Longer days

Hubby at Morgan Creek Vineyards

Yesterday was a very long day.

Nevertheless, it was time to get out of Dodge.

Hubby and I decided to let someone else entertain us with food and music for a change!

So we drove to Morgan Creek Vineyards on a chilly night.

https://www.morgancreekvineyards.com/

It was so pretty outside in the country, but we were able to sit indoors to enjoy the warmth of food, drinks & music!

Amy Zents by a blooming crab tree

We went to hear my former college guitar teacher, James McGuire play with his combo.

My former college instructor
Live music and fresh wine

Longer daylight seems to provide more energy for the soul!

Jazz trio

Saturday Sunshine

Yesterday was crazy.

Mopping slop

What’s a nightmare?

Water in the basement. That’s what.

I went in the laundry room the day before wondering why there was so much water on the floor.

It was running through a wall.

I went to the back room to discover the water in the laundry room was nothing compared to the water on the floor in the back basement room, where the Internet modem is, along with numerous boxes and bins, old computer modems and old electronics. What a pain!

All those boxes and bins standing in 2 to three inches of water.

I mopped and mopped.

I finally had hubby turn off the water to see if it was leaky walls or a leaking pipe.

I phoned the plumber to see if they could squeeze me in on Friday.

They could not.

I spent hours and hours with hubby clearing out that wet storage room.

In desperation, I called the plumber again for a referral. He graciously obliged me with a referral.

A freelance plumber came out

He spotted the problem after awhile.

It turns the problem was pipe in the wall, where we had installed an outdoor faucet for the garden hose, had burst in winter. Never leave the water hose on in the freezing weather!

He replaced the pipe and so far all is well.

A replacement pipe.

Hopefully the problem is solved now.

It looks that way.

I’m very grateful for our local plumber’s referral, and the freelance plumber who was available yesterday to come over, spot and solve our problem!

Like Shakespeare says, “All’s well that ends well!

Marlene and Me

Dietrich’s Star

I am a big fan of German-French-American star Marlene Dietrich.

I like the song “Falling in love again,” so I did a video with hubby here.

https://youtu.be/kGMNiAPg02M

One of the most popular motion picture stars of the thirties and forties, Marlene even has her own museum.

https://www.deutsche-kinemathek.de/en/collections-archives/digital-collection/marlene-dietrich-collection-berlin

Music and Pasta Fazool

Molly and Sonny Boy

Today my post is about music and food, two of life’s greatest blessings!

Today my little music duo, Molly and Sonny Boy ( hubby Jim and I,) did a nice little number for you, “That’s Amore.” Just guitar, tambourine and 2 vocals.

https://youtu.be/uk7FCTmL2p0

It’s a song that mentions Pasta Fazool.

Hubby cooks it often from a recipe he got from his Italian ex-girlfriend’s mother. It contains ditalini pasta, Great Northern beans, tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes dried Romano cheese chunks, black pepper, red pepper, rosemary, garlic and olive oil.

Musician couple

Hello Cappuccino!

Cappuccino makes me smile! 😊

My folk duo published this song.

It was inspired by a real-life experience.

I was introduced to a new coffee drink I never heard about until I moved to the USA.

It was called the Cappuccino.

I wrote the lyrics and hubby arranged the music and tweaked the lyrics to suit.

He put the African talking drum in there as well, to mimic the sounds of cappucinno-making.

I used video and photos from the time we were in Las Vegas.

Enjoy this song for free from Sonny Boy and me!

https://youtu.be/AVFYEzeWRmU

A blood draw and Springtime beauty

This morning I had to have a blood draw for a glucose test.

The results were great!

It’s helpful to know your blood sugar or glucose levels.

Blood draw

I found getting needles (and/or shots) really bother me.

It hurts me so much!

But, sometimes it is necessary for health reasons.

I learned the hard way that it’s important to relax your arm every time you get a blood draw.

A couple years ago. I suffered a terrible strain in my forearm muscle tendon that was painful, and lasted for months.

Today, I exhaled to feel better, all the while shocked at the hurtful jab.

I forgot how much it hurt to get jabbed.

Today driving to the clinic everything was so beautiful. The sun was out and the grass was a lush dark green!

Glorious Spring colors!

I’m done with my annual physical, but it’s good to get an annual check-up from top to toe.

Keep calm and carry on.

A new gig!

Tonight my music duo is going to perform here.

https://www.morgancreekvineyards.com/

We haven’t done this venue before.

They really want jazz music, but our repertoire is a mixture of jazz and blues and other kinds of songs including originals.

Hopefully we will be entertaining to the diners on jazz night!

Yesterday I went online to CD Baby regarding getting hooked up for payments from digital downloads.

I’m so glad we got that sorted because I found that our music was being hawked on so many different platforms throughout the Internet.

https://www.dodax.com/en-us/movies-music-gaming/classic-blues/molly-and-sonny-boy-rhythm-n-blues-grass-dp7B56VJSC0PO/

https://music.apple.com/us/artist/molly-and-sonny-boy/259940366

Anyways, we are very excited about performing together at Morgan Creek Vineyards this evening.

Here is a sample of our music.

https://youtu.be/XUhvm5GSq-o

Songs to sell

https://music.apple.com/ng/album/rhythm-n-blues-grass/259940350

So I still haven’t linked my checking account to collect royalties from our digital sales of songs on CD baby.

I need to do that, otherwise we will never make a penny online with the sale of our original songs.

My music duo

There is so much muck to wade through to become a paid musician

Is it worth the hassle?

Yes! It is definitely worth it.

Not only for the joy we bring with our songs, but for fun people we meet, and serve with our music!

After the storm

The sun is out now

Last night we were in a tornado warning.

There was a lot of rain and lightning and thunder.

Scary night

For awhile we lost the Internet and even our Starlink satellite service was not receiving.

But everything got back online after a spell.

A lovely day today

The birds and squirrels are happy this morning and the chipmunks and rabbits are glad the storm is over. So am I!!!

Peacocks in the distance

A fascinating peacock

The peacock has a unique call.

https://youtu.be/nPoyZcEj0y4

As a child growing up in the inner city there was a zoo nearby at Riverdale Park in Toronto, Canada.

Today they have a working farm there.

Peacock feathers were such treasures when we were kids.

Occasionally we would find one on the ground and bring it home.

It was always fun to see and hear the peacocks.