Top 10 reasons for adopting a dog from Second Chance Dog Rescue

Russel Ray Photos

Please consider adopting from Second Chance Dog Rescue. All dogs available for adoption are spayed or neutered, microchipped, and up to date on their shots.

Top 10 reasons for adopting a dog from Second Chance Dog Rescue:

1. Instant best friend!
2. You have a buddy to watch bad movies with.
3. You can decline invitations without offending anyone. “I can’t go. I have to feed and walk the dog.”
4. You won’t need an electric blanket for those cold winter nights.
5. Your new friend will always be there to listen to your problems.
6. Your new friend won’t judge you.
7. You’ll never be lonely.
8. You’ll have a jogging partner.
9. They won’t tell on you when you eat an extra piece of pie.
10. No more pouring down the sink the leftover milk in the cereal bowl.

Upcoming events for Second Chance Dog Rescue:

• September 7, Pet Adoption Event at Petco, 3495…

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Rolling Like a Freight Train…..

Sometimes it feels like this summer is never going to stop! Beyond our normal gig schedule we have had children visiting from out of town, one more, Michael’s son, Michael, is coming on Friday from Missouri. Kira, my daughter, was just here in her transition between Pocatello to Seatle and back from Seatle to Pocatello. Right before that Michael’s grandchildren, mine by marriage, and their mother Kat came to visit from Missouri. I have also been trying to get the exterior of our house painted as well as helping Judy, my sister-in-law, get the interior of her house painted and ready for her to move into. Her house is just about done and I am happy with what I was able to do for her, I caulked and painted all the interior trim as well as other miscellanious touch ups. The only thing left is her bath and I don’t know if I will get around to that or not. I am sure going to try. Along with all of this my mom just got out of the nursing home she was recovering in a few weeks ago so I have been dealing with that transition as well as handling all her doctor’s appointments and cooking her meals every night and caring for her cats and lawn. I’m kind of exhausted.

I am actually looking forward to summer being over and things settling down. The last of the summer festivals is in sight, and mind you I am very excited about the next 2 festivals, Hyde park Curb A Faire and The Celtic Festival. At the same time I am tired and a little stressed out. Beyond that I am finding ways to relax when I can. I spend time with freinds on FB and share their events and joys, this gives me happiness. I am also growing a small indoor herb garden which, thankfully, now that the hard part is over just requires a little watering and spritzing every other day. Other than that I am enjoying sitting in my room and rehearsing on my guitar.

My life is stressful and when I was a little girl I never imagined that life would get in the way of me playing music, but it does. In all it’s wonderful, chaotic tendancies it does. AT the end of the day, I am so busy sometimes I can’t think, at the end of the day I have a wonderful family that loves me and a husband I wouldn’t trade for the most awesome guitar skills. In many ways my life is priceless and I need to absolutely remember that in times when I get really stressed out. Peace to you my friends and thank you for taking the time to read myh little story…… BTW, this is my beautiful daughter Kira Shanel.

Crescent Brewery Rox!!!!

We got handed the best surprise Saturday night! When we went to play at Crescent Brewery I really wasn’t expecting too much of a turnout because of the Rodeo goin on and the opening night of the fair in boise. To my surprise we had a great turnout. Everyone had so much fun and there isn’t a “dance” floor but a few couples made their own dance floor. We started early and ended late and had such a great time. AT the end of the night Michael and I closed out with 3 songs we haven’t done in a while, We played “Cold Shot” by SRV, “Stormy Monday” by the Alman Brothers and “House of the Rising Sun” by the Animals. It was really a great night and as always Crescent Brewery is one of our favorite venues to play! Next up is Artistblue Gallery on August 30th at 8 pm. Taking Down Giants will open up the night. The Gallery is a great new venue inside Karcher Mall with tons of eye candy. There is artwork from local artists adorning the walls and shelves, a great collection of books on sale and the gallery does framing. They offer Italian Sodas and on music nights they offer catered food from Northern Lights Grill and beer from Crescent Brewery. Here are pics from Saturday night.

Ok the Votes Are In…..

