It’s Now or Never To Buy Myself A Banjo

So far the best starter banjos that I have found online are going for some pretty decent discounts. It feels good taking my time and doing research on finding the best deal ever before placing an order. Last week I discovered a few gift cards that I had received for Christmas and had tucked away so it seems to be a good time to get myself my dream banjo musicians friend. Besides I should be getting a decent tax refund here pretty soon.

This year I promised to use some of the money for something that I would really enjoy, so it’s now or never. It will be nice to be able to play around at night after a long hot day working the farm. They say that this will be an extremely hot and humid summer, ugh!

Christmas Shopping All Done Online This Year

It didn’t take me as long as I thought to find and purchase a wonderful Rickenbacker Guitar via the Internet last week MusiciansFriend.com Rickenbacker. This much anticipated package arrived this morning at my door, which gives me plenty of time to get it wrapped up and put up in the guest room along with the other presents that I plan on taking to my sister’s house tomorrow morning. I haven’t seen anyone on that side of the family since Thanksgiving, People have gotten way too busy and when a major holiday comes around it really messes things up.

I am thrilled with the fact that I got all of my Christmas shopping done online this year. I didn’t have to go to any brick and mortar stores for anything, including the wrapping paper and ribbons. I had plenty of scotch tape and gift labels left over from last year, so I didn’t have to worry about those items, but I’m sure I will need to replenish my supply before next Christmas comes around.

Mother Loved Her Diamonds

Soon after we are all done with Christmas and New Years, it will be February, and then Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. My mother was born on February 14th, so it was always a day that my mother enjoyed immensely. Mother really had an eye for all things shiny and pretty, so diamonds always were a hit for her. Dad tried his best to give her everything that she always wanted and once in a while he would present to her on February 14th some very nice Diamond earrings gift that would put the biggest smile on her face for weeks on end, and make her the happiest person on earth.

Ross-Simons is certainly one of the better known jewelry stores around, they’ve been in business since 1952 and still going strong and they are currently offering up to 1/3 off of their diamond earrings, along with Free Shipping to boot. I was feeling a bit melancholy earlier and was checking out jewelry sites, seeing all the “bling” that my mother was have gone ape over if she was still here among us. She was just getting comfortable with using the Internet and all that it has to offer, she really would have enjoyed surfing the net and seeing all the nice shiny things that a person can order due to today’s technology.

Christmas Trees

Well today is the day I’ll be cutting my Christmas tree.  I’m one of the lucky folks who has the ability to just walk out to the “back forty” and cut down a tree off of my own property.  Just one of the benefits of having a farm, I guess!  You can plan your own Christmas tree needs and take care of that with very little trouble.  I was noticing that the live Christmas vendors are selling live trees for $60 and up this year!  I think that is a pretty steep price!  And a lot of the live Christmas trees that consumers buy off of tree lots (and some farms) are covered with chemicals used to control pests.

I don’t spray my trees, so I’m confident that whatever tree I bring into the house is chemical free.  And for every tree that I cut down, I plant three in its place so I don’t feel too bad about wreaking havoc on the environment by cutting down a tree on my own farm.  I think that if I didn’t have that option of cutting down my own tree on my own farm that I’d probably buy an artificial one – they don’t cost that much anymore and are easy to care for.  The only problem with them, as far as I’m concerned is where to store them in the “off season!”

fresh cut
Can’t Get Any Fresher Than This

 

Halloween

I don’t get many trick-or-treaters out here to the farm.  Never have had many of them, we live so far out in the boonies, and our driveway is a very long distance from the road.  So I don’t bother laying in a stock of Halloween candy for trick-or-treaters.  I just lay in a stockpile of quarters and if anyone shows up I’ll give them a couple of quarters.  I figure that when I was a kid I would have much preferred money to candy anyway!  Parents don’t have to worry about kids getting too much of a sugar high from quarters, either!  I figure it’s the perfect “treat.”

sad
Your Money Or Your Life!

Season’s Greetings From The Family Homestead

My parents were adamant about sending out Christmas cards to many friends and every family member that they ever had the pleasure of meeting and knowing. Last year I didn’t get a chance to send any cards out, for many a reasons. But this year I plan on sending out as many as I possibly can that I can read legibly on my mother’s handwritten Christmas card list. I discovered it a few months back in a dresser drawer that I was cleaning out and was pleased to read over it.

Since the place has many pine trees adorning it, I thought it fitting to sent the Pinecone photo Christmas cards that I found online with the photo of the old house that I uploaded and will have imprinted on the front of it. I think the folks that will be receiving them will appreciate.

