Hi, Dorothy. I used to live in Wisconsin. Those raccoons are conducting a scam. Predicting a long winter in Wisconsin is as safe as predicting a hot summer in Florida, so tell your friend not to pay them.

The dulcimer class went pretty well, considering it was my first one. I had four students (good thing there were not more), and then said they appreciated it and had learned, although the amount of material was a little daunting.

I was unprepared for how hard it was to tune up. Most of the dulcimers had been sitting unplayed for a long time, and their strings were all over the map. The tuner couldn't cope, and the needle swung wildly to and fro when a string was plucked. I was getting pretty flustered, but the DH rallied round, analyzing which way to turn the knobs and taking some dulcies away for therapy in a quiet room.

We had fun. I could have done without the woman who said she would be 'a little late' and showed up one hour late for a two-hour class.