BBQ Music #MusicMovesMe

It's Monday and it's time for music!

 

Who are the Music Moves Me bloggers?  We are a group of music loving bloggers who blog about music each Sunday or Monday (or even later in the week). If you have music to share with us, you are most welcome to join!  We are brought to you by Cathy of Curious as a Cathy, Stacy of Stacy's Random Thoughts, Marie (Xmas Dolly), and myself, plus other music loving bloggers.  

Why not join us?  Our theme this week is "In the US, May is National Barbecue month.  It’s time to go hog wild! Share music that make you think of a great cook out." 

I saw this as two ways to go.  One way, is songs mentioning barbecue, or, as many of us write it, BBQ.  I've lived in several parts of the United States, and have experienced some of the various interpretations of what a sauce should consist of.

The BBQ Song from  Rhett and Link gives us a rundown of those variations.

A favorite food at many BBQ's is sausage.  Or, in our area, white hots.  In many other places, hot dogs.

Next up is Hot Dog from Led Zeppelin from 1979, and it's not about the food.  Fun fact,  the album this came from (In Through the Out Door) is my favorite Led Zeppelin song. 

Cheeseburger in Paradise - Jimmy Buffett because there is nothing like hearing Jimmy Buffett music at a BBQ. 

BBQ's are all about having a fun time. From Ray Stevens, Barbeque. 

As for the music, let's listen...Listen to the Music - Doobie Brothers 

Finally, let's end this virtual BBQ with Whisker Brothers and Good Ol' BBQ.

Well, not so fast.  Today, in the United States is Memorial Day, a day that was originally intended to honor the war dead of our 1861-1865 Civil War.  Originally called Decoration Day, this holiday evolved into honoring the war dead of all wars.  Sadly, this holiday has also evolved into a major shopping day.

So I will end this with a song from Freda Payne, Bring the Boys Home, from 1971.  That was our wish then as it is now.

And that's a wrap! 

Join me again next week for another episode of Music Moves Me.

 

Storage Building Shadow #ShadowshotSunday

Wednesday, I posted a couple of pictures of a storage building where someone thoughtfully posted a sign warning of a bunny nest. 

Here is a picture of the building, with accompanying shadows. The sign is on the lower right.

 

Here is the sign. 

Joining up with Lisa and This and That: A Blog, for Lisa's #ShadowshotSunday. 

May Cloud and Sky Moods #SkywatchFriday

Today, a variety of May cloud moods from where I live in the Southern Tier of New York State.

Blue hour before sunrise, May 12. 

Clouds of Drama

Clouds playing May 18th Follow the Leader 

Clouds before a change of weather this past Wednesday. 

Clouds on a peaceful Sunday afternoon.

Around sunset, May 7. 

Joining Yogi and other skywatchers for #SkywatchFriday. 

 

 

Bunny Nest #WordlessWednesday

I find many interesting things when I take a walk.

One of these finds were a bunny nest sign I saw earlier this week near an office.

The sign reads "Bunny Nest (with arrow pointing down). Please be mindful when mowing". 

Rabbits build a shallow nest more like a depression in the ground.  I think the nest was a depression directly below the arrow.  It's hard to see in the photo.  I didn't want to get closer just in case the little ones were still in the nest.

As much as I don't appreciate rabbits in my yard, they were there first.  I'm happy someone cared enough to post this sign.  Would you have?

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday. 

Tributes and Eurovision Song Contest #MusicMovesMe

 It's Monday, and it's time for music!

 

Who are the Music Moves Me bloggers?  We are a group of music loving bloggers who blog about music each Sunday or Monday (or even later in the week). If you have music to share with us, you are most welcome to join!  We are brought to you by Cathy of Curious as a Cathy, Stacy of Stacy's Random Thoughts, Marie, and myself, plus other music loving bloggers.  

Why not join us?  Our theme this week is "You Pick". Any music counts.

Before I get into the Eurovision Song Contest, I've been featuring too many inductions into Rock and Roll Heaven in recent months.  So,  I wanted to pay a quick tribute to two musicians who passed away this May.

First, Dennis Locorriere, lead vocalist for Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show, died May 16 at the age of 76, from complications of kidney disease.  Here is Dr. Hook's hit Cover of the Rolling Stone done live in 1980.

Clarence Carter, R&B singer, songwriter and producer,  died May 13 at the age of 90.  Carter had two (I believe) mainstream hits, but other songs were considered too ribald for mainstream music stations.  He may have been best known for Patches and this song from 1968, Slip Away.

