PLUMBING THE DEPTHS.

We are having a snow storm here, so I have a few moments to blog !

 I hope that this issue will bring smiles and chuckles to the legions of avid followers ( I think that is about 5 !).
As a theoretician on the values and benefits of Fine Arts in Education I did pretty well. As a practictioner I was a dismal failure. One disaster after another. For my grand debut at the Royal Festival Hall in 1955, playing the triangle, didn't I drop the dinger just as I was about to play my one note and by the time I scrambled to pick it up and ding it, the effect was salutory. All the musicians just stopped and stared at me. My theatrical debut was just as distinguished. About to launch into my maiden speech, all three words, I gasped, froze and final squeeked out "What the hell ! " Bedlam on stage. Actors convulsed with laughter. They rang down the curtain.  And so it goes.

But I have persevered, and a picture in last week's paper further inspired me yet again. As far as I can tell the picture was a blank sheet, with a very faint pattern, similar to a watermark. At auction for several million dollars. If the artist in question could recycle paper I could surely find something I could recycle and offer to the National Gallery, the Museum of Modern Art, or as a last resort sell on e-bay !

Here it is !  If any of the bits strike you as being useful let me know,and I'll do some pruning !

(Note:- made of high quality ABS piping, guaranteed to last for hundreds if not thousands of years.)

Spring Cleaning- Getting ready for Summer-

Lest you think I have been resting on my laurels after the unprecedented ( for me) success of my Maple Syrup endeavours, I hasten to remind you that this is OnlyADoneList so there is inevitably a delay in producing my account.

Spring opening this year was amazingly early and the transition from the bleak and cold winter season to a warm and refreshing spring was extremely rapid. The grass is already lush green and just about ready for the first mow. Really- in April! We’ve had daffodils for over two weeks, the apple trees are about to burst into blossom, the lilac buds are swelling and its almost time to put away the trousers and bring out the shorts. By the end of next week I’ll turn on the outside water systems for the cottage, the barn, pool and greenhouse. Three baskets of geraniums that wintered in the library and bloomed on and off are now outside. The vegetable garden is tilled, the post-winter burn off completed and almost totally re-greened. At this rate I’ll get the pool opened and up and running by mid-may.

From the evidence, or should I say, lack of it, it would appear that the supersonic sound emitters in the farm house attic and cottage attic have been reasonably successful in discouraging the squirrels from taking up residence. They have moved into the work barn, and are doing their best to demolish the bird feeders ! I may experiment with outside versions of the sonic machine, since my efforts with cayenne pepper in dishwashing liquid have been totally useless.

After several years of dreaming, we have had an electric panel installed on the back side of the hydro pole at the trellis bed in the middle of the main lawn. Should be enough to power the needs of the wedding activities for Bren and Marnie slated for the first weekend in July. Maybe one day I’ll bury a line to bring power to the bus !

After years of dawdling and delaying we now have a proper well-head at the Main Barn. The roof is made of siding/ wooden planking, cut off the Main barn when windows were installed.

Thanks to neighbour, Roy Raymond, who provided a large plastic drum we now have a rotating compost bin, awaiting the summer cottage residents and the garden weeds ! Nice to use up long stored scrap materials. Dear brother, Michel, who has seen any earlier version of this picture, remarked that the Greenhouse, potting shed, could use some TLC.

 
 
 

New shed, painted, and winter ramp door in temporary storage.

Hope that you are all enjoying a beautiful spring, and looking forward to seeing you soon at the farm.