Showing posts with label gardening. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gardening. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Finally Some R&R
It has been crazy around here the last little while. Ever since I finished SongStudio, the Songwriters intensive on July 27, there has been one thing after another consuming my days, energy, attention, whatever. You get my drift. Today, finally, with my 8 year-old granddaughter off to Art Camp and a bit of alone time (other than our carpenter friend and his work mate sawing and banging away on the porch reno), I feel as if I might have a calm, relaxed day of self-direction and grace. After I shower and dress (yes, it has been a slow lazy morning thus far) I have given myself a bit of a to do list of odds and sods to get done around the house. Then I will pick up the young artist at 3:30 and have a bit of fun with her on into a quiet evening. The to do list includes washing and drying the vegetables I harvested from the garden yesterday (green and yellow beans, cucumbers, green peppers, eggplant, and tomatoes) as they keep better and longer once that is done. I am also going back to my weekly sort schedule. Today it is the gable room's turn. It's full of a lot of stuff from parent households, old photos, stored clothes. I have made a dent but would like to get it cleared to make room for a single bed for grandson visits. I may get there in the hour devoted to it today. Otherwise, I have a lot of correspondence to catch up on, reflections and photos from this year's trips to deal with, and all at a lovely leisurely pace. It is cool and rainy today. Great for working inside.
Monday, May 28, 2012
Week One in Canberra
Our first week was easy going, a kind of a low-key-to-lazy vacation at our brother and sister-in-law's home in Canberra. After lunch at her sister's that first day, B went off to walk K's dog with her and then K joined us for dinner. B made a most delicious potato and celery soup that night and a day or so later made pumpkin soup - what we would consider squash soup. We puttered about for a couple of days, looking after household bits and pieces and catching up with one another. The weather is coming on to fall, mostly warm clear days with cold nights. The temperature drops rapidly as the sun sets and it sets early, of course. But it is not freezing the bird bath overnight like it did four years ago. On that last visit we would wake up to see the cockatoos trying to break the ice on their bath. However, the colder nights make running to the bathroom in the middle of the night an attempt to set a land speed record - there is no heat in the loo and the window remains open! Nonetheless, without central heating I tend to sleep more soundly once the space heater has been turned off for the night. How odd to hear that there is a heat wave back home.
We are seeing more than cockatoos of course...galahs, mynas, eastern rosellas, king parrots, rainbow lorikeets, for example. We have also spotted kangaroos, sheep, and cattle. But no luck so far in finding koalas, although we passed through a section on the highway between Canberra and Melbourne where signs were posted indicating koala territory. Our outings in Canberra have primarily been for family shopping. But that has included a number of trips to various groceries and markets. The range of fresh local produce is fantastic, even as the fall approaches winter. B and I did go out to find her a new jacket before they set off to Sydney on Monday for B's cousin's funeral. We did not go with them. S came over and took us to lunch at a cafe. We sat outside and ate Fried Flake & Chips and a Lamb Burger. Delish!
We spent a day with L at the War Memorial, a truly outstanding museum documenting Australia's history of combat from South Africa through to Afganistan. The museum sits atop a long incline rising up from Lake Burley-Griffin across from the Parliament Houses. It is the sort of noble prospect that should be due the great architecture in any major city. It was a privilege to visit the museum with L, a knowledgeable and experienced veteran. I wore my knee braces and took my walking stick but still needed to take a break before the guys were ready to quit. Fortunately, there was a handy cafe offering good coffee and something called a mud cake.
Going to The Glassworks was great fun. I bought a "Scrabbled Egg" cup, blown glass with a glass E scrabble tile on the side of the cup - E for Egg, for my egg collection. The exhibit was delightful and the works were in a fascinting old power plant. We watched a glass blower teach a young student how to gather glass and shape a paperweight. B has signed up for the same session but we will be gone by then. Behind the works is a huge market for produce and crafts which we hope to visit later.
One morning we headed out toward Yass and the Yass Valley to visit L & B's friends on Manton's Creek. T & J were wine merchants for many years but closed their shop when the mall was redeveloped. They have moved out of the city onto 100 acres of land. They are in the process of building their new home on the top of a low hill with an almost 360 degree view of the breathtaking surrounding landscape. We were invited to see the building blocks that comprise the frame of the spacious new house. A team of men had raised half the walls in only a couple of days using these oblong bricks of compressed polystyrene held in place and reinforced with rebar. Once the walls are constucted, a cement truck will come and fill the bricks resulting in a strong concrete wall pre-insulated by the polystyrene shells. Tres cool! It will be a beautiful place once the building is complete.
