April 6, 2014
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Jet fuel for the time machine

We found some great fuel for the time machine this afternoon at Nice Old Stuff – a recording by Hank Barns and the Country Squires with Calls by Smilin’ Ed Hayes, called Swing your Partners. Cuts include:

Arkansas Traveler; Birdie in the Cage; Bile that Cabbage; Ocean Wave; D&A Reel; Caballero; Red River; Duck for the Oyster; Tennessee Wagoneer; Darling Nellie Gray and Jitterbug. It was recorded in 1957. Fantastic!

Here’s Red River

By the way, the photo to the left of the album cover is the wonderful Ellie Mae.

April 6, 2014
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Choo-Choo

IMG_0803We took a drive today to Jarvis Ontario, home to Nice Old Stuff, a store and a yard and a garage and a couple sheds full of just about anything. We loaded up the car with all kinds of stuff we “needed”, including material for a second book box (patience, patience, pictures in due course). We also came home with this concrete train planter. These things are seriously heavy items. I’m considering painting the train before planting it, although I think it looks great as is. Thanks to our neighbour Chris for helping unload these items.  There is no way I could have managed on my own.

IMG_0801

April 6, 2014
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More comfort food…

The veggie stew I featured in my last post is an excellent main course, but a small bowl of it also rocks as a side with a roast beef and raw red onion sandwich and some roast potatoes. I roasted this small roast with a bunch of small potatoes in a cast iron pan.

April 6, 2014
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White bean stew with kale

I’ve never been a big kale fan, but this veggie stew featuring white beans and kale is fantastic. It uses:

  • shallots
  • carrots
  • celery
  • garlic (I used some of my brother’s home grown garlic – awesome)
  • white beans
  • kale
  • white wine
  • crushed tomatoes
  • veggie stock
  • sprigs of thyme
  • bay leaf

Sautee shallots and garlic for a couple minutes in a dutch oven or heavy pot, add in carrots and celery, chopped roughly. After a few minutes, add a cup or so of white wine. Pour a glass of wine for yourself at this point. Let everything cook down and reduce the liquid to about half. Add white kidney beans (canned ones work fine for this). Add the kale. Add a few sprigs of thyme and a bay leaf. Add your stock + about a cup or cup and a half of crushed tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Let it simmer for 45 minutes.

April 5, 2014
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Who’s training who?

We took the dogs up to a training centre near Cookstown this morning – the K9 Country Inn, for the first of a few training sessions. The idea is give Memphis a tune-up and teach Georgie basic obedience. George is likely going to be 180 pounds or even more when he matures so we want to be sure he will walk with good leash manners, not pull, not jump up, sit, lie down and so on. I learned a lot in just one session about how to go about this whole business. More on this as we make a little progress….

April 3, 2014
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Mean it too…

I’ve been listening David Bromberg’s music quite a lot lately. I really appreciate how eclectic he is, rambling all over the music landscape. He’s a wonderful guitarist and he plays other instruments such as mandolin as well. Here’s a live performance of You’ve got to Mean it Too, which is on his Only Slightly Mad recording.  What a beautiful tune.  This is from eTown, shared from the YouTube.

I highly recommend Mr. Bromberg’s recordings, and particularly his last two, Only Slightly Mad and Use me.

April 3, 2014
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Three Sisters

Here is a little glimpse into our world. These are the 3 sisters of 27th Street. The painting on the left is by a self-taught artist from Pennsylvania named Justin McCarthy. In the middle is a block print from Hatch Show Print in Nashville. It was originally printed for some kind of traveling show and was reprinted for their 125th anniversary. We bought that one (it’s in 3 pieces) when we were traveling through Nashville with our pals Candy and Stagg. The third sister on the right is by Freddie Brice, another self-taught artist. You can read a little about Freddie here. It was Tuffy P who came up with the idea of hanging art on the bookcases. I love these three pictures together. They’re so animated and the three of them have such different personalities.

Filed under: Art