Where I am From Second Installment

I am from cheese from Stolting’s  Delicatessen,  from  Zest soap and  paper bags full of penny gob stoppers bought at Porter’s store with my weekly allowance.

I am from the AnJen Farm, with miles of white fences painted all summer long to earn a new saddle.

I am from the shade of the weeping willow tree, the yipping of the coyotes and the steamy heat of a barn full of cows in winter.

I am from heads bowed, eyes closed grace before dinner and Sunday night Disney, from Auntie Doris and the deVille’s and the family that lived on Kirkstall Road.

 

Me and Auntie Doris Oct 2014

 



I am from the Langley Flippers swim club and the Grovette school newspaper.

From catching colds if you went out with wet hair and eating all your dinner to save children from starving in far off lands.

I am from routine and rituals.

I'm from Manion Place and Shuniah School.  Standing in the kitchen in pajamas and bare feet on the cold floor with a glass of chocolate Nestle’s Quick before bed. Sometimes the strawberry flavor would trick me into begging for it, only to rediscover that I hated it.  Mom saying, ‘If I buy it, you have to drink it all before I buy the chocolate again”.

From the little calf named Bambi that we bought from auction.  Sickly from the start, we bottle fed it and kept it in an out-building near the house so we could nurse it easily.  I am from the heartbreak of Bambi’s death and from the poem I wrote about it. 

I am from cottages on lakes, black lab kisses, sunsuits and tobogganing. 

 

Without Words

Chance Is a Fine Thing!

Funny thing, chance.

After lunch with a friend a couple of weeks ago I went over to the vacuum store across the street from the restaurant we met at, to get some bags for my vac.  Entering the parking lot I noticed a music store in the same plaza, so I went in after I got my vac bags.

And I came out with a new piano book.  100 of the greatest pop songs.  Easy Piano.

So much fun! And not so easy.

I bought myself a second hand keyboard a few months ago to keep in the city for practicing my choir music with.  By which I mean plunking out notes, mostly with one finger.  Thank God we have very professional learning tracks to use for most of the practice.  But I missed being able to slowly go over certain passages with my piano which lives at my house, which I don't live at, as you know.  So I got this keyboard.

As it sits just a few feet from my desk, it has beckoned me on many occasions to come over and play.  Since the only music I had on hand at first was my choir music, I struggled along with some of the accompaniment but, let's be honest, that was way beyond my ability!

Over Christmas I downloaded some free sheet music Christmas carols and played around with them which was great.  By great, I mean it was simpler than the accompaniment, and it showed me that my brain could no longer communicate with each of my hands independently, which was a little depressing.  However, each practice showed improvement, which was encouraging.

But the new piano book has inspired me to make time for a regular piano practice, and I am really getting into it!!  I have three songs on the go, and two of them are really coming along, I just started working on the 3rd one yesterday. 

Despite the fact that the keyboard has some limitations - I run out of keys playing the bass clef and the keys need a lot more weight to depress them and keep them depressed - as a learning tool it has been excellent.

Ever heard that saying " Chance would be a fine thing"?

Well, it was.

Where I Am From

I came across a writing exercise this morning.  Called Where I am From, it directs your to fill in the blanks to create your own story about how you came to be you.  On a different day, I would probably complete it differently, and to that end I have downloaded the template and will revisit it again in the future. 

I added a few pictures and voila!


Where I Am From

I am from new shirts from Woodward’s dollar forty-nine day, from scotch mints tucked beneath the couch cushions.  Newborn kittens in the hayloft.

I am from the stucco and beam farmhouse with the sliding patio front door and wild pink flowered wallpaper in the kitchen.  From aromas as welcoming as stewing chicken or as repugnant as canning salmon.   Pipe smoke.

I am from music.   Mom singing in the kitchen, or the garden, or the barn.   Records.  Soundtracks from The King and I and My Fair Lady.  My piano. 

I am from paperwork and party lines and a home based business .  The dining room desk with it’s clutter.  Typing Dad’s correspondence on the clunky manual typewriter.  The mistakes never forgotten by the carbon copy.  The expectation that you would answer the telephone politely, in case it was a business call.  Take proper messages, written down. 

I am from the tall sweet grass in the field, where we would lay down and name the cloud shapes as they drifted past.  From the cool of the tree canopy at the back of our farm on hot summer days.  From the outdoor swimming pool where we trained most mornings at 6am. 

I am from overseas phone calls at Christmas and a family of giants.

From Edna and Jim and Jennifer.


I am from the bargain rack shoppers and the good night kisses.

