John Toft Basketry

The Spencerville Mill plans to open a consignment store.

2012-02-09T15:52:00.001-05:00

http://www.spencervillemill.ca/mill-foundation.html

Last year, I took part in an exhibition and sale at the historic Spencerville Mill in Spencerville, Ontario. The Mill's Foundation sponsors a series of events each year to bring people to this historic site. The exhibition and sale brought to the mill crafts people showing their crafts from years gone by. My basket-making crafts fitted in well with this.

Last week, I received an invitation to place selected baskets of mine in the proposed consignment store at the Mill. This is planned to open on May 1st, and to be an on-going fund-raiser for the Mill Foundation. I accepeted the inviation and look forward to having baskets for sale there this summer as well as taking place in their exhibition and sale.

To learn more about the Spencerville Mill, click on the link above.

Transforming grapevine branches into hoops for rib baskets

2012-01-27T12:46:00.000-05:00

I was fortunate to see Ankaret Dean, master basket-maker, while at the pre-Christmas sale at Lansdowne Park. Ankaret is the person who showed me how to make rib baskets. I bemoaned the fact that I found it time consuming to remove the loose outer bark from grapevine branches. She told me it was easy if you soaked them first. She places her branches in a stream for a couple of days. My stream is my bath tub. Here the grapevine branches have been in soak for 36 hours. Since the weather today is frightful with freezing rain, I decided this morning was an ideal time to peel the loose bark from these branches.

Here that bark is collected. The tote was quite full when I finished.

The stripped branches are formed into hoops. The first two are shown here. I found the grapevine much easier to strip, as suggested by Ankaret. They were also much easier to form into round shapes in their soaked state.

By noon I had twenty-six "hoops". This is sufficient to form the frames for thirteen rib baskets. Lots of work remains! I am now waiting for spring and the first flush of leaves on the willow in my garden. Then I can strip that willow and have the white willow ribs for the baskets.

Weekly blogs

2012-01-23T09:26:00.000-05:00

Today I received a message inquiring about the hat stands I featured in a blog a while ago. That query gave me the incentive to renew my blogging efforts. I now resolve to write a weekly blog featuring different basket products. And I will start with the hat stands. These vary in size and shape and range from new-born baby size to adult size.

They are made from rattan cane and can be in ivory (using the undyed, natural cane) or in other colours such as the "desert dust" colour shown in the middle above.

Prices range from $30.00 to $50.00 plus shipping.

Removing snow from the solar panels

2011-12-26T12:21:00.000-05:00

We had a White Christmas after all. Today, Boxing Day, our eldest son, Julian, came to remove Christmas Day's snowfall from the solar panels.

The snow rake, fully extended, is sixteen feet in length. Julain is able to reach the full length of all the solar panels and pull the snow from the.

With the snow removed, solar energy can now be created.

Give the gift of life

2011-12-24T09:24:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

In today's Ottawa Citizen is a series of articles about the benefits of organ donation on the death of a loved one. The feature article focuses on a local Kanata family and their responses to the suggestion that the husband of the family become an organ donor following a massive stroke a year or so ago. Their response was a heartfelt "Yes."

The doctors harvested his heart, lungs and other organs and so were able to contribute to the lives of several others in desperate need. The family members, wife, son and daughter, were able to find joy in this tragedy as, over the next few months, they learned of the lives impacted by these donations. They were able, anonymously, to exchange correspondence with some of the recipients. Their husband and father lives on in the lives of others.

If its at all possible, sign your organ donation card and keep it with you at all times. The gift of life is yours to give.

Here comes the sun.

2011-12-22T09:47:00.000-05:00

Today's Ottawa Citizen has an article about solar radiation on this, the shortest day in the year. In Ottawa the day's length is down to its lowest of the year at 8 hours, 42 minutes and 49 seconds, But tomorrow will have a longer day by a grand total of four seconds. And the day's will get incrementally longer after that.

Today's sun will reach a peak elevation of 21.2 degrees above the horizon, a huge contrast to its angle of inclination of 68 degrees at the summer solstice. And the current solar radiation at 550 watts per meter will increase to 1240 watts. Summer is a coming in!

I find this article fascinating while Anne calls it boring. There is a second article, about the number of fender benders and pedestrian injuries caused by falls during the freezing rain storm of yesterday. I feel the article about the return of sunlight is much more uplifting.

Setting up for The Originals Ottawa Christmas Craft Show.

2011-12-12T19:18:00.001-05:00

Today was the change over day at The Originals Ottawa Christmas Craft Show, the day when artisans who signed up for the first four days of the show are replaced by those, including us, who signed up for the last six days. The vast majority signed up for the whole show, and this day was a day of rest for them.

Our assigned booth, #305b, is, as promised, a 10' by 10' space with black drapes on three sides, and electricity hook-ups available.We set up by first laying the floor and then adding the shelving units. A table and two chairs were next. Julian, our eldest son, helped with the set up. It looks not too bad, and quite in character with the other booths.

There are around 200 booths in the Exhibition Hall. This is a shot of deserted aisle #3. We hope and expect it to be packed with customers for the next six days.

This shot is of the left-hand side of my booth and some of the 80 or so baskets on display. There is a storage area near by where we can keep additional material.

We are hoping for lots of sales.

Adding tray baskets to my inventory

2011-12-06T21:11:00.000-05:00

Trays have always given me difficulty. Each tray base, depending on its size, needs up to 50 holes drilled through it. The self-taught techniques I used for drilling often left the underside of the base splintered and not at an acceptable standard. So, on Sunday, I asked my friend Hal Adams, an accomplished wood worker, how to prevent this splitting. He invited me to his home so I could see how to achieve holes drilled without the splitting.

It took about a ten minute demonstration to achieve success. The secret was clamping a sacrifice board to the bases to be drilled, and drilling through to that sacrifice board.

For the rest of the day, I drilled away and prepared ten bases. Each was sanded and then given a light coating of beeswax. The photo above shows one base with its finished basketry work and the nine bases ready for me to complete them tomorrow.

A close up here shows the weaving and colours I used for this tray.

Once I have finished the nine more trays, my inventory will be around 190 baskets. I have left over laminate flooring I can trim to size before Monday next, and prepare as more tray bases. Perhaps the target of 200 baskets ready for the Original Christmas Craft Show will be achieved after all.

More baskets

2011-12-02T09:07:00.000-05:00

Anne calls these "Utility Baskets." The colours are not as seen in this photograph. The upper basket has dark green cane (jungle green) not the blue it appears here, while the contrasting band is a lighter green. The basket on the lower left has bands of coffee brown and jungle green too. The one on the right contrasts scarlet and ivory.

It took me perhaps two-and-a-half hours to make each of these baskets. I will come close to reaching my target of 200 baskets in my inventory by the 13th, but lots of appointments and other activities will leave me less time to make baskets than I planned.

Tomorrow I might sell two or three baskets at my church's "Cookie Walk and Craft Sale." I usually sell a handful or less so my inventory will not be impacted much at all.

A productive day

2011-11-29T19:38:00.000-05:00

Two weeks today is the start of the Originals Christmas Craft Show. For the past three weeks I have been working almost every day to increase my inventory in readiness for that show. Today, for example, I was able to make the two baskets shown above. On the left is a "Handy Basket" while in the right is an "English Shopper." I began working on the first at around 8 30 am, and completed the second before 7 30 pm. I did take a lunch and supper break, had a half-hour rest and took my car in to have the winter tires installed.

By the end of next week I should reach the total of 200 baskets in my inventory. Then I hope to see that inventory diminish greatly in the following week.

An "English Shopper."

2011-11-23T14:39:00.000-05:00

This "English Shopper" is a little more elaborate than most of the baskets I make. The webbing for the handles is eight foot long. Anne used her serger sewing machine and sewed the ends together. It is currently the 170th basket to add to my inventory in readiness for the Originals Christmas Craft Show.I will be there from the 13th to 18th of December (setting up on the 12th). With two and a half weeks to go. I should reach an inventory total of 200 or so.

Planters: variations on a theme.

2011-11-21T18:02:00.000-05:00

In preparation for the Originals Christmas Craft Show, I designed and wove several baskets on the theme of planters. These are open weave baskets into which an indoor flowering plant could be placed. (Other uses I leave to your imagination.) The one above is vibrant in its Christmas red and green.

As shown in this photo, I had a lot of fun in mixing and matching colours, textures and flat and round cane.

More preparations for The Originals Christmas Craft Show in Ottawa.

2011-11-20T20:59:00.000-05:00

This show is not your garden variety craft show held in a school gymnasium or church basement. It is a highly juried show in a huge exhibition hall with over 200 vendors of the highest caliber. http://www.signatures.ca/originals/find.html gives you some idea of the participants.

The photo above shows some of the preparations we have made for the show. In the background is the U-Line shelving we bought especially for this show. On the floor is the flooring required to cover the flooring of the 10' by 10' booth area at the show. And the table, newly purchased, is covered by material Anne sewed. And in the background are some of the 165 baskets in the current inventory that is to be expanded to over 200 before the show begins.

Up and running again.

2011-11-20T11:47:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I thought this Blog was no longer accessible since blogspot wanted me to re-create it. It would not accept John Toft Basketry as a name and so I have another blog, temporarily under the name John Toft Baskets. I will try to use this one now since the new one does not have my followers.

I am preparing for the biggest exhibition and sale of my life. Six days at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa. The photo shows some of my latest creations in Handy Baskets and Rib Baskets. I will have an inventory of 200 baskets ready for the sale. I hope it is enough!

