Monday, February 23, 2009

kindergarten

One of my favourite volunteer jobs for the past four or five years has been with the kindergarten class at Carleton Elementary School. Usually the teacher phones me in January and I go one morning a week until school finishes at the end of June. Last year, I had to bow out for the month of April because I was traveling in Italy and the UK. So, when the teacher didn't phone me this January, I thought maybe she decided to do without me altogether this year. Or, worst case scenario, she was ill. (She has MS, and so her health is a concern.) However, great news! She phoned me last week, and I'm on for Tuesday mornings. There's no greater way to start a morning than to have a five-year-old climb on your knee and say, "Mrs. Jones, will you p'ease read me a 'tory?"

can't be everywhere

Unfortunately, being with the birdwatchers at Reifel last Saturday meant that I had to miss my Franciscan Fellowship meeting. Oh well. St. Francis is said to have preached to the birds, so maybe he wouldn't have disapproved too much.

birding

I've been enjoying this birding course very much. We've had two field trips so far. The first was to Boundary Bay, where we sighted hundreds of birds, mostly bald eagles and dunlin (which I've always called sandpipers, and they are a type of sandpiper, I'm told). We also saw redwinged blackbirds and three kinds of sparrows, also a few harriers and assorted ducks. The great blue heron didn't attract a lot of attention because, apparently, they're very common. Gulls weren't even mentioned.
Then last Saturday we went to the Reifel Bird Sanctuary. The paths were paved with well-fed mallards, hoping for a handout. I checked off twenty-one different species of birds on my checklist. A few notable ones were common mergansers, hooded mergansers, cormorants, coots, woodducks, pintail ducks, green-winged teal, and most especially the sandhill cranes. The last bird of the day wasn't even on our list: the black-hooded night heron. Only one bald eagle this time.
Next Saturday, it's off to Stanley Park. I hope to sign up for the next birding course, beginning in April.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Wednesday evening

I signed up for a birding course, the first session is Wednesday evening at Kitsilano High School. We saw lots of slides--an amazing number of slides of various birds. I had no idea that there were so many different varieties of birds in the Vancouver area. The next session will be Saturday morning at Boundary Bay.

Wednesday morning

This was a morning with the grade fives at UBC farm. We observed the farm bed, checked soil temperature and compared it with the air temperature (not much difference today), both around 3 degrees. We pulled a few weeds and checked the wireworm trap. No wireworms in the trap! Maybe it wasn't deep enough. Then, our chore was to shift soil from compost box #2 to #3 and from #1 to #2. #1 is "give" new materials; #2 is compost in progress; #3 is "take" completed compost. After that, we made compostable pots for the kids to plant snow peas and take to school. Then there was a lesson on how to test pH ratings. We had a yogurt cup of soil from our farm bed. We tested it with two different measuring devices. One didn't work at all, the other one showed that our pH was about 5, I think. On a scale of 1 to 14, that means it's mildly acidic. Next farm meeting, I guess we'll learn what to do with that information. Being that all this farming is 100% organic, we won't be just adding some commercial chemical to sweeten the soil, if that's what it needs. After the lesson, we were served soup made from potatoes, leaks and garlic from the gardens, and flatbread--don't know what they used for that. It was all delicious, whatever it was.

Tuesday research

Tuesday afternoon I spent a couple of hours researching the British barque, Robert Kerr, celebrated in 1886 as the ship that saved Vancouver. I'll be able to make use of that in one of the chapters in Angels in the Flames. In fact, I think the book was incomplete without this information.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Pax

Other writing is for the new publication for St. James church: Pax. I've been assigned to write a 600-700 word article on Latino Lunches that take place in the crypt on Thursday mornings. So I've contacted the woman who is in charge of them, interviewed her last Thursday, and enjoyed one of their lunches. Now, the article is almost done. But I have another assignment as well, to write a 250 word piece on one of the ministries in the church--haven't decided which one yet. Oh yes...the deadline is tomorrow. (Good thing I have a secret extension!)

Vancouver history

Still working on that novel, Angels in the Flames. One of the chapters I'm adding to the original novel (at the suggestion of editors and other advisors) is about the British barque, the Robert Kerr, that was in Vancouver harbour at the time of the Vancouver fire, June 13, 1886. I've contacted the Maritime Museum to see what they have on the subject, and I have an appointment with the librarian/archivist next Tuesday afternoon to learn all about it. Meanwhile, I have to work on other chapters so as not to get too far behind. I need to have the whole book done (all rewrites in order, etc.) by Easter.

Not even a little bit easy

The snow and the electrical problems and the basement kitchen were only a few of the problems Frank had to fix. In the midst of working on the kitchen pipe, another pipe burst--downstairs bathroom hot water. It flooded not only the bathroom but also a downstairs bedroom with lots of boxes on the floor, and a wool carpet. What a mess! Still not totally under control there, either. Nothing is easy. Not even a little bit.

Easier said than done

This past week has been very busy and next week promises to be more so. Some of the time was spent with a sick friend, so was time well spent. The rest of the time was mostly busy-ness. It all started in December, during the snow and icy cold, when some of our electrical heat went out, and my dear hubby had to try to find the problem and fix them. That didn't involve me much, but he has so much pain while he's doing physical work that I suffer along with him. That job was ALMOST done, when a water pipe burst in the basement and a kitchen sink there was in serious trouble. The snow in the driveway and side streets made getting parts for repairs difficult if not impossible most of the time. The job is not quite done yet, because not only the pipe had to be fixed (replaced, of course) but the entire kitchen cabinet had to go. We got a new one, and he installed it. Easier said than done. Because it was for the basement, we didn't go all out and get the best to be had. Instead, we got a damaged one for a discount. That means more work. Still didn't have a counter top for it. They were very expensive and didn't come in the size we needed. So, Frank made the top and we tiled it. Still not quite done--needs grouting and sealing and some touching up. Then the sink can be connected. Easier said than done.