Monthly Archives: July 2026

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Yesterday when Brian and I were on our way to the gym I heard a bird song that somehow reminded me of a kookaburra. And THAT reminded me of when I was a Bluebird (a baby Camp Fire Girl) and we sang two ’rounds’ that I remember and can hear them now.

Total Voice Studio

A ’round’ in music is “a type of vocal composition where two or more singers sing the exact same melody, but start at staggered times. Because the singers overlap, their different parts harmonize to create a continuous loop of beautiful music.”

“Le Carillon de Vendôme”

Orléans, Beaugency,

Notre-Dame de Cléry,

Vendôme, Vendôme !

This is the first one I remember. When we sang, it sounded like bells were ringing. The first group would start the song. The second group started right after “Orle’ans”. The sound we made, even though we weren’t great singers, was breathtaking.

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Kookabyrra

Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree,
Merry merry king of the bush is he.
Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra,
Gay your life must be!

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Eating all the gumdrops he can see
Stop, Kookaburra, Stop, Kookaburra
Leave some there for me.

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree,
Counting all the monkeys he can see
Stop, Kookaburra, Stop, Kookaburra,
That’s no monkey, that’s me.

This is the second one, and was mainly just fun. The first group would sing the first line, and the second one would start after that. I can remember singing those, delight on our faces, the whole time we were members of the Blue Birds. I don’t hear anyone singing rounds anymore. I miss them.

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This is my latest sketch. I took photos of the lizard at the top and then going up the tree while I was sitting at the window in the cafe. One of the servers told me they could fly. I looked it up and found that they can glide up to 60 feet to get away from a predator. I didn’t actually see the ‘wings’ on this one, but I drew the one I found on the net. I think it’s amazing how fast they move without having to fly, and that their tails are at least twice as long as their bodies…

I have two sketches base painted that I’ll take to the cafe this afternoon. I want to try to draw the axolotl that I found on the net soon. I also have an idea rattling around in my head with a ‘keep moving’ theme I was to start on.

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I’m not making much progress at all with my jigsaw puzzle of the chameleon. The border is done, and I have a small group of pieces that is part of the branch, but that’s it. This one will definitely take a while. Brian is thrilled. 😁

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I hope you’re having a great weekend.

Pamela Schifano – Substack