Where the ‘ell do I start?

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Okay, this is the third time I’ve tried to write this post. Sigh. My computer is having snit fits.

Last week was the Spanish Peaks International Celtic Music Festival.Take a peek at their website!

I did a lot of baking for two bake sales I had promised I’d do for Barbara Yule. Thursday after work, we headed up to the Ceilidh in Gardner. It was wonderful. Lots of good music and almost every act played. Morgan joined us after her volley ball game. Gardner won!
Friday was the picnic at Uptop which is the ghost town at the top of Old La Veta Pass. The bake sale was good and the music great!. That night, we worked the concert at the Fox Theater in Walsenburg. Ed Miller and John Taylor followed by Chris Newman and Mairi NiChathasaigh. Lovely lovely evening.

Saturday, I baked more items and we then went to the concert at the Fox. This time it was the Shamrock Kitchen Quartet. Singing and Sean Nos dancing. Once again a wonderful evening. Sunday we got up early, packed a ton of baked goods into the truck and headed to La Veta for the morning bake sale. We did really good and headed over to the concert with Colcannon Express. Fantastic music. We had a great time. The whole festival was wonderful.

Monday, I woke with a Migraine… Ugggghh… too much sun, not enough water, and stress. Wonderful combo. NOT. I crawled to the aspirin, and Dan brought me the phone so I could call off work. I was in bed most of the day. By about 6pm, I began to feel human. I read a bit and then went back to bed.

Tuesday, I was up and moving, because I had Jury Duty.

I was there by 8:15am. I didn’t expect to be chosen. I was the last juror chosen. We took a lunch break and the trial started at 2:30pm. It was a Domestic Violence type case. We heard all the evidence, saw pics, listened to witnesses. We went into deliberation around 7pm, and they got us dinner. After a lot of deliberation, discussion, agreements, disagreements, and more discussion, we finally decided that while something obviously happened, that there wasn’t enough evidence to convict. We had way too many doubts. So, about 8:45pm, we gave the judge our verdict. You could tell that the DA and the Judge thought we were nuts, but we just couldn’t choose anything other than Not Guilty on the evidence we were given. That whole thing about ‘reasonable doubt” takes on a whole new meaning when you look at the laws. I got a certificate. That was just strange. It even has the court case on it. As I waited for Dan to pick me up, the defendant came out and thanked me as he passed. I just nodded.

I got home at 9:15pm, and was asleep before I could even hit the pillow.

Today I went to work, did a bunch of errands. I met with John and told him again that I want a divorce and sent him a list of stuff I want from the house

Tomorrow I’m going to catch up on the tons of email I have to read and then I’m going to start working on the house. I have a big urge to do Fall Cleaning!!!

Thursday was wonderful, weird and sad.

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Thursday was Dan’s 47th birthday. It was also the day we had to head up to Palmer Lake and have lunch with the Governor. On top of that, it was the day Ian headed for MEPS, the big physical which decides if he can enlist or not in the military. Oh, and my parents left for New Mexico and we are babysitting Elway, the cat.

So,… Up at the crack of dawn. Morgan off to school, and all three of us trying to cycle through the bathroom to get ready to go. 8am, all of us out the door. We dropped Ian off in Pueblo and headed north to Palmer Lake. It was a good thing we were early, because we got lost. The Inn at Palmer Lake might as well be the Bat Cave. It isn’t easy to find at all, even with directions and GPS. One of the women there said her Garmen’s GPS had failed. sigh…

The meeting was great. Governor Ritter signed the Colorado Workforce Development Council into law/being and then we had lunch. The food was okay, and yet not enough. One of the guys at our table asked if everyone was hungrier than they were before lunch. Most were. As it was, we ate in Pueblo on the way home.

After our ‘second lunch’, we drove to Gardner for Morgan’s volleyball game. Gardner was playing La Veta. It was a tighter game than Aguilar, but Gardner’s A and B team were both winners. As a treat, we took Morgan to A&W for a rootbeer float. 🙂 We had a little bit of time with her before she had to head over to her mom’s for the weekend. sigh…

Then it was time for a bit of quiet for Dan and I. I sat down to my computer so I could write and Dan started on school work. There wasn’t any magic smoke, but my computer died. Dan thinks it is the hard drive and we will try and fix it in the next few days. Meanwhile, I am timesharing on his computer. pout… tears… sadness…

Friday Ian enlisted in the Air Force. He isn’t sure when he will ship out as he is waiting for a job opening.

