Cut away everything that doesn't look like a violin

A continuation of my September 25th post.



Time off between Christmas and New Year's has been fun. Although there has been plenty to do, my shoulder has healed enough that I can actually do work on my fiddle again. Rotator cuff injuries make doing all kinds of things nearly impossible.


You may recall when I finished the sides and proudly displayed them. Each step of the way, I've been really anxious, and by the time I put tool to wood, I've done it a hundred times in my head. Here again is the sides completed and sitting on the maple that will be her back.






Then I gathered up all my nerve and cut into that beautiful piece of bird's eye maple. I started taking little nibbles of wood and then eventually, got relaxed and finished her outline.






I have spent some time over the holidays with a chisel and a beech mallet, again taking little nibbles. And guess what I found?!?! There really is a violin inside that piece of wood. I can't tell you how excited I am, just watching it emerge. I'm already imagining what she will sound like when I play the first notes.

Tornado Picture Stitched

Susan took stitched my three pictures together from my tornado post ... here it is.

There are all kinds of areas like this where the tornado just cleared areas of forest.

Thanks Susan

Granny's Calmer Downer

Okay, it doesn't have all kinds of computer-like functions. It's no use in gourmet cooking, it doesn't clean the bird cage. This gadget only gets pulled out once in a while. Using it isn't always a happy occasion. When you do have to use it, as I did today, and on a previous post in the not too distant past, it takes you from feeling frustrated, to calm. It puts your world back in order. It is my wool winder.

Last night, I finished the back of a sweater that I'm working on for Ken. When I was about to cast off the final twenty-eight stitches, I realized I had thirty-eight, ten stitches too many. How can this be??? I don't add stitches while I'm doing something that's a plain old stocking stitch, it's second nature now. I can do it with my eyes closed. After having checked over the whole back, it appears that when I did my increase row at the top of the ribbing, I did my math incorrectly (Okay Mr Kibler, I do have some use for math in my life as an adult!) and increased by too many stitches.

Frustration ... with a capital F! So after deciding not to throw it into the fireplace, but putting it back in my knitting bag instead, I got it out this morning and pulled out my trusty wool winder. I've taken it apart down to the ribbing, and I'll pick up the stitches from there and start over.

Roll 'em! Take two.

Granny Takes The Leap .....

Nope ... not the new blogger leap, I already did that. I'm back on the nutritional warfare topic now.

Today I made shortbreads. Lighter than air, buttery shortbreads. I made them with spelt flour and fructose (no wheat, no sugar), but the butter is everything, just couldn't do the "margarine" thing. I haven't made the Yuletide batch in a few years since, only half of the dough usually made it into the oven. Showing great restraint, I only nibbled at the dough a little.

However, once they were done, they were fair game. They are as light and buttery as always and you can't tell they weren't made with wheat. As you can see, a mouse got at the one on the counter. I better gobble them all up before the mouse comes back.

Perhaps in the spirit of Christmas giving, I'll see if I can save a couple for the "fam" to taste ... yeah, right!

If A Tree Falls in the Forest ...

In early August of this year, we had three tornadoes touch down in the Haliburton area. Most of us had no electricity for about six days, but some folks had lots of damage to their homes and properties. We were visiting with friends when it took place. The drive home would normally take about an hour, but that night took us over three hours. Many roads were completely blocked by fallen trees tangled with hydro and telephone wires.

Fortunately the weather was beautiful and, being in "cottage country" everyone spent most of that time on or in the lakes. Everyone, that is, except the folks who had the job of restoring electricity, phone service, and clearing the roads of the debris and fallen trees.

They worked endless hours of overtime in the heat, with bugs buzzing around them looking for an opportunity for a meal. The trees were braided together with hydro wires, and they had to climb in amongst the debris with chainsaws to untangle the mess. Their twelve to eighteen hour days, were not filled with boating, docks and cold beer.

In the weeks and months that followed, the clean-up continued. We all saw significant damage to the forest along the sides of the roads, but as the leaves fell, it became much easier to see the extent of Mother Nature's work.

Innumerable huge trees were twisted off at the middle or top of the trunk like the one you see above. Now as you drive along the Harburn or Eagle Lake Roads, you see swathes of trees laying on their sides as if cut down by some Paul Bunyan sized sythe.

These three pictures should actually be stitched together, but I'm not that clever, so you'll have to imagine them lined up side by side, or come for a drive to the Eagle Lake/West Guilford/Drag Lake area.

Knitter's Lament - Part II

As I unravelled the sweater from my previous post, I came to realize that I didn't buy the wool in 1991, but in 1995. So I'm guessing I started on the project in about 1998. Had to clear that up after having read the tangled web post on Whitterer on Autism.

Odd that it didn't really bother me tearing it out. So here it is, all taken apart. I think I'll go and look through pattern books and find out what this wool has in it's future.

Knitter's Lament

Many years ago, I'm thinking in about 1991, I found the most beautiful coloured wool. A stunning hand-dyed wool in shades of turquoise by Colinette. It was really pricey, but I simply had to have it.

