TOBACCO AGAIN & SNOW

FRI 18 FEB 2011 4:15pm  Well, I am out in my studio. It's drying out right at the moment. Had a bit of a flood with the run-off from melting snow. It happened last year also, so I should have been prepared for it. But, it will dry and all will be well. I put some roofing tar on the joints on the metal roof, which may help. I was thinking the best thing might be to cover the roof with a tarp.

The Mac is working fine out there. I managed to scan a picture but still haven't figured out how to put it where I want it.

Last nights drama class was great. Learned how to relax the body, control breath and this all led to projecting the voice. Elana showed us how she could raise her voice higher by degrees and by the end we were glad we were on the other side of the room. She's got a powerful voice. But, it should come naturally, like little kids do it. A lot of us gradually get restricted in the throat.

Everything is melting. It's been around 7 degrees the past two days. But, by Monday all will be back to normal.

MON 21 FEB 2011 11:59am  I wasn't kidding when I said we'd be back to normal on Monday. We went from bare ground to at least a foot of snow overnight. There was a drift of about 3 feet on the side porch. Saturday we had a good breakfast at the Sunshine and then gave the car a much needed wash and vacuum. Sunday we went to the Brantford Conservation Area and walked along a trail until we came to a huge bridge across the Grand River. Quite spectacular.

Pedestrian Bridge - Brantford Conservation Area

Grand River, Brantford, ON

Good Canoe Route

The set-up in my studio is working well. I've started working on my podcast. Get to use my research skills, something I've always been wanting to do.

While out driving I spotted some tobacco kilns with leaves air drying in them.

And then there was a row stretching as far as the eye could see of leaves under a tarp. First time I'd seen this arrangement. Kind of like a huge centipede crawling off into the woods.

A TRIP DOWN TOBACCO ROAD

I haven't done much posting lately. It's partly because things are so up in the air around here  in our  computer world (we got another computer- trying to send files from one to another, and download huge updates, the mail programs being the hardest to get along with). Jackie has put an awful lot of time into it and it's almost set.

Soon I'll have my little hidden studio all teched out for recording, etc.   I do plan on doing a pod-cast soon, so I'll let you know how that's going. And I will be putting out a new ambient record. But, in the meantime, here's a familiar sight around here....

Tobacco Kilns

These are the older style of kiln, which are locally pronounced Kill. So, in case you ever wondered what Stompin' Tom was referring to when he sang 'When they talked about making the kill, I was down the highway and over the hill.' (Tillsonburg by Tom Connors), now you know. This is where the picked leaves are carted to and hung up to dry before being sent to the gasper factory. Of course, much less of that goes on now and growers are branching out into other areas.
Take a deep breath, everyone.