Saturday, March 3, 2012

"This Just Doesn't Seem To Be My Day"

Day 3 of 31 Days of The Monkees

Actually, this was a pretty good day for me. Of course we woke up to reports of more deaths and lots of footage from yesterday's tornadoes. This was the weekend that we had planned to go to the Maple Syrup Festival which we attend every year near Salem, IN. To get there we had to take the exit that goes to Henryville, IN, which was wiped out, so we saw some of the devastation that was near the interstate. It really does look like a war zone when something like this happens, doesn't it?

The festival went on as planned, and today was a very sunny, very pretty day, although a brisk breeze was blowing. Some friends went with us, and we had a nice time. Thomas had to work this afternoon, so we didn't stay too late. Then later today Eler Beth and I went to Orange Leaf for some frozen yogurt -- Key Lime Pie with granola is my personal favorite!

Found out that the little town where Thomas has some hunting property was hit hard and had four deaths. Several communities in KY were hit hard as well, especially West Liberty, KY near Moorehead University where Andrew has some friends. So far no one we know has suffered more than some minor damage. I have a feeling this won't be the last of the bad storms this year.

Today's song is a simple little melody from The Monkees' first album, written by Boyce & Hart, with Davy on lead. It's a fun one to sing along with, and is a nice pick-me-up if you've had a rough day. Hope you enjoy.

Lyrics:


I guess I should have stayed in bed,
My pillow wrapped around my head.
Instead of waking up to find
A nightmare of a different kind.
She went away.

This just doesn't seem to be my day.

She didn't have to say a lot,
Her pretty eyes revealed the plot.
'Twas someone else she wanted more,
And so I walked her to the door.
What could I say?
This just doesn't seem to be my day.

My, oh my, how sad am I.
How I wish she would have stayed
This just doesn't seem to be my day.

My whole world is upside down,
She turned my smile into a frown.
It's such a pity the shape I'm in,
I must get on my feet again.
Can't stay this way
This just doesn't seem to be my day.




Day 1: Early Morning Blues and Greens


Day 2: I'm Gonna Buy Me A Dog

Friday, March 2, 2012

"I'm Gonna Buy Me A Dog"

Day 2 of 31 Days of The Monkees

We've had a terrible string of tornadoes in our area today that devastated one small town North of us, hit several other small towns nearby and killed at least 5 people so far. I'm sure the death toll will rise. Our area was spared, and all of our friends are safe. It has been quite an afternoon. I'm still going to post a Monkees video, though.

This song is from their eponymously named first album, which was released October 10, 1966. I was six months old at the time! lol My sisters P.J. and Lois used to sing this one a lot, one doing Mickey's part and the other doing Davy's heckling part.

A funny one to cheer us up on a sad afternoon: "I'm Gonna Buy Me A Dog", written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, with Mickey on Lead:

Lyrics:

You know my girl just called me up
And she woke me from my sleep
You should have heard the things she said
You know she hurt my feelings deep.
I'm gonna buy me a dog
'Cause I need a friend now.
I'm gonna buy me a dog,
My girl, my girl, don't love me nohow.

She used to bring me my newspaper
'Cause she knew where it was at.
She used to keep me so contented.
But I can teach a dog to do that.
I'm gonna buy me a dog,
'Cause I need a friend now
I'm gonna buy me a dog,
My girl, my girl, don't love me nohow.




"Early Morning Blues and Greens"

Thursday, March 1, 2012

"Early Morning Bues and Greens"

ay 1 of 31 Days of The Monkees in honor of the late Davy Jones:

Yesterday, February 29, Davy Jones died of a heart attack at age 66 -- much too young. Although they were just a "bit" before my time, I was a Monkees fan. I was born in 1966, the year the quirky series premiered. Since I was only two years old when the show went off the air, I can't say that I remember watching it at that time, but I do remember seeing re-runs at some point in time. I know because I could remember certain scenes -- like the one where the boys were washing dishes and one of them would give a rinsed cup to Pete to put away and he would turn and put it right back on the counter to be picked up and washed again. Anyway, my sisters told me that was from a Monkees show when I asked one time, and later I did see that very episode.