It took me about four years to settle on a pattern. The wool was such terrific colours that I thought it should be a fairly simple pattern. I decided on a shawl collar cardigan that looked great on the outside of the pattern.

I worked on it, but never seemed to find great enthusiasm for it. I had a problem with the front and back raglans where they meet at the top. The shawl collar, when finished, seemed to big for the rest of the pieces. I had all the bits and pieces complete and they weren't lining up right, so over the past few months I pinned it together, got the sides and sleeves all sewn up. I decided that I would leave it out in plain view until I completed it, so it's been sitting out now for several months awaiting installation of the collar.

Today was the big day. I decided to procrastinate no longer. Now I can say, finally, it's all finished. It took from 1991 to 2006.

However ..... I don't like it. It's boring, has no character, has a beige personality. It's top heavy.

So, I guess it's time to unravel the whole thing and find another pattern.

I've located the wool winder, so the kinks should come out by the time I find another pattern.

Now I just have to get the guts to make the first cut. The funny thing is, I'm not all upset about it. I have a sort of "oh, well" attitude.

It's an Aran Weight wool, so if you have any suggestions. I'd be happy to hear them.

Blogger Beta II

So, in the continuing saga of Granny's learning to use blogger's beta version, you may have noticed some changes to the layout of my blog.

Look immediately to the right of this post. Right on the top, I have a list of my most recent blogs, so those who wait with baited (is that the correct spelling?) breath for my pearls of wisdom can see instantly, how prolific I've been.

I've had to redo the Ongoing Ode To Cheryl (see down below the links). I've tried and tried, but I can't make it look like the poetic genius that it is. It will only come out in paragraphs. Arrgh. (We're waitng for a new verse Cheryl ..... )

It was really easy to move stuff around, next time I'll try some pictures ... in the past they've been frustrating and I haven't had enough wine to deal with it today.

So, in Granny's opinion ... this new blogger seems okay .... so far. I made a deliberate boo-boo, so I'd have to edit my post (as I usually do anyway), that was really fast and easy.

Blogger Beta

Okay, so I've been putting it off. I've been watching the messages encouraging me to sign up, knowing that soon they'll force me to change. I don't like change. The worst of it is though, I'm Mr Gryper's "blogmaster" and he really HATES change. Especially changes to do with the computer. I know when he has to change, I'll be hearing "gryping" and bellyaching for ages.

So I bit the bullet. I've changed over. Now I have to find all the things that are different and figure out what they mean so I can deal with the old grouch proactively. Who knows, maybe aside from teaching him that he'll have to sign in differently (that's gonna be a five star whine session) hopefully he won't see any other changes when he's posting his questionable wisdom.

I hope you've made this easy Mr Blogdesigner, whoever you are.

As an aside ... it was -20C ( -4F) here last night ... the snow was squeaking like crazy when we walked on it. I suspect tomorrow morning the lake will be frozen over and we'll hear the old girl groaning and rumbling. It always sounds spooky, but I like it.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I looked out the window this morning and I was sure the lake was frozen. It's early for "ice in" day, usually it's between Dec 12th & Dec 18th. I walked outside to take a picture, but there are still some open patches, so I guess it's not official yet.

You may look at this picture and say, nice thin layer of snow, but check the tub of sand in the lower right side of the picture, there's about eight or nine inches now. Before we go anywhere Ken will have to pull out the snow-blower for the second time this week.

It's all quite exciting when you're a cockapoo ... Muggins ran out the door, leaping over snowdrifts and barking joyfully at nothing, first thing this morning. Too bad Mushing Mum is in Arizona, or she'd have acted like Muggins. They had the dogs and sleds out here on Monday Susan ... when do you get back to the great white north?

As things return to normal

As my cold subsides, business slows down to a more normal level, and all my custom soap orders are finished, I realize that I have been neglecting my blog. I have been reading everyone's even if I have not always commented.

Mum & I were in the health food store, last week, and the really helpful employee told me about some stuff that has helped the rotator cuff in my shoulder a lot over the past week and a half. I should be able to get back to carving the back of my violin soon .... (see the July through September archives). Since my new shoulder stuff has kicked in I've been able to bond with my banjo much more too, that was really a nuisance.

I've made a bunch of lovely soaps in the past couple of weeks and still after 11 years of soapmaking, I still check on each batch as if it's a newborn baby for the first couple of days. I made six pounds of soap that turned out simply awful, so I melted it down and tried a couple of tricks with it and now it's lovely.

I've been working on a couple of knitting projects from the stash and I've been learning crochet .... knitting's much more sensible.

Prior to the cold setting in, as I blogged, I was on the nutritional warpath making Stealth Foods for the smurfs. There was a batch of Chocolate & Beet Root Muffins that were outstanding. I highly recommend them. The elder smurf liked those, the younger smurf took a couple of nibbles and threw the rest to the floor making Muggins' day. It was a double batch, over half went to the smurfs, but a bunch were gobbled up with great gusto by Mr & Mrs Gryper when they were here last weekend. There were also batches with squash, zucchini, apple, and parsnip. All turned out yummy.

