Mrs. Pye's Diary

Ok, the Yarn Harlot just made me feel a lot better. After a frustrating night of memory lapses at rehearsal I have been pretty low this morning. After all these years I still suffer from two things: a desire,wish, yen, NEED for perfection, and the aftereffects of health issues 16 years ago which make memory work mostly impossible for me. (A tough go for a singer!)
I realized as I sat and mentally kicked myself for ever taking this role--What was I thinking???--that if everyone else just did their lines perfectly I would most likely be fine. Not too comforting. In houses across the county they are probably thinking the same thing! Oh, to have that photographic memory thing going on. But it is dead.
So, rather than sit and cry, I tried yet again to come up with a strategy. Here it is: Drink a lot and avoid the problem. Ha ha. Not really. I tried the writing it out thing. Good. Then my wonderful partner ran scenes with me over and over, just the two of us till I was comfortable. Better, because I got to sit with no book and just my fidgety brain to figure it all out. Going with no book is so scary, make that SOOOO SCARY. So I think from here on in I just have to do it a million times with no book, no slips of paper, no nuthin. (Oops, slipped into the play vernacular. Maybe that's good?)
After we got that first major scene nailed, I came in here, sat down to my blog and looked for one to cheer me up. Ah, the yarn harlot. She is hysterical, actually in both senses of the word for the blog I read: funny and losing it. Her house problems made my day. Have you ever noticed that whenever you have a problem, discovering someone else with a worse one makes you feel so much better? Not sure what that says about my character but there it is.
After this harangue, you, too, probably need a chuckle. Click here for the yarn harlot's take on life. And BTW, if you are so inclined, say a prayer for Mrs. Pye. (me)

The Silver Lining

Today I am beginning to surface again after two horrible days with the flu. I still didn't want to chance giving my germs to my fellow Anne of Green Gables cast members so I sent my husband along without me and settled down to watch some tv via our new PVR box from our cable company. Yet again we have investigated and figured out another piece of new technology.
With the PVR I have learned to record single tv shows I want to watch, all shows of a certain title on whatever channels and movies.
Ah, yes, the movies. Today I watched Autumn Hearts: A New Beginning, and felt quite happy slowly letting the movie sink into my consciousness to feed me its message. The movie is about three people who were in a little-known Nazi concentration camp in France which was used as a collection point for people who were being sent to the more famous camps whose names we all know today. Two of the people were children and the third a kindly man who strove to make their lives a little happier in light of the grand tragedy they all were suffering.
I particularly liked the take in that movie that it was from maybe forty years later when they all meet at the farm of the girl, played by Susan Sarandon.
A poignant part in the film occurs when the older man tells the girl's husband why he was sent to a psychiatric hospital. The man is awestruck and cannot speak. His attitude changes immediately.
Finding a way to have this movie turn out well must have been quite a trial for the playwright but he/she did it. My suggestion is to settle in for a relaxing hour and a half and prepare to be awestruck yourself.
Oh! Another reason I really enjoyed this movie is the fact that it flies in the face of those naysayers who deny that the holocaust ever really happened. And, by the way, there is a silver lining at the end of the movie.

Bits and Pieces

Who knew that watching a wee boy play rolling ball with his grandpa would be so spell binding?

Of course we're not sure who is teaching whom but not to worry. Lots of fun for all involved.

People keep telling me they read my blog and are wanting me to post more often. Today I would like to ask for some comments and/or feedback from those people so that I know I'm not just writing in a vacuum. Even disagree with me. It's okay. Then I'll know someone is listening.

This has been a great Thanksgiving weekend for Canucks in Southern Ontario. Yesterday was sunny and sweet, just perfect for entertaining our grandson for his first Thanksgiving. Today has been relaxed and laid back. I spent some time getting familiar with our Rogers HD package, specifically in recording movies/shows for future playback. Pretty cool.

Tomorrow I'm ready to get back into eating carefully again although I didn't do too badly with the holiday. We even threw out the remains of a purchased pumpkin pie. If it's not great I'm not willing to waste the calories on it.

