What are y'all up to? # 3 (Current NEW thread)

Gunnar Salyer

Well, I finally have made it back home! It's good to be back home finally. I should be less busy now, and be on here a bit more. Now just to see which videos I posted here.....

fiddlewood

Things are slowing down at work here...season is nearly over for golf.

Had the last two days off...been nice...I've been doing 7 mornings per week since May 1st.

Still working on the fiddle, learning bits & pieces of several new things...once work finishes I'll start some real woodshedding again.

fiddlewood

Glad you finally made it beck ok Gunnar.

cricket

glad you got back home, gunnar.  guys i still have no use of my right hand, so im losing finger callous by the day and dreaming of playing music again.

MariaR

Hey y'all! ( "y'all" is now my favorite phrase/ word because we use it in Latin. LOL)

I am finally back in school. (YAY!!) My grade is going on a camping trip next week, so looking forward to that. One sad thing is, though, we can't have camp fires 'cause of the state-wide fire ban. ?But, should be fun being able to see new kids and friends. ?

cricket

hope y'all have a lot of fun. Mariar!

MariaR

Thanks, Cricket! I think we will. :)

Unknown

OK, so if you can't have a fire, maybe you can take a mobile device or laptop with a video of a campfire and you can make music. It'll be like you're all at a drive in movie and camping all at once -- Win Win! (Are there even drive-in movies anymore? 1000 years ago I rode a bicycle to one and watched Enter The Dragon while leaning against the concession stand. Was awesome.)

Well there's still lots of fun to be had I'm sure, just being with friends in nature. Stay safe.

cricket

I betcha drive in movies will make a comeback during this pandemic.  I miss them...we took our dogs, ate a lot of popcorn...just enjoyed them.  We took our babies, friends and us...parked next to each other and sometimes would just pile up in somebody's truck bed with the whole clan and enjoy the evening...I never have been much on movies, but I always did like drive in theaters.

MariaR

Thanks for the idea, Goneworkin! (Also, drive in movies are getting really popular. Most Walmarts in Colorado are thinking about putting them up in the parking lots. #THEY'RE AWESOME!) For my sister's birthday, my dad took another sister and me to a drive in theater to see For King and Country. It was great.

Unknown

Since this is "What are you up to", I will say that my mom and stepdad are about to celebrate their 95th birthdays in a week (both born a week apart in 1925 -- mom's older by a mere 7 days so I get to joke about her having robbed the cradle).

So welcome to the 21st century. We're going to get everybody in the family across the country to "come" celebrate on ZOOM. Naturally, owing to their generation having an aversion to technology, I shall be there with them operating the computer at their home. Remind me to pick up some party hats and noise makers.

I know it's a cliche when talking about the old folks having seen changes in their lifetime, but I've known people whose parents lived to see the birth of aviation all the way to the moon and beyond. My folks aren't quite that old, but close enough to be able to get credit for being able to handle a cell phone.

Anyway, that's what's up for me at the moment.

jim@moonshadowsfarm.com

As Gomer Pyle would say, "Surprise, surprise, surprise!" Just thought I would pop in and say "hello". I haven't been around in quite a while. Our business heats up around mid-summer and goes full-steam through mid-October, so I've been putting in long hours 7 days a week for the past few months. I've barely had time to pick up my fiddle, never mind checking my forums. Things will stay busy through the holidays, but mot as crazy as it has been, so I hope to be getting back here more often. I'll have to catch up on what you all have been posting. :)

cricket

Good to see you back, Moonshadows!

Goneworkin', fascinationg about the 95th birthday celebrations.  My dad is 95 and I gotta get him zooming...not sure that'll ever happen...lol...he's highly resistant to modern techie stuff.  Hope your party will be a blast!

MariaR

Hello, y'all- Good to be back!

I got back home from Eco Week yesterday afternoon. We were up in Estes at Annunciation Heights camp and we had lots of fun. Later today my family are going to Colorado Springs to celebrate my grandma's 73rd birthday.

lisab

Hi all!

MiriaR, glad you made it back safely! Hoping you had fun? Camping--what a great place to take a fiddle! Of course, my idea of camping is "Holiday Inn" ;)

Cricket--getting better? I suwannee girl... you have a banged up arm,, and you can STILL turn out those tunes! Just listened to The Dying Miner--never heard it before now, and WOW!

Since my last post, I have been able to participate in 3 "jams". The first one, we had a festival of sorts in our small community. Several weeks ago. Hot as all get out, but I was THRILLED to be invited to play by one of the more seasoned bluegrass pickers around these parts. Second jam was at a local park with a covered pavilion. Plenty of room to spread out, weather was great. A bass player, acoustical guitar, 2 fiddles and a mandolin showed up, and a handful of spectators gathered around. Small but fun! 3rd jam, I was invited to one in the next county over by another seasoned picker in our area. Felt honored to be asked. Still a small crowd, but fun.

