I’m sorry to be writing about snow again, but honestly that is all that is happening here at present. We are in the middle of a snowstorm so I thought I would try to document it for you. I have not managed to take great snow photos but out the front of our house right now it looks like this:
With 345cm of snow so far this winter Ottawa is approaching its record of 440cm back in the winter of 1971-72. I know many people I talk to are thoroughly sick of it, but as a relative newcomer I still find it quite exciting to see so much snow. We had yet another snow storm today and our children valiantly shoveled on and off all day to keep the driveway under control. Even so, when we left to head out to worship team practice tonight we cleared our driveway only to get stuck in our unploughed street!
Andrew and I were unwell today, the last to get the stomach bug which hit A11 early on my birthday morning and has hit another family member every three or four days since. Without me cracking the whip over the school books this left the children free to pursue the snow removal with all their energy.
China is a hot topic around our place at present and has been for some time now. The reason being that L13, A11 and I will be in China in July this year. As I have mentioned many times the girls belong to Stellae Boreales, a violin ensemble. In the first two weeks of July the ensemble is traveling to China to visit and perform in Beijing, Hangzhou and Shanghai.
Of course it is a costly exercise to take fourteen musicians and their entourage to China so fundraising is a high priority. The group held their first fund-raising concert back in November and their second is on April 13th. We have the next month to sell tickets, solicit advertising and procure silent auction items. We also have some amazing parents seeking grants and sponsorship from a range of sources.
Every weekend the girls are involved in rehearsals and lately a slew of performances as well. Although it is quite a bit of practising the girls are enjoying being part of a great group of musicians. The camaraderie has developed as the musicians rehearse, travel, eat and kill time together. As a regular attendee of both rehearsals and performances I can see the friendships that have formed over the last months and years. This will only add to the excitement and enjoyment of spending two weeks in China together.
The musicians, including A11 and L13, have been writing about the events of this year and preparations for China. You can read their impressions on the Stellae Boreales blog.
Ontario had a new holiday today: Family Day. Andrew had the day off but for the rest of us the only change to our normal routine was an extra hour of sleeping in. It is a bit sad that we spent our Family Day this way but we have had a few interruptions to our schedule lately so I deemed it necessary that school continue.
Last week was far from normal as the girls were at the NAC for a day and a half performing with Stellae Boreales in concerts for schools. They thoroughly enjoyed the experience of being back stage, eating with the orchestra members in the Green Room and performing in five concerts to large audiences. B7 and I went to one of the performances where we sat in one of the boxes, giving us an excellent view of the stage.
Yesterday we celebrated Andrew’s birthday with pancakes for breakfast, a morning at church and an afternoon watching the Ottawa Junior Youth Orchestra in concert. Laura is a second violin in this orchestra and it was great to see them perform their