My sisters had some of the albums and little 45 records, so I grew up with their music, and not just the "hits" that played on the radio. I learned some of their really very well written and performed songs that never got air time.

In the eighties attention was on The Monkees again when they celebrated the 25th anniversary of their creation as a pop group and came together, at least three of them did, to do a Reunion Tour. I even went, with my sisters Dee and Lois and my nephew Jamie, to see them in concert when they played Roberts Stadium in Evansville, IN in 1986. It was a great show!

That year a local television station showed reruns of the old show every afternoon, and I would keep a cassette tape recorder by the TV set so I could tape their songs as they sang them. Then I started finding their old albums and buying them up. I learned some of their songs I'd never learned before. My oldest sister Dennice's son Jamie was eight years old in 1986, and he fell in love with The Monkees. He learned ALL of their songs and could actually sound like Davy Jones, his favorite. How many thirty-somethings today could say that they went to their first pop concert at the age of eight and that it was a Monkees concert! lol Jamie is still a musician and songwriter, and remembers, I believe a bit fondly and with a bit of embarrassment, his captivation with The Monkees.

My musical tastes are wide ranging. I love the Beatles who had good opinions of The Monkees, and I like The Byrds who apparently hated The Monkees. I like music much harder than what The Monkees were instructed to sing, and I like music much softer as well. I know their stories, how they were put together, and what musical talents they did and did NOT have when they were first thrown together. And I know that many of the songs I like by them were written and performed BY them, and that I like their voices and the way they blended together -- although admittedly Pete really couldn't sing. Poor thing. ("Aunty Griselda" is a great song though.)

In my bedroom, near my little turntable/tape player/CD player is a small stack of 33 albums that I have not been able to part with, and among them are ALL of The Monkees' albums. Somewhere in the possession of one of my sisters is a little 45 record, scratched and much-played with "Daydream Believer" on one side and "Goin' Down" on the other. Of the two I always preferred "Goin' Down", by the way.

I never idolized The Monkees, group or individuals, but I did enjoy them. I liked the silly show they put on each week -- the humor was quirky and that's what I grew up with --, and I loved their music. It was a very nice part of my growing-up years. It's a shame Davy passed away so young.

Here's one of my favorite songs that they did with Davy singing lead (and a very good harmony done by Mickey, who was my personal favorite), written by Diane Hildebrand and Jack Keller, and recorded on their album HEADQUARTERS in 1967.

Lyrics:

A distant night bird mocks the sun,
I wake as I have always done,
To freshly-scented sycamore,
And cold, bare feet on hardwood floor.
My steaming coffee warms my face,
I'm disappointed in the taste,
But, there's a peace the early brings
The morning world of growing things.

SOLO

I feel the moments hurry on,
It was today, it's died away,
And now it is forever gone.
And I will drink my coffee slow,
And I will watch my shadow grow,
And disappear in firelight,
And sleep alone again tonight.


Thursday, February 16, 2012

Preserving Strawberries and Memories

I know it isn't the usual time of year to be making strawberry preserves, but that's what I'm doing, nonetheless. There's a guy who runs a fruit market at the Seventh Street Flea Market in Louisville who calls Thomas when he has a good deal on strawberries. Thomas got a good deal a few years ago and made the BEST strawberry wine we've ever had. He usually has those deals in October, but not in 2011.

He called us with a great deal on pineapples a month ago, so Thomas has some pineapple wine in the works, along with his grape, pear, and crab apple. But two weeks ago he called with strawberries! He wasn't offering a price that we thought was good enough, so we declined. Then Sunday he called with a price of $5 a flat (about 8+ pounds of strawberries per flat). So we bought five flats. OH MY GOODNESS, those are the BEST strawberries. They are just at the right stage of ripeness, juicy, and sweet. We don't have the room to make any more wine right now, and besides, they are really too good for that, so I figured I'd make preserves -- enough to last us a few years. (Frozen a couple pounds and kept a couple pounds out just for eating as well.)