Today we went to the Upper Huerfano to pick choke cherries. The bears had been there first, so we got more rosehips. sigh…

Tomorrow I plan to do a lot of baking for the Spanish Peaks Celtic Festival where I will be holding two bake sales. At least that will keep my mind off the lack of computer.

A cool September morning

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The mornings have been getting cooler, and Autumn is getting closer! I’m harvesting squash out of the garden and finding 101 ways to serve it. 🙂 Tomorrow we are off to the hills to harvest choke cherries. We harvested rosehips last week and most of them were on the edge of over ripe. I didn’t get as many as I’d like, but we will see if there are any up higher.

In a week, the Celtic Music Festival will begin to roll. I have two bake sales to get ready for. Wheeee!!! I’m going to try to do little pies as well as cakes, breads and cookies. First one is at Uptop, the old La Veta Pass ghost town. The second one is in La Veta on Sunday. I’m a bit nervous about this, but looking forward to it too.

A very odd day

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We borrowed my parent’s truck on Friday and went to Pueblo. We had some parts to pick up for a job Dan has on Monday. Plus, we decided to buy some groceries and Morgan needed some school clothes. We ran around and did the job shopping first. Then we went to lunch at Wendy’s. Morgan biffed the door and did the whole spin and land on the floor thing. She felt so ditzy.

Then we went to the ARC. It’s a second hand shop, and while we looked at tons of clothing, the only things we got were a pair of sleep pants for Morgan and 6 tiny bread pans for me. Figured that it would be useful to have them when I do the bake sale for the the Celtic Music Festival in a couple of weeks.

Then we went to Old Navy. Morgan found 2 pairs of jeans, a top and a pair of exercise shorts. After that, we went to Walmart and found her 3 sports bras. All total, about $65 worth of clothing. Sort of an expensive month when we add in the $20 I paid Gardner school so that her athletic fees would be paid. Oh well. Hopefully, I will get some more hours and not be so short on cash the rest of the month.

Then we drove home. It was a crazy day, but a fun one.

And Now to play Catch Up!!!

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When last I wrote, it was warm… sunny…. and Summer. Well, Summer went out with a SLUSH!!! It was cool, and  began to rain. Next thing I knew, it was SNOWING!!!!!

Looking out the front.
Looking out the front.

We ended up with three inches of snow in town. Not exactly what we had planned for the last bit of Summer. Nor, for the Celtic Festival that was due to start the next day!!!

Up the street.
Up the street.

Of course, I had to tease Barbara Yule, the festival co-ordinator that she really didn’t have to import the weather as well as the musicians…… 🙂 She did laugh. Dan and I worked the festival again. Lights and sound at the Fox Theater. We had a good time. The music was fantastic. The main band this year was GiveWay, a 4 sister band from Edinburgh. Great! Lovely! I liked Roger Landes and of course Aine Minogue. 🙂 There was a Burn’s supper too as it was the 250th anniversary of his birth.

GiveWay in Concert on Saturday Night
GiveWay in Concert on Saturday Night
Linda Hickman, David Coe & Roger Landis on Friday night
Linda Hickman, David Coe & Roger Landis on Friday night
Coe, McKee & Willson
Coe, McKee & Willson
Girl'sNnight Out at the Ceilidh
Girl'sNnight Out at the Ceilidh
Jack Yule
Jack Yule
Ed Miller at the Ceilidh
Ed Miller at the Ceilidh
Barbara Yule at the Ceilidh
Barbara Yule at the Ceilidh
Aine Minogue
Aine Minogue
Roger Landis and David Coe
Roger Landis and David Coe
GiveWay Girls
GiveWay Girls
Willson & McKee
Willson & McKee

Two Ceilidhs, a funeral and a wedding.

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The Celtic Festival was magnificent! The music, the people, the fun! Oh gods it was a blast. It was also a lot of hard work. Most days were spent working lights and for me, running up and down the stairs at the Fox theater. Dan worked with David Enke to provide co-ordinated lights and sound.

