Is it a Wonderful World?

Some of you may have heard that I have been taking piano lessons since the spring. I finally got up the courage (and the spare time) to record one of the pieces I have been practicing.

Below is a YouTube video of me playing "What a Wonderful World".  Let me know what you think.

This is the direct link to the video if your browser doesn't play it directly. https://youtu.be/2-_tljmoDyE

Considering my recent change in employment status (anyone looking for an "unemployed 52 year old medical scientist"?). Now I am wondering whether I really should have selected something celebrating how wonderful the world is?  Either way, I played it at a rather melancholy tempo... that was a choice based more on skill, than on affect.

Is July almost gone already?

It has been quite a while since I posted to the blog - ever since we dropped off Adam at camp, July has seemed to float by with seemingly not much to do... or to write about. Our days consist of getting up, heading to work (with less trouble finding parking), then coming home to an excited "hoo-hooing" Maddy and a dazed-looking Parker. A few errands or chores in the evening and off to bed. Parker is having a decidedly relaxed summer, as he usually gets up around lunch time (his lunch time, not ours) and stares at his computer screen for the rest of the day with his headphones on. It is definitely going to be a big shock in a few weeks when he goes to his 2 week school program (a head start on grade 9).

Wendy returned to work in the first week of July and was 'sort of not really excited' about going back after 6 weeks off. She thought she would be bored, but found that she had lots to keep her occupied. Oddly, she is also 'sort of glad' to be back at work (more people to talk to perhaps?), although her office moved to the cold dungeon of the hospital while she was off. Send warm thoughts.

The weather this month has been nothing to write a blog post about, so I won't.

Our garden has been growing quite well and our tomatoes are finally showing that they can make fruit. Will be a long while before they start ripening since we have had little sun and heat to help them along. The raspberries were more or less OK (not as bountiful as previous years so far), but Wendy has picked quite a few. Maddy, however, has shown that she is a complete freak for raspberries! She loves them and will wait (not so quietly) on the grass while Wendy picks. Her periodic yips and whines remind everyone that she really, really wants a berry.

Maddy waiting for raspberries

Last weekend Wendy, her father, and I took a trip up to visit Adam. He got a day pass to leave the base (the week earlier it was denied since he was assigned to run the intake of new cadets, so could not take the day off). Adam took us on a tour of the base - his grandfather had not been there since about 1959 or so, and things were not even recognizable. We did the full walking tour and somehow randomly met 2 of the other cadets that we knew from Dundas.

Adam with his grandfather and his pacing stick

Adam carried his pacing stick with him as a privilege of his rank - he is a CSM (Company Sergeant Major) in command of the 18 staff in Service and Technical Support at the camp. He got assigned a rank based on the job, although he is actually a Warrant Officer Second Class at his home squadron. This year we weren't introduced to any of the female staff cadets Adam has mentioned in his frequent phone calls, as most were busy working... Wendy's opinion =  :-(

Inside Adam's tent

Adam's tent and bicycle (left) on Delta Line at Blackdown Cadet Training Centre

After the tour we took Adam to lunch in Borden, then dropped him back at the camp. The quick stop at Dairy Queen on the drive home to Dundas was the remaining anticipated event of the day.

Wendy has been practicing piano much more than Parker has, and it seems that she is excelling at playing.

She and Parker are going to Disney in September (with Mel and Murray), so she has a book of Disney music to learn. Getting into the Disney spirit early...  Mel and Murray are taking Adam to go scuba diving in Roatán (north of Honduras) when he is off for his spring break.

Maddy and Wendy took a walk while I was with Parker at his umpiring job tonight. She texted me to say that Maddy was covered in little green burrs, and that she took pictures. The picture below is what she looked like when she arrived home. Not sure what plant they were from, but they sure stuck to her face!

Maddy with green burrs

Till next time!

Wendy and Parker's duet

Wendy and Parker performed a duet at the Dundas Conservatory of Music recital yesterday.

I did video record their performance on the big grand piano, but Wendy and Parker didn't want me to post that version (they had a small glitch near the end of the song). Instead, I am posting a practice session from a day or so before they did their real performance.

