Posting

You have probably noticed that I don't post here much anymore. The truth is I am posting mostly on Facebook which is so easy to keep up with and update from the cell or wherever I happen to be.

I am not sure how much I will post here in the future but feel free to 'friend' me on Facebook and read my posts there.

http://www.facebook.com/joanne.toone

Foraging in the woods

Ghost Flowers.

The blueberry motherload.

Wild flowers on my driveway.

A lone chanterelle.

Farewell Dinner

Mayleen leaves for Arizona on Saturday. I will miss her. We had a farewell dinner last night and of course a group photo by Michael.

[left to right] Michael, me, Mayleen, Lynne, Shannon and Kevin.

Feral women at the cabin

So last weekend was a woman's weekend out at the cabin. I love the cabin - I want to live at the cabin! I had such a great time with my best women friends Mayleen, Lynne and Shannon - Shannon took the pics so you can only see the three of us:




Next time we must take a tripod so we can snap pics of us all!

More Dmitry

This is my favorite slide:


This talk was presented at The New Emergency Conference in Dublin, on June 11, 2009:
Excerpt:

1. Good morning. The title of this talk is a bit of a mouthful, but what I want to say can be summed up in simpler words: we all have to prepare for life without much money, where imported goods are scarce, and where people have to provide for their own needs, and those of their immediate neighbours. I will take as my point of departure the unfolding collapse of the global economy, and discuss what might come next. It started with the collapse of the financial markets last year, and is now resulting in unprecedented decreases in the volumes of international trade. These developments are also starting to affect the political stability of various countries around the world. A few governments have already collapsed, others may be on their way, and before too long we may find our maps redrawn in dramatic ways. [more...]

Porcupine came to dinner tonight!

He/she is way up in the top of this tree in the middle - you can just make out a dark blob!


I had no idea that they could climb trees. I was totally freaked out when sitting on the deck about to play mud relic I could hear a really loud chomping over to the right above me. I looked up and came face to face with this critter. He/she was huge. About 6 times the size of Clover! I am glad he/she is eating the tree and not my veggie patch. I snapped some pics quickly and left the creature to his/her meal. Hope I didn't freak it out too much - it sure looked shocked to see me.

Ecotherapy or Applied Ecopsychology

This arrived yesterday and I can't wait to start reading it. Sometimes I wish I had finished my Masters degree in Ecopsychology, but I wouldn't use the degree so I console myself with the fact I can get all the knowledge and experience without actually receiving the diploma.

There was a great article in the Huffington Post about the author and the book:

Slowing down to nature's pace by Linda Buzzell

Images from a rainy day in Maine

For some reason today I felt the need to simplify and tidy the rooms in my house. Today I tackled the living room and the bathroom. Still need to work on the others. I removed all the pictures from the wall. Got rid of a lot of junky stuff that was cluttering up surfaces and moved books back to book cases. I feel so much calmer without the clutter. The remaining clutter belongs to my room mate and I will gradually move it out. There is something about playing a simple string instrument that makes me feel I really don't need a whole lot of stuff.


The rain is great for my veggie and herb patch. Something is eating my veggies but I guess I am OK with sharing. We all need to eat, right?


It was beautiful outside today - everything is lush and green from all this rain. Luckily I mowed the lawn yesterday - just in time.

The birth of a musician - I hope!

I am not posting this because I think it's good. It's more that I want to document the progress someone can make when they attempt to learn an instrument with no prior musical experience. The look on my face is determination and concentration, but I am actually loving it! This is my very first fiddle tune and I am playing it way slower than normal but it is a start. Apologies for quality and sound of video - I shot this on my $100 camcorder and edited with Windows Movie Maker, not the $6,000 camera and Final Cut Pro software, that I haven't worked out how to use yet! So here is mud relic and me on a rainy sunday afternoon:

Sunday Morning, Rain is Falling!

Rainy Sunday mornings are natures way of telling us to stop, slow down and play music. That's my theory anyway.


I had my second dulcimer lesson with the amazing Pam Weeks on Friday and I am still in love with this instrument. I have two weeks before my next lesson so plenty of time to memorize some tunes. I recently signed up for Dulcimer Players News and can't wait to get my first copy in the mail. Their web site has some cool pod casts to check out and a video channel on YouTube too.

Here is one of their podcasts. I hope to play like this one day!



I think next year I will be attending many dulcimer festivals across the country but for this year I have two events I plan to check out. The first is Maine Fiddle Camp in August which is aimed at fiddle players but also attracts players of other string instruments. Also, my teacher Pam will be one of the staff there.

In October, Pam is joining with some Maine Guides from Maine Audubon to host Borestone Mountain Music Weekend. The weekend includes hikes with our instruments on our backs to go out and play at different summits and ridges on the 1,600 acre sanctuary. Pam is doing a dulcimer workshop and then a concert on Saturday afternoon. I can't wait for that one.

[image of Borestone from Audubon web site]

This has been a relaxing weekend so far, filled with music, yard work, music, fire, friends, bees, music, rain, music and more music. Just the way life should be.

Trip to the Cabin in the Woods - Map 18, Maine

Shannon got the fire going on arrival. Nice and toasty.

Pretty plant on the trail.

The cabin in the woods.

THE SAUNA!!!

Cabin on arrival.

Kevin relaxing.

Working on finger technique.

Refreshed after the sauna.

K & J's knives!

Shannon and Kevin jammin.

Angel Falls in the rain.

Mud relic getting some sun.

The trail by the cabin.

J and K jammin.

Buckets of cold water for after the sauna.

Wonderful hand tools.

My very good friends, Kevin and Shannon.

Paul Hawken's Commencement Address

Usually Commencement speeches are pretty lame and boring. This one, given by environmentalist and author, Paul Hawken at the University of Portland, earlier this month, is neither lame or boring:

"Hey, Class of 2009: you are going to have to figure out what it means to be a human being on earth at a time when every living system is declining, and the rate of decline is accelerating. Kind of a mind-boggling situation -- but not one peer-reviewed paper published in the last thirty years can refute that statement.

Basically, the earth needs a new operating system, you are the programmers, and we need it within a few decades.

This planet came with a set of operating instructions, but we seem to have misplaced them. Important rules like don't poison the water, soil, or air, and don't let the earth get overcrowded, and don't touch the thermostat have been broken. Buckminster Fuller said that spaceship earth was so ingeniously designed that no one has a clue that we are on one, flying through the universe at a million miles per hour, with no need for seatbelts, lots of room in coach, and really good food -- but all that is changing." [full speech]

One of my favorite quotes from his adress:

"Ralph Waldo Emerson once asked what we would do if the stars only came out once every thousand years. No one would sleep that night, of course. The world would become religious overnight. We would be ecstatic, delirious, made rapturous by the glory of God. Instead the stars come out every night, and we watch television."

How true this is!