Hobbies

How many chords do you need to create a piece of music? Would you believe that it doesn’t really matter and that whole pieces of music have been created using just one chord? For example, if you play a D minor 7 chord, you could use the bass note D to create a drone effect and anchor the whole improvisation. It could last for a few seconds or many minutes.

The important thing is were you in the moment when you created it? If you were, then it will be a good piece of music. If you weren’t it will be notes in the air without communication. What communicates is your feeling. It’s your feeling that gets across through the notes. The notes themselves are meaningless if you are not present behind them.

I usually do not use more chords than 4 or 5 when creating. I use the chords of a certain Key, for example A major and stay within that key until the piece is done. I may change to a different key, but I will always begin with the intention of staying within one, always keeping the possibility open for change. Remember the power of limits, especially in music.

Dog hair (called chiengora)can be spun into yarn, much like sheeps’s wool, alpaca, or any other animal fiber. The process is the same. Dust and oils can be washed out of the spun hair, so there is no “doggie odor.” Amazingly, the spun yarn is warmer than wool, easy to care for, and has an angora-like fluffy texture. Until recent times, most dog owners didn’t realize the beauty of the colors and texture of their dog’s hair could be used in the manner of sheep’s wool.

It’s really as easy as brushing your dog. There are some guidelines to getting the best and softest yarn possible. When brushing your dog, be sure to collect from the parts where the hair is the longest and softest. This is undercoat. Hair must be 2 inches or longer for best results. Hair should be clean and dry, with no grass or debris in it. Brush the hair from the longest, softest parts of the dog, saving only this hair. It is the undercoat you want, not the coarse top coat. Clippings will not work well for spinning with dogs that have double coats. There is too much guard hair, and the yarn quality will not be as nice as the pure undercoat.

Pancakes are easy and almost foolproof. But there are some tricks to making them perfect. We’d like to share those tips:

1. Use a low gluten flour. We like to use unbleached pastry flour in our recipes-that’s what our mixes are made with-but all purpose flour will do. Bread flour makes for a pancake that it too tough and chewy.

2. Don’t over mix. Mixing develops the gluten in the batter. Mix the dry ingredients together to dispense the leavening throughout the flour. Mix the recipe’s wet ingredients together in another bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix until just moistened. There will still be lumps. That’s okay-they’ll cook out.

3. Get the batter the right consistency. The batter should be runny enough that it will spread on the griddle. If it is too runny, the pancakes will be crepe-like. As you progress through the batch, the batter will tend to become thicker as the leavenings work. Add a little more water or milk as needed but remember to stir minimally.

4. Prepare the griddle. Very lightly grease the griddle with a little shortening or with an aerosol can of vegetable oil.

As there are certain health issues that affect only the female dog, care should be taken to ensure that these are fully understood before deciding whether or not to buy a bitch.

The most important dog health care concern is that of spaying.

Only those who are fully educated in all aspects of a specific breed and who have the time and energy to put into making sure that bloodlines are kept strong and healthy should ever consider breeding. With that in mind, most owners of female dogs will not be thinking of breeding and should therefore seriously consider having their pet spayed.

If the necessary surgery is carried out before your dog has her first heat cycle, the likelihood of her ever developing breast cancer will become almost zero percent. That alone is a very good reason to have your dog spayed as breast cancer is otherwise relatively common in older bitches. The chances of your dog developing pyometra, a disease of the uterus that can be fatal, is also greatly reduced.

If you either want to write a book to help others create a better life and boost business or you already have your book nearly finished, you may need book coaching to answer all of your questions “What step to take next?” Many writers think that all they need is a good editor and their book will be ready for publishing and promoting.

Maybe you think you don’t have enough time to write it yourself. You may want a ghost writer to finish the research and get it out.

But you need to start by consulting with a book coach who knows your book category, who your market is, and where to find them. Your book coach also knows what makes up a saleable title and can help guide you to write a great seller by knowing your thesis, your audience, your “tell and sell,” and the correct introduction. When you incorporate these essential “hot-selling” points before you write many chapters, you will then write a compelling, organized, easy-to read page turner.

Don’t hire a ghost writer before you know exactly what you need to write, publish, and promote a great-selling book.