Our concert band has been working on our Christmas pieces and this Friday, we'll be in the local nursing home, to play for the folks there. There are a couple of tricky flute bits, but I'm working my way through them. This particular nursing home they must have insomnia 'cause they don't usually sleep through our concerts (hear that Gryper?), nor do they usually put their hands over their ears and wince. Makes me wonder what we're doing wrong.

We've got about 8" of snow now and it's still coming down, so it's "Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas". The lake isn't frozen yet, but a lot of the ponds are. Being out in the boonies, I've done a bunch of my shopping online, that's made it easier. I guess now it's time to do my Christmas cards, I made all the corrections on the address labels at 5:30 this morning when I couldn't sleep for the coughing. Hey, maybe I'll do one of those newsletters in a tiny little font that goes on for three pages.

Poor old Jonathon is starting to feel better after his bout with mono, now he's just dealing with the exhaustion ... remember that Vee?

I can't think of anything else to waste everyone's time with, so I guess I'll sign off and go make my meatloaf. I'm going to try to think of something really interesting and important to blog about. I did have one idea and took some pictures to go with it, so stay tuned.

Graddy's Who Dud It

I wadda kdow who dode it ...... who is respodsible for this calabity.

I was id Dewbarket for the week-ed, after buch bribig with a turkey didder. (Which was scrubtious, I bight add.) All was fide over the course of the week-ed.

We cabe hobe id the afterdood yesterday ad all seebed fide. We had cobpady for didder, there were ted of us, ad what a sbashig good tibe we all had.

I woke up this bordig and by throat was a bit scratchy ... you kdow the feelig. As the day progressed, it seebed to wors-ed.

At ludch tibe, I had some zigc and two thousad billigrabs of vitabid C. Id the bid-afterdood, I had ad Extra Spicy Clabato with Tabasco Sauce, I thig it was about fifteed shakes of the big bottle.

By suppertibe, the dose started to soud ruddy. I've been goig over the list of suspects.

I've darrowed it dowd to Bub, Dad, Devod, Scott, Adrew, Jodathod, Jabie, Caberod, Gavid, or Bya. I dod't thig it was ady of our didder guests, it's showed up too sood.

I'd like to offer thags to whoever sedt this by way.

Dow I'm going to curl up id a cobforter id frod of the televisiod ad watch Corder Gas. Babye that will bake be feel better.

Graddy

How the heck???

Someone has stolen my left hand. How does that work??

I went to my violin lesson on Friday and Bethany told me it's time for me to start to learn "vibrato". You know, when you wiggle your finger while it's on the string and get a wiggly sound that makes the violin sound like it's sort of singing.

She tells me what I need to do to accomplish this feat. Hah! It feels as if I'm trying to play with my feet!

She tells me it takes a while to train the muscles. Well first I need to get my own hand back before I can train the muscles in it.

Stay tuned ... laughed to myself over that little musical pun!

Those Poor Unsuspecting Grandkids

Well as you know, the Lexiphage has problems with getting the smurfs to eat. Getting them to eat anything at all is a challenge, but vegetables is an impossibility.

Granny has gone on the nutritional warpath and appears to be having some success. Preparing unusual food is an adventure, and a challenge undertaken with great enthusiasm.

The goal, eliminate any ingredient that may have effects on autism, yet make irresistably yummy foods.
1) No milk, cheese, butter, sugar or wheat (and now apparently no soy).
2) Include as many nutritional powerhouse vegetables as possible.

Granny has been busily making the children treats. The younger smurf heartily gobbled the first batch them down with great gusto.

Who knew?!?! The arsenal:

Broccoli and Cinnamon Muffins with Raisins, made with spelt flour and sucanat for sweetening.

Rutabaga and Ginger Muffins, made with kamut flour, oatmeal and honey for sweetening.

Today's offering ... Spinach and Squash Muffins with Raisins, made with chick pea flour and rice flour, also sweetened with sucanat. (Probably the best so far!)

I'm just getting started, it is unbelievable how delicious these are despite the unusual ingredients. These little babies are smurf-magnets - but surprisingly enough, they are disappearing from the cooling rack when there are no smurfs around ... and the dog can't reach them.

The Ongoing Ode to Cheryl

The background for this verse


Only you ..... would would try to kick at the cat,
Only you ..... would skid, tumble and finally fall flat.
With your fall underway, you grabbed a bale of hay,
But injury was long overdue..
We think you're accident prone,
You're hilarious, you one and only you.

Hallowe'en Pot Luck

Yummy, we're having a Hallowe'en Party so I've made some gourmet "Kitty Litter Casserole".

Can't wait to see people salivating over this one.

The Blogmaster Bears a Heavy Burden

It's a heavy load to bear when you're someone's blogmaster. Gryper called yesterday, knowing that I had added a link to Prince Charming's blog.

"What did you do to my blog?!?!" he asked accusingly. "There's nothing on the side of it!". Apparently the sidebar on the right side was not showing on the screen. I hadn't made any adjustments to Gryper's blog that should affect that. I tried to figure it out for about 45 minutes, but Blogger was really slow and acting weird. I had to get ready for band practice, so I decided to investigate further at another time.

