"I'm with the band."

Last week the Panhandle Polecats performed at the KPBX Kids Concert at the Bing Crosby Theater in Spokane, WA.  I've enjoyed the Polecat's Bluegrass music and concerts for many years, but this time was different and special.  This time, I was their good-looking dobro player's girlfriend. *smile*

And it was perfect.

The theater itself is every photographer's dream come true.

I believe it's called "extreme stage fright" when you're afraid to go on stage even when there's no audience and they're just doing a sound check. *wink*  Later, Hank told me I should have just come out and sung a song without the microphone before anyone was there, the acoustics were that awesome.

Bonnie (one of Hank's sisters) on the guitar , Hank on the dobro, and Christopher on the banjo.

Christopher was standing in for Hank's brother Austin at this performance.  Austin moved to Wisconsin this year, but the rest of his siblings decided to keep the family band going.  Christopher was the banjo player in my brother's Bluegrass band and currently plays with Kevin Pace and the Early Editions.  The banjo player in the band gets picked on a lot (no pun intended) because they have to tune their instrument so often, but in all seriousness, Christopher is an incredible musician and I enjoy his banjo playing so much.

Just look at this beautiful theater, folks!

Exploring the awesomely creepy basement of the Bing was, well, awesome.

You know it's gonna be good when you see signs like this... 

We had watched Doctor Who the night before, and as soon as we walked down to the basement where the green room was Hank told me to watch out for rampaging mannequins. *wink*

Uh oh...is that...could it be a mannequin watching me??

Shhh...quiet please!

Proof that I was there. ;)

Christopher and Hank

I had a great view from the front row in the balcony with Kellie, her family, Michelle and her mom, and Christopher's mom.  And I may have even yelled, "Woohoo!!" when Hank was introduced during the band introductions.  I wasn't planning to, but it just came out. *grin*

Siblings Bonnie, Hank, Molly, and Jenny, with Christopher.

After a fantastic performance and talking with friends and fans, we headed back to my house.  And ended the day by watching Arsenic and Old Lace.  Which, while not the scariest movie I've ever seen, always creeps me out.  Good times and happy days!

Do you play a musical instrument?

Do you enjoy Bluegrass music?

If not, what is your favorite music to listen to or play?

I want to know!

Saturday Matinee | no. 6

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PG-13 | for sequences of action violence, and some suggestive content 

Fantastic 4 | After being accidentally exposed to a cosmic energy cloud while conducting a genetic experiment in space, Dr. Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, Susan Storm, and her brother Johnny, begin to develop superpowers.  Not accepting that this is how they will have to be for the rest of their lives, Reed begins developing a machine to duplicate the cosmic energy which he hopes will return them to normal.  Meanwhile, the fifth member of their space team, Dr. Victor von Doom, who unbeknownst to them was also exposed to the cosmic energy, begins to cultivate and embrace his new found powers.  But unlike the Fantastic Four, as they are now called, he intends to use those powers for revenge...on them.

I enjoyed this film, although not nearly as much as The Avengers.  The cast was very good with Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, and Julian McMohan.  I thought it would be odd to see Chris Evans in a role so opposite from Captain America, but possibly because they were so dissimilar it didn't bother me at all.  There were some scenes that were inappropriate for younger viewers, mostly because of modesty issues.  Some language.  If you've seen the other Marvel films, this one was most comparable content wise to Iron Man 1 & 2.  I think the PG-13 rating was appropriate.  Please watch after doing your own research and with caution.

