The Positive Thread...

Hope you all had a happy thanksgiving!  

Thank you, FOTMD folks, for the music and your friendship!  

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I am so grateful that I have mountain dulcimers, mountain dulcimer music, and friends of the mountain dulcimer in my life.

Wishing you all a peaceful and Happy Thanksgiving. Nina

Happy Thanksgiving. Among my many blessings is all my dulcimer friends here. at FOTMD and TTAD. Enjoy the day everyone.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Well said John and Richard.

Grateful for the good things in my life. Hugs to all my FOTMD friends.

Happy Thanksgiving all. May we all be sure to reflect on all of our many blessings and truly be thankful from a grateful heart.

Have a very happy and meaningful Thanksgiving Day everyone!  Time to count our blessings.

A beautiful fall day.  Sunshine. Crisp wind.  It was a joy to spend a few hours raking leaves.

Well you how they say if you give someone a hammer everything looks like a nail.  Dulcimer players want to tickle strings with their fingers.  Drummers want to hit stuff with sticks.

At least they had an appropriate (musician) sense of humor. (Although,  a drummer may disagree.)

That's funny!

Positive?  Maybe not.  Mildly funny?  Perhaps.

I recently bought matching stands for my dulcimer and guitar.  The instructions for how to attach the base to the arm read:

"Do not overtighten.  You can crack the wood.  Maybe not a job for a drummer."

And similarly, the instructions for attaching the hanger to the arm read:

"Do not overtighten.  You can strip out the insert.  Keep the drummer away from this."

For the record, the assembly went very well.  Clearly dulcimer players are more gentle creatures than are percussionists.

Cue Ray Charles and the singers....  

"I can't stop loving you...!" 

@dusty-turtle I have a feeling she never stopped (loving you).

I put new strings on my dulcimer today, and she loves me again.

Here is some more dulcimer good news: https://stonecountyleader.com/stories/dulcimer-reclaimed-after-50plus-years,4160

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

That is a neat story, Ken!  Thanks for posting the link! 

Great story Kenl. Thanks for sharing it.

What a sweet story, @ken-longfield.  It shows how strong the student/teacher bond can be and also how dulcimers bring people together in so many ways.

Nice story, Ken. Nina

This is a delightful story: https://www.southbendtribune.com/story/lifestyle/2021/07/18/student-teacher-reunite-over-dulcimer-built-woodworking-class/7970945002/ I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Dusty, that sounds like a super fun time!

Cool, Dusty! 

I put new strings on the Guild 6-string last night, all in preparation for today's Pick - N - Jam, an annual party in which people pick wild berries (mostly blackberries this time of year) and then gather at an old farmhouse to make jam. While the jam is cooking, we take out our instruments and pick and jam some more.  I'll be bringing my dulcimer and my guitar.  This event was canceled last summer, but this year anyone vaccinated was invited to come.  So grab your dulcimer and your copy of Rise Up Singing and come on down!

I just watched the video (with this article) featuring a young musician out of N. Ireland and enjoyed seeing her very much.

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-northern-ireland-57510337

@susie I'm glad Nightbirde touched your heart-- she touched my heart, too.  

Wow, that touched my heart. ❤️

I saw this America's Got Talent video this morning and found it very moving.  The young woman in it is originally from the county just north of where I live.  Also, I saw a young real-life friend of mine post that he & she have been lifelong friends.

https://youtu.be/CZJvBfoHDk0 

Dr. Sanjay Gupta on how music is good for your brain.

I found the 6-String Soldiers on Memorial Day.  This is good sh . . . stuff.

That Nora Brown video was so neat to watch!  

Did you hear about the poor guy from Avenue J?  He has to go 6 blocks to P.

That's cool, Lisa! I'm from Avenue J.

Hey Steven- I was born on Flatbush x Sterling Place !   

Thanks, Dusty! She's a Crown Heights girl, and I was a Flatbush boy.....and that's where any resemblance  to each other, in regard to musical talent, ends! She's fantastic!

Thanks for sharing the video of Nora Brown, Dusty. Very encouraging.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I know just how you feel Dulcinina. I visited a dear old friend too recently and our vaccines made it possible. It was such good medicine, in more ways than one! 

Thanks for posting this, Dusty.  Restores my faith as well.  A great way to start off my day.  I sent it to a couple other friends.

Today I am meeting up with a dulcimer friend whom I've not seen in over a year.  She lives about 50 miles from me and we used to play together once a month at her home.  So we're both vaccinated and eager to play together again. Yay.  Nina (aka) Dulcinina

I just watched this video of Nora Brown on the banjo .  She is only 15.  Born in Brooklyn.  I think there is hope for the world after all.

@venni That's great news, welcome back

My husband was out mowing the lawn with a push mower (gas engine) while it was snowing.  Definitely a sign of spring.  He said the grass was growing so fast he could barely keep up between snows (we got about an inch of accumulation, so it wasn't just "snow-globe snow").

