Cirque, But No Soleil

The first week of fall is still mostly blustery-rainy and the days noticeably shorter-cooler. But went to Toronto for some appointments and got the van dirtier than a hard-working vehicle should ever be. Saw Canada's famous Cirque du Soleil ("Circus of the Sun") in their current show "Totem". Absolutely awesome and soul-uplifting. How can those 6 girls on unicycles flip those tea bowls onto their heads? How can that Russian couple spin around on roller skates while contorting a love ballet? How can that native guy shape those hoops so fast into so many symbols?? Impossible to describe and illegal to photograph, you'll just have to experience it yourself. (Oh --- and how does that canoe glide over the stage like it was in 10 feet of water?) Simply incredible what imagination and talent can do.

Otherwise preparations continue for a major adventure/experience in what used to be called the Middle Kingdom. Still not totally confirmed, so no announcement yet. But if you crossed everything for good luck, it sems to be working so far. Even our trees are bending to thankyou!

New Season Preview on Local Channel

A lot of rain lately which is just as well because there are sore shoulders to mend and lots of paperwork to do indoors. There may be a major adventure for us starting in October but a lot of emails and meetings have to happen first. Cross your fingers (and anything else you can cross).

In the meantime, the fall colours are slowly emerging. We don't get the riotous reds because there aren't many maple trees, but the rest of the rainbow will show up over the next few weeks. Also, there are more pine cones and ash seeds ("keys") than usual --- local wisdom says that means the winter will be severe. Nature is ensuring some seeds will make it through by sheer numbers.

Which of these plants is poison ivy? Which fruit is edible? Which of these colours do you have outside your window?

RubberMaid and Lily

Here's something you won't see on those home and garden shows (or on YouTube?). It's the annual pond cleaning and giving-the-lilies-a-brushcut. The pond is a self-enclosed ecosystem so any dead vegetation would eventually suck up all the oxygen from the water. Not good for fish, frogs, snails, or salamanders. So each autumn the pond level is lowered and RubberMaid (note Cousteau Cap) goes in with muscles (no, not mussels) and scissors. The fish are as curious as cats, wondering what's going on in their school.

It's amazing how much growth has to be trimmed off. Out of water, the lily stems look like spaghetti. And dead rootballs look like a Hallowe'en fright wig. Anyone need a costume? --- rubber suit and lily wigs now available.

Skunk 1, Fox 0

After all the big jobs like concrete and propane, we haven't worked very much this past week. Last Sunday was the annual Terry Fox walk for cancer research. Pat and I have done this walk for 16 years, in honour of our sisters who have both fought the disease. On our drive to Peterborough, we thought we'd walk in a new town so we passed up our usual 8 a.m. local start to get to Port Perry by noon. Pretty town on Lake Scugog, but we were too late! The event officials had packed up. Oh oh --- rushed over to Peterborough to walk there, but same thing; it was over and deserted. Big disappointment because we look forward to the festive mood and the free apples. But mostly we wanted the sticker for our certificates. We'll walk the 10k anyway, and we'll get the sticker from the Toronto headquarters when we send in our donation. But just not the same.

In the meantime it's the last day of summer. The haw berries have been falling for weeks. the pool has more leaves than water. And my shadow looks like Gumby. The days are so short even the skunk has to have dinner daily before 5pm. Is that a senior discount??

Passing Gas At Last

A Canadian Coast Guard ship patrolled offshore at sunrise to make sure nothing would go wrong. Today was the final chapter in the propane fireplace odyssey, and it won't be mentioned again, I promise. Second only to the complete excavation of the house foundation, this has been the most complicated and expensive part of the 7-year redo of this fixer-upper.

The Sparling truck arrived fashionably late but luckily ours was the first stop of a long day for the installers. At the bottom of the hill a 1000 litre tank was rolled in, positioned, and hooked up. At the top of the hill the other end of the buried yellow line was risered, anchored, regulated, manifolded, pressure-tested, and signed off.

On a sunny afternoon the fire had to be turned up full for the initial burn. But the forecast for tonight is a chilly 3C --- we'll see how this heat compares to a woodfire. And any of you who remember that old drafty woodburner of years ago, don't worry ---- you won't have to get out of the sleeping bag in the middle of the night to throw a log on the embers. Who knew that passing gas would be so much fun?

Insert In, Butt Out!

The propane fireplace insert finally arrived and was installed yesterday. One of the guys was a licensed gas installer, the other a newbie who could help but not yet do the critical stuff. The yellow gas line had to be run outside the house, so now there's a yellow road to the bricks instead of a yellow brick road. "Liner hoses" in the chimney draw cold air in and vent the fumes out. Lots of tools, a few mistakes that had to be corrected, many cold drinks on this very hot/muggy day.

The fireplace can't be used til Friday when the big tank is brought in at the bottom of the hill and the lines are hooked up. Good timing, because the weekend is supposed to be chilly.

So the insert is in, but it took a lot of butt.