Strawberries and Cherries

They have arrived Cherries! Just got some cherries yesterday and they are as sweet as I remember. I do not buy most fruit out of season because it is not the same as in season fruit. I must get more today.

Next week, I am going to a local farmers' market and picking up strawberries. There is nothing better than fresh strawberries. I love them with some milk and a bit of sugar. Last year, I discovered that strawberries are not available just in June but until the first frost. Ever bearing strawberries have been developed. Isn't science wonderful, could they do the same with blueberries?

This is heaven! Cherries, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries.....the list goes on. Oh did I mention watermelons- had some watermelon yesterday and it was the best.

Peonies

Before starting this entry, I was going to go outside a take a few pictures of the peonies that are blooming in the garden but that will have to wait. Some much needed rain has just started to come down. It means that the lawn will not get moved tonight but the plants will be happy and I do not have to go around with the hose and watering can tending to the newly planted plants that need special attention until they are established.

Recently, a good friend gave me a book about "The secret lives of Our Favourite Flowers" and the peony is one of the entries.

Apparently, Romans distributed the European peony as their empire spread west and north. 1000 years later Chinese peonies also traveled beyond China's borders.

At one time, peonies were used as a a coagulant. During the Middle ages, peonies were used as a sedative, the roots were used for this herbal remedy. With time, it became apparent that the peony was just a beautiful flowering plant.

The Chinese favoured the peony as a symbol of prosperity. For centuries, tree peonies were displayed in salons and courtyards of Chinese houses to show off their owner's affluence to passersby.

The peony is now respected and admired throughout the world. I promise to take some pictures tomorrow. Must log off, the storm is becoming serious and I do not want an electrical problem.

Spadina House and playing outdoors

As you know already, we are enduring a mini heat wave in the east. This is a challenging time to play outdoors and that is what the Taffanel Wind Ensemble did today for its annual performance at Spadina House's Music in the Orchard. Audience members sitting on their handy portable chairs ( I have yet to use mine but do look forward to the opportunity), lounging on blankets or chairs and benches provided by the house enjoyed themselves. The trio was the challenged by the environment.

I am very glad that I remembered at the last minute that we were playing outdoors and that we needed clips for the music. The first challenge playing outdoors is to keep music on the stands; clips are a must. This means that you can not play music that is more than 2 pages per movement. Even clips do not seem to be able to keep the music down when the wind comes up. If the wind is strong enough, the next problem is keeping the music stand stable. Heavy black stands are sturdy enough to withstand the wind but the lighter portable ones are challenged to stay upright by the wind.

On a sunny day, musicians need to be concerned about sunburn. Once while playing outdoors, I remembered to cover all the exposed parts of my body with sunscreen except one hand, it got burned. Now, I always try to avoid the sun but sometimes the host wants the performers in a particular location. Hats are also an issue, you want to look dignified and keep you head covered and the hat attached to your head not watch it blow across the lawn. Today, I wore my sunglasses so that I would not be blinded.

Nature is wonderful when you are outdoors but sometimes, some of the nature creatures decide to be part of the performance. Care must be taken avoid swallowing insects. Sometimes, this problem can not be avoided. While performing today, I could feel some twigs hit me which let me know that the wind was coming up if the fact that my music was fluttering violently was not enough notice.

Despite all these problems, it is always wonderful to be outdoors and see audience members relaxing and enjoying our performance.

We will be back at Spadina House in a month with Otteto Prosciutto, ready to play octets. Hopefully, the weather will be a little cooler and the winds calmer.

Academic Studies

This morning, I was taking a course with the department of continuing studies "Italian for Travellers", we are getting closer to going and that trip. Work and family health issues have been factors causing us to delay this wonderful expedition. After the class, I had to stop at the shelf which held the usual array of university newspapers. According to some people,I am an info-maniac . I love reading about what is going and about events that I might attend.

