Dress Rehearsal

Let the wind blow high, let the wind blow low.... The dancers performing an awesome version of Andy Stewart's "Donald, Where's Your Troosers?"

Our handsome men sing "500 Miles". All together now.... Dah da dah dah!

Doncha just love those afro wigs? "Stayin' Alive, Stayin' Alive..."

.... and Queen's dark "Bohemian Rhapsody".

That was Dress Rehearsal. Another rehearsal tonight then it's show nights on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and two shows on Saturday.

Brother, Can You Spare a .... Quarter?

A very long time ago, my sons nailed a quarter to the sidewalk outside the house, then peeped out of the window to see if anyone tried to pick it up.

Obviously nobody did. It's still there, twenty odd years later.

Around The Roundabout

Only another couple of weeks and it will be Music Mania time again in my small Ontario town.
This is the 49th year of Music Mania... next year we will celebrate the BIG FIVE OH!

This year, the annual Variety Show will be taking our audience on a virtual trip around the British Isles with song, dance and comedy skits from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales.

We've been planning since September and rehearsing since January, and finally the show is starting to come together. Some of the songs... Holiday, A Foggy Day in London Town, Hippy Hippy Shake, Ticket to Ride, Mull of Kintyre, and many more.
This year I'm involved in costumes, choreography, chorus, and I'm Co-Producer, so no wonder I never have any spare time. Tickets are on sale at some of the local stores.... if you live in the area, I hope to see you at the show!

In Recovery

I've been really sick.
Well.... not me exactly.... but my computer.
Somehow I got a virus plus I deleted stuff I don't think I should have deleted in my frenzy to make the computer work and I lost my internet connection.
This was a really bad time to be disconnected from the rest of the world as it's only two weeks to the annual Variety Show, I'm in the midst of planning a kitchen renovation, and I just bought a new car, and on top of everything, it's Income Tax Time! More about all that later.... this is just to let you know I'm back in blogland!

WWRY

If you remember the music of Queen, this show is for you.

We Will Rock You is a futuristic tale of the loss of the music.... of the "age of Boy Bands and Girl Bands. Of Boy and Girl Bands. Of Girl Bands with a couple of boys in them that look like girls anyway."

And a tale of the Bohemians living beneath the cities. Rebels who search for a hero to find the legendary mighty guitar buried in time and bring the real rock music back....

Don't miss it.... it's a great show. I was so enthusiastic about it that OlderSon and The Equestrienne have booked tickets. And OlderSon refuses to see shows with singing and dancing.... but I know he'll love it!

Sugaring Off

It's Maple Syrup Time at Bruce's Mill Conservation area.
Who can resist a stroll through the maple woods in the spring sunshine to see how the maple sap is collected and learn about the process that turns it into maple syrup?
I joined OlderSon and Callum, and YoungerSon and The Bride for a spring adventure.

But first, we needed some sustenance to provide energy for our walk through the woods, so the first stop was at the pancake restaurant. Mmmmm ... pancakes and sausages with butter and Maple Syrup! You can't get a much more Canadian breakfast than that! The Breakfast of lumberjacks.

Callum made short work of his sausages, he's a good eater!

And then a stroll through the sugarbush. The sap is collected in the spring, and the weather conditions have to be just right.... cool nights and warm sunny days.

The maple tree is tapped and a spile is inserted into the hole in the trunk, and a bucket hung to collect the sap that drips out. But that's the traditional way to collect the sap. Behind the bucket you can see green plastic piping that is hung from tree to tree and the sap is suctioned through the lines by a central vacuum pump.

The First Nations people made maple syrup by heating stones in the fire and putting the hot stones in a hollowed out log filled with sap. It was their only form of sugar, and it was used as a flavouring and to tenderise meat.

But when metal cooking pots became available, the process of evaporating the sap became a lot faster.

Samples of finished syrup for tasting. So syrupy and sweet. Let it run across your teeth and rest on your tongue... there's no taste quite like it! Calories? Who cares!

Then a stop at the sugarshack. The modern method of sugaring off... a big gas fired boiler that evaporates the sap. When the temperature of the syrup reaches 103C it's ready. OlderSon has tapped the maple trees on his property this spring, and has made his own maple syrup, so he was interested in talking maple syrup talk to the man in charge.

And the finished product for sale in the shop.

All those pancakes and sausages needed to be walked off, so Callum did some exploring all on his own.

Walking around outside and exploring the different textures of grass and leaves and trees is a new experience for him after being snowbound most of the winter. Hooray for spring!

Earth (Half) Hour

The world switched off it's lights from 8:30pm to 9:30pm yesterday to conserve power and to celebrate Earth Hour.
Everyone except me.... I had Earth Half Hour.
I was out, left my living room and back porch light on, and didn't get home until 9pm.... OOPS!
Walking home, I passed windows flickering with candlelight. Street lights were still on in the name of safety, but many people observed the second annual Earth Hour by turning off all unnecessary lights and enjoying the peace and quiet.
We have to look after our beautiful planet.
Symbolic, but it's a start.