Beaver:
WOW! such doings - susan's saga! And much de-cluttering!

I will shock the bunch of you: I have not locked my house in the 3 years I have been here, or the car either. What a great place to live! A dead end road and good neighbours. Yesterday, a man who seems to be involved at the next door neighbours - about 200 yards away - walked over to warn me that leaving the tailgate open might run the battery down; I thanked him and informed him that I do it to let the heat out so I don't have to get into a hot car and it has never run the battery down. Very kind of him!

Came back last Tuesday by way of picking up an injured turtle along the way (from woman who had rescued it) and delivering it to the Turtle Trauma Centre. Added almost 3 hours to the trip! All turtles are endangered in Ontario and the trauma centre can save lives or, if it a female, can often harvest eggs from a recently dead turtle and incubate them til they hatch! It was worth the Turtle Taxi trip!

Spring has finally arrived and I have been weeding and resting, potting and resting... Good neighbour came by today and we considered my new plants: blueberries, raspberries and 3 cherry trees. Yes, I live in a swamp and the upshot was that I need another raised bed for the raspberry canes. Will put the 4 blueberry plants in an existing raised bed - L will come by on Sat with peat moss to add to the soil for these guys. I will give him as many of the strawberry plants as he wants; he gave them to me last year and lost all of his to the cold! I have LOTS! Last fall, new plants were jumping out of the bed but those all died in the frost. I could not even give them away. After L left, I decided to pot the cherry trees in very large terra cotta pots until I can plant them at the new house.


Volunteer lettuce - two sorts - are coming up prolifically. Also Italian parsley. A sage and the lavender did not fare well so I bought new ones at the herb farm, and a sorrel and a couple interesting tomato plants.

A trip to Toronto on Sun to visit a friend's pottery open house - great visit and sharing of info with her musician husband (a Yellow Door friend of almost 50 years); they have an orchard near R's latest building acquisition in south eastern Quebec. I told Lynn I was thinking it time to give up potting but she emphatically negated that idea so we stayed over in To and went to the Pottery supply house for more clay and glaze materials. I am happy to be encouraged and to have the energy to work: 90 min to 2 hrs at a session, then rest for two or more! Yesterday I vacuumed the studio - with respirator and goggles in place! I am ready to produce! The racks are full - need more shelves! I left a little heat on so I can start again in the am.

R could not see anything wrong with the kiln and we took pics to send down to the pottery supply house - they do not show any glitches??? But maybe M can get a clue. May also send them to Paragon in Texas to see if they can help with this brand new 1983 kiln - used about 10 times since I got it.

By the time we went to eye doctor - "healthy"! - and wended our way homeward by way of a lengthy back road, we were tired. Then went to a wonderful presentation on "The Land Between".

So R had managed to get here for supper on Saturday and left at lunch on Tuesday. Not much accomplished around here! And 7 boxes of clay in the LR! But it will soon be safe to put it in the studio. As soon as I have a kiln load, I will see if it will at least do a bisque firing. And maybe I will find the energy to try the other kiln - an oldie I have not yet tried but with which I am more familiar as it is similar to the one I left in the great NW; I had had it for 25 years and fixed it many times.

Today, I missed the right time to prep a good meal (while neighbour was here I got beyond that) and ate all manner of stuff. Tomorrow...

Dishes done; laundry done; pots drying; beds mostly weeded; plants need planting.

I am grateful for my increased energy and ability to walk - better and better!