Today the research topics were fascinating. Apparently, Memory loss is linked to limb length.
" A new study has found that a person's risk of memory loss may be related to the length of their limbs. 'Body measures such as knee height and arm span are often used as biological indicators of early life deficits, such as a lack of nutrients,' said study leader Tina Huang of Tufts University. Huang and her researchers recorded arm span and knee height measurements for 2,798 people over a span of five years. Also findings relayed that Alzheimer's disease and dementia were 50 per cent more likely to afflict women with shorter arm spans. Women were less likely to develop dementia if their knee to floor measurements were longer than average. Only shorter arm span was correlated with increased possibility of dementia in men. 'Our findings with knee height and arm span are consistent with previous reports and suggest early life environment may play an important role in the determination of future dementia risk' the researchers wrote."

Who would have thought that these parts of the anatomy would have this effect on our future brain function? Who would have thought that someone would try to correlate these aspects of the anatomy?

Another topic was "Emotion: enemy of science or friend of reason?" Food for thought!

Heat Wave

The dreaded words are being spoken: heat wave and humidex readings. We are going to have temperatures of over 30 and 39 with the humidex. Going to make sure that I have plenty of liquids; there is no air conditioning in most of the school where I work and this is one of my days to go to work.

Hopefully, students will manage to stay cool and still maintain an appropriate level of modesty especially the girls. Boys seem reluctant to remove as much clothing. I am always surprised at how little young women wear in public and in places like a school. What happened to dress codes. My sense of modesty will not allow me to dress like that even if I am hot. My choice today is a very loose dress which is opaque so I can wear very little underneath. The dress is also long so I do not have to worry about revealing more of myself than the world wants to see.

Hopefully, we will all stay cool. And the drive will be safe. I find that drivers lose all sense when it gets this hot.

Bethune Music

In case some of you have been wondering what I have been doing, one of the things that keeps me busy is working part-time at Dr. Norman Bethune with a wonderful group of teachers. Andria who you see busy at her desk works with the grade 9's and does an amazing job teaching and motivating them. Even after last week's successful concert, she was working with the Junior band last night giving the students an opportunity to explore new band pieces. Right now, she will be busy with her first class of the day.

Dennis is our department head and leader. He has developed one of the most outstanding high school bands in the country. Many years of working with both senior school students and high school skills have given him the talent and knowledge to build this programme. The Mann award was presented to him in Ottawa at the National Band Festival in May. The percussion ensemble coached by Kelly Gates and jazz ensemble, directed by Rick Humphrey also one gold awards.


Gloria is my other half; a very talented teacher who is the vocal director this year. Last year, we both taught some instrumental music classes and she nurtured the choir and vocal classes and as a result, the numbers exploded. The students really appreciate how she has nurtured their skills and encouraged them to flourish.



Here we are the Grey Mares! I was planning to get my hair spiked for the picture but time did not permit, at least that is my excuse. As you can see, we are almost a matched pair-even wear complimentary colours. What a pleasure it is to job share with such a gifted and wonderful teacher.



I have been blessed to have two wonderful years working with a great staff and students after I thought that I had left teaching.

Now to another love- must run and play tennis!

Maureen Jennings

Today was an exciting day. As well as working, I spent my free time booking performers for the McMichael Gallery and I am just about finished the season. I am pleased that the process is so effortless this year. I am hoping to have all the dates filled by the end of the week and then I can send the dates to the gallery.

I have also managed to become part of the programming committee for another organization which plans 7 luncheons a year. Our mandate is to provide entertainment for the 7 luncheons. Again this will be done by the end of the week. I am so pleased that I managed to book one of my favourite Toronto authors, Maureen Jennings. She is the author of the Murdoch Mystery series which takes place in Victorian Toronto and has been turned into a tv series that has been renewed for next season. I am going to make sure that I attend that presentation. I will also contact a friend who enjoys her books. This process is certainly quite the learning experience. I am happy to report that I am having plenty of those lately.

If you have not read any of Maureen Jennings' books I highly recommend them and suggest that you start the Murdoch mystery series at the beginning.