Gardening

It is that time of year again or maybe past that time of year, but I am out in the garden. Amazing how the garden will let you know that it is boss and if you do not get out there and do some serious work, it will get away from you. Often wonder how you can keep everything in nice neat rows and looking pristine. Maybe if I planted annuals it might work but perennials all seem to have a mind of their own. The for-get-me-nots that I could do nothing with in years past are now flourishing everywhere and when I say everywhere that is what I mean: in the lawn and flower beds even starting to choke out other plants. Must try to transplant and hope that they will not be a prolific elsewhere. My irises have finally taken hold and are blooming and looking lovely. Might do some more transplanting in August.
Will take some pictures later in the week, the primula have finished but roses are now showing their buds.
Oh it is wonderful, will be out there this afternoon after I play some tennis and also do the dishes.
We went to see a play at the local community theater. Wonderful what you can see without paying a fortune.

Hundertwasser

I love interesting architecture. Frank Lloyd Wright's homes and buildings are among my favourite, been to Fallingwater and loved it. Hoping to go and see the Guggenheim Gallery this year. Other architects are also fascinating. The most recent is Friedensreich Hundertwasser, artist and architect. An artist who declared that "A human being has three layers between him and the world. The first layer is his skin. The second layer is his clothing. The third layer is his architecture. Over the centuries we have perverted and distorted... our clothing and our architecture to such a degree that they no longer suit our needs."

Hundertwasser's architecture is wonderous. He designed district heating plants, incinerators, highway restaurants as well as apartment buildings, public toilets, posters, stamps and even a ship. He was prolific and fascinating.

As Christopher Hume, Toronto Star columnist says "In Canada, let alone Toronto, we could use a hundred Hundertwassers. So far, we have none."

Explore Hundertwasser's work.

What to write about?

Time to think about writing about something and not just for the blog. I love mysteries. There are several series that I enjoy. This brings me to my problem: what topic should I choose to write about-should it be a craft and the problems involved in the craft as well as the crimes committed. The craft could be needlework or knitting. Or I could write about books and crime. Gardening does not seem to lend itself to the same issues but there is a thought, I have yet to read a book about gardening and crimes. There was a television series: Rosemary and Thyme, two gardeners who solved crimes. A music group-preferably an orchestra because that offers more players in more ways than one. The trio or octet are too small but there are possibilities.
Think that I am going to start observing the groups that I am involved in and come up with a possibility. Teaching? A school?

Piano Lessons for Boomers

Read this article with fascination. Finally, it seems that boomers have figured out that there is joy in playing music and not just piano lessons. Some take piano lessons as mentioned in this article and many others study other instruments and join the many bands and orchestras that exist in cities and towns.

