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    • I told my music teacher that I feel very, very guilty for making such a purchase during this time, when so many people are out of a job, I also feel that I don’t deserve such a nice instrument, that it’s the equivalent of a Ferrari to a new driver, or a $15,000 bicycle to someone who just graduated from training wheels.

      She pointed out that if I continue to play for the next 40 years (If I’m lucky!), the cost per year is minimal. Plus, the instrument will double its value, leaving a wonderful legacy for my grandchildren. Who knows, maybe one of my grandkids will play it too?

      Regardless of the future, it is bringing me joy and that’s all that matters.
      Lost in the right direction.
    • odd man out wrote:

      Traffic Jam wrote:

      I found my forever fiddle, the one that I will live with for the rest of my life!

      She was made by Robert Glier, Jr. in Cincinnati in 1926. She sounds so rich, resonant, and sweet (despite me)...a million times better than the previous one.

      I anticipate many years of happiness.

      :)
      How wonderful. How about the bow? Did you also upgrade that too? If you are like me the bow is worth more than the instrument. My bow is by GF Lotte (French). My cello is a true novelty item. Made by the Gibson Guitar Company of Kalamazoo MI ca. 1940.
      UTR (Under The Radar) on Detroit PBS had a segment on the Gibson Guitar Company last week. I've known of Gibson guitars since I was a camp counselor many many years ago. I was about the only counselor who didn't play guitar so one of my fellow counselors took me to her fav music store when we both had a day off and I bought a sweet acoustic guitar.

      IMScotty wrote:

      Traffic Jam wrote:

      I found my forever fiddle, the one that I will live with for the rest of my life!

      She was made by Robert Glier, Jr. in Cincinnati in 1926. She sounds so rich, resonant, and sweet (despite me)...a million times better than the previous one.

      I anticipate many years of happiness.

      :)
      That is so great TJ. We can tell from your smile that you have found a keeper :)
      No pressure, but it would be great is you put something up on YouTube sometime that you could share with the group. Bet you cannot wait to rejoin your music group to try this out. Have fun!
      I was going to request the same thing! So, SECOND!
    • Trillium wrote:

      odd man out wrote:

      Traffic Jam wrote:

      I found my forever fiddle, the one that I will live with for the rest of my life!

      She was made by Robert Glier, Jr. in Cincinnati in 1926. She sounds so rich, resonant, and sweet (despite me)...a million times better than the previous one.

      I anticipate many years of happiness.

      :)
      How wonderful. How about the bow? Did you also upgrade that too? If you are like me the bow is worth more than the instrument. My bow is by GF Lotte (French). My cello is a true novelty item. Made by the Gibson Guitar Company of Kalamazoo MI ca. 1940.
      UTR (Under The Radar) on Detroit PBS had a segment on the Gibson Guitar Company last week. I've known of Gibson guitars since I was a camp counselor many many years ago. I was about the only counselor who didn't play guitar so one of my fellow counselors took me to her fav music store when we both had a day off and I bought a sweet acoustic guitar.

      IMScotty wrote:

      Traffic Jam wrote:

      I found my forever fiddle, the one that I will live with for the rest of my life!

      She was made by Robert Glier, Jr. in Cincinnati in 1926. She sounds so rich, resonant, and sweet (despite me)...a million times better than the previous one.

      I anticipate many years of happiness.

      :)
      That is so great TJ. We can tell from your smile that you have found a keeper :) No pressure, but it would be great is you put something up on YouTube sometime that you could share with the group. Bet you cannot wait to rejoin your music group to try this out. Have fun!
      I was going to request the same thing! So, SECOND!
      I don’t know... it never sounds very good when recorded on an iPhone. And I haven’t replaced my tapes so not everything is in tune. I can’t decide if I want to put them on my new violin. I like not having them and most first position songs are in tune but anything that shifts positions sounds bad. I’m learning The Entertainer and it’s terrible, just terrible.

      Lost in the right direction.
    • odd man out wrote:

      Definitely no tapes. It's your ear that makes you play in n tune. If you can hear that it is out of time, you don't need tapes.

      It’s getting better, I think. My fiddle is so awesome, the beautiful vibration it makes lets me know if I’m playing in tune so I listen for that.

      Not having tapes does affect my confidence and I haven’t been playing in the park which I used to do once a week before my lesson. Plus, there’s been so many people out walking when I’m there, it’s inhibiting. I need to get over it but most people are very critical of music that they don’t consider pleasing to the ear...they’d rather not hear it.

      ...which is a very funny thing. With an instrument like a violin, the softer and more timid you play, the worse you sound so it’s better just to belt it out with gusto and confidence.