I’d be hard pressed to say who I liked the best. It was just so amazing. Friday’s concert was light in attendance, but we blame it on the presidential debates. The best part was where Jack Yule was cracking jokes. He is normally so dower in demeanor that you really do a double take when he makes a joke. The concert was intitled “From Tango to Jig”That night we listened to Alfredo Ortiz, Kevin McElroy, Jerry O’Sullivan and Aine Minogue.

On Saturday, I was up early to go out to La Veta and help at the mining museum where Joe Lang and my dad, Jon Sudar were talking about coal mining.

Joe Lang at Gardner School
Joe Lang at Gardner School

I no sooner got back from La Veta then it was time to get ready for Carl Holzhauer’s memorial service. It was at the Baptist church my great grandma, Nanny went to. I remember going there with her as a child. Remembered getting in trouble too, for playing on the little organ’s foot pedals. The service was really very nice. However,  I do wish they had sung the hymns in something other than the key of off! After being around such beautiful music all week, it really stood out.

We went home, changed clothes and headed back for the concert. By this time, I had gotten us each a tee-shirt. Saturday was really packed. The concert was “An Irish Hooley at the Fox”. This time the artists were Liz Carroll, Shannon and Matt Heaton, Jerry O’Sullivan. Kieran Jordan performed Sean-Nos Irish step dancing while Shannon and Matt played.

Liz, Shannon, Matt and Kieran
Liz, Shannon, Matt and Kieran
Jerry and Liz cooling off a foot... each
Jerry and Liz cooling off a foot... each

Sunday, I was up early again and out to La Veta. We were at the Methodist church this time talking about… yeah, you guessed it,…. Coal! Dad was there again as well. Joe Lang gave a slideshow on the Roselyn Chapel where he is a docent. Lovely pics, but we ran out of time. I literally raced to the Fox Theater, as the concert was due to begin at 2:30pm. I had just enough time to learn where to aim the spotlights and the concert started. This was the “Coal Mining’s Heyday”.  It started off with some of our local talent singing. (Oris, Bob, Gary and George)

16 tons, wada ya get.... deeper bass voices...
16 tons, wada ya get.... deeper bass voices...

Then Ed Miller, Jennie McAvoy, Patsy Seddon, Alison Bell, Kim McKee, Ken Willson, Anne Enke, Frank Manning, Heather Yule, some of the Ceilidh Peppers performed.

Calum and some of the crew
Calum and some of the crew
Girls Night Out, Alison, Anne and Kim
Girls Night Out, Alison, Anne and Kim

Lots of songs and poems about coal mining. Joe Lang read one of his poems. It was a really good time. At the end, the audience was promised a special and unique encore.

After the houselights went up, we had a wedding!!! Kim McKee and Ken Wilson got married on stage. They had been together for years, and decided it was about time they married. Kim’s daughters were her maids of honor. The Celidh Peppers were Ken’s Band of Honor. :>

Ken and Kim getting married
Ken and Kim getting married

It was sweet, wonderful, tearful and funny all in one big lump. At one point, I got the giggles… why? Well, my mind played a weird association… Four weddings and a funeral is one of my favourite movies. Meanwhile in real life, I had just had two ceilidhs, a funeral and a wedding!

After the wedding, we packed up all the sound equipment and moved to the Blue Rooster in La Veta. There we ate, listened to the Ceilidh Peppers, and a lot of the other artists until nearly 11pm. Dan worked sound for those playing. It was awesome! Got home at midnight.

The Ceilidh Peppers at the Blue Rooster
The Ceilidh Peppers at the Blue Rooster

It was a long week full of hard work, but oh so worth it. Lots of new friends, work experience and plenty of good music.

Ceilidhs and poets and stagelights OH MY!!

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This has been a whirlwind of a week. Each night I think that I am going to get a chance to sit down and write a post. hahahahaha !!! What a silly woman I am!

Monday and Tuesday were filled with music, story telling and lots of children. Monday was Peakview K-8, where the Ceilidh Peppers played, and Joe Lang and I told stories as well as dancing and drama. A long day. Joe is a sweet Scot. About 78, and full of wonderful tales. Speaks Lowlans… a dialect of Scottish, and sometimes I had to remind him of an English word. Tuesday was La Veta and Gardner Schools. K-8 as well. Lovely time.

We went to the Fox Theater to see about the lights. Barbara had finally decided that she needed help with the lights and took Dan’s offer. Barbara is a dear sweet woman, but has a hell of a time delegating. She tries to do too much and then gets overwhelmed. As the driving force of the Celtic Festival, it really is more than any 10 people ought to handle and she tries to do 90% of it.

