@venni , that's impressive, good for you!
Many of us here never actually become highly skilled players, but hopefully we all do find joy in playing a humble instrument at home, even if we only play for our own selves. Music is such a tonic. :)
Good for you, Venni! That's awfully fast progress. I think my first song was Mary Had a Little Lamb.
Virtually sounds good. I've hiked portions of the AT in Maine, NH, Vermont, NY, PA, Maryland, and VA.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
It's great to hear this news, Ken! Now we can both hike the Appalachian Trail from Canada to Georgia! (virtually).
As long as you promise to carry me all the way.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
VIRTUALLY, Ken. It's the only way either of us would survive it.
It's great to hear this news, Ken! Now we can both hike the Appalachian Trail from Canada to Georgia! (virtually).
As long as you promise to carry me all the way.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
It's great to hear this news, Ken! Now we can both hike the Appalachian Trail from Canada to Georgia! (virtually).
Awesome great news Ken.
Lois, I do have a bass dulcimer on loan from a friend. It is a Blue Lion and not much heavier than my Blue Lion dulcimer.
Lisa, it certainly does feel good.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Ken that's great news! It must feel so good to have your heart working properly now. 
YAAAY! Since your dulcimer probably isn't heavier than 8 pounds, you can keep picking it up as it's obviously helped you so far, Ken! If you have a bass or otherwise heavier instrument, let it be your incentive for playing again in May.
Dusty, sure, as long as I don't have to lift anything heavier than 8 pounds. Are you paying for my round trip airfare and other expenses?
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Ken, that is great news!!! Glad you are back!!!
Ken, I am happy to see your good news!
If PA is anything like OH, the thing which makes a person eligible for helping someone move is owning a pickup truck. It must be different where Dusty lives (than where I live). :)
That's great news, Ken. We're all delighted to hear it.
So can you help me move this weekend?
Today I saw my cardiac surgeon for my first, and as it turns out, my last post op appointment. I am doing so well with my recovery that he does not need to see me again. I can drive again. I still need to be cautious of lifting things for another 2 months so I do not damage my sternum. My heart is in great shape after the mitral valve repair. Look out world, I'm back! LOL
Thank you to all who offered good wishes, prayers, notes of concern , and phone calls during this time. It is greatly appreciated.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Great news. Enjoy!
Venni that's good news for sure. I hope you've been looking in the Beginner Group here to learn about how to tune it for example... lots of good starting out info to be found there!
I hope it arrives safely and brightens your day!
@venni Please post a photo of your mountain dulcimer!
That's an original, Dusty, except from the quote of Vocabulary.com.
By the way I have painted a turtle to go along with this and I will post it
under photos soon! Take care, John
Thanks, John. I like that a lot. Did you come up with that yourself or is that some ancient Chinese saying or something?
To "Dusty Turtle" & all of my friends at FOTMD:
"Like the turtle may you float in the hard times
and bask in the good!"
"To bask in something is to take it in, receive
its warmth, or bathe in its goodness."
Vocabulary.com
Lisa, your plant points toward the promise of spring.....Robert
The tropical plant in my office is unfurling a new leaf. It looks so fresh and full of promise, especially now in front of the window pane with freezing snow and sleet falling on the other side only inches away... I love in the morning when the sun comes through the green leaves. The unfurling leaf reminds me of when a butterfly emerges from its cocoon and opens its wings.
It's too bad about the typo, David, but there would have probably been a mistake somewhere no matter how many times you edited it.
I was really impressed with Ashley when I worked with her last year. DPN is in good hands.
Great article in the February 2021 issue of Dulcimer Players News by @david-bennett about @dan's 9-foot long dulcimer. Nice work, guys! Everyone should give it a read.
Thanks Dusty! There is one typo in the article. I think the article says it weighs 28 lbs, it actually only weighs 18 lbs. The typo was my fault, not DPNs.
Wonderful news about how you are healing well, Ken L!
I'm glad to have it clarified about the two different giant dulcimers- the Mawhee-ish by Dan Cox, and the Thomas-ish by John Knopf. Yes a boxing match between the giants... how fun! 
Ken, that is great news!!!
Ken Longfield, it's good to see you posting here. I hope you are doing well.
