International Women's Day - where I am at

Hey,
It's been awhile, I know. You probably know all about my first EP, Celtic Cat, released in 2015 and available on iTunes, Amazon, and wherever music is sold, from Silverbirch Productions, and from me :)

My second EP Cool Cat is chugging along, produced by Chris Birkett (Goggle him - you'll be amazed. And I cannot believe my luck to have him working with me.) I have laid down 3 of the 7 songs. On March 10, we record the rhythm sections: drums, upright bass, keyboards. Sax later in the day and pedal steel another day for one song. There may also be clarinet and backup singers added before the EP is ready, for at least some of the songs. I am using a lot of my older songs to tell a story of love found, lost, and remembered. Plus a new one - Swing Daddy, which tells its own story. Cool Cat falls under the broad umbrella of jazz.

I am way behind in getting the content written and the photos chosen for my website. No matter. I can't afford to pay for it anyway until Cool Cat is wrapped up.

A trusted poet buddy reviewed a collection of 20+ poems and I was gritting my teeth when we met. But that quickly turned to a grin when he had nothing much but positive feedback and told me to send him more. So later this year, again, after Cool Cat, I may get that chap book ready to publish. I am also going to publish pieces on my web site from time to time, once I have it up!

I"ve started to piece together a third EP, Wild Cat, but will have to wait patiently to save enough for it - sometime in 2017. Hey! I made royalties last year! A few dollars were deposited in my account in February. Thank you, SOCAN.

Well, the sun is shining in my office window. The heater is keeping my feet warm against the cold basement floor. And I need to work out the budget for the musicians who will record for me on Thursday.

Happy International Women's Day!

Finally Some R&R

It has been crazy around here the last little while. Ever since I finished SongStudio, the Songwriters intensive on July 27, there has been one thing after another consuming my days, energy, attention, whatever. You get my drift. Today, finally, with my 8 year-old granddaughter off to Art Camp and a bit of alone time (other than our carpenter friend and his work mate sawing and banging away on the porch reno), I feel as if I might have a calm, relaxed day of self-direction and grace. After I shower and dress (yes, it has been a slow lazy morning thus far) I have given myself a bit of a to do list of odds and sods to get done around the house. Then I will pick up the young artist at 3:30 and have a bit of fun with her on into a quiet evening. The to do list includes washing and drying the vegetables I harvested from the garden yesterday (green and yellow beans, cucumbers, green peppers, eggplant, and tomatoes) as they keep better and longer once that is done. I am also going back to my weekly sort schedule. Today it is the gable room's turn. It's full of a lot of stuff from parent households, old photos, stored clothes. I have made a dent but would like to get it cleared to make room for a single bed for grandson visits. I may get there in the hour devoted to it today. Otherwise, I have a lot of correspondence to catch up on, reflections and photos from this year's trips to deal with, and all at a lovely leisurely pace. It is cool and rainy today. Great for working inside.

Long Weekend in Melbourne Finis

This is a continuation on a blog thread startd during a visit to Australia in late May, early June: our Monday in Melbourne had been reserved for a visit to the Museum accompanied by BJ and her lively little daughters, who skipped ahead across the green as soon as we left the cars. They had a PA Day so no school to go to. The large trees there were all wrapped with wide bands of metal sheathing meant to prevent damage from possums. That is one animal we did not ever see in our travels - not a single possum. Apparently, they are as plentiful as our urban racoons, and are protected, but do a fair amount of damage to the trees they nest in. Anyway, the girls were most anxious for us to see the bower birds. The museum is huge. Just inside the entrance is an glass enclosed atrium like a conservatory, filled with native trees, birds, and samples of pond life. We had a lot of fun looking for the bower birds, she blue and green, he a brilliant blue-black. When we found the bower, complete with salvaged bits of blue detritus, the littlest niece was delighted. It was the main event as far as she was concerned. We did take in a few dinosaurs and diaramas about prehistoric Australia but we kept the visit comfortably short. After a quick snack break, I went to the gift shop and bought post cards and a few gifts for our grandchildren back home. Other than a final lovely visit with BJ and family, the only other remarkable instance was finding a shop named Birdie Num Nums and taking a picture of us and the girls pointing to the sign. This for our youngest daughter, E, who at one time in her teens listed The Party among her favourite films and did a very good take on Peter Sellers reciting that famous line. On Tuesday morning we said good-bye and headed back to Canberra.