Solar energy production begins

2011-09-02T10:30:00.001-04:00

Today "!69solar" began producing electricity from the 21 solar panels installed on our roof. For months before this, Anne and I had discussed the possibility of generating power from our south facing roof. It was on April 29th that we began to take steps to put this dream into reality. On that date we noticed an article in the Ottawa Citizen Newspaper about a "Solar Fair" to take place the next day at Ottawa City Hall. "Lets go."

On the 30th, we took the bus downtown, and following a scribbled cardboard poster, arrived at the fair. There were perhaps a dozen booths set up: solar panel companies, Hydro Ottawa, Ontario Hydro, finance companies and the City of Ottawa. We spent a couple of hours talking to representatives there and became excited about the possibilities of contributing non-polluting, green power to the electric grid of Ontario, and making some money too. We collected several business cards, signed up with two or three companies for follow-up visits, and returned home.

Over the next two weeks we did thorough investigations via the internet of Solar Power, and received visits at our home from three different solar energy companies. In short order, we made the decision to go ahead and become a solar power generating company (169solar). We signed up with a particular company, isolara
, to install the panels and guide us through the bureaucratic process.

http://www.isolara.com is isolara's website where you can learn about solar power, and see examples of live solar power installations in and around Ottawa.

Over the next few months, we took all the necessary steps that lead to the installation of the 21 panels on our roof,, the installation of the new meter system, and the turning on of the system at 9 00 am this morning. The system is running well and generating power as the sun shines.

August flowers

2011-08-28T18:44:00.000-04:00

Today's blog is a series of pictures of flowers in bloom today in my garden. These beautiful blooms take my mind off the weather at the fringes of Hurricane Irene that seriously affected sales at the Merrickville Show today. The cool temperatures, the blustery winds and the threat of rain kept most people away. I had zero sales today. Several of the smaller tents sailed away before the organisers of the show called it off at 1 30 pm.

At the Merrickville Antique and Artisan Show.

2011-08-28T08:00:00.000-04:00

My sign looks good.

Under this one tent are four artisans, two jewellers, a wood turner, and me.

The antique dealers are the amjority of the sellers.

The artisans are given lots of room in a very spacious site.

At 9 45 am the line-up for the show and sale had already started.

Moderate sales, but lots of interest.

Getting ready for the Merrickvikke Antique qnd Artisans Show.

2011-08-26T12:41:00.000-04:00

Later today we travel about an hour south of Ottawa to the beautiful town of Merrickville on the world heritage Rideau Canal. There I will be one of about seventy five participants in the Merrickville Antique and Artisans Show and Sale. The car is fully loaded with the shelving units, multiple baskets and other supplies.

Merrickville Antique & Artisan’s Show & Sale

We have organized the annual Merrickville Antique & Artisan’s Show and Sale, Eastern Ontario’s most popular show of this type. It will be held on the Merrickville Fairgrounds in beautiful Merrickville Ontario, rain or shine, on Saturday from 10am to 5pm and Sunday, from 10am to 4pm. Adult admission is $6, children 12 and under are free, parking is free.

Seventy-five vendors from Ontario and Quebec and every place in between will show wonderful antiques and artisan pieces that they have created.

The Merrickville Recreation Association will serve homemade food to the crowds and proceeds from this will benefit the children of Merrickville.

Also Tom “Shorty” Stephenson from the Ottawa Valley’s famous Kettle Boys will attend to demonstrate old fashioned traditional rope making.

This event never fails to attract thousands of visitors and promises to be your main stop on the hunt for fine antiques and quality artisan products. Info at www.antique-shows.ca

The Show attracts several thousand visitors.

I will be located with other artisans in a large white tent. I have high hopes, as usual, for lots of sales.

Rebels and Traitors, by Lindsey Davis

2011-08-23T17:55:00.000-04:00

I am halfway through this epic novel, Rebels and Traitors, by Lindsey Davis. It is a very different kind of novel than those I am used to by this author, her light weight history mystery novels set in ancient ROME ,featuring an investigator named Falco.

Th Civil War novel (not the American Civil War) is filled with all kinds of detail and information about the 17th century, and covers the years 1649 to 1657. This is a fascinating period where a king was executed, battles were fought throughout England, and families were torn apart. Lindsey adds little details that bring the story to life. She mentions a sordid jail in Southwark on Clink Street. Jail even today is nic-named "Clink." Characters mentioned in asides include a large scale, and large, brewer named Sir John Falstaff, of Shakespearan fame. And another famed past resident of Southwark is named John Harvard, the founder of the New World's first university.

I am just over half-way through this epic story and I am enjoying it tremendously. My only complaint is that the 742 page hard cover edition is very heavy. For ease of reading the novel could have been divided into two or even three volumes.

The book was published in 2009, by Century press.

A birthday outing

2011-08-13T08:32:00.000-04:00

For my birthday, yesterday, Anne and I loaded our bikes on the bike rack and drove to our favourite park, the Andrew Haydon Park. There we off loaded the bikes and prepared to ride on the Ottawa River bike path to downtown Ottawa, a distance of around 15 kms (9 miles). Our destination: the flight of locks that connect the Rideau Canal to the Ottawa River, adjacent to the Parliament buildings.

It was a pleasant ride in the cool of the morning. It took us perhaps 65 minutes to get to the locks. We enjoy viewing the boats as they ascend and descend this flight of locks. Here the locks are operated by summer students.

In our trips to England we have so many fond memories of canal trips. Our honeymoon was spent on a canal boat on the canalised section of the Thames river. There too the locks were operated by lock-keepers.Only once did our boat get loose as the waters cascaded into the lock. "Three men and a boat" revisited!

On two other occasions we have rented canal boats when revisiting England. On these occasions we travelled, at a majestic 10 kms per hour maximum speed (6 mph) on sections of the Trent and Mersey Canal in and through our home town of Stoke-on-Trent. On these canals, after perhaps 30 minutes of instruction, you are cast loose to operate the boat as well as operate the locks without supervision. It was fun.

The leisurely speed of the English canals leaves many treasured memories. We remember slowly catching up with walkers on the tow path, passing them and then being passed by them once more as we came to the next lock.

Yesterday's outing brought back these lovely memories as we sat by the Rideau locks for 30 minutes or more and watched as several boats ascended from one lock to the next.

Solar panels installed

2011-08-11T14:11:00.001-04:00

Today, a crew of the three people from ISOLARA SOLAR POWER arrived to install the 21 solar panels that will fit onto our SW facing roof. The complete set of panels readily fitted into this truck.

Each panel was carefully unwrapped and readied for being taken to the roof.

The roof had been prepared a couple of weeks before with the installation of the brackets, rails and one micro-inverter for each panel. An inverter converts the DC power produced in the panel from sunlight to AC power that is then fed into the electric grid. This photo shows the first row of the panels.

This shows all 21 panels installed.

There are a few more steps before electricity is produced. An electrician is the next person to come to connect the panels. Then the Electrical Safety Authority inspects and declares it sound. And then, Hydro Ottawa comes to hook up the installation to the grid. These processes could take another month or more.

A short holiday in the Finger Lakes region of New York State,

2011-07-31T09:43:00.000-04:00

On Wednesday we travelled from Ottawa to Ithaca, NY in the heart of the Finger Lakes Region of New York State. To get there we relied on our new Garmin GPS unit. Our old unit gave up the ghost on Tuesday. The GPS, known as Gypsy 2, took us on the 416 and 401 highways in Ontario and the 91 in New York State before going on more interesting byways.

Once we were in Ithaca, we explored the town and then the countryside. One highlight on the first day was being advised to leave the local grocery store (Wegmans) since there was a fire emergency. "Leave your shopping carts where they are and exit the store immediately." It proved to be a false alarm.

Thursday was spent exploring three nearby State Parks. At Buttermilk State Park (shown in the photographs) we hiked the rim trail and the gorge trail, trials on either side of Buttermilk Creek. Steep slopes, beautiful views, and waterfalls were there to see as we walked one and a half miles in total and ascended and descended 600 feet. At a second park we hiked a total of four miles with similar ascents and descents.

On Friday we travelled around Seneca Lake and went on to Watkin's Glen. It was a rainy day.

On our return we decided to by-pass all Thru-ways, and to take the quiet, scenic route home. We went north until we reached the south shore of Lake Ontario, and then followed that shore to Cape Vincent. Then memory told us we could take the ferry to Wolfe Island at the entrance to the St. Laurence and the Thousand Islands. While waiting for that ferry and for the next from the island to Kigston added about two hours to the journey, it was well worth it. Similarly, the journey on the quiet roads of upper New York Sate was much more enjoyable that motorway travel.

From Kingston, Gypsy 2 estimated it would take us another two hours to reach home via the 401 and the 416. We ignored her, and took Highway 15 and the Franktown road home, taking 15 to 20 minutes less on quiet roads once more.

The GPS system is fine for travelling to places you do not know, but it does have its drawbacks.

The flower gardens at Ottawa's Central Experimental Farm

2011-07-13T17:28:00.000-04:00

This morning the destination for our bike ride was the flower gardens at the Central Experimental Farm. Enjoy.

The Tamir Family Picnic

2011-07-11T17:38:00.000-04:00

Tamir is the agency that supports Adrian in his residence and in his day program. Tamir has a number of residences scattered around Ottawa. It brings the residents, families and staff together at its annual picnic held at Andrew Haydon Park. The food is prepared mainly by parent volunteers: chicken on a bun, veggie burgers and pasta salad. It is held in the gazebo and is well attended.

Kalpur is one of Adrian's weekend staff members. He is a caring individual who loves his work and interactions with the clients.

Festus is another weekend staffer who we see occasionally working at Adrian's residence.