I have decided to start with “Whiskey in the Jar” for 2 reasons, it’s a really easy song, and I like it. :). I’m going to take it for a test drive when we play Crescent Brewery tonight. It’s probably going to be quiet this evening because we are competing with The Caldwell Nights Rodeo and the opening of the Fair in Boise so I have no high hopes of having a crowd this evening. If we do get a small group I would be surprised, so no better time than now to try out new songs. I really love the song “Papillon”, which means butterfly, but I have to sit down with Michael and figure out the chord progressions. I hope to have that one ready by the Celtic Festival as well as “Raggle Taggle Gypsio”. Michael has spent all summer getting our home studio ready and it’s going to be taken out for its first “real” spin this week. It is my goal to have a CD ready to go in a month with 10 songs on it. 3 originals, 5 or 6 Celtic songs and we are going to re-record “Landslide” with the new interlude Michael has been playing and “Rhiannon” When we went in the studio and recorded those over 4 years ago I was deathly sick and didn’t do as well on the vox as I should have or could have. So, I leave you with “Whiskey in the Jar” The Dubliners version, not Metallica’s version 🙂 …..

Your Opinion Please….

I like to hear people’s opinions (mostly LOL). Anyway, here are 3 songs I want to learn and I would like to know which you like best. Please send me a message with your choice. One is Welsh and the other 2 are Irish.

You may recognize the last song as a version of a song Metallica did

Almost Back to Normal……

It has been a very busy and long summer. My dress arrived from India for the Celtic Festival and it is really beautiful! Our summer is about to wind down and we will be getting into the normal swing of things after the Celtic Festival, our last Festival of the summer, is over on September 21st. The contract is signed and in fact we got a raise from last year! YAY! The set list is complete and I am excited about this years festival because I have so many more songs this year than I did last year. We are back at Crescent Brewery this Saturday, one of our most favorite venues to play. I would like to get us out to more venues but our schedule has been so very hectic that I just haven’t had a chance to even attempt other venues other than Artistblue Gallery this summer. We do hope to get in the studio next week to get an album put together of about 10 songs, some Welsh some Celtic and some originals that I wrote over the last couple of years.  Anyway here is a photo of the dress.

Moving Forward…………

Ok I am thinking forward and wanting to add in some new songs and want you opinion, seriously. I need outside opinions to help me. DO you like these songs?

Pink Floyd Hey You

and Fool For you Anyway by Foriegner

I Killed a Bird…..

I was over working on my Mom’s sprinklers and one of the starlings was sitting, yes sitting on the lawn. I tried to help it and when I was en route to get some worms it died….it just crooked it’s head over and died. I can;t seem to stop crying over it. I took it to the golf course and buried it underneath a tree, but hell, it dies right in my hands…I can’t stop crying over that poor little bird.

So Many Things…

I am so very tired LOL 🙂 Michael and I are coming up on our 9 year wedding anniversary and I couldn’t be happier. He’s an amazing man and I am so lucky to have him. Even if he is Irish LMAO :). This dress, in burgundy wine, was my gift. I got it for the Celtic Festival and wanted to know what you think. I know it’s old fashioned but so am I. Hence the Welsh Music. You all have seen me a hundred times and know I prefer dresses to pants, skirts to shorts. I guess I’m just the last remainder of an island of hippies, that’s what I get for having parents that owned, not one, not two but three VW’s and smoked pot. They owned a “Thing” for goodness sakes, no wonder I’m messed up. LMAO. 🙂 Anyway do you like the dress?

Idaho Brewfest Rocked Nampa!!!!!

 

 

 

I’m going to be perfectly honest here. I love festivals and all they have to offer, but I would take a regular venue over playing a festival any day of the week. For instance, we were playing in an ampitheater type situation on Sunday and the soundtech from Gigs Music, Dale, did a great job! However, it is still a situation where you have no control over your time or sound. I was so stressed it took me a 1/2 hour to get my head in the groove, and that’s 1/2 our set list for the day. Not to mention starting at noon, hell I’m not even awake yet at noon, much less playing music! 🙂

That being said, we are incredibly grateful to Jerry Fergusson and Crescent Brewery for being so incredibly supportive of CYMRY. He’s a very good friend, him and his whole clan, and we love them! We had a great day and I saw friends who came out to support us and showed us a lot of love this weekend, plus, bonus I made some new friends. I had a chance to get with Tim Smith, President of the local Scottish Society and he is very cool! We talked about next year’s festival and I think we are going to try to tie in the Welsh society. We should all be working together to make it a great event.

