Two Nice Brunches And A Cat Call

This weekend for me, was about trying to figure out social media promoting. Now that my year long copyright strike on YouTube has expired, I find my account in good standing!  I find that I am eligible for fan funding and monetization on YouTube. I can't see this as being a huge help but maybe a little? I spent a good deal of time reading and trying to figure out how to implement these new features to my account. Of course moneization can only occur on my own originals. Still it is liberating to be out from under that copyright ding against my account. I'm still rather miffed that I had to endure that. I had written to Roger Hodgson's management company explaining my mistake and ignorance. Even asking for permission to post my video. I heard nothing back and had to except my account being ineligible for certain money making features. A big price to pay for taking the time and energy to admire a song enough to learn it by ear, every chord, nuance and inflection!

I could have been trying to make some money this whole year with my originals had I not that copyright strike! Costly to be his fan! A big price to pay for something that came from my heart with adoration and appreciation for the creator. Cost me a whole year of the possibilty to earn money with my originals... Hmmm, guess I'm still perplexed, pissed and just plain insulted by the action.

The rest of my weekend was spent taking care of the family. I made two really nice brunches this weekend. Not uncommon, I do most weekends. We are doing a mini makeover on Zoe's room. I still have walls to paint and a desk to paint. She reorganized her closet and we are close to the painting project. Probably this week I will finish that up.

The following pics are a glimpse into my life view...

Chocolate chip pancakes and scrambled eggs that I made Saturday morning.

Eggs and bacon on Sunday 

With...

We don't indulge often but thourghly enjoy when we do! 

She's easy to please when it comes to eating ! Bless her heart she isn't picky! 

This is a typical view of my kitchen table for regular weekend brunches. With the exception of doughnuts lol.

I walked into Zoe's room and found Twinkle trying to make a call or text maybe lol? I thought this was a sweet pose. She is the sweetest cat creature!

Unlike my snippy, nippy but beloved fun loving meezer Clarice.

To What End Are We Willing To Gain?

This poem came to me as I was looking at Twitter posts lol. Those following me and the people that I follow, are all trying to make it in the music biz.  I am also, although I am not this...however, this came to my mind as I was reading peoples posts. We are all so desperate, hungry and incessant! OMG! 

To What End Are We Willing To Gain

Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the most desperate of them all? "They" clamor, conspire and congregate. To what ends will they try to seal their fate? Divisive, cunning and thoroughly wrought- they truly think that success can be bought!

 For the price of one's soul, is usually the toll. Oblivious, obstinate and utterly clueless, they wander the earth, become complacent and ruthless. Until one day they realize the void, become angry, distant and overly annoyed- For the impact of their strife to prosper, catches up with them and they count their losses. Greater are those, than monetary gain. Vanity and lack of humanity fan the flame...

When the ash settles around them and they return to status quo - they realize the 

err of their ways and, they secretly want "you" to know-

"They", wouldn't change a thing...

Till We Meet Again Maybe In The Next Life

Alma Mater written by Chicago...

This is a cover of a little known song that featured the voice of Terry Kath. Terry Kath was a lead singer/ guitarist for the group Chicago. He had a very distictive style and voice. He died far to young and in such a tragic, shocking way! I was about 17 when he died. I recall hearing the news of his passing and I just sat in silence trying to wrap my head around the news. Chicago had been my favorite band since about age 10. I couldn't imagine the band being able to go on without Terry but they did! I am amazed that they still tour today!
I do a few covers of Terry's songs.
 Click here on the link ➡️Till We Meet Again written by Chicago

The original of this starts with the sound of someone winding a music box or victrola or something. Mine has the sound of a passing trash truck...I laughed when I played this recording back. I thought it symbolic of my humble, suburbia real life lol. Just so fitting... I still chuckle to myself everytime I listen to this cover! I had fun with my Yamaha MOX 8 keyboard. I used an acoustic guitar setting to play this. I actually felt as if I had played a guitar! I'm having fun toying with the different voices it will do. I suppose that I ought to learn how to fully use it but the instruction manual is labor intensive and reads almost like greek to me. It would require a lot of time and infinite focus to really be able to learn it. I guess I just get caught up in wanting to play rather than learn a new language. If I took the time to learn all that this wonderful keyboard could do, I would be able to arrange and compose! Having spoken this I feel I must drag out the manual to see what I can learn to do...

Granddaughter is visiting with Mom today so I am going to have much needed one on one time with daughter Zoe. Movie and lunch out is on the agenda for today! Have a great day!