Here Anne and Adrian are relaxing while waiting for the chicken to be ready to eat.

We enjoy going to the picnic to meet other parents, old and new, to meet some of Adrian's friends, and to meet staff we have got to know over the years. The caring attitude from all gives us joy.

As nesh as a carrot.

2011-07-04T14:32:00.000-04:00

In today's Ottawa Citizen there is an article about a word bank in Britain that gathers words that are disappearing from local dialects. One such word is "nesh." This is a word my Father used often in the descriptive phrase, "As nesh as a carrot." In the newspaper article it defines "nesh" as being susceptible to the cold. My Father's use of the word had a more colourful use: it meant that a person, such as a soccer player, was reluctant to commit himself fully in, for example, a full blooded tackle. I suppose this is similar to the usage ascribed to the word in the article, since somebody who is susceptible to cold would wrap themselves up in lots of woollies, turn up the heat in winter, and generally mollycoddle themselves.

When I was a young boy, my Dad would take us to see professional soccer as played by the team he supported, Port Vale, a struggling team in the third or fourth division of English Soccer (now called Division Two, three levels beneath the Premier League.) I well remember his colourful descriptions of the abilities of The Vale's players after a particularly disappointing game. Besides labelling several players as "Nesh as Carrots", he would sum up the team's abilities by saying he would not pay them with bottle caps, nailed upside down to a rotten piece of wood!

When we were very young my Dad would hoist us over the turnstiles at the entrance to the soccer stadium. Free admission for young lads! This was particularly done when the turnstile was administered by my Grandfather.

Canada Day Fun!

2011-07-02T10:05:00.000-04:00

On Canada Day (July 1st) we spent a few hours with our youngest son, Nathan, and his family at Andrew Haydon Park on the Ottawa River. There Anne and I had a picnic in the shade while Nathan and his family enjoyed (?) the fun at the mid-way. Nathan was enticed by his son Justin to accompany him on some of the thrill rides. Nathan, like me, finds these less than thrilling these days.

The "Ring of Fire" was a test of nerves and of the ability to keep from upchucking.

Here Nathan and Justin are at the peak of the ride as it sat at the top of the ring hanging the upside down. Nathan said he had his eyes closed throughout the ride.

The Ottawa Firefighters band was a welcome relief!

The vegetable gardens in late June

2011-06-30T08:54:00.001-04:00

The first sowing of lettuces is now ready for harvesting. Already a dozen of these, from the raised garden, were taken to the local food bank where they were received enthusiastically.

The next crop of lettuce is through, and I will sow a third crop soon.

The rows of potatoes are doing well. I might add more compost to the rows to stimulate more production.

The tomato plants are very healthy and now beginning to set their fruit. A bountiful harvest is promised.

The green peppers are thriving too between the tomatoes and the beets.

This is the first year in many that I have planted beets. They look promising too.

Carrots always do well, particularly if I neglect them.

The cucumbers have not done as well as in the past, but we will have enough for our own home.

The beans are beginning to flower.

And the peas and onions look good. Usually we harvest enough peas for our own use since they die off quite quickly as the summer heat mounts.

Overall, it looks as if I will be making many trips to the local food bank to share the harvest this year.

Predatory shopping carts invade Ottawa!

2011-06-24T12:04:00.002-04:00

For the last few years, DAVID INGRAM, a naturalist, a past neighbour, an ex-student of mine and a graduate of Red Lake District High School, has written an intermittent blog about wild shopping carts of British Columbia. These feral omnivores, he says, have escaped from the confines of the malls that their domesticated cousin inhabit. The mall dwellers are fed several times a day by the customers that use them, but the escapees must fend for themselves and find food wherever they can. I found his stories disturbing, but felt safe since I believed the feral species was confined to the Western Cordillera.

This belief was proven wrong as I came across this recumbent example while on my morning's walk. This was spotted in the bed of the Mighty Carp River in Glen Cairn, a suburban area of Ottawa, the Nation's Capital. While it appears to be dead, I was reluctant to approach it too closely since the species has adopted the "play dead" mode to both conserve energy and to lure to its maw unsuspecting meals. Most ominously, this example seems to have adopted a Friday the 13th strategy since its mask and hockey stick weapon lie so closely by.

While the first photograph shows house nearby, the concealment of the forest is not too far away!

How far have feral wild shopping carts spread? Are they found throughout North America? Have they spread to Europe and other continents? Let me know the extent of this plague>

A sad day as I close my on-line Etsy shop.

2011-06-22T16:58:00.000-04:00

Today I closed my on-line basket selling business at Etsy.com. It is a sad day but I had to make that decision.

Last week, I bought a new car and phoned my insurance broker at the Ontario Teachers Insurance Plan (OTIP) to advise them of this. During the conversation, I was asked if there were any other insurance issues I wanted to talk about. I mentioned I was looking for General Liability Insurance for when I sell baskets at trade shows for anywhere from 12 to 20 days a year. I also mentioned that I also sold on-line. This was the straw that was to break the camels back. OTIP stated the insurance company I was with would no longer be able to continue to offer me house insurance because of that on-line business! Though I explained that my sales were not huge by any means, perhaps 40 sales to US customers in the main since the date I opened the on-line store in March 2009, my exposure to potential liability issues was too much for the broker and the insurance company.

After a night of reflection and an assessment of the pros and cons of continuing to put in a lot of time and effort into the Etsy store, and an evaluation of the returns made through the one, two or three sales of baskets per month on Etsy, I decided the cost, of losing my house insurance, was too high. I called OTIP and told them I would close my on-line store if it resulted in the re-instatement of my house insurance. I was asssured this would happen.

I am still waiting for confirmation of this. I am also waiting for information about adding "event insurance" to cover me when I take part in craft shows. One craft show requires me to have $2 million in general liability insurance for the six days of the show.

Acting as a 67 year-old groupie.

2011-06-19T07:46:00.001-04:00

Last night, Anne and I attended the National Aboriginal Festival at Lebreton Flats in Ottawa. The highlight of the festival, for us, was the performance of Shy-Anne Hovorka as one of the headline performers last evening.

Shy-Anne to me is one of the graduates from Red Lake District High School that I counselled during my years as a high school counsellor. I remember Shy-Anne as perhaps the only person who sang with the high school band as it performed. Shy-Anne went on to study music at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, and is now in the midst of a successful music career, teaching career and a career in advocacy for children of First Nation ancestry to be able to fulfill their dreams.

For the first time in my life, I became a groupie as at the end of her hour-long "set' of music, I stood in the wings striving to meet her. Shy-Anne recognised me immediately, adressing me as , "Mr. Toft."

Her performance was outstanding. Her songs reflect the struggles in her life with racism, but go much beyond the protest songs of that genre. I was most impressed with the quality and range of her voice, and of her ability to sing so movingly in so many different styles: jazz, latin rhythms, gentle acoustic guitar accompanied songs as well as loud, strident rock and roll. I think Anne was just as impressed as I.

The joys of a consignment store in Williamsburg, Virginia,

2011-06-15T09:53:00.000-04:00

On the last day of our vacation in Willamsburg, Virginia, Anne insisted that we visit a consignment store there. So off we went. The temperature was approaching 100 F, so instead of me taking my usual practice of sitting out side and waiting for Anne, I went inside the ladies clothing store with her to enjoy its air conditioned comfort.

I sat down by the water cooler, and enjoyed the cool air and the cold water provided there. Anne selected perhaps six to eight items while I waited.

I soon was bored waiting, so I too wandered around looking at what was on offer. To my surprise there were a number of ladies' hats on display too. How well would one of these be suitable to highlight the mannequin heads I have for sale?

I selected this particular hat, a bargain for around $16.00 and purchased it along with Anne's selections. It should help "Red Hat Society" ladies see how well my mannequin heads show off their hats.

A vacation to remember.

2011-06-14T07:30:00.001-04:00

Last week, Anne and I travelled to Williamsburg, Virginia, for our summer vacation. We took two days to get there, travelling through the Appalachians. The beautiful, rolling hills of Pennsylvania are a part of that journey we enjoy.

In Williamsburg we visited many historical sites. In Jamestown, the recreated Powhatan village from the early 1600s was a highlight of these visits.

Another highlight was sailing on the schooner, Alliance, at Yorktown for a two hour sunset cruise, It was idyllic, not like Gilligan's two hour cruise.

The sunset was serene.

Less serene was the attack by this turkey!

On our way home, we stopped off to visit Anne's nephew, Gary, at Arnold, near Annapolis Royal in Maryland, just east of Washington.

A highlight of this visit was having a feast of snow crab legs at a crab shack. Shown here are , from left to right, Gary, Anne, Melany. Bella, Lloyd and me.The Cooper hospitality was supreme.

Originals Christmas Craft Show in Ottawa, December 2011

2011-06-01T08:41:00.000-04:00

http://www.signatures.ca/originals/xmas11/default.html

The link above takes you to the site for the Originals Christmas Craft Show to be held at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa in December. I have applied for and been accepted to take part in this show for a six day period. It is the biggest show I have taken on!

As you will see the link only gives the smallest of details. The site will be developed in the next few weeks or so as people accept places in the show. As a part of the acceptance process, artisans are asked to send in a minimum of six pictures of their work as well as photos of their booth design. Selected photos will then be added to the website and to informational and advertising literature about the show.

Here are some of the photos I sent in:

Extra cash revenue: $1 15 after two days of sales.

2011-05-29T19:58:00.000-04:00

I returned from the two day sale at the Spencerville Mill with an extra $1.15 in my cash box after paying the Mill their dues. I also brought back checks to deposit so revenue was not quite as shown in cash sales. I also brought home this beautiful felt hat Anne selected from the hat maker next to me at the Mill. I traded one of my wicker heads/hat stands for this. Anne really likes this to add to her winter wardrobe.

