Mill:

Came down from Beaver last Friday to spend some time with R as he did not have time for the trip. We managed to meet at the Cafe on Friday eve - great music!, have a nice BF on Sat and embark on a DAY! He needed to help someone de-clutter her life - and clutter his! I sat in truck and read. We visited with friend from West Coast for a couple hours, sitting at a table in the Market. We may have helped him de-clutter a bit by explaining that as executor he is not compelled to physically clear the house! Then we visited with Hannah and Rafael as she/they admired the totally white bowls I had produced at her behest, and good conversation also! She bought 5 and now wants me to make grey. Oy vey! She has a 40 year collection of "dorothy bowls" so it is interesting when she pulls out a pile and relates them to my potting history.

Back to the mill for the night and a nice BF, then to Geri's to install a light fixture in her K. It took 5 hours! Geri and I chatted as R focused; we could see his brain working as he solved the problems of missing pieces. The light in the K, after about 30 years of not enough, was monumental! She told me later that she spent the evening cleaning the K of dirt she had not been able to see! R referred to it as "a fun day". I took him to supper at a new Thai restaurant - lovely place, terrific meal, I hope it survives in this small Quebec town.

Monday, we went into the city and worked on the house there, clearing some stuff. R is working hard at trying to make it look better, more sale-able. He still seems to have faith that all will work out. We dug up a carload of plants from the back yard and most of them are planted, at least for the winter, here at the mill. My mill shovel is missing so I did that with a bent trowel. I feel happy that this has been accomplished as I did not want to lose ALL the plants.

Tomorrow I shall purchase yet another shovel and finish planting the last few. I also will make a stab at digging up the small giant hogweed or wild parsnip plants which are suddenly abundant here. If I had not had those posters made up, I would not have recognized these vicious little beasts.

I had meant to go back to Beaver on Weds but a friend from PA emailed that she is coming down the St Lawrence this weekend in a small sailboat sans mast, motoring at 7-9 knots. I spent the last two days exploring to find a place where I could get on board and visit for a few hours as we go along the canal/river/St Lawrence Seaway. After a frustrating day in Valleyfield, where almost no one seemed to speak English, I have messaged a sailing friend who lives near by for HELP!

After assessing the available wardrobe, I used the thrift shop in Valleyfield to add another pair of slacks and a very warm jacket so I don't freeze on the water. The weekend will be quite cool. The clothes are airing out near the heater to get rid of the stench of detergent/fabric softener - toxins the people seem to insist on using.

Aside from frustration of language barrier, I added a wonderful map of Valleyfield to the map collection, and a far better knowledge of the geography of that water-logged town: two rivers, myriad islands,and two canals - the "old" and the "new" Beauharnois Canals, and another one "over there". I have been, idly, wondering what all that water was about! It is rather nice to have a clue, thanks to a man who pulled out a map and showed it all to me! And gave me the map! We endured each others inadequate language skills. He was the closest to a tourist info that I could find; I think it was a taxi dispatch office.

I drove around the town for almost 2 hours, thinking that surely somewhere around all these parks and water there must be an info kiosk. I finally stopped at an insurance office - it had parking!!! The nice women - one spoke English - looked on line and gave me a phone number, said it was at the city hall but I had already been by that a couple times and there was NO parking within (my) walking distance. So I stopped for much needed food, and phoned - French only. Time to go home!

A last ditch effort: explored a road that went along the river. I'll bet some of the houses along there have docks; I was tempted, but too tired, to knock on a door and ask. Maybe if my French were up to it.