Hi All
Thank you for your welcome, and many of you seem very active. I wonder what those who are not active do in their spare time

I guess I qualify under the rules.
I play trombone in a concert band, and walk, and have just begun a blogsite with my ideas on weight loss. I also play a little pool with mates, and attack my veggie garden on a regular basis (nothing like a home grown carrot!)

Anyway although I am three-quarters retired I still dont have much time in the day that isnt spoken for...especially the blog is taking up my time - I have never attempted a website before and it is taxing my brain something spectacular!
To see my blog, (it's about a month old), send me a note (is it permitted to post the URL - its not a business?), I would welcome any comments.
Best wishes for all your efforts,
Alan

Hi again, Alan,

Because you're relatively new, you won't be allowed to post links or receive private messages. You'll need 20 posts and 20 days. Sorry! It's the 3FC rules to help weed out spammers. But you're almost there.

EZMONEY, if your naps are the most active thing you do, and you want to talk about them, go right ahead...

Jude, maybe take a beach umbrella? Summer isn't the time for the beach here... except early morning, maybe. Glad you had a fun time!

Where I used to live was near a beach that's the sharks' teeth capital of the world. You could find sharks' teeth just by looking down at the sand. These are fossilized teeth and are black. Most are small, but occasionally someone will find a really big one. One does wonder how they all got there.

Jay

Hi Jayell,
I hope I am not a spammer...I always wonder where you draw the line between spamming and information?
I guess you might say I am over enthusiastic!

Anyway, this morning (7.00am Adelaide time), I want you to know I do enjoy a nap in the afternoon ...I set the clock for 25 minutes and I sleep about 15-20 of them. Any more than that I begin to get "dopey". Anything less is fine...very refreshing and keps me going for hours.
Anyone else do the same?
Alan

Hi all, happy Tuesday!

A quick post tonight. We walked downtown and took in a wine tasting event at our favorite coffee house and wine bar. They serve "samples" of three of their menu items - perfect size for staying OP

The weather is glorious, so we also had a fire outside and just relaxed and enjoyed the evening. A nice balance for a crazy work day

We are starting to get prepped for our next excursion (next weekend), planning our stops throughout Michigan's Upper Peninsula. I'm really looking forward to all the hiking and waterfalls

Good Evening all!!

Jay I have seen those sharks teeth for sale but I did not think they were real. Why are they black?
Yes my friend tried to find a beach umbrella as mine seems to have disappeared but they were all gone by now.

There is no break in the weather in sight so we are off to the beach again on Saturday. To a different one though and they may have some shade trees.
This one is right downtown Vancouver and is a beautiful spot.
It is too hot to do anything. We are not used to this much sun for so long. No one here has airconditioning as it is usually not needed.

Tell us more about Tibet..... was it a tour??

Cheers.... Jude

I'm not going to complain about our cool weather, I like the 70s Jude and Jay, you can keep yours

School is calming down a bit (only a bit) and hopefully, my schedule will be "normal" for the next few days. Then chaos breaks loose again when all the staff come back.

With so many budget cuts and layoffs, lots of folk will be moving around and taking on more responsibilities. On top of training 170 teachers a new grading and attendance system, I get to train those folk too. It should make for a very interesting fall!

But, I'm not complaining - just happy that I still have my job!

I gotta fly, my turn to make dinner tonight. I'm thinking a nice ww pasta dish with grilled vegetables, but I'm not sure on the sauce. Maybe something from scratch ...

Have a fun evening all!

Laurie

Down Ynder we are into winter, so our maximum is around 16C and down to zero sometime buty not often. The crunch comes in summer sometimes with days on end into the high 30s...ie 100F...but isnt life what you make it?
Hot is hot and cold is cold, and most of the time it's in between.

Hi all - just a quick fly by. I just finished my workout, and we are off to the jazz concert

Hope everyone has a fun evening!


Laurie

Hi all!
More about me.
I have been playing the trombone for more than 50 years, and I hope I have another 10years in me at least - but as our muscles weaken, then so does the embouchure, thats the "kissing" muscles you need for blowing in the mouthpiece.
As you can imagine there are several exercises you can do to add strength to your embouchure!

Anyway... we have a band contest coming up soon... to test ourselves against other bands. That happens in about 3 weeks I think...so have been practising hard.
Also I play occasionally in church, and this Sunday am play a short solo...the Panis Angelicus by whatsisname?.... lets have a look...Cesar Franck.
It's really a boy soprano solo I think, but sounds great on anything if played well. (I hope )
Have a great week end everyone

Alan - trombone players are near and dear to my heart. DS1 played trombone before switching to tuba - then he played bass trombone again in college (since most of the pieces they played didn't have tuba parts).