Not yet, but someday someone will invent one. I've been tempted to try one of the automatic guitar tuners, but it would just be something else to clutter the accessory pocket in my guitar case.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Wow. Electric, robot mowers?  You all make me feel like dinosaur.  I still push around a gas mower.  I am self-propelled, but the mower is not.

Do you have a machine that tunes your dulcimers, too?

My self-propelled mower lasts a little over an hour on a fully charged battery. Mine is a Kobalt from Lowe's. My robotic mover also lasts around an hour on a full charge. It docks itself when it needs to be recharged. It is a Husqvarna. I saw these in action when I attended the A.S.I.A. Symposium in East Stroudsburg, PA in 2018. I was impressed by how they worked. My wife wanted me to get someone to cut the lawn. The robot was a compromise. It cuts the largest part of the year and I use the walk behind, self-propelled mower to do parts of the yard that the robot is not programmed to do. These are areas out near the street and outside of fenced in year and along the fence as the robot does not cut all the way to fence.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Ken, we have a 1acre lawn.  Will the battery powered self propelled mower last that long?

What is the company name?

Thank you!

Don

@ken-longfield Our new mower is battery-powered-- neither gas nor oil needed for an engine.  We have a string trimmer coming today from the same company from which we got the mower.  Our new mower is a self-propelled walk-behind mower-- we don't own a riding mower-- and we don't have a string trimmer yet. :)   

Robin, I am guessing that you are talking about a plug-in mower with an extension cord. My sister and her former husband used one for many years. My sister still does.

Last year I switched over to  battery powered lawn mower, string trimmer, and hedge trimmer. Most of my lawn is done by a robot, but I need the mower for places the robot doesn't reach. No more messing with gas and oil.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

We just got an electric mower.  Mark had a chance to try it out before the cold snap hit and I look forward to getting to use it.  Very lightweight and very quiet-- big pluses!   

My husband was mowing the lawn when the snow started falling, but he wanted to finish, so he just kept going.  We got about an inch here in Lexington, KY.

Really cold here in NY too. It was snowing pretty heavily for like 45 minutes, and freezing wind. But the ground was warm, so the snow melted immediately. Weird. Not sure how to dress anymore. !

oops I guess that's not really 'positive'. 

Robin, it has been getting colder all day. Tomorrow is not going to be a day to be outside doing yard work. Maybe I'll be able to get some of dulcimer projects worked on. You stay warm as well.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Good news, Venni. Welcome back.

@ken-longfield Anything for you, my friend!  :) On a more serious note, very cold temperatures are coming tonight and lots of fruit trees are in bloom now.  Time will tell how it goes.  Keep warm there in PA!

Venni, so glad you have recovered. COVID is wicked.

Venni, glad to hear the you made it through. Best wishes for continued improvement in your health.

Robin, you can keep the snow in Ohio, thank you.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

@venni I am happy you are feeling better! 

I have made it through coronavirus and now I feel ok

We woke to a pretty snow this morning here in Ohio.  No morel hunting for us today.  :)

I hope you have luck finding some, @leo-kretzner.  Even just a few morels cut and sautéed in butter then eaten with whatever pasta you like is such a treat! 

Gee, morels! Thanks for reminding me to go out and check a couple areas of past fires, especially as it rained a little last night! Haven't had any in years...

@ken-hulme It was so good!

Jealous!!!

We found a few morels today.  So, we'll sauté them and have them over pasta for lunch.  :)

It is chilly & wet here in my little corner of SE Ohio US this morning.  The guitar player in the house and I get our second vaccines on Saturday-- yay!  

March started like a lamb... going out like a Lion.  The good thing is we've both been doubled jabbed.  Lots of other not so good stuff happening though...

We had a lovely bike ride around Buttermere here in Cumbria yesterday. It was good to feel the heat if the sun. Unfortunately covid19restrictions are being eased soon and I fear it will be mayhem.

Beautiful (but windy) day in northern California as well. Took the dog on an early morning walk , which meant I got to practice maintaining my dignity while carrying a little bag of poop. 

March 30th is National Walk in a Park Day in the USA.  A beautiful sunny day in Kentucky with temperatures in the low 70's.  My husband and I  took a walk in a park in downtown Somerset. Just lovely to be out in nature. Nina

A sunny spring day in Bonn and I got out of home office at 2 pm. I spent the afternoon on the grass near the Rhine promenade of the Beuel district playing dulcimer. Some people even asked (while maintaining social distancing) what kind of instrument I played and asked "So you play it like a guitar?" 

So this was quite cheerful, wish you all have a good time

It's a beautiful day here in SE Ohio US.  I've spent a little time outdoors working a bit.  So good to be out and feel the sunshine and hear the birds!  

Sending all good wishes to y'all!

Sounds like fun, @venni.  Stay safe.