Tuesday 7 June 2011

The Lost Writer Returns

Over a month and I have either found no time or content to blog.  Apologies once again.  I wonder if anyone is still reading! Thank you if you haven't given up on me.

Since I last posted I have been teaching quite a bit, but now I have a break until July. We visited my youngest and his partner one weekend and had a good time.  Kenya has been for her annual check-up and is in good form. I spent a few days in Peterborough visiting a dear friend ... and got my first ever speeding ticket.  Not the best way to remember the visit which was a lovely break from life.  We went shopping for clothes and art supplies, got a painting of mine framed, ate a great deal of yummy food, drove around enjoying the countryside, and we laughed and talked as if almost a year had not passed since we were last together. A nice visit.

I am expecting a number of visitors in the next while ... old friends mainly ... but also the chimney sweep.  I haven't had the chimney cleaned since I moved in.  I haven't met him but I doubt if he will arrive wearing a top hat above a thin pinched little face smeared with soot.

I also want to get down to Los Angeles to visit my son so will check out airfares and possible dates soon.

The back hoe folks were here yesterday digging out a shallow foundation for a new shed which will be hobbity and will disappear into the hill.  The roof will be flat and will be a living roof where I will plant plants that are not too particular about sunlight and will drape down over the exposed sides of the building.  Peter will start pouring cement for the pad fairly soon and then begin the construction.  I will be delighted to have a place to store stuff.  I am tired of using my screened-in porch as a junk pile.  But I think this shed will be nice enough to be used as a bunkie if I wanted to do that some summer.  Imagine sleeping in a snug cave on a hot summer night.

The birds around my feeder have been absolutely beautiful this year ... way more colourful than the winter visitors.  The lake, however, seems to have lost its pair of geese with their four goslings and the two pairs of ducks that were here in May ... I don't even want to hazard a guess about their fate ... but the lake seem very sterile this year without them.  The pair of loons are still here but remarkably quiet.  Perhaps they think they will be the next to disappear.

And now I am off to deliver a CD of a Stuart McLean story to one of my students, and to finish getting my garden in.

Enjoy the summery weather.

7 comments:

sassy said...

Nice to see you back. :)

Barbara Carlson said...

Welcome back. I check in on your blog every few days.
It is hot and humid and I just heard thunder which is a welcome sound, esp. for all the people south of Ottawa who are a water ban and their gardens are dying.

Will turn off computer now. :)

Oma said...

Thank you both for not giving up on me when I seem to have deserted my post (ing) !

kingmisha said...

I had much fun while you were here. I love that we just pick up our conversation where we left off like no time had passed since we last visited.

There has to be at least a little pitch to your shed roof, or it will trap snow and water. Even with a green roof, the plants will need some drainage.

See there I go controlling again. I'm incorrigible.

Oma said...

Glad to see that you are absolutely incorrigible ... and thank you for the advice which I have passed on ... and received a response of rolled eyes and "Yeah ... well ... of course!" Another incorrigible being ... and also knowledgeable and thoughtful ...

Colleen said...

I'm still here. Glad you are back. I figured you were off having a good time. I hope the silence of the lake is filled with life again soon.

Oma said...

The lake was much more lively today than it has been. The kids came to the cottage next door to party and Kenya spent an hour retrieving sticks from the lake with them. They seem to have all fallen asleep now ... Kenya included.

But even better, I saw the Merganser parents and three ducklings this morning in the outlet creek. Maybe they have a nest up that creek somewhere.