I also had a great opportunity to take some great photos for Crescent Brewery and Jerry. I think the pic of Rick at the taps is a good one and of course the pic of the security detail, Rick Morris and Tim Smith and the guy whose name I still don’t know came out really good. I should call him “The Unknown Kilt Guy” :). He’s the one in the middle. Rick is on the left and Tim is on the right. All in all, it was a great weekend, we were paid very well for our time, but I just wish I could have wrapped my head around the songs a lot quicker. We did a Fleetwood Mac medley, which I never do in a normal performance, but it was different.

A gentleman came up to me after we were done and said he wasn’t as fond of the Welsh music because he couldn’t understand a thing I was singing and I think he thought when we were announced as Celtic he was expecting leprechaun’s with shilaleighs to go dancing across the stage. At the very least he expected fiddles and pipers. When I say we are Celtic I mean it in the most sincere description. I sing in Welsh and I play songs from other modern bands from Wales and Ireland, but we also play other music such as Fleetwood Mac, Styx, Led Zepplin and more because no one wants to sit there for an hour listening to me sing in Welsh. Many of the bands here in the US that are Celtic are following a renaissance pattern of violins and flutes and the whole “show” thing rather than following the actual roots of the music.

At any rate…it was really a wonderful event and we are so grateful to have had the opportunity to participate. Thank you to everyone that came out to support us, Kevin Butler from Switc Her, Maria Camario, Rich Brown, Amanda Pridgen, Zeniff Rodriguez, and there were more but it was a busy day and I can’t remember who else I saw. Peace my friends. Next up Crescent Brewery n the 17th, and frankly I will be glad to get back to regular gigs. But, keep your hats on, I will soon be talking in abundance about the “Celtic Festival” on September 21st…..WEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeee

I’m Already Worn Out….

I’m already worn out and I haven’t even played yet! This is just the pictures from yesterday when I was pouring at The Brewfest! Good Times!!!!

As Ready As We’re Ever Gonna Be…………

Well we rehearsed our final rehearsal tonight and we’re as ready as we’re ever going to be. The cool thing that happened tonight is we have an original that Michael and I co-wrote called “No Feeling”. We wrote it last summer and it has never really had an intro or outro until tonight. Michael found it and I really like it. We’ve only played it a few times live and am excited to see how it’s going to sound live. This week has been an intense week of rehearsals, just tightening everything down and my fingers are raw my friends LOL. I’m taking tomorrow to rest my fingers and I’m gonna have fun pouring beer for Jerry at Crescent Brewery’s booth. So hopefully I’ll see some of you tomorrow!!!!!!! Peace.

CYMRY and Other Local Music at The Idaho Brewers Festival August 3rd & 4th

The schedule is set for The Idaho Brewer’s Festival at Lakeview park in Nampa, Idaho. We are opening on Sunday, August 4th at 12:00 and going until 1:30. I will be there all afternoon on Saturday from 4:30 to 9:00 pm pouring beer for Jerry and Crescent Brewery. After we get done playing I will again be pouring beer for Jerry until the festival closes at 7 pm on Sunday evening. I have the set list completed and am now in the finishing stages of tightening up the nuts and bolts on some of the newer songs that I have learned over the last two months which include “Sosban Fach” or “My Little Saucepan”, “Can Cwrtyn Y Gwartheg” or “Does the Cowboy Ride”, “Drunken Lullabies” and “Diamonds & Rust”.

There is going to be Brew offered from Idaho Brewing companies, Live music from local musicians. Besides CYMRY there will also be Voice of Reason, Johnny Butler, Nathan J. Moody, Get Back, Sister Sara, Ticket to Ride, Jake Leg, Juke Daddy’s, Old Yeller comes on after us at 1:30 and plays until 2:30 and many more! There will also be a bounce house for kids, food from Brick Bistro 29 and Big Daddy’s Barbecue. Entry is $5 for adults. Kids under 12 free. For $25 you get a tasting cup and 16 samples of the different brews. The Boise Weekly did put the event in the paper this week but failed to mention some of the bands, so I wanted to give everyone a heads up on some of the other, local, amazing talent that Idaho and the Treasure Valley have to offer.