We talked to Beth and Chelsea and got quite a lot of information from Beth but not so much from Chelsea, although Beth says she now has about thirty words. I can hardly wait till she starts to answer me when I talk to her on the phone. Have you ever tried to talk non-stop to a toddler who is not replying? Oh, occasionally she grunts and then I grunt back to her, hoping that means something to the sweet little thing. Sure am glad they have a trip planned here in December.

Speaking of trips, we cancelled our holiday in Paris, France as we are just too busy and would have missed 4, yes four, rehearsals for Anne of Green Gables. Neither of us wanted to do that so we rescheduled our flights and hotel for stuff on this side of the ocean. Whew! Now I just have to get all my stuff memorized for our practice this Tuesday when we start the run-throughs. I'm anxious to see if I can actually do this as I haven't for years. Fun, fun.

Time to play with our Rogers thingey again. Maybe we'll get some other wonderful thing to download (upload?) and refresh our technical memory once more. Gotta love it!

I Can Turn on a Dime

My friend and I had planned to walk this morning at 7:30 until I remembered my hair appointment. We thought we'd go afterwards. I checked and my appointment was at 9:00 a.m. so our 7:30 walk was back on. I got up at 6:30 to pouring rain. My friend called and we changed to 11:00 a.m. if the rain stopped.
My sister called and asked if I could taxi her son to school at 11:40. Yes, I could as I would be back by then.
Next I was supposed to drop off my husband at our son's house on my way out of town but my hairdresser called and rescheduled for 2:00 p.m. this afternoon as the power is off there and has been since 5:00 a.m. this morning. The hydro people have no idea when it will be back on. So my husband has taken the car to our son's for his meeting and I have the morning to write and a hair appointment this afternoon. Crazy!

I am an organized person and love structure in my life. Amazingly, though, I can toss all my plans away in an instant if I see the need. Last weekend my husband and I threw out our plans to go to France next week and used the airmiles and hotel accommodations on this side of the pond in the next three or four months. We are happy to do this as we needed to be at all the rehearsals for Anne of Green Gables and would have missed four run-throughs. The thought totally freaked me, with my difficulty memorizing anything. So. We talked it over and changed our minds.

If my son calls and wants me to take a trip to London with him during the day almost always I change my day and grab the opportunity. If my husband wants to take a tour downtown for something and asks me to go, I work it out. I love to go places and talk to people, especially to those I love.

So, yes, I can turn on a dime. Carpe diem!

Home Suite Home

Yesterday my spouse and I trekked around our condo area to get some pictures for his new newsletter. Since I had the pics I thought I'd post them on my blog. Below is our place (the first unit with the two pink hydrangeas blooming. I finally learned if I wanted fertilizer on the plants I had to put it on. Since then my flowers have pleased me.

Here is a shot of our 'common area' but it is much more than common; in fact, it is pretty picturesque in all seasons.

Even on this cloudy day the gazebo's attractive design demands notice.

Some of the gardens are very nicely done. We even were finalists in our city's "City Beautiful" contest this year.

I love the path through the centre of the common area, so cute and beguiling you just have to follow it. We always finish our walk up this path to our home.

In December we'll mark our second anniversary since we moved here. The time has flown and so have the stray uncomfortable feelings of not being 'home'. We are totally ensconced in our condo, body and mind.

Mani, Pedi, they both cure!

Today I was feeling a little tired and a lot worn down. Too much Toronto trekking yesterday and then up at the crack to sit for Ben, the latest love of his grandfather's and my life. Ben's mother came home early freeing us for the rest of our day. My husband had errands to run. I added one thing to his list. Drop me at the Model Nails spa.

I must admit the place is plain with no real ambiance. But the people are pleasant and eager to please and I have visited them 3 or 4 times this summer. Mary does a great job of my toes but the massage chair I sit in was just calling to me today. They took me immediately and I picked my polish colour and settled in for a treatment.

Forty-five minutes later I floated out with my toes beautifully painted and my whole being a lot less stressed.

This was the first time I went for the flower and I quite liked it!

Tried a couple of different shots but none were that great. Oh well, the toes were fun.

