Roughing it While You're Camping

So this past weekend we went camping with Gryper and the Missus. Some may argue that this style of camping stretches the idea of roughing it, but ho-old on thar! It ain't always a picnic setting these rigs up.

This campsite in Emily Provincial Park was listed as being able to accomodate less than 32 foot trailers. Grypers' Doll House is less than 32 feet, much less. They lucked out with campsites as far as world record for the funniest parking jobs, but you all know Gryper ... it was perfectly level.. the Missus stated that the Doll House was the most level they have ever had it.

You be the judge.

What's Granny been up to?

I've been accused of not blogging enough, so I thought I'd do a quick post before work this morning.

As you know, Gryper & the Missus just got back from the Northwest Territories and the Yukon. The gave me a bag of ground musk ox to try. So last night we had company for dinner, and in my spirit of treating company like guinea pigs, I tested another new recipe on them. I made a tourtiere (Quebecois meat pie) and used the musk ox. Grandpa said "I knew it would be good, but I didn't know it would be that good". It was a success, thanks Grypers!

While our company was here, I had to show of my violin-in-progress ... I was astounded when I put the three parts together .. for some unknown reason, I hadn't done it before. It blew my mind. This thing is actually starting to look like a violin!!















I've had a knitting pattern in my head for a while and decided to make some "knucks". You know, fingerless gloves. I wanted to do them on one long circular needle. So I made the fingers and thimbs, and put them on double pointed needles, then started assembling them. Here's my progress on that project.


















Next month, I'm once again going on the canopy tour "Walk in The Clouds" at the Haliburton Forest, but this time my partner will be Grandson the second. You'll recall we took Grandson the first for his 13th birthday a couple of years ago. I'm so excited about doing it with him. Speaking of the grandkids, since Lexiphage is going to a wedding the end of the month, I'll own Grandson the third and Granddaughter the first for a whole weekend. That'll be really cool, we're going on a trip to the zoo one of the days. Yahoo!

Here is a picture of a sunrise that I took out in front of the house a few days ago. Early autumn in Haliburton ... I'm really pleased with how this pic turned out. There's nothing like watching the sunrise from the dock - maybe I'll go and stand down there now, although I've missed the sunrise this morning, the water is sparkling..

African Grey Parrots

We have an African Grey Timneh (parrot), and I'm always amazed by how bright she is. We've had her for eleven years, since she was 10 weeks old. We are constantly amazed by how aware she is of everything going on in the house, how funny she is, and how she can contribute to any discussion with her comments or her laughter. She is very definitely opinionated and makes her opinions known. She was part of the gang on our recent tour of Newfoundland and adapted to life in the truck and the trailer just fine.

So, I was saddened to hear that Alex had died on Monday. Most people who have parrots for companions know of Alex, the African Grey Congo parrot. He was a brilliant 31 year old, who had worked with Dr. Irene Pepperberg at Harvard University for 30 years. He was known to correct other parrots being trained by saying "Speak clearly!"

From the website:





"Dr. Pepperberg’s pioneering research resulted in Alex learning elements of English speech to identify 50 different objects, 7 colors, 5 shapes, quantities up to and including 6 and a zero-like concept. He used phrases such as “I want X” and “Wanna go Y”, where X and Y were appropriate object and location labels. He acquired concepts of categories, bigger and smaller, same-different, and absence. Alex combined his labels to identify, request, refuse, and categorize more than 100 different items demonstrating a level and scope of cognitive abilities never expected in an avian species. Pepperberg says that Alex showed the emotional equivalent of a 2 year-old child and intellectual equivalent of a 5 year-old. Her research with Alex shattered the generally held notion that parrots are only capable of mindless vocal mimicry."


Alex's Website

Trip to Newfoundland

Well we just got back from our trip to beautiful Newfoundland. I can't say enough good about this province, it's heaven right here on Earth. The scenery on "The Rock" is unbelievable. The people are beyond friendly. There is so much to see and do, that you only skim the surface.

When we got off the ferry and were checking into our campsite, I was telling someone there that two weeks wasn't nearly enough, another woman said "Well, we've been there two months and it wasn't enough". To use her words, "It's magical".

I took almost 300 pictures and I've been trying to narrow it down to a reasonable number to post on my blog, so I've reluctantly narrowed it down. I'll try to line up the descriptions with the pictures before I get myself all frustrated and pissed at blogger's layout glitches.

This is sunset inthe town of Rocky Harbour, right in the middle of Gros Morne National Park.

















This is part of Bonne Bay in Grose Morne Park.




















Ken & Muggins walking at the Lobster Head Cove lighthouse ... (okay they call them lightstations now .. but I like lighthouse better).



