Flight from Paris Monday, July 2

Got up at 8 am in Paris = 2 am in Toronto.
Left hotel 10:30 am, arrived to chaos at checkin area, mayhem really.
Lovely Air France woman organized the boarding passes for all 25 of us.
But baggage check line was insane, vast humanity funneling through an archway.
Lines organized after that for police check of passport & boarding pass.
Ended up behind fool in a tasseled wool hat & pea jacket in the sweltering heat. 
Watched 10-12 people pass through adjacent kiosks before he passed check.
Checked bag - "You can leave it locked because you do customs in the US."
On to the security check - I had to remove knee braces & replace them once in.
Find terminal M, up the escalator into a Duty Free the size of our local Mall.
No time to look but ages to get through - heading for M49 at end of terminal.
Checked time - 1:10 pm - desperate for a moving sidewalk.
There is one, very short, half way down the terminal. 
Wish I had a luggage cart for my theft proof shoulder bag usually supported by carry-on suitcase I had to check due to bottle of wine & tiny mustards within.
Got to gate at 1:20 & was whisked into priority boarding by kind agent at sight of my knee braces, walking stick & sweaty face.
Depart time was 1:30 pm but sat on Tarmac for ~1.5 hours.
Left Charles de Gaulle at 3 pm.
***OMG! - Air France is the best! Roomy seats, great food, free wine & champagne!
Arrived Atlanta at 5:30 pm = 11:30 pm in Paris.
Flight = 8.5 hours flying.
Group pulled pompom-bedecked bags off carousel - mine & one other missing.
Delta baggage gentleman found us with printout showing that mine & hers were not put on the Air France plane in Paris. 
Decided to skip night in Jacksonville since return flight was to be through Atlanta anyway & I had nothing fresh in shoulder bag to replace sweat-drenched clothes.
Went to Delta desk: $440 to change flight. Declared I would never fly Delta again.
Went to Delta baggage desk outside of security as directed - "No need, change is in system, make claim in Toronto."
Back through security to new gate - 2 train stops away - for Delta to Toronto.
Wonderful Delta gate agent reversed the charge on my flight change. Declared Delta back in my good books. 
Strange little Spanish rat-like man chose to pour out his heart to me. (More later.)
Left Atlanta at 9:45 pm arrived Toronto Pearson 12 midnight. 
Flight = 2.25 hours flying.
Total = ~11 hours in the air, 12-13 hours in a plane.
In airport at Delta baggage service re claim for lost suitcase ~1 hour.
Dear husband stayed up & waited at arrivals to drive me home.
In bed by 2 am Tuesday, July 3 = 24 hours after rising, with no actual sleep, only drowsed a bit on the planes.
24 hours after landing in Atlanta still no sign of suitcase & nothing on track site. 
Talked to pleasant Avery at Delta Baggage Service who promised to find it & call.
It is now Wednesday, July 4 - Happy 4th of July to my American friends! 
Two days of losing the fluid retained on flights. Fun. Still no suitcase. Le sigh.
But the only downside to amazing trip with fantastic women. Worth it. Priceless.

Headed for France via Jacksonville

The trip down to Jacksonville, FL, went really well. I picked up a fruit and cheese box at Toronto-Pearson, asked to pre-board, the agent told me to sit in 6A instead of 5A  because there was no one in 6B, so I had the section to myself all the way to Detroit and could munch away as the clock tilted toward noon. It was a small connector plane with one stewardess and no food service. Glad I bought my lunch first. 

However, at the Detroit airport I asked the gate agents for directions to my connecting gate as I had less than an hour to get there. They were very helpful with the long walking directions but neglected to mention that there was an express tram running around the mezzanine that would have saved me a 20 minute sprint in killer heat. I even said, "Wow, that is a long way. I better put my knee braces on." Which I did, right in front of them. I realized I could have taken the tram when I was too close to the second gate to bother. 

But JAX is a bright cheerful airport, full of helpful people, and even a piano man in the main foyer that I tipped on my way by. What a welcome! Also I got to the hotel by free shuttle and in short order. It is on a service road with not much of anything around. It is hot outside but there is a stiff dry breeze blowing so it is far more comfortable here than at home right now. And, wonders of wonders, both the AC & good wifi are working in my room. The AC is working a little too well actually, so as I wrote this I was sitting outside. And the wifi worked out there too. Seems like a good omen. 

The shuttle will get me to the airport in minutes so I could have slept until 8 this morning. But I am up earlier, taking my time to repack for the overnight flight today to Frankfort and on to France. I will wear my comfy jeans and take a jacket. Well, there is a little coffee bar here so I am going to get ready and have a bit of breakfast before I go to the airport to meet the other 25 women in the group. Wahoo!

I will touch base every day or so, depending on the wifi situation. And I will finish the Australia blogs - so that may be a bit confusing. I was in Australia late May to early June. I will be in France late June to early July. Also, sadly, since Blogspot will now only load photos via Picassa and Picassa refuses to browse photos on my iPad photo library, I cannot post photos with these bogs unless I am on a real computer.

Long Weekend in Melbourne Part 2

On Sunday, we drove out to JL & E's home on the Mornington peninsula, on the outskirts of Melbourne. We had not seen E since they were living in Whistler, BC, so it was wonderful to be with her, JL, and their boys again. Even more fun was meeting the latest addition, a 15 month old elf boy with strawberry blonde hair and a wicked smile.

After giving the boys their books (In Flanders Fields for the oldest, Roche Carrier's The Hockey Sweater, and Robert Munsch books for the other two) I showed them all pictures of their cousins and our grandchildren on my iPad. We caught up on family, homes, jobs and so on. And enjoyed watching the boys with their grandparents. Then we piled into two cars and went to Sorrento.