Anyway, my house smells like a strawberry patch today. And I'm not complaining.

When Mom made preserves she would usually make a pan of biscuits at the same time. Quite often you might have a few ounces of preserves left over; not quite enough for a jar. That's when a pan of home made biscuits and some willing participants came in handy. As I was cooking them today, when that pink foam started to form at the top of the pan, I was transported back to my Mom's kitchen, standing on a chair next to her at the stove, helping to stir or waiting to lick the wooden stir spoon, and then later, throughout the afternoon waiting to hear that first jar seal, telling you that you did it right.

Hope these turn out well!

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Anxious Little Egg


This little fella was staring out at me when I checked my eggs at the grocery. Kinda cute, isn't he? Anxious? Sad? Sleepy? I'm not sure.



Sunday, January 1, 2012

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Lori in Wonderland -- or Through the Looking Glass or Some-Such Thing!

Last month I had a very strange dream, and, surprisingly, I actually remembered it in vivid detail when I woke up. I told it to Thomas and Eler Beth as soon as I got up, then I wrote it down and sent it to my sisters. Now I have decided to share it with Blogger. It may seem a bit slow and uninteresting in the beginning, but stick with it -- it gets good and Andy Garcia has a cameo!!

Enjoy ~~~

Down the hole

Wednesday, November 09, 2011

Okay, so Eler Beth and I walked through these glass doors onto a city sidewalk. I don’t know what kind of building we were in, but we were supposed to be leading the way to a restaurant where we were going to have lunch with Mom and all my sisters and maybe some other people. We went a little way down the street and then looked behind to see if everyone was following us. Mom was just coming through the doors, so I figured everything was okay. It was almost as if we were in a car and they were following in a car, but we weren’t and they weren’t. We were all on foot. I remember wondering in my dream why we didn’t just stop to wait for them, but we didn’t.

After a while I couldn’t see anyone behind us any more, but we kept on anyway. Finally we got to the restaurant, got a table and sat there and waited and waited. Eler Beth had her phone with her, so we tried calling several times. But we could never get anyone.

So while we were sitting there I kept getting up and going to look to see if my family had got there yet. Finally I walked back toward our table, and there they all were, sitting at a table near us, eating!!! Eler Beth and I hadn’t even ordered because we had wanted to wait for them, and they were eating! One of them said that they hadn’t been able to find us, but they'd saved us two seats, and then mom handed me $25.00 and said that Lois (one of my sisters) wanted me to pick her up some _____. (Later I was told what it was, but at that moment it was like it was garbled or something.) Lois was sitting right there, but it didn’t really seem strange to me that she hadn’t asked me herself.

I went back to our table and Eler Beth was gone. I went back to their table and all of them were gone. Somehow I knew that they had all gone on to the NEXT restaurant we were going to, and apparently Eler Beth was with them. So I left the restaurant and started trying to find them. I went into this other restaurant and was searching for everyone, but they weren’t there. A lady asked me if I’d mind holding the door open for her. She was carrying a six-foot tall floor lamp. “I’m smuggling this lamp out of here,” she whispered. I opened the door but must have looked surprised because then she said, “I’m not really." (But I think she really was!) Then another lady came up to her and they started talking.

I started crying. They asked what was wrong. I said I was supposed to meet my daughter and some family at a restaurant and I couldn’t find them and I didn’t have a phone to call them. So the first lady very kindly offered me the use of her cell phone. I thanked her and somehow the three of us were in the first lady’s car. She was driving, but the other lady and I were in the back seat. I tried dialing Eler Beth’s number but never could get it right. The numbers would jump around. I’d think I was hitting the right number, but then that number would be in the wrong place. (That’s a recurring dream for me – a sign of frustration of some kind? – and in my dream I thought, 'Oh great, it’s going to happen just like in my dreams.' )

Finally I started crying again, and the lady beside me asked if I’d like her to dial the number. I wondered why I had never before thought to ask someone else to dial for me in a dream. So she started dialing. I said, “502”, and she repeated and dialed “502”. I said “819”, and she repeated and dialed “891”. I said “No!” and thought, 'Oh great! It’s doing it to her too!!' I said, “819”, and she said “891”, and then I realized that the lady who was driving had opened the door and jumped out and the car was still moving.

