Welcome Pearl!!!

It is with full and happy hearts that we invite you to join us in welcoming a dear one, Miss Pearl!!!  Understand we did not enter into this relationship impulsively.  We have studied on this situation some months now.  We have searched high and low for just the right drop to add to the chemistry of this place.  We made our decision with great caution, so as to respect everyone's needs and feelings.  After all, three dogs is a bit of a handful, and a  heartful.  But we are happy to report that our prayers have been answered, and we have been blessed with a small (albeit rapidly growing) puppy machine who appears to have all the right stuff to be termed "best dog ever" someday.  At ony 14 weeks, she is really housebroken.  Even with a bit of a belly ache from moving day, this little "pearl" of a girl saved her poopies for the outside.  I don't know too many puppies with that amount of mental wherewithal, do you?  Add to all of this the fact that this little girl already understands (and obeys) "sit", "stay", "come" and best of all, her new name of "Pearl" after only 24 hours??????  We've seriously enjoyed the whole rescue thing with the older or needier pups, but this little well-adjusted ray of sunshine has brought some serious goodness and balance to our home already.

She's a bit dark, and I'm having a little trouble taking good pictures of her in this cloud and gloom, so I'll offer up her  rescue angels  photos (if there is any way you could help these good people, even $5.00, PLEASE DO!!!)

Now on to the name....her rescue name was "Tinker".  Adorable.  But, to me, a baby name.  I wanted the name of a strong woman.  I had a few names "Phoebe Gilbert" for one, and then there was "Thelma Lou".  Big Steve didn't agree.  Then today I demanded he come up with something, because I didn't think 24 hours should pass before a name was agreed upon by all (most importantly, that little blessed being!).  So he stated simply "Pearl".  Wow.  So simple.  And yet.....  Pearly Girl.  Knit and Pearl.  Pearl of the Ocean.  Precious Pearl.  And yes......the love of life of Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs....Pearl.........

Music - Well, it IS what we do here....

So Big Steve was off to his bluegrass jam tonight, and I was here, and already he has returned home and still I don't think he can catch his breath the way I set a lovely table, put the food down and cleared away while their heads were spinning.  Little did he know that tonight, while he was off at his jam, my body and brain were encouraging me to resume my own music.  Now, mind you, after a decade and a half of the destruction of lyme disease my hands probably won't ever pull anything over a full octave again.

Even if my fingers would do what I askd them to do, those joints on the thumbs will be forever limited.  Up until a few weeks ago, that made me really angry, but I'm learning to come back lately, and although I realize I will never be a concert pianist, I also realize that I probably never would have been anyway, and I could still be a better pianist than even my piano teachers could have imagined.  If Mr. Stevens were alive tonight, I believe he would be proud.  Seriously, music teacher Mr. Stevens, music angel, Big Steve, it's my correlation, but you might appreciate it too....

So anyway, tonight was Big Steve's bluegrass jam night, and that's always a happy place for him to be.  But tonight it was something different too.  Tonight I dug out some old drill type music, and I all of a sudden wondered why I loved what I loved all along.  Keep reading...

The spinning song.  Ok, well, it was a drill way back when I was a little girl, but upon reading this, it's no wonder I always loved this particular piece.  I always has a fascination for learning about the settlers and before them, and how they lived, and why.

Further, in this book of drills, I found Berceuse, and that is where I've been tonight. Steve assured me earlier today that anything could be made to be bluegrass.  So, give me a couple of weeks, and I'll let you know how it goes!!!

In the meantime, I am so thankful to be making a comeback from almost two decades of lyme disease.  I'm not a support group (in fact, I HATE all the lyme disease support groups I have found), but I'll be glad to share what has helped me, if you contact me privately.  mwalker39@nycap.rr.com.  Love to you all!

Adirondack Bluegrass League, Acoustic Blue & We Won Something!!!

What a lovely day we spent up in Hadley NY today while attending the last Adirondack Bluegrass League show of the season.  It was held at Molly's Mason Jar, just a holler from where I used to live for a while.  It was a real nice day for a drive (about an hour north of here) and we did take note of the fact that there is still plenty of snow up there.  Yuck!  But the last of the snow didn't put a damper on anyone's spirits at this get-together.  And driving around at the place where I last felt REALLY healthy was bolstering, to say the least.  Memories of hard work in the garden, raising kids, heck, even knocking on the furnace to make it go (even though I didn't know what I was doing) all came back, and made me smile.

