Interviews, House Concerts and Austin!

Hey Sweet People,

We are excited to let you know, we are flying off to Austin this afternoon!  WHAT??!!!   It has ALWAYS  been on our bucket list and we have the fortunate opportunity of having an invite to Bonnie's place as she is down there on work detail!  Yay!  You remember Bonnie, she is the amazing electric lead player from our Sapphire show! 

So we will get to pal around with her and survey the scenes of the music city we've heard so much about!  Ya know, the "bucket list" is long so...ya have to do it while you can!  

Other news on the home front. We hosted our very first house concert here at our place called "Black Dog House Concerts".  Many of you might have been there.  There was limited seating (36 people) crammed into our shop, but it made for a very sweet little show with Sundae and Mr. Goessl doing the entertaining AND the "black dog" Juno adding to the comedy!  :-)  I did post part of the show on the Fan Flare page for those on that page, check the video section if you would like to see it.  

We also had the privilege of one of our members, Mickey McKinlay,  taking time out to interview us.  She came up with some pretty great questions as the interview moves more in depth.  This will be a series of videos.  We had some technical difficulty as the camera kept quitting for one reason or another. :-/  Then uploading it to this page I found out I can only upload 5GB per week. So look for that in bits, but I hope you still like it! 

I'm sure we will have many stories of our adventures in Austin in which we will convey.  Our plan is to take a small little break before we trek to California and the summer details get running fast!  

Thank you for tuning into this corner of the website and joining us in our journey!  Be well and have a beautiful Spring season!!! 

All of our best! 

Niccole & Mo

Sold OUT Sapphire!!!!

Hi Sweet People!

Well it took a couple weeks to “recover” from that EPIC time we had at the Sapphire this month!  How fabulous that some of you could tune in from our new “Fan Flare Face Book Page”.  What a great tool that we are looking forward to using as we tour around.  I liked how people could interact and send hearts or thumbs up and comment!  Thank you to those joining us from far away places!  AND…it was a SOLD OUT SHOW!!!  How fabulous!  So many that couldn’t get in, our VIP’ers  got FRONT ROW seats!  Yay!  For any of you that missed the “live stream” of the Sapphire show, you can go to your “fan flare” page and click on “video” and you will find that show.  

Also, all of you have a CD coming to you!  “Joy in the Ride” EP!  That was our surprise at the show.  Yep, usually you market a CD release way in advance but you know…I really enjoyed surprising you all with that! Even our members didn’t see that coming and I love the element of surprise and NEW!  New music!  Yay!

How did we go about this?  It wasn’t easy keeping a secret from many of you!  I was SO EXCITED!  Here’s the process.  I had finished these songs in late Dec.  and hadn’t even played them out very much in Jan. Mo and I recorded them in our shop on a little hand held recording device that I purchased a last year.  It allows me to record in such a way I can keep all the signals isolated.  What does that mean?  That means instead of one microphone pointing at us and capturing a “stereo mix”, we were able to isolate my voice, Mo’s voice, my guitar, Mo’s bass.  That way, when I dropped it into my recording platform I could blend the levels and I think I nailed the mix personally.  It’s the CD I’m most happy with and perhaps that is because I was in control! Ha ha ha!!! 

Really! All of my recording career I have been subjected to some man who really hasn’t ever been a fan of our music, sitting in the recording room blending us how he thinks we should sound!  Maybe he would think my voice needed “this or that” whatever his little contraptions were to run my vocals through that would wind up, in my opinion, deaden some of the naturalness out of the record.  It is ALWAYS a challenge to get the EMOTIONAL energy on to the record.  There are so many things about the recording process alone that can just beat the snot out of your songs, so it really is an art and you really need a good sound engineer to make it work and sound right.  I know to the average listener, this doesn’t really compute.  But this is why you are a member; to find out stuff like this.  Right? 

Anyway, I have all of you to thank! YOU supply the need for me to get new material onto the membership page and it forces me to “do it”! Ha! If I didn’t have people on the other end of this web corner wanting new material, my recording device would probably sit all lonely on the shelf.  Do I like recording?  Well, it can be exciting!  I love working on projects with other people and other musicians! That is a real gas!!! I love their interpretations and inflections on our songs when it lines up right.

 When it doesn’t, it really sucks!  Ha!  Hurt feelings can happen.  If we have to kick people off the record, ugh! That makes it tough.  But you don’t know unless you “go”.  Unless you lay down a track of violin and hear that it really sucks on your song, you won’t know that it doesn’t need this or that.  Most of the time I get a sense of what I would like to add, but half the time I have someone in the control room doing just that…controlling!    

