Saturday 17 April 2010

The Unicorn

Every Saturday morning in April around 10:00am, cars start arriving in my driveway. People carrying pots of paint, brushes, large sheets of cardboard and styrofoam start filing into my garage and workshop.
It's Music Mania Variety Show time again.... and this year the blacklight number is "The Unicorn" recorded by The Irish Rovers back in the 1960s.... or was it the 70s? Remember the words?

A long time ago, when the Earth was green
There was more kinds of animals than you've ever seen
They'd run around free while the Earth was being born
And the loveliest of all was the unicorn.

There was green alligators and long-necked geese
Some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees
Some cats and rats and elephants, but sure as you're born
The loveliest of all was the unicorn.

This morning the artists took over the whole garage, creating these images with fluorescent paint, so they will glow in the UV light when the theatre is in darkness. This part of the show is a favourite with the kids, of course!

In addition to these props, there's also a huge styrofoam ark. All these props will be transported to the local High School auditorium, where we'll be putting on the show at the end of April. We've been rehearsing the various elements of the show since January, so now we have a couple of weeks to put it all together.
We may not be quite up to the singin'n'dancin' standard of Glee, but we certainly try!

Sunday 4 April 2010

Puppysitting Weekend

The weather has been just like summer all weekend and it's only the first week of April! Last year at this time we were still bundled into winter coats and boots. But for the past few days it's been teeshirts and sandals!

YoungerSon and The Bride and Isaac spent Easter weekend with The Bride's family, so I got to puppysit Tessa for three days. It was perfect this morning for a long walk through York Regional Forest.

We took the main trail through Eldred King Woodlands, heading towards the pond.

It turned out that a lot of other people had the same idea. When we got to the pond there must have been at least 15+ dogs of every imaginable size, shape and colour, all chasing sticks and each other. Tessa willingly joined in all the fun, happily braving the cold water to retrieve as many sticks as I wanted to throw for her.
She made friends with Hamish (golden retriever) and Bruno (black lab) and they played chase for ages, diving into the pond to cool off every time they got too hot.

Then I had to take a stinky wet dog home in my nice clean car.

"What, Nana? We have to go home now? Can't I stay and chase Hamish and Bruno a bit longer? Pleeeeese?"