Between day trips we watched and encouraged while L & B planted their winter garden in several raised beds along the end of their back yard. They have broccoli, peas, onions, garlic, squash, etc. All ready to grow in their winter. Go figure! If we planted broccoli outdoors in November we would end up with green mush after the first deep freeze. Laundry done, linens changed, cat care set up, and we were off to Melbourne. That's our second week here and that is another story.
We are seeing more than cockatoos of course...galahs, mynas, eastern rosellas, king parrots, rainbow lorikeets, for example. We have also spotted kangaroos, sheep, and cattle. But no luck so far in finding koalas, although we passed through a section on the highway between Canberra and Melbourne where signs were posted indicating koala territory. Our outings in Canberra have primarily been for family shopping. But that has included a number of trips to various groceries and markets. The range of fresh local produce is fantastic, even as the fall approaches winter. B and I did go out to find her a new jacket before they set off to Sydney on Monday for B's cousin's funeral. We did not go with them. S came over and took us to lunch at a cafe. We sat outside and ate Fried Flake & Chips and a Lamb Burger. Delish!
We spent a day with L at the War Memorial, a truly outstanding museum documenting Australia's history of combat from South Africa through to Afganistan. The museum sits atop a long incline rising up from Lake Burley-Griffin across from the Parliament Houses. It is the sort of noble prospect that should be due the great architecture in any major city. It was a privilege to visit the museum with L, a knowledgeable and experienced veteran. I wore my knee braces and took my walking stick but still needed to take a break before the guys were ready to quit. Fortunately, there was a handy cafe offering good coffee and something called a mud cake.
Going to The Glassworks was great fun. I bought a "Scrabbled Egg" cup, blown glass with a glass E scrabble tile on the side of the cup - E for Egg, for my egg collection. The exhibit was delightful and the works were in a fascinting old power plant. We watched a glass blower teach a young student how to gather glass and shape a paperweight. B has signed up for the same session but we will be gone by then. Behind the works is a huge market for produce and crafts which we hope to visit later.
One morning we headed out toward Yass and the Yass Valley to visit L & B's friends on Manton's Creek. T & J were wine merchants for many years but closed their shop when the mall was redeveloped. They have moved out of the city onto 100 acres of land. They are in the process of building their new home on the top of a low hill with an almost 360 degree view of the breathtaking surrounding landscape. We were invited to see the building blocks that comprise the frame of the spacious new house. A team of men had raised half the walls in only a couple of days using these oblong bricks of compressed polystyrene held in place and reinforced with rebar. Once the walls are constucted, a cement truck will come and fill the bricks resulting in a strong concrete wall pre-insulated by the polystyrene shells. Tres cool! It will be a beautiful place once the building is complete.
Between day trips we watched and encouraged while L & B planted their winter garden in several raised beds along the end of their back yard. They have broccoli, peas, onions, garlic, squash, etc. All ready to grow in their winter. Go figure! If we planted broccoli outdoors in November we would end up with green mush after the first deep freeze. Laundry done, linens changed, cat care set up, and we were off to Melbourne. That's our second week here and that is another story.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Quick September Summary
It seems impossible that I have reached the end of my first month of real retirement. Not only did it pass disturbingly quickly but it was also a bit of a chilly vacuum. Most of that feeling springs from a kind of decompression that was necessary for me to go through in order to even begin to feel retired. And to the lousy weather that we have had this particular September - really more like November or mid-October at best. Still and all, it was also a busy month when I did have things to do, and often a lot of fun. Here is a brief run-down:
The month began with the Burlinton Rib Fest, chilly weather and a lot of rain. We skipped our usual Saturday outing as did the friends that have attended with us for years. That gave me extra time to prep the pulled pork and peach pies for the neighborhood Contra Rib Fest on the Sunday. Lots of people came and we made it through the feast on the Penney's front lawn before getting rained out with an evening downpour. Even that didn't put a damper on the event as people retreated to a number of porches and open garages. We hung out until the night chill and the mosquitoes drove us home. Monday afternoon was clear enough that we met a few friends for beer and cider down at the Rib Fest where we listened to Jack de Keyser's Blues Band.