The Spencerville Grist Mill.

2011-05-29T08:10:00.000-04:00

On May 28th and May 29th I was invited to take part in an exhibition and sale of all things fibre at the heritage site of the Spencerville Grist Mill.

Th mill is undergoing renovations and is the site of regular musical events as well as craft and art shows. It is located on the South Nation River in the village of Spencerville, Ontario. Spencerville is 12 km North of Highway 401, near Prescott, and off highway 416.

For the exhibition and sale, the newly renovated ground floor of the mill was open. The basement and upper floor still need work before being open to the public. The mill was last operated in 1972. It will not become operational.

My display was one of a dozen or more from artisans who work with fibre materials.

The gardens in May

2011-05-22T08:45:00.000-04:00

Now the late spring is at an end, the flower and vegetable gardens are a riot of colour. Many varieties of tulips are in full bloom, with varying colours and shapes.

More tulips add distinction to the front garden.

While varieties of ground cover bring other masses of colour and structure to the mix.

The surviving crab apple is a showy burst of brilliance at the corner of the driveway.

This section of my vegetable garden hosts tomato and green pepper plants as well as rows of beets, carrots, beans and cucumber seeds. By the fall I expect a bountiful harvest to share with the local food bank.

The apple tree in my back garden is in full bloom, a joy to behold.

The rhubarb is almost ready to be picked. The taste of a freshly baked rhubarb pie makes me salivate in anticipation.

Similarly, the blossom-laden black currant bushes promise a healthy harvest for jams and pies in later months.

The garden in May promises much!

My brother and my sister-in-law visit from England.

2011-05-18T08:36:00.000-04:00

My brother, Frank, in red and my sister-in-law, Pauline, in red too, visited Anne and I for a few days this week. My neighbour took this photo in front of our house. It was an atypical spring day in Ottawa, raw and cool.

Frank is my twin brother. I only have one twin brother, but my sisters and other brother have two.

On their first full day in Ottawa we hit the hot spots of Ottawa: the tulip festival, the Byward Market, the canal and Hogs Back Falls.

The tulips were out in full force.

Later, after a full day out, we met with Adrian and took him out for supper. After supper he asked to go to "Best Buy" to look at various computer gadgets. "Just looking."

The tiled picture of The Angel of Burslem now is hung

2011-05-15T20:57:00.000-04:00

The finished tile photo picture of The Angel of Burslem now graces our bathroom wall. The Merrickville, Ontario company called Commeleon, took a high resolution digital image from the web and spread it over a six by three array of six inch tiles. The owner of the company, Gordon Glaze, specialises in transferring digital images to tiles. We are very pleased with the result.

Jim walker of Walkerworks in Stittsville, Ontario, cemented the tiles to a board and then framed them. The frame, of burnished metal, matches the furnishings in the bathroom. Again, we are very pleased with the final reult. Jim came to our home earlier today and hung the tiled picture for us.

Solar energy continued.

2011-05-11T16:48:00.000-04:00

www.isolara.com

This is one of the companies we are considering as the installer of roof top solar panels to produce electricity over the next twenty years from the roof of our home. All three companies state our S.W. facing roof is suitable as a solar generating location, and that it would generate enough power to pay for itself long before the 20 year contract period is up, even if the capital cost is borrowed.

We are now waiting for estimates of the costs and anticipated revenue to come in. These are promised in time for our appointment with the bank on Friday afternoon. Then we can discuss the financial viability of a project with suitable documentation.

Flowers for Mother's Day from Adrian.

2011-05-07T22:11:00.000-04:00

Birthdays, holidays, and special occasions such as Mother's Day are very important to Adrian, our adult son with autism. Recently, the staff at his group home have become much more attentive to his love of celebrations, and take note of the occasions. Today, for example, Anne received this lovely flower arrangement from Adrian. It was delivered to our door by a local florist. Anne and I are very touched by the gesture.

Extending a vegetable garden by removing willow "stools."

2011-05-06T17:46:00.000-04:00

This morning I decided to extend one section of my garden that I use as a vegetable patch. This meant removing about a dozen willow bushes that had developed "stools" over the years as I cut them back to ground level each year. A "Stool" is a mound of stems originating from the original single stem. In the photo above are several stools of varying sizes. I had cut off the stems and branches earlier in the week.

The tools I use to get to the stools so I can remove them are a square ended spade, and the short handled adze shown here. These are the stools and roots of the smaller stools I removed myself.

For larger stools, such as this, I dug around the plant and then called in my eldest son, Julian for his muscle power. I am not supposed to exert myself too much following last June's heart attack. Julian helped remove four of the last five stools. The last one, at least twice the size of this one, is left for another day!

Solar energy

2011-05-05T08:04:00.000-04:00

On Saturday last we saw an article in the Ottawa Citizen about the first annual Solar Fair to be held at Ottawa's City Hall that day. We had seen a flyer about roof top solar energy a few months earlier and were interested. Now we could investigate further. So, in a "green" moment, we drove to the nearby Park and Ride and took the bus downtown where we could have lunch with the benefits of a $25.00 off coupon and visit the fair too.

Initially we were not too impressed by the fair. Outside City Hall was a hand printed Bristol Board poster advertising the fair. A very low tech introduction to this high tech business. Inside were about a dozen solar power companies with their booths, reps from Ontario Hydro and Ottawa Hydro, as well as Green Power people and money lending institutions. The inside looked a bit more promising.

We circulated and asked questions. We learned that our home with its S.W. facing roof might be an ideal site for producing electricity through solar power. We asked more questions and picked up handouts. We plan to have quotes and visits from three or more installers of solar power roof top electricity generators, and hope to make a decision about having our own installation after these visits.

The Ontario Power Authority (OPA) will pay for the electricity produced, and the installation should pay for itself in 7 or so years in the 20 year contract. The OPA's website http://microfit.powerauthority.on.ca/ is an excellenet site for information about setting up a home solar power site.

Currently we are setting up visits from SOLARLOGIX, SOLACITY, and ISOLARA so we can learn more. The OPA site has lists of questions to ask such companies. We have already talked to SOLARLOGIX, have an appointment with SOLACITY set up for Monday, and are waiting for a response from ISOLARA to whom we sent a request for an appointment yesterday.

A post-election collection of baskets for the political parties of Canada.

2011-05-04T09:19:00.000-04:00

Following Monday's Federal election in Canada, I selected several of my baskets in colour for four of the parties that had members elected to Parliament. Above is a green rib basket to represent the lone and first Green Party member elected to Canada's Parliament here in Ottawa.

For the Liberal Party, with their very diminished numbers, is a rib basket in red, the party colours.

With their new status as the Official Opposition, the N.D.P. have this orange rib basket to represent them.

And, the Conservative Party, with their new majority, have a more traditional market basket to represent them.

Together, these four baskets represent the new Parliament. (I did not add a fifth basket for the Bloc Quebecois, mostly because I do not know what colour is theirs.)

Wind damage prevented by remedial actions.

2011-04-28T17:50:00.001-04:00

Earlier this month Julian came over to help with preventative measures to prevent our sun canopy from blowing away and being damaged. Galvanized strapping was fastened to the four legs of the canopy with hose clamps and then tightly secured to the deck with deck screws.

Prior to this, the legs of the canopy were secured with cup hooks to the deck, some of which had not survived beyond one season. Other tethers did not hold the legs solidly to the deck. In high winds the canopy thumped and banged incessantly.

Today, Ottawa experienced a severe wind storm that brought trees and hydro wires down, blew signs down and did all kinds of damage. But the canopy survived unscathed!

The delights of the spring garden

2011-04-28T14:00:00.001-04:00

Spring is finally here with thunder storms and high winds. New spring flowers seem to pop up every day. The hyacinths are just beginning to bloom.

The white flowers here look lovely but we do not know what they are called. Suggestions please!

The daffodils are out today and are blowing in the wind.

And I was able to make a start on digging in the compost I spread over my vegetable gardens last fall. Every year, says Anne, I say the same thing at this wonderful time of year. "The soil is beautiful and easy to work." Its good, friable, enriched with humus, and well drained. I even find shells in the soil, evidence this area was a shore line in years gone by.

I have more sections of the vegetable gardens to dig over. One section is already planted with peas and onion sets. Others will be planted with potatoes, carrots, beans, tomatoes and cucumber in three or four weeks time when frost danger is over.

Preparing grapevine branches as hoops for rib baskets.

2011-04-25T13:37:00.001-04:00

Last fall I took the first steps in preparing grapevine branches to serve as hoops for my rib baskets. Two hoops of grapevine branches, with one inserted inside the other at right angles, serve as the frame for rib baskets. In the photo above, one of my grapevines was cut down last October and the branches saved ready to prepare them as hoops.

Last fall I did not have the energy to complete the preparation, and so some of my vines were left uncut as shown here.

While those I had cut lay all winter long without any attention being spent on them.

However, today, a warm spring day, was the day to begin preparing them for use. One of the fall's branches is here ready for final processing.

Grapevine has a loose outer bark that has to be removed before it can be used as a frame. To remove the bark, I bend the vine until the outer bark springs free of the branch. It is then relatively easy to remove it.

My first hoop made from a grapevine branch with its bark removed.

Three hours after I began, here are about twenty hoops of varying sizes. These will be sufficient for ten rib baskets. All I need now is to wait a few more days or weeks for the willow to flush out with its first leaves of spring, then I can strip it of its bark and reveal the white flesh beneath. I prefer ribs of this white willow for the rib baskets.