Thank you to J.T. from Smooth Avenue for coming to help me out with photos. This is going to be a great time. Hope you all can come out!

A Little History……

Ever since I can remember I had always wanted to be a vocalist. I started singing when I was 3 and playing violin in the 5th grade. At 16 I picked up the guitar. I never really focused on the guitar until the last year. I mainly used it solely as a writing tool. This last year, for me as a musician, have been my happiest and most productive. In my younger days, before I started performing pro at 19, I spent my time singing songs by groups such as The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Boston, and many more 60’s and 70’s groups. At about the age of 16 my taste switched and I was teaching myself to sing songs by Black Sabbath, Dokken, Queensryche and that heavy genre. From the age of 19-23 all I could think of was being a heavy metal performer. I went from Baltimore, MD to California as a heavy metal performer 

Things change. At 23 my husband at the time introduced me to the blues. I found it to be a real good fit for me as a vocalist because of my low alto voice. So, from 23-42 I was performing in blues based rock bands all over Idaho and Oregon. I loved the blues and it was a great fit for me. When I was younger my Grandmother talked a lot to me about our Welsh roots and always told me to have pride in our heritage. A little over a year ago I got involved with the Welsh Society here in Idaho. It was at this point that they asked me if I would perform at the Celtic Festival. I spent 3 months almost everyday teaching myself Welsh traditional and folk songs in preparation. The guitar work was the easiest part. The part that was most difficult was the language. Looking back now I find that the new Welsh songs I learn come easier and easier. 

Where I am at today. I love where I am at as a musician! I find performing acoustic and without a full 5 piece band to be so much more rewarding. I love performing songs that reflect me and my family’s heritage. Yes, the journey has been long and hard to get where I am. There have been many heart breaks, but, it’s been a fun journey and I can’t wait to see what the next 10 years hold for me as a musician. I am fortunate enough to be able to perform songs that are uniquely Welsh. It is also helping me to expand on my original music as well. The journey has been long, sometimes fraught with disaster and pain, but, I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world!

Rehearsals….ARGGGGGHHHH My Fingers Hurt!!!!!

OK folks, so I rehearsed for about 3 hours today and my callouses have callouses. LOL :). I am pleased with the way “Sosban Fach” is coming out, it’s a fun song, but man the chord changes are fast and it is quite the Welsh tongue twister to sing. I had taken “Llosgi Yn Flam” off the set list to make way for some new material, but it is back on for the Brewfest. I also added back in “Squeezebox” by The Who. I hope some of you will make it out to the Brewfest at Lakeview park this weekend!

We Are Almost There…..

We are just about ready for The Brewfest! The set list is complete, the banner is finished, the new song “Sosban Fach” is in it’s polishing stages and the outfits are ready except for the ironing…yuck! Here is a pic of the new banner for CYMRY. Let me know what you think?

Ha, Banner Almost Finished…

I spent most of last night working on our trio’s banner. This is how I destress, LOL. Anyway, let me know what you think so far. I think the C and the Y on our name needs to come up a little higher?

How Do You Tell Someone that You Love…

How do you tell someone that you love that they are destroying your life? I have tried and tried to tell my Mom that she is taking me down with her, maybe that’s what she wants. I don’t really understand why she would have some nepharious desire to destory me too. She’s done a fine job of ruining herself, why me too? I know you guys on the outside don’t really understand this but her church can barely understand or tolerate her. I don’t know what to do?????? I am in a quandry and in a labyrinth of confused feelings and emotions and the one that surfaces first is anger. HELP????

I Stay Away……….

Maybe you don’t understand this unless u have been a caregiver

Yeah, hey, I want to travel south this year

I won’t, won’t prevent safe passage here

Why you act crazy?
Not an act maybe
So close a lady
Shifty eyes, shady

Yeah, hey Yeah, tears that soak a callous heart

Why you act frightened?
I am enlightened
Your weakness builds me, so someday you’ll see

I stay away

Why you act crazy?
Not an act maybe
So close a lady
Shifty eyes, shady

I stay away, I stay away, I stay away, I STAY A WAY

In All Honesty…..