Last time I went I got a French manicure for the first time, also a lot of fun. In true Beader Girl fashion I was wearing one of my watches for this shot.

Time for dessert--homemade elderberry pie (real from-scratch pie crust)--and our guests arriving very soon.

Evita Rocks With Dena and Stephen

My husband and I took the hour and a bit trip to Huron Country Playhouse last Saturday expecting a pleasant afternoon and a revival of the spectacular movie, Evita, we had seen years ago. For me that movie was so amazing because of the introduction of the everyman character with all his singing comments on the political tapestry against which Eva Peron rose. Her story is incredible enough--a poor girl who claws her way to becoming the wife of the ruler of Argentina--but the movie meshed past and present, love of Eva, hate of her and all she represented, as well as incredible music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. Of course we expected excellence of these giants and were not disappointed.

Just before the lights went down and the show began I commented to my husband that the actor playing Che, the narrator, would have an impossible job because Antonio Banderas owned that role in the movie. Indeed, it was my first notice of him. Well, the show started with Stephen Patteron stepping out as Che. I totally forgot Banderas, not because Patterson is so good-looking but because he lunged into the role, khakis and all, his powerful voice stunning in its take charge, I'm-a-person-to-be-reckoned-with sound. I turned to my husband and smiled. We were in for a treat.

The dancing was alive, pulsating with emotion, precise in movements and altogether enthralling. And the choreography on a relatively small stage, with a limited set, compared to movie takes, was inspired. I never saw a dance or dancer whose movement bored me. Rather my eyes just wouldn't open wide enough.

And now I must tell you of Dena Chiarcossi, whose debut in this starring role was without a doubt amazing. I know, we use that word all the time, but she amazed all who saw the show. Her athleticism added a dash of strength to the character and her profile was reminiscent of the famous Barbra Streisand. Her voice. A strong sound in the lower registers and then a tinkling winking glory as she went higher and higher. I loved her as Evita. Of course Madonna did the role in the movie but Madonna never sang like this girl, and never could, with any amount of coaching. Madonna was believable and strong as Evita. Dena was Evita. I predict we will hear much more of this young lady.

I cannot urge you to get tickets as we saw the second-to-last performance and there are no more. Pity.

Four and One at the Zoo

On Sunday last my husband and I accompanied our son's family to the Twin Valley Zoo east of Brantford. Of course I didn't write about it immediately so have forgotten just what these sleepy animals are, although I do remember they reminded me of the javelinas we saw in Arizona.

This bobcat was calm and beautiful. The tail is very short; hence, the name, I figured out.

Lots of deer ambled behind their fence. Of course there are many deer running free in Ontario, so this is not such a rare sight.

Daddy black bear sat patiently under the scrutiny of Ben, his parents and his grandparents.

The reindeer were quite interesting. This one has a lovely rack of antlers.

And this baby's antlers have just started to grow. I think his glare is because we had no food for him and he had run right over when he saw us.

At first I thought these were llamas, but of course they are alpacas. They have such a pert, perfect pose.

Alice the camel had only one hump here and, may I say, she was pretty ugly.

You might think this is just a kitty but beware as bobcats can be ferocious.

These two mountain lions drowsed in the afternoon sun.

The sound of the zebra was a revelation for all of us and I can't even describe it. Donkeys have their distinct heehaw and the zebra's sound is every bit as weird.

This mountain goat gave us his best side!

The last thing we did was enter the goat enclosure, at our peril. Immediately one of them untied my shoelace, and this one is pretty interested in Benjamin's clothing. We all had quite a time getting out of there with all we had taken in.
Wee Ben didn't know what to make of the goats!

There is no greater time than spending an afternoon with our kids and grandkids. Four and One? Four adults and one little boy out for his first trip to the zoo.

