Late Snowfall...Again

Yesterday it snowed 30cms.  

The past 5 weeks have been surprisingly warm, and I thought maybe that's it, no more snow for this winter.  I got my garden box built, hauled in nutrient-rich topsoil, bought seeds and even planted some of them indoors, in preparation for growing season.  Then the cold weather returned...

Incidentally, this is the 3rd winter in a row where we've had snowfall in the last week of April.  Big snowfall; like one last horray.  I guess it's true: spring doesn't arrive here until May.

By mid-next week temperatures are supposed to hit 21C.

Below is my 2nd-favourite cafe in the city.  My favourite place - Little Bird - is closed today.  Maybe because of the a power outage last night...

Repainting Furniture

I've never been much of a do-it-yourselfer.  If my car is broke I take it to a mechanic.  If my fridge door squeaks I get the fridge guy to fix it. If the doorbell doesn't work I get a new one.

I'm not mechanically inclined, for one thing, and so I never really considered "fixing things" as a skill to foster.  This is opposite my dad, actually, who plays with his computer for hours before seeking help, and tinkers with other stuff - especially electronics - for days, trying to figure out how they work and how to fix them if broken.  Case in point, he converted a gas vehicle to an electric vehicle about 8 or so years ago.

But the one area I feel relatively comfortable with around the house, is paint.  After all, I painted for an entire summer while in university.

So a few days ago I took on the challenge of repainting old furniture, rather than selling it online and then buying new furniture.  Owning a house is proving to be more expensive than I thought...

Here are a few pictures of my dining chairs and table that I'm hoping will fit in with the rest of my living room interior once this project is finished.

Signs Of Life

I hiked Beaver Creek yesterday.  Signs of life are appearing, after a long cold winter...

It's been almost a year since I moved to Saskatoon.  I'm very grateful.

Ode To Flamenco

Last night was one of those evenings that I will not soon forget.  I went to a flamenco act and left completely blown away.  Dance.  Song.  Art.  Story.  The performers - Miguel Infante, Celedonio Garrido, and Ricardo Diaz - are from Spain, and together with local performers they put on a show that stole my heart.

Flamenco captivates my soul like few other things.  Canto (singing), toque (guitar playing), baile (dance), jaleo (vocalizations and rhythmic sounds), palmas (clapping), and pitos (finger snapping) are all part of the flamenco experience.  Add to this the elements of traditional dress and musical instruments, and the experience becomes intensely physical.

Something from the spiritual realm draws me into the experience, I'm sure.  Maybe it's the human story that's told in this beautiful art form.  Stories of delight and ecstasy, and stories of loss and despair; stories of connection and stories of loneliness; stories of triumph and stories of defeat; stories of thriving and stories of suffering.  

Come to think of it, it's the stories of heart wrenching hardship that resonate deeply within me.  Mysteries.  The unresolved and unresolvable.  The broken.  The stuff of this world.  These are realities I'm well familiar with not only in my life but also in what I see all around me.  Longing - for connection with the world around me, with my fellow neighbour, and with God.  Longing for the next world.  Heaven.  These are good desires that I yearn to have fulfilled.  And yet, they are not...yet.

I haven't read or studied much about the origins of flamenco but I''ve heard there are Indian, Arabic, and Spanish links.  The wailing sounds of jaleo, for example, are present in all 3 cultures.  This is, in my mind, a great example of the fluidity in space and time of ideas and ways of living.

Equally intriguing is the gipsy connection.  The Roma or gitanos are nomadic, always on the run, never settling, never finding a place to call home.  This makes for an easy connection with people of faith.  We too are nomads, pilgrims, on the run.  On our way somewhere else. One could also state it positively: pilgrims are at home everywhere.  They are resilient, able to deal with whatever comes their way.  The world is their home.  Whatever the case may be, pilgrims are on the go.

Flamenco is a celebration of life.  The colours of the dresses, the powerful guitar riffs, the intense clapping, finger snapping and foot tapping, the trance-inducing rhythms, the stories shared, the elegance and dignity in dance movements, the "oles" and smiles of approval by and between both, performers and audience, these are all attributes that in a simple yet profound way encapsulate the human experience: in good times and in bad, we're all in this together, let's make the best of it...

