Forum Activity for @dusty

Thanks for sharing that, Ken.  Unfortunately, the last line reiterates something Bonnie has posted on her website: when their current supply of wood is used up, they will cease building dulcimers.  That will be a loss for all of us.

In case anyone interested is not already aware, Bonnie and Max were also the subject of The Hearts of the Dulcimer Podcast #042 by @wayne-jiang and @patricia-delich.

You're welcome, Susie. I thought it was.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thanks Ken, that was interesting.

I thought some folks would enjoy this article: https://themtnear.com/2021/04/award-winning-dulcimer-maker-and-musician-bonnie-carol/

Ken,

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I learned of this several months ago and thought it was pretty cool, Dusty.  Thanks for the post!  

I don't know what's best about this, that it was a kid who came up with the idea or that it can be created with a 3-D printer.  I immediately started thinking about a dulcimer fretboard, though, and the debate about just intonation vs equal temperament, or diatonic vs chromatic fretboards.  This idea would put an end to those debates forever since every instrument would be infinitely adjustable. 

Thanks for sharing that article, Dusty. I found it informative and interesting.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

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

Here's an interesting online article about research being done at McGill University that has found that music we like stimulates the same part of the brain that responds to certain pleasure signals, especially pleasure related to survival, such as eating food when you're really hungry.  

https://www.inverse.com/mind-body/why-music-makes-us-happy-survival-science

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!

Schlubby has the sweetest facial expression, who could resist her?
It's good that you can give her the love and reassurance she needs after losing her furry companion. 

Little Shelby, a.k.a. Schlubby, turned 15 on the Ides of March. She's doing fairly well in spite of hyperthyroidism. She's on a salt-free diet, which means fewer treats. She's skinny enough as it is. Her behaviour changed after Angus died. She's acting much more needy now, and often calls out when we're out of sight. Still, she has always had a great attitude and cooperates when anything, such as cutting her nails or being checked by the vet, needs to be done.

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I'm glad Elvis had good final months, @mary-z-cox !  Enjoy Charley!  Pets are family.  <3

Thanks for asking. Elvis passed last June at 15 (he had a tumor on his aorta & finally his back broke) but he had an excellent last year with several beach camping trips & a fall mountain excursion in which he was able to escape and join old man McCalls bear hunting dog pack for a night of intense hound excitement. (they were poaching on our land) But he was like a puppy until the last month or two.  We have been 9 months without a basset & just got Charley last week.  He is one of the most intelligent puppies I have ever seen & Bob & I feel like new parents again.

Keep picking,

Mary Z. Cox

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That's real cute, Mary!
Do you still have either of your previous two bassets?

That dinner looks great too.  :)

What Rojo said and elegant.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Wow they are fantastic. Confident woodworking

That has happened up here in Ontario, too, Ken. The city was actually tending towatrds a ban on single-use plastic bags until the pandemic started, then they switched to recomending them, and now we have switched back. Trudeau the Lesser had said he wants a nationwide ban on single use plastics sometime soon.

Hi ... I finally got my first shot of the M vaccine on Tuesday. Sandie got her shot of Pfizer on Sunday afternoon. In each case the line was not long. (In between us the age-based eligibility for a shot went down from 75, me, to 70 and over, her.)

This dulcimer is all walnut. There is absolutely no luthier information.  I got it in Berkeley, CA via craigslist.

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Your stories of having to constantly go back to the car reminds me of the husband who never left on a trip in the car with his wife without having to go back to the house so she could make sure the iron was off.  He solved that by always taking the iron and putting it in the car before they went anywhere.  Saved making a lot of trips back to the house!

I'm popping in to agree to the time zone comments.  I've attended a few workshops at 7:30 am (I'm on the west coast), but when I was registering for  Quarantune 3.0 I basically decided that for the most part I wasn't going to consider the first and second sessions, the earliest of which started at 5:30 am for me.  I did do one super early one that presented Scottish melodies, which my husband approved of (I warned him beforehand)

There were some folk from the U.K. attending in the wee small hours, and I applaud them!

They look very sweet Venni!
I've had a rabbit or two during my lifetime of pet keeping, too. 