Susan Pigg Reporter
Andrew Freedman fixes his gaze on the sheet music like a seasoned concert pianist, and plants his fingers on the keys with an intensity rivalled only by the look on his face.
Freedman, 57, has clearly done his homework. The song he’s chosen to play was written in 1893, Time-Warner bought the rights in 1998, and it’s one of the most popular songs in the world, he tells a small group of anxious onlookers.
There’s no mistaking the first few notes of “Happy Birthday” — or the distinctive “sh” word that slips from Freedman’s lips as he makes his first mistake.
It’s one of the most popular swear words in the world.
“There’s a lot of swearing — and a lot of talking to themselves. But mainly a lot of swearing,” says piano teacher Clare Pengelly, breaking into a smile as wide as the keyboard of the Weber grand piano.
Freedman is one of what Pengelly calls her “big kids” — baby boomers who are passionately taking up piano. They now outnumber the “little kids” who flock to Pengelly’s ramshackle Victorian house where two baby grands share centre stage in the bay window of her family home.
They’re busy teachers, photographers, medical experts and investment bankers.
“I get a lot of accountants,” says Pengelly, 51. “So many of them say, ‘I’ve got to learn jazz. I’ve got to swing. I’m not swinging enough’.”
Most are in their 50s. Many have never taken a piano lesson. A shocking number who did are still haunted by their mistakes decades before, fearful of once again having their knuckles rapped.
“They’ll tell me, ‘I hated that. I quit. But I want to start again. I hear that you don’t hit’.”
Freedman likes jazz, and he’s a forensic accountant. He signed on with Pengelly eight months ago as “a distraction” from his intense and demanding job. He’d been talking about taking up piano for so many years, his wife spurred him on last September by having one delivered to their mid-Toronto home while he was at work.
Usually he goes to Pengelly, but she’s making a special call to his house because he’s torn a tendon in his leg, and is in a cast. She wants to make sure he keeps practising daily.
“My wife is very forgiving,” says Freedman. “She listens to all my rehearsing and when I do something right, I can hear her clap from upstairs.”
He knows he’s never going to play Mozart at Roy Thomson Hall — he’d be happy just to bang out a good “Let it Be” or a Gershwin number that brings a smile to someone’s face.
“I’m astounded by the number of people I’ve met who are in the same boat as me. I thought I’d be some kind of freak of nature learning how to play at my age. But there’s lots of us out there.”
One of them is Hugh Ballantyne who was 64 when he started driving an hour into the city from Fergus to take Royal Conservatory lessons with Pengelly. He was going to give it just six months, enough, he figured, to get his Grade 1. Six years later, he’s a Grade 7 student.
Most adult students are looking for an outlet from their jobs, empty nests or a way to keep their brains sharp into retirement, says Pengelly.
“Adults who call say pretty much the same thing — I’ve always wanted to play piano, but there was my career and the kids. Now it’s my turn.”
Twenty-six “adult learners” make the trek each week to what’s warmly called “the Pengelly House of Music” near the University of Toronto where Pengelly’s parents have been teaching music, and hosting piano parties, since she was a kid.
It’s a tradition that brought such joy to Pengelly’s life, she started teaching piano in 1977 and now organizes recitals where her adult students play to the applause of their partners and fellow piano players, followed by wine, a potluck supper and lots of laughs.
“I call us drinkers with a piano problem,” quips one longtime student who likens the recitals to AA meetings where busy professionals regularly confess, “My name is Jeff. It’s been seven days since my last practice.”
“Everyone is so supportive,” he adds. “There’s always thunderous applause, especially if you’ve played really badly, because everybody feels your pain. And the minute you’re done, somebody hands you a glass of wine.”
Commercial photographer Sid Tabak, 59, started taking lessons with Pengelly 16 years ago and was so nervous performing in front of others, he took beta blockers to ease his anxiety.
Eventually he figured out a few survival techniques, like don’t talk to yourself when you make a mistake — just keep playing because the real victory is having the guts to sit on the bench.
“It takes awhile to realize that your self-worth as a human being has nothing to do with how well or how poorly you play the piano.”
Along with patience, Pengelly’s mother cautioned her early to be a good listener — and for more than just the proper notes.
A box of tissues is always within reach for aging students who in their half-hour lesson have an escape from the harsh realities of life, be it a failing marriage or a business on the brink of collapse.
Pengelly still gets emotional talking about a student who was determined to make it to her lessons, even after her 12-year-old daughter — also a student of Pengelly’s — was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
“Sometimes they come with puffy eyes or a lot of tears and I have to bring them a glass of wine. But that’s fine. We do that, too.”
Susan Pigg focuses on issues around aging and baby boomers.spigg@thestar.ca
Also see:
Search for the missing sock gets boost from Toronto Hydro
Tips to jumpstart your garden this holiday weekend
L.A.B. results prove molecular gastronomy is alive and well

Cedarvale Community Children's Garden

At this time of year when we finally think of gardening, it is wonderful to read about what others are doing. The Cedarvale Community Children's Garden is one of those projects that has many positive aspects. Wednesday evenings between spring and fall a group plants, tends and harvests the bounty of the garden. Claire Rodger started her venture 10 years ago as part of her attempt to lift herself from profound grief. Her sister, Denyse and father Archie died within a short time of each other, leaving Rodger, a veteran actress and jazz singer, wrestling with sorrow and questioning her own existence. She began a legacy project. She loved children and loved gardening. Her gardening had a mission which includes teaching children "the value of cultural diversity as mirrored through biodiversity."
"Take heirloom tomatoes, for example, the older yet fashionable cultivars."
"They can be black, yellow-striped or pear-shaped," says Rodger. "They all look different. Just like you and me. So it's a metaphor, isn't it?"
Wonderful she is able to teach the children about diversity.