After band practice and before going out for the evening, I checked and it was still not showing the sidebar. I decided, due to previous commitments (although unimportant in comparison), that I would have to leave it until morning to do any further checking.

Before the sun rose, I was awake, trying to figure out what to do about this catastrophe. After half an hour of tossing and turning under the weight of my blogmaster worries, I got up and decide to wrestle with the monster.

I went to Gryper's blog, and alas, all was well. Life was restored to normal. Gryper's handsome picture shows again.

Ah, crap! It's Snowing!

It's snowing! Only a little but it's snowing. I know it won't stay but it's snowing. Sigh .... I guess summer is really over.

Another point of view

Fiddling Granny gets poetic

Suddenly September

Just yesterday we thrilled at tiny buds on all the trees,
We anxiously awaited to see dragonflies and bees.
The days grew ever longer and warm breezes melted snow,
Now it’s suddenly September, where did the summer go?

Just yesterday we tapped the trees then boiled the golden treasure,
We dreamed and planned of endless days of summer play and leisure.
We delighted when the loons came home and cried their soulful call.
Now it’s suddenly September, coloured leaves have begun to fall.

Just yesterday the phoebes built a nest outside our door.
Summer days bred evening storms, with lightening’s flash and thunder’s roar.
Giggling children paddled toes in icy water off the dock,
Now it’s suddenly September, can I turn back the clock?

As I sit beside the cracking fire and ponder coming days,
There’s turkey dinners, pumpkin pies and Christmas holidays.
When days cool down and birds fly south and the harvest moon rises high,
Carpe diem, live for today, for it will suddenly be July.

copyright wmel 2006

More on the fiddlemaking

Okay ... here's the back of my fiddle with the sides sitting on it. I traced the outsides of the sides onto it, then with great anxiety made my way to the band saw.


I was pretty anxious about cutting into this beautiful one inch thick piece of maple, so I decide that I was just going to cut the corners off and take a few big "bites" off it, then I would quit for the day. As I got going and got the feel of it, I started to calm myself a bit, and then went hog-wild and cut the whole thing out.





Here's the sides sitting on the back. I've left about 5 mm all the way around for filing, sanding and finishing. What you see on this side will be the inside of the violin, but it will have to be carved out. That comes after I carve the outside.


















This is the sides and back sitting side by side ... what you see in this one will be the outside of the back. It has really pretty flames (the sort of stripes) and you can see the really cool bird's eye lines in the grain.
















Next I take my big gouge and start cutting away everything that doesn't look like a violin.

The sides are done

Okay, so here it is. I've installed the linings and the sides of my fiddle are now complete.

It was really stressful cutting into the corner block to fit the ends of the liners in. The cuts into the corner blocks aren't as pretty as the picture in my book of "how to", but I'm really proud of how it has turned out so far.

The next step is to draw the outline on the bird's eye maple back (it's one piece) and cut it ... then start carving.

Muggins' Blog

I'd tell the story of what happened today, but I think it's better coming from the main player in the scenerio.

Check out Muggins' Blog.

Beta & other Stuff

Susane has been trying to get us all to switch to the beta-version .... I'll look at it when I have some time in between other things, but this weekend is busy. Until then, apparently she won't be commenting, which must be killing her.

This is shaping up to be a lovely weekend in Fort Irwin ... it's sunny, and supposed to be in the mid 20's both today and tomorrow. It had already cooled down enough that I'd pulled out a knitting project that I'd put away a couple of years ago. It had what seemed to be an insurmountable error. Guess what .... two hours and I'm now finishing the seams. It should be done by the end of the weekend. I've pulled out another in progress one I worked on it for a while last night and now that's smoking along too.

Today, I have to take a few deep breaths and say a few yoga "aaoouums" in the lotus position to calm myself enough to glue in the linings on my in-progress fiddle. I'll have to do a little bit of intimidating work with a razor saw to install some of them properly. But, hey, "How hard can it be?".

We have a pot-luck tomorrow so I made a big pot of Chili Mole (pronounced mole-ay). So now it's laundry, a bit of housework, some fiddling, and if the wind comes up, some sailing would be appropriate.

Nice to have another summer weekend ..... delay the nasty winter (that's for susane who can't comment with her "I love winter" b.s. LOL

More on the Wendivarius

So I've been working on my fiddle .... if you check the last posting that I did on it, you could see the corners weren't trimmed. I've spent a a lot of time with the plane, sandpaper and various other things getting the sides finished.

If you look at the corners they're nicely trimmed ... they just need a final go with the drum-sander to ensure they're perfectly square.

What you can't really see from this picture is that it's perfectly smooth and level on the top and bottom of the sides. The upper end is exactly 30 mm and the lower end is exactly 32 mm. Just as planned.

I'm still reeling with shock and awe. So next I fit the linings in, which are willow strips that support the sides and give the top and bottom a little more meat to hang onto.

After that is done the mould comes out of the middle and it will sit and wait patiently while I carve the belly, back and neck. I'm looking forward to doing the scroll!