Thanks, Patty. I am doing well. I have to be careful to not do too much because I feel so good. My sternum is mending (wired together) and the incision looks to be healing very well. I will see the surgeon again in a couple of weeks and may be able to drive again after that visit. The heart is back in normal rhythm and I've experienced no afib since returning home.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
It's nice to know my 8-foot-tall Uncle Eddie hasn't been forgotten! Though he has been "upstaged" somewhat by the 9-foot-tall Mawhee dulcimore built by my talented buddy Dulcimore Dan! Maybe someday we can stage a boxing event between the giants?
Ken Longfield, it's good to see you posting here. I hope you are doing well.
[quote="Dusty Turtle"]
[quote="Strumelia"] Woops! I see Ken beat me to a response. I guess his coffee is better than mine. 
[/quote]
No, Dusty, it's just that I'm on the East coast and three hours ahead of you. Still waiting for my issue to arrive, but with all the bad weather we've been having our mail has been delayed.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Perhaps the black stain makes it resemble the Thomas dulcimers, but according to the article, @Dan's 9-foot dulcimer is "partially patterned on John Mawhee's dulcimore." One obvious modern element is the machine tuners, since wooden pegs would never be able to handle the tension of such long strings.
Woops! I see Ken beat me to a response. I guess his coffee is better than mine.
The big Thomas dulcimer, Uncle Eddie, was made by John Knopf. Dan's is a teardrop model patterned after a Mawhee dulcimer.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Dusty that's great! That huge black dulcimer is a sort of Thomas model, isn't it?
Great article in the February 2021 issue of Dulcimer Players News by @david-bennett about @dan's 9-foot long dulcimer. Nice work, guys! Everyone should give it a read.
Congratulations! Enjoy your dulcimer.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
We all hope you will learn to love the dulcimer and dig in to all this simple instrument is capable of accomplishing.
Enjoy the journey.
I hope you like your new dulcimer when it arrives!
We are snug in the house and prepared for a major snowstorm heading into the region.
Take care, all, and wherever you are, be safe!
Yes, I bought my 17 and 16 year old granddaughters a Joan Baez CD.
They don’t have a CD player. They stream their CW music.
Dusty, I am glad to hear of your daughter's discovery of Joni Mitchell. I remember all our car trips when my children asked, "Do we have to listen to dad's music?" There is a certain pride that comes with their discovery that what we listened to and were influenced by wasn't all bad. On the flip side, I have found some of "their" music to be inspirational as well.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
My heart as well. I think sheltering at home has decreased the influence of her peers relative to her parents and opened a little doorway for me to sneak Joni in there. And I gained a little stature in her eyes when I told her the woman who made Joni's dulcimer and I attend each other's online dulcimer gatherings.
It does my heart good to hear that Dusty. Get her access to Joni's album Ladies of the Canyon as well. Arguably as good as the Blue album. Joni is a national treasure.
I heard my teenage daughter listening to a female pop singer with a really melodic voice, and I said, "If you like this, you'll really love Joni Mitchell." We listened to "Chelsea Morning" together, and then I told her to check out the Blue album. A few days later she told me with a smile on her face that she loves it!
Glad you're home, Ken. Home is sometimes the best medicine. Nina
Ken I'm so grateful to hear that you are home and recovering. You were missed here and, I know, got many dulcimer prayers...and a few more from the ukulele players. I read your note on here as it gently snows in Vermont.
Glad to have you back, Ken, but here's a thought. Whatever you were watching when your heartbeat returned to normal needs to become a method to calm down your heart when it races. Do you have some way to monitor your heartbeat?
So good to hear from you, Ken L-- I admit, I was concerned by what felt like a long absence. I pray for continued healing for you.
Great news, Ken! So glad your heart is healing and you're able to return home.
Welcome home, old friend!
HOORAY! Our Ken L. is back!
Thanks for the welcome back. I had thought of taking my MacBookPro with me, but decided not to do so. I tried to use my iPhone, but frankly the text was too small even after enlarging a little and I had a difficult time concentrating anyway.
Gradually I will be back in to the swing of things. There is still a lot of healing to do.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
So glad to hear from you, Ken. You just need to tell the docs that it's not "an irregular beat." You're a musician; it's called "syncopation."
Ken, so happy to see your post and know you are 'fixed' and back home again for recovery. We missed you and we worried! 
Yaaaaay Ken is back. 