So…how this delightful little “Joy in the Ride” CD came to be is…Mo and I sang it out in the shop.  I downloaded it into ProTools and rolled my sleeves up to better understand that difficult complicated recording platform.  And wah-la! There you have it!  Simple; just us!  No one else!  It’s our first EVER album like this and though it’s very stripped down and raw, I think it’s lovely!  I hope you all like it! 

The movie of the Sapphire show is now up on your membership page now and with Bonnie’s permission I added her song “From the Bottome” to the download section this month.  It’s an absolute GORGEOUS song that rolled through my mind weeks before the show.  She sang it to us and I asked her to play it after the intermission of the show.  It was a truly fabulous collaboration!

For those who weren’t there, Bonnie (is the blond in the video) plays electric guitar like a champ!  Her and I became friends about 5 years ago through a mutual friend.  She’s a kindred Spirit!  And when she is around in this town and we get a chance to play together it is such a fun time! She is an open heart and her soul shines through her music.  Pretty magnificent friend! 

The one and only..."Bonnie Johnson"!  aka  "Bon-Bon"

I hope you all are “enjoying the ride”!  Tune in next month!  I hope to have an interview up!  Our VIP member Mickey Mckinlay will be hosting some questions for us to answer!   

Enjoy Spring and Happy Easter!

Joy in the Ride

Greetings lovely friends!!! 

Thanks for taking some time to come read about our adventures and the next new song.  I am happy to have “Joy in the Ride” added to your collection of tunes from this membership.  You don’t know how awesome it feels to have a place for people to go who, “really want to hear that song”!  One of my main goals in building this membership page was to answer that call!

Now I can point listeners to our “cyber campfire” and they can have numerous tunes.  I am still “new” to recording and producing on my own but that being said, I’m getting better.  WE are getting better!  It’s funny, you hit that record button and suddenly screw ups occur out of nowhere! Mo and I have come a long way in that regard. And even though these tracks haven’t been “perfected”, they have been a pretty fun representation of the songs and our delivery. 

I am learning how to use my new “contraptions”.  I have a ZoomH6 hand held recording device.  This allows me to record us with better quality than say a cell phone.  Some cell phones though, are pretty magnificent.  But 9 times out of 10, the bass will be too loud in a recording.  (Mo…sucking up the spot light…ha ha ha!)  No, it’s really not her fault.  Bass sounds great in a live setting but in a recorded audio it can saturate the mix. 

For those of you that don’t know what a “mix” is:  A mix is how music tonal qualities are blended.  So not only the level of the instruments and voice, but how to present them (left, center, right) and how much timber or bass is included.  There are MANY tricks to this trade.  It is an art form all unto itself.  People in Hollywood and around the globe can get paid BIG BUCKS to produce albums as they catch the latest “trend” of sound quality.  It’s amazing because most audiences and listeners don’t really notice.  Or, they may notices but not make the distinction of what is happening.  Things like reverb, and delay…this is a sound quality.  These tools help “wet” the music so it’s not so crisp.  Compression helps to take the sharp edges off of harsh tones.  I use these things very sparingly as I really don’t know what I’m doing yet.  But “Joy in the Ride” I’m pretty proud of.  It’s truly US all the way!  Meaning, it sounds like we are in your living room.  That is my goal.  To make it as real and raw as I can, not all fancified and covered up with too many effects!

I did experiment with Mo’s voice and it was a blast.  Check out her harmony line ¾ into the song.  I was thinking of her beautiful ethereal voice and we basically grabbed that line, doubled it and put an effect called “hall reverb” on it…so it’s like she’s singing from heaven…or the shower!  Ha ha!!!  Anyway, it was fun…I had Joy in this Ride making this song.  I hope you enjoy it!  I really do hope you find our membership valuable and insightful. 

Many of you good souls don’t even check the page and I get it. Busy lives, and that’s ok.  I get too busy to record and write too, but this page helps me try, AND be accountable to you all.  I appreciate the “push”,  AND we definitely appreciate the proceeds! It’s been a tough winter and our puppy, Juno likes to go to the vet it appears!

