Our big night on the town

Friday night some of the Krewe Band members and spouses traveled to Bonner's Ferry to attend a concert  by our guitar/mandolin/ singing instructor, Doug Bond.  The event was held at a new venue in Bonner's Ferry called The Pearl.  It was previously a church and has been renovated as a theater.   They serve beer and wine and delicious desserts during the performance. 

We decided that first we would eat at Papa Byrd's Bistro, which it turns out, serves really awesome Italian food.  They also had a band playing gypsy jazz music while we ate.  After that we would have dessert at The Pearl and enjoy the concert.

Unfortunately, I did not take my camera but Recorder Man, Neil, did share this photo with me.

Our violin chick also took photos and I am hoping she will eventually post something on her blog.   I will provide a link when she does.

Doug played the guitar and mandolin and sang for over two hours.  It was a great performance!   He is a very talented musician who also has an awesome voice. 

Every Tuesday for an hour and a half, he very patiently teaches us new licks, new songs, new harmony - for the guitar, the mandolin, the violin, you name it.  He somehow manages to always stay positive and has a great sense of humor.  Trust me, he needs it when he's teaching the band chicks.

The Spring Fling Gig at the Hope School

New River Train

Tear My Stillhouse Down

Ballin' The Jack

Jambalaya

This was our first gig with our new PA system.   Although we all look pretty serious in these photos, I think everyone had a lot of fun playing some tunes on a beautiful sunny day. 


This group has a lot of equipment.  It only took a pickup and two cars to move everything to the gig.  It is true that we may need either a van or one of those trailers with the band's name painted on the side.

We filled the entryway to the school.  No one was getting in or going out this door.

Gold Fever

Left to right:  Linda, Jamie, Griz Eileen, Runaway Roy, Retired Mountain Man holding the Chemist, and Don, Guitar Man.

I ran across this photo to share with you.  It was taken in 1975.  They are standing in front of the entrance to the Auxor Mine.  We didn't know then that we would become part of a gold mining operation a year later in the last attempt to "get rich quick" by mining gold out of the Auxor.  There were lots of hours of hard work and many expenses and very little gold. 

I am reminded of the movie, Paint Your Wagon, and the song Gold Fever.  We definitely had a serious case of Gold Fever.  It went on for several years until one by one, all of the "pardners" dropped out.  

Then I got...
Gold fever
No romp 'n rollin' girl
And fellow stuck
'Cause your the, gold fever
Nothin' can help you
But the yellow stuff

Gold!

Gold!

Hooked am I!

Born to be Wild

Mom's and grandmothers, they are always there for you even when you screw it up.   There are five siblings in my family.  Let me just say that we didn't exactly fall into the angelic category when we were growing up.   

Yes, I carried a fifth of vodka hidden in my purse (it was a big purse), off the bus  on my Senior Sneak Trip for one of my friends.  Yep, we got in a lot of trouble.   As for my brother, Guitar Man, I can't even begin to tell you........  In 1969 he did take my sister Kathy's beautiful new baby blue Chevrolet Malibu and rolled it (several times) on a very rural gravel road. He had serious injuries but managed to crawl to a farm house for help.  Back in those days you simply had to find out how fast a car would go.  100 mph? 120 mph?

Notice in the photos below that my mom has really beautiful gray hair. 

Mom holding Mitzi, Kathy, Connie,?(who is that?), Grandma Ella and Don.

The last of the trouble-makers, Roy.

We lived across the street from the school (in the photo above).  When Roy (now known as Runaway Roy, but that's another story) was 4 years old he used to go across the street to the playground so that he could play with the kids at recess.  One day mom looked out the door for Roy and saw the school secretary chasing him across the playground.  She thought he was a kindergarten student and that he was running away from school.  The secretary, who was a little bit pudgy, was running as fast as she could yelling, "come back here", while Roy was scampering for home as fast as his little legs could carry him.  

Roy, Mitzi, our future biker, and Don (his bike at the time)

Do you think the photo above was taken in the 60's?  Get your motor runnin'.  Head out on the highway, lookin' for adventure?  Absolutely!

Once Griz Eileen finished with the five of us, she started working on raising grandchildren and great-grandchildren. 

Jamie, Tessa and David, 1975

With Collin in 1998

Ben in 2009

 
 

Rylee and Collin in 2004

Happy Mother's Day!

Say goodbye to the Queen of the Border Collies.

Mollie Burkhart, one awesome dog.   She was born on April 1,1998, on a dairy farm near Chatteroy, Washington.  She tolerated only one cat in her life, and that was Jones, pictured below.

 

What does it take to be an awesome dog?  

She only barked when there was something to bark about, such as a deer in the yard.  That required one bark.  A bear, on the other hand, required several barks that became known as "Mollie's bear bark".  Her job was to keep deer, moose, bear, raccoons and any other varmint, out of my garden and that is exactly what she did.

She stayed home and patrolled our property daily for those pesky varmints.  She liked being outdoors and preferred it.  At night she slept on the deck underneath our bedroom window.  She was always on the job.  When she did come in the house, she had her rug by the door and that was where she would be, especially in her senior years.  She loved sleeping on the rug.  

She absolutely loved to play with the Frisbee or any toy that could be retrieved.  She was very good at it.  She also loved the Old Cougar Road version of golf.  She was just positive that golf ball was for her.

She was very gentle and patient with kids and never tried to herd them but kept track of them all the time to be sure they were safe. 

 

Mollie and Collin

She loved the "Firewood Game".  Jon would use the wheel barrel to bring in loads of wood to the house.  He would throw her toy and Mollie would retrieve it and drop it in the wheel barrel for Jon to throw it again. 

April 1, 1998 - May 8, 2012

In memory of Mollie, a rendition of Tom T. Hall, singing "Old Dogs and Children and Watermelon Wine".