I also registered my younger granddaughter for Modern (Limon) class at the Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre (CCDT) formerly the Canadian Children's Dance Ensemble. They've been around for 30 years so they have grown and are wonderfully professional. Thus I have begun my weekly pilgrimage to TO to lunch with my mom and to take my granddaughter to her class. We have established a routine: on our way she has a 6-inch plain Italian Subway sandwich, vegetarian with extra cheese, lettuce, cucumber and green peppers with a bit of salt and pepper and no sauce (not bad at all for a seven year-old!), chocolate milk and two cookie combo. If she needs something after class, there is a gelato place close-by. We have tried cabs and streetcar, but really, the fastest route is my car via the Gardiner and Parliament. So
as much as I love GOing and TTC, I may drive on Thursdays, especially in inclement weather. The timing is right for quick highway traffic and there is parking right in front. She is loving it and so am I.
During TIFF I was delighted to be taking in films with friends and sisters on school days. I saw seven films over three days: three on Monday, two on Tuesday and two on Friday. In order of seeing them with a brief review: 1) The Silver Cliff from Rio in Portuguese was good but did not have enough content in places - it would be better cut as a long short than as a feature; 2) Anonymous from England in English was fabulous, loved it; 3) Lena from The Netherlands in Dutch and Polish was excellent; 4) The Oranges from the US in English with fab cast was intriguing and hilarious, loved it too; 5) W.E. was Madonna's directorial debut about Wallace and Edward with excellent performances but something off about the pace of the story development which made it good but definitely not great; 6) Union Square from the US was a small budget indie starring Mira Sorvino and great little cast about the relationships between sisters and their families, excellent; 7) The Turin Horse from Hungary in Hungarian was not only a massive disappointment but quite possibly the worst film I have ever seen at TIFF, excruciatingly devoid of any story even though the programmer described the director as the maestro of storytelling, soundtrack like nails on a blackboard and we finally walked out after two hours and twenty minutes, something I never do. I love TIFF and finally became a member. Got a lovely mag in the mail with interesting film articles and a program of events giving me a list of too many things that I would love to do from the Grace Kelly exhibit to her movies to Hitchcock's films.
Since TIFF I haven't done much. I spend a lot of time with my feet up, TV on, playing solitaire. This is my way of decompressing. The miserable weather kept my gardening efforts to a minimum, but I did manage to harvest tomatoes enough for a batch of a secret family recipe for Tomato Marmalade. My grandmother and my mother made it every year. It has its own unique delicious taste. Mom was delighted to get a little jar. I also saw more of my sisters than I ever have in one month. I stayed with Jean a few nights, went to TIFF with Jean and Mary, visited Helen's new digs - I'll see Margaret at Thanksgiving and Evelyn the week after. Yay for sisters! We also started a new tradition of rotating family dinners, just the immediate family, with the first delicious one at Erin's. Our Victoria branch keeps in touch via phone and fb. Yay for family! My new freedom has also allowed for more time with friends: TIFF with Sandy, Val and Mavis and chats with Aileen and other neighbours. I even canvassed half the street for The Arthritis Society (something I put off to the last moment making it clear that this is not a task for me). And perhaps the most important bit, I tied off the tiny frays of the loose ends from work, completing and submitting long overdue reports. This gave me an excuse to drop into CALC and say hi to a bunch of folks there, and to enjoy Private Lives at the Royal Alex with Pam, a colleague, without any school pressure hanging over my head.
I bid September good-bye with new colour and cut at Atelier, and a pedi at Salon Soleil. When it turned out that my appointment for a free Tango trial at Blueheel Dance Studio had been double booked, I was disappointed but rebooked for early October. A whole new month stretches ahead, with fewer items on the calendar and adventures waiting to unfold.
The month began with the Burlinton Rib Fest, chilly weather and a lot of rain. We skipped our usual Saturday outing as did the friends that have attended with us for years. That gave me extra time to prep the pulled pork and peach pies for the neighborhood Contra Rib Fest on the Sunday. Lots of people came and we made it through the feast on the Penney's front lawn before getting rained out with an evening downpour. Even that didn't put a damper on the event as people retreated to a number of porches and open garages. We hung out until the night chill and the mosquitoes drove us home. Monday afternoon was clear enough that we met a few friends for beer and cider down at the Rib Fest where we listened to Jack de Keyser's Blues Band.
I also registered my younger granddaughter for Modern (Limon) class at the Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre (CCDT) formerly the Canadian Children's Dance Ensemble. They've been around for 30 years so they have grown and are wonderfully professional. Thus I have begun my weekly pilgrimage to TO to lunch with my mom and to take my granddaughter to her class. We have established a routine: on our way she has a 6-inch plain Italian Subway sandwich, vegetarian with extra cheese, lettuce, cucumber and green peppers with a bit of salt and pepper and no sauce (not bad at all for a seven year-old!), chocolate milk and two cookie combo. If she needs something after class, there is a gelato place close-by. We have tried cabs and streetcar, but really, the fastest route is my car via the Gardiner and Parliament. So
as much as I love GOing and TTC, I may drive on Thursdays, especially in inclement weather. The timing is right for quick highway traffic and there is parking right in front. She is loving it and so am I.