Well, there was some sort of mix-up, because instead of a lighting run, there was some sort of Christian church gospel night going on. Dan was already working on the lights, and one of the gospel guys who said he knew lighting was “helping” Dan. The idiot KICKED the big spotlight and broke the bulb. Grrrrr!!!! What you need to understand is that the Fox Theater is OLD. Most of it’s equipment if not “original” is new circa 1930’s. Some of it might be as new as 1970, but… the spot hails from the 40’s or 50’s and did not take kindly to being kicked.

Meanwhile, while Dan tried not to give into the urge to kill the guy, we went backstage to work on the lights so that they could have their gospel hour… As we got the lights up, they started to perform. Now this might not have been too bad had we been on the right hand side of the stage. However, we were on the left and trapped. 2 hours of Gospel later,… they finally quit!! (hallelujah ???) Dan had recognized one of the guys as a scumbag he knew from Nashville and therefore wanted to kill him twice over. The guy didn’t recognize Dan, and actually gave us three of their CD’s. We donated them to Rev. Tinsley, the minister hosting the music program.  We were so grateful to get out of there!

Wednesday, we had to be up and about early. I to work by 8am to make up lost hours and Dan to the Fox Theater for lighting work.  So, while I worked at the Chamber, Dan played ladder monkey. After I got home and just started sipping a cup of tea, Barbara called. So, off we went to the theater. There was a rehearsal going on, and Barbara was getting frazzled. Dan and I dealt with the four men rehearshing while Barbara went off somewhere. Hopefully to rest.  We got the whole thing straightned out and headed off home.

Thursday started up easy and then the phone rang. Any Guesses?  Yup…. Barbara. So, Dan dropped me off at the Chamber and headed to the Theater. I’ve been doing a lot of work on the Chambers’ website and the various files. I went down to the Theater after work and Dan was just wrapping up the lighting when I got there. I got to meet John Carlson (?) the gentleman who helps the library with movies. A very nice man. We chatted and then headed over to Mike’s Coffee Bar.

Mike Hurley is my boss, and runs the coffee bar. We went over there to pick up tickets for the three shows in town as payment for all our work. Funny thing is that every time we go in there, the shop is dead quiet. The minute we start to talk to Mike, it gets busy. The guys joke that I need to come in at least once a day. While we were there, Heather Yule and her hubby Davy came in. (Barbara’s daughter) We chatted with them for a bit which was lovely. Then it was off to the Business Finance Round table. Wheee…

That was a spaghetti dinner and speakers talking about where to find info on financing your business. It could have been better. Dan asked a question that the one guy really didn’t have an answer for and flubbed it. sheesh ! We left around 7:15, because we had to be at the Ceilidh up in Gardner.

The Ceilidh was the opening salvo of the Celtic Festival. A preview of all the acts to come. Plus, I think it is the one time that Jack Yule relaxes that dour Scots demeanor. He was cutting up and smiling!!! The various acts were wonderful. Dan and I really enjoyed ourselves. Got home at 12:30am!

Today, I’m working the chamber office till 3pm, then after a few errands, it’s off to the theater to learn how to run the spotlight. Whee…..  Tonight’s concert is “From Tango to Jig”. A Paraguayan harper, Alfredo Ortiz starts out followed by Jerry Sullivan on Uilleann pipe, Aine Minogue and Kevin McElroy on harp and mandolin and banjo. Should be very good.

Chile Roasting Pueblo!

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After a long slow morning, we finally got our acts in gear and headed to Pueblo for the Chile Festival. We could smell the chiles as we left the truck even though we were a good quarter of a mile away. Tons of people too.

Dan and I made rather a beeline though for the Musso Farms Chile roasting booth. We got a grab bag of chiles, onions, tomatoes, peppers and garlic. We also bought 3 bushels of roasted chiles. Pueblo and Big Jim chiles. If I had had more money, I’d have gotten 4 bushels instead of 3. We probably waited in line for 20 minutes. Not bad all considered. Then it was off to the truck and over to the other side of Pueblo to do the rest of the shopping.

We did our usual run of Vitamin Cottage, Walmart, Petsmart, and Sam’s Club. We didn’t get home until nearly 10pm. Yawnnnnn!!! A long day. Of course, when we got home, we had to unload all of the groceries and then bag chiles! They are all safe in the freezer.