I'll keep you posted as I go.

Back

So, I'm back in the land of blogging. It's been a busy summer with lots going on and is not always easy to get to reading the blogs, leaving commments on the blogs and creating new posts too. I'm back now. I've left comments on all the family blogs.

Now I'll just have to come up with something clever to blog about.

Never mind, I can't think of anything right now, I'm going to make a cuppa tea.

Skateboarding off the dock

Here it is:


Video Hosting - Upload Video - Video Sharing

Grandsons' Visit

So this week was our grandson's summer visit. It was way too short, but we had a blast with them.


Although this picture is not very clear, I love it anyway because this is what Jamie looks like when we're playing cards or dominoes ... constantly giggling and being silly! He had us all laughing our heads off.






We hung out on the dock a lot, soaking up the nasty UV rays and drinking pop - okay, I had wine.

This is Jamie jumping off the dock into the water.
Just what summer holidays are all about.








Here's Jonathon during one of the Crazy 8's games. What a great smile!

This is something Jonathon has talked about doing for several years now. While we were on the dock, he tied off his skateboard so he wouldn't lose it and was riding it down the dock and into the water. He did different tricks that were fun to watch. (If I knew how to load video clips onto here I'd put one up, becuase they're quite cool!)

We had an awesome time eating junk food, homemade bread and just genereally hanging out.

Musical Instrument Construction Course

Okay, so here are the pictures of my violin. The first day we made templates from the plans and that took the whole day. It didn't seem like much at the end of the day, but it was a lot of work.

Day two we made the mould for the violin, I forgot to take a picture of it. It took a full day to make the mould and cut out where the corner blocks and end blocks go. Then I had to cut out the rectangles you see on the picture (below) with a coping saw for the clamps to fit into. Coping saws are quite the fun little gadget. It took me a while to get the hang of using it, and I was slow and not nearly as precise as I would have liked to have been.

Here's a picture of my work on day three, after I'd glued the corner blocks and the end blocks in place.





On day four two tornadoes went through the area and our class was cancelled due to a power outage at the school. That was really disappointing; we were all so anxious to get on with our projects.


However, the school is near the hospital, so day five, the electricity was back on in that area, (unlike where we live!) and we were back in action.

Here's my picture at the end of day five. You can see the side ribbing is all glued into place around the mould and it actually looks like it might be a violin some day! There are some mistakes, but I'm not pointing them out. I'm so excited that I was able to do something like that. I'm already looking forward to next year.

Eventually, when it comes off the mould, the corner blocks (pointy dark brown parts) will be inside the violin, but will be trimmed much smaller and the outside pointy bits will be cut down to the proper size. The two end blocks will be inside the violin too and the mould will be ready and waiting for my next violin.

Awesome course. Kudos to Philip Davis the instructor for his patience.

What the heck just happened???

Holy mackeral, is that what happens when you have electricity???

Finally after 6 days of candles, generators humming, ok, roaring and no hot water, we're back in the land of showers and dishwashers.

Now I'll blog the pix I from my course ... because I can!

Catching up a wee bit

OK, just to catch up.

Spamalot was awesome Jojo. I don't know that there was any time during the show when people weren't laughing. Lexiphage & I both laughed our behinds off.

I've been taking my Musical Instrument Construction course this week. I've learned sooooo much already. Yesterday, picked out the wood for our violins; I chose a Sitka Spruce (from Europe) for the front and Canadian bird's eye maple for the back and neck. Then we made templates from the plans, we're making a stradivarius copy. It took hours to make all the pieces we needed.

Today, we started working on our moulds. I didn't take pictures of my progress, but I'll take a couple tomorrow before I start, and after I'm done tomorrow and over the next few days, them I'll post them. There are some beautiful instruments being made by some really talented people. Everyone is willing to offer information, advice and the use of their tools.

Busy, but exciting week

I'll attempt to keep up with the blogging this week.

I start my course at Sir Sanford Fleming College this week. I'll tyr to keep you updated with how it goes. I'm really excited about it.

We spent the weekend at Valerie & Tom's (for the annual get together) weekend. It was smaller than usual, a lot of the younger crowd didn't make it. There were 10 people and 5 dogs.

Great time!

When did that happen???

Okay, so I was on the subway ... the crowded rush-hour subway. A seat became vacant in front of me, so I quickly looked around the car to see if there are any "old people" nearby so that I could point the seat out. Mum always toaught us that the older people should get the seats and you should always offer your seat if there is an older person standing on the subway or bus.

I scan the car to the left of me ... nope ..... scan the car to the right and my eyes met a young pretty woman, perhaps 25 years old - tops. She point to the seat and indicates that I should take the seat.

To my horror, I realized, I was the "old person" on the subway.

When the heck did that happen???

Spamalot

Okay, so tomorrow is the big day. The Lexiphage and Fiddling Granny are going to see Spamalot.

Should be fun, the play's promotional material says the show features a chorus line of dancing divas and knights, flatulent Frenchmen, killer rabbits and one legless knight.

Here's part of the write-up.

