Goderich

This morning, I was shocked to see the pictures of the devastation in Goderich. A tornado ripped through there yesterday. One of the pictures in the paper this morning was of the hotel that we had stayed at when we were there last year. Who knew that it could get that bad. The daughter-in-law of a friend lives there part of the time. She works at a historic site. Luckily, she just had a baby and is living in Waterloo with her husband.
You never know when something is going to strike.

Storm

Wow, I can understand why some of these musical stages have collapsed recently. A storm just moved through this afternoon. Thank goodness, no damage to our property but a branch did come off our tree and hit the neighbours driveway. It might have hit the power line but it is not down. No cars parked in the driveway so no damage. Yeah!
Across the street a major branch came down and landed on the front of the car. They won't find out about it until they come home. They are away and do not know anything about how long they will be away. Not a nice thing to come home to.
The storm was fierce but thank goodness nothing happened here.
Hopefully no more storms for a bit.

Choices

Just received an e-mail from a high-school student who is now in grade 11. Hard to believe that they keep getting older. I taught him in grade nine when I was covering the maternity leave at the high school where I work as a supply teacher. It was a good year. Now, I am working on other things like more playing. Amazing how many gigs I have.
Well back to the student, he wanted my advice about a job that he got at a Boys and Girls Club. He is going to work 2-3 days a week. It seems that the work will be flexible on the clubs part which means that the student will not know each week when he is working. That will cause problems with his band and stage band practises. I think that he wanted me to say that it was okay if he missed practises but unfortunately for him, that is not what I am prepared to say. As we get older we need to commit to practises and times and sometimes eliminate things from our schedules because they no longer fit. I hope that he does not give up band. He is a good player.
Hope that he makes a good decision but I can not make it for him.

Painting not Done!

Yes, you read the title correctly. The painting is not done. I am learning more about painting than I wanted to know. I now know that water based paint should not go on oil based paint unless proper sanding and priming is done. If it is not done, then there will be bubbling. Painters should know this but I had to point this out. We had bubbling and since then more bubbling. Learned this from a friend who is a painter and lives in Nova Scotia. Thank goodness, she was able to advise as to what the problem is. The painters are to do the screen doors and now I am scared that they will do a sloppy job. Also paint elsewhere has not been done properly. What a problem. Need to investigate the workmanship carefully in the future. I thought that seeing their sign out was good enough but no, not good enough. Need to call for references. Had not done that except for a vacation excursion which was wonderful.
Will let you know how the job works out next week.

I did it!

Those of you who read this blog yesterday know that I was going to drive on the highway going west yesterday. The good news is that I did it. Wow, for me it was a challenge getting on. Once I was on, no problem. I can speed with the best of them, in fact managed to hit 120 a couple times but never let my passenger know. I think that might cause her concern.
I drove around Niagara Falls and to Niagara on the Lake. All good.
Need to keep confronting fears like that. One day, I might even be able to drive the 401 across the city. That might take a little time.

Gardiner and QEW

Today, I will be doing something that many people think normal. I am going to drive on the Gardiner Expressway and the QEW. I have my route planned, I will enter from the Lakeshore where the Don Valley enters the Gardiner and then get in the centre lane and stay there all the way to St. Catharines. I am going to visit my husband's aunt and uncle with someone who is also a friend of theirs. She has known them from choir and then socially. She was going to drive but I decided that I should since Eileen and Joe are getting to the stage where they are going to need help legally and Michael and I will be responsible. I will need to be able to drive out and help.
Wish me luck.

Honesty

It is interesting dealing with people. Everyone once in a while you find that you are dealing with someone who is not completely honest. Even when they try to finally be honest you are not sure about their motives and if they are being honest. You check about the information that you have been given. Is it the truth or could the person have told you a story to keep you in the dark? It is much easier and better to be up front with people.
I do not want to discuss the situation too much just in case the person involved actually sees the blog and realizes that it is them that I am discussing. It seems that a contract was negotiated and the information about payment was never made clear. It is interesting how a person can hide the actual amounts paid. The group has been up front but the person working with the group has not. Sad because trust is then lost.
Remember that it is best to be honest. If you have nothing to hide, it is easier to deal with others.

House Painted

I could tell you about my adventures working with my student chamber players.They are doing really well but I will tell you about my house painting instead.
The house is being painted with red for the front door. This project was put off after last year when we ended with getting the roofing redone. The painting will be the last project of the year. All the trime is while and the front door will be red.
It seems that there is always something to do. Hopefully, once this is done the remaining projects will not be as serious: roofing, a new furnace after 25 years and the furnace is always more expensive for us since we have radiators, work done on the crawl space since we had a leak and the neighbours put in a new fence and we are sharing the cost. Want the invoice redone since it does not explain what was done at all. Interesting.
All the others were very clear. Wonder who the neighbour is getting to do the work.
Oh well, the new door will be nice.

Cold Sassy

Just finished a lovely book, Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns. Just read the cover when I finished and discovered that the author born in 1924 was diagnosed with an illness in 1976 and decided to write a novel. Her first was Cold Sassy Tree and the sequel, Leaving Cold Sassy, I have ordered from the library. Fascinating that she would decided at her age that it was time to write novels instead of articles. Based on the this book, it is a shame that she did not write more. However, it appears that she wrote but articles not books for the Atlanta Journal Sunday Magazine.
Found out about this book from a magazine that I subscribe to the Victorian. Interesting where you will find out about books.

Red Door

Time to get painting done on the house. We are prepped. Had wood work done last week and also got siding put up on the back of the house. Now, we are ready. Decided to try a new painter since this was the only painter that mentioned that wood work needed to be done. Wondering what the others planned to do? Just paint and leave wood that way it was? Scary since some of it really needed to be replaced. We are being wild about the front door. Going to paint it red! Yes, you read correctly. Red! Will take a picture once the work is done.
Hope that you have happy renovations. This will be it for this year.

Plan for the future

If you read about my friend who is 92, you know that I am concerned about her well being.
This makes me think about what I must do to plan. Day to day is not bad but the future. We have our wills done which is a good thing but interesting how over time your idea of who should look after things changes. People move and their circumstances change.
This reminds me that we must get things better organized. I have started which is good but much remains to be done. Amazing how much needs to be done.
My friend who is 92 worries about this but her affairs and things are minor compared to mine. I wish that I was joking but it is amazing how many things that I have physically and financially. More must get cleaned up.
Must get back to the goal of at least one thing out each day. That will start tomorrow.
As I reread this, I can see that seeing Olive has gotten me thinking about many issues.
Time to practise. Have a performance tonight and then another tomorrow.