Christmas will be here soon enough, I have my work cut out for me, there are over 50 names and addresses on that list!

Daylight Savings Time Ends at 2:00 a.m.

Tonight is a night that I look forward to all year long, each and every year. At 2:00 a.m. we are all supposed to set our clocks back one hour and to let Daylight Savings Time end for the year 2015. This is not my favorite “holiday” life is so much better when it stays lighter out for longer periods of time.

Right in the middle of summer is actually stays light until after 9:00 p.m., which is so awesome. Since I spend so much of my time outside in the yard and the garden that time of the year and I tend to wait for the sun to go down and it becomes dark to to in the house to start to fix,cook, and eat dinner, some of the summer time my dinners aren’t until almost 11 o’clock, sometimes midnight!

Anyway, don’t forget to set your clocks back one hour tonight folks.

a great question
Gotta Love This

Musician Friends

Just like last year, I plan on doing the majority of my Christmas shopping without having to go into town and deal with all the hassles that I really dislike about shopping in the old fashioned brick and mortar stores, I have never been into spending time at the local mall, I just don’t understand what all the hoopla is about when it comes to shopping, especially around the holiday season, which is starting earlier and earlier with each passing year,

Most of my immediate family members that I am obligated to purchase gifts for are into musician friends in one way or another so it makes it a bit easier for me to find the perfect music related presents online at my convenience.  At http://www.musiciansfriend.com you can actually call their toll free number 6 a.m. – 8 p.m. PST, Monday – Friday and/or 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. PST, on the Weekends and speak to on of their “Gear Heads” who are very knowledgeable with all of the merchandise that they are offering to their online shoppers. Sometimes it is nice to be able to pick up the phone and talk to an actual human being, without having to leave the house to find what you are looking for.

truth be told
Couldn’t Say It Better Myself

It’s All About The Weather Gods

My sister and her family (hubby and two kids) are leaving tomorrow for their last fling of the summer. Most kids are all ready back in school, but she home schools her kids so they don’t have to worry about the kids missing the first part of school and can take advantage of the reduced rates that are offered for after the Labor Day week end is over and done with.

The whole family enjoys playing golf and hopefully the weather will be great for the beach as well as a few rounds of golf. There are wonderful Myrtle Beach golf courses that they will be checking out. Sis spent a good amount of time online looking for the best Myrtle Beach golf packages and her efforts paid off when she landed on http://www.myrtlebeachgolf.net. Their site made it nice and easy where she could arrange their tee times and their accommodations at the same time.

She picked the Stay & Play Golf package and I’m sure I’ll be hearing all the details along with plenty of pictures and videos that they will be taking. Hope they have a blast, may the weather gods be gentle with them. This time of the year you never know what to expect!

Atomic Timepieces

I hate it when I walk in the room to a TV program that is just wrapping up an interesting topic of discussion that I would have enjoyed listening to and watching for the entire time period. I wish I had the Direct TV package that gives you the DVR that allows you to stop, rewind, pause, fast forward and even record your TV programs in record time.

I’m hoping next year that things will have let up some around the place and I can upgrade a few things that I would enjoy instead of just the things that are needed. Last night I just missed a discussion about Atomic Watches that I really would have liked to have seen, since Atomic Watches were the topic of discussion a few weeks ago at the dinner table at my sister’s house. She invites me over as often as possible in an effort to keep good food in me and to get me away from the farm, which is always something to look forward to.

We have always been close and since our parents passed away a few years back and I am now in charge of the old homestead she has been a tremendous help to me through out the whole ordeal.

Anyway, my sister and her husband were tossing around ideas for a birthday gift for her father-in-law, when it came up that a nice Atomic Watch would be a good gift idea for him this year. I didn’t know that the first atomic clock was built in 1949 and that they are the most accurate time know, as well as frequency standards. They are used to control the frequency of television broadcasts and in global navigation satellite systems like our GPSs that we are all relying on more and more these days.

Her father-in-law has certain standards and we all think that a nice looking quality Atomic Watch would most definitely fit the bill of his idea of a welcomed and appreciated gift. Most people are relying on their electronic devices to tell us the time, but a good amount of our senior citizens are still wearing and depending on quality time pieces and watches are still the main way to tell you the time in a quick glance, no matter where you are, right?

They shouldn’t have a problem finding the perfect watch by taking their time and searching the Internet. Sis is a whiz at finding deals online so I’m sure they will come out of this smelling like roses!