Yeah Ken I remember that but only for the first several months of the pandemic, when very little was known about how the virus was typically spread. At first it was thought to be spread mostly by touching, hence the bag ban.

I think we may see the end to automatic hand shake greetings. When you think about it, it's the best way to spread germs and get colds and flu anyway. I'm all for changing it permanently to fist or elbow bumps, or just waving or nodding hello when being introduced.   :) 

For a long time our grocery stores would not allow us to bring our own bags in to the store. I think that restriction has ease now, although the last two times I went to the grocery store, it was only to pick up prescriptions.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I got into the habit of getting my mask on in my car before going into a store early on. What took me much longer to get used to was when I started using reusable shopping tote bags for the supermarket.  lolol!
I kept leaving those totes in the car ...until i got so fed up with having to walk back to my car, it finally became automatic to tuck them under my arm upon leaving my car. Old habits are hard to break!  Feels really good nowadays to not have all those awful plastic grocery bags to recycle. If everyone did that it would save a lot of sea creatures. I get plenty enough plastic bags from saving bread bags and using those every time i need a plastic bag.  :)

i just found this thread. I too have John Maxwell  made in the Upper Cumberland Craft Center.  Wooden pegs and it is marked # 2332.

Pat

At least you weren't Karen's and not masking Dusty and both realized at the same time and went back.  What has struck me in this is how entitled and brazen some people are thinking that they don't have to mask up or that they are above the law when it is mandated.  As I have said countless times on my personal FB page, if you can't throw on a mask for a quick shopping trip, then don't go.  We have to wear one at my job for nearly 8 hours a day save during break when having lunch.  Enough of my rant and roll on masks and not wanting to cause a stir - just sharing my own take on it.

I went to Home Depot the other day, and as I was walking towards the entrance, I saw another gentleman walking up as well.  We both saw each other and said "Oh, crap" (or something similar) at the same time.  Neither of us were wearing our masks, and seeing the other guy reminded us of that. So we both turned around and got our masks out of the car.

The CDC is saying that vaccinated people can gather unmasked in small groups with other vaccinated people. But since my wife and daughter have not been vaccinated yet, I'm not risking anything.

I've been double jabbed, and still only unmask outdoors and not around crowds outdoors at a park or farmer's market.

My second shot was Feb 1st but I still haven't been inside anyone's home or large crowds. As we stick our toe in to test the water maybe we will all get a little braver. I don't have a secure feeling about being in larger crowds. I will still be taking precautions like before. I don't think there's enough data yet on how well we will do at shedding the virus. I've read so many different articles and the one thing I can say is it's all clear as mud. I don't think I've had brain fog like Jan, but if I had a dollar for every time I've had to walk back to my car because I forgot my mask I could buy another dulcimer. Good luck to all and stay safe. Hope Vinni is getting better.

@james-phillips Like you, I'm no fan of injections either yet barely felt mine-- yay!  Other than tending to a medical emergency in a relative's apartment nearly a year ago, I have been in no one else's home in over a year.  Even after my second injection has kicked-in (a couple weeks after the injection itself), I will still take appropriate precautions.  So glad you got through the brick walls and got your first vaccine!    

We finally, after running through a bunch of brick walls to get an appointment (odd as with working for Dart, we fell into Phase1B of IL's rollout of the vaccine) had the first appointment on Thursday.  I am a screamer for the most part with getting shots, and warned the nurse, and she understood.  She cleaned the area, and we made small talk about her working for Carle, which was the hospital doing it, and she then said "All done".  Did not feel a thing.  I felt a bit tired and irritable yesterday, so nothing to be afraid of.  With regards to how it is affecting me, even though before all this it was becoming a real hassle to get to her house every Sunday, we had not gone to my Mom's in a year for our Sunday lunch and Scrabble game after.  I do miss it as well as just visiting.  I was never a huge traveler so it didn't phase me as it did others.  The most into Champaign I actually have gotten was when I went to the Carle facility doing the Covid vaccine, otherwise I for the most part stay in Urbana save for going to the music store for guitar and ukulele restringings and supplies.

That's just plain bizarre , Jan. I hope you (and your husband) stay well despite that strange brain lapse you had.