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.

Muggins' Lesson

Okay Muggins didn't learn the lesson ... we did. We were at friends' house for supper on Friday night. Carolyn was pinning a skirt that she is altering for Mum, so we were all upstairs and the guys were in the livingroom. Richard made Carolyn a Dubonnet on the rocks, but didn't want to come into the room to give it to her 'cause he knew Mum was trying the skirt on.



He told Carolyn that he put her drink at the top of the stairs for her. A couple of minutes later we came out the door and saw the Muggins and Sammie hanging around, and what had been what appeared to be a glass with a double Dubonnet and ice, was a glass with a little Dubonnet and a lot of ice.

Knowing Muggins, she didn't let Sammie get close, unless maybe it tasted bad and she backed off. She didn't seem to be showing signs of having consumed alcohol, but I kept an eye on her.

Saturday, she went from Mum's lap to her bed and back to Mum's lap. All day. No going out and checking for intruders, no playing fetch, no energy.

Poor dog ... six adults didn't even think of it and we all know Muggins is a drink thief!

Stuff

Well it's been a busy few days ... Mum & Dad were up for the weekend. The sap was flowing and we got a bunch of syrup. It's stopped again except for a few rebellious drops that didn't care that it was too cold today. I guess we've got a total of about 8 litres of finished syrup so far.

Here's a picture of the some of the pails hanging in our back yard. We have a total of 30 pails hanging. The sap has been fair, but the real run hasn't started here yet. With the weather being so cold overnight, there's more to come though.

The evaporator that Dad and Ken have perfected over the past five years works really well now. We used to hang a kettle over a fire in a drum. We had to stand right by it all day keeping things working. Now with the current version, we can leave it for a while and do other stuff.

Which takes me to the next topic. The gazebo, affectionately known as "The Crow's Nest". It got shingles this weekend. Now all that's left to do is the screening and trimming it. In this picture you can see Dad on the ladder finishing one side and Ken on the scaffolding on the far side.

It is six sided and overlooks the lake. Each of the six sides is six feet. It's very cool and will be a great way to avoid the blackflies, whom we're expecting in the next month or so. First the blackflies, then the mosquitoes, then sometime around June the 8th the dragonflies appear and put an end to the nasty banquet.

So, the final topic for today. My Incredibow. It arrived Friday. It is a beautiful rainbow of colour. It sounds a little different than my brazilwood bow. The brazilwood is mellower and the Incredibow is brighter. It's really light, half the weight. After a couple of hours of fiddling, my grip on it has sort of fallen into place. It sounds great and I'm rally enjoying it.

Okay, so it wasn't the last topic. I'm working on a couple of peices that our concert band is playing in the music festival on Thursday. One peice by Brahms and a dixieland piece. So between fiddling and playing my flute, my banjo is only getting a couple of hours a week. I'm moving forward with it too. I'm just not moving forward with the pile of laundry too quickly.


I guess that has us up to date .... for now.