Listen to This

Just finished reading a food article that also involves music. The article is about a teacher in the Jane-Finch area, filmmaker Juan Baquero, teacher Stephen Gilbert and law student Sara Chan. The film is Listen to This and it was screened at Toronto's Hot Docs festival. The film demonstrates the power of the arts to give young people self-confidence and skills. The music programme which has continued since the making of the film affords students the opportunity to work with modern music which offers one avenue for students.
Hopefully, students will also have the opportunity to become involved in programmes like Sistema which works with students from grade one up and involves them in orchestras. Involvement is daily with lessons and group involvement. Sistema which originated in Venezuela is now making inroads into the United States because their prodigy now conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Hope to have more to report on these projects.

Guerrilla Gardening

What a beautiful example of guerrilla gardening. A riot of colour is blossoming on Kingston Road as the article mentions. Take time to look at the article and see the flowers. Wonderful that someone has done this.


A gorgeous swath of tulips has sprung up along the north side of Kingston Rd., west of Manse Rd.JACK LAKEY/TORONTO STAR
Related
By Jack Lakey The Fixer
A riot of colour is blossoming on Kingston Rd., but finding the flowers is easier than the people who planted them.
Drivers may have spotted a glorious blaze of yellow and red tulips along the north side of Kingston Rd., west of Manse Rd., that’s been an unexpected delight this spring for people who live in the area.
It stretches for nearly 100 metres on what looks like city property, in front of the Grand Motel, and is a breathtaking contrast to an otherwise drab stretch of suburban streetscape.
Robyn Brooks emailed to say she’d like to extend a “huge thank you” to the gardeners, if only she knew who they are.
“My husband and I often walk from our home down to the Starbucks at Kingston Rd. and Morningside (Ave.) and were so delighted when these flowers suddenly appeared,” said Brooks.
“There are probably a thousand stunning flowers in a beautiful arrangement, but I don’t know who planted them. Could you please figure out who it was?”
We started at the Grand Motel, which has a small patch of tulips in its garden, thinking the much bigger bed might be theirs, too. A young guy at the counter named Jan shook his head, saying he had no idea how they got there.
A phone call to the office of Councillor Paul Ainslie (Ward 43, Scarborough East) came next. If the city planted them, we thought the local councillor or someone who works for him would know.
Ainslie’s executive assistant, Antonette DiNovo, didn’t know if the city planted them but said Residents Rising, a community group that takes on neighbourhood improvement projects, had planted flowers not far from there, and may be responsible for the tulips.
It indeed sounded like it could be have been them, but Sandra Hutley, president of Residents Rising, said they planted daffodils at a nearby location, but didn’t think the tulips are theirs.
So far, we’ve struck out. If anyone knows who’s responsible, let us know, so we can thank them.
What’s broken in your neighbourhood? Wherever you are in Greater Toronto, we want to know. To email us, go to the Fixer and click on the “submit a problem” link. Or call us at 416-869-4823.
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/fixer/article/808362--the-fixer-who-sprung-for-spring-tulips

Where to travel?

Now that my job is nearly over it is time to think about where to travel. After a number of family issues and other difficulties, it is time to finally relax, renew and refresh. Where to go? We would love to travel to Scotland and explore Scotch distilleries but oh that volcanic ash may make that an impossibility. We could get stuck trying to get there or back, not a welcome thought. Italy is the same, not sure that I want to be left trying to work my way back or there.
That leaves us travelling west and there are possibilities: San Francisco would be nice at any time of year and if we add Mendocino, home of that great sleuth Jessica Fletcher-lovely. Then back to the Napa Valley might even take the train. Follow up with a quick trip to Monterrey to the aquarium and sites in the area.
If the far west coast does not work out, might be time to take that trip around the great lakes and there are a number of towns and cities to visit on the way.
Will think on this and make a decision soon.

Canada Land of the Free

Wow, my cousin has arrived from Kiev, Ukraine. She arrived on Sunday while I had a concert at the McMichael. Unfortunately, this visit was not planned at least on our part. My brother and I fear that she was hoping that my brother would provide her with a place to live and possibly sponsor her for the next 10 years! Yikes. This will not happen! Sadly, my brother and I already have serious family responsibilities which can not include being responsible for someone else for 10 years. Sadly, she did apply to immigrate but did not have enough points, her language skills are limited.
Apparently, she claims that she is flying back tonight. My brother and I will wait to see this happen.