So I jumped into the driver’s seat, which was a mile away from the steering wheel. So I moved the seat up, then put my left foot down to the clutch, only there was no clutch because it was an automatic. I finally got the car under control. I was still crying and wondering where we were going. I was just driving and driving.

The lady in the back seat handed me the phone and said, “Here, it’s your daughter.” I wondered how she’d known the last four digits to dial. I took the phone and Eler Beth was saying, “Hello! Hello!” I said, “Hello, Eler Beth! It’s Mom!” But she didn’t answer. I thought, great, she’s hung up because it took me too long to get the phone. Then this man’s voice said, “Hello?” And somehow I knew that it was the actor Andy Garcia. I said, “I need to speak to Eler Beth. This is her mother.” “Well, why didn’t you say anything when she answered her phone!” he asked, very accusingly. I said, “I did, she just didn’t hear me. I need to talk to her!" And I was crying again.

through the looking glass

She came back on the line. I said, “Where are you?” She said, “We’re at the Ducky Goose.” I said, “What the hell is the Ducky Goose?” (Yes, I did say 'What the hell' in my dream!) She said, “It’s the restaurant we were supposed to go to.” “Well, where is it,” I said. “It’s on Hurstborne Lane,” she said. I said, “You’re supposed to be on “Shelbyville Road.” She said, “Well, it’s on Hurstborne Lane, and I really want you to get here.” “Ok,” I said, “but Mamaw wants me to pick up something for Lois and I don’t know what it is.” She said, “Just a minute.” Then she came back and said, “She wants a bag of self-rising flour and some Crisco.” I said, “Is she going fishing?!?” (Because in my experience if someone asks me to bring them flour and oil, of course it means they’re going to be cooking fish. Thomas has trained me well.) She said, “Yeah, she and Monica (a family friend) are night fishing, and they want to cook up what they catch.” (At some point here I remember thinking, 'Wow! I could be having lunch with Andy Garcia!')

alice stepping through

So I kept driving down these country roads, hoping I’d see something or someone familiar. I finally did – the lady whose car I was driving! I stopped and she said, “Oh good. You got here.” She had apparently jumped out to help her husband pull one of their trucks out of the mud with another of their trucks. I apologized for having to drive her car, and I handed her back her phone.

Then I was in the back seat of the car again, and the car was FULL of women. I was in a third row of seats, and the woman directly in front of me turned to face me full-on and said, “My husband is a doctor, and he’s really sick. Doctors make the worst patients!” I said politely, “I’ve always heard that about doctors.” And then she got this stern look on her face, pushed her face up close to mine and demanded, “Do you know my husband?!” I said very meekly, “No, I don’t think so.” And she smiled and said, “Oh. Well he’s really sick.”

And that’s when I woke up.

I think I might have had a fever. Do you think?

Also, later I remembered that in my “pre” dream (the jumbled bits that came before the parts I remembered) I had closed my eyes and seen little squiggly auras and thought to myself, “Wow! I don’t think I’ve ever had a migraine in a dream before.” And don’t you know all that afternoon I felt like I was going to get a migraine? I wonder if this is what happens when you have a migraine in your sleep?

I still laugh when I read this, especially when the lady demands to know if I know her husband!

I hope I was able to give you a laugh as well!

Bye for now...And Sweet Dreams!!

alice chasing rabbit


P.S. I have waited for years to use these Alice in Wonderland graphics, having saved them in my Photobucket account. I just KNEW that someday I'd have occasion to use them.