August 7, 2004

August 5 - 7, 2004

DAYS 49 - 51

 

 

Thursday ; The morning was spent shelling peas, and trimming beans I picked from the Danelak's garden yesterday. Their garden is certainly doing well this year ! Joanne and I removed the dinette table from the trailer and took it to Danelak's garage, where she will sand it and apply new coats of varnish over the next few days. In the afternoon, I mounted our birch bark biting art piece on the window sill beside where the dinette table sits in the trailer. This is a piece of Native art given to us by Sharon and Bud a few years ago as a Christmas gift. It was done by a Native artist in Moose Lake in northern Manitoba. Bud mounted it between Plexiglas, then mounted the Plexiglas in an oak surround frame. I've just had him modify the oak frame to allow me to mount it by screwing it into a metal window sill of the trailer. He sure is a talented wood worker ! Thank you very much, Bud. Duzha gakyoo, Bohdan.

The birch bark biting is done by folding a piece of birch bark, then biting it in a particular way so that when it is unfolded, there is a floral pattern of teeth marks in the bark. When mounted in a window, with the sun shining through from behind, it is a remarkable piece of art.

Friday ; Most of the morning was spent making telephone inquiries about changing our drivers' licenses, vehicle registrations, and vehicle insurances from Ontario to Manitoba. My motivation to deal with bureaucracies is pretty low. It's what a lot of my working life used to be, and I don't miss it ! The afternoon was spent sitting in an insurance broker's office in Lorette, being served by an agent who could be described as not the brightest bulb in the chandelier. While we did manage to get our drivers' licenses converted from Ontario to Manitoba, registrations and insurances will have to wait until we return from Grand Beach next week, and work on getting all 3 vehicles safety certified. Oh, joy !

Late afternoon was spent running from store to store to store in the Crossroads shopping area, running errands. Then ... finally ... off to our second evening of Folklorama. Tonight we visited the Indo-Caribbean Pavilion first. This pavilion represents Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago. We had supper there, and watched the 6:45 P.M. show of folk dancing and music. Then we were off to the Australia / New Zealand pavilion. The 8:15 P.M. show was full, so we went into the pavilion's pub to eat dessert, drink Australian and New Zealand wines, and wait for the 9:45 P.M. show. The pub entertainment included a man playing the didgeridoo, an Aboriginal musical instrument made from a hollowed out tree trunk, 3 to 6 feet long. The show in the main part of the pavilion was a group of Maori tribes people, singing, dancing, and playing the didgeridoo. Their dances are mostly tributes to the animals around them, like kangaroos and kiwis.

Saturday ; Well, here I am at the Carlson's, all alone, working on my web log / blog ... finally ! I've been procrastinating setting it up. It was suggested to me by my good friend in Vancouver, Jennifer Lamb ( Dwight Atkinson's wife ) as the best way to record my daily journal and allow interested family and friends to view it. Thanks for the encouragement, Jennifer.

Joanne is gone with her family to Assiniboine Park, to take the little nieces for a ride on the park's miniature train. I'm feeling too ill to have gone along. I forgot to take my colitis medicine following yesterday's lunch, and I'm paying the price today. When Joanne and the Carlson’s returned from the park, I took the girls for a walk to the mailbox, then to their neighbourhood park to “roll down the hill”. After dinner, Doug and I removed our large Italian tapestry from their dining room wall and repacked it. We hung it up there for “storage” a couple of weeks ago, but they decided it just doesn’t fit well there. We left early because I was feeling really ill.

DSK