Granny's Gets Ready for School

Today I decided to put all my stuff together for my course next week. Monday starts week two of my Musical Instrument Construction course. Last year was the first week, and I've done some work on it during the course of the year.

When we finished last year, I had the sides partially completed but still on the mould. Since then I've finished the sides, and started working on the back. I decided to work on the back because it's maple and therefore hard wood. The top is soft wood, spruce, and I figured I could do less damage as I learned how to use a gouge if I started with the back. I'm guessing that the instructor will take a look at how I've been doing it and show me a better (the correct) way to use a gouge.

Here's what I've done so far. It doesn't look like the back has come that far since I last posted about it, but there's quite a lot of maple all over the work table, so I guess I've made some progress. Stay tuned. Next Friday, when the course is finished for another year, I'll have more pictures.

We've All Been There

This morning as I was packing up my fiddlemaking stuff in preparation for my course next week - yippee, I stepped outside onto the deck to calm the guard cockapoo when I saw this lovely lady in all her finery.

She looked so pretty I just had to take her picture.

















Then I thought, I wonder if I can get in a little closer and get a close-up "head & shoulders" picture of her all dressed for the party.

After I took a look at the pictures, it struck me as kind of funny, looks like this was the morning after the night before for this party girl.

The Canadian Pastime - Talking About The Weather

Samuel L. Clemens, aka Mark Twain, has often been quoted as saying: "Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it."

I'm just like all the rest, I'm going to talk about it. It's a Canadian pastime really. While in the lineup at the grocery store or filling the car with gas, people say things like, "too hot, can't wait for winter" or "too cold, can't wait for summer". Otherwise articulate people say things like, "Hot enough for ya?" on warm days, or when it's raining, "At least we don't have to shovel it!".

As far as the weather goes, I've decided to stop calling it "global warming" and call it "climate change". I used to think it was a lot of hype, but now, I believe it is really happening, after having seen what's going on in the Arctic and Antarctica. They tell us that in general the earth is warming up, but especially at the poles and that we should expect lots more "weather extremes". We're seeing that here.

We got an e-mail from our daughter in South Texas, she says this has been the hottest summer ever down there. We have been down there a couple of times in May, and it was stinkin' hot. I can't even imagine what it's like mid-summer; it'd suck the moisture out of your skin in seconds. Here in Central Ontario, it's been chilly and damp this summer. Oh, we've had some nice days, but, on many days drizzle, or all out rain.

Yesterday, it never got above 19C (66F) until early evening, when it got to a whopping 21C (70F). We had an outdoor concert in the evening, and my hands had been cold all day. Playing a metal flute that never really warmed up, as the sun was going down, didn't help matters.

But hey, it gets better. Right now it's 3:00 in the afternoon and the temperature is 14C (57F) and it's been raining all day. For the first time ever, on July 14th, we actually had to turn the furnace on and warm up the house. Anyone who knows me knows I'm not a big fan of housework, oh, I do it, but I don't like it. Today, I LOVED washing the dishes! For the first time in three days, my hands were warm for a few minutes.

So, what can we expect for the next week? It's supposed to warm up to about 22C (72F) by Tuesday and we should expect "variable cloudiness" "scattered showers" and "showers" until Friday. By the following Tuesday (July 24th) we should get up to our average temperature, 25C (77F).

I'm not complaining, think of this as commenting. Those who have the right to complain have been having unrelenting rain and flooding, or no rain and fires burning out of control.

So as I sit here typing with cold hands in the middle of a cold, rainy, summer afternoon, I should be grateful, really. We DON'T have to shovel it. Soon enough we'll have five foot piles of snow outside the door, from shovelling it! Maybe I'll think up some new statements to make about the weather, since after so many days, I can't use the "We needed the rain" one.

So despite what Samuel L. Clemens said, I'm doing my part to help slow the climate change. I'm turning off any lights that don't need to be on, washing out my plastic zip-lock bags and re-using them, I've got my super-duper re-usable grocery bags that I remember to take to the grocery store most of the time. For today, however, I'm using the oil, the furnace is on ... in July.

Granny Does A Survey

Frequently I look at the map of visitors to my blog and I'm surprised by the visitors I get from all over the world. I have a hard time believing that people actually read some of my silly posts, especially people who are not family members who feel obliged to visit.

Blogger has started this new survey thing, and I thought, "Sweet, this is a cool way to find out more about blog-visitors." Humour me ... take a moment and check out the survey just above this post .... let me know why you visit.

Whatcha been doing?

I've been asked why I haven't been blogging lately.

Busy, busy, busy. Aside from making music, I've been knitting like crazy. Sure seems an odd thing to do when down in the Toronto area it's been really hot ... unbearably from what I understand. Up here in the forest, it's been excrucitiatingly pleasant. We've had some rain, and low to mid-20C days. It's been wonderful.

I am working on my third pair of socks ... I'm using the two socks at once on one long circular needle method. I believe I may be addicted!



It's odd how with varigated wool you end up with patches of one of the colours for a while then it shifts.






I've also learned "fur knitting". I'm making a head-band, but I'm not going to elasticize it, and I'll use it instead as a scarf. It's made of sheared beaver and cotton yarn. It's not difficult to do, it's really a simple technique. However, working with the fuzzy stuff isn't really my cup o' tea. Here's a picture of it before I started and in progress. There's another hour or so of knitting left in the fur knitting then I'll be working on several more pairs of socks, and I think I'll look into a pattern for one of those Andean Chullo hats.





I should mention that the beaver yarn is unbelievable soft. The manufacturer (www.furyarn.com) states "It is important to note that trapping is well regulated, environmentally sustainable, and accounts for the livelihood of a certain segment of the Canadian population. ".

What's going on with the chipmunks?

After living in the forest for several years now, I'm noticing a disturbing trend.

For us, we drive fifteen or so minutes through the forest to get to the nearest "village". It's interesting to note that most forest creatures are a bit shy and stay back from the roadsides. However, the chipmunks seem to be playing "silly bugger" with the cars as they go by.

If you see a deer by the roadside, they look worriedly at you, then bolt into the trees, hidden within moments. If you see a squirrel, they dart hither and yon in a panic, trying to decide where to run and hide. The grouse(grouses?)suddenly flutter noisily out of the roadside bush and scare the crap out of you.

The chipmunks however, sit at the roadside and wait until you're almost to them, then they dart across the road, tails pointed straight up, to the opposite shoulder. I really believe they're little thrill seekers who are addicted to the adrenaline rush of trying to get across before you squash them. I imagine they sit at the roadside with all their little chippie friends giggling and playing a chipmunk version of russian roulette.

Here you see one poised at the side of the road, ready to make the mad dash. At he last second, he'll grab a lungful of air, point his tail skyward and dart out, wide-eyed, racing for the other side of the road.



I think the more often they get away with this reckless behaviour, the more frequently they'll try it. I don't know what the solution is ... time out, gounding, perhaps a really boring lectures in that "clicking" language they use?

Does anyone have any suggestions?