Open My Eyes

Last night my husband and I decided to take in the Open House of Oxford County VON's almost open Sakura House, a hospice for terminally ill people. Below is the sketch from the Sakura House website but it is a pale imitation of the real thing.We had to park on the highway, there were so many visitors coming to take a peek but we are quite able to hike a few hundred feet. For those who are not, parking onsite was available. From the moment I stepped through the massive front door into the front hall, I knew this home had been stellar. A wealthy business owner whose property was part of the huge Toyota buyout for their new plant a few years ago called this his family home. The website says it is something like ten thousand square feet. Not many homes measure that!
To the left of the main hall is a stunning library with carved wooden ceiling and rich mahogany coloured shelves. I've no doubt they are mahogany or some other real wood. No MDF here! The tour continued with the main house built on the open concept and left like that for the hospice. A new two-pronged wing with about 8 suites sits to the left of the main building and is joined to it as though it were always there.
The rooms are not like hospital rooms. Each has its entrance off the hall but also a private entrance to the yard beyond. At the back of the house the view is of the stunning sunken garden with sitting space and lots of green space for idle contemplation. We were entranced. The single hospital bed in each room has a grained wood headboard and footboard and is made up with a colourful bedspread. A comfortable chair, television, lovely wooden wardrobe complete the room. The bathroom is modern, subtly coloured with an easy access shower which ambulatory or wheelchair patients could easily use.
Everywhere I looked I saw a gorgeous view, both inside and out, reminding me of the Sun Yat Sen garden in Vancouver which we visited many years ago. Some have the front sweeping circular drive and surrounding plantings. Others have the north where a very healthy field of corn looked like it had been groomed to best advantage just for the Open House. Still others have the lovely back gardens. Everyone has peace just outside the window.
I have friends who have been way more involved in the project than I and now their selfless giving has more meaning for me. What a wonderful place for terminally ill people to spend their last days.
For those who wonder as I did about the name Sakura House it comes from the Japanese word for cherry blossom which symbolizes "an annual spring celebration of the shifting seasons. [It] evokes the bittersweet undercurrent of past seasons and the fleeting nature of human existence." Pretty fitting for a hospice, I think, and also because it has come about because of the generosity of the Toyota company--a Japanese word and a Japanese company.

I am totally in awe of the achievement that so many people have worked so hard to bring about. Thinking about it I've decided that the word sakura should mean selfless love.

Our Summer Sojourn

What is a trip to New Jersey without Atlantic City and the beaches? Walking the famed boardwalk we found this cool scene. Bikers, walkers, riders-in-bike cabs--all have a place here.

The Atlantic Ocean beckons way beyond this lovely beach. Some communities charged $5 a day to take in the beach so we just looked from afar. (We're not really beach people.)

Another carney-type attraction on Atlantic City's Boardwalk was this building, but we were too early in the day to actually get inside.

Ron is a lover of Stewart's Orange, buys it wherever he can find it here in Canada or the States. We had a great long chat with one of the weekend workers in this diner. Turns out he is a stockbroker in New York and spends his weekends waiting tables on the Boardwalk. Amazingly he knew that Canada has a very safe and secure banking system. Interesting guy.

Near our home-for-the-week, about 10 minutes out of Atlantic City there was a wonderful little historical village--Smithville, where we spent a couple of hours traipsing around and shopping. Ron bought a neat little football-themed light cover for Ben and Kevin in one of the shops. Here is the old mill but looking closer we found the mill wheel is almost totally rotted out.

I loved this little path to the pond and a quiet bench.


I'm not sure how this carousel fits into the historical theme but it was kind of cute.

Two different days we traveled to Cape May, a delightful resort town on the south part of the state. The houses wore their best dresses to welcome many visitors. All were vintage but in fine condition. We loved Cape May.


Look at the hydrangeas! Just lovely.

We probably won't be back to New Jersey but loved our week there this summer. Not sure there is anything else we need to see although this would be a great place for a family vacation with our kids and grandkids sometime. Hmm. If we do go we'll have to make sure to take lots of coin for the tolls. Every time we went anywhere we paid at the booth. In the beginning, a couple of times we had to go through without paying as we didn't have change or the machines didn't accept what we put in. Grrr!
We met this mother and daughter at a mixology course sponsored by the Marriott resort. At first the 9 of us were kind of reserved--as though we were all Canadians! As the sample sipping progressed, however, we became great friends.