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PG | for suggestive content, language, and some rude behavior

Bride Wars | Friends since childhood, Liv (a successful lawyer) and Emma (a school teacher) do everything together.  When their boyfriends propose to them on the same day, they immediately set in motion their lifetime goal - to be married in June at the Plaza hotel.  But when their weddings are accidentally booked on the same date, things start to go out of control as they go from best friends to enemies.  Who knows the best way to sabotage your wedding day?  Your best friend, of course! Dance lessons gone wrong, blue hair, too many sweets, threats, insults - could things possibly get any worse?  Will they both make it to the alter...alive?!
I laughed until my stomach hurt watching this film!  So, so funny!  Anne Hathaway was her beautiful, charming self as always, and Kate Hudson was hilarious as her best friend.  Just watching it made me think of my own best friend and what would happen if we ever became enemies.  I'm doubting that that could ever happen, but if it did...watch out!  Hehe.  There was some objectionable content, one scene in particular, and some language.  Also, both girls are apparently living with their boyfriends before they are married.   A PG-13 rating would have been more appropriate, in my opinion.  The laughs definitely outweigh the bad in this film, but please do your own research and view with caution. 

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And that's all I have time for this week - would anyone like to see reviews of O Brother, Where Art Thou?  and Nanny Diaries next week?

Tonight I'm headed to an evening of Bluegrass awesomeness at the INBA Showcase in Spokane.  The fabulous Panhandle Polecats are playing!  I can't wait!! :D

Happy Trails, y'all!

On the Farm | Sheep Shearing

First, a song by my second favorite Bluegrass band, The Panhandle Polecats...

Sheep Shearin' Blues

This song is relevant in more than just subject matter.

Hank Little is the dobro player (wearing the bowler hat) in this fantastic family band, and he's also my sheep shearer.

I've never had the sheep shearin' blues.  In fact, sheep shearing time is something I anticipate.  My bro and I look forward to hanging out with Hank every year while he's shearing my sheep. 

 He trims each ewe's hooves after he's sheared them.

 A rather undressed looking Sweet Pea - it takes a while for the lambs to get used to their mother's wool-less state.

"Mummy?  Are you my mummy?"

Ingrid's turn...

Once Hank is finished, we stand around and talk.  

And talk, and tell jokes, and discuss movies and sheep and talk some more until he has to leave.   I don't know about Hank, but as sheep and movies are my two favorite subjects, I think it's great fun:)

The next step, is to skirt the fleeces and bundle them up for storage.

Ingrid's fleece - I'm always amazed that all of this wool fit on one sheep...

Skirting a fleece is where you remove the dirty, matted and unusable sections of the fleece.  These are typically the belly, legs, and tail areas.

You discard the trimmings and keep the rest of the fleece for washing and spinning.

I'm no expert by any stretch of the imagination - I may sound like I know what I'm doing, but I don't really.   I just try things out until I figure out how it all works.

Still, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out how to skirt a fleece;)

Emma's fleece

And the last one, Sweet Pea's fleece

Here's the fleece before skirting (above) and after (below).

And here they are, bundled up and stored in trash bags until I find time to wash them...along with the other bags of wool I have sitting around from several years worth of shearing.  I haven't had time to experiment with wool washing very much, but I'm hoping to work on that this year.

And there you have sheep shearing, over and done until this time next year.

Happy Trails, y'all!

Open Arms Benefit Concert

Friday night's Open Arms Benefit Concert was phenomenal.   Period.

 

All of the bands sounded absolutely fantastic, and I felt so incredibly blessed to be there, to be just a small part of it all, and so proud (in a good way:) of Alex and my other "brothers". 

 

And, I didn't get a headache!  Woohoo!!!!! Listening to loud music for several hours without a break usually gives me a headache, so I was really happy about that!=D

 

Furthermore, to crown it all, I got to hold an absolutely beautiful baby girl!

 

I have to tell you all, that it was an answered prayer.  I knew that Molly (one of the Panhandle Polecats) had had a new baby, and I wanted to hold her so bad.  I love babies, but rarely get an opportunity to hold one.  So, I prayed that I would get to hold her. 

 

Darling, almost 2 months old, baby Ruth:)

 

My family and I were sitting and watching the Polecats getting ready for their sound check before the performance.  Molly was late, and when she got there, the rest of her siblings (the Polecats) told her to "hand the baby to someone!"  Well, I happened to be that someone:) 

 

No, it wasn't chance - it was providence.  You see, normally Molly's parents would have held the baby for her, but they weren't there yet.  It was a special gift from the Lord for me, and the best part of the evening.  I just had to share that story with y'all:)

 

Okay, on to the music...

