"Gather ye rose-buds while ye may." Robert Herrick

"Gather ye rose-buds while ye may." Robert Herrick

Hello Friends!

Friends, Romans, countrymen...y'all. Foodies, gardeners, artists and collectors - let's gather together to share and possibly learn a thing or two in the mix.

Donna Baker

Thursday, June 20, 2013

While My Ukulele Gently Weeps



The old saw is true - you can't teach an old dog new tricks.  

I was wondering what I could do to learn something new, maybe grow a few brain cells and synapses too.  So, I got a ukulele for Mother's Day.  

Now, I can barely walk and talk at the same time, much less do twenty things at once.  I can read music and play the piano poorly, but when you play the key of C on the piano, you hit C.  On the ukulele, you play the chord of C on the A string.  WTF?  For the chords on the ukulele, your fingers on your left hand are all over the place (and rapidly) while your right hand is strumming at different tempos, up and down or down down up, etc. Are you kidding me?  My eyes can't look in two separate directions, they move in tandem, so how are my hands supposed to be doing completely separate things at the same time?  It is not possible - or at least for an older, already hard-wired brain - and to top it off, I'm supposed to sing too? Frustration would be an understatement.  I might just as well walk around the farm backwards for a while. At least that would be easier than trying to play this damnable ukulele.

I know I won't play like Pat Metheny or Joni Mitchell, but I am bound and determined to play happy birthday for my husband in July.  I wish you could see me playing along on youtube.  This old dog is a glutton for punishment - never learns her lessons.  Grrr...

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Slow Love Life: Thank you to Mark Bittman

Slow Love Life: Thank you to Mark Bittman: Thrilled to tell you all that the esteemed Mark Bittman has written about our campaign to get mercury out of our food! Please sign our c...

Gather together, all of you that care what your children and grand children are breathing and eating.  Sometimes we have to take a stand - and that is what Dominique Browning did when she created MOMS CLEAN AIR FORCE. Dominique, famous for being, among other things, a magazine editor, has gone that extra mile to stand up to the companies (and politicians) trying to relax the rules for the amount of mercury released into the environment.  The NY Times article explains it far better than I ever could.  One voice may not be heard, but many can move mountains.  Thank you Dominique.