Lots of not much happening going on

I guess I have been a bit lax about blogging lately. For not much really happening, there were a lot of things that seemed to happen. Most of it this weekend.

We have been hiking a few times in the past week or so, and have been watching closely for changes that should prove to us that spring is really here. A few small flowers have come out to demonstrate that they indeed survived the winter.

Flowers along the trail

We even took a trail that we had never been on before (it is connected to the Dundas Main Loop, but we had never thought to take it). What we discovered was a nice little pond only a few hundred feet from the main trail! We had seen glimpses of it through the trees, but never ventured that direction. A bit marshy around this quaint little lake (it isn't named on the official maps that we have seen), but what can you expect? Sadly, no sandy beach was visible.

Unnamed lake/pond

On the way down the hill to the tiny lake, we found that the trail went directly through a fallen tree.  OK, I thought it was really cool (I don't get out much). Maddy didn't even bat an eyelash as they walked through the tree. Just a normal thing for her...

Maddy and Wendy walking through a tree

The huge moss covered rocks presented a nice view, so out came the cell phone camera again! Some day I will bring my real camera and take some better images. I promise.

Moss covered rocks

Adam finally took his Skid Control School course in Oakville.  He got this all day training course as a gift for Christmas and needed to wait until he had his full G licence. He apparently did very well (his report card looked better than when Wendy did the course a few years ago), and says he had a great time. Maybe our cars will feel less trepidation when he gets gets behind the wheel from now on.

Our gardens have been coming along nicely, with many flowers blooming from the bulbs planted last fall.

Pink tulip

White/pink ground cover

A few hyacinth came up in various colours

In the front yard. The deer don't like daffodils or hyacinth.

Fallen angel

 

Orange tulip

OK, I get it. Enough of the flower pictures.

This weekend our niece, her husband, and their 1 yr-old daughter came to visit.  It has been a long time since we had a toddler in the house - it took me quite a while to figure out how to set up the baby gate. Seems like the piano was a big hit!

Play time!

The lawn has needed cutting a few times last week - Parker has that job. While shopping, Parker texted me to say he was unable to cut the lawn because he needed me to "check the lawnmower". Not understanding exactly what was up with it, I expected that he just was unable to get it started.

On arriving home, I took a look to see what the problem was. Sure enough, he was right - I did need to look at it.  On getting ready to mow the lawn yesterday, he could easily have started it. That wasn't the issue. His problem was a little bigger.... it was attached. Really attached.

Apparently, Parker put the lawnmower away after using it earlier in the week, but he did not realize that the engine was somewhat hot. This normally would not pose a significant problem, except for the fact that the mower sits right beside the shop vac that we keep in the garage. You guessed it! The shop vac melted itself into the engine. It took me a few minutes and some considerable force to extricate the poor vacuum hose from the lawnmower. In the end, most of it came off (hey, what's the problem with a little extra smoke?). The vacuum hose itself, however, is toast...err... I mean melted...

Melted vacuum on the lawnmower

At long last, on our hike yesterday, we finally saw a few blooms from the long-awaited trillium. Summer is definitely not far away!

First trillium of the season!

Hockey season is OVER!

Parker played in his final house league game of the season on Saturday with his brand new stick. It was the final championship game to determine the season's best team. Unfortunately his team didn't win the trophy - they got a medal for second place. Happy to be done with hockey season and hoping for spring, what do you think we did for the rest of the weekend?

First game of the last day of the hockey season

We watched Parker play hockey, of course! Froze our butts off, too. Repeatedly.

His team entered the City of Hamilton "playdowns" on Sunday. The first game at the Chedoke arena was pretty much a bust, as it was against a much stronger team. They didn't have a great time, especially coming one day after their disappointing loss in the house league championship.

Parker actually had two major events scheduled on the same day (not unusual in our household), so we whisked him from the arena, got him changed, and brought him to a church in Dundas for his piano recital. The video below tells you about how long his performance was.

After the recital, we whisked him to a different arena (Mountain Arena in Hamilton) just in time to get changed and ready for his next game. 

Second game of the last day of the season (Parker in red helmet)

A funny thing was that one of the referees coming in for the game (pictured above) walked up to Eric and asked him what he was doing there. The ref was one of Eric's teaching assistants from McMaster! This game was far better, but they were not quite able to catch up to the other team. Definitely a more exciting game to watch than the last one, but still disappointing for the kids. 

