Home Is Where the Heart Is...

A heart in our backyard...

My friends in Basel invited me to make the Kulturvilla my Swiss base. Thanks to them I have been able to travel more easily around the country. I only have 2 bags at this point anyway (the other is still in Ireland from my luggage dilemma last year). When I went to Montreux I had just a small backpack & an over sized purse kinda thing. Whew...thank heavens for friends! I returned home from a whirlwind of singing-Montreux, Luzern, back to Montreux- to the heart in the grass. I felt home indeed!!

Dex in the kitchen...

Dex made the heart. He also makes jam, wine, and occasionally meals. He pretty much takes care of all the gardening and house fixing. Plus he is a musician with a recording studio here: www.dexmusic.ch. Natascha is a theatre director who runs the inside of our villa. She manages the comings & goings of everyone. Believe me. It's necessary with all the creative people coming from around Europe to participate in projects here in Basel. We have a wild household! What's really great is the meals we share, not to mention the actual organized events which are few, but fabulous.

One way to use overgrown zucchini...

The baby of the house, Louie- Dex's youngest son.

Natascha, Rabea, Ben, & Gentiana...Louie is hidden and Dex is photographing too.

My Swiss adventure has been incredible! I still have a few more concerts here. Plus I sing on the streets and am gaining quite the reputation. People still don't know what to make of the woman who sings a cappella. I can see it in their eyes when they pass. Many smile because they like what I am doing. Others are encouraged to try something equally outrageous. And others... well, they think I'm crazy. All of it brings a bigger smile to my face.

The famous wooden bridge in Luzern.

At the Blue Balls Festival in Luzern, the world renoun music hall.

Three guys named...? They were jumpin' to Louis Jordan & Hot Five standards.

Boys playing on the lake in Luzern.

La Plage de 6 Pompes where I sang with Mark & a young ska group called Ska Nerfs.

The last festival I sang at was a theatrical event with all the performers playing for chapeau, which means the hat is passed at the end of the show. Very cool vibe! It was mostly for theatre type players, but they squeezed in some music so I got to do my thang. The town is La Chaux des Fonds and it's in the mountains. Needless to say, the nights were cold. My hosts belong to a band called the Ska Nerfs (pronounced: Skanners). They're all under 21 and boy did they give my spritefulness a run!!! We did a couple of performances then headed to the disco til closing @ 5am. I returned to the villa needing much sleep.

The Kulturvilla...home IS where the heart is.

I am packing once again. This time for a big festival in Zurich. It's another event where I can sing a lot and make some money. That is what brought me to Basel, if you recall. Art Basel didn't allow musicians, but look at all the other wonderful things I found here. BTW, while searching the net I came across an article in the Turkish Daily News about my misadventure into Basel Artland. Check it out: http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=106673 Also, there is a video of one of the songs I wrote with Mark's guitar arrangement. Oops... thought I loaded it, but NOOO! Still getting used to all these technical things. Soon you can check youtube under "Oh God!" That's the name of the tune. Gotta run... so much to do before I hit RailCity tomorrow.

Keep smiling & be happy! I am always sending you loads of love!!!