Trip to Ottawa

 What a weekend! Caitlin, my eldest, had a concert. 

We packed up, gave the cats extra rations. I did the litter box. Joseph Brian isn't a fan of snow. I drove. I took a secondary road, as I thought there'd be less pressure to go 20 km over the limit.

We made it to Ottawa an hour early (12:30 for a 2 pm concert.). (Better than an hour late!) I drove around, and Joe suggested a coffee shop. In we went. We scarfed down lunch, and off we went. Here I am in the big city. I actually wore lipstick! 

Caitlin texted and offered to have JL drive us in, to save a parking space. Ottawa side streets were awful. I was glad to have a chauffeur. We arrived and had a half hour to wait.

It is a beautiful church (BCUS). This church community survived the Great Fire of the 1870. I wrote about said fire in a blog post, following the evidence of it still remaining.

I don't remember the last time I was in a church! 

There was an emcee and she said we were welcome to take photos, but please don't stand up. If we do, she promised, we would have to come onstage and sing a song. "YES!" I called out, raising my clenched fist in a salute, my camera in hand! There were giggles. I've sung in professional choirs over the years, done church solos, etc. 

First up were the juniors! I noticed that for their first song, all scarves were done up the same. By that last piece, their lovingly tied scarves were askew. They were cute.

There is a teen choir, and an adult choir, as well. There are about 120 people in the choir. I used to sing in the Ottawa Choral Society, which had 150 members, but we sang in bigger venues! They were cozy.

We broke for intermission. JL, Aster, Caitlin and Joseph Brian.

Some choir members, including Caitlin, will be travelling to the Baltics in June for concerts. They are fundraising! JL bought us some brownies for dessert. 

It takes awhile for them all to process in. Fond memories for me! The excitement, suspense, hoping for a great concert.

It's a large choir, especially during the combined choir pieces.

JL cleaned off the car, and we made our way home.

Safely home, we had chile and corn muffins, which Caitlin had made in her spare time. 😝

Caitlin showed us her Christmas sweater. It's a thing. I used to have great holiday sweaters, since the little kids loved seeing them at school. Since menopause I am too hot!

I left a trailcam going in the house to see what the cats were up to. I haven't processed that yet. Last time I did that they caught a mouse, which Nutmeg proudly showed to the camera! 

Videos

 

For copyright reasons, I have a couple of snippets: Choir, snippet 1

   

 Choir, snippet 2. I love the fake beard the woman behind Caitlin wore. 

   

 

A new look for Frosty and new pieces of artwork!

Frosty Fishergirl! 

I love decorating my property. Creating art from found, scrounged repurposed materials, or inexpensive items. Frosty is a piece my late Mom and Dad had, and rather than bringing him in after winter, I've been decorating him for the seasons!

Frosty in July

At Easter he had rabbit ears, but in August, I decided to turn him into a fishergirl!
A trip to the Sally Ann, and an Ottawa Freecycle set of beads for a fishing line, a craft foam fish with eyes, and we're all set!

Bear is sporting a jaunty Canada Day/Olympic/Calgary Stampede hat, as well as a Canada Day tie.

New decor for the wreath!

My latest project was to figure out something for the window frame. We had to have our front windows replaced, and they were going to the dump. Instead, after the glass broke, I figured out what to do!

Cool court jester

Carefully measuring 1" all around, I tapped in nails and wound some multi-coloured yarn from one point to the opposite corner, then moving one nail over and doing the same. What's cool about the yarn is that there are spots of intense colour.

My mobile: mussel shelly, oyster shells,
escargot and fishing lures!

Hubby found some unique spiders, made from beads, with posable limbs. I popped those on, as well as a chipmunk tail from one of Oliver's catches.


 I used to do this type of pattern with my students for geometry projects. We made them from cardboard. Eventually, school supply companies made them from hard plastic and we would use elastics, but we loved the patterns.

I loved teaching art. Our Language Arts was based on a theme, and so was our art. It was more that I facilitated art; gathering materials, and seeing what they could create. I loathed it when everyone's art all looked the same. My bright artists would figure something out, tutor the others, and we would have a grand time.

Called: 'Never a door closes!'

Here is before, well 'during' when I ran out of yarn, and after!
I began with a small skein of wool yarn, bought on sale, and realized I wouldn't have enough. Back to the store!
 How to make a skirt using ties.
Bear has been fun. But even bear has had a change.

Bear King!

Poor bear!

This one, well, needs work!
THe green iron thing is from an old
kerosene heater from my parents.