Broken Spoke

The kids were fiddling around again.

















A couple of vids:

Orange Blossom Special (Star Wars intro)



South (Bob Wills)

Blazing Bows :: LBJ Ranch

Our fiddlers had another fun performance this weekend. This time we got to help celebrate at the LBJ Ranch Annual Barbecue.

Shortly after Ladybird Johnson passed away in 2007, their ranch (including their home) has been open to the public and is now the LBJ National Historical Park. This year marks their 3rd annual BBQ--just like how the Johnsons used to host every year, in the oak grove along the Perdernales River.

This day also marked Kathleen's first solo fiddle performance. Here she is warming up.

She looks terribly nervous, no? Absolutely terrified! Such a pitiful sight.

A fiddlin' cowboy warming up

I love that this kid kept the price tag dangling from his violin scroll...a la Minnie Pearl!

Speaking of Minnie, these are the Jordan sisters, Minnie and Ella. Together they won last year's fiddle competition at the Old Settler's Music Festival.

Our fearless leaders, Cleve and "Sweet" Mary Hattersley

Tuned, rosined, warmed up, and...

...waiting

Our four were featured in "Joe Turner Blues."

Kathleen also did a great job on her solo.

On our recent vacation, she heard this song from the Pine Leaf Boys...and liked it so much that when we got back home she picked it out on her fiddle.

She worked hard at getting it ready for this performance because she thought it would be "cool" to play her first solo at a national historical park.

LBJ loved driving visitors around his ranch. So we got to go on the car tour.

Except we had a "secret service agent" do the honors since LBJ wasn't available.

The restored small Lockhead Jetstar that our 36th prez used to land on the ranch airstrip. LBJ jokingly refered to this one as the "Air Force One Half."

Havin' BBQ

Listenin' to this band

This is probably about when the kids took off with all the other kids at the BBQ and flopped around in the heaping piles of mowed grass, throwing it everywhere, racing and chasing each other (girls still wearing their skirts).

Our sweet friend who gave us the violin Kathleen now uses (Yes, I said GAVE!) came by and told her she played the 100-year-old violin very well.

Dancing to the setting sun

Kathleen's jig



ASSURANCE: No, you don't have a problem with your central nervous system.
APOLOGY: Sorry, I was tapping my foot & dodging rain drops while taping.
LAME EXCUSE: Joe got better video, but it requires editing.

Here's a clip of Pine Leaf Boys' "Jig Cajin." if you care to listen to the original.

A fun afternoon at the ranch.

Blazing Bows :: Fiddlin' around again

The kids had a fun little gig tonight at the Broken Spoke. They've been workin' their little fingers and rosined bows off to learn some new fiddle tunes.

As luck would have it, Grammy & Grampy were here with one of the "dousins" (one of the twelve cousins), Joey, to see their first live performance of the Blazing Bows.

Kids with Mary Hattersley, the group leader
TRIVIA: Mary's band, Greezy Wheels, was the first Austin band ever signed to a major record label. That was back in the 70s.
Here they are in action with The Devil Went Down to Georgia. Well, I can only see the tops of their heads in this video...but they're back there playing away.



After they "played it hot" on stage, they got hot and sweaty sliding around on the dance floor having fun with their fiddle friends
.
One fun evening...ending with a round of ice cream cones.

Musical happenings...and laming out

May was pretty much a blur.

Maybe that's why I haven't posted this collage until now.


The kids' violin recital was sometime in May. I can't recall exactly WHEN in May--just within the last month is all I can say for sure.

It's what happens to my homeschooling brain come this time of year. At least that's my story.

The only child I snapped a photo of while they were actually playing DURING the recital was Jimmer. In the above photo, the other kids were just warming up.


I know...outstanding job, Mom! Way to go the extra mile in documenting your children's precious memories and activities.

At least Joe got video footage, so we're covered. He always has my back.

If I forget, he remembers. If he forgets...I probably forgot also.

I've always used his brain as my crutch like that, and he knows it...so it usually works out pretty well for me.


I did manage to capture Mary Kate and her besties entourage at the recital.


Oh, my lameness gets even worse.

This is the only photo I took of their piano recital last week. None of the kids are even in the picture.

Stellar, no?

It was dark, had my small camera, didn't want to distract them with the flash, blah, blah, blah...

Again, Joe had my back with the video. Just one more reason to love him.

I'm blaming my fuzzy head on all this mess.

School planning.

This coming school year (starting June 14) should be pretty interesting since I'm doing all of the planning in my totally lame condition.

Homeschool year #6, here we come!
Please wish me luck.
Thanks. =)

Blazing Bows were at it again

Playing the Austin Family Music Festival at Pioneer Farms

I just love...

looking at all of their...

little chin holes!


Sweet Mary Hattersley, an Austin old-time music original

Cuttin' it up with Blackberry Blossom



After the show

Oh, now they're paying attention.

After the show, we got to run around and enjoy more of the festival.

There was an animal petting zoo...

...and an instrument "petting zoo" -- on the front porch of an historic home on the property.


We missed some of the headliner shows, but we got to hear a couple of other performances.

Performance on Steel Drums



The entrance area of Pioneer Farms

Biscuit Brothers, hosts of the music festival


Lots of musical fun...

...but the musical day had just begun.
More up next.