WALK IN THE SNOW

 

Went for a little walk in the snow yesterday. Although it looks calm it was very windy. I went out without my camera but returned for it since the hoarfrost had turned everything into a winter wonderland. Not even a hint of ice on the Lake Erie - very strange January.  

THE WALL: BEFORE & AFTER

Before

After - Ta-da

 

 FRI 20 JAN 2012 9:40pm  Went to Matt's after the dentist yesterday. Real winter squall part of the way.  Came into a nice hot chili bubbling in the crock-pot. Vanessa and the kids came in a little later.  Jay and Lynn came over also and we had a good evening of pickin' and grinnin'. Haven't done that for a long time.  Hopefully we'll do more of it.

SAT 21 JAN 2012 12:53pm We're having a coffee trying to wake up. Both groggy today for some reason. Need to go for a walk later. Beautiful winter day, sun shining on the thick snow.

Thought up a good way to finesse Lost, in a section I was having trouble with.

Went to Port Rowan to take back library books and go to MCC Thrift store. Bought a small pillow and she gave me a box that it fit in. This is for Callie to use in the house, and she liked it. Curled right up in it.

SUN 22 JAN 2012 6:08pm  That was one lazy day, but in the end I did manage to get quite a few things done. I'm all ready for the start of the course tomorrow. Got my bio and photo in. I plan on actually getting up early tomorrow to get a good start on the first lesson. I assume it will require a bit of reading as well as writing, so I'm prepared for that. It's good to feel on top of things. 

Also forced myself to go for a walk. It is warm, nice snow cover, no reason not to other than sheer laziness. Lot's of downy woodpeckers around. Also flocks of snow-buntings, my personal winter favourites. The path to the beach has dropped more. It's a sheer drop now, quite far down. It will be interesting to see what's up in the early spring. Will we be able to get down there at all?

Finished Lost today. I think it's as good as it's going to get, other than the odd tweak.

WED 25 JAN 2012 7:00am  I finally made it up early. It wasn't so hard when I put my mind to it. And it is good to get an early start on the day. I have started the course and think it will be good for me. It's good to mingle with others on occasion, even on-line. I don't have much experience with forums, having always been repelled by the inane comments you find on most of them. But, this will be much different being a closed group all striving for the same outcome, a good story, well-written. And, hopefully, published somewhere.

THURS 26 JAN 2012 8:56am  OK, so today I didn't make it up quite as early. It's alright, I'll still get stuff done. Yesterday I put the last of the boards on the garage and called Jeff to see if he had more that size. Much snow today. Probably gone by tomorrow, getting up to 3 or 4 degrees above. What a weird winter.

FRI 27 JAN 2012 10:21am Jeff came today with boards and battens. Got them up. (see photos above)

Realized last night that I had to trim about 130 words from Her Fall before sending it in. So, I got up this morning and did it. Just like that. It wasn't too hard but I did have to cut out a few nice touches. But, this is something a writer has to do. Magazine articles have to be within certain boundaries usually. This is one of the two hand-ins, the other is up to 2500 wds, to be work-shopped, so I should be able to use Westie, the first part. That would be good to get advice on that.  

We were planning on going on a trip today to look on beaches, it was supposed to be 3 degrees above, but it's snowing like crazy. We may go for breakfast but not much else. Who knows.

WEARING THE CAT

 

Jackie caught Callie and me slaving over the computer.

THE BEST LAID PLANS AREN'T

MON 16 JAN 2012 6:02pm Very mild today so I got out to start putting the board and batten on the back of the garage, the part we can see from the kitchen window. It's going to look really good, better than the old metal. And in the spring we're going to put up a couple rows of eave-trough on the wall and plant lettuces in them. Got this idea on line somewhere. Sounds like a plan.

Other than that it's just a quiet, relaxing time. Looked at lots more of Dave's great pictures of Peru. I'm thinking you have to be in good shape just to tour that country. Changed my FB picture, to a nice one of me and J taken on Christmas. Did some more ancestry stuff. I never get to these things normally. Not that I'm terribly busy, I just think I am. I guess it doesn't take much to overwhelm me.

WED 18 JAN 2012 1:31pm Came into town to pick up a parcel. It was a genuine Cowichan toque with a whale on it. It is from Michael, of course, being back in Victoria. The Coast Salish women of southern Vancouver Island knit sweaters and hats that are very prized. Thank you, Michael, I'll face the rest of the winter on the Back Porch in style.

My Cowichan toque

Yesterday was a holiday that just snuck up on us. I wanted to treat J to breakfast so we went to Pt. Rowan but the place was closed. So, we decided to head for Dover, and the coffee shop. That was good. Then we went to Len's for some scrap leather to put on the bottom of slippers so they don't wear out as fast. Then we felt like driving a bit more and headed east, through Nanticoke and Lowbanks, (where we had a quick search of the beach for glass, but nothing much), and on.

Saw the sign for Crystal Beach and decided to see what it was like now, long after the demise of the amusement park. It wasn't too far down the road. Most of what was the park is now houses built to resemble an older style, very colourful, looking a lot like Disney World, actually. Driving to the beach access there is a stretch of vastly different eating places, from the very chic Italian restaurant to the Paddy Wagon pub, and everything in between.  As you pull into the beach parking there are a couple of derelict buildings, and as you walk out you can see the old covered pier, also in bad shape. I remember eating on it once years ago. It was nice to be out over the water, and it was in the shadow of the huge wooden roller coaster. The Fun House was the best, so ancient and creepy, and perfect. But, that is all a memory and we carried on.