We got along famously with these teachers and though we really didn't learn to make any drinks we had a ball. Needless to say we took the shuttle to the restaurant for dinner that night! The next morning we were off to see relatives and drove through New York for the first time. Took us over an hour but kind of interesting to see.

The 19th Wife

Usually my reading notes do not make it to my blog but The 19th Wife by David Evershoff has to be an exception.
Having visited Salt Lake City and the famed Mormon Tabernacle I was excited by this book. I wanted to learn more about the Latter Day Saints and Brigham Young. Well! With every page I struggled more and more with the cruelty to women and children inherent in the history of the Latter Day Saints' custom of "plural marriage." This is a convenient term for a man having as many wives as he wants. The first wife gets to accept or reject the subsequent ones but, in reality, she has no power. She owns nothing, least of all her own body, and certainly not her children. Inevitably she, in her deep belief in God's will that she do this, accepts. Brigham Young seems to be able to convince all of them that this is their role.
The book is well researched and written with present-day LDS as well as historical fact. We can only guess whether the present-day material is factual. (Certainly when I visited there last fall I found a loving, caring, nurturing and kind environment.) This book will not simply slide out of your mind as you put it aside each night. When I think of my marriage and what my husband and I have together, I know it would die if my husband were forced or wanted to take another wife. Call me selfish, Brigham, but God told Noah to take pairs of animals in the ark. He didn't say take one male and 50, 60, 125 females.
This is a great thought-provoking read. It puts a new slant on our visit to Salt Lake City last fall, for sure. And the 'saints' in that once favorite anthem of mine, Come, Come Ye Saints, are referring to each member of the LDS church. I thought saints were exceptionally good people in the Bible like Saint Peter and Saint James, but, no. Members of the LDS are called saints. I try to be a good person and I think I succeed most of the time. But I am no saint. Interesting that Brigham Young used the term for himself and all of his parishioners.
Pick up this book and give it a read for its scholarship, its organization, its historical information, but most of all because it will make you think.

Self-Cleaning Oven

Okay. It's a hot summer day and I've got to do something to take my mind off the heat. Go swimming? NO! Clean the oven. Unfortunately, the self that is going to clean it is me!

Here is the sludgy mess that has been waiting for this day. I can put this job off for years at a time, if I can evade that Mom-image over my shoulder shaming me. On the counter rests the new silicon oven liner thing that I bought in a lovely kitchen store in Victoria but I have to have a clean oven to put it into. After that it slides out and into soapy water for a slick cleanup, so I'm told.

I take the racks out and soak them in the bathtub while the oven cleaner seeps into the grease and baked brown spots. I wonder where all that comes from as I rarely have an oven spill. Just what is that crap? I've found that soaking and then scrubbing with SOS erases most of the crud.

Here is one rack done and dripping off in the sink. My pretty bathroom was never made for this job!

Two hours, many scrubbings/soakings/swishings later, I finally have the finished product and eggs on the stove for--YIKES!!!--I run to rescue the eggs for lunch. Anyhow the oven looks great, the silicone mat fits perfectly and I can only dream that my oven will stay clean longer.


Now I need to take a shower!

Mrs. Simcoe's Diary Day

For the last week of my holiday and up till today, I have been reading very early Canadian history. During that time I met Mrs. Simcoe. She was the wife of Governor Simcoe of Upper Canada whose time in this province (present-day Ontario) has left so many marks. (I grew up a mile north of the Governor's Road, built by and named for Governor John Graves Simcoe.
Amazingly his wife came with him to this untamed country and kept a journal of her time here. Below is the present-day version available on the web. The picture here is not how she looked. It is one she donned Welsh ancestral garb for; she did not dress like this all the time.