(One thing I learned today is that the grapevine branches I cut in the fall had bark that was troublesome to remove. However, the newly cut grapevines had bark that was very easy to strip. Next year, I will do my hoop preparation in the spring!)

Picnic in Perth, Ontario

2011-04-24T19:35:00.001-04:00

Today we picked Adrian up and then drove an hour out of town to Perth, Ontario for a desert picnic. Perth has many fine, old buildings such as the ones shown here.

Perth's river is called The Tay (of course). Spring run-off was in full spate.

However, the picnic table was in a relatively dry spot. We emjoyed a cup of tea, Easter eggs, and home-made brownies.

Perth is also the home of Ian Miller and Big Ben, championship rider and horse.

Designer vase-shaped baskets

2011-04-21T16:24:00.001-04:00

I added a smaller version of the designer vase-shaped basket to my etsy store today. The irises go very well with it.

This photo shows how the beads, the dyed cane and the wool share the same tonal range of colours and work well together.

The designer vase, in its torso shape, can also be used to exhibit necklaces (as shown here) or scarves.

Another necklace is displayed here.

The Angel of Burslem: ready to be made into a framed picture

2011-04-21T07:47:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we went to Gordon Glaze's store in Merrickville to pick up the tiles he had prepared, made from the photograph of "The Angel of Burslem." The results are very attractive. Spread over a three by six array of tiles, the angel looks spectacular. His business is called "Commeleon Inc" and more examples of his work can be found at http://www.commeleon.com

On our way home from Merrickville we stopped at "Walker Works" in Stittsville. There we left the tiles with Jim Walker. He will adhere the tiles to a board, add framing and then come to our home to hang the framed picture. We look forward to hanging the framed picture in our bathroom.

The Autists Gala, Toronto, May 17th

2011-04-19T12:05:00.000-04:00

On May 17th, The Autists Gala will be held at Koerner Hall, TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning, 279 Bloor Street, Toronto, beginning at 5 30 pm. This is the Annual Gala and Art Auction of the Geneva Centre for Autism. It is held in celebration and support of children and youth at the Geneva Centre.

Tickets for the Gala cost $195.00 Canadian each and give you access to the Gala, a gourmet champagne reception, art viewing and the silent auction. Works by nationally and internationally renowned artists will also be displayed and then auctioned off in a live auction.

The Geneva Centre for Autism helped our son, Adrian, when he was a child. I contribute 10% of my sales revenue through etsy annually to The Geneva Centre. I also donated three of my baskets to The Autists Gal for the silent auction.

The designer vase exhibited.

2011-04-19T11:15:00.000-04:00

I posted the designer vase in my etsy shop today with these images. This shows a close-up of the wool weaving and the beads.

The image above shows the woven base that started with four canes inserted through four others.

One of Anne's favourite necklaces was used to illustrate how the vase could be used to display fine jewellery.

It could also be used to display dried flowers.

Or, with a carafe placed inside, to display cut flowers.

Creating a designer vase basket.

2011-04-19T08:09:00.000-04:00

The inspiration for this basket came from the basket created by Debra Hammond as shown on pages 18 - 20 0f Lyn Syler's "A Basketmaker's Odyssey: Over Under, around and through", published by Word Weavers Ink, of Matthews, North Carolina. The photo above shows the inspirational basket.

My base was woven with a four through four base, For the upsett, I wove several rows of three rod waling using two undyed (ivory white) weavers) and one purple weaver. I then changed to more three rod waling with two weavers of purple and one of ivory white. I finished this stage of the weaving with additional rows of three rod wale with three weavers of purple. All these rows were flared outwards, and show spirals on the outside of the work.

The next stage was to bend the cane inwards. To do that I used needle-nosed pliers to crush the cane spokes at the level of the last row of weavers. I then placed a suitable sized can inside the basket and tied of the spokes around the can so I could weave at an appropriate angle. For this section I continued with three rod waling with two purple weavers and one of 100% knobbly rayon wool.

The next step was to form the neck. I added four randomly chosen beads of similar hues to each spoke and then began to weave in three-rod weaving, reversing the pattern I used on the lower side of the base.

The finished designer vase. Anne suggests I make two others similar in shape but progressively smaller to make a set. I will see what I can do.

Cross-training

2011-04-16T09:45:00.000-04:00

This week was the week I began regular cross-training with two objectives: to lose weight and to become fitter. After a long winter of on and off efforts at exercise, I at last began to feel well enough to make a serious effort to get back on track. Through the winter we did manage to go to the local pool twice weekly most weeks, but regular walking and jogging just did not happen enough. As a result the regular weight loss I had achieved before June's heart attack stalled. My weight plateaued.

In the photographs I am wearing the brightly coloured running jacket that was part of the deal for entering a New Yea's Eve 10 km run. As was typical of the winter training, I was not able to put in enough longer runs to actually compete in that run.I hope to change that situation now somewhat warmer weather is here.

So, this week I started by running 6 km with the Running Room strategy of running for ten minutes, walking for one and repeating (tens and ones). On Tuesday we swam lengths (28 for me) and then bicycled to Stittsville, a 10 km return journey. Wednesday saw a repeat of a 6k tens and ones run with a better time. Thursday was 18 holes of golf, which even with a cart was exercise. Friday was a rest day. Today I completed the week's exercise with a shorter run of 4 km, again with tens and ones. (Sunday is another rest day with a walk to and from church, and the afternoon spent with Adrian.) Add in several hours spent raking and working in the garden and I have a good cross-training week completed.

If I am able to continue a regular cross-training program, I should be able to lose one or two pounds a week and shed the extra 25 I do not need. I did lose 25 in a similar period last year, and have kept almost all of that off despite the lack of exercise.

Our roof is re-shingled today

2011-04-14T17:44:00.000-04:00

At 7 00 am Firon Roofing pulled up to start removing the shingles from our roof, and to install new shingles. A crew of five got to work right away.

A few minutes later this truck pulled up with the new shingles and the new vents.

Meanwhile, the stripping of the old shingles continued apace.

The crane operator set up his equipment.

The shingles were then lifted to the roof, a much better way of doing things than carrying each bundle up on shoulders via a ladder.

The satellite TV dish was removed and lowered to the ground.

The waste material was collected in the trailer parked in our driveway.

By 1 00 pm the job was completed, the satellite dish restored, and TV reception was back. The roof looks so much better and the new vents look smart. And all this was done while I was golfing in strong winds and a high of perhaps 5C.

Coincidences

2011-04-10T09:27:00.001-04:00

Last night we took part in a "progressive dinner" with around two dozen members of our church. We met at one home for starters, then moved on to our home for soup and salad, on to a third home for the main courses, and then to the fourth and last for deserts. All pre-arranged, but all pot luck as to what kind of food would be found at each home.

We fell upon two sets of coincidences during the evening. When we first moved to Ottawa in 2001, we met another family, the Wrights, who have twins with autism. We knew these boys were about Adrian's age but what we discovered last night was that Adrian and the twins attended the same behavioural camps near Haliburton in the early 1980s. At that time we lived in Red lake while the Wrights lived in Ottawa some 2000 kms away. When the boys attended the week long camps, we, the parents, never met each other. It was only 25 years or so later that we met as we attend the same church.

For the second coincidence, one person turned out to be the daughter of immigrant parents from our home town, Burslem, who emmigrated to Canada the same year as we did. We had long conversations about "pot banks", "seconds", the Trent and Mersey Canal, Shelton Bar (The steel mill where her father worked), and Royal Doulton. Our pen-and-ink drawings of scenes from The Potteries were fascinating to her.

It is a small world.

Getting ready for outdoor dining

2011-04-08T19:39:00.000-04:00

Julian came over today to set up the sun canopy on the deck. We hope for one more season out of it at least.

Tonight we drank our first wine and spirits of the season under the sun canopy. Tomorrow we plan to eat lunch outside too. Spring is really here.

The opening of my golfing season.

2011-04-05T15:27:00.000-04:00

Today was my first day of golfing this season. Here I am ready to tee off with my friend George Graham. It was a balmy 2C with a strong wind.

Drifts of snow were still found near some greens. The water hazards were ice filled. But we had fun.

At times there was ice pellets or snow pellets falling. This is the view through the golf cart's wind shield. There appeared to only be our foursome on the course. Surprise!.

On the positive side, I gained at least a dozen balls.

Spring flowers at last

2011-04-03T16:00:00.000-04:00

People have posted pictures of crocuses in flower in Ottawa on their facebook pages. There are no signs of such flowers in my garden yet. However, in a section where I broadcast a package of Canadian wildflower seeds last year, these flowers appeared on April 1st. No fooling. To me they look like a version of the common English flower I know as "Colts foot." Any suggestions as to what the name is are welcome.

Dyeing for my art.

2011-04-01T17:07:00.000-04:00

This is all that was left of the cane I had dyed over the last few months. Today, with a temperature of 8 C, it was a good day to add more dyed cane to my inventory. I located my dyes, fired up the BBQ and set to work.

An hour or so later, I had twelve 1 lb skeins dyed and ready to be hung to complete their drying process.

Here, the newly dyed cane is getting enough air circulation in my storage area to dry properly.

For this particular dyeing exercise, I used nine different dye colours: tan, wine red, scarlet, dark brown, olive green, desert dust, elephant grey, yellow and purple. Over the next few months, I will be creatively at work using the dyed material as I double my inventory. I look forward to this.

Seeking signs of Spring

2011-04-01T10:33:00.000-04:00

Its April 1st and I am ready for spring. There are signs that it is not too far away as the buds begin to swell on one of my shrubs.

An iris or a lily is also beginning to green.