And to that I would add the exhortation: ...pursuing all that is good, true, and beautiful.

Gardening...Almost Ready

This past week I've been shoveling topsoil into my new garden box virtually every evening after work: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and yesterday afternoon.  In total, I shoveled 297 buckets of 15 litres each (4 yards) into the box.

Here's what I plan to plant this time around:

* corn
* zucchini
* potatoes
* tomatoes
* red peppers
* garlic
* carrots

I'm also considering:
* beans
* peas
* pumpkins


To give the garden some colour I'm adding:
* lavender and pampa grass, both perennials
* sunflower

The weather's still a bit too cold at night so it's not quite planting season yet, but based on the warm temperatures lately I might be ready to go in two weeks' time.

Vegetable Garden

So about a week ago I had a local landscaper build me a vegetable garden.  About 16' x 6' by 1'.

I figured that I'd need roughly about 4 square yards of topsoil to fill the box.  Earlier this week the topsoil - a 'triple mix, of earth, manure, and peat - was delivered, and today, after 230 buckets of hard shoveling, carrying, and dumping, the box is now filled.

Each bucket was about 15 litres worth, and much to my surprise, I still have about a yard of dirt left.

I'll sell it on kijiji.  Or maybe my neighbour'll buy it off me.  She needs to do some yardwork too...

$13,177.78

That's the amount of my tax return this year.  That is, that's the amount I GET from Revenue Canada.  And I thought last year's return - about $10,000 - was high!  What to do with so much money!

Then again, when I divy it up it won't go that far...

A few thousand towards the mortgage.

A few more towards RRSPs and TFSAs.

A thousand towards MasterCard.

Another thousand for tithe.

And the rest for savings.

Still, $13K ... better than a kick in the a$$.

Back to Painting

Moving to Saskatoon from Moose Jaw was a good decision in every way, except for one: I miss Lloyd and Judy's painting lessons.

About two months ago I decided to take advantage of their presence here in the prairies while I still can (they're moving back to Parksville at the end of the summer) and take some more lessons.

So on March 14th I drove down, and painted to my heart's content, for about 3 hours.  Judy fed me lunch, and that gave me good energy.  Below was the result.

Note the painting on the left, a painting by Judy.  I was trying my bestest to copy her great work of art.

Anyways, fast forward to today, and another 3 hours of work, and voila, the result:

It took me 6 hours in total to complete it.  I'm very pleased.  Painting is tremendously therapeutical.  I wish I could do it on my own, without so much need for guidance.  But then, painting is no different from any other skill - sports or music for example - it requires much patience and practise.

Before Judy and Lloyd move back to BC I'd like to do 3 more paintings:
* one of a west coast scene
* one of the badlands
* and a "set" of two, with a forest scene

Brunch, Seeds, And A Hike

Today was a day of self-care.  I needed it, after a busy month of work and RCIA classes culminating in the Easter Vigil.

I slept in until about 9, and then slowly got my day going.

Around 1pm I went to the Berry Barn, a lovely little restaurant and greenhouse tucked away along the river south of the city.  I had a burger there for brunch and then took a few pictures of the surroundings.  The temperature was warm with a slight cloud cover and with a chilly breeze, especially along the river.

After brunch I drove to Dutch Growers and bought seeds in preparation for gardening this summer.

Then around 3:30 I went to Beaver Creek for a 2.5km hike.  The terrain was varied, including flat prairie stretches as well as a few ups and downs along the river.  I hiked at a brisk pace, completing it the stretch in 45 minutes.  

Beaver Creek's just 10 minutes from my place so I'll be sure to return there and explore some more.

Pay Raise On April Fool's Day

I was told today that I got a small pay raise.  I thought it was a joke, since it's April 1st.  But nope, not the case, I really did get a raise.

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I told one of our nurses at work that all the nurses are in trouble because we'd discovered that somebody's been giving "expired" medication to our residents.  A big meeting was planned for later on in the day, and the riot act was going to be read to the nurses.  She believed me and panicked.  And then I said the terrifying words: "Happy April Fool's".