And now for the Eurovision Song Contest.  Saturday, the finals were held in Vienna, Austria. This contest is a big event for a lot of the  world but I think a lot of Americans still have not heard of it.   

As I blogged in 2022:

The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual contest which originated in the aftermath of World War II, when Europe was struggling to recover from the horrors of World War II.  The idea was for various European countries to cooperate with each other "through cross-border TV broadcasts". The contest started in 1956, based on an Italian music festival,  with seven countries participating, and has expanded into the largest world music event there is.

Until last year, I had no idea that the singers Celene Dion and the group ABBA, among others got their start from Eurovision.  I was aware that Riverdance had its start as the "interval" act in 1994. (An interval act performs after the last act in the final during the tallying of the votes, and some of these acts have won their own brand of fame. Additionally, I learned a new word, too, because "intervals" are what we Americans call "intermission" in an event.) 

Winners do not get cash prizes, but they do get the Crystal Microphone trophy, and (best of all, perhaps) exposure.  Also, with a couple of exceptions, the host country for the following year is the country that won the year before.

I was introduced to the Eurovision Song Contest several years by a fellow participant in Music Moves Me.  This is the 2026 winning song from DARA, with Bulgaria's entry, Bangaranga. It's catchy and it would be a great song for an exercise class.  It's already getting millions of listeners on social media.

You have heard some of the songs of the Eurovision Song Contest, even if you think you haven't.  Previous winners have included Céline Dion , Lulu (of To Sir with Love fame, but not with that song), and Brotherhood of Man. (Save Your Kisses for Me).

Here are the performances of two  previous winners.  First, from 1974, perhaps the most famous Eurovision Song Contest performance:  Waterloo, by ABBA, competing for Sweden. 

 Finally, in  1997, Katrina and the Waves. won with Love Shine a Light, competing for the U.K.

And that's a wrap!

Join me again next week for another episode of Music Moves Me. 

Hanging Basket #ShadowshotSunday

In the United States, where I live, Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in May.

Last Sunday was the day.  My son always gifts me with a hanging basket.

This year he gifted me with the large basket above, filled with fuchsias.  I hope I can get to see hummingbirds visiting it.  I also hope I can keep it alive.  It's large!

Joining Lisa at This and That: A Blog, for her #ShadowshotSunday.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day May 2026

 On this last Garden Bloggers Bloom Day May post (because Carol at May Dreams Gardens, who has hosted this meme for many years, is retiring GBBD at the end of this year) I have many blooms to show you in my zone 6a garden in the Southern Tier of New York.

Our weather has been so up and down. This week we had days in the 50's F (12.7 C) and by Monday, it will be in the 90's F (32.2 C).  Then, by the end of next week, it will cool down again. This was after having a warmer (and wetter) April than we normally do.

I looked at my flower photos from May of 2025 and it appears we are slightly behind May of 2025, after all that up and down. 

The daffodils are fading away.

These are the last good ones.

The Japanese tree peony buds are getting ready to open.  

Euphorbia has been blooming for a while. 

A fuchsia tower, my Mother's Day gift.  Thank you, son! (Smart son; he brings me a different hanging basket each year).

Lily of the Valley.

One of the two pansy baskets I made up this year.

In the front, my iris are starting to bud up.

Now to the shady back yard. 

My trillium, This variety does not have flowers that open; they don't need to as they are pollinated by ants.

Primrose is almost finished.

I think this is brunneria Jack Frost.  I didn't capture many of the lovely small blue flowers because I was concentrating on the foliage.

I call this my lemon and lime brunneria.  I also have brunneria with "regular" green leaves.

In the back, it looks like my bleeding heart didn't survive the winter and my purple lilacs are on strike this year.  My white Lilacs are still blooming but are so high up I decided I had enough flowers already.  So I will end this here.

May is such a wonderful time.  Hoping that if you have a garden, it is doing well.  

Now, why not visit some of the other flower gardeners posting their links at Garden Bloggers Bloom Day and check out what's blooming for them?

April 9 Sunset #SkywatchFriday

First, a thank you to everyone who commented on my Wednesday blogging problem.   Comments fuel my blog, and I thank everyone who verified on Thursday that they were able to comment.

Now, it's time to watch the sky. 

This April 9 is a sunset that I would’ve missed had I not glanced out the window at  just the right time.  I'm been remiss in looking for sunsets recently.

So I wanted to capture this sunset. 

I went running outside just in time to catch these images.

For this last photo I decided to zoom in a little.

 

P.S. if you like flowers, I'll be posting later today for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. 

Joining Yogi and other skywatchers for #SkywatchFriday.