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Ghosts of Easters past
Apr. 22nd, 2019 09:22 amThere have been a lot of occasions lately that I could have posted entries about. Saturday of last weekend was Record Store Day. I didn't mark the day in any way but I did go to a BIFHSGO meeting up at Centrepointe. Maggie Wheeler was the featured guest speaker, talking about her latest book in the "Lost Villages" series of mysteries - fictional mysteries occurring during the late 1950s when the villages around present-day Iroquois and Morrisburg were deliberately flooded to make way for the St. Lawrence Seaway. Some homes and businesses were physically moved to new locations; others weren't and in some cases couldn't be. So the inhabitants quite literally couldn't go home again.
But the latest mystery in the series, All My Worldly Goods, also relates to the Home Children. One of Maggie Wheeler's grandmothers was a home child. I'm looking forward to reading the book (as well as the next and probably final book in the series, as yet unreleased) but first I'm working my way through some library books, including Rosemary Rutley's Voices from the Lost Villages.
Another event from last weekend was the Mutchmor School book sale, which we happened upon on Sunday during our annual foray to pick up hot cross buns at the Wild Oat. It was during the last couple of hours of the sale. Normally I like to go to a book sale like that shortly after it opens, but there is certainly something to be said for going near the end as well. It was somewhat picked over, but we still came away with a one-bag haul ($10 worth of books) and we were able to get around the tables without tripping over people and boxes! And speaking of hot cross buns... for the first time this year, we sampled the HCBs from the vegan & gluten-free bakery off Wellington Street (close to the Bagel Shop which sadly is downsizing, though it's good news that it will continue to exist); at $3.50 apiece, they were certainly pricey, and I can't really recommend them. They had a rather sawdusty texture although the cinnamon in them redeemed them somewhat. I suppose if I were actually on a gluten-free and vegan diet I might buy them again, but I rather suspect it's mostly the gluten that gives HCBs their familiar texture.
So moving on to this weekend... Saturday was 4/20, which for several decades has been a day to celebrate cannabis; this year is something of a landmark year as it's the first year that recreational cannabis has been legal in Canada. I didn't participate in the festivities in any way - I'm still waiting on legal edibles and then we'll see! Today, April 22, is Earth Day.
I've mentioned before that April has never been one of my favourite months. My mother and my mother-in-law both died in April, as did one of the two cats we acquired after the death of my mother-in-law (in fact, he died over the Easter weekend two years ago, when unsurprisingly our regular vet was not available).
And yet, this Easter weekend has on the whole been a good one. Saturday evening we had dinner with our kids & grandkids and then babysat the latter while our daughter did a show in Wakefield. Spring has arrived and although Friday and Saturday were dull and rainy, Easter Sunday was nicer and today nicer still - and a balmy 20 degrees! We had our first backyard barbecue of the season and also walked over to the park, where kids were out in full force on the play structures. And for once, I didn't spend Easter weekend filling in income tax forms - my tax refund of a few hundred dollars is already sitting patiently in my account awaiting further instructions from me!
So while there are still a few ghosts - my dad always used to make the rounds of the Ottawa-based kids & grandkids with Easter baskets and boxes of Turtles (the edible type, even for vegetarians) - it's fascinating to watch the next generation growing and flourishing as well.
But the latest mystery in the series, All My Worldly Goods, also relates to the Home Children. One of Maggie Wheeler's grandmothers was a home child. I'm looking forward to reading the book (as well as the next and probably final book in the series, as yet unreleased) but first I'm working my way through some library books, including Rosemary Rutley's Voices from the Lost Villages.
Another event from last weekend was the Mutchmor School book sale, which we happened upon on Sunday during our annual foray to pick up hot cross buns at the Wild Oat. It was during the last couple of hours of the sale. Normally I like to go to a book sale like that shortly after it opens, but there is certainly something to be said for going near the end as well. It was somewhat picked over, but we still came away with a one-bag haul ($10 worth of books) and we were able to get around the tables without tripping over people and boxes! And speaking of hot cross buns... for the first time this year, we sampled the HCBs from the vegan & gluten-free bakery off Wellington Street (close to the Bagel Shop which sadly is downsizing, though it's good news that it will continue to exist); at $3.50 apiece, they were certainly pricey, and I can't really recommend them. They had a rather sawdusty texture although the cinnamon in them redeemed them somewhat. I suppose if I were actually on a gluten-free and vegan diet I might buy them again, but I rather suspect it's mostly the gluten that gives HCBs their familiar texture.
So moving on to this weekend... Saturday was 4/20, which for several decades has been a day to celebrate cannabis; this year is something of a landmark year as it's the first year that recreational cannabis has been legal in Canada. I didn't participate in the festivities in any way - I'm still waiting on legal edibles and then we'll see! Today, April 22, is Earth Day.
I've mentioned before that April has never been one of my favourite months. My mother and my mother-in-law both died in April, as did one of the two cats we acquired after the death of my mother-in-law (in fact, he died over the Easter weekend two years ago, when unsurprisingly our regular vet was not available).
And yet, this Easter weekend has on the whole been a good one. Saturday evening we had dinner with our kids & grandkids and then babysat the latter while our daughter did a show in Wakefield. Spring has arrived and although Friday and Saturday were dull and rainy, Easter Sunday was nicer and today nicer still - and a balmy 20 degrees! We had our first backyard barbecue of the season and also walked over to the park, where kids were out in full force on the play structures. And for once, I didn't spend Easter weekend filling in income tax forms - my tax refund of a few hundred dollars is already sitting patiently in my account awaiting further instructions from me!
So while there are still a few ghosts - my dad always used to make the rounds of the Ottawa-based kids & grandkids with Easter baskets and boxes of Turtles (the edible type, even for vegetarians) - it's fascinating to watch the next generation growing and flourishing as well.
