Eagle Creek Folk Festival 2011

My summer music festivals have begun! It is my favorite time of the year. I belong to a music group in town and we recently had our Eagle Creek Folk Festival. It is held at Eagle Creek Park at the marina.

Here is a picture of me playing with the Dulcimer-Only Group, better known as the DOGs. I wanted to change our name to the Indianapolis Dulcimer Ensemble, but was outvoted. They want to be the DOGs.

Here is another photo of me during our set. We play very complicated arrangements which require a lot of concentration. Honest. We all play something a little different, but we all play the Appalachian dulcimer.

I like this picture of our whole group playing.

We were blessed with beautiful weather both days of our festival. Here are three of our musicians warming up, with the lovely lake in the background.

I was given an award for being a continuous member of our club for OVER 30 years. How did that happen?

My Antique Booth

For the last couple of years I have had a little antique booth. I can't seem to stop collecting, so I thought it would be a good outlet. Evidently, no one else shared the love of the stuff I collected, so I closed up recently.

Here are some pictures I took of one of my last displays. It was January, and I liked the idea of "winter white". I made this sign "Winter White is All the Rage", and displayed everything I had that was white.

Upon closer inspection, I see this picture was of my Christmas display. One of my ideas was to collect angels, and tell a little story about when I was a little girl and my dad gave me an angel for Christmas.

Ah, here is my winter white display again. The bookcase was found at another antique store that was closing. It is made of weathered barnwood, and is VERY heavy. My son helped me move out and wanted the bookcase for his new house.

Hey, if you see anything you want, it's probably still in my garage.

Gentle On My Mind

This weekend I went to the First Annual John Hartford Memorial Festival in Bean Blossom, Indiana.

John Cowan Hartford (December 30, 1937 – June 4, 2001) was an American folk, country and bluegrass composer and musician known for his mastery of the fiddle and banjo, as well as for his witty lyrics, unique vocal style, and extensive knowledge of Mississippi River lore. Hartford performed with a variety of ensembles throughout his career, and is perhaps best known for his solo performances where he would interchange the guitar, banjo, and fiddle from song to song. He also invented his own shuffle tap dance move, and clogged on an amplified piece of plywood while he played and sang.

He was a cool guy and I saw him perform several times at the Appalachian Homecoming Festival in Norris, Tennessee. He played "Newgrass", a blend of nontraditional county and bluegrass style music. He wrote the song "Gentle On My Mind", made famous by Glenn Campbell and recorded by many.

This is a picture of my little campsite. It was not far from the stage area, so I could lay in my tent at night and listen to the music.

This group call themselves "The Freight Hoppers" and played old-time. They were from Bryson City, North Carolina. They were quite popular.









The top billing for the festival was Tim O'Brien, one of my favorite artists. This is a picture of his set on the stage at Bean Blossom. I especially like the big sign at the top - Back Home Again in Indiana!

There were quite a few young hippies at the festival.

And old hippies, too. I saw lots of people wearing tie-tyed clothing.

Here is a better picture of Tim O'Brien.

And here I am, another old hippie, during Tim O'Brien's set.

There were lots of John Hartford aficionados there. This guy hailed from Wisconsin and did a perfect imitation of John Hartford.

And at the end of the concert I got to meet Tim O'Brien and get his autograph.

It's knowing that your door is always open

And your path is free to walk

That makes me tend to leave my sleeping bag

Rolled up and stashed behind your couch

And it's knowing I'm not shackled

By forgotten words and bonds

And the ink stains that have dried upon some line

That keeps you in the backroads

By the rivers of my mem'ry

That keeps you ever gentle on my mind

Winter 2011, Part I

Well, I haven't been keeping up with my blog this winter. I felt like winter would never end. We had lots of snow, and a terrible ice storm. At one point my front yard looked like it was covered with fondant.

Here is a picture of the blue spruce in my front yard with snowflakes coming down.

This is a picture of my kitchen window after the ice storm. My roses didn't look very happy, either.

And this is me sitting on the sofa, waiting for winter to be over. (Photo by Avery).