The copy I got from the library is pictured below, with all its fadings and tears, its yellowed pages and its vintage binding from 1965 when Mary Quayle Innis edited and published it. The original diary covers the time the Simcoes were in Canada, September 17, 1791 until October 16, 1796.I was excited about doing this research for another book but not prepared for the pleasure I would get from meeting Mrs. Simcoe. I would have loved this book even if I weren't doing research. I even kept it five days past the library due date so that I could finish it.
The chapters are headed as follows:
1. Journey to Canada
2. A Winter in Quebec
3. Journey to Niagara
4. A Year at Niagara
5. Life at York (later renamed Toronto)
6. Life at Niagara
7. Visit to Quebec
8. Niagara
9. York and Niagara
10. Departure

I learned many things about life in my country at that time and much more about Mrs. Simcoe. We tend to think of women from that time as frail creatures but she was anything but. She was artistic and many of her drawings provide excellent views into life of her day. An astute observer of her surroundings, both nature and human, she provides insight into the lives, foods, medicines and geography of this new world.
I'm taking it back to the library in a few minutes so you, too, will be able to take it out and voyage back to 1791.

My Grandbabies

My husband and I have breathed air from Mexico to China, from Cape Canaveral to Gibraltar. We've rafted the Colorado River and climbed all 235 steps of Brock's Monument at Queenston. We've seen the old growth forest of Cathedral Grove, and walked on Hadrian's Wall. And we've taken the helicopter ride over Niagara's Falls. None of it compares to holding our precious grandchildren. We have two (so far!) I have reservations about putting their pictures on the web so have undertaken today to give you word pictures about each of them.

Chelsea was born almost a year and a half ago and we flew out to see her three weeks later. What utter joy to press her cuddly body to me, her head turned toward my neck as she slept. I had forgotten that contentment, that peace of holding a trusting baby so close. Her little nose turned up slightly as she snuffled in her sleep, happy to be held, unaware of how cherished she is.

Last week I talked to her yet again on the phone and for the first time she tried to talk back. Of course she doesn't really talk yet but she got the idea and voiced her own language to me. So simple but so sweet. Yesterday when Beth put her on, she didn't make any sounds but stood motionless, totally listening as I talked to her. For once she didn't try to take the phone away and look at the earpiece. She seemed to get that the voice she was hearing was the interesting part and didn't try to 'see' me.

So what does Chelsea look like? She still has that tiny turn-up nose and her eyes are beautifully blue (like both her parents'). Her smile can be small and sweet as though she's not sure she should commit just yet, or fully fashioned across her face, pushing her pink cheeks into soft mounds of joy. And she has her grandfather's dimple. Only one, in her left cheek, and only visible when her smile erupts. Chelsea was chunky until she learned to walk and then run, so fast that she wore off her baby bits. She still has a wee tummy but is long in the waist and shorter in the legs. She has a great pose when she has something to laugh about or someone to laugh with. Her little legs spread apart she tips forward slightly at the waist and her wee bottom juts out. Her hands are moving always, punctuating her happy mood, and her grin with wide-spaced snow-white teeth melts my heart in a second. When teething her cheeks glow red but she still smiles and keeps moving, busy all the time. Lucky I can remember her falling asleep in my arms, as these days she is too interested in her total world to sleep except when in bed. Then she is a great sleeper. In case you haven't guessed, she's also a keeper.

Our Benjamin started his life with some difficulties. With my left hand I held him facing me, on my lap, while with my right I held a tiny medicine cup holding one ounce of breast milk for him. My son told me to keep waking him up as he needed to eat. I talked to him, jiggled him on my lap, saw his eyes flutter open and tipped the cup into his mouth. Softly he sucked away on the dribble then closed his eyes again. I did this over and over until, half an hour later, the cup was empty and Benjamin was fed. Such a joy for me, even though he was so small I was almost afraid to hold him.

He, too, has come a long way since that time seven months ago. Today he stands strong in my lap for as long as I want to hold him there. He sits up straight and true, and watches the world around him with bonny blue eyes wide. He is beautifully proportioned although I think he might end up with extra long arms like his grandfather. Too soon to tell, though. His hair is blond and soft and his gummy smile when he sees either of his doting parents makes me laugh out loud. He is mostly happy although he can have some 'off' days now and again. He took a while to catch on to sleeping as much as he should but now seems to have it figured out. When his father takes him and swings him up in the air or his mother comes through the door and snuggles him, Ben giggles a lot. He seems to be trying to get out the biggest laugh ever. I think he will be a happy boy, too.