During TIFF I was delighted to be taking in films with friends and sisters on school days. I saw seven films over three days: three on Monday, two on Tuesday and two on Friday. In order of seeing them with a brief review: 1) The Silver Cliff from Rio in Portuguese was good but did not have enough content in places - it would be better cut as a long short than as a feature; 2) Anonymous from England in English was fabulous, loved it; 3) Lena from The Netherlands in Dutch and Polish was excellent; 4) The Oranges from the US in English with fab cast was intriguing and hilarious, loved it too; 5) W.E. was Madonna's directorial debut about Wallace and Edward with excellent performances but something off about the pace of the story development which made it good but definitely not great; 6) Union Square from the US was a small budget indie starring Mira Sorvino and great little cast about the relationships between sisters and their families, excellent; 7) The Turin Horse from Hungary in Hungarian was not only a massive disappointment but quite possibly the worst film I have ever seen at TIFF, excruciatingly devoid of any story even though the programmer described the director as the maestro of storytelling, soundtrack like nails on a blackboard and we finally walked out after two hours and twenty minutes, something I never do. I love TIFF and finally became a member. Got a lovely mag in the mail with interesting film articles and a program of events giving me a list of too many things that I would love to do from the Grace Kelly exhibit to her movies to Hitchcock's films.
Since TIFF I haven't done much. I spend a lot of time with my feet up, TV on, playing solitaire. This is my way of decompressing. The miserable weather kept my gardening efforts to a minimum, but I did manage to harvest tomatoes enough for a batch of a secret family recipe for Tomato Marmalade. My grandmother and my mother made it every year. It has its own unique delicious taste. Mom was delighted to get a little jar. I also saw more of my sisters than I ever have in one month. I stayed with Jean a few nights, went to TIFF with Jean and Mary, visited Helen's new digs - I'll see Margaret at Thanksgiving and Evelyn the week after. Yay for sisters! We also started a new tradition of rotating family dinners, just the immediate family, with the first delicious one at Erin's. Our Victoria branch keeps in touch via phone and fb. Yay for family! My new freedom has also allowed for more time with friends: TIFF with Sandy, Val and Mavis and chats with Aileen and other neighbours. I even canvassed half the street for The Arthritis Society (something I put off to the last moment making it clear that this is not a task for me). And perhaps the most important bit, I tied off the tiny frays of the loose ends from work, completing and submitting long overdue reports. This gave me an excuse to drop into CALC and say hi to a bunch of folks there, and to enjoy Private Lives at the Royal Alex with Pam, a colleague, without any school pressure hanging over my head.
I bid September good-bye with new colour and cut at Atelier, and a pedi at Salon Soleil. When it turned out that my appointment for a free Tango trial at Blueheel Dance Studio had been double booked, I was disappointed but rebooked for early October. A whole new month stretches ahead, with fewer items on the calendar and adventures waiting to unfold.
Wednesday, September 07, 2011
No Back to School for Me
Yesterday everyone went back to school. I did not. In fact, I slept in until 10:20 and after groggily making a cup of coffee, I sat and watched the last half hour of the Marilyn Denis Show. Then I watched Murdoch Mysteries and played solitaire until noon. I managed to get showered and dressed and was finally beginning to consider my To Do list by mid-afternoon. First: call the Canadian Children's Dance Theatre to find out how I can enrol my granddaughter for a class. Second: visit a neighbour to pick out a few films for our first day at TIFF next Monday. Hmmm. Dinner time. Cooked so much for the neighbourhood contra-ribfest that I really didn't feel like preparing food. At all. I put some potatoes on to boil and raced up to Longos for a BBQ chicken. We had it with the new potatoes, leftover green and yellow beans from the garden, leftover marinated salad and the last of the pies I had baked for the fest. The leftover pulled pork will do for tonight. Later, having tea in front of the TV, I got out my iPad and logged onto TIFF. I found out that, although I can buy up to 4 tickets per film on-line, most of those we chose are Off Sale. But if we get tickets for one of the evening performances, we can work backward from there and will probably end up at the box office taking our chances that morning. Checking my gmail, I was sad to learn that the Edible Arrangement I had sent to CALC for the Ed-Vance staff meeting had not arrived on time. It was waiting for the principal afterwards. That shop will hear about this from me. I did want to send a tasty little greeting to the staff to wish them a good year. Just so happy that I did not have to be there and could simply laze the day away.