And a hardy tulip braves the 4 C temperatures. Soon there will be blooms all around, but not just yet.

The Angel of Burslem

2011-03-30T09:27:00.000-04:00

On the top of the old town hall in Burslem, Staffs, England, you will find this "Angel of Burslem. Anne's family history says the model for the angel was the daughter of the Mayor of Burslem, an ancestor of hers. We have a portrait of the Mayor in his mayoral robes as well as a photo of his daughter.

We are in the midst of negotiating with COMMELEONInc to have this photograph made into a ceramic tile picture to hang in our home. Commeleon is a business based in nearby Merrickville, operated by the serendipitously named Gordon Glaze. He can take any photograph and transfer its image to tiles. We are currently looking at an image on 6" tiles spread over an 18" by 36" frame. We have asked that the sky in the image be transformed into the washed out grey-blue of England rather than the brilliant blue shown here.

A few years ago we visited Burslem to find that the "Angel" was exhibited at the Royal Doulton factory while it was being rehabilitated. This is a picture of the angel at that time with its century or more of pottery dirt and grime. Since that visit, the angel has been replaced at the top of the Town Hall.

Hat stand for a new born baby

2011-03-29T10:59:00.000-04:00

I added this hat stand to the series of stands today. I managed to weave it so its diameter is 14", the standard size for a hat for a new-born to three-month old baby. Since we have not had such a baby in our home for years, hats to show off the stand are hard to come by. The scarf sufficed.

The stand is made from rattan cane. The weavers are #2 cane and are quite fine.

A Dollar Store hat is a second prop I use to show off this hat.

The undyed cane is a lovely ivory white. I also can make these using dyed cane in desert dust (tan) or in elephant grey.

The finished stand is 8" tall, very lightweight, but sturdy.

Signs of Spring?

2011-03-25T11:57:00.000-04:00

Some of our indoor plants are in bloom. Can spring be far away? While it is currently -6C, I was able to spend a few minutes outside picking up garbage revealed as much of the snow has melted. Now that task is a real sign of spring!

Stair baskets completed

2011-03-22T14:13:00.000-04:00

I completed the second of the two stair baskets I was asked to make for a friend. They turned out well. I chose to use 1" flat cane as the material. While we were on holiday a few years ago in Vermont, we visited a basket-maker who specialised in making stair baskets, using a 1" birch veneer. These are modelled on that remembered example.

My memory suggests the birch veneer baskets were molded around a frame rather than made free form as are mine. I believe the rim was stapled rather than lashed. I did secure the handle to the basket with the use of brass screws as shown here.

The baskets sit nicely on our stairs. We use two stair baskets ourselves. In the winter-time we drop out gloves, mitts, scarves and touques into them, and our summer hats there in the summers.

O Canada

2011-03-21T08:15:00.000-04:00

On Sunday, March 20th, Anne, along with other members of the Glen Cairn United Church Senior Choir, lead over 6000 people in singing "O Canada" at the last regular Ottawa 67s hockey game of the season. (The 67s won by a score of 7 to 3.) Anne is the second from the top in the middle row.

Canada Blooms, Toronto, 2011

2011-03-20T08:23:00.000-04:00

On Friday, March 18th we travelled by Greyhound Coach from Ottawa to Toronto to visit Canada Blooms, the garden show there. We purchased a two day pass. Saturday we walked the three kilometers to the exhibition to find a long line-up. The show was huge. We spent about three hours there both on Friday and Saturday.

I was so engrossed by the sights and smells and sounds of the exhibition, I forgot to take many photographs. I did do a lot of chatting with exhibitors about their booths as I checked out their sizes, how they were arranged, their lighting displays, and what they did about floor covering. This display, with its carpet, is the only example I have!

The beautiful displays of massed flowers make spring so much closer. On our return to Ottawa, it was great to see so much of the snow has melted. The snow banks at the end of the driveway are dirty plies of ice and gravel now.

In among the handouts from the exhibitors we received details about plant sales at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington, and about more botanical gardens in Toronto. More trips by car, bus or train are to come in the spring and summer!

A custom order stair basket

2011-03-17T13:33:00.000-04:00

A friend asked me to make her two stair baskets. Here are the results of my first endeavor to make one of the baskets. Blogger has had some "improvements" made to its formatting, so the order of the images is somewhat in disarray. The image above shows the basket at the stage where I began weaving the second level of the basket.

This is the basket in readiness for weaving that second level.

This image shows the basket with the first stage being partly finished.

Here the thick cane for the handles is being bent to shape after soaking.

Flat cane, imported from China, is the material I use. The bulk of the basket is made from 1" flat cane. The fillers for the bases are made from 1/2" flat cane, while the lashing for the rim uses 1/4" f;at cane. Flat cane is purchased in 1 lb skeins.

The finished product. Th basket is 20" (51 cm) long, 11" (30 cm) wide, and 22" (56 cm) to the top of its handle. As such it would be very expensive to ship in a 22" by 24" by 12" box. It is not an item I would add to my on-line Etsy store because of the very high shipping costs.

Boom or Bust for 2011

2011-03-14T11:44:00.000-04:00

I am patiently waiting to hear if my applications to professionally organised shows for 2011 have been accepted. I applied to the Merrickville Antique and Artisan Show and Sale for the last weekend of August. An application has also been sent to The Maker's Hand, a three day juried show in Picton, Prince Edward County, Ontario in November. And I sent of an application to spend four days at the Ottawa Originals Christmas Craft Show in early December.

The entry fees for these three shows, plus the expenses of buying the portable shelving units for my booth display, combined with the costs of buying more supplies means that I will have spent well over $2000.00 in anticipation of sales. 2011 will be a year in which I will either make a large profit or a huge loss.

Currently my inventory of baskets on hand totals around 120 units with a sale value of just under $6000.00. I plan to increase that inventory before the first of these sales to close to 200 units with perhaps a sale value of $10 000.00. My booth display shelving units, and Mazda, can hold up to 75 units with a value of around $3700.00. For the two-day sale in Merrickville, I would be able to take more inventory for the second day if needed. For the Picton sale, about three or more hours distant from my home, we plan on staying locally, not returning for more inventory during those three days. We will see if this works out or if an emergency trip back home for more baskets is needed.

Once we have the experience of these two sales, we will decide what to do about the Originals sale. That would be within a half-hour drive of my home. Anne is thinking we should book into the downtown Westin hotel with accumulated points so as to ease the stress of a four day sale. I would prefer to make this decision after we see how we do at the other sales first. It would be great if sales take off to use the accumulated points for a rewarding vacation later!

So, by Christmas 2011, I will either have a studio overflowing with almost 200 unsold baskets or a studio looking a little bare. We will see which it will be.

"Not bad for the colonies."

2011-03-13T08:11:00.000-04:00

Last night we were spoiled for choice for TV watching, a very unusual circumstance in the multi-channel wasteland of TV watching. First there was a tape delayed quarter-final of the F.A. Cup of Manchester United playing Arsenal. At the same time there was the semi-final of the Canadian men's curling championship and a four hour extraordinary presentation of Les Miserables on the PBS station. And all this on a night when the clocks were to go forward one hour.

After watching the soccer game, we watched Les Mis. Despite the pledge breaks, it was really a remarkable performance. The show was filmed in London, England. (I have to specify, England since the curling was taking place in London, Ontario.) The Les Mis venue was the O2 stadium, a huge show case that sat 23 000 people. It was spectacular. As the presenters said, over and over again during the interminable pledge breaks, it was THE definitive performance of this show on its 25th anniversary.

It was perhaps twenty years ago that we saw Les Mis live in Winnipeg, Manitoba. This was the year after my mother died and the year that my father, on his own, came to visit us in Red Lake, Ontario. We took him with us to Winnipeg, a six hour car trip from Red Lake, to see Les Mis. We all really enjoyed the show. My Dad ruminated about his experience and said, "Not bad for the colonies."

For twenty years that comment sat in my mind. But, after last night's performance, I can now appreciate what he was saying.

March: like a lion

2011-03-10T08:28:00.003-05:00

A heavy, wet snow overnight showed us that March has come in like a lion. 15 cm of snow with sleet, freezing rain and rain to follow. Our across the street neighbours are busy at work clearing their driveway before embarking on mine. The snowblower is giving them trouble too.

My driveway is next. Since snow shovelling is banned for people recovering from a heart attack, I am just an interested spectator. Thanks again must go to good neighnours..

Another beautiful day

2011-03-08T10:39:00.003-05:00

At a comfortable -5C, the sun is shining and the sky is that wonderful deep blue. Its a lovely day to be outside. The winds are just gentle breezes instead of the strong winds of yesterday. Its a day to tempt you outside for a jog or long, brisk walk.

The driveway was cleared by my neighbour, Richard, on Sunday after the rain and heavy, wet snow. More is forcast for later in the week, so now is the time to enjoy this sunny day.

A beautiful sunset

2011-03-06T18:14:00.002-05:00

Taken from our front door.

The D.A.D. Project Revisited

2011-03-05T12:40:00.003-05:00

This morning, Emily Chen told me that the DAD Project sold the Hat Stand that I donated to her cancer fund-raising project. The buyer also asked if a second hat stand is available. I hope her correspondence about this results in another sale.

The good old days

2011-03-04T07:48:00.005-05:00

We received several calendars again this year. One in particular is intriguing. It is a collection of historic photographs of people and scenes from out home town of Stoke-on-Trent. This image, of boys playing in the wasteland behind some pot banks could well have been a portrait of my brother and I with friends. Shorts, long socks, sticks and mud. What better toys are there?

