, put the phone on speaker with me standing on the ground yelling to the speaker phone he held high over his head.  After much discussion about all the tests we had already done and a test call to our house to make sure it wasn't ringing we finally got results when Hubby mentioned he had a defibrillator that has to checked by phone.

Guess what...a repairman was here within twenty minutes.  We have phones again!

I dislike phones so I'm turning the ringer off!

Visiting Middle Earth

We walk in a magical world
We conquer the dark
To live in the light

When catapults throw defeat
And rams batter your door!
Don't run

Stand tall
When the dragons cry
Add your roar

"There's some good
in this world
and it's worth fighting for"*

When we battle with a Samwise heart
We've won again another night
Never forget YOU possess the light

*J.R.R. Tolkien

Open Mic at Imaginary Garden With Real Toads