Weird- Wacky- Wonderful- Warren Zevon

Today I have been listening to the weird, wacky and wonderful Warren Zevon!

My son, Chris, surprised me with this CD a couple nights ago. It's a LIVE CD, produced in 1993.
Most of his hits are here.

I love live CDs...I like comparing them with the studio versions of the songs!
This is a good LIVE CD production by Zevon.

Warren Zevon wrote a lot of weird-fun songs-also a lot of very beautiful songs!

This is one of my favorites of the Beautiful ones!


Hasten Down the Wind

(Written by Warren Zevon 1973)

She tells him she thinks she needs to be free
He tells her he doesn't understand
She takes his hand
She tells him nothing's working out the way they planned
She's so many women
He can't find the one who was his friend
So he's hanging on to half her heart
He can't have the restless part
So he tells her to hasten down the wind
Then he agrees he thinks she needs to be free
Then she says she'd rather be with him
But it's just a whim
By which she hopes to keep him on the limb
She's so many women
He can't find the one who was his friend
So he's hanging on to half her heart
He can't have the restless part
So he tells her to hasten down the wind

~~~

Warren Zevon's final album-'The Wind'-( which I have) is heart wrenching and perfect! It was completed while fighting his final battle. He is joined on this album by many well-known artists, including Jackson Browne, Dwight Yoakam, Bruce Springsteen, and others.

Warren Zevon died in 2003, after a long battle with cancer.

~~~

It was good hearing Warren's music today. ( Though, it's left me feeling sad)


Junie

Farm Life of the Past: A Gaggle of Geese

...This is a story that goes WAY back...


A Gaggle of Geese

In the year of 1898, in the area of Waco Tennessee, lived a farm family of a father, mother, two boys and a little sister! The boys were about ages 8 years and 6 years. The sister, little more than a toddler at this time.

The family had recently moved back to Tennessee from Texas, to this farm. The boys, even at this young age, were expected to help out with the things that had to be done around the homeplace.
They had a gaggle of geese that the father needed to have driven to the town to be sold! The brothers, Elwood and Boyd, were given the job of ‘driving’ the geese to market to be sold! The driving of the gaggle of geese was accomplished by a boy on each side, with a long stick, moving them along and keeping them together as a flock. (gaggle)

On the way to the town, ( which was a distance of a couple of miles or more) the boys passed by another farmhouse. The farm lady was very friendly and engaged the boys in a conversation, asking if they were hungry! Of course they said yes, that they were hungry! Farm boys didn’t often turn down good grub when offered! She fixed, for each of them a big plate of butter and molasses!

They ate the sweet and tasty mixture with great gusto! (As the geese grazed the roadside…) Each boy finished every bit on his plate, ending by licking the plate clean! On returning the empty plates to the lady they thanked her for her kindness and told her that the plates wouldn’t need to be washed - that they had already cleaned them!! :)

As the two little boys left to complete their assigned task of driving the geese to town,
I can well imagine the big smile on the kind farm lady’s face, as she watched them leave!

Can’t you? :)


Note: Boyd was my husband’s (Charles) father!

This is a picture of Boyd with James Elizabeth, holding their first grandchild.
(Photo 1948)


June Kellum
July, 2006

Congrats, Christopher!

Today, after a long year of classes, Chris (son) graduated from his Practical Nursing training!
He's worked hard and did well and he made us proud!

Here's some pics from our/his day.

~~~~~~~~

Zach (grandson) came up from Orlando for a few hours. Charles and I, Chris and Zach met Daniel (Grandson) in Gainesville for dinner. It was good to see the boys together for a little while. I mostly just watched them having fun talking together!

Zach has left for home and I'm very tired after the long day of activities!

Good!! Maybe I can sleep!

~~~~~~~~

...and a cute picture of 'The General.' He finds the top of the vine covered trellis an ideal place for Bird Watching! :)




Junie

Poem: All the Days Have Come and Gone

(These times of when my grandchildren were little and with us a lot- were very special!)


All the Days Have Come and Gone


All the days have come and gone.
Those days have been completed…
when I would give my time and love…
to come whenever needed.

To push a swing…and hold my breath…
and hope they’d not let go!
To have an answer ready
for the things they’d want to know.

Playing cards or dolls or cars,
or Super Hero guys.
And always having cookies,
or an extra cool surprise!

The time for tucking them in bed,
on pallets, wall to wall…
late nights of scary movies …
I miss them most of all!