 

Hat Band sound check

The North Idaho Hat Band goes "cool", as they whip out their ultra cool sunglasses for Minor Swing;)

 

The Panhandle Polecats - btw, I am excessively sorry that all of these pictures are so blurry.  It was a combination of my unsteady hand and the lighting.  My apologies...

 

The Riders of the Rockin' B Ranch - Mr. and Mrs. Brownlee brought their whole cowboy supper show (minus the supper;) and put on an outstanding performance!

 

Their rousing rendition of The William Tell Overture, aka the Lone Ranger theme song, complete with pistol shot!  That got quite a reaction, let me tell you=)  No worries - it was a blank, or so we assume as no ceiling plaster fell down;D

 

And that's all folks!

 

Happy trails!

Fun at the Fair

We went on Sunday mainly because the Panhandle Polecats (aka the Little family) were going to be performing.  We took Michelle along with us, which was a lot of fun=)

 

It was a great performance!

 

Molly (Little) Wilbur, playing the mandolin, is due to have her baby in 4 weeks. 

 

Austin Little

 

Bonnie (Little) Campbell (aka Bonnie-the-human, not to be confused with Bonnie-the-dog) on the guitar, and Molly Wilbur.

 

Hank Little

 

A tip from the Polecats - don't wear black.  It get's really hot.  Especially in the afternoon sun.

 

I believe it.

 

They played and sang several of the songs from their latest CD, Selkirk Storm, including one that Austin wrote called Bald Gal. 

 

Yes, you heard right.

 

It goes like this...

 

A toe-headed girl ain't got much sense / A red head packs a punch / A bald-headed girl ain't got no hair / But a brunette's got a a bunch

 

(chorus)

Bald gal, bald gal / Walkin' in the rain / A girl with hair is a tangled mess / But a bald gal looks the same (yee-haw!)

 

Well around this big, wide world / You won't find a gal like mine / She cooks me corn-pone every day / And, Boy!  how her head can shine!

 

(repeat chorus)

 

And so on...I think you get the idea.

 

Add in musical interludes of Austin playing the washboard and the jaw harp (aka jews harp), Molly playing the kazoo, and Hank playing the harmonica and you've got Bald Gal!

 

After their performance was over, I couldn't help it, I just had to ask him.

 

"So, Austin, if I see any bald gals, should I send them your way?".  He thought about that for a moment, "Actually, no, don't".  I just couldn't resist;)

 

We then proceeded to walk around the fair, looking at the exhibits, and visiting the different animal barns.  Alex entered quite a few things in the fair this year, as always, and he won a blue ribbon for a photograph he entered.

 

Here it is...

The photography category is very competetive, so we're quite excited that Alex got a first place!

 

Then Michelle, Alex, Christopher and I walked over to see if we could see anything of the demolition derby that was going on in the arena.  There were so many people there, that we couldn't see anything ('cept for some smoke and dust), so we decided to go talk with the Polecats some more.

 

Annoy is probably a better word;)

 

They had to hang out for a while because they had to bring some of the animals that they were showing at the fair back home that evening. 

 

So, we talked...and talked...and talked about many diverse topics including Ham radio, glue, carnival rides, etc.  (you can tell from the topics who was doing most of the talking;)

 

Quality home schooled and formerly home schooled time.

 

 

Then, we came up with nicknames for some of them.  They are now officially "one of us";)

 

Which may or may not be a good thing...time will tell.

 

Meet Dexter Smuff...aka, Austin.

Meet Oscar Smuff...

 

aka Hank - he was a much more obliging customer, and smiled for the camera, therefore, we do not have any strange pictures of him.

 

However, Dexter, on the other hand...

 

Poor Dexter...Alex sure had a lot of fun with him=) ;)

 

And after all of that, it was time to head home...don't mind me, I had my eyes closed:)  And a strange smile...

 

Happy Trails, ya'll!