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Summer in Review
Sep. 5th, 2017 08:22 pmWell, technically it's still summer... though it was back to school for most of the Ontario kids today and the Quebec kids have been back since last week.
Reading through my last few posts, I realized one might get the impression that I'd had a rotten summer and was thoroughly disgusted with life in general. But the fact is, I've managed some fun stuff too. It feels as if it's been a hectic summer, but really it's been a mixed bag in terms of happy, sad and neutral events.
So, the highlights. I went to the Music & Beyond Festival which now lasts a full two weeks in July. I also went to 4 Chamberfest concerts. The calibre of the concerts I went to was high, I'd say, with a good representation of the Renaissance-to-Baroque eras. I do feel, however, that there's been rather less emphasis on the "beyond", or "autre mondes" or more innovative aspects of musical expression than there used to be in the early years of Music & Beyond. I did make it to the theremin concert, something that's always a highlight for me. We got to see two outdoor Shakespeare productions - Midsummer Night's Dream, presented by the Fools, in Fisher Heights Park; and Romeo and Juliet, put on by Bear & Co., in Hintonburg Park (which was an ideal space for the play, complete with its own stone wall!) We also got to see a modern play, "Burn!" (this one indoors) at the Gladstone Theatre. We went to a bunch of movies too.
We went to a birthday party and a housewarming party. On Eclipse Day, we actually made it to Bate Island for a picnic complete with baguette and brie, something we'd been talking about doing for years. We went out to lunch at Jericho on Bank Street, somewhere we used to go quite regularly but hadn't been to in a few years.
Unfortunately we also went to a funeral, for someone who shuffled off this mortal coil far too early.
Then there were the activities that fall into getting things done... I boxed up five cartons of books and donated them to the Ottawa Public Library / Archives facility on Tallwood Drive (the one that was supposed to be named after Charlotte Whitton but instead bears the name of a former Lt-Governor, James Bartleman because Whitton was considered too politically incorrect; Bartleman is worthy enough, mind you, but has rather less connection with Ottawa). I made an appointment with a family doctor at Kitchissippi Medical Clinic and also scheduled a mammogram at a place on Merivale. And that's even before I get into vet appointments...
One of our cats (referred to in earlier posts as Victoria), whom we adopted after my mother-in-law died, has a cancerous tumour on her lower jaw and we don't really know how much longer she's got. We'd known for a couple of weeks that something was wrong and got the official diagnosis when we took her in for her annual exam on July 12. But she still seems to be enjoying life, being very attentive and affectionate, jumping up on the back of the sofa and looking out the front window to watch the world go by... she's eating fairly well too and doesn't appear to be in pain, so we'll just keep an eye on her and enjoy her company while there still seems to be some quality of life.
And over the Labour Day weekend, I went to a new crime fiction event in Picton (Prince Edward County), "Women Killing It". I had a wonderful time and the weather held out until the end of the festival (though it wasn't great on the way home). Then next month, I'll be off to Bouchercon in Toronto. That's in addition to my regular Ex Libris Association activities, although I'm determined to scale back on those after this years annual general meeting in November.
So that, in a nutshell, is a good part of what's been keeping me busy over the last two or three months. I may get into more detail in future posts when I have a little more time and (dare I say it?) energy but these few paragraphs will have to suffice for today!
Reading through my last few posts, I realized one might get the impression that I'd had a rotten summer and was thoroughly disgusted with life in general. But the fact is, I've managed some fun stuff too. It feels as if it's been a hectic summer, but really it's been a mixed bag in terms of happy, sad and neutral events.
So, the highlights. I went to the Music & Beyond Festival which now lasts a full two weeks in July. I also went to 4 Chamberfest concerts. The calibre of the concerts I went to was high, I'd say, with a good representation of the Renaissance-to-Baroque eras. I do feel, however, that there's been rather less emphasis on the "beyond", or "autre mondes" or more innovative aspects of musical expression than there used to be in the early years of Music & Beyond. I did make it to the theremin concert, something that's always a highlight for me. We got to see two outdoor Shakespeare productions - Midsummer Night's Dream, presented by the Fools, in Fisher Heights Park; and Romeo and Juliet, put on by Bear & Co., in Hintonburg Park (which was an ideal space for the play, complete with its own stone wall!) We also got to see a modern play, "Burn!" (this one indoors) at the Gladstone Theatre. We went to a bunch of movies too.
We went to a birthday party and a housewarming party. On Eclipse Day, we actually made it to Bate Island for a picnic complete with baguette and brie, something we'd been talking about doing for years. We went out to lunch at Jericho on Bank Street, somewhere we used to go quite regularly but hadn't been to in a few years.
Unfortunately we also went to a funeral, for someone who shuffled off this mortal coil far too early.
Then there were the activities that fall into getting things done... I boxed up five cartons of books and donated them to the Ottawa Public Library / Archives facility on Tallwood Drive (the one that was supposed to be named after Charlotte Whitton but instead bears the name of a former Lt-Governor, James Bartleman because Whitton was considered too politically incorrect; Bartleman is worthy enough, mind you, but has rather less connection with Ottawa). I made an appointment with a family doctor at Kitchissippi Medical Clinic and also scheduled a mammogram at a place on Merivale. And that's even before I get into vet appointments...
One of our cats (referred to in earlier posts as Victoria), whom we adopted after my mother-in-law died, has a cancerous tumour on her lower jaw and we don't really know how much longer she's got. We'd known for a couple of weeks that something was wrong and got the official diagnosis when we took her in for her annual exam on July 12. But she still seems to be enjoying life, being very attentive and affectionate, jumping up on the back of the sofa and looking out the front window to watch the world go by... she's eating fairly well too and doesn't appear to be in pain, so we'll just keep an eye on her and enjoy her company while there still seems to be some quality of life.
And over the Labour Day weekend, I went to a new crime fiction event in Picton (Prince Edward County), "Women Killing It". I had a wonderful time and the weather held out until the end of the festival (though it wasn't great on the way home). Then next month, I'll be off to Bouchercon in Toronto. That's in addition to my regular Ex Libris Association activities, although I'm determined to scale back on those after this years annual general meeting in November.
So that, in a nutshell, is a good part of what's been keeping me busy over the last two or three months. I may get into more detail in future posts when I have a little more time and (dare I say it?) energy but these few paragraphs will have to suffice for today!