From what I could understand, Sorrento is further up the Mornington peninsula out toward the coast. As we came into the town along the waterfront, we saw small colorful buildings side by side along the beach. These windowless structures are privately owned and are used to store umbrellas, buckets and whatever might be needed for a day at the seaside. At first I thought that these were the beach homes that we had come to see. But that was far from correct.

We drove through town and out to a park, then continued on foot - three boys, one toddler in a stroller, parents, grandparents, and us - the aunt and uncle - until we came to a dirt road that headed toward the water. At the end was a path that led along the cliff on the public allowance at the edge of lands overlooking the coves and the jetties below. These properties are substantial, to say the least, with beautiful homes and gardens, some with matching boathouses on the docks. It was a challenging walk, up and down and uneven, but worth every step. At the end of it, we came to a path that went down to a sheltered beach where we found seashells and more of the beach huts.

The boys explored every inch, built sand castles, and helped look for shells. Even though we were wearing a few layers against the cool air, the wee one was stripped down and had a bit of a splash at the edge of the water until he did a face plant into the sand. That was the signal that it was time to go back to the cars and find a restaurant. We ate at place with a large dining room, a bar, a generous seniors menu, and a playroom for the kids. It was amazing how easy going the meal was until the little guy took off at full speed around the dining room with me in pursuit. I finally corralled him in the playroom and delivered him back to his Mom and Dad. We said goodnight, goodbye, thanks for the great day, and tired from the long walk and all the fresh air, L, B, J and I headed back to our hotel.

Long Weekend in Melbourne - Part I

We were so excited to be able to get to Melbourne and visit with our niece BJ and her family, our nephew JL and his family. We drove down on Thursday and stayed through until Tuesday, maintaining the leisurely pace of this trip to see Australian family. We shared a family room with L & B at a little hotel not far from BJ & P's. The only drawbacks were remembering whose towel was whose and figuring out which one of us was snoring at any given time of the night. Turns out that I do my fair share. Little huffs of exhalations out the corners of my mouth. Another sign of age, I guess. Luckily I sleep so soundly that other people snoring doesn't bother me much.

We drove down to Melbourne from Canberra, a good drive if slightly rushed. We left at 8 am and made only brief stops for coffee or a bit of lunch (L said we took 40 minutes at lunch rather than his planned 20 minutes.) But the trip is a long one and we arrived just as BJ was pulling away in a rush to pick up her girls after school. L & B had hoped to meet them there. Instead we went to the hotel and checked in. By the time we got back, we were greeted with great enthusiasm by our little grand-nieces, two cutie pies. I gave them the books we brought for them, a beautifully illustrated In Flanders Fields for the 8 year-old, and Paperbag Princess for the 5 year-old. After the long drive, we had dinner with the family but made it an early night. The first two days alternated between meals and visits with our niece's family and outings in the city.

On Friday morning, B and I set out in the pouring rain to her favourite swimmers (swim suits) shop. Victory! This place was fantastic. The suits were plentiful and sized by dress size and bra size together. It was hilarious trying them on in adjoining change rooms. I am short-waisted, B long. She would ask, "Do you have a longer version?" and I would say, "This is not short enough." Eventually, she got a cute new suit that was just long enough. My sales woman told me that I needed to try the next size down with the same bra size and abracadabra - I had two new suits that fit better than any I have had for years.

We picked up BJ from her yoga class and met the guys for lunch at a pizza place that served delicious cappuccinos (but less than desirable Portuguese custard tarts - a bit old, I think). Once the girls were home from school, certificates for good school citizenship in hand, we sat down to take out fish and chips - flake, rather than haddock, and yummy. I showed the girls photos of their Canadian cousins on my iPad. They then claimed it to play cousin S's favourite game, Cut the Rope. After they went off to bed, we sat around the table and had a lively visit long into the evening. The rain continued on Saturday, off and on, but it made for a cozy day with BJ et al. I played games with the girls and their grandfather joined in for several screaming rounds of Hungry Hippo. Really too funny.

The weather cleared when we set off to meet our nephew JL late that afternoon. Along the freeway was the most incredible series of public art pieces. Those who build our highways could learn a lot here - sound barriers were etched glass or sky-high brilliantly coloured baffles or triangulated rusted steel ruffles. There were off-centre towering polished steel arches in a couple of places, within sight of one another, which are lit from below with bright blue light. And many other pieces. Anyway, I loved it.

The girls, their dad and grandfather came with us and we met JL and his three oldest boys at the stadium to see our first Aussie football "footy" game. It was pouring rain again but the roof was closed so we were warm enough and dry. JL charmed the ticket vendor into really good seats for a great price. I spent most of the game next to my oldest grand-nephew, nine year-old S, who filled me in on the rules when necessary. His team was the St.Kilda Saints. The first quarter was a little worrisome as the other team led by 30. But the Saints took the lead and in the end won hands down. We are not sports fans but it was fun seeing the game with a bunch of little kids. Furthermore, the boys were delighted to come to their cousins' for BJ's delicious homemade spaghetti dinner, which they ate while watching Home Alone 3. The adults ate and talked until it was time for JL to load his sleepy boys into the car and head for home, about an hour away across Melbourne.