52:35

Newfoundland is

outdoor refrigeration.

Ran out of space in the fridge, but that is okay. I've got quite the icebox on my porch.

52:34

Newfoundland is

toast at 4:30 in the morning.

She's been awake since 3 am.  

Sleep is for the weak.

(#8) Jayme Learns to Play the Ukulele

I bought a ukulele last year on a whim. I like that it was small, seemed easy to hold chords on, and safe around kids.

I used to play guitar, in what seems like a lifetime ago. I always thought it would be fun to play guitar to my own kids one day the way my father used to play guitar for me.

When I was sixteen, I thought I'd try it out while babysitting two toddlers. They sat on either side of me as I began to strum. Then one started pulling on my earring, and when I turned to tell him to stop, I whacked the head of the kid on the other side of me with the neck of the guitar. Music fun time quickly came to an end, an ice pack was made, and I immediately began composing my "I'm sorry I gave your child a head-injury" speech for the parents.

Anyway, the ukulele seemed like something I could play without inflicting head injuries on Ellie. And apparently ukuleles are having a moment among teenagers. Here in Newfoundland the high schoolers have the most adorable ukulele choir made up of these fantastically talented girls. Ukuleles are sold out at my local music store, and the music teachers in town have quite a few uke students. Who knew a Hawaiian instrument would be popular so far up north?

I bought the ukulele already imagining myself writing Ellie little songs, daydreaming about becoming the next Renee and Jeremy, and then I hung it on the wall and I haven't touched it since.

Like my running posts, these ukulele posts will be updated monthly, because I am not a musical genius like Mr. Vardy, and I cannot teach myself the ins and outs of the ukulele in one afternoon (how cool would that be though?).

So I thought I'd show you the lessons I'm working with through Youtube, and then post an inspiration piece that I'd love to be able to play one day at the end.

If you have no interest whatsoever in learning to play the ukulele, just scroll to the bottom. :)

So first I learned how to tune my ukulele using this video.




Much easier than tuning a guitar!

Then I decided to practice some basic chords.

I found this video to be helpful.




Now for some inspiration.

Here is an awesome kid, Orla Gartland, rockin' out on her ukulele. She has a gorgeous voice.

Inspiration for the Musically Inclined

I wrote this piece in January for The Packet, but I wanted to share it here. Mr. Vardy has been playing music and tinkering his whole life. Watching how sharp he is, and how seeing how music colors every aspect of his life, further encourages me to work on #8 on the list (learn to play the ukelele). 

Oliver Vardy, 75, has invented a new musical instrument.

“I’m at odds to put a name to it,” Vardy said. “People tell me I should use my name, so I’m thinking of calling it Oliver’s Melody Chord Machine.”

Oliver’s Melody Chord Machine is a large wooden box made of Birch, Mahogany, and Oak, with 21 strings attached to the face of the box by harp pegs, and eleven sound holes placed under the strings. The strings are grouped into five chords, made up of four strings each, which can be strummed in three different keys. There is a single string on edge of the box that Vardy plays melody on using a pick or a slide. This instrument is open to many possibilities.

“It’s the ideal instrument for someone who wants to play the guitar with one hand,” Vardy said. “It is perfect for Hawaiian music. Great for nice slow melodies, but not really designed for fast tunes.”

Vardy regularly plays at Bethel Pentecostal Church in Hickman’s Harbour and the Clarenville Retirement Centre, but he has not played his Melody Chord Machine in front of an audience yet.

“I’m learning to play it as I go,” Vardy said.

His Melody Chord Machine has inspired him to write a new song. Vardy has written close to 50 hymns and Newfoundland songs. The song he is currently writing for the Melody Chord Machine is called “Picking Flowers Along the Hillside.”

“It is a beautiful tune about gathering flowers to put on my mother’s grave,” Vardy said.

Vardy credits his mother, who died when he was a boy, with introducing him to music.

“She was a beautiful singer. She would play the piano and I would play the spoons beside her,” Vardy said. “Then I played piano, and moved on to one instrument after another. I play 18 instruments. I found them easy to pick up.”

Oliver’s Melody Chord Machine is electric, but the new version he is currently working on and another version he previously built are acoustic.

He anticipates finishing the new version of his machine in two to three weeks.

When asked if he plans on patenting his Melody Chord Machine, Vardy said he’d look into the process, but he fears the expense.

For now, Vardy is content to continue tinkering with these machines in his studio workshop.

These Melody Chord Machines are just a three of the many wonders in Vardy’s studio workshop. In addition to homemade Karaoke machines, an electric infrared heater (Vardy said he invented it years before they came on the market), and a contraption that allows him to play a keyboard with his feet so his hands are free to play another instrument simultaneously, Vardy’s little workshop is a testament to his profound love of music. The walls are strewn with homemade Gospel, Newfoundland, Irish and country CDs, as well as guitars, button accordions, a mandolin, banjos, thirteen harmonicas, and newspaper clippings celebrating his musical career.

“Age is coming on,” Vardy said. “I’ll go on playing a bit, but I won’t be going to Nashville anytime soon.”

Two years ago, Vardy was declared legally blind. He keeps magnifying glasses around his studio to help him read. He prefers to play music by ear instead of reading it from the sheet, so his vision does not prevent him from continuing to play. Still, it does get a bit annoying.

“I can’t do as much as I could, but I certainly do what I can. I’m not sure how I designed that outfit,” Vardy said, gesturing to his Melody Chord Machine. “The Lord was with me.” 