Thursday, August 04, 2011
Beginning to get the feel of it
I danced a little hula around the dining room this morning, singing "I am beginning to feel it." "It" being "retired." Husband cracked up when he caught on. It seemed late again when I got up at 9:30 today. But last night I did not sleep solidly as I usually do. The night was punctuated by restlessness, coughing, a strange bird cry flying down the hydro cut, irritating fabric in my new pajama pantlegs, pain in my injured rotator cuff making comfort impossible, the Guernsey book calling to be finished which I managed by moving to the couch, the mantle clock striking 3:00 and then insisting on tick-tocking noticeably instead of silently. I returned to bed and slept from 3:30 to 9:30 - sort of. And yet when I did get up, I was elated by the lack of agenda, at least any outside agenda, dictating how I would spend my day. I had to look over a letter to be sent with the documents required for an audit of last year's medical expenses claim on our taxes. Other than that, I got the pot of beans put together by 11 to cook for 8 hours in a slow oven. As it turned out, they were not quite the right beans after all and cooked a little quickly so they were ready in 6 hours. I made us some toast for sandwiches at lunch - slicing half of a bright yellow tomato for mine. Past mid-afternoon I tackled the trimming of three shrubs in our front garden. It went quickly because I was not pruning them, just giving them a bit of a haircut. Nonetheless, by the time I finished I was hot and tired and ready to put my feet up. As I sat in my recliner, I sorted through bundles of receipts and statements and enjoyed a vodka and soda. Supper was simply a bowl of the baked brown beans with bread and butter, followed by sliced strawberries. Yum! Frittered away the rest of the evening playing solitaire while watching an old Video of Brigadoon. Van Johnson, Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse. What could be better? A fat packet of receipts, summary statements and a fine cover letter is ready to send off to the Tax man, no great thanks to me (I did make encouraging and approving noises as well as find a couple of receipts and proof the letter). Oh, and alas, our daughter called and we told her that due to her dad's summer cold, we could not possibly come to the cottage tomorrow. It will have to wait until Saturday. Good thing. I'm not packed.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Summer Holidays Coming to an End
So here we are closing in on the end of August. And I have been on vacation for 2 full months - the first real holiday I have taken in 4 years. I am still going to finish my stories of our English holiday in July, if only as a great way to edit and share our photos, with text to explain them. However, those and the other stories about what I did on my summer vacation may have to wait for the time I spend commuting to work. I start back on Wednesday, September 1. Tomorrow, Tuesday August 31, I have a lot going on. It is my mother's 97th birthday, but the annual family celebration was held yesterday and it was a blast. I have an appointment in the morning for a minor medical procedure which shouldn't take more than half an hour. Then I am going for a pedicure with Pam at Soleil Salon and Spa, a monthly treat. http://www.soleilsalonandspa.ca/contact.html
For the rest of the day, I will just enjoy my last day of freedom. There are cucumbers waiting on the garden wall for a deep watering promised for tomorrow morning. I'll get them in and maybe I'll have the energy to make a plum tart or peach pie - I was just too hot and breathless after today's harvest of tomatoes and beans, and after planting a few seeds for a fall crop of mesclen mix, carrots, radishes, and peas. As long as the weather stays this hot, the new seeds will need water every day. But that is a change. In spite of our long absences this summer, everything has remained green and the garden has yielded wonderful crops.
Well, I must to bed to be ready to leave the house by 8:30 tomorrow. I'm really not too nervous but the test on my thyroid involves an endocrinologist sticking needles into my neck. Fun, eh!? I'll let you know how it goes. 'Night now!
For the rest of the day, I will just enjoy my last day of freedom. There are cucumbers waiting on the garden wall for a deep watering promised for tomorrow morning. I'll get them in and maybe I'll have the energy to make a plum tart or peach pie - I was just too hot and breathless after today's harvest of tomatoes and beans, and after planting a few seeds for a fall crop of mesclen mix, carrots, radishes, and peas. As long as the weather stays this hot, the new seeds will need water every day. But that is a change. In spite of our long absences this summer, everything has remained green and the garden has yielded wonderful crops.
Well, I must to bed to be ready to leave the house by 8:30 tomorrow. I'm really not too nervous but the test on my thyroid involves an endocrinologist sticking needles into my neck. Fun, eh!? I'll let you know how it goes. 'Night now!
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