And a new relationship begins via India...

And a new relationship begins via India: 

Life does not stay the same in this old purple house. Just when I think I have settled back into a routine of work and play and some kind of structure, the phone rings and here we go again.

Here is the link to this week's column. As always, I hope you enjoy it!
Just click on the above link!

This photo was taken Saturday night at the house concert.
Prabal is on the left and Bharti is on the right.
Don't be confused about the baby; she belongs
to someone else!!

Keep me from going to sleep too soon...

And yes, we have seen colder temperatures, actually much colder. However today is the coldest day for this year. The wind and the air simply take your breath away.

I went outside for a little fresh air at dusk and noticed the magnificent beauty of this winter's dusk sky. I hurriedly picked up my camera and took the photo before everything changed.

The stark beauty of winter never ceases to amaze me. So here is a toast to Winter and all the creatures that lie under the tundra waiting for spring. We, too, bury ourselves in cozy fires, good books, homemade soup, and pots of tea, for we are not fooled or tricked into thinking spring will come early.

Enjoy this splendid beauty for it also only comes once per year.

Until tomorrow.

o

Keep me from going to sleep too soon

Or if I go to sleep too soon

Come wake me up. Come any hour

Of night. Come whistling up the road.

Stomp on the porch. Bang on the door.

Make me get out of bed and come

And let you in and light a light.

Tell me the northern lights are on

And make me look. Or tell me clouds

Are doing something to the moon

They never did before, and show me.

See that I see. Talk to me till

I'm half as wide awake as you

And start to dress wondering why

I ever went to bed at all.

Tell me the walking is superb.

Not only tell me but persuade me.

You know I'm not too hard persuaded. 

Robert Frances

Music in our town...

I have always loved music as part of my life from an early age. As an adult I have filled my studio with many lovely musical instruments. By far my favorite is my laut which is hand-carved and was given to me on my birthday when I worked in Bavaria, Germany. I was very homesick that birthday and it was a wonderful gift. I traveled all across Europe with that laut strapped across my back playing music by babbling brooks, on trains, and in fields pretending to be Maria from The Sound of Music. 

Other instruments include a lovely Celtic harp, a hand-carved dulcimer from the mountains of North Carolina, a hand-carved Native American flute and a thumb piano. Moving on the dining room you will find my piano and my ukulele which is now my instrument of choice, as some of you well know.

This weekend friends of mine are coming from the East Coast to play music in my town. Jeanne McDougall has been a friend of mine for years. I met her on Ocracoke and had always loved the music of her partner, Bob Zentz. I have made several videos of them over time. This one is a favorite one of mine taken at Rob and Sundae's store. I loved spending hours on their porch just passing the time listening to music. Please enjoy.

And if you like that please join me at Chapman's Brewery this evening for a great evening with Jeanne and her friends. I am also hosting a house concert tomorrow evening at the House at the White Picket Gardens or more well known these days as the Purple House. If you can't make either, just stop in anytime. I am sure music will be played all weekend.

Hope to see you out and about. Please enjoy this video!!

Lou Ann

My fairy house...

The Shiny Little House

by Nancy M. Hayes

I wish, how I wish that I had a little house,

With a mat for the cat and a hole for a mouse,

And a clock going “tock” in a corner of the room,

And a kettle, and a cupboard, and a big birch broom.

To school in the morning the children off would run,

And I'd give them a kiss and a penny and a bun,

But directly they had gone from this little house of mine,

I'd clap my hands and snatch a cloth, and shine, shine, shine.

I'd shine all the knives, all the windows, and the floors,

All the grates, all the plates, all the handles on the doors,

Every fork, every spoon, every lid, and every tin,

Till everything was shining like a new bright pin.

At night, by the fire, when the children were in bed,

I'd sit and I'd knit, with a cap upon my head,

And the kettles and the saucepans they would shine, shine, shine,

In this tweeny little, cosy little house of mine!

On Tuesday morning, when I left for school early (yes, I have an 8:00 class this semester), I  looked back at my house. It looked like a sweet little fairy house in the woods with the blue lights and the snow. I had to stop and take a photo. Later when I looked at this photo I immediately thought of the above poem. It was one of the first poems I ever learned. I recited it to my dolls over and over.

I am a lover of home wherever that takes me...to the farm...to the island...to a tiny cottage over a garage...or to the purple house where I live now. I love playing house as much as I did when I was little. In fact my favorite days are when I am home with the kettle singing!

I am glad this sweetest has stayed with me always. My dad once said that we take home with us wherever we go, and he was right. 

Project takes me back to 19th Century Indiana...

Project takes me back to 19th Century Indiana - KPCNews: Kpcnews


For the past week I have been researching the life of T.C. Steele.

My thoughts and notes of him and his life were scarce, and I must 
add, emotionless.
That is until....

That is until this week when I poured my heart and soul into
this work. I have now fallen in love with this man
by reading his notes, his love letters to his wife 
and his children. The project has left me laughing
out loud in the library and crying on a few times.

Enjoy the column. Just click on the above KPC site.
There is definitely more to come.
Lou Ann

Out my windows this week!

My New Year's Resolution (or one of them)...fine tuning my ukulele playing!

I am so enamored by this beautiful piece on the ukulele that I am totally inspired to keep that resolution of playing well and more often.

Actually my friend and neighbor, Lee, and I have formed a band...Schmaltz and Blarney. We are hoping to begin having a few gigs along the way. Our band is also accompanied with songbooks for sing-a-longs. Folks in the audience or in the bar just shout out the number of the song and we play. Oh, and Lee plays banjo. It is a great sound together. We usually rehearse on Saturday nights with beer and pizza. When the pizza guy shows up he always says to me, "Band practice?"  

I also answer him with a "Yep, you want to join us?"

We are available for booking!! Oh, and be sure to play the song all the way through. It is beautiful!

Winter's Night...

come sit by my fire

sherry or cider for you?

and stories we'll tell