Another picture dates from the 1930s, a period when my elder sisters were just beginning school. I will ask them if unisex clothing was the norm when they began their education.

The Autists 2011

2011-03-01T17:34:00.006-05:00

On the 17th of May 2011, the Geneva Centre for Autism's Foundation will be holding its second annual gala fundraising spectacular, THE AUTISTS. I will be donating the basketry items shown here to the silent auction that is part of this fundraiser in Toronto, Ontario.

"The Autists Gala features a glittering champagne reception; gourmet cuisine; a live art auction curated by Charles Pachter with works by top Canadian and International artists; a silent auction as well as exciting musical performances alongside art and entertainment by gifted youth with ASD,"

People may contact Carolyn Ayson, Silent Auction Chair at 416 481 1294 or by email: carolyn416@gmail.com for further information.

Anthurium: Lovable Hearts.

2011-03-01T08:02:00.005-05:00

House plants are my response to the blogs from Vancouver showing spring blossoms gracing lawns and gardens. Our "Anthurium" or "Lovable Hearts" has produced another bloom. It is a remarkably beautiful bloom.

An earlier bloom.

The sun is shining brightly on this first day of March. Its a balmy minus 12 C. The wet snow of yesterday looks so bright and cheerful today, especially after my neighbour shovelled the heavy, wet mess from my driveway. Spring cannot be that far away and the anthurium brightens the way to that spring.

The D.A.D. Project

2011-02-24T15:32:00.006-05:00

Two sisters, Emily and Serena, operate an online fundraiser for the Canadian Cancer Society. As a member of the Capital Crafters Team on Etsy, I contributed an item of mine to this fund raiser. Serena's work is here.

About

Welcome to The D.A.D. (Drawing A Day) Project - an ongoing, online, art-based fundraiser for the Canadian Cancer Society, the largest national charitable funder of cancer research in Canada.

We are two sisters, Emily and Serena. Our father was diagnosed in May 2009 with metastatic stage 4 colon cancer in his lungs and liver. After a courageous year-and-a-half battle, he passed away in early October 2010.

One of the toughest things we faced when our Dad was sick was this overwhelming feeling of helplessness. As we are both illustrators, we launched The D.A.D. Project in June 2010 as a creative effort to give back to an organization that helped our father, and that helps so many others who are fighting cancer.

We are continuing this project as a tribute to our Dad whom we miss everyday.

Every weekday, we will take turns posting a new piece of artwork, which will be put up for sale as giclee prints here in our shop. Ten dollars ($10 CAD) from every print sold will be donated to the Canadian Cancer Society, the largest national charitable funder of cancer research in Canada.

We will also invite other artists to participate by donating a piece of their artwork to our shop; we aim to make this a weekly feature.

***It's a win-win-win situation!***
If you like and decide to purchase something from our shop, you will be contributing to a great cause; and, of course, you’ll get something to hang on your wall!

We will collect funds as we go and make quarterly donations to the CCS. The other money we collect will cover administrative fees, such as: etsy and paypal fees, giclée printing, web domain and programming, and so on.

As an added bonus for us, we get to work on a creative project together, with a purpose that’s obviously very close to our hearts.

Blog: http://www.theDADproject.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/theDADproject
CCS Team Page: http://convio.cancer.ca/goto/dad

---
And below is an example of Emily's work.

And here I am shown with Emily as she holds the hat stand or wig stand I donated to her online store.

See http://www.etsy.com/people/theDADproject# for more examples of Emily's work and that of her sister.

A productive day.

2011-02-23T16:24:00.005-05:00

Today has been a very productive day. It began with me making another rib basket similar to this one. I then cooked lunch including lamb chops grilled on the BBQ.

Later I added three individual "vintage" maps and a set of sixteen maps to my etsy shop. Vintage sells. Twenty-seven (27) of the fifty-six (56) items I have sold on etsy have been vintage items, that is items that are twenty year old or older. The maps are certainly that.

I have also had time to go for the first jog in a number of weeks. i managed four km at a very slow pace.

I did miss the Manchester United game today, but will be able to see the Stoke City game as a tape delayed game at 5 00 pm.

A beautiful February day.

2011-02-18T15:12:00.006-05:00

Its February 18th, the sun is shining, the snow is melting and its
11.6 C. Its a great day for a walk. People are riding their bikes and are on skateboards as well as walking their dogs.

Tomorrow, the temperatures return to normal with a high of -6 C. But it was weather to enjoy while it lasted.

Heart healthy eating.

2011-02-17T11:11:00.004-05:00

Before my heart attack last June, my diet was not too bad. But since then, and with constant education from the Heart Institute, my diet has improved. Now I even read labels. Fish is recomended. As is a major reduction in salt intake. Fresh fish is, of course, salt free, but even tinned salmon can be found that is low in sodium.

This particular brand has, in one serving, 4% of the recommended maximum daily intake of sodium. Other tins, without a low sodium content, have up to 25% of the daily intake per serving.

Yesterday, when shopping for foods at The Bulk Barn, I read labels again. Anne purchased some oat flour to make Staffordshire Oat Cakes. I was pleased to see the sodium content was 0%. Across the aisle were some bulk soup powder mixes. Their sodium content per serving ranged up to 200% of the recommended daily intake! We did not buy any soup mixes. Anne makes some very tasty soups from fresh products.

We eat lots of vegetables, and limit our meat input to a serving the size of a pack of cards. Approximately half of our small dinner plates is covered with vegetables, a quarter with pasta or potatoes, and the rest with the selected fish or meat. I even chose an item from the 550 calorie menu while on holiday earlier this month.

Fruit is also a major part of our diet and I even add a tablespoon of crushed flax seed to my morning yogurt for its omega 3 content.

Sausage, bacon, and all manner of fried food are on the prescribed list of foods. Yet we enjoy the variety that is still available and do not miss such foods too much. Eating a heart healthy diet is not too difficult to practice after all.

Heart-shaped basket for your loved one

2011-02-16T08:10:00.005-05:00

Yesterday, Nancy, a basket weaver from New Mexico, showed how to make a heart-shaped basket in her blog: http://basketmasterweavings.blogspot.com/2011/02/happy-valentines-day.html.

This is my version of that basket.

The chocolates are bought locally, handmade by Stubbe Chocolate, an award winning local store just over 1 km away from our home. Expensive, but oh so good.

The things I do for art!

2011-02-15T10:17:00.002-05:00

After donning my winter parka, my touque, and my gloves to take out the garbage etc. this morning, I decided today was a good day to dye the remainder of the flat cane I had in stock. To dye cane, I light my BBQ on the deck outside, and put on it a large stainless steel bowl with hot water, dye and salt. I then dip the cane through the mixture, and hang it to dry.

The outside temperature was a balmy -18 C or zero F. The hanging cane froze! Was it only the weather that was balmy?

The end product is now drying inside the house!

Practicing packing.

2011-02-14T11:33:00.006-05:00

There are approximately 80 baskets and four lamps on these assembled shelving units in my basement. Would all of this, including the shelves, fit into my Mazda Protege and still leave room for Anne and I? I spent the morning removing the baskets and lamps from the shelves, packing some into two totes, and dis-assembling the portable shelves.

And the answer to my question was: "YES!"

Here is the Mazda packed as tightly as I could manage.

The trunk is full.

And two totes are filled with baskets ready for loading onto the roof racks and being secured by trusty bungee cords.

I just cannot wait to be accepted to the large craft sales I am applying to for the fall season.

If at first you don't succeed, read the instructions.

2011-02-13T08:16:00.007-05:00

Yesterday was my third day in revisiting spirals as a design feature in my baskets. It must be several years since I last used spirals as a design feature. I proved once more that my memory for methods is not as good as I think it is. Flo Hoppe's book, Wicker Basketry, Interweave Press, 1989, is a well used and water splattered reference book I use often, but also as a last resort. I turned to it again to see how to create reversing spirals.

It was so simple! Instead of weaving a three-rod waling pattern clockwise (from left to right), you wove counter-clockwise (from right to left). Success!

The finished basket, a fruit basket, looks pretty good.

The next basket with spirals.

2011-02-12T13:23:00.006-05:00

My next attempt at making a basket with spirals worked out well, but not quite the way I had visualised. You can see the spirals much better when you click on the images. In this instance I have formed spirals on the upper half of the inside of the basket. These were intended to be spirals on the outside going in an anti-clockwise direction. However, the result is quite pleasing.

The outside spirals on the lower half match those on the inside for the upper half.

My next spiral basket will be another attempt at spirals that reverse direction, not reverse surface!

A waste paper basket with spirals

2011-02-10T15:35:00.007-05:00

Its been a long time since I made a basket with a spiral design. I had to look up how to do it. Was it to weave with three weavers, one a contrasting colour, over a number of stakes divided by three less one, or three plus one? For the outside spiral shown here, it was three minus one, so the 32 stakes were the necessary number.

I will make another one with green contrasting colour, and weave half its height as regular three rod waling, and then the rest as reverse three rod waling. That should produce a spiral and a reverse spiral too.

Then I will weave a shallow bowl with the spiral on the inside.

As you can see the basket also could function as a plant stand.

Booth design

2011-02-08T18:32:00.009-05:00

Yesterday I ordered four shelving units from U Line of Brampron, and they arrived today.

Each unit is 54" high, 48" long and has four shelves, each 12" wide. The units were very easy to assemble. The first two are shown here.

The units can be arranged to fit inside a 10' by 5' booth area in a "U" shape. The back wall of the "U" will be 10' in length while the shorter sides would be 4" in length. The two photos here show the "booth" as arranged in my studio.