      It’s definitely a rewarding but extremely challenging instrument.
      Lost in the right direction.
    • Traffic Jam wrote:



      ...which is a very funny thing. With an instrument like a violin, the softer and more timid you play, the worse you sound so it’s better just to belt it out with gusto and confidence.
      In a similar vein, when I was playing string quartets, we all knew it was easiest to play the notes in the slow quiet movement, but it was always the hardest to make sound good.
    • with warm weather coming I'm starting to think about the water that surrounds this island that I live on and our canoe. I'd like to build some kind of sailing rig for our 16 foot, fiberglass canoe. I'm wondering if anybody here has successfully done such a thing. I tried years ago but it would only run in front of the wind and wouldn't tack at all. I think I had the sail too far forward, but don't know for sure.
    • (stock photo)

      Last night after a six-month shutdown, my bowling league finally got to throw some balls. I'm talking of course about Candlepin bowling, 'Little Balls', the most frustrating sport known to man. What fun!

      We wear masks and teams were spaced out to every other lane, only about 2/3 of the league was able to return, but it was still so great to hear those pins fall once again.

      I do not know why Candlepin Bowling means so much to me, but it does. It is quintessential New England and a chance for grumpy old guys like me to enjoy some camaraderie with the same. This sport was already endangered before Covid hit, alleys are closing all over New England, it is now on life-support. To my southern friends, if you ever wanted to give this a try, you had better hurry north.
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier
    • odd man out wrote:

      Have not seen candlepins, but I do remember duckpins from when I was a kid.
      Cool, I have played duck pin once. There is a duck pin lane in my area, but they are even rarer than candlepin. Some candlepin bowlers have been known to cheat by using duckpin balls which are a little heavier and slightly larger. Unless you are looking carefully, you would not notice the cheat.
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier
    • My Voodoo Lilly may be big enough to flower this year. It grows on the garden all summer. In the fall you dig them up. When they get big enough (after 4 or 5 years), the bulb will throw out a 5 foot tall flower in January, not planted, just from the naked bulb. The flower is pollinated by flies so it produces putricine and cadaverine to attract flies, which is why it is sometimes called a Corpse Flower. It is in the Arum family so the flower has a Jack in the Pulpit structure.



      jhgreenhouse.biology.indiana.e…morphophallus-konjac.html
    • One of my other hobbies and interests is 'Antiquing'. My wife and I like to see what we can find in stores, yard sales and flea markets. I never really spend any serious money, and I try to sell enough to pay for the new junk I buy.

      I thought Traffic Jam would be interested in my latest find. A shadowbox / diorama showing the plants Navajo Indians use to dye their yarn. A $35 steal, and it is both educational and antique :)


      Someone spent so much time making this, collecting all the individual plants, and then dying all the different yarns. I love the mini Navajo blanket placed in the middle showcasing the different hues used.

      My wife is not a fan of this one (the frame is rather large and bulky). I will probably hang it for a year for two to enjoy it and learn a bit and then deaccession it to buy another piece. I should get back what I paid for this one.
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier
    • I have a city-issued 96-gallon trash can that is too big for our very small amount of trash, especially since I compost everything and most everything else is put in the recycling bin.

      Therefore, I use the "trash" receptacle to store various things for the yard and I also noticed that as the temperature cools, nocturnal frogs sleep in there in the day and hibernate in there when it gets really cold.

      Today I noticed that a frog ate a lizard and you can see the tail sticking out of its mouth and a lump on the frog's left side, which I can only imagine is the lizard jammed into its gut.

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    • Does anyone in the Cafe make their own wine?

      This is my first attempt at winemaking...


      This is, hopefully, a Rose Hip wine in the making. I picked the rose hips this fall along the beach, froze and mashed. This is after I filtered and transferred to my one-gallon carboy. It is incredibly pulpy, I'm not sure if this stuff will ever clear up.

      It seems to be happily fermenting. I had a taste and it tastes like absolute Rocket Fuel right now.

      In 2 1/2 years I might consider retiring. We will see. But I wanted something I made myself waiting for me to celebrate should that day ever come.
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier
    • A hiking buddy of mine, Danger Dave, makes his own wine and is really very good at it. He even makes his own labels and does some good artwork on them too. He gets empty bottles from restaurants and washed them out. He makes several different wines at the same time. He's been doing it for years.
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference
    • Astro wrote:

      Looks like carrot juice, maybe Bugs Bunny would like it.
      I think you meant you would be "retrying" it in 2 1/2 years. :D
      But hey if you are "retiring" in 2 1/2 years that is even better. :thumbup:
      I did mean retiring. But I will cross that bridge when I come to it, just wanted to have something special being collared just in case.
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier
    • I attended a Zoom webinar by the Handweavers Guild of America called Vistas Along the Appalachian Trail. It was a juried event where weavers submit their work and a jury selects the top three winners... like at a state fair.

      It didn’t win but I love this one called Meandering Under an Appalachian Sky. It looks exactly like how I normally hike... all over the place, lost a lot of times, or just going where my feet take me. I could totally identify with it.

      i wish I had a better picture, the pic of it on my laptop doesn’t do it justice, the colors were amazing.
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      Lost in the right direction.