Yes, this is Slim's Place finally back on line.  It's been a very hectic few months and not a happy time but taking one day at a time seems to be working. I am starting to think in terms of  getting on with life and counting blessings instead of dwelling on the sadness which the loss of a beloved husband  inevitably brings.

 The blessings? The years we spent together. They were the happiest of times even though health problems were a constant for almost ten years. How could they not be happy times. Spending those years with the love of your life at your side as we lived each day of our retirement knowing how blessed we were to have one another as our life's journey was on the last lap was in itself food for the soul. Finding one another again after over 40 years was truly the greatest blessing of all. How often does one get a second chance to spend their 'golden years' with their best friend and love of one's youth. How could I not be thankful for that. 

Time is a companion that goes with us on a journey. As we grow older it reminds us to value each moment, for it will never come again. Unfortunately we too often learn that only as time begins to  wind down. When we are young we rush time whenever we can, and once we are adults and parents ourselves we find ourselves working to provide for our families every comfort and luxury our incomes allow. What we too often neglect is the quality time we should be spending with those we love and who need us a great deal more than they need all those bells and whistles. 

For those of you for whom it's a first time visit, Welcome ! You'll find my site has no particular theme and the topics can range from serious to frivolous with particular emphasis on family and children. I am, as you will find as you browse through the various pages, a very outspoken and concerned individual but even when I go off on one of my political tirades it's motivated by a very genuine concern for those who are going to have to live with the results of the decisions and actions of those who are charged with securing our futures and who have done a superb job of royally messing things up in recent years. 

Relax, I am not always pontificating. Sometimes I even attempt to be amusing. My innate sense of the ridiculous is quite well honed but then, at my age, thank goodness it is. Otherwise I would have given up long ago and decided to grow old gracefully in silence. As that is not the case it's only right I give you fair warning I don't pull too many punches. I say what I think. Isn't that one of the bonuses which accompanies the "Golden Years"? In all honesty I do have to admit I've always been that way and it's way too late for me to change now. 

Petey, my very special little buddy who passed away 3 years ago was from the beginning a very large part of this site so his approval was a definite requirement and I still miss him a great deal. He spent a great many years helping me maintain the place as you will see if you visit Petey's Nook. My little site foreman was an invaluable source of material through the years. All of those pages shall remain a part of this site as long as the site exists. You will find it, and a great deal more, if you check out the Site Directory Page. The site has become so large over the years that it's the only way I could think of to help out visitors so they didn't get lost around here.

Our adorable little ShihTzu, Tuffy is doing a sterling job of filling Petey's shoes and has found his own spot in my heart which equals that which belongs to Petey. He isn't as tiny but he is every bit as feisty and loveable and I know you will come to love him just as I have. Petey left me in very good hands. He stuck around until he was certain that Tuffy would be able to take over and only then did he decide it was time for him to fly away. Petey actually chose Tuffy's first birthday as the day he would leave me. He was so tired and yet he would not leave until he knew he was leaving me in good hands. My very much loved Petey shall always share a very large part of my heart. I miss him sitting on my shoulder supervising more than I can say. We were together for so many years. More years than anyone can expect from a tiny canary. But Petey always was exceptional and quite unique. Now his  grandchildren are with me to always remind me of that very special little wonder who brightened our lives for over fifteen years. 

There are quite a number of pages here but hopefully you will enjoy browsing. You may not always agree with me but I don't think you will be bored. I hope your children will like the Holiday section as there are a number of original children's Christmas stories there which I have written through the years. Petey figured prominently in most of them in years past. I come up with a new one every year at Christmas time. And there again Tuffy is now filling Petey's shoes. As I have already said, I can be serious a lot of the time but do also have an inner child always struggling to surface. I guess you can put that down to the fact that I have never really wanted to grow up and lose my imagination. Check out the Christmas directory in the Holiday section for a listing of those stories. I think, and hope, you might get a chuckle out of some of them. I did write a Halloween story a few years ago also but it is for older children and tucked away on it's own in the Holiday section. 

My main interests are children and family and are the reason I feel so strongly about things and wax political at times. Quite a few times in recent years. I do worry about our children's futures a great deal. The older I become, the more I realize what a treasure and responsibility it is when we are given children to nurture and love and I really only want others younger than myself to not take time for granted as I, and so many others did when we and our children were young. If I accomplish nothing other than that they might take time to savour each moment more fully after sharing my thoughts and reveries for a few moments I will have succeeded. I truly believe that absolutely nothing is more important ... or more rewarding. 

It isn't a requirement you know that we all agree on every subject but being willing to respect the opinions of others does lead to better communication, and that we most assuredly must cultivate if our way of life is to survive. I do attempt to avoid inflicting my political views on visitors to my web site as often as I can restrain myself, however I will readily admit that I am somewhat opinionated at times, particularly with regards to the welfare of children everywhere and our very much cherished and precious freedoms. Most times I do honestly make a sincere effort to try to temper that trait with a degree of caution, as I certainly recognize that my visitors may not agree with my point of view. However ... I make no apology for the occasional slip so be forewarned ! 

An explanation of why you will find so many pages on my site accompanied by the same MIDI's may be in order. The vast majority of my pages are complemented by the music created by my late husband who was a very talented musician. As his MIDI's were always all created in real time and not with any MIDI software program such as 'Band in a Box', which create the music for many, he stopped actually creating new ones more than two years ago. He was not physically able to play as he demanded of himself in recent years as he was afflicted with Rheumatoid Arthritis and more recently lung cancer and this led to his not being willing to create as many new MIDI's as he had done historically. He did still play when he was able up until the past year when he simply was not up to it. Les passed away on February 25th of this year. His suffering has ended and he is finally at peace. I miss him more than words can begin to express but I am so thankful that he is now free of the pain he suffered with so little complaint for so very long. Had I not known him as I did many times I would not have known the intensity of that pain as he tried to protect me from the knowledge  of how severe  that suffering actually was. He failed of course. I always knew but allowed him to believe I was not aware as he needed to believe that.That was my husband.

His music will live on here and with all those who knew Les and who also appreciated his music and his very large web site MIDI Studio Consortium over so many years. His site offered not only the music of many artists including himself but also a very large section offering technical assistance to all and sundry when it came to music on the web. As I am certainly not able to continue to offer that assistance as I wouldn't know what I was talking about I have sadly taken Les' site down. I was planning on leaving it up but knowing how meticulous he was in maintaining his site I found that was not feasible as the hackers and spammers made that impossible so I have taken the files off line with more than a little regret. 

I do have all the music files( there are more than 3000 of them) and will be happy to help anyone looking for a specific file if I can. Just send me an email ( you will find the address on my site directory page) and I'll see if I can locate the file in question. Les had almost 14 million visitors to his site over the years and I know they found it a wonderful resource. 

Please wander leisurely through the different pages of our site, I sincerely thank you for dropping by and I really do hope you enjoy your visit and will come back to visit often. I do update as often as time allows so there will hopefully be new content on a fairly regular basis as time goes on.