Right up at the northern tip of the west side of the island is L'Anse aux Meadows which is the site of where the Vikings landed and set up a settlement some 500 years before Columbus and Cabot and all those guys came over. Although you can see where the original sod and wood buildings were, these are replicas rebuilt in the same meadow.








































This is Moreton's Harbour. You know, the line from the song "I'se The B'y" ...Fogo, Twillingate, Moreton's Harbour ... We'll this be 'er b'y.




















We were just outside a village called Trinity and found a huge blueberry patch. The blueberries are huge ... way bigger than the ones that grow here. Muggins was picking her own.























Down the road from Bonavista is Dungeons Provincial Park. The sea, over 600 million years has eroded the shoreline in really interesting ways. There was a really bad storm once and a boat went into this little sheltered area to wait out the storm.



















Here is Quidi Vidi, pronounced "kiddy viddy", it's a lovely little cove that is part of St John's now. Back many years ago it was the "red light district" now it's just a pretty little area with a micro-brewery and fishing boats.























Our last morning on "The Rock" ... sunrise in in Codroy Valley.

Update On My Violin

Cheryl asked why I haven't blogged lately. I can't type, my fingers are sore! Okay, not really, I've just been busy.

I wasn't happy with the templates I originally made for my violin, so I made a new set yesterday. They should make it much easier for finishing these babies.

Here's what I've done since my course, in between all my other stuff. Slow and steady wins the race, right?

Violinmaking

Here's an update on my violin making class from last week. Scroll down to the post before this one to see how it looked when I went in to the course on Monday, then come back and look at these pictures.

You can see the back is much thinner and closer to the finished size (on the edges). When I went in on Monday it was about 8mm thick around the sides and now it's down to about 4.5mm on the edges and I'm working my way down just inside the edges. In the picture of the back you see the little thumb planes that I'm using. You can also see there's still a lot of wood to come off.

The second picture shows that I joined the spruce top together and got started on the rough arching for it.

It really makes a difference when you know how to use the tools. Not only did I not really know how to use the gouges effectively, but I was not being nearly aggressive enough removing wood. I learned how to sharpen gouges, planes, and chisels. I learned how to use planes, and the pencil calipers.

Last year when I finished the week, I came home not really knowing how to proceed, so I read about it in books. This year, I know what I have to do and I know how to do it. The only thing that'll slow down the process is my technique. It's one thing to have watched it being done, and another altogether actually doing it. What is it they say about surgery ... "See one, do one, teach one". So in the spirit of my personal motto, "How hard can it be", I expect to get a lot done this year.






Stay tuned!

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?

Tears from Granny

Okay, before you get all worried, these are happy tears, not the sad ones. Grandpa was nosing around online and came across these three YouTube clips.

There's a talent show in the UK called "Britain's Got Talent". Yeah, I know, another reality show. Perhaps so, but this contestant is worth watching. This is incredible. If you're on dial-up, (like you Gryper), don't worry about it taking a few minutes to download them. It's well worth the wait. A cell phone salesman from Wales surprises the heck out of everyone.

Paul Potts does his first performance.

Paul Potts' Semi-final Performance.

Paul Pott's Wins £100,000


Enjoy the goosebumps and the tears ... I chole up every time I watch it.

You Say Tomato .... and other stuff

Oh how the times change .....

I decided to go into a store in the mall and pick up some of the two for five bucks pairs of sandals. You know the ones, we all wore them for the entire summer when we were kids.



















I was in a bit of a hurry and I guess the employee who was organizing shelves could tell by my stride that I was looking for something particular. When she asked if she could help, i said to her, "That would be great ... where would I find rubber thongs?"

She looked at me with this dumbfounded, speechless look ... I realized that I say tomato and she says tomawto. Clarifying, I said, "Shoes, rubber sandals."

Looking relieved for a moment, then laughing uncontrollably, she said "Oh, right, flip-flops".

Silly me!!

We went out for supper later that day, with Mr & Mrs Gryper and the Lexiphage and his kids.















The kids were so good, they're getting so grown up. I can't believe how big they are. Where are all my baby grandchildren .... The ages of the four of them are almost 15, 11, 5 and 3 years old.



















This is a picture of Muggins on the trip home. I love how she sits back in the seat. I don't think she's impressed with my taking her picture all the time.

Grandpa Gets a New Toy

Granny and Grandpa were at Toys R Us and Grandpa got himself a new toy. After he picked up one for himself and another for a friend he bounced excitedly to the cash register with a huge smile.

This is a picture of him with his "Dragonfly".





To see a video clip of them ... that is Grandpa and Dragonfly click here.