Everything I Ever Needed to Know ...

... I Learned From Bobby Horton

Sunday afternoon I went to see Bobby Horton performing Songs from the Civil War at The Leeds Arts Council Theatre. Bobby played various instruments, including a 19th century Washburn guitar, a Martin guitar, and a fiddle, harmonica and banjo. He told funny stories and trajic tales about soldiers from the South and the North.

http://bobbyhorton.com/

It was a marvelous opportunity to see this multi-talented musician who graciously shares his wealth of talent, knowledge and humor with his audience. Bobby Horton is considered by many to be an expert in the field of historical music of the War Between the States. A gifted musician and brilliant individual, Bobby weaves a magic spell in his performances that transports the audience back to the years and the common folk of the 1800s.

Here's a good informal interview with Bobby.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czOyQJvdMjA&noredirect=1

What's a Bilby?

The Bilby is actually a marsupial that is most closely related to the bandicoot. So this makes the Little Bilby a close cousin to the Precious Possum! Who knew?

There used to be two different types of Bilbies in Australia, but one of them has been extinct since the 1950s with the other surviving in limited numbers. The loss of the animals is due in large part to habitat loss, and the species is in competition for their place in the food chain with a lot of other animals. There is currently a protective plan in place that involves breeding Bilbies in captivity, closely monitoring wild populations, and helping to move the species back into areas where they once lived.

This species is generally only seen out and about during the night time hours. Generally the Bilby will not come out of its burrow until an hour after the sun has set and will go back down into their burrows at least an hour before the sun rises. Many conditions are known to keep the Bilby in all day and night and these include strong winds, heavy rains, and even a full moon.

Bilbies find their food, insect larvae, spiders, fruit, fungus, and bulbs, by digging in the soil, which the females do backward to avoid getting soil in their pouch. They use their long tongues to pull the food from the ground.

On the Save the Bilby website, you can learn more bilby facts, contribute to the bilby fund, and purchase chocolate bilbies, bilby toys and bilby t-shirts!

http://savethebilby.icemedia.com.au/

Learning to Count

©Ramey Channell 2009

Learning to Count


Learning to count, one, two, three,

Counting my fingers is easy for me.

Learning to count, four, five, six,

Sometimes slow, and sometimes quick!

Counting each number, seven, eight, nine,

Just look at these fingers! They're all mine!

Learning to count, I finish with ten.

Then I start over and count them again!

In Memoriam - Vann Cleveland

Donald Vann Cleveland
December 7, 1945 - September 2, 2009

My sister Susan's dear husband, Vann, passed away Wednesday morning, September 2nd.

Here's Vann and daughter Amy.

Memorial Service Saturday, September 5, 11:00 a.m., at the Leeds First Methodist Church
Reception at the Church, following the Service

"Our death is not an end if we can live on in our children and the younger generation. For they are us; our bodies are only wilted leaves on the tree of life." ... Albert Einstein

Tluh dah chee

The Cherokees call this beautiful animal tlv-da-tsi, pronounced tluh-dah-chee.

A deer hunter sitting in a tree shot and killed a panther in Troup County, Georgia, last year. Because there are no wild panthers in Georgia, authorities weren't too concerned. After all, they thought, a nonexistent wild animal can't be endangered or protected. They thought wrong. Take action for America's wild cats >> This month, DNA testing revealed that the animal was actually a federally protected Florida panther that had wandered hundreds of miles north of his namesake state. (Florida panthers once ranged throughout the southeastern U.S., but now survive in just 5 percent of their original territory.)

Save Critical Habitat for the Florida Panther
Target: Secretary of the Interior Ken SalazarSponsored by: Sierra Club

No protected habitat exists for the Florida panther, the only big cat east of the Mississippi. And fewer than 100 individual panthers remain, making the Florida Panther one of America's most endangered species.
Scientists conclude that the panther's existing habitat is the bare minimum needed for the remaining population to survive. Seven panthers have already been killed on south Florida highways this year, with an additional 24 panthers killed by vehicles in the preceding two years. This situation must not continue.
The Interior Department has the ability under the Endangered Species Act to protect the remaining habitat now. Urge Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to designate critical habitat for the Florida panther today!

They Say It's Your Birthday!

My BIRTHDAY was July 27th! Oh, well. that was a little over a month ago. But having been trapped in a time warp, I'm just now reporting on the bon vivance of the occasion. I'm not sure that bon vivance is a real word, but if not, I'm inventing it. Definition: the life experiences of one bon vivant.






Here I am with grandson Reed, blowing out the candles.


Looook! Here's my cake. Yum, yum! Made by the sweet folks at Whole Foods, and consumed with glee.

Birthday cake is one of my favorite foods. And, as it turns out, it's also one of Reed's favorite foods. So we get along like peas in a pod.