She cracked her lower canine and needed surgery to extract it! Ugggghhhh!!!  We’ve been so sad about it.  She  has turned a corner and is doing much better now.  She’ll just have a hillbilly smile for the rest of her life.  Idaho dog!  LOL!  I need to teach her how to play banjo!  *Big smile*

I do want you to know, I’ve had difficulty with the go pro (video).  I’m a bit disappointed in that thing.  It was supposed to be user friendly and perhaps this “user” is a bit delayed!  Ha!  I hope to tackle that soon so the movies keep flowing.  For those of you NOT on the B&K Fan Flares group page on facebook; if you are a face book user hit me up with a “friend request” at facebook.com/niccoleblaze.  I will add you.  Some of you have popular names and I don’t know which “Ann Smith” to request.  ;-) 

If you are NOT on face book, I am looking into how to get movies more readily available to you so there is no latency of time AND my goal is to take you on a trip with us, live stream!  That’s been my goal all along.  I suppose I need to hire an IT person!  Ha ha!  We have to be our own camera girls, musicians, roadies and IT people so…it’s a bit tricky!  Hard to film yourself when you are playing LOL!

We do thank you for your patience in our learning curves with the technology AND thank you so much for helping us get through this winter with “dog tooth” issues and all! 

That lower left is gone gone gone.... :-(  "Like a dog...chewing on a bone, your gums are bleeding, so you carry it home..."  -She wanted that song to be hers instead of Osa's!  Ha! Keep Facing the Sun!!! 

Here are the lyrics to “Joy in the Ride”  (and chords for you guitar players):

Joy in the Ride 

(Capo 2)

A                     Bm

I hear you wrestled that monster down

D                                        E

You’ve tackled every chord and played every town

F#m                      E

Now your just making the rounds

D       F#m                                  E

Ain’t it a pitty, guitar strap on and your touring the city

F#m  E       D                               E

It can be a cold cold place- that mind of yours.

Bm

The magic left you years ago

D                                     E

This musical bull you were trying to throw
 F#                     E                                      D

Oh the horn twisted but the string broke

E                 F#m

You lost your joy in the ride.

D                 E

You lost your joy in the ride

A                      F#m

And the music dried up inside

D                E

You lost your joy in the ride

 C#m                 F#m     E

And the fire, in your eye

Bm

If getting there is half the fun

D                                                               E

What’s the other half when you’re all done?

F#m  E        D                           E

We all want to shine, here in the city

F#m                                             E

Guitar strap on and ain’t it a pitty

F#m  E                  D                                     E

It can be a cold dark sad song  - this tune of yours

(possible bridge)

Bm                                            D                           E

Recognition for all your ambition is going to fly

F#m    E                              D   F#m  E

On the wings of angels – it ain’t all gray

Bm                          D

There is beauty in what you know

E                                                F#m

More beauty comes when you let it all go

E                  F#m

And find the joy…in the ride!

Chorus:   D                    E

Find the joy in the ride

A                      F#m

Let the music bloom up inside

D              E                     C#m              F#m                    E

Find the joy in the ride, and the fire back in your eyes  X2

 E                     Bm

I heard you wrestled that monster down

D                                        E

You’ve tackled every chord and played every town

F#m                      E

Now you’re making the rounds

D

Here in the city

F#m                                          E

Guitar strap on and you’re looking real pretty

Bm                 E            F#m

You found the joy…in the ride.

 Thanks for being part of our very special team!!!  We love you!!! 

Niccole

New song and VIP UPGRADE!!!!

Hello Beautiful Ones!

You have all been on my mind.  I had my birthday celebration and then our puppy Juno had her surgery. She needed to be spayed and have her little “girl parts” worked on so she would avoid infections as an older dog.  Anyway, that felt like full time job! She just now has her stitches out, we had to watch her 24/7 for 3 weeks!  Ugh!  It was a time, let me tell you! She had ripped her stitches one week into recovery and that was costly. Plus she had to be put completely under anesthesia again to repair the damage.   And yes she had the “cone of shame” on yet she did not seem to be too shameful ha!  She’s a self-confident one, that girl!

"I feel no shame....now, get this thing off me!"

So onward: What have I been creating?  I feel as if I am pulling out of a bit of a slump.  I had all these ideas (still do) yet earlier this Fall I had no time.  Then when I finally had time I had zero inclination!  Wow!  What a yo-yo, so things didn’t pan out how I thought they would for the month of November.  Yet, I found a starting point. 

Earlier this fall I traveled north to McCall for just an overnight.  I spread out all of my “song-bones”.  Song bones are those scraps of songs, full songs, half songs, great titles, ideas, fragments, thoughts…you get the idea.  It turns out, I have A LOT of song bones.  It was pretty neat to go through them all. 

Song bones...a starting point!