(#27) Jayme Learns to Fold a Fitted Sheet

I have to admit, pictures like these

Source: tulutextiles.com via cloth & kind | krista nye schwartz on Pinterest

Source: fleaingfrance.com via Carol on Pinterest

Source: bystephanielynn.com via Elaine on Pinterest

make my heart sing.


Beautifully organized linen closets are weird things to get excited about,  I know.

My own closet is less than perfect.

I do that thing where I put all the sheets in a set inside a pillow case so I don't get them mixed up.

I swear I must have eaten the fourth pillow case in my sleep or something.

It still happens though.

Putting the sheets inside the pillow case makes things look kind of lumpy, mostly because it is so hard to fold those fitted sheets.

Although this is another factor that can make your linen closet a bit messy.

This is a tutorial I've tried in the past to learn how to  fold a fitted sheet.

Martha Stewart Living, October 1997

There is a foolproof technique for folding a fitted sheet. These instructions are for a right-handed person; just reverse them if you're left-handed.

Folding a Fitted Sheet How-To

1. Stand holding the sheet by the two adjacent corners of one of the shorter edges. With the sheet inside out, place one hand in each of these two corners.

2. Bring your right hand to your left, and fold the corner in your right hand over the one in your left, enveloping it. Next, reach down and pick up the corner that is hanging in front; bring it up, and fold it over the two corners in your left hand; the corner that's showing will be inside out.

3. Bring the last corner up, and fold it over the others; with its right side showing, it should envelop the other three corners.

4. Lay the folded sheet on a flat surface and straighten it into the shape shown.

5. Fold the two edges in so all the elastic is hidden.

6. Fold the sheet into a rectangle.

7. Continue folding until the rectangle is the size you want it to be.

Foolproof, huh?

Here are my results:

 




So then I thought, maybe if I watch Martha's video...




Oh my gosh! 

I am this poor woman next to Martha and her snubby fitted sheet instructor. The poor woman from the audience seems so embarrassed. I just want to give her a hug!

Clearly, this method wasn't going to work for me.

In my Pinterest search, I realized I am not the only one who has issues with this fitted sheet business as demonstrated by this tutorial below:

Source: littlewhitelion.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

So I kept looking.

And I found this

Source: motifake.com via Eduardo on Pinterest

and a video tutorial exactly like Martha's with the instructors first line was "one of the biggest challenges you're going to face in your life is how to fold a fitted sheet."

First world problems. But one that I am determined to solve.

Then I found this infograph/advertisement that clued me into the trick to this folding business.

Source: feedproxy.google.com via Madison on Pinterest

Thank you Sleep Number! No need for sheet origami. Just use a table.

Ta daaaa!

 

Ellie Learns to Sleep

So I've got this baby named Ellie. She is learning to do stuff, too.
 

We have figured out how to put my baby to sleep.

We had to let her cry it out in her crib, otherwise she would fight sleep until around 11 pm. It was a pretty traumatic period for us, but now she goes to bed without any issues. 

She is out for a good four or five hours and then she wakes up crying.

I know I should just let her settle herself back to sleep, but I'm at war with myself.

I literally chant to myself, "She is learning how to fall asleep on her own. She is learning to fall asleep on her own. She is learning to fall asleep on her own."

But while I'm saying this, my brain is firing off reasons why I should go get her. 

I'm certain she is dying of thirst because of the ridiculously dry air in our house. I mean if I need to get up to drink a glass of water, why wouldn't she have to do the same thing?

I start to worry that maybe the attachment parents have it right, and I'm causing a lifetime worth of trauma by abandoning her.

What if it is a dirty diaper issue, and by ignoring her cries I'm causing her to get a horrible rash?

What if she is the only baby we ever have, and I'm denying myself and her the last middle of the night cuddles we'll ever have?

Usually by the time I've gone through this litany, Ellie has put herself back to sleep.

But sometimes, she is persistent. Her cries outlast my chanting.

And when my husband wakes up, he can take a picture like this of us while he's getting ready for work.

Winter Blues

 Published in The Packet

Imagine a beautiful winter day, two months ago. 

I rise from my bed, throw open the curtains, and gaze in awe at the falling snow.  It is angelic, heavenly, and ethereal! The pine trees are noble bearing branches heavy with white.

I hum carols under my breath, and whip up some hot chocolate, and feel sorry for all the friends and family who I have living in a perpetual world of green and heat. What a magical season they are missing! We bundle up and take pictures of snowmen and sled rides.

“Look at us, living in a beautiful snow globe!” I whisper to my husband, utterly enchanted by Newfoundland winter.

Flash forward to this morning.

I groggily rise from bed, desperate for a glass of water. I feel like a dried cod, thanks to the necessary months of heated air. I pessimistically open the curtains and sigh.

It is still snowing.

The dastardly snow no longer resembles anything beautiful. It reminds me of dandruff.

Snow clearing...bleh

“Oh the weather outside is frightful,” I sing to myself, but stop short because it is almost March and I’m Christmas caroled out.

I check Facebook, and pictures of my far away family at the beach taunt me. I burn my tongue with hot chocolate.

“I’m trapped in a $@#$% snow globe!” I hiss to my husband, when the poor man asks me how my day was.

I wish I were an ice skater, or a snowshoer, or Ski-doo rider, or skiier, or really just a person with enough coordination to walk through a parking lot without slipping on ice.

I guess winter is beginning to test my patience.

Is anyone else ready for spring?

My sentiments exactly.