After the game, all Parker wanted to do was to go home and play video games while keeping his leg still. He hurt his leg previously and it was sore for most of the weekend.

That was pretty much how the last hockey day of the season went. Just hope winter soon gets the idea that we are done with it, too. 

Please.

Maddy's visitors

Maddy was in heaven with all the attention this week. She started off Sunday with a play date with her large dog friend, Abby (Maddy can walk underneath her, so she is quite big in comparison). Tired her out completely! She just had time for a quick nap before the arrival of Eric's parents, brother, and sister-in-law. They were on their way home from a tour in Italy and stopped in Toronto.  They stayed at our place for a few days while they recovered from the 9+ hr flight.

Maddy with Eric's dad, Paul.

Maddy decided that she loved everyone and was ready to receive a scratch from anyone, anytime. And there was a lot of that going on...everyone was home all week due to Spring Break for the kids.

Maddy with Eric's brother, Dave.

Maddy with Eric's sister-in-law, Sandra.

Maddy in her glory.

We had several big meals and sat in the living room a lot. Both Wendy and Parker practiced their piano for everyone, while Maddy demonstrated how to play with toys.

Eric's mom, Dianne.

The family all together for a concert.

Maddy also had a short play date with her neighbour dog friend, Penny (a dachshund). After all of the activity and the lack of sleep (everyone was home all day), Maddy finally remembered that she had started the week by losing an hour of sleep due to the spring-forward time change.  She was so over-tired that she kind of sunk into the couch. Anyone that has ever had jet lag should recognize this feeling!

What true jet lag looks like.

With all the talk of spring, and all the melting going on in the back yard (we had mud puddles everywhere), you'll never guess what happened?  

We got snow.  

Again.  

After everyone was headed back to Winnipeg on Wednesday in a major snow storm, I drove back home from Pearson airport (after almost 2 hours of driving on city streets - all the highways were functionally blocked). It was miserable for the whole day, but we woke up the next morning to a pretty back yard. Looks a little like a postcard from the Swiss Alps (without the mountains). 

After the storm.

It has partly melted since then, but I am not holding my breath for spring coming any time soon. The weather was just the right temperature, though, for Maddy to make some interesting patterns in the yard with her nicely trimmed (not bushy) feet.

Maddy tracks.

An interesting day...

Although I didn't win roll up the rim to brighten up my typical Thursday, it actually turned out to be quite an interesting day today.

First,  I got to watch some of the Canadian women's gold medal win (actually the first time I watched a medal ceremony this Olympics)! Hoping for a repeat by the men tomorrow.

Second,  Wendy started piano lessons at the Dundas Conservatory (just before Parker's weekly lesson). A good lesson but Parker was the only one to get invited to perform at a recital next month...

Third,  Maddy turned 3 years old,  so we gave her a little taste of ice cream to celebrate. Still our baby,  but growing up so fast!

Fourth,  I almost completed my big stained glass project (the one Wendy has wanted me to make for over a couple of years).  I just need to clean it up a little then I'll take some photos to show everyone.  We are going to hang it as a show piece in our new kitchen.

Finally, it snowed AGAIN! It was supposed to rain up to 50 mm,  but it decided to start as snow. All at once.   If that wasn't special enough,  it also was foggy for a while. When we thought it couldn't get any better,  it started into the thunder and lightning! Can't remember the last time it snowed and thundered at the same time,  but Parker was sure impressed (he even tweeted about this event,  so he says).

Hope Friday will turn out to be just as uneventful!

Piano arrived!

We bought a used piano at a great price for our living room and it came in this week.  Parker has been taking lessons for a long time and it was finally time to get a real piano - he has been using an electronic keyboard in his room since he started playing. Wendy and I are considering learning how to play as well.

We had to rearrange our living room, and decided to give up one of the TVs in the house.  The living room can now be for reading and listening to music, and, of course, watching Maddy play.

The piano is a Heintzmann (made in Canada in 1968). We got it from Case Van Geest House of Piano's in Waterdown. Great condition!