There was one in particular that I always loved but I wrote it on a “baritone” guitar.  This is a guitar that I own where I simply turn the dial and “presto” it’s in drop B tuning!  I love this guitar because it takes me out of what I know.  It makes me musical instead of theoretical.  I can only use my ear because my fingers don’t know the notes in these odd tunings (yet) and I’m glad I say yet.  Maybe I will familiarize myself with these different tunings or maybe I will reserve them for the mystery that they seem to be.  It’s still fresh and new that way!

So, I wrote this sad song a couple years ago called, “Only the Lucky”.  I’ve always liked the song, but I never completed the song and it’s a bit ironic because it says, “only the lucky finish the song” ha!  Well…I finally finished it! 

I haven’t decided on the version I will share with you.  I have a new friend who plays piano and she and I recorded this song on piano and then I have a guitar version.  Perhaps I will put them BOTH down and you all can tell me which one you like.

---

Here's the lyrics to the new song:  Only the Lucky
All of my best & all of my love    
Goes to you,  oh darlin’
All of my best and all of my love
Goes to you
There have been times and I confess
I’ve been the fool oh darlin’
But I’d do it again
The best I can, all for you

Life is short    Love is Long   
Only the lucky finish the song

Time goes by in the blink of an eye
And what a ride oh darlin’
No better ways, I spend my days all for you
We can choose again with a brand new hand
And play it right – oh darlin’
Pick a new line to sing in time here with you!

BRIDGE:                                                             
So won’t you finish the song with me
Carry on with the ride just me and you
So I can be lucky too

---

Which leads me to another important thing I would like to share with you: our goal was always to build a community of Blaze and Kelly super fans and I feel that this platform just does not give me enough feedback from you all.

I often have so many muses and would like to include you all in it but the platform I am running does not allow it.  I have asked my web manager about making an interactive platform from the beginning but he “poo-poo-ed” it and for some reason I went along with him.  I suppose he painted a picture of another “social media” head-ache that I must keep up with. 

Time has changed my thinking.  I want to send pictures and comments to you “guys” on the fly, when we are out there on our trips.  Get you instant video and bring you along with us on our adventures and by the time I get home, recollect my thoughts, down load all the material we’ve either recorded or caught on video the moments are long gone and then I procrastinate further and feel terrible.  So what I’ve decided to do is – open it up on face book also! 

I will invite you all to an EXCLUSIVE “Blaze and Kelly” group on Facebook. I have to think of a creative name, but for those of you on face book, you will get the invite.  For those of you NOT on face book, all I can say is, you WILL keep getting all from your membership information as it is and yet the face book group page will be an extra bonus ONLY FOR YOU.  If you would LIKE to join us, open a face book account and let me know your “handle”.  Some people don’t use face book and I understand.  You can sign up under a “ghost-name”.  Pick a handle, “old timer”, “bandit”, “rainbow walker” …ha !   Whatever it is, let me know and I will get you on the group page. 

I decided Face book because most people already have it in place.  It won’t cost a thing and it will be super convenient.  When I write new content I can point to it from face book too.  AND the best part is…you all will be able to interact with each other and get to know other members and I really believe our audience is such a great group of people.  I really don’t know why I didn’t do this earlier.  I was afraid of the over whelm of more social media, but I feel that being out of touch with you can be more stressful.

I will STILL be doing the membership page on the website!  Have no fear about that!  I just am looking for a way to add more value to our membership, thus having the interactive page for all of you so we can stay in touch whenever we feel like it. 

Also, I would like your suggestions on how we can make things better, and I think having our interactions on-line may be what's missing.  I want to know what you would like to see, hear, experience from our membership page.  I want to make the membership better, bigger, grander than it is!  So….get your hot dog sticks out and your bag of marshmallows and meet me over on Face Book from time to time.  It's wonderful to hear from you. 

You can be as involved on non-involved as you want.  You don’t HAVE to interact, but have the option to, if you'd like.  It’s just another better feature for your membership!

Thank you so much for being on this journey with us!  We really want you to know how very special you all are and we so appreciate each and every one of you!  Gratitude! 

Thanksgiving 2017

Niccole & Mo

Rock-tober!!!

Hi Friends,

Ok…where the heck did September go? Holy Cow!   I read back on my last blog to you folks and we have been on the go since August. IT’S no wonder I missed September!