Winner of the 2005 Tony Award for Best Musical, MONTY PYTHON'S SPAMALOT is the outrageous new musical comedy lovingly ripped off from the film classic Monty Python and The Holy Grail. Directed by Tony Award-winner Mike Nichols, SPAMALOT tells the tale of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table as they embark on their quest for the Holy Grail. Flying cows, killer rabbits, taunting Frenchmen and show-stopping musical numbers are just a few of the reasons audiences everywhere are eating up SPAMALOT.

Watch the Lexiphage's blog (see right for link) for the critique.

He's far more wor(d)thy of writing the critique than I am.

A Post from Muggins

I hate that stupid new camera.

If I close my eyes, it won't be able take a picture of me!!

Update

Okay, so I haven't been busy blogging as often as I was. Things are getting back to normal after our vacation in Newfoundland - at least I thought they were on Monday, but after the storm went through, our electricity was off for 48 hours (not as bad as some folks had it!).

Anyway, I got a new camera ... a Canon digital camera and it totally rocks! I took this picture the other morning. Aside from wandering down to the lovely still lake, I can't take much credit for the picture. This camera takes awesome pictures.

Our trip to Newfoundland was terrific, what a beautiful, friendly place. The rugged scenery is incredible. We saw a terrific music group at Rocky Harbour, called Anchors Aweigh. We've been playing their CDs and singing their music ever since.

It rained at least once every day we were there, except the day we left. We got soaked to the skin a couple of times. The morning of the day we were leaving, when we got up the sky was blue and it was warm and sunny.

The wind on Signal Hill in St John's is not to be believed! It blows relentlessly up there and we were not there on a bad day according to some of the local people! You can even tell by the picture of the four of us that it's blowing.

Perhaps it was outdone by the on-shore breeze at the campground right on the beach outside Port au Choix. We camped on the beach and the wind blew unceasingly there too.

To give you an idea of the wind, check out this swing in this picture. When we arrived at the campground in the late afternoon this swing was horizontal in the "breeze". It was like that all night and continued to defy gravity when we left the next day.

All in all it was a terrific trip. We all agreed that we must go back. Two weeks was not even close to enough tiem to see everything there is to see.

We had our family reunion on July 15th. What a terrific time we all had too. I've tried four times to post a picture from that but I guess blogger is too busy, so I'll have to do that another time.

Where's Granny Been??

Well for the last two days she's been living in darkness. I have so much to blog about, stuff likeNewfoundland and the reunion, but no time right now. Just thought I'd check in since we have had no electricity since Monday night's storm until an hour ago.

Yay ... we have lights!

I'll plough through the emails and stuff and then blog soon.

Bartending

Here is a picture that Rob took on Friday when I helped Devon and Ashley bartending at St Alban's in Holland Landing. We had a great time, Rob's band was loud, but fun.

Although you can't see it, on the front of my shirt is a playboy bunny made of diamonds. I looked so hot!

What a great bar ... it's like working at "Cheers". It's the kind of place "where everyone knows your name".

Weekend At Granny & Grandpa's

Well we had the whole gang here this weekend. What a terrific, noisy time we had too. Shortly after arriving, while the outside temperature was 9C the brave ones in the lot decided to go swimming. Here's a picture of Jonathon, Rob and Devon in the freezing waters of our spring-fed lake.

Jamie, being wise, after short deliberation, decided being cool (and cold!) wasn't that important, so he rethought the swimming idea and stayed on the dock, with the sensible folk. Sascha, however, felt that it was worth the pain to be cool, so Rob caught him as he took the plunge and the cold water took his breath away.

Here's the chilly bunch after their swim, bragging of their absolute reign of coolness. You can't tell by this picture that only moments before they were all shrieking and gasping! Apparently the air didn't seem so cold after the swim.

After getting dried off, Grandpa took them out in the sailboat. This was a picture of a gust of wind when Devon, Jamie & Sascha were out. They got some pretty good rides. Although it looks as if they're tipping, they're not, they're just getting a good ride.

W hile they were out in the boat, Gavin decided that he really wanted to paddle his feet in the water, so he spent quite a bit of time with his feet in the water. He really wanted to go swimming I think, but it will be better for him to wait for July or August.

I've tried putting on a picture of Jamie Rob & Sascha, but it doesn't seem to want to work. Next post.

Fiddling Granny Brags

You know how people enter contests and nobody you know ever wins??

Well, since Devon didn't brag about it I will. Jonathon (grandson #1) has won a week for two at Muskoka Woods camp for skateboarding.

It's a value of about $2200. He had been saving to go, but decided that he couldn't afford, even though he really wanted to. So now he can go and he's asked Jamie (grandson #2) to go with him.

How exciting is that!?!?

Banjo Camp

So Dad and I went to MidWest Banjo Camp this past weekend. It was in Lansing, Michigan at the university.

Here's a picture of Dad and me with Paul, from Penetang ... we all rode down together.

We had a terrific time. Learned tons of stuff, heard lots of great pickin'. Paul took bluegrass clasees, Dad took a combination of bluegrass and clawhammer classes. I took strictly clawhammer even though in the past I've stuck with bluegrass. Chris Coole & Arnie Naiman were the instructors of the clawhammer novice track. They were awesome instructors - organized and great team teachers.