Stopped again in Port  Colburne, a bit of a time-capsule on the Welland Canal, and went to Nickel Beach. We had been there before and liked the feel of it. It's been a park since 1922, so there is a long stretch with no building on it other than a change house and a snack bar, both built to last, out of cinder blocks. There is a wide beach, backed by a hill. We saw a path up and explored it finding that the hills are actually very large sand dunes, with lots of vegetation growing on them. Off  the right of the beach you see lake freighters tied in to a big industrial complex.

Did I mention we were just going out for breakfast so I forgot my camera, and heavy coat, and water to drink. We always go out prepared, but not today.

Anyway we ended up in Fort Erie, sitting in the car, eating pulled pork, vegetables and dip and fruit bought from a grocery store, and coffees, looking across the Niagara river at the twinkling lights of Buffalo, N.Y.  Talk about a restaurant with a view.


It was calm all day, but as we sat there a terrific wind came up suddenly, rocking the car. It was wild. That's when we turned around and headed home. The best unplanned adventure in a long time.

SUNDAY REPORT

SUN 08 JAN 2012 8:30am Got up a bit earlier today. Of course, I haven't been going to bed all that early, so I'm not going to worry about it. Just get up when I feel like it. As long as I write at some point in the day. I printed out The Beader and am going to try to make some sense out of it today.

View out our kitchen window

SUN 15 JAN 2012 11:28am Looks like I'm only getting at this on Sundays. It's been a busy week all around. Went to my sister Helen's on Monday and then we drove to brother Gord and Pat's. Had a good visit, played a couple of games, cards and dice. They have lived in the same house for 40 some years in Scarborough, and you can only imagine how different it was back then. Surrounded by farmland still, and the 401 was only four lanes. They've had a games group since the first, that meet every two weeks or so to play board games.  And some of the original members are still in it. Now they do other things like go to plays or out to dinner. It's amazing continuity.

Drove Helen back to Barrie the next day and headed home. Want to go visit George and Topi next.
Nothing too exciting the rest of the week, but wrote a lot. Helen had a copy of Lost, one of my old stories. I had rewritten it from memory because I didn't have a copy, but now I'm merging the two together.

A slightly different view.

Just phoned Pat to get some more family tree info. She was on the treadmill. Said her back was worse so this might help. The more you get into this family tree stuff the more inneresting it gets.

I see on FB that Darren and David are having a great time in Peru. Just looking at the pictures gives me vertigo.  It's incredible country. Living among the clouds.

Just sent Gord's family tree to Don, and some pictures. I'll get more ready to go the next time I can get on the computer. J is editing her videos.

THE WEEK THAT WAS

MON 02 JAN 2012 8:16am  Now it's snowy and blowy.  Had trouble getting up early even though I got to sleep by 9. Have to get more determined.

6:14pm  Got a good start on The Beader, another story I'm finishing. It feels good to get these unfinished pieces out of my head and on to paper.

We did our year-end ritual today. Looked over all the things we did last year and what we bought or acquired somehow. Next year the second part should be much smaller because we have most of what we have been wanting. Now I can concentrate on writing and Jackie can get her Level 3&4 of her Qigong (great Scrabble word) course. We're in a good place right now.  We are far from rich in the money sense, but have untold riches in health and relationships.  So, bring on 2012, we're ready.

TUE 03 JAN 2012 6:57am Heavy snowfall last night. I found the rest of The Beader on the iMac.  At least I have the story. I was having trouble remembering the middle part. And there is another section to write.  I went to the cliff last evening. The waves were rolling in and looked so cold. Then the snow picked up and I couldn't see the water anymore. I climbed up the side so I could see into the gully. Such an incredible beauty, wouldn't know where to start to describe it. With January has come winter.

THURS 05 JAN 2012 8:43am I'm not being very good about getting up. I do get up but not very early. I'm going to Helen's on Monday.  It's above zero for the next week so it will be good traveling. My brain is a bit scattered also, having a hard time writing at any pace. I counted the stories I'm working on and they are 14. That's a lot. That is part of what is scattering me, I guess. Need to stick to one or two until they are finished. Ghosts is finished basically, and so is Lost and The Beader is pretty close. I have some sorting out of scenes. Right now I have two endings which I need to make into one. Actually, it could be a much longer story. Maybe I'll look into that.  Now I need food, breakfast time.

10:42pm Did a fair bit. Jerry-rigged the mail box until spring when I need to redo the whole thing. Did some serious story editing. Took the VW in for back tire installation. Now to bed.

SAT 07 JAN 2012 9:54am Another beautiful sun-swept day in the country. I was able to do some work on the studio yesterday, solve some problems. Today I go at it again. I'm determined to get this done soon.  Would like to at least get the front all done today. But, probably more than that if I get at it.
10:13pm  I did get done what I wanted today. Unbelievable weather for January, so I had to make the most of it. I'm also reading a lot of great short fiction, Anton Chekhov and William Trevor, to keep me in the right frame of mind to write short fiction.

The studio as it stands today and probably will until spring.

Dave's Back Porch looking a bit forlorn.

                       

HAPPY NEW YEAR

 SUNDAY 01 JANUARY 2012  8:26am  Twelve years into the 21st Century. Hard to believe. First day of the new year and what a glorious day it is. The sun is giving its all and it's like springtime. We know that's not going to last but we enjoy it while we can.
Had an amazing dinner at our friends Cindy and Mary's in Port Dover.  Jo-Anne and John were there also from London.  Lot's of good food and drink, and stories.
Five minutes after I took the sunny pictures outside our house it got dark and now it's pouring rain. If you don't like the weather wait five minutes.