I HAVE been writing but just not exclusively to you, so sorry.  We went to Nashville and I wrote a blog about the experience and shared it with everyone because I found it a valuable thing to do.  You can catch up here if you haven’t read it:

https://www.blazeandkelly.com/blog/2017/9/1/nashville-brain-blog

I also wrote about being hard of hearing here:

https://www.blazeandkelly.com/blog/2017/10/5/insights-from-a-deaf-musician

So I HAVE been writing and I WANT to start writing songs again. Hopefully I can focus on this and bring this desire into fruition.  We have one final stent this month.  We are heading to Oregon to surprise one of my friends for her birthday.  We leave tomorrow, play in Baker City then head to Lincoln City.  It’s her 40th birthday and I’m excited to surprise her!!!

She’s not the only one “turning old” this month!  Ha!  I am joining a new club!  The 40’s…ug, errr 50’s club LOL!  Is this even possible???! Beats the alternative, right?  I have many thoughts about coming to this age but none that are swamping me at the present moment which is a good thing. 

In this business, unfortunately age matters.  However, there is MUCH success to be had that doesn’t mean “super stardom” and I think it’s more imperative to be young for that kind of “success”.  I’m reading a great book about the “new music industry” and it seems most people confuse success with mega stardom aka Eric Clapton style and that is the 1%.  I like the way this author defines success as basically: funding your living via your art.  So, if you can self sustain and pay your bills and other things due to your art (in our case music), then this is success. 

Well, that takes a little of the heat off.  We still must “hustle” for that status and as I am turning older by a new decade I wonder how much “hustle” I have in me!  Ha!  But I do still feel that I am on the right path and truly enjoying it!  Even if we do get tired and we watch other people party and eat and drink while we are starving on the side lines singing songs!  Ha!! 

We went to this party a couple weeks ago.  It was elaborate.  Mega food, beautiful surroundings, lots of people.  The folks enjoyed the music, and came in like vultures.  Within that first hour that we played,  ALL the food was devoured!  Wow!  We laughed.  This is typical and we’ve learned to pack snacks in our car for those 10 minutes we eject ourselves to get a little sustenance.  Trouble with that is usually there is someone who is excited to talk our ears off so we have to make our disappearance gracefully and efficiently.   Mo is SO MUCH better at this than I am…but I’m learning LOL!

So much has happened in the world since we last “spoke”!?!?  The full Solar Eclipse was such a spectacle to see!  It opened my heart chakra a mile wide! Yet I’ve been crushed by the news: Tom Petty passed from this plane. Many folks were injured and killed in Las Vegas.  Hurricanes pelted the Planet. California is still on fire.  And here I sit with the doggie at my feet…and I just raked up some of my autumn leaves today. This world is NOT absent of material to write about! 

In a world with so much pain, music can bring us together.  Good friends show up to help with loading appliances into our home.  My yoga teacher makes a statement in this morning’s class, “feel your inner beauty”.  I can be grateful for a clean office (just accomplished less than an hour ago).  I am grateful for so much, yet I get that it can be so hard.  The outside world and the people in it are really struggling; struggling with tough and real dilemmas.  It’s hard to rise above circumstance, but so many are doing it; coming together in the midst of chaos…..we all have much to see and learn from what’s happening today. I do wish, hope and pray that our music eases someone in their day or at least connects them to what they need to be connected to at this time. 

Winter is on its way. Another grey hair pops out of my head.   I can celebrate with friends and family for just a “blip” of time.  The back of my mind hopes we have enough “peanuts” squirreled away to afford that furnace we have put off buying.  Ha!  If success means we can buy a furnace, then there it is!!!  *Big Smile*  All those tips in the jar, literally bringing heat into our home!!  All of your smiles and contributions too!  It is no wonder many talented musicians never wade out to “sea” and try surviving on their talents.  It’s quite a storm at times.  Many a swift current and sharks like to take you down.  It is a challenge to not predict where your next “food source” will come from.  But one thing I’ve learned and re-learned is…Trust.  Letting go and trusting the Universe will provide.  If I do my part and keep “swimming” even treading water at times…I will not only survive but thrive!

Thank you beautiful friends!  Here come the holidays around the corner.  Keep all those beautiful gratitude’s close to your heart and know you are one of ours! 

Much love,

Niccole & Mo

Meeting Juno

Hi Friends,

Life has been a world-wind for us!  Throw a puppy into the mix and "life, oh life...can turn around on you"!  Indeed!  We picked her up on 5/17, 3 months after Osa passed. In some senses it could have been too soon, as we both are still grieving that champion dog...however, all things happen the way they are supposed to. 