Now I've learned the clawhammer way of picking', I'm really enjoying it. It's a completely different sound. So -- I'm off now to do some pickin'.

Q: What's the difference between a banjo and a harmonica?
A: A harmonica only sucks half the time!

The MC

Now this picture gives you an idea of how versatile the MC really was at this wedding.

It's not just anybody that can pull of something like this.

Well done !

Can't resist

Okay, we've been really busy and haven't had much time for posting. But I have to put this picture up. Rob sent it to me and every time I look at it I can't help but laugh.

It's entitled "Haircut of the year".

I better go now and check everyone's blogs to see what's going on in the world.

Stuff

Check out Cameron's Blog ..... he's on the links on Mr Gryper's and my blogs.

OKay, so it's not a long post, but I've gotta get to work.

Stolen Peeks

These are some pictures I've been sent that I really like ...... I get them sent to me frequently, and thought I'd show them off even though I can't take credit for having taken them.

This is Mya, my granddaughter who is 2 years old, taken with her Daddy's cell phone camera.


This is Gavin, her 4 year old brother.








This is Jamie, almost 10, helping insulate a ceiling, sent to me by his Mum.




This one is Jonathon, almost 14, taken by Rob.



Here I am with my fam, this one was taken by Stephanie - I actually stole this off her blog.

Arrrgh! Oh never mind, I'll do it in the morning. Blogger has slowed down so much that I can't be bothered waiting and I have a couple more still.

Message from Carole

Mum forwarded this message from Carole in England ..... "I love looking on fiddling grannies web site. I have emailed it to Sally so Dad can have a look."

****

Hi Carole, I'm pleased to hear that you've been visiting my blog. Hi to David and Sally, too. You should all start blogs, that way we know what's going on with you. Did you read my post about Dad, oops, I mean Mr Gryper falling in the lake two weeks after the ice had melted? It's called "Another First for Mr Gryper".

We're still laughing over it.

What the heck!?!?!

At 4:oo yesterday afternooon, while preparing a mexican dinner for a group of friends, I looked out the window and it was snowing for the fourth time!

Helllloooo ... Mr Weatherman .... it's supposed to be spring!

**

The wedding was lovely ... however, I was horrendously embarassed by the lack of decorum displayed by the mother of the bride ... stealing my wine, then allegedly "horking" in it. Jeez .....

Bellavia

Okay, so isn't this the prettiest boat you've ever seen? Her name is Bellavia. She is a McVay Minuet, made in Cambridge, Ontario. We launched her on Sunday night and Ken got her all rigged up today. We were out sailing for about an hour or so this aft. I got to do the jib stuff. I guess I'm a real sailor now!

There was a pretty good wind and so we got to do some good turns (not the kind you do in Brownies!). Anyway just thought I'd show you a picture. When we have one of her with her sails up I'll post it, but it may take a while, I intend to be in it whenever the sails are up.

Another First for Mr Gryper

Okay you ask, exactly what happened to Mr Gryper?? He's given a brief description on his blog, but it's really hard to picture. Yup ... unless of course, you were actually witness to his folly.

It seems Mr Gryper was the first person to swim in our lake this year, and only two weeks after ice out day! Here's the version as I saw it.

He and Ken were putting the dock back in the water. As I was approaching the dock I was looking at Ken who was on the shore side working on something that I couldn't see. Meanwhile I'm hearing this sort of gasping/shrieking sound. Suddenly Mr Gryper goes from a man standing on the dock to a pair of shoes disappearing into the cool, clear water. As much as "cool, clear water" sounds lovely in the song, apparently it's not so lovely on April 29th. As he, with incredible agility, leapt from three feet of refreshing morning pick-me-up back onto the dock, I couldn't help but notice the size of his eyeballs. They went from sort oval-y shaped nickles, to bulging round twoonies.

We three were of course most concerned for his well being, but couldn't help cautious grins. Okay, you got me, hysterical shrieks of laughter.

He had been trying to push a piece of 16 foot 6 X 6 out from under it with a paddle and the paddle slipped, leaving him hanging in mid-air screaming.

Okay, so he's soaked to the skin from top to toes. He goes in the house to change into the only other dry clothes he has up here and returns to finish the the job he had only barely started.

Here's the picture as accurately as I can tell it without the benefit of a camera (will I ever learn to have on on hand at all times?!?!). The platform at the end of the dock has the walkway on top of it. They manoeuver it over to the end of the permanent part where the cribs are and successfully get the walkway attached to the permanent part of the dock. Ken is now on the platform and with a lever inserted underneath a rope that is tied around the walkway, is holding the end of the walkway up out of the water while Mr Gryper is attempting to attach the platform hinges to the walkway. Hard to picture, harder yet to watch. Mr Gryper decides to go out onto end of the the walkway while Ken is holding the weight of the walkway. Several times during the process, Ken tells Mr Gryper "you should get back off there". Mr Gryper thinking that Ken is making suggestions about the best position for the hinge connecting, doesn't realize that Ken has just about run out of the ability to hold the old fool up out of the water.