Now as much as I enjoy bluegrass music, which is a good thing, given the fact that Big Steve loves to play bluegrass music, I'm more of a classical girl myself.  I have always joked that our marriage was something like Shastakovich meets Boxcar Willie.  But I have to tell you, I have come to enjoy these outings with Steve to various bluegrass events.  No matter where we go, I always note that you don't meet a nicer community of people anywhere.

That was evident today for sure.  We laughed and laughed at good clean fun-type jokes, and even met up with some old friends we hadn't seen in over ten years.  We enjoyed some real heart-warming music by Acoustic Blue.  We tried to get a good photo of them to post here, but with a cell phone in a dark place, no such luck.

At any rate, the highlight of the day was that Big Steve and I won the Easter Basket!!  Here's a picture, but it's only a small portion of what we won.  Sorry for the poor quality of the picture, but again, cell phone camera, dark room, you get the picture.  And already bagged up was everything for an Easter dinner:  ham, (even the pineapple and glaze for the top), yams, russet potatoes, dinner rolls & butter, green beans (for that blessed casserole), corn, assorted side dishes, bread & butter pickles even.  And a spring themed cake mix and icing. Some odds and ends like dried fruit and trail mix (you know those are going into packages for my soldiers!).  And then the candy, candy, candy!  Wow.  It was announced that since we won that jackpot, everyone was invited back to The Haney Place for dinner!  Now that sounds like a good idea, don't you think?

A night off!

So Big Steve and I went to Emack & Bolio's tonight for the twice monthly bluegrass thingy that Steve likes to go to.  Normally, I'm too busy with the goings on here at The Haney Place, but tonight I was on staycation, remember?  Well, typically there are, at the very least, most of the crew from the Dyer Switch Band at the first and third Tuesday night thingy, and you can see them here:



Tonight, however, all I saw was this:

and this:

Oh dear....I would more typically expect something like this. 

Well, it just goes to show you, you never know.  Especially on staycation!!!

Sunday, Shelling Peas, Soldier Cookies, & so on....

I have felt a bit disentangled for some time. The loss of our friend Theo at the start of the year threw me, for sure. Further than I ever expected. Then I had some surgery a few weeks ago, which left me unexpectedly helpless and at another loss.

Today I feel back, somewhat. Back to myself, to some degree. Not really back, but coming back.

Today being Sunday, there was a lot going on here, even if it is the Lord's day. For one thing, our first real harvest. Stiva picked a mess of peas!!!

Which I promptly shelled:

And made into a fine salad, which went with red beans and rice, and nice skillet cornbread.  If anyone went away from the table hungry tonight, it was their own darn fault:

 

And oh, did I tell you we had some mighty fine guitar picking today???

Early in the day, I made some "non meltable" soldier cookies for a special someone 'over there' who shall not be named:

 

All in all, I would say it was a very good day!!!

Soap Night at the Haney Place

My constant lament is that my day job (for real $$$ PAY) gets in the way of my personal life.  After a scrumptious dinner of herb baked fish and deconstructed stuffed peppers, I found, MUCH to my dismay, that we were out of laundry detergent.  If you're not familiar with us yet, you might not realize that we make our own laundry detergent.

Suffice it to say, it's past 9 pm on a night I was going to get to bed REALLY early.  But dinner's done, dishes are done, and I have 3 months worth of laundry detergent put by for mere pennies!!!!  About 1/2 hour's work, and it's low sudsing, environmentally friendly, CHEAP frugal(!) and now it's done.  Feet hurt a little more than they did, but I am SO THANKFUL I didn't give in to the convenience demon and send dear spousal unit out for some chemically laden crapola.  :-)  If I had, I wouldn't be sitting here comfortably listening to him playing/singing "shady grove". 

If you want to know how we do it, just go here:  http://thehaneyplace.blogspot.com/2009/12/homemade-laundry-detergent.html

It's soul satisfying work.  I know I did the best by my family, my environment, my laundry and my budget tonight.  I'll sleep with a contented heart tonight!

Playin' in the Barn

Stiva's headed out to play in the barn.  I'm guessing it's Sunday, and chores are done.  If you're in the neighborhood, you KNOW where you can find some sweet bluegrass jammin', especially if it's of the gospel variety....

Flatt & Scruggs

It's what we're watching tonight, thanks to Netflix.  Kind of takes the edge off, if you know what I mean.  And we're thinking about some cornbread, friends.....

You have that recipe from me.  If not, just email me....

Just What We Are

This video is a few months old.  But it's just what we are.  Just down-home.  Some music, some sewing, a dog or two, some ancestors.  Good times.  There are those who think we're ultra-interesting.  And I'm sure there are those who think we're excruciatingly boring.  And I'm sure they're right.  But seriously, this is just what we are.