People Just Come And Go They Don't Know What's Right Till They're Gone

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As these holidays have come up since Alissa has been with us, I imagine they are rather sad for her! It is looking more and more like this arrangement of her living with me is going to be permanent. My daughter has issues many of which will keep her from being able to properly parent Alissa. It's heartbreaking to me on many levels. I'm too busy to really fully feel this groing reality. Truth is, I think it's evident that I'm going to be raising my Granddaughter for the rest of her childhood. This is coming to light the longer I have her in my care. My daughter is clueless but I don't feel enough real 

progress is being made. That said the fact remains that Alissa loves her Mom and Dad and these holidays remind her that she is here because her parents have fallen short in what has been deemed to be a safe environment for her. 

She woke up Saturday telling me about a happy dream she had about giving her Dad a gift of a flying 

fairy. She was so happy to have seen him in this dream! In her waking life,Dad has left her Mom recently. Virtually disappearing from her life. Sad but true. So, I encouraged her to make a card for her Dad. Together, we made a card or him. I have no idea where he is but decided to post her card on Facebook as his Mom was once a contact on my page. I hear that he got to see the card and was touched by the gesture. One could hope that through time her parents will be able to get it together enough to help her through her life. No matter my feelings about the situation, I realize that she has a need to acknowledge, love and be loved by her parents. Awww what a harsh little life she has had for a four year old!

This was a strange Father's Day for me as it was my first without my Father being here on the planet. To say that I miss him doesn't adequately describe the profound  loss I feel. I keep busy and I'm careful not to show or menion this to anyone. After all, it's personal and nobody else aound me would get it!

I made a point to spoil the guys around me that are Dad's lol. My husband was given my time and attention in the kitchen all day. We had a really nice dinner. Steak, shrimp, pesto linguini, sauteed mushrooms and garlic, grilled eggplant.

And this, for dessert...

Crossiants with whipped cream and various fruit. Make your own delectable fruit crossiant.

This one was mine lol. Yum! 

My brother in law was solo as his family is vacationing with family. We had him over for dinner. 

Zoe enjoyed visiting with Uncle Hilton as well.

For whatever reason, this song came to the forefront today so I posted this on my Soundcloud channel today. I was thinking of my Dad as I played this song today...

You Know Like I Know written by Ozark Mountain Daredevils ( today's cover.)

Have a terrific evening!

Repaint Repurpose And Colour My World

Household projects are calling me this week. Our block wall is in need of  paint touch up. I will be busy doing this tomorrow morning. It will be 100 degrees by 9 am. so I will have to do this really early! It is going to be 115 degrees today tomorrow and Friday. UGH! Well it's gotta be done and I'm it to do it. Truth is when these types of projects are done I always feel better having done them. I like to live in a nice looking home! So, I won't complain!

Daughter Zoe is getting a mini room makeover. I am painting her room and some of her furniture. Her desk and nightstand will match her daybed. The nightstand was pretty beat up so it looks as good as it can. I painted it yesterday with this...

I loved using this product! The coverage was wonderful and easy to apply! I am happy with the outcome.

I still have her small desk to paint. 

This will keep me busy this week. I don't like to paint because I have done so much of it in my life. My big kids remember me painting everything we had! We never had money for new furniture when they were young so I would paint tables, chairs, dressers, coffee tables and walls 

to make them look fresh and decent lol. I always wanted to live in clean and nice!Just because we didn't have much money didn't mean we had to live sloppy. My daughter Britt is just like me in this way. As a result, she lives well and her home is nice on a shoestring budget. She and her husband are both working on getting their degrees. Money is tight but they repurpose and paint things all of the time. 

The sooner I get this all finished the sooner I can get back to doing what I LOVE!

Fun In The Sun Has Us Overdone

We are all over done in the sun. We spent about 5 hours on Saturday at Pecos pool. Our local public pool. It is a great way to cool off and fun for everyone! The kiddie pool is safe with quite a few fun features. The sun is intense here in Phoenix and even with sunscreen we were all baked. Fun though! 

Plenty of lifeguards! They really do a great job patroling here! People bring coolers full of food and just park it for the day! I brought lots of snacks and juice packs as well. 

Alissa had a terrific time! We were joined by daughter Britt and her children in the late afternoon. Everyone came back to my house for an impromptu BBQ. So quite a busy day!

I love this bunch! Here are 5 of my 7 G-kids. Delcee's two were not here.

I'm In You, Only If Your Into Me ...

I'm In You written by Peter Frampton. My cover of the song. I worked on this for over a week. I love the song and I'm so sad that I won't get to see Peter Frampton tonight @ Talking Stick Resort. Tickets are pricey and our damned van needs a new alternator. Of course the blankety blank van takes precedence. This damn van is nickle and dimeing us to death. Last month it was the PT Cruiser costing several hundred for A/C repairs. Actually, that was less than two weeks ago! I have had it with these old cars! The only good thing about them is that they are paid for. No car payments are nice! My God! Somethings gotta give here. I would love to make money doing this! 

I know, don't quit your day job...

oh thats right, I'm only a housewife... UGH!