Ken, glad all is better. A bit of daily dulcimer is the best medicine.
After 10 days in Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, PA, I am finally home. The mitral valve repair went well and my pain was well managed. I could have come home three days after the surgery, but my heart began an irregular beat. The cardiologists worked to nudge the heart into normal rhythm and three times was within a couple hours of discharge when the irregular rhythm began anew. The problem was that often the beats dropped to less than 40 bpm and the doctors felt that was too dangerous condition under which to send me home. Today after about 22 hours of a racing heart (115-125 bpm) they gave me the option of returning home. Since this was my tenth day in the hospital I was ready to go. As I waited for discharge, I sat and watch TV. One of the nurses rushed in to my room and announced that I was back in normal rhythm. I looked up at the monitor and I was! There still may be irregularities as my heart heals, but everything is looking positive.
Thank you to all who offered prayers, kind thoughts, sent cards, and telephone well wishes. I am deeply grateful for the dulcimer community; especially all of you.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
We got a nice gift card to our local pizza place today, from a friend that Brian helped with computer issues. And they deliver! 
I found a 25.00 gift card from back in 2007 while cleaning and decluttering today--and it hadn't expired!
@adrianne It is nice to get to make connections such as yours with friends any time yet it feels especially important during pandemic. And welcome to FOTMD!
How Jimmy Stewart's WWII experiences shaped It's a Wonderful Life... and how this affects us today.
Zu Zu's petals...
Thanks, Jan. I will watch it if given that chance. I watched my initial echo cardiogram and the technician was very good at pointing out different parts of the heart and what was going on.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Ken, I hope all goes well and that you have no trouble with the catheterization. Mine was painless, and once I understood that I could watch it on the screen if I wanted to, I opened my eyes. It was very interesting, so I thought you might want the heads up so you could watch yours, too.
Sending positive karma your way, Ken Longfield! 
That's a lot to be going through, @ken-longfield. I hope everything goes swimmingly.
@ken-longfield I pray all can proceed with great success!
@dusty-turtle Thank goodness for the rain in NoCalifornia!
I finally had a successful transesophageal echocardiogram yesterday. Next step is cathertrization and then on to open heart surgery. Moving along.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
It rained today in Northern California. First time since the spring. The trees and grass and shrubs are relaxed and smiling. So are the firefighters.
I so enjoyed this article and video of an elderly Italian man serenading his hospitalized wife outside her window, with her favorite songs played on accordion...
https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/11/europe/italian-hospital-serenade-scli-intl/index.html
Tonight salmon and wild rice. Tomorrow:: CHILI!
For the past six months of being covid era homebodies, we've not eaten out at all, and in fact only even gotten takeout food once, early on. One because we are super cautious, and Two because the restaurants around here are not all that inspiring to us to spend the money. We've been used to cooking at home.
However, today i drove to buy some hardware supplies and as i drove home past Main St I noticed a local Italian place had moved from its dreary old mall location to a new place right on MainSt. It looked pretty and inviting as I drove by ...and i smelled pizza. (!) So when i got home i looked up online and saw a whole new website had been put up for it, featuring lots of online ordering options and local delivery too.
I decided to splurge and order us some custom pizzas. Brian was really surprised but i was hungry and had a serious hankering for pizza! I ordered us each a whole pizza with our own favorite toppings, so that we could have it for dinner two nights in a row. I paid online with a credit card, even the tip. The pizzas arrived quickly and I had her leave them on the porch table.
It was acceptably good pizza and we very much enjoyed the rare luxury of fresh delivery from only a few blocks away. My pizza craving will now be satisfied for a good long while.
Lisa -- your salmon & egg tacos with salsa verde sound. I make my own salsa verde too. My trick is to include a whole lime -- skin, pith, seeds, everything; and juice of a lemon. It all gets pureed anyway... Then following my Mexican chef friends, I "fry' the sauce is a large blisteringly hot skillet, stirring madly for about 10 minutes to marry flavors and tighten up the consistency.
I make soup weekly -- often based on one of the winter squashes -- Acorn, Butternut, Spaghetti; but also eggplant, or red bell peppers. Posole of course. And the famous Florida speciality Chez Suzanne's Creamy Romaine soup. In the hot season I make chilled soups like white and red gaspachos, Ajo Blanco (almonds and garlic), chilled lettuce soups and several ceviches.
