Lake of the Woods

Our yearly visit to the Cuddy cottage at Lake of the Woods was rather cool and wet this year. We arrived in the wee hours of the morning due to the fact that Don had a golf tournament at St Charles Country Club celebrating 100 years of golf in Manitoba during the day, followed by fancy supper and speeches. Boy can a Scot ever talk!

We took our annual pontoon boat ride around some areas of the lake. Unfortunately the weather turned cloudy and windy so we headed for the cottage sooner than normal. We did get to see one mature a one immature bald eagle up close and more circling high overhead. The bald eagle population in the Sioux Narrows area has really been increasing. Nice to see. 

The next day was raining and cold so we stayed indoors. I worked on some English Paper Piecing (a form of hand piecing fabric for quilting) while the others  read, surfed the net, slept, etc.  Later, Donna and I made pie crust for apple pies made with apples that I brought from our trees in Treherne. Amazing what you will do at the lake when you are bored!

Evening found us checking the rules for Hand and Foot Canasta. Donna and I were hoping to find some new rules that would help us win. Alas, it was to no avail!  We were the losers!!

Anniversary Party

A special gathering for Connie and Marvin was held at the Herman Prior Centre in Portage to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. A group of us got together the night before to decorate. 

Don was in charge of the photography for the event. I know he got many photos. Patrick very capably handled the emceeing. Speaking very highly of both his Mom and Dad. Both being very caring and generous, loving children and family, volunteering, and promoting the arts. They really are a very special couple. 

After a delicious meal, complete with the Ukrainian addition of cabbage rolls and perogies, there were speeches and entertainment. Two great nieces on the Krawec side sang Sonny and Cher's 1965 hit, "I Got You Babe". Danny played a Rag Time tune, and Alison played and sang.  

John toasted the couple. With an interesting touch he had all of us join him and sing in Polish a song wishing the couple a wonderful further life for 100 years. Later the Krawec family sang a similar song in Ukrainian. 

Marvin and Connie both spoke. Marvin was very sentimental and had difficulty with his touching ending, explaining that he felt towards Connie like the song "On Top of the World". 

The last of the entertainment was Marvin, Patrick and Darren playing a few songs. Marvin leaded them in some folk songs - Four Strong Winds, etc. we all joined in the singing. A regular family jam session. 

A very special day for two very special people!!  A great time celebrating with family and friends!

Happy Birthday Don

Guess what I bought Don for his birthday?  Shade!!  The biggest patio umbrella imaginable. Now we need a break from this heat wave to enjoy it. 

Fabric Painting on Barkwell Trail

A beautiful sunny day was just what we needed for fabric painting. Helen, Geesje, Annette and I got together at the new Treherne house to 'play' with paints. I set us up in the garage so we would have some protection from the heat of the sun, but we set the fabric out in the sun to dry. That worked perfectly!

We tried some 'sun printing'. Basically you lay something over the wet painted fabric and as the paint dries it leaves a print. Here is Geesje revealing one of her pieces. It is like magic!  So fun!!  She painted the fabric blue, then put leaves and salt on. Look what she got!

Here you can see the images of the leaves and the streaks of blue caused by the salt. The salt is brushed off, but you can still see some piled in the middle of the fabric. 

Next step is to heat set it by ironing it on the back of the fabric. Then to ensure all the salt residue is gone, it should be rinsed and dried. 

Moved the Piano

We finally took the piano from the farm house and delivered it to our Treherne home. I tried contacting piano movers, but could only find some in Winnipeg and they would charge over $800!!  I was stumped. Then Don came up with a plan....

The piano was lifted onto a loader tractor, which was placed onto a flat deck trailer (with one complication) and driven to Treherne. After removing a section of railing from our back deck the piano was transferred onto the deck and then maneuvered into the living room on two-by-fours and plywood. 

No humans were harmed in this activity. No heavy lifting required. Mostly just shoving. It is sure great to have the piano here. Anyone know of a piano tuner in the area?!