I am from dogs and cattle and horses and chickens.  All with names, and personalities.  From parades around our side field where the parents would sit in their folding lawn chairs,  watching us kids circle the field, riding horses with flowers braided into manes and tails, towing dogs with painted toe nails and floral collars, pulling wagons with the littlest kids inside or maybe riding a bike with a playing card clothes-pegged to the spokes.

From “I will come up to tuck you in” and “you get as much out of something as you put into it”. 

I am from the bonnets and white gloves of Anglican Sunday School, the satin gowns and purple robes of Jobies.  From the pile of books on my bed borrowed from the book-mobile, where I discovered “The Religions of the World” which I read cover to cover while sick in bed.  I was about 11. 

I'm from pond skating in Port Arthur ON, by way of a red door in England near the train bridge and an apartment in Bombay with turkey’s on the balcony.  I am from spicy curries and rich beef stews made from our own animals that we raised and garden veggies that we produced.

I am from the ships engineer who was lost at sea; from the kind man who was illiterate but still tried to read to his eight children, substituting the words “apple cart” for any word he was unable to read; from the desperate young mother of four who died from infection from a self- induced abortion.

I am from home movies, flickering soundlessly in a dark basement, from letters from my grandfather to my father and from my father to me, from creased and bent black and white prints of my sister and me posing in the snow, and framed portraits of my parents through the years, side by side.

 

 

 

 

Veggie Garden Review

The Veggie Garden In Review

Even without the fence we planned to build, the garden thrived and

didn't get eaten by bunnies or deer.

 

I've been looking at the seeds I ordered and planted, and trying to make plans for what to get for next season.  Mostly I was pretty pleased with my  first effort, considering I planted quite late (May long weekend), and basically created the garden in a single day, from a corner of a former horse pasture.  

 

Bush Beans – Carson – yellow beans.  These were very productive at first, but flagged a little through the heat, but once the weather cooled they came on strong again and lasted well into the fall, probably the first week of October they finished.  I got about 12 ft of row from 1 25 g packet of seeds.   I would need at least twice that to preserve any as we ate all fresh except for some given away.

Pole Beans, Fortex Filet – these were great  green beans, they get really long, and are very tender.  They were very productive.    I also planted some seeds from my 2010 garden, which turned out to be a few scarlet runners, which didn’t do well at all, and then some other beans which I think may have come from the in-laws garden, which did better.  I would like to plant more of the Fortex Filet beans next year, especially if preserving any.

Beets were a dead loss.  I only planted the Cylindra which I bought because their cylindrical, uniform shape appealed to me.  However, the greens didn’t develop very well, and stayed very red and tough.  The beets themselves also were very small.  Very late in the season, as I was dismantling the garden, I dug up the rest and there were a few decent sized ones, but overall I would not say these could be defined as successful by any standard of measure.  Not sure if it was the soil composition, the late planting date or just not a seed I was happy with.

Lettuce, Carrots, Beets, Radishes, and Cilantro Bed

 

Carrots did well but the 2g packet of pelleted seeds I bought did not go very far.  I got a 4 ft long 4” wide swath of carrots.  I would definitely go with the pelleted seeds again, but need about 4-6 times as many. 

Corn Sprouting

Corn maturing

Corn Ready for the Pot!

Corn was a success!  From the 15g packet of seedsof Jubilee Super Sweet I got seven 6 ft long rows and yielded about 30-40 cobs of corn.  The first picking wasn’t very sweet, although it looked beautiful and had a nice firm texture.  Later pickings were much sweeter but the texture was mushier.  I would grow this again and plant earlier.  Probably better soil will help.

Lettuce .  I planted Buttercrunch and Coastal Star.  Both grew well in the early months, but the transplants didn’t do well once the heat of summer arrived and we weren’t there to water often enough. 

Onion sets did very well, but I am not sure that the tiny onions that we yielded were worth the effort.  How do you grow larger onions?  Different kind?  Must look into.

Onions and Garlic ready to use

 

Garlic and Daffodils planted together

 

The garlic was fantastic.  I grew Russian Red.  We enjoyed the scapes in the spring and the bulbs we harvested were large with enormous cloves with a nice sweet garlicky flavour.  I only planted two of the small raised beds, but have already planted a much larger crop in the main garden for next years harvest.

Parsnips flopped.  None even sprouted. 

Peas were great.  The 25g packet of Green Arrow peas planted about 20 ft of row in two plantings.  I planted these in the back garden and they were affected by pea moths, which I now realize is most likely to happen when you plant them later and they flower in June/July.  The peas planted in the raised bed planter from seeds from my previous garden were less affected because they were planted earlier.

Tomatoes – did very well, especially the early girls.  The romas were pretty good and the beefsteaks did the poorest, as the plants did not get very large.  Big yield. As in 100+ lbs.

