Chatbug Karen

I know that most of you who read my blog think that I have one hobby, sewing. Well, sewing is important to me and gives me a huge amount of enjoyment but when I was young, I had another hobby. I played a guitar. I began taking lessons at the age of 10.

I was very fortunate that my parents not only payed for lessons but that they bought me a very nice guitar. I knew how tight money was at the time yet my parents afforded me a wonderful guitar similar to this one. I pretended my guitar was as nice as a Gibson played by Eric Clapton and in my heart, it was.

Gibson SG Classic Electric Guitar

Do you know how awesome Gibson guitars are? Some of the most noted guitar players in the world have chosen a Gibson guitar as their choice of instrument. World-class artists such as Pete Townsend, Eric Clapton, Tony Iommi, and Angus Young played on a Gibson! Little did they know a lowly 10 year old was playing House of the Rising Sun right along with them.

The Gibson SG Classic Electric Guitar Gibson shown in my photo is a recreation of the popular 1960s SG Special. The new design has the original all-mahogany body, dual P-90 pickups, and a bound rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays. Owning this new guitar is like owning a piece of history.

Maybe I should dig out that old guitar and see if I can still pull some music out of those frets and strings. I’m sure the callouses I used to have are gone so it might be a bit painful but still worth a try.

Before I tire of hearing all the Christmas songs, here are the last decades top 25 most popular, according to our local newspaper.
1. Winter Wonderland
2. The Christmas Song
3. Sleigh Ride
4. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
5. Santa Claus is Coming to Town
6. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
8. Jingle Bell Rock
9. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
10. Little Drummer Boy
11. It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
12. I’ll be Home for Christmas
13. Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree
14. Silver Bells
15. Feliz Navidad
16. Frosty the Snowman
17. A Holly Jolly Christmas
18. Blue Christmas
19. It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
20. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
21. Here Comes Santa Claus
22. (There’s No Place Like) Home for the Holidays
23. Carol of the Bells
24. Wonderful Christmastime
25. Do They Know It’s Christmas?

I hear that there is a turn around in the hospitality industry. Lodging Jobs, culinary graduates and maintenance workers are finding it a bit easier to find work.

I know, for myself at least, the holidays are a time for shopping til I drop. That means I enjoy staying at a hotel and not driving the hour and half trip home. I plan on buying less this year but that doesn’t mean I have to give up a fun time.

Have you started your Christmas shopping?

My nephew and his wife are expecting a baby, due in December. Friends of theirs gave them a baby shower which I attended. It was so much fun!

I noticed that most of my niece’s friends are pregnant which makes it really nice that their kids will have lots of friends the same age. The moms and dads can find comfort in each others struggles and triumphs. Now, at my age, I say, misery loves company but I am sure these kids are enjoying this stage in their lives.

The baby shower was low key with a few games and opening of gifts. I was impressed by the food. There were little chicken salad sandwiches, fruit and vegetable trays and of course the cake. The theme for the nursery is farm animals and so the hostess made a barn cake. Around the barn she had placed cupcakes decorated with a variety of farm animals faces. So cute!

Just wanted to let you know my thoughts after having watched The Help. This movie was terrific.

I had been spared the awful tragedies of racism endured and projected in the sixties. Never having lived in the south, I had no idea these things happened. Of course, it might have been my age. I was probably around the age of 10 when these injustices were happening and I was unaware. I was probably roller skating, playing softball and watching Gidget on television. I know that I rolled my eyes every time my parents changed the channel so that they could watch the news.

That said, this movie is not sad. In fact, it is amazing how the subject was brought to light in such an informative manner yet entertaining in a joyous way. I was cheering on the characters and hoping they would fight for equality. Boy did they ever!

I enjoyed this movie and learned so much from it.

I love getting together with friends to play a good game of cards. Have you ever heard of Hand and Foot? We played this fun game with two other couples and I have not laughed so hard for a long time. At first it was a bit like reading a manual for document management software but once I got the jist of the game, it was a lot of fun.

We played with 8 decks of cards! Yes, I said 8 decks. The object of the game is to get rid of cards from your hand (11 cards), and then from your foot (11 cards), by melding them. A Meld is a set of three to seven cards of equal rank placed face up on the table. A Meld cannot have fewer than three cards. Clear as mud? LOL

My friend, Linda, and I have visited the big craft festival at Amish Acres for nearly 18 years. We have only missed a few years and I’m sure that was only because of an emergency! We love to go down every aisle to see what the vendors have to show us.

This year, the amount of vendors seemed to be down in numbers compared to years past. There were a few vendors that we are used to seeing who were not even there this year. Beverly’s is a booth that sells the neatest clothing. Beverly’s wasn’t there. The wooden spoon lady, I never can remember the name of her booth but she makes spoons out of wood. There were no stained glass booths.

Do you think it was because of the economy? Do people have no expendable cash? Maybe it was the 90 degree temperatures we have had this month. I thought I might need the link to ROP life online after walking around in the heat. I don’t know why the vendor’s numbers were down. There seemed to be a smaller crowd of buyers too. Oh well, I did my share to help the economy.

Linda and I always meet after a few hours of shopping. This year we met at the ice cream barn. We look forward to eating the mint/chocolate swirl soft served ice cream. It makes us forget how sweaty and dirty we feel from traipsing around in the dirt laden aisles.

The Infamous vigilante organization know as the “Bald Knobbers” created hope, freedom, despair, and uncertainty among the people of the Ozarks.
Prior to the Civil War Taney County had only three murders, but from 1865 to 1885 between thirty and forty murders occurred. Failing economy and high taxes was hard on the landowners. Crime went on a rampage and few violators stood trial. Only Federal law officers could pursue criminals across state lines and the few that were tried, were acquitted by corrupt courts. It was after one of these acquittals that thirteen men met in secret and formed a Citizens committee to fight the lawlessness and to elect officials that would enforce law. From this meeting came the group know as the Bald Knobbers.

The Bald Knobbers got their name from the grassy bald knob summits of the Ozark Mountains in the area. The hill where they first met is called Snapp’s Bald, located just north of Kirbyville, Missouri.

We saw a very different group of bald knobbers last night. The Baldknobbers Jamboree show is one of the oldest shows in Branson. It is a combination of country, western and gospel singing and comedy that is very tasteful. Persons of any age would enjoy this show as attested by my 13 and 15 year old nieces. I was worried that they would be bored but whenever I looked over their way, I saw them laughing as hard as the rest of us. The timing of the comedy team was spot on as they made fun of the economy, disability insurance, and hair balls. Even a few jokes I had heard years ago had my sides aching from laughing so much.

The Branson family entertainment phenomenon began over 50 years ago in 1959 when the four Mabe brothers, known as the Baldknobbers, began entertaining visitors on the Branson lakefront. Last night, we enjoyed hearing 2nd & 3rd generation Mabe family members sing, play instruments and entertain us with quick witted comedy. Everyone should see the Baldknobbers show.

I was not compensated for writing this post.

I was sewing all day on Memorial Day and while I sewed, I listened to music using
Difinity. They list a little tidbit about each performer and I would glance up at the beginning of each song to see what was written.

I was surprised to see that James Blunt, the singer/songwriter who wrote the wonderful song “You’re Beautiful”, was attending college before he began his professional singing career. He was studying Aerospace Manufacturing Engineering! I’d venture to guess that his parents were sick when he said he was going to be a singer!

It just goes to show that whether you aspire to make porcelain dolls, sing and write songs or be the best mom you can be, if you try hard enough, it will happen.

Hey, just wanted to let my blogging buddies know, my husband and I have gone fishing. This picture was taken on our first day on the water.