AND! Best news of all for me, is that I finally found a FIDDLE teacher! Having taking violin (classical) for 3 years, my goal was to learn the foundations of the instrument, then transfer that knowledge over to fiddle--where my passion is. HA! I just couldn't do it without help. Nobody "taught" fiddle around here, but several old timers would "play" fiddle. Finally, in desperation, I posted on the Northeast Florida Bluegrass Association's FB page, and got a couple of recommendations. Whew! Thank goodness for social media! The fiddle teacher is about 45 minutes from me, but she's agreed to let me do it twice a month instead of weekly, provided I actually practice in between sessions. Makes sense. Don't want to waste her time.

So, here's hoping everyone is still fiddlin'! Huge welcome to the newcomers that I've not spoken to. Hope you enjoy this site as much as we do!

cricket

Maria...sounds like fun.  Happy birthday to your grandma!

Lisa...sounds like fun at the jams...cool...and congrats on finding a teacher you feel good about.

Angela

Hi everybody!! It's been awhile since I've posted. I've been working more and cooking more! LOL We aren't going to restaurants. Cooking has become a bit of a hobby...but it does take up a lot of time. We've also done quite a bit of camping. I've been playing my fiddle just about everyday. Learned a few new tunes...I'll post sometime. Gathered with a few BG friends at a campground to do a pick and camp....socially distanced style. Also been watching a lot of Youtube fiddling. Seems like a lot of pro's have posted more, because they aren't getting to travel and play out (sad times).

LisaB...where are you in FL? I know an EXCELLENT fiddle player/teacher around Cocoa Beach/Melbourne area.

lisab

Hi Angela! Nice to "meet" you! I'm in NE Fl; found a great fiddle teacher in Middleburg. Are you in FL? We have had a few BG jams--spread out. Tonight was one up in Valdosta Georgia, but I didn't go to it. Maybe one day.

cricket

Hey Angela!  Glad to hear from you.  I've wondered about your whereabouts and so many others here who disappeared during covid times.  Good to hear from you and that you're staying busy with lots of stuff.

I always did cook half my life away...lol...just my habit...lots of it garden to table...but now wrecked my wrist so Mike is learning.  He basically doesn't like all the work and time, but I think he's enjoying making salad dressings and also greens.  He's doing good, but I guess if a person isn't used to all the time it takes, it's a big shocker that one meal takes so much more time than it does to eat it...lol.  But yeah, cooking is sorta fun too, ain't it?  Mike can't do my fiddling for me...so it's frustrating waiting to be able to do that again.

Everybody stay safe.

MariaR

Hello! Just an update with school:

I'm starting full-time on Monday!!! The whole hybrid thing was pretty ridiculous anyway because we were all seeing people from other classes and the other half of the class, and we went to camp with them, too, so..... Anyway, glad to be going back.?

 

Gunnar Salyer

Well, I just started learning bluegrass in the backwoods.... this tune is hard!! Next time I'm gonna learn something easy, like Bobby Hicks' Faded Love... lol

MariaR

I hope to hear it soon!

cricket

Yes, play it for us, Gunnar!

Hope school is going very good for you now, Maria!

Well I'm still busy learning to use my fingers again...lol...and trying to get past the pain.  I have been messin' around here and there with instruments, can tie my shoes, can almost hold a half a cup of coffee without dropping it...play guitar really slow and fiddle really slow and easy.  That's about it...trying to get it all back together again as soon as possible.

Hope everyone here at BGD is staying well and safe.

MariaR

Today was my first day fully in school! (We had a snow day yesterday)

I really hope the fires will be out soon.

cricket

Wow...snow day already?  Hope you had a nice day in school!

MariaR

Yeah. We got about nine inches of snow. It was great!!

What are y'all doing for this season?

cricket

Wow... we have had snow at this point before, here in our area...but it's really rare and never as deep as 9 inches, as far as I've ever known about.  We usually don't see it until Thanksgiving or so.

Gonna be a very quiet holiday season for us... besides struggling with my healing bones (don't know why it's such a struggle for me...I see other people with broken bones runnin' around like it's nothing...lol...wow...first time for me and it's making me sick all over...hard to keep the chin up too), we have restrictions because of covid activity and safety requirements on people's jobs that will keep us away from family for the most part.  Just our little bubble of five.  Probably the same for Christmas...I don't see things changing that fast.  I think we'll have as much fun as we can possibly have.

What about you, Maria?  And everybody else?

MariaR

I hope y'all will have lots of fun for the holidays. I guess COVID restrictions in our county aren't that bad, other than masks and an occasional hand sanitizer as we go into stores.

Well, my grandparents are coming over tomorrow and I am going over to my friend/neighbor's house. (My friend since first grade moved in up the street from us, so we get to see each other a lot)

My family and I are going to drive down to Calexico and Ensenada for Thanksgiving to visit my mom's side of the family in CA and Mexico. We might stop in NM and AZ to visit with my dad's sister and his uncles and aunts if the restrictions that stand now are lifted, which I really hope will be.

For Christmas, though, we will drive down to Colorado Springs to visit my dad's parents. My older brother in the army is going to come home for the season and my two oldest sisters might join us.

 

cricket

Sounds like a lot of great stuff going on there.  Hope you, family, and friends have wonderful times during the holidays!

MariaR

Thanks, Cricket! I am sure we will have a lot of fun.