A few weeks ago, we finally decided to donate The Beast, our long neglected hammered dulcimer, to the Salvation Army. While sad to see it go, we feel sure that the person who is meant to have it will find it there and take good care of it. (Or, it will determinedly make its way back to us.This is a real possibility, given its history!)

Last week when we took some more donations in, Vince noticed a wee xylophone up on a tall shelf. I have been wanting to add one to my collection for awhile, it was in excellent shape, and the $5.99 price tag was irresistible. This was good karma!  Vince immediately dubbed our new pal “Xyley Cyrus”.

We stopped at the hardware store on our way home. As I carried Xyley into the shop, the man behind the counter looked up and started to laugh. He decided that we must be destined to help him with the crossword clue he had been struggling with all morning – “an instrument you play with mallets”. We solved it with “marimba”, Vince hummed a few bars of “Under the Sea” from The Little Mermaid, and we headed out into the cold afternoon.

It wasn't until we got home that we realized just how much Xyley resembles our big Beast.

They must be related.

Do you see the resemblance?

H. xo

Hi Friends!

Just for fun, we entered my song "Missing Me" into the CBC Searchlight contest.

I would love it if you could send a few votes my way!

You can vote once each day of the contest, which ends April 6.

Just go to this link to listen to the song: http://music.cbc.ca/#/play/artist/Heather-Chappell/Missing-Me and click on the blue "vote for this artist" button at the bottom right hand side of the profile.

If we make it to the next round, the song may be played on CBC's "Here and Now" - which would be awesome!

Thank you so much, as always,  for your support!

H. xoxo