The pride I felt- the purest joy-
of having them all near…
Those times remain - Beyond Compare -
those times when they were here.


June Kellum
July 2006

English Leather

English Leather

For some reason, today I am thinking of English Leather…that fragrance my husband used to favor.

Every Christmas he would get a fresh bottle from me to add to the ones from years past until every spare inch of his bathroom space was taken up with almost identical bottles in various sizes! Some would be partially used –some remained unopened from one Christmas to the next! Some bottles would grow very old in waiting to be opened-and some never would be!

A little daily dab or two is all he used, unless we went out to something special! That didn’t happen often, not even in those early years and it happens less often now. Still-English Leather was his scent so it’s what he got! I have been known to pour this fragrance down the drain when it became years past it’s purchase date! :) This produced a fine, manly smell in the bathroom!

I’m sure there’re bottles of English Leather, still, in Charlie’s bathroom cabinet…though I haven’t had a whiff of it in a long time now! And I haven’t bought him a new bottle in several years.

Charlie says he has developed his own, distinctive scent, since moving to the farm, here, and doesn’t need his old cologne.
He hasn’t put a name to it! I get the essence of it when I do his laundry after a long, hot day of dealing with hay and cows! :) Perhaps it’s Ocala Leather!

…On occasion, (being the sentimental soul I am who holds on to everything,) I come across some of the gifts he gave me in those long past Christmases, too! Yes! I remember those times of the tiny baby doll PJs…always in baby blue! :)



Junie
July, 27,2006

Photo Fun

More fun with my photo program! So much can be done with old, dark B&W photos!
(the before and after picture-Click to make larger)

This is me at age 16...just a few months older than my Alli is now!

This is a recent picture of my granddaughter, Alli!



Tina and Alli came up for awhile tonight. It cheered me up a bit! :)

This is a recent pic of Alli and me...After putting it through the picture program, it's not that awful! :) I'm glad I kept it!



Oh! What fun I have with my pictures!!





Now I must try for some sleep!

Goodnite all!

Juniper

Another Blah Day!!

OK- another one of those days and I'm wondering, 'Who am I and what am I doing here?'

The answer to part of that is obvious! Not Much!!

The hot weather and overwhelming work load is getting both Charles and me down! He has been trying to get the rental house ready to rent again! The plants around the yard are all overgrown and he's had an enormous amount of work to do around there. ( and here too!!) He changes his shirt at least 3 times a day...working much too hard in this hot weather!

I, on the other hand, can barely find the energy to get through the necessary houshold chores! My garden is a total failure this year as I have not felt like doing anything in it! And I don't even care, that much! That's bad!!

I'm wondering if we might need a total lifestyle change...a smaller place...but how do you get rid of a long lifetime of STUFF!
When I think of that I know we never could move again!! This place has too many memories!

Am still not sleeping well on that soft, pillow top -Very Expensive- mattress!! Still thiking of setting up my own bed in there with a mattress I can sleep on! I still feel as though I'm drowning in all that softness! I never feel rested and my back and legs hurt! Charles sleeps like a baby on it, however!

~~~~~~

I am wanting to get on high speed internet and that has been an aggravation! Charles checked it out for me and he says they offer a complete package...switching our phone service and everything! He says that's the best plan offered ( Cheapest, he means) BUT all I want and need is the High Speed Internet!! I don't really like the idea of everything being tied up in one big package! I hate constant changes!

I need to have Marc home to advise and help me!!! Marc!! Come home!! :)
( Marc is my computer guy-my son-in-law)

There are so many fun things I am missing out on by still being on dial-up! I'm looking forward to all the music videos that are available now- which are just not possible with this slow dial-up! Hope I can get it going soon!

~~~~~~

Tomorrow~~~ see you then and in a more upbeat mood!! :) I promise.

JunieRose

Still Speaking of Varmints...(Post#2 of today)

Still speaking of varmints… imagine me walking into my kitchen- totally unaware (“As she often is!”…I hear you saying!!) :) and finding this scene!
(Husband Charles and my son, Christopher )

This happened just recently and I should consider myself lucky because this IS a harmless snake! (Rat snake, Charles calls it) We have often seen these types around the
place, here. When we had chickens they would get the eggs! I once saw one with 2 big egg shaped bulges in it’s long, otherwise, slinky body!

In the past Charles has been known to bring home more dangerous snakes!’
Once he went to pick up my grand boys from school and stopped on the way home and caught a deadly Rattle Snake, put it in a bucket he had in his truck…brought it home!
“You may ask,” Why?” The very question I had for him! He said his reason was to teach the boys NOT to be afraid of snakes!