This has been the hardest 2 years of my life. In all reality I’m closer than I have ever been to where I want to be as a musician yet farther away from where I want to be as a participant in social life and as a musician. My mother has slowly but surely taken a turn down hill and she exhausts me, even now. She’s 10 miles away in a nursing home but I can already feel the pressure from her coming home, maybe next week. I tend to alienate ppl away from my life so they don’t have to see what I am going through. The last month, since my Mom has been away in a nursing home,  have been some of the most peaceful restful weeks , but that’s about to come to an end. The closer she gets to coming home the more frantic I get because she can be very manipulative and demanding.. 

I know this sounds cold but when you have no one else to help you her demands are exhausting. Unfortunately I have gotten worn out over the last two years and have taken it out on ppl around me. I don’t mean to. Seriously, but my energy is completely ripped out of me and when my Mom is around I just get pissed and spit stuff out of my mouth when ppl are around because no one really knows how I feel or what I am going through. I want her to come home but there is a huge part of me that wants her to stay away. She’s wearing me down, I do everything I can, but this is probably why my 7 step-dads never stayed. She wants entirely too much that I can’t give and I have absolutely no family support for the last 10 years except my husband and it’s wearing him down too. It’s any wonder why I am angry.

I am not trying to whine here. I am just telling you that I have said and done some things that are not normally in my nature, but when an animal gets cornered they will do whatever it takes to survive. I feel cornered and I have no one really to help me with this. I guess this is my form of an apology before the storm hits. The minute she comes home I’m afraid my peace and serenity are going to hell. This is pretty much how I feel…

A New Song….

We have been very busy so far this summer already and are getting ready for the Brewfest. We are excited, this will be our first year performing at this festival and it is thanx to Jerry at Crescent Brewery that we are having this prestigious honor. The song I posted above is a new song we are working on, no it is not dirty. It means “My Little Saucepan”. get your mind out of the gutter LOL :). Since I spoke to everyone last we were adding in some new songs and have recently added in these two songs as well to our repertoire…. Hope some of you can make it out to The Brewfest August 3rd and 4th at Lakeview Park in Nampa!

For My WordPress Friends….

Good afternoon everyone. For those that have been following me I wanted to fill you on on what’s been happening. First of all, if you didn’t notice, this page is evolving after 2 and 1/2 years of being My Buddha Blog. It is becoming the web page for my acoustic project, CYMRY.  We have had a very busy summer already and it is going to be getting even busier before it lets up. Second, my mother has been in a nursing home and had gotten quite bad about a month ago. She is recovering now and will be home very soon. I will be updating this page on a regular basis and keep you abreast of what’s happening. Have a peaceful day!

It’s been a long ride…..

It’s been a LONG ride and a slow journey. I know I used to come on here everyday and talk about inconsequential stuff but things have taken a turn and I’m exhausted. Thank you to everyone that has been supportive over the last couple of years, I adore you all.

In a Strange Land….

I had reasoned this out in my mind, there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other.
Harriet Tubman

You don’t have to be a slave to live in a prison. Right now I am living in a world full of imprisonment. My husband needs and expects me to drive him everywhere and I highly suspect that if he had his driver’s license he wouldn’t even be with me. My mother is so F’d up on meds she can hardly drive so I am expected to do it. I can’t do or be who I want to be because I am torn down by my mother and my husband and now my daughter is having issues. Frankly I wish I could just be alone without everyone expecting something from me. I don’t get to be my own person, EVER! I am so sick of people expecting shit out of me it’s no wonder I want to just be free to be me, but I don’t know who that is anymore! I would seriously like to tell everyone to fuck off and leave me alone~!!!@!!!!

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It’s All Good…. :)

The state comes into existence for the sake of life and continues to exist for the sake of good life. Aristotle

You would not even begin to believe what I did yesterday. I got the front of my house finished and we had a Mother’s Day BBQ resplendant with good company, good food, and good fun! Michael cooked the burgers and I did the chicken and we hung out with my daughter Kira and her other 1/2 Isaiah, VJ and her other 1/2 Dave, My Mom and Mike, my BF Donna and of course my Rose Bud. It was a beautiful day and we had so much fun. After the BBQ was over I went and spent some quality time with my BFF Donna and I made her go swimming in the pond with me. It was GREAT!!!!!!! Life, my friends is very good right now!!!!!!!!!! 🙂