Tomorrow is looking to be a busy day. I have at least two articles to write as well as stories for the Celtic Festival. Barbara Yule is also coming by to introduce me to my fellow storyteller for the school event. Joe Lang is his name if I remember correctly. He is from Scotland.

I got my picture from my highschool reunion in the mail today too. It looks pretty good.

Off to bed now! Poke a fork in me, I’m done for the day!

The Ceilidh Peppers

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This next week is the Spanish Peaks Celtic Festival. Barbara Yule, one of the founders and main movers and shakers of the festival finally got me involved with the festival. Reason being is that this years theme is on Coal Mining. Considering the history of the area, it is a good fit. So, I get to do story telling about my family’s history in the schools along with a Scotsman who will be telling stories about Scottish coal mining.

Tonight, there was one of the bands from Scotland playing up at the Dog Bar in Cuchara. They are called the Ceilidh Peppers. A ten piece band with pipes, keyboard, drums, guitars, fiddles and acordian. Oh my! I have to admit I wasn’t originally too excited about going up there. However, Barbara whittled away at my resolve and so Dan and I went up.

Before we even got to the bar, we could hear the music. Oh My Gods!!! It is wonderful. So wonderful that we got a cd. :> Just type Ceilidh Peppers into your browser and follow your cursor!!!

Best yet, this band is the opening act for the school programs that I am a part of. I get to hear them 4 times over two days. :> Plus, they will be doing a concert on Saturday and another one on Sunday. Wheee!!!

Milestones and Passages

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It’s been a while since I wrote a post. Sunday afternoon instead of going up in the mountains to pick rosehips, Dan and I spent a very quiet afternoon working on things here. Not that a lot got accomplished, but we just didn’t have the energy to go up in the hills. Around 10pm, it was like someone pulled the plug, and we went to bed early.

Monday morning, I was washing my hair when I realized I could “hear” Carl’s voice in my head. He was asking me where he should go. Like he was lost. I told him go to heaven/ towards the light, etc. He replied that “Oh, you would know the answers!” in that joking tone we’ve come to know so well. Then, as fast as that voice appeared in my head, it was gone. At that point, I wasn’t sure if I was just daydreaming, or if I really did hear that voice. Yeah,…. I know it sounds strange, but it is the truth. I was also pretty sure that Carl had passed over.

I didn’t say anything to anyone, just got ready for work and headed off to the Chamber. The job is getting easier, and I did lots of filing, letter writing and other bits. My mom stopped by as did my dad  and I finished up around 2pm.

It was about 5pm when the phone rang. It was MaryJane. Carl had passed around 10pm last night. Dan was talking to her and made arrangements for us to go over and help her disconnect the computer, cancel the online stuff that Carl had and visit on Thursday. Carl’s memorial service is on the 27th. After Dan got off the phone, he mentioned which church it was going to be at and I said, “oh! Nanny’s church.” After puzzled looks, I had to explain that Nanny, my great grandma use to go to that church, and took me with her when I was little.

Tuesday and Wednesday I worked extra so that I could take Thursday off. Dan fixed the safe so that we can now use it. I talked with Barbara Yule as well, so I know which days I need off next week to be part of the Celtic Festival that we are having next week.

Tuesday was also my Dad’s 72nd birthday. He and Mom left for Las Cruces to visit my Aunt Toni and Uncle Karl. They are celebrating their 30th anniversary as well as my parents birthday. Mom’s 72nd birthday is Friday! (argh! International Talk Like A Pirate Day) While they are gone, we are watching Elway, their cat.

Thursday we went out to MaryJane’s. We could see where she buried Miko. Poor cat died the same day as Carl. We had coffee, visited and then Dan disconnected all of the online stuff and the computer while MaryJane went through pictures. It was a little rough at times, but she was glad we were there. We  were glad to help.

Came home around 5pm, had a snack, and then it was time for Dan to go pick up Morgan at school. She had a volleyball game up in Westcliff. They won again. Oh she was happy.

We watched Premonition with Sandra Bullock as we ate dinner. Oh Gods what a frustrating movie! I spent most of it wanting to scream at the tv to have her do something to change the reality of what she was seeing. Awwwgggghhhhhhh!!!!