These photos are now part of my application to "The Maker's Hand", a high end craft show in early November in Picton, Prince Edward County, Ontario. They will also accompany my application to a show in the fall at Lansdown Park.

Church School donations to children in Togo and Ghana

2011-02-07T17:19:00.005-05:00

Abdou Amidou is a caregiver for Adrian, our adult son with autism. Last year, Glen Cairn United Church was one of Abdou's supporters in his campaign to ship a huge container of school supplies, toys and children's clothing to rural schools in his original homeland, Togo, and neighbouring Ghana. In the fall, members of Glen Cairn United Church made another collection for a second container to be shipped this spring.

Throughout the month of January, the church's Sunday school students joined in the campaign to collect light weight clothing, school supplies, toys and toiletries. Earlier today, Anne and I collected these donations. The results are shown here: boxes of toys, boxes of clothes, toiletry supplies, school supplies, and lots of three ring binders.

In addition, there are two (or more) blackboards promised as well as two children sized bikes. Our children have done so very well.

Winterlude 2011

2011-02-07T08:45:00.003-05:00

As is our annual tradition, we took Adrian with us as we visited Ottawa's "Winterlude 2011." Winterlude is Ottawa's winter festival. This Sunday was the first Sunday of the opening weekend. Of course, I forgot to take my camera!

We drove towards the Rideau Canal, open for the festival as "The World's Largest Skateway." It is 7 km of skating from downtown to Dows Lake. We found parking space, free on Sundays just a block away from the canal and headed onwards. The spot we had chosen was 1.5 km away from the downtown park where the ice sculptures are to be found. The canal was packed with skaters, walkers and all manner of toboggans being pulled by willing parents and grandparents. There were people in masses in all directions.

Adrian enjoys this annual trek. "Once a year," was his comment, and that with his tongue hanging out, a sure sign of enjoyment. As we got nearer and nearer to the ice sculpture park, the crowds thickened. After all, it was 2 C with no wind. A most pleasant Ottawa winter day.

When we arrived at the sculptures, the crowds were even thicker. They seemed to be ten deep in front of the sculptures, and line-ups to view them curled and twisted for maybe 100 yards. Adrian can get agitated in crowds so we did a circular tour of the park before heading back to the canal. The walk back was enjoyed by all. An hour of walking on the canal was well worth it.

A week in Florida

2011-02-05T08:08:00.009-05:00

We have just returned from a week in the Florida Panhandle. During the week, it was cool by Floridian standards, but nice and mild to Ottawans. We enjoyed the weather, the sun and the breezes and the flora and fauna.

I managed to fit in two rounds of golf, one with an hour's lesson too, the first real golf lesson in my life. The courses were in good shape though the fairways were brown as this in the height of the dry season.

Since we had spent time before the trip looking at the current weather in the Panama City area, we dressed for the high 40s and low 50s we experienced. (Those are degrees F not C.) Three or more layers beneath the Mountain Equipment Co-op jacket kept us warm!

This is NOT snow. It is the beautiful white sand of the Emerald Coast.

Our beach combing did have its rewards,

Visits to State Parks and stately houses were also part of the itinerary.

It was a good week to not be in Ottawa where a major snowstorm did arrive while we were absent.

A Hearth Basket

2011-01-27T19:14:00.003-05:00

A year or two ago I purchased eight or so 12" by 14" "D" frames with the plan to teach several students how to make Hearth Baskets. Not enough people signed up for the class so the frames languished in my storage room. The Hearth Basket to suit such a frame measures 13" in width, 23" in length, and is 14" high. As such the mailing costs would be astronomical if I were to add such baskets to my etsy shop.

Now that I am planning to apply for large-scale craft shows, the time has come to make several hearth baskets as potential items to sell at such shows.

The example here is made from 5/8" flat rattan cane in the only colours I had available in sufficient quantities. Anne is not too flattering about the appearance of the finished product. A Christmas item?
n

Rib baskets

2011-01-26T18:29:00.005-05:00

Over the last couple of days, I have been focusing on increasing my inventory of rib baskets. Here are the three I made. They vary in size, somewhat in shape, and, for the last one, in colour too.

Henry, The Feline Fiber Artist

2011-01-26T10:25:00.000-05:00

A productive week

2011-01-23T19:31:00.005-05:00

On Monday, just a week ago, I decided to take the plunge this year and apply to take part in large-scale craft shows for three full days to six full days rather than participating in small-scale, weekend shows. I also realised that my inventory of some 70 or 80 basketry products would not be sufficient for such events. So I plan to double my inventory. The results of my first week's efforts at inventory addition are shown here. In this photo are five of the items I produced this week: a sewing basket, a market basket, a waste paper basket and two bread baskets. And no blisters or abrasions to my fingers!
Here are an additional four trays for that inventory. The rectangular trays were made very quickly from unsold tray kits I had prepared for sale two years ago. The round tray was also quick to make since I had previously sanded the base in readiness for its eventual completion.

In the next three months I will work on more additions to the inventory. I do not anticipate I will complete nine items each week. My goal is five per week or twenty to twenty five per month.By the end of April I hope to have added eighty more items to the inventory!

The joy of positive feedback

2011-01-22T08:58:00.004-05:00

This necklace display stand, or one very similar to it, was sold to an etsy customer from Cambridge, Mass. Today I received positive feed back from her.

Absolutely beautiful as I have just received this work of art. I got it for an upscale salon (in Cambridge) that is willing to promote my necklaces. I put the jewelry on the outside and fill the basket with business cards. I am so pleased with your work!

The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill

2011-01-21T08:01:00.005-05:00

As a prelude to February's Black History Month, our Minister, the Rev. Brian Copeland, asked congregation members to read Lawrence Hill's novel, "The Book of Negroes." One of his sermon's that month will centre on the book. I have just finished reading the novel and recommend it to all who are interested in the history of the Tri-Angular Trade in slaves, sugar and industrial goods.

"This remarkable novel transports the reader from an African village to a plantation in the southern United States, from a soured refuge in Nova Scotia to the coast of Sierra Leone, in the back to Africa odyssey of 1,200 former slaves. The Book of Negroes introduces one of the strongest female characters in recent fiction, a woman who cuts a swath through a world hostile to her colour and her sex."

Note: "The Book of Negroes" is "a historic British military ledger allowing 3,000 Black Loyalists passage on ships sailing from Manhattan to Nova Scotia. " The actual ledger can be viewed in the archives of Nova Scotia, Canada, the USA and the United Kingdom.

Beginning to create inventory for larger venues

2011-01-19T16:12:00.005-05:00

One of the consequences of deciding to apply to large-scale professional craft sales in the fall is the need to create more inventory. A six-day craft show with thousands of visitors is a little different than a tour where there may be 200 visitors each of the two days.

My current inventory is around 70 items. I will need to at least double that for the larger scale craft shows.

As suggested by Anne, here are the first of what I hope will be many additions to that inventory: two bread baskets and one waste-paper basket/plant stand.

If I can add perhaps five to ten items a week it should not take too long to double the inventory even with sales from my etsy site reducing it too.

Planning for craft sales for 2011

2011-01-16T07:56:00.004-05:00

For 2011 I am planning to try to expand my excursions into craft sales to explore larger scale sales venues. In the past, my ventures into local sales have resulted in revenue that on good days just about covers the costs of entering the shows. I have enjoyed taking part in local shows such as the ones listed here:

The Maple Run Tour in Pakenham
Fibre Fest in Almonte
The West Carleton Arts Society Exhibition and Sale in Carp
The Ottawa Valley Weavers and Spinners Guild Exhibition and Sale in the Glebe

The people who organise these craft shows are volunteers who provide good venues for people to exhibit their work. And these venues are good places for you to make a name for yourself. But they have not been good revenue producers for me. It is only with my Etsy sale revenue exceeding my Etsy costs that I have began to "break even" overall for the last two years where total revenue from sales equalled total costs including the costs of supplies and of transportation to and from events!

For 2011 I will be applying for two larger scale venues. One is the Spring Craft Show at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa, a huge craft show that has top quality artisans and thousands of visitors over a week. I have sentthe organisors of the show a request for more information and an application form. I will also complete an application for the renowned craft show in Prince Edward County, Ontario, "The Maker's Hand."

Both of these shows will be a step up in scale, and in price. And for this type of show I will need to make a capital investment in portable wire shelving units on which to display my work. Tables, draped with sheets, will not suffice any more.

I hope that my application for inclusion in these shows will be accepted. I hope this leap into a new level of business will be successful. But Anne and I will enjoy the experience whatever the result.

BBQ in the winter

2011-01-15T12:38:00.004-05:00

On a mildish winter day at minus 10 C, we prepared spare ribs on the BBQ for lunch today.

There was enough for the two of us for two meals.

The choir party: good food and good company

2011-01-14T08:50:00.006-05:00

Last night we entertained the choir members from Glen Cairn United Church's Senior Choir to a pot luck supper. Lots of good food and good company. The choir filled our basement studio. Many compliments were made about the decor and the massed baskets there.

Upstairs there were just as many choir members, eating, chatting, eating some more and just enjoying the company of friends.

Later, the choir gave our choir directors (Lori on the left and Bev on the right) gifts to show our appreciation of their efforts with us. Our Minister insists this choir is the best church choir he has experienced in his many years of Ministry.

We ended the evening by practicing the hymns and anthem for Sunday as well as the intoxicating tango rhythm of the Song of Solomon anthem, Rise Up My Love, scheduled for the 23rd.

Note: The word of the Day was "Numinous"; "filled with a sense of the presence of the divinity."
"As she listened to the church choir sing, Beth was overcome by a sense of numinous awe." We can only aspire to sing in such a manner.