Finally, Ken shouts with great drama, "You really need to get off the walkway now", as the whole lot, Ken, Mr Gryper and walkway head back towards the water. Ken manages to get his balance before he's treated to an icy plunge. The walkway hits the water and Mr Gryper is yet again headed for the frigid depths when Ken heroically grabs at him, saving him from all but a soaker. Mr Gryper accusingly asks Ken why he didn't say something sooner instead of waiting until the last moment. Nice try Gryper .... we heard him tell you several times.

All in all it was more entertainment than our tear ducts could handle for a day.

Success ...

Okay, I don't believe it. It floats. I tested Hilary's soap and it actually floats - and very well too. I'm astounded! I wasn't convinced that it would work.

Okay, I've Finally Attempted It

Well after many years of asking, I've attempted a floating soap Hilary. I'm not sure if it actually will float, but I've tried anyway.

I think the first time Hilary asked me to make a floating soap, she was about 8 years old. I've thought about it on an off over the years, but just never got at trying it. Whether or not it will actually float, is yet to be determined.

It's probably one of the ugliest soaps I've ever made (because of the floating requirement), but the other goodies I've put in it fulfilled another request from her. It's an acne soap. It's a pinky-beige colour with lots of specks of ground comfrey root, which is really healing. It has lavender, petitgrain, geranium and patchouli essential oils, all wonderful for acne and skin care. It smells terrific. So it just needs to sit and cure a bit.

Just wanted you to know that it's in the final stages Hilary.

What a Day!!

What a beautiful day we've had here .... the sun has been shining and feels warm on the skin. The bugs aren't out yet, although I saw a few stray early ones flitting around, tempting the birds. The birds, as enthralled with the day as I am, have been singing their fool heads off. Particularly the Eastern Phoebes, who sound like they're saying "Wee-Wee"; I always imagine they are really trying to say "Wendy". Hey, I also always thought that the constellation Casseopia, the one shaped like a "W", was my constellation - just a little self-centred.

I digress however, here's what it looked like here first thing this morning from in front of our place looking west. The sky has looked that blue all day long.

So, to appropriately acknowledge this magnificent day, I sat out on the deck, with my sun-worshipping dog, in the warm, spring sunshine and played my banjo to the birds, the lake and the trees. They all applauded, the lake lapped gently on the shore, while the birds sang, and the gentle breeze rustled the leaves in appreciation of my fine picking. Isn't spring terrific?

Now on to my next topic. Most of you who know me, know that I have been known to look at something that someone else has done, and while pondering the possibilities of trying to do it myself, I boldly ask anyone who'll listen "How hard can it be?".

I have signed up for a course this summer. I'm going to make my own violin. Lots of people do it ... Stradivarius, Guarneri del Gesu, Nicola Amati, why not me? Centuries from now people will look at antique violins and say "Is it an Evenden? I understand she made the best." Yeah, I know, now we're back to the Eastern Phoebes' "WeeWee" and Casseopia's "W" again ..... you don't think there's a chance that it's NOT all about me, do you?

The spring is sprung, the grass is riz. You know the rest.

Mr Gryper Speaks Up

Well, he's finally done it. Mr Gryper has taken the blog by the horns and done his own post. Check him out!

Weekend Guests

This past weekend, Cameron and the kids came up with Mum & Dad. Gavin loves the truck ... well, except on the ride home when he got car sick. And you know what??? Mum & Dad don't have "The Pot" any more! Go figger.

Anyway, I digress. Taking pictures of them was like taking pictures of Muggins. You wait for them to look in the general direction of the camera and as you click, they turn their heads or block their faces with their hands.Or better yet, walk out of the picture entirely.

Gavin talked a lot this weekend, his communication skills are really improving a lot. He's also learning to be sneaky. When he wants to do something he knows he not supposed to do, he'll watch Cameron intently and as soon as Cam looks away, Gavin will very quietly try to sneak off without getting noticed. When he does get caught, he just laughs and waits for the next opportunity. This is significant because for a long time he didn't seem to be aware of other people and he is a lot more attentive now. He and Mya go for the autism tests on May 2nd and the therapy that they will get is supposed to be terrific, and extremely expensive (for the health care system).

We were all outside on the deck for quite a while in the afternoon. Gavin wandered around looking lake and the trees, studying the rocks of the chimney and watching Ken and Dad working on the "Crow's Nest". Notice how he wears his toque above his ears ... the same as Cameron always did, only Cam had the hat right down so his ears had to fold out.

Mya didn't like standing on the deck so she just stood in one place and refused to walk anywhere.
She doesn't like to walk on different surfaces. She would wander around the living room, but wouldn't stand on the kitchen floor. We're wondering if Mya is actually observing Gavin's behaviour and sees what works for him. A lot of things she does are exactly like Gavin. I guess the experts will know if she has some autism too after the testing on May 2nd. She was laughing and giggling a lot, but not talking.

Mya also starts going to daycare in June and exposure to the other kids may have significant impact. We'll see.