 

Basil crop was great.  I planted some good sized plants from a local nursery.  They really took a while to get going, so much so that I bought a tray of seedlings and put a seedling in beside each of the plants.  Once the hot weather came along it all took off.  I made two large batches of pesto, yielding about 24 meals worth, which I froze in muffin tins then transferred frozen into ziplock bags.  Each muffin sized puck is plenty for one meal for two with pasta and veggies.

 

 

 

 Red Currant Bush

 Red Currant Jelly in Progress

 

The red currant bush was loaded again this summer.  I used some of the frozen currants from last year along with some of this years crop to make jelly.  Then I carefully froze each successive picking in a big yogurt container which I then stupidly left out of the freezer by accident ruining all of them. So we are enjoying the jelly sparingly as it will have to last us for at least two seasons!

 

 

 

 

Sunroom

I finally found the perfect furniture for the sunroom!


I have done very little buying and selling on Craigslist, but I am an avid "looker" at the listings.  One of the things I have been searching for is wicker furniture, and while many listings have come and gone, nothing really caught my eye until this one:

"Pier 1 Azteca wicker furniture, lightly used, settee, chair, ottoman, coffee table, and  side table $500."

Wow!  I love Pier 1 stuff, and since this Azteca furniture is still part of their line, I went to the local store to have a look at it and test it for comfort.  Price new, including cushions and tax for all the pieces in the ad was almost $2200.

 

The new furniture in the sunroom

I emailed the seller, Val, and we had a few chatty emails back and forth.  She was selling because she needed a hide a bed in her living room as she is waiting for a hip replacement and won't be able to get upstairs in her condo for 6 weeks  after the surgery. She bought the Azteca furniture as a treat to herself when she first bought her condo a couple of years ago. 

I told her I really didn't want the large coffee table, but I would take it to get it off her hands.  She said if I took everything she'd drop the price to $400.  I LOVE CRAIGSLIST!!

So I rallied my son to give me a hand and we went and picked it up. It is in perfect condition.  The cushions are slightly worn, so I may replace them in the future.  But I am happy, happy, happy with the way the sunroom looks now, including a newly framed painting done by my Dad and a little area for my guitar practice.

 

Dad's painting

 

Guitar Practice Area

 



 

The coffee table I didn't want is a great home for Mom's Christmas Cacti that are blooming like mad!

 

 

Wedding Day Approaching Fast!

 

 

 

Workshop reno as seen through the corn patch

This summer has been busy, besides the workshop renovation, which is coming along, two other things have kept me on my toes.

Mid July my Mom and Dad moved from their condo on the sunshine coast to an independent living community near the country estate!  This is very exciting news!  On the sunshine coast they were a BC Ferries ride away from me, with the inherent line-ups, missed sailings, expensive fares and the completely inconvenient sailings times.  It was an effort to get over there to see them, and an effort for them to come over to see us, especially now that our home is an hour away from the ferry terminal.


Now I see them every week, and they are able to sleep in their own bed each night, rather than coming to visit and having to squeeze into a smaller bed.

Their move went pretty smoothly, all things considered.  My sister came to help with the final packing and unpacking and she was there to ensure the day the movers came to pick up the furniture there were no glitches.

We both were there for the unpacking and our goal was to get everything put away so their new space wasn't clutter with boxes.  Of course,most of it was no put where Mom and Dad wanted it, so here we are three weeks later and they are still looking for things, moving things and sorting out.  However, each day seems to be better, they are settling in and meeting people.  I think in a couple of months they will have developed a new routine and all will be well.

The finished horseshoe chair, in it's final resting place.  Remember back in November when I blogged about it here?

The other big thing is that my son Jason is getting married August 16th in our garden!  It has been a family affair getting things ready for that. 

Dad is painting signs to direct guests to the parking area out back.

We have painted, built, mowed, sewed and scrubbed our way towards the big day which is coming up very quickly now!

 

Jason, Julie and Chuck building stairs onto the lawn from the deck.

Julie, the bride to be, is making a lot of the food herself, bless her heart.  We have tailored the menu to keep it as simple as possible from a serving standpoint, while still showing off Julie's talents in the kitchen.

Chuck setting up the new barbeque

 

 

 

 

Lawn furniture and the old bathtub getting their paintjobs!

The bathtub is going to be filled with ice for bottled and canned drinks.  After the wedding it will become a planter as I mentioned in this previous blog.

 

 

My boys taking a break

 

Family relaxing in the shade

It is going to be an amazing wedding, small and intimate with 50 guests - close friends and family - in attendance.  Fingers crossed that this lovely weather holds, or at least comes back (a couple of days of rain would really freshen things up) by Aug 16th. 

 

Driveway garden in its current incarnation.