The Quiet American

Emil and I coordinated an ukulele workshop and show last week here in Bend. The Quiet American duo is Aaron and Nicole Keim, from Hood River, OR.  They are fantastic!  LOVE chatting with Nicole - she likes to laugh and have fun.  Check out their music:  http://quietamericanmusic.com/.

Love the washboard!

Group photo

They are super fun!

30 folks at the workshop

Tuning the banjo before the show!

A wonderful show!

I think my dad would really enjoy their music.  It's described as "old time folk music for modern times." Think Americana/Gospel.  Aaron and Nicole are headlining Ukulele University, the uke festival we're coordinating July 19-21.  Looking forward to another great event. http://ukeu.info/.

Hopefully, I won't forget my ukulele again.  Kind of hard to take the workshop when I leave it at home.  I did borrow one of their nice mya-moe ukes, but I was too nervous to use it the entire time!

On to other news:  I'm growing my hair out long again to donate it to Locks of Love.  I did this in 2002 when my brother, Tom, was diagnosed with stage 4 Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.  Now that he has cancer again, I'll donate again.  Ten inches of hair is the minimum! 

Uke On!

I do the social media for our uke group, uke festival, and Emil's business, Road Trip Ukuleles.  Therefore, I post oodles of pics on Facebook.  Thought I would share some of them here as well. 

If you visit us, prepare to attend the Tuesday night uke jam with us.  Don't worry, we won't put you on the spot for an uke solo or singing.  Every week, approximately 60 people show up to sing, play uke, play other instruments, and socialize (mainly the reason I go).  It's great fun, and I look forward to it each week.

Yesterday, I did a radio interview to promote an upcoming workshop and show - Aaron and Nicole Keim of The Quiet American.  Fantastic duo from Hood River, OR.  Emil has met them several times already, and I'm a little nervous to meet them on Monday!  

Check out their music here:  http://quietamericanmusic.com/.  They are ending their tour here in Bend.  We'll feed them pizza from 10 Barrel, plenty of libations, and hang out before the event.  Emil will run the soundboard, and I'll work the door.  Come on by! 

More info at: www.bendukulelegroup.org.

Back to the pics.  Enjoy!

Our youngest members, all taller than me.

Group pic.  We'll be featured in Central OR magazine - July.

Singing and strumming away! I need a panoramic camera to capture everyone there.

Debi and Anya's kazoo solo during "San Francisco Bay Blues."

Adorable Jeff!  All instruments welcome.

Bucket bass and harmonica

I'm in the kids section of the group.

Helping to lead the group on Tuesday

Laughing our way through the play list I made for the night.

One of our most talented members, Twig!

Spark your interest?  It's an easy instrument to learn, only four strings, and very forgiving.  When you play with 60 people, no one can hear you mess up.  Perfect for us beginners.

Counting the days until The Quiet American show!  

Ripe Rhubarb

Today was the day to bake and do prep for the Aaron Keim concert on May 20.  It's approaching fast, and we want to be ready for it.  Check out his music:  http://quietamericanmusic.com/.

Back to the rhubarb.  It's in a huge bowl, washed, and cut.

 

Rhubarb Muffins

Adare Manor Scones

Mixed Berry and Rhubarb Cobbler

Not pictured:  Macadamia, Strawberry, and Rhubarb Bread.  Now safely packaged in the freezer for a hostess gift.   I also made a batch of Strawberry Rhubarb Jam. 

Unfortunately, all that baking resulted in only using half of the rhubarb pictured in the bowl.  I'll make a pie for guests on Wednesday and freeze the rest.  It's also time to pick more since the sunny weather encouraged growth the past few days.  I may have to leave some on everyone's porch in the middle of the night.

Recipe links:

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2011/05/rhubarb-streusel-muffins/
http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2013/05/adare-manor-scones
http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2007/05/crumbling-crisp-convictions/
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2009/06/rhubarb-berry-jam/
http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2007/03/some-south-in-your-mouth/

Rhubarb and Snow

Our rhubarb is going gangbusters!  Time to pick, bake, and freeze.

Wish I had my rhubarb cookbook here!

Today's weather is sunny and 85 degrees.  Gorgeous, again!  We headed up to Tumalo Falls for a hike. 

Tumalo Falls

The further we hiked, the more snow fields we encountered!

 So, we abandoned the eight mile hike we had planned and walked along the river until I saw a mosquito, freaked out, and turned back. 

Long to do list this week!  Better get to it!

Ski, Bike, Repeat

We're trying to squeeze in a few more days of nordic skiing.  Blue skies, warm temps = short sleeves! Emil is mastering skate skiing, while I huff and puff to keep up.

Gorgeous day!

Yesterday, Emil did a long bike ride to Smith Rock.  Took him four hours and 20 minutes to bike 65 1/2 miles.  He got a little bit sunburned.  Ouch!  He was already rocking a sweet farmer's tan.

Today was another beautiful day - 70 degrees and blue skies.  I was curious if I could still ride a bike, seeing that I'm so not a biker.  We rode almost nine miles at Phil's Trails.  Hello sore saddle on my first ride of the season.  The parking lot was crowded, but we didn't encounter many people on the trails.  Note to Tommy Boy:  Buy a bike when you move here, but I'm warning you now, it's a total sausagefest.  

As Emil would say, "This is reason 6,055 why I love Bend.  We can ski one day, bike another day, ski the next.  I love it here!"

Oh yes!  Last night, our ukulele group did a flash mob during First Friday in downtown Bend.  The nice weather brought people out in droves, plus there was huge event at the Tower Theater - Alaskan author, Eowyn Ivey is in town for our all community read program.

We blocked traffic, pulled out ukes, and sang "Runaround Sue."  There were approximately 50 ukers, singers, and many bystanders dancing and singing.  I recorded it with Emil's POV helmet camera, and he recorded it using a monopod.  No one got run over or honked at, thank goodness!

Check out the video here:  http://youtu.be/QfpXYa5kTiY