We took a little time off and went down to Hawaii, which was absolutely wonderful and well needed.  We had 3 dives and saw some really cool things.  It was amazing to breath under the water!  This was our first experience as divers and to me, it feels like flying.  I've often had dreams where I am flying and scuba is the closest thing.  Oh what a new world it is!  There will be clips of our dive as soon as I can figure out our new go pro camera!  Ha!  Technology comes with a high learning curve.  

Then we went to Oregon and had a great mini tour there.  Some of you were at that show! (Thank you!)  We rolled on to mother-hood and picked up our new pup.  We drove 8-9 hrs with new puppy, "Juno" in tow.  Ya know, she is a good traveler.  She sat in her bed and slept, then came up on the console, just like Osa used to do.  She is adorable!  That has been the most common descriptive word.  We haven't even had her for a month yet and she knows: sit, stay, lie down, leave it, come, drop, where's my foot, ok, off, gentle, no bite, roll-over, go potty and we are working on crawl, touch, kisses.  Now...she KNOWS these words but doesn't do it all the time!  Ha!  She is just a baby after all!  But I see in her eyes a dedication when I go into my routine with her.  She's very eager to show me she can get it and she is quite studious.  

When I walk her, I say, "on the side" and she stays to the side that has the grass.  And I also tell her when to "cross-over" the road and to sit and heal.  She gets it.  However, she is a pill and in that way I mean she likes to chew!  This dog will chew your face off if you let her! She's a piece of work!  I've been working with her every day and I'm so looking forward to the day she doesn't needle teeth me to death.  She's like a freaking Parana!!!  Ha!!!  

It's difficult to have patience at times.  Both Mo and I have to take breaks and hand her off! Ha ha!! Much like having a baby, yet...we can throw her in the crate with out any repercussions from CPS!  LOL!  

She's going to be a great dog!  This I know.  We are just working it out right now and it's been a very sleep deprived period for us!  Osa was a bit more mellow and gentler spirit.  This one has the  "fire" and her will is incredibly strong.  

After only 4 days of being home with her from our trip, I took a trip up to North Idaho to be with my Dad.  Mo stayed behind and enjoyed her peace from the "baby" and I got some quality time in with my Papa who is 86 years old and recently had knee surgery.  He made it through and is doing well.  Juno was again, the perfect traveler!  A 9 hour drive, ugh!  So, she got about 1500 miles under her belt from our travels in less than a month.  

Is it no wonder I try to find time to update and say hello to you all and can't seem to squeeze it in!  Ha!  When I was at my fathers, I basically worked my tail off putting his garden in.  It was wonderful!  I really enjoyed it.  I also learned a great deal from him about gardening.  I think I came home and slept for two days, my body was so sore.  I also forgot to mention that I really wrecked my shoulder in a wave during our Maui visit!  I am so lucky I did not break my back or break the shoulder completely.  I am also lucky that I can still play guitar.  However, it is still really sore but I've been taking good care of it.  I did all those dives, and all the work in the garden AND carried Juno (who is like a sack of potatos!  25 pounds already!) up and down my fathers steps (as she was too little to manage it).  Wow!  

So, I know I say I'm taking care of it and after writing all that...probably doesn't sound like I am, ha ha!!  Lots of oils, liniment, massage, acupuncture etc.  It's improving but it probably won't be back to normal for a few more months.  

I came home and applied the same techniques that I did in Dad's garden to mine!  I'm very please at the way it is coming along  AND I did this with a puppy!  Wow!  Try putting in a garden with a puppy who likes to chew on everything.  It's been a perfect opportunity for learning and for me with patience, I tell you!  Whew!  

I think of all the gratitude I have.  The health that I do have.  Even with the shoulder, how much we take for granted when our bodies DO work and feel good!  Ya know, my song "Turn Around" I look at even more with it's first line, "Every Ocean wave, every addiction crave has an undertow.  It sucks you in and acts like your friend, you want to think so".  That wave was NOT my friend!  Ha ha!!  And this puppy IS my friend but my life is very much like that song right now!  Really!  I am in the middle of this wave and a new era I suppose.  

My creative time has been cut to a nill a bit and I'm wondering how to get that back.  I've had many songs fly around in my head but nothing I can seem to get on paper.  But my shoulder is a reminder to just be gentle with myself and that is a challenge for me...so, I'll take the lesson.  

We sure appreciate all of you!  I can't even begin to say how much your support means for us and really helps us along!!!  How awesome to see some of you  on our travels!  I wish for you all a safe peaceful summer filled with joy! 

Much love,

Niccole & Mo

Those eyes!!!  ;-)