Nous Vivons Ensemble written by Gordon Lightfoot. I probably don't make sense in the French Canadian portion of this song. I really tried but my ear is only so good...

Would love to find my niche in music somewhere! 

Ree Has Nothing On Me Bread & Butter Potato Salad!

I made potato salad for my family yesterday. You are probably wondering why I think mine is special...why on earth would someone post pics of and write a blog post about potato salad! Mine is only slightly different. I have added an ingredient that really enhances my salad. Plain and simple...I chop up bread and butter pickle spears. They are just the right amount of sweet with a little crunch! Here is my process/ recipe.

Chopped celery (to taste)

Chopped onion (to taste)

6 boiled potatoes, (I use yellow) the flavor and texture of yellow potatoes are perfect for salad! I boil my potatos whole. Bring to boil, reduce heat to slow simmer and cook till fork tender. About 30-35 min. Cool for a few hours. They peel easily when they have been boiled. Peel and cut into nice bite size chunks.( not too small! )

6 hard boiled eggs (3 chopped to fold into the salad. 3 to slice for the top of the salad) * looks so pretty on top with sprinkled paprika!

Chopped Bread and Butter Pickles to taste I used 4 spears in mine.

Mayonnaise  (eyeball it lol) you want the salad creamy but not greasy.* Add all ingredients and fold in tour mayo. You don't want to break up your potato chunks too much.

 Yellow Mustard (to taste)

Salt & Pepper (to taste)

*Paprika for the finishing touch, sprinkle genoursly on top of your salad. I use Hungarian Paprika as it has a more distinct flavor. 

Boil and completely cool the eggs.

I boil my potatoes whole! The skin peels off easily when they are cool. Completely cool the potatoes for a few hours.

My ingredients ...

I love Hungarian Paprika!

Lol sorry about the Rubbermaid Container.  It's just us so I eliminated the pretty bowl. I served mine straight for my storage container. 

This is a hearty salad and can be served for lunch as a main course.

Three Dollars Worth Of Contentment

This was a double rainbow! Here in Phoenix, AZ this is a very rare occurrence! I so enjoyed seeing this the other day. We have had some very strange weather here. A very mild in temps spring with quite a few overcast days! Our Monsoon season doesn't typically kick in till July. I'm enjoying the unpredictable weather.

I have been hard at work revising/ fine tuning this original. I sure enjoy the time I get to do this. Time is precious! 

I have also been busy wearing my Gram hat. I had my Granddaughter Liz stay overnight. She and Alissa had a good time.

Lizzy and Alissa 

Crafts and a movie before bed...

Alissa is so proud of these sunflowers. She grew them from seeds in her own garden box!

I also had fun with my LED find at the DollarTree. For $3.00 I decorated my mantle and a wreath lol.  I'm a sucker for things that light up! I guess I'm one of those ticky tacky Gram's lol. I just think little lights are homey.

My ticky tacky wreath.

Little flower 

LED battery operated 

string lights.

Christmas Is Half Way Here, Hire Me

Never too early to plan for Christmas projects. I'm looking to do some Christmas songs for media projects. For hire! I can see myself playing in the background for some restaurant scene in a Christmas movie lol... I wish that I could create my own niche.  I wish that it was easy as asking the Universe for permission to do this. I've tried everything to get myself out there. Every damned thing I can think of! Commercials, whatever!

Wishful thinking...

My God lol. 

Fifty Three Comes To Me

I was thrilled that my oldest Britt brought a few of her kids over to have cake with me! Alissa is still with me. It looks as if she will be living with me for a long time. It's an adjustment for all of us. I'm sure it is for her as well. She's a tough little gal who has had to be very assertive. She has a lot of coping skills. Many more than any four year old should have to have! We are trying to do the best for her that we can. The situation is sad and hard to process in my mind. I'm working with it but whoa!

Birthdays are an incredible time for reflection and to make new goals. I love spending a few hours quietly to myself just thinking. I like to think about what it is that I want to accomplish next. I have yet to find my money making niche. I had really hoped that it would be in music somewhere!  I still feel as if I have something that I need to prove to myself. I think that I couldn't be trying to break into a harder industry. Everyone  nowadays is a singer songwriter. I haven't given up but I'm becoming more resolved that I may not be able to get anywhere with music in this lifetime. My music just may not be anyones cup of tea but mine! Between me and my maker. 

Something More Than Nothing

This affirmation that I wrote last year still applies to my statement of self.

*Whatever I touch, there I will prosper.

Whatever touches me, I will make better.

Birthday's Are For Reflection

Here is morning cup of Silent Lucidity...

Click on this link➡️ My Cover Of Silent Lucidity

Today is my 53rd birthday. As an adult, I look upon b-days as a time of reflection. I enjoy quiet time reflecting on my life and life lessons. I enjoy spending an hour or so alone just thinking.

 I'm still learning new things and finding out more about myself everyday I'm here.