* NOT to be afraid of a Deadly Rattle Snake! *

I would teach them to avoid Rattle Snakes, when possible! Is that logical thinking – or just a woman’s way of thinking? ( Or, are those two, one and the same?) :)

Luckily, with my shrill insistence, Charlie took that snake back down the road to the wooded area where he came from!
I didn’t want it killed - just AWAY from my home and kids!

Anyway, as harmless as this present snake is, I was momentarily taken aback with this sight in my kitchen! He didn’t linger long. We let him go and he headed for my garden.

General was brave enough to check him out…at a safe distance! Perhaps hoping to redeem himself after being so lax as to let the possums invade our back yard!







Junie

Another Day - Another Lizard!

Another Day in the tropics...another drowned lizard in my washing machine!

I will spare you the sight of this little dead thing-just a tiny baby, it was!

Very sad and I didn't have the heart to take a picture of the pitiful little thing!

Sooo...had to do the load of laundry over...as among the items washed were dish and bath towels!
LOL- Had it been Charlie's work clothes I might have been tempted to just dry them and keep my silence!

(Would I do that?? ;) )

Tomorrow I plan to take drastic measures to rid myself of these little varmints who keep invading my space!
I'll bomb the whole area! Don’ worry- just an insect bomb! :)

Sorry - but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!

The mousetraps that I used before should have told them I meant business!!

(It's a jungle out there- in here too!)


JunieRose

'Smoky'

' Smoky' ( my sister-in-law's cat! )
This little Alabama cat is checking out the Butterfly Bush!


JunieRose

New Post (About Mom Site)

...A family remembrance post on my MOM site...
( Remembering Daddy )

See side bar!

Junie

Brian's Music Review- By Chris

Brian’s Music Review- By Chris


My grandson, Brian, has completed a CD of a collection of 10 songs. All, except one, are his own!

I was pleased to learn that my son, Chris (who has long had a discerning approach to music listening) is as impressed with this CD as I am! He wrote this ‘review’ of Brian’s music and sent it along with a copy of the CD to his girlfriend who lives in Maine. Chris says this music is like a ‘Greatest Hits’ album of someone who has been in the business for a while!

Now I can relax in the knowledge that my opinion was not swayed by being Brian’s grandmother! : )


Here is what Chris wrote about these 4 songs!!

1.
Mexico-

a nice little morality tale; of course both the hooker and the customer are putting their souls in danger by their behaviors. Brian doesn't realize this but stylistically this song could have been written and arranged by Lloyd Cole.

2.
Shallow-

A really subtley arranged number. I detect a slight flavor of Loudon Wainwright. (who Brian has been listening to lately) Lyrically, it's a bit unique, as the girl is not being really flattered here.

3.
Jordan's Stormy Banks-

My understanding is that this is an old church standard which Brian has, obviously, dramatically rearranged. Pretty Bluesy!

>
>
>
>

7.
Try-

This is an emotional masterpiece. It's about a melancholy marriage. There's something about the delivery here that brings to mind Jackson Browne at his best. The resolution at the end - turn to Christ - is heart wrenching!


***Note: 'Try' is my favorite of all the songs!***


Brian has 4 of his songs on a website.
(these 4 songs (Reviewed here) can be heard on Brian's site- see my side bar)

Thanks!
Hope you'll take the time to check it out!


Junie
aka Ginga

Thank God I'm a Country Girl.....

...and can enjoy these things!

Here's some other things we saw on our ride in the country!

Barns-Barns-Barns!! ( Post#2 of today )

This posting will feature BARNS we saw on our ride around the country!

Just barns!

I have always loved seeing the old barns and getting pictures of them!

I don't like thinking that someday soon they will all be gone!
These barns were around when Charles was a boy- and long before!

Most of these barns Charles knew and worked and played in when he was a boy! Several are 'Mud Bottom' barns; the area where Charles lived.
The big barn at the top is the Maples barn where Charles and his brothers worked helping to 'put up' hay!
Mr. Maples was the overseerer of the Mud Bottom farms!

( see story in May archives-'Being Rented Out')

Enjoy!


JunieRose

The Gathering! ( For the family)

These are pictures of the Reunion on July 15th!

Lots of good food and good conversations!!

All of you who were not there were missed!

A LOT!!! :)

Enjoy the pics!

( click on pics to enlarge)

Love,

Junie