Murphy and more.

Thanks for the idea Deb. Ha.

Clint's new puppy Murphy.

Bad picture - I didn't want to wake him with the flash. Mix of black lab and ?? bulldog, maybe? A cutie.



Cubbie watching Rama. Whom is watching for young birds to take a tumble from a nearby tree.



Bob (the cat) watching our other flank. There have been coyote sighting lately. He's got to be careful.



So simple: I hang tray from one nail (one on each side of the pillar of course). Tray hangs crooked all year dropping potting soil when it get splashed.



Young unfettered mind: Clint hung the other tray on the other pillar. Two nails on each side. One in the bend - to the left. One above the hook. Hangs straight. (By the way, the two marks in the hook are old nail holes I made from last year.) Ha.



Mother's Day Flower. What a disaster. I took it back, got credit for another and got to keep the remains. Never throw anything out. I'll plant the good part somewhere.




New replacement. Someone help me out with the name. Starts with "N"?

I really like these but every year I forget they exist. I buy all the flowers I need earlier so by the time these bloomed and were ready for sale, I didn't need / or have any room for them.

Same this year. These are going to Mumsy.

15 Second video and Red blues.

Being a gardener is never ending. Once I get everything growing I have then committed myself to about a half hour a night watering after work. Real smart. Ha.

Following this is a bar clip of Geneva Red of The Original Delta Fireballs. Six foot of red haired harmonica playing woman doing the blues. Local artist. Made her High School's wall of fame.

Clint and I saw them in February for the first time about 4 blocks from home at the local bar. We had a front row table. Jackie 5 and 10 (Woolworth is his name) came up to me and introduced himself. Cool. He knew my sister and I guess remembered me from some of the parties we had thrown just down the street (Prairie Ave - ha). My mom still lives there. I remembered him after a little reminiscing. Something about pulling some beverages up the side of our house with a rope for a party. Small world. Things were different then. Or not.

Geneva Red puts on a great show. (Geneva being the name of nearby town.) Her version of Boz Scaggs Loan Me a Dime (not the original version but this link gives you an idea of the song - fantastic guitar - Gregg Allman) made the whole night worthwhile.

By the way, this wasn't the bar we saw them in but it could have been. People walking in and out, cars going by. Reminds me of Storefront Hitchcock. An excellent Jonathan Demme music video film

.

Geneva Red:

Lose some, win some.

Good news and bad news. Bob(the cat) probably didn't win. I needed to get an email today to confirm his selection. I checked and found nothing. I'm guessing we lost. Winners should be posted tomorrow. Bob (the cat) and I appreciate the support.

After work yesterday, Clint was paging thru the caller ID and found WXRT had called. That's a good thing. I had missed the call but called them back this morning.

Four years ago I won two "on stage" tickets to the Grateful Dead surviors (The Other Ones) at Alpine Music Theater at Lake Geneva. Clint and I went. We shook Phil Lesch's hand backstage, said hi, and ended up with our seats next to the wall of speakers ON the stage. In fact we sat on the empty speaker cases about 20 feet from the band (albeit in the shadows of the edge of the stage). Nothing could compare to looking "up" the hill of about 40,000 fans looking our direction. Not at us of course but we got the idea. I could see how being a rock star could be addictive.

This time I won tickets (lucky me) for Stevie Nicks and Chris Isaak. On the shores of Lake Michigan with Chicago as a backdrop. It's called Charter One Pavilion- Northerly Island. Walking distance (long) from the train with the Chicago Blues Festival also going on. I think we are going in early to catch the Blues Festival and then walk over to the concert (all in the same area - Grant Park).

Deja vu: I had to look it up, but my brother and I did the Blues Festival in 2000 and then went to see a highly desireable baseball game. Chicago White Sox vs the Chicago Cubs. Crosstown Classic. On the third base line, I sat next to a traffic reporter girl I heard everday on the Chicago news radio. Bonus was I knew of her (not everyone would have). Perfect except for the fact the game ran way late into extra innnings. So late...(Sox won by the way.)

Stevie:

My ex and I saw her in Fleetwood Mac at Alpine in the late 70's. Not with Peter Green (he was already having issues). The thing I remember most was a guy peeing from a tree on the hillside next to us. Never forgot the sound of dribbling. Our smuggled in drink of choice: Ripple Wine. The bottles fit nicely in the sleeves of my army surplus jacket.

Chris Isaak I like. He seems like a regular guy. I watched his Showtime show. My brother played the hell out of this song. I got sick of it but I still like it in moderation.

WXRT: Source of my musical inspirations for over 30 years. Gotta love them but if you don't know them this is boring.

"I'd appreciate your support," Bob (the cat).

Hi. I'm Bob (the cat) and I'm doing a guest blog. I'm a little nervous. Posting an entry isn't as easy as it looks.

I'm running for cutest cat in the Chicago Tribune's Petpalooza and would appreciate your vote.

I don't know how exclusive the contest is because there are tons of entries; anyway, if you want to vote for me do this: click the word CATS on the Trib's page (not the picture of a cat) I'm about a quarter of the way down drinking out of a chair.

Personally I liked the "sleeping in the window" picture but I had no say on the matter. By the way, if you click the cat picture it will take you to adoptions / sales (wrong place unless you want to get a cat).

Thanks.

Bob (the cat)

(In the spirit of Chicago politics I'd say vote early, vote often BUT they are accepting only one per household.)

15 second video. Saturday planting with Wilco.

Peace.

Excuse the lack of enthusiasm in my voice. Planting flowers is relaxing but also a long drawn out task. This was after about 2 hours of cleaning out / digging out areas for bulbs. Amy always gives me too many things to plant - she has a terrible concept of gardening space (room). I always make them fit somehow. Ha. She just enjoys the cuttings later in the year. Kids.



NPR is my station of choice on Saturday afternoons but it also scares me a bit because I used to associate it with older people. Saturdays have Car Talk, Whad'ya Know?, 3 hours of Blues from Northern Illinois Dekalb, Prairie Home.

Anyway, maybe its catching up with me. Wilco (described as a Chicago alt band - with the "alt" out of touchingly mispronounced as "alt" in altitude) was featured on A Prairie Home Companion. That made me feel better - I catch so much crap from my kids when they hear one of the "banjo" or "fiddle" type groups that are more the norm.


Happy Mother's Day to all it applies to. I'm walking over two yards to celebrate Mumsy's at my sister's house in about an hour. Hope it warms up some. I'm feeling guilty being inside but I needed to let my deviled eggs warm up to room temperature. Sooo good. Sooo bad for you. Or so "they" say - I'll still enjoy them with potato salad and burgers today.



Rock and Roll Mumsy 5-13-2007.