I played French horn in high school and college, but haven't played since.

DS2 also plays tuba. I do believe there is a special spot in heaven for parents that suffer through tuba players in the family

Hello to everyone else. Happy Friday. DH and I took the scooters out to a favorite restaurant/brewery. The weather is glorious and we had a delightful evening on the patio. Time to get some weeding done before we have a fire on the patio. I wish I could invite all of you over. Northern MI has the BEST weather this time of year

Hope you all have a great , on - plan, weekend!

Laurie

Good evening all.

We are having a long weekend here in BC. Don't know about you guys though. It is so hot that I decided to do some overtime. Not a lot. A few hours on Saturday and then 5 hours on Monday. I have holidays later in August so the extra money will come in handy.

I only made it to the gym one day this week. Just too hot even early in the morning.
Going to take the rest of the weekend easy. Might go see my son on Sunday night but will see how it goes.
Laurie for a small town you certainly have no shortage of things to go to. I bet you are looking forward to your holidays...

Well have a great weekend everyone......Jude

Hi!

No trombones in my family. Instruments we played included, variously, piano, guitar, clarinet, violin, flute. But not all at once. Are you a native Aussie, Alan?

Jude, isn't your gym air conditioned? That's a big draw for me, living here in Fla. The sharks' teeth are black (actually, the colors vary, but are usually dark) because they are fossilized--minerals have replaced the original material. Here is a page that tells a lot about them:

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks...th.html#colors

It sounds great on your patio, Laurie! So, you're going to be taking a trip to the UP? Or is that this weekend?

We have lots of Georgia peaches coming through... yummmm. And of course blueberries. So good together, with a bit of yogurt, or half cup of milk, and some granola.

Not much going on--this time of year, one often stays in because of the heat and the torrential thunderstorms.

See ya!
Jay

Jude - no air at the gym? No way I would make it. I turn on the fans/portable air at home if I am going to work out. I sweat enough from the exercise - I would pass out if it was hot besides

Actually, that is one reason I like yoga in the summer. I do my routine first thing in the morning with the windows open. The cool breeze comes in, and the birds are singing so beautifully. It really is a nice way to start the day!

Jay - next weekend is the Rochester (MI) trip for a Trader Joe's run, some hiking, and some shopping (Birch Run Outlet Mall).

The first week in October will be the UP trip. We try to go to the UP every couple years, and we haven't been there for more than a day since 2005. We are long overdue.

The UP has such wonderful waterfalls - which DH loves. They are stress relievers unlike anything else for him. And, the added advantage is that you have to hike in to most of them - lost of exercise involved

This weekend is pretty routine around here - not much exciting going on. I do need to make more protein bars though. We seem to like my bars better than the processed ones, and they use up the okara (soy bean sludge left over from making soy milk) that is taking over my freezer.

Hope you all have a fun weekend! Enjoy!

Laurie

Hi

Hi Jay
I have lived in Australia for 53 years but originally from Manchester UK. So I have no aboriginal blood in my family that I am aware of.
Incidentally, I have a book writen in 1938 the year of my birth, written by US dentist Weston A Price. The book is a fantastic classic health book, and I believe is still available on the net.
It's entitled Nutrition and Physical Degeneration...my point being that in it Dr Price states that the Australian aborigine was the most perfct specimen of humankind that he came across in his world wide travels and investigations. Now the Australian aboriginal health is abysmal since they have adopted, or rather "encouraged" to eat "white man's" food and other bad health habits. I find it very sad. It is a lesson for us all.
Anyway, on a brighter note, I hope everyone continues to enjoy their Northern Hemisphere summer, while we Down Under cohabit in the gloom (not really that bad actually! )

It's our turn for the sun soon :-)

Alan

Hi, I don't know where the time has gone since my last entry. I've been biking, swimming, and kayaking. This is such a great time of the year to be outside.

Alan- Welcome, it sure is fun finding out about Australia. I've always wanted to go there. Maybe someday.

Laurie- I love the UP and all those waterfalls. I haven't been there in years. I guess it's time to revisit.

Jude- you seem to be having a great time in the out of doors.

I've been busy with I'm not sure what. We're picking up the grandkids and bringing them up north to our cottage this week. I can hardly wait. It's such fun seeing life through the eyes of a child. Talk to everyone soon.