Meow.

Yes, that is a heaping pile of catnip.

Falling into Fall

I've noticed some trees are starting to get some color...summer is apparently giving way to fall. But I love fall, so saying goodbye to summer isn't all that tough.

So Veronica and I attended a few concerts this summer:
Eddie Money-So lame we left way before it was over-give it up dude!
Lucinda Williams & John Mellencamp-I just wanted to see Lucinda but was very impressed with the Mellencamp show-overall a VERY good concert.
Doobie Brothers & Chicago-waste of time-the Doobies need to hang it up.
Jack Johnson-Excellent! pavilion seating was worth it, the place was packed.
Los Lobos & Los Lonely Boys-Don't laugh! I love Los Lobos last 5-6 albums-Great show, highly recommend Los Lobos live.
Chris Issak-We've seen Chris many times and still have a great time, one of our favorites.
Counting Crows & Maroon5-We really did NOT like either of these bands-what can I say?
Jill Jack-We saw her in Charlevoix-too country for me.
I may be forgetting a couple of show so I'll add them later.

Roughing it up north.

It's up!

Well the tipi is finally up! I've been bringing all the elements together since late April when I purchased the new cover and liner. The majority of time was spent on the poles. I harvested them from our property in Norwood (south of Charleviox) on Mother's Day weekend with my son's Ben and Nathaniel. We cut balsam firs, peeled the bark and cut all the branches off that weekend and left the poles to dry up north for 5-6 weeks before Veronica and I returned to bring them back home. It then took me about 2 months to do the final trimming of the branch stubs, sand them and apply an oil finish to them. They turned out very nice. I had a blacksmith friend of mine up in Norwood hammer out the stakes for me. They are about 12" long and are made from 7/16" bar stock. The lace pins (all the little sticks you see above the door were carved by Ben, Nathaniel and I around the campfire on mothers Day weekend out of ash branches. I have a double thick floor this time around. I put a heavy duty polytarp on the ground and then covered it with some nice outdoor carpet. I will now start to assemble hides and rugs to cover the carpet. I cut a 3' hole in the floor for the fire pit and lined it completely in medium to small stones. All in all I'm pretty happy with the set-up and look forward to many nights out there just hanging around. I will start inviting friends and family over as soon as I get it furnished.

Allman Brothers Band & Robert Randolph @ DTE

Well, Veronica and I have been to quite a few concerts this summer but this was probably my personal favorite. I am a Robert Randolph fan and a "Southern Rock" fan in general so it would have been fun even on the lawn but Sam Castillo hooked us up with 3rd row center seats! It was a blast , and the company was great. Sam was very generous to us and I would like to thank him again. Veronica and Kristie had a great time too.

Derek Trucks

Robert Randolph

Warren Haynes & Derek Trucks

Warren Haynes

Warren Haynes & Gregg Allman

Kristie & Veronica

Sam Castillo

Some Thai personalities...and a few of us too!

If you haven't seen my FlickR! page of Thailand pictures you should stroll on over. Here's the link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/larrywhitcomb/

I thought it would be cool to post pics of some of the "personalities" we saw along the way.