Dog fashions are all the rage and have become quite affordable for anyone and everyone to enjoy with their dog, but not everyone knows the best ways to find their dog’s size or how a garment should fit to avoid accidents. Choosing the right size for your dog is very important, we always want our pets to be safe and feel comfortable in whatever they wear. 30% of all online dog apparel sales result in returns or exchanges due to improper sizing.

The first and most important thing you should know before you begin to buy for your dog is his/her measurements. You should write them down and always have them with you just in case you see something you can’t resist.

The most important places you’ll want to measure are:

The chest (circumference) measurements should be taken at the deepest part of the chest, which is usually right behind the front legs. This measurement is most important, so make sure you don’t exaggerate your dog’s chest by adding inches for more room and if you wrap the measuring tape to tight you will lessen the measurement and end up buying something too small.

Learn about love by reading poetry by a long dead poet named Rumi. No need to look for ancient texts hidden in caves…Search the Net.

In this modern age of technology, busy lifestyles, and obsession with consumerism have taken a lot of the romance and love out of our lives. The Internet has become a medium to connect with people as everyone is finding it a lot harder to meet one another in the ‘real’ world. It has undeniably also become a place of voyeuristic fantasy in the realms of sexuality on pornographic sites. What ever happened to true love? Are our priorities so messed up that romance has been forgotten, only to be experienced vicariously through television and movies? The answer is no. Romance will never die; we just have to feed it with our energy.

Around 800 years ago a famous Arabic poet, philosopher and sage named Rumi wrote beautiful love poetry beyond all comparison. I don’t know if there have been many other people in Earth’s history that have thought about love as much as this master. His poems have not been forgotten, and one place you can simply find and read them is on the Internet. E.g. www.khamush.com/love_poems.html

What a cruel trick the weather is playing on us.

WE HAVE SNOW ! ! !

A bit depressing for us outdoor types.

Yet, what better time to cheer myself up by writing to you.

Karen is in the kitchen right now.

Pookie (Putta) is leaning on me while I give him some attention.

Who knows where the cats are.

Yolonda is in her room folding cloths for her mom.

The feeders are busier right now with the nasty weather, too bad the windowsare closed again.

Some good news for me…………. my mom is back in her apartment aftera few weeks in the hospital and therapy.

I’m a mama’s boy so that was a bit taxing on me.

Last week I told you about the yard where I grew up.

My dad passed away 20 years ago, but my mom kept the “Ole Homestead”for another 15 years.

With her kids busy raising families of their own, the yard didn’t receive a lotof attention. Yet, the yard and wildlife flourished.

Mom added a humming bird garden off the back patio and would sit out thereon milder days and summer evenings and watch her little jewels.

You may wonder why I have chosen this title of this post. Well from my experience is that it is really hard to put the feeling into words about what letter writing means to me. Letter writing is becoming a lost art on many levels. It is fading into the background of society. It is still practised by many people. It is those people that I am looking to connect with. I have been told by many people whom have read my posts that they feel the same way about letter writing as I do. I want to hear from those people what they feel; I want to hear their words.

I think that it is so important that we embrace the things that we are passionate about. In this case, I want people from all walks of life, all over the world. Put a pen to paper that is letter writing; pen pals, snail mail whatever it is you call it and tell your story about what writing and receiving actual physical mail in the mail box means to you.

After making the leaf bead, I was impressed with the detail made possible by the metal clay. Therefore, I decided to use the same technique but create a different look. When I finished making these beads, I thought they looked as though they had been “quilted.” Before firing, each bead weighed about 5.43 grams. After firing, they are about 3.8 grams each. The size and weight of your beads may depend on how large you make them and the size of the straw that you use for creating the holes in the beads.

To make these beads, you’ll need:

6 playing cards
a small ball of PMC (about 6 grams)
roller
olive oil
ruler
paint brush
fine sand paper or emery board
*a small piece of mesh cloth
a clean surface to work on
Exacto ® knife
2 inch piece of plastic straw
kiln
vermiculite
jeweler’s file or emery board

*This mesh material should be easy to find at most fabric stores because they usually carry a variety of trims and laces. If you’ve ever sewn, you might even have a bag of scraps around that some interesting textures to try.