Both of these children are totally enfolded in love by their parents and their grandparents. When we saw Chelsea for the first time I took her, held her awhile and then offered her to my husband. He was content to watch me hold her but took the bundle in his arms and lost his heart to his first grandchild. And when we held Ben for the first time the same gut level ache caught each of us by surprise. We were happy, we thought, without grandchildren. Now we know a greater visceral joy. Maybe we see our 'line' will carry on, I don't know.

Oh, we'll continue to travel and see the world and its secrets, but now we have so much more to come home to. Our blessed grandchildren.

Victoria Day in Woodstock

Preston Scout House Alumni Band

Monday, May 18 was a sunny but somewhat cool day weather-wise in Woodstock Ontario but it was anything but cool as far as Victoria Day entertainment. With my husband/partner in crime I took in the parade for the first time in years. How changed it is. We stood with our backs to the warming sun, in our jackets, hands in our pockets, for the entire parade and loved it.

There was a good mix of marching bands and floats with lots of different Shriners' clubs entertaining with their scooters, motorcycles, toy cars and larger hobby cars. It seemed that each new group that came along was in or on a larger, more expensive vehicle. And they all were having fun, darting in and out, waving to the crowd. Lots of boys with their toys.

The bands were in town for the Band Tattoo which got under way at 2 pm at the Community Centre Arena. I have never sat through a band tattoo--who knows how it got its name?--but this one was well worth the sit. For over three hours bands of all kinds (listed below with info on each one) entertained the good-sized crowd. I loved the Preston Scout House Alumni Band with its huge numbers, precision marching and excellent playing. I did wonder why they don't lose the tiny shorts on the conductor and the flag carriers, though. The Burlington Teen Tour Band was excellent as well, as a large, uniform group. The Salvation Army Band made me think of Friday nights on Woodstock's main street with the band playing hymns on corners as I went with one of my parents to one shop or another.

So Victoria Day in Woodstock was great for us. Especially as it didn't rain!

Shoes At Our Door

My full and varied life sometimes keeps me away from my blog but I keep my camera going when I can to brighten up my snatches for my readers. Below I've captured two pair of shoes in a picture-is-worth-a-thousand-words composition.

Obviously a little one was here. That little one was our precious 14-month-old granddaughter who brought her mommy here for a week's wonder at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Beth is known to many of you but if you want to refresh your memory, link to her blog.

Starting to feel sentimental and sappy, I took the picture the day before they left us, but it didn't stop me tearing up a couple of times the next day after leaving them at the airport in Toronto. Having them half a continent away is hard for all of us, but rather than boring everyone with that obvious glitch, I'll tell you of our time together.

We took Chelsea walking to the new park a couple of blocks from our condo and she did not disappoint. I'm not sure whether the teeter totter, the baby swing, the small slide or the older kids playing there could compete with her joy at just walking and running on the fledgling grass, but it was all fun for us. At only 14 months she kept us running after her for most of the time. I so loved watching her delight in absolutely everything. We adults get jaded but to Chelsea the world is a miracle unfolding just for her.

Her grandfather bought a large beach ball and we all took turns bouncing it for her and to her and even right into her. She squealed and waved her hands, knocking the ball about the room. Not sure I should be teaching her that but no damage this time. Now she better not do it with a baseball!

Riding in the car is the only time Chelsea slows down. Restraints don't seem to bother her as long as the ride isn't too long. She is happy to sit and stare as the world passes her by out the back window of the car. Soon her seat will be turned and she'll be able to see the front seat. Won't that be fun?

The parade of visitors all got the same show. First Chelsea stuck pretty close to her mother or to me. Even Grandpa was acceptable (she's going through a mommy-only phase just now) until she got comfortable with the visitors. Waiting her out was really worthwhile for them as she soon was laughing and running with them. Oh, to be that happy!

So, this is our Chelsea. High-spirited, funny, bright-eyed and full of life. And oh, did I mention completely beautiful? Thank goodness we have loads of new pictures to fawn over until we hold her in our arms again.