In mid-March I was treated to a trip to Seven Springs Ski Resort in Pennsylvania to celebrate my brother John's 60th birthday. I drove over with my nephew and my mom & dad. On the drive we enjoyed a fresh hoar frost as we entered Ohio that was so beautiful. I tried to take pictures through the car window.

And then we arrived at Seven Springs Ski Resort, which had also had a fresh snow. We all stayed at a beautiful lodge called The Fin and Feather. Here is a picture of the lodge.

There were two swans in the pond who greeted us as we walked by. They were very beautiful.

This is a picture of the little cottage I stayed in. It was a very peaceful place.

The lodge had a big fireplace and it was such fun to build a fire in it. Here is Mom enjoying the fire.

Part of the plan of the trip was to visit Falling Waters, built by Frank Lloyd Wright. Here is a self portrait on the walk to Falling Waters. It was a brisk, sunny day. The snow had melted and I was enjoying it very much.

And here is the birthday boy, opening the present I gave him, a ukulele!

It was a great trip, and so nice to get away from the Indiana winter for a few days.

Winter 2011, Part II

On St. Patrick's Day I went to the parade downtown with little Avery, Sam & Heather. We stopped by the Fire Department Union Hall afterwards where they had a huge tent, the party was flowing out into the street and the bagpipes were playing.
Everyone was wearing something green!

At the end of March I had a vendor table at a music festival held here in Indianapolis. I sold a couple of instruments, lots of "gently used" cds, and other music-related items. It was a lot of fun.


This is my friend Sara helping at my table.

Finally, the daffodils were blooming, but one day I looked out the window and we were having yet another snow.

Oh, this was fun. I went to see Pokey LeFarge and his band at the Noble Coffeeshop in Noblesville on a Sunday afternoon. They played swing jugband music and had a lot of energy. Go see them if they play in your area. You will enjoy them. I did!

I have been re-doing my bedroom. It has gone from green to white - a Shabby Chic white. Here is a picture of a vintage nightgown hanging on my wall.

And I have my First Communion dress and veil hanging on the other wall.

One day I went shopping with Avery. I wanted to buy her an Easter bonnet. But she did not want an Easter bonnet. She wanted a pink cowboy hat we found at the Dollar Store.

Here is a little project I did one day. I simply sewed doilies onto a couple of pillows.

I love how they turned out.

And here at last are the forsythia in bloom.

Another sure sign of Spring is the Spring Concert at the schools. I was lucky to see grandson Ethan, a 3rd grader, sing with his class. He is in the first row, second from right, in the yellow and black shirt.

Next up, I had a big garage sale. I am on a quest to let go of unnecessary items in my house.

like our vintage tiger oak 52" round dining room pedestal table. Oh my, all the dinners, parties, card games and homework this table has seen.

Easter arrived the day after the garage sale. I had everyone over for dinner and made these cute cupcakes.

It was a rainy day, but the kids didn't care.
We had a great egg hunt in the back yard. With umbrellas.

And that brings us up to date.

Winter is over; Spring has arrived. Tomorrow is May 1st - birthday month!

nnn

A Trip To Doc Keyes' Shop of Architectural Wonders

It was a cold, snowy Sunday in February, and I was looking for glass drawer pulls for a nightstand I was working on. My son called and said he was going to Doc's to look for wrought iron table legs and asked me to go along. I had heard of Doc Keyes' operation before. He was one of the first to go into condemned houses and rescue the old doors, woodwork, windows, clawfoot bathtubs, doorknobs. It was generally thought that he was kind of nuts. Who would want all that junk? But as we pulled up and I saw all the rescued architectural artifacts, I had my camera out before I got out of the car. And I couldn't believe I'd never been there before. I am a big fan of the show "American Pickers" on the History channel. I do what they do in my own little way. I love Goodwill, garage sales and estate sales. I love the idea of recycling old treasures and giving them another life.

Here are old radiators nestled beneath a steeple from a long-gone church.

A pile of old paving bricks.

A dimestore horsey ride next to a barber chair.

An old cafe sign.

Am I crazy to think these old heat duct covers are beautiful?

This was a wall of mailboxes from an apartment building.

I loved the way things were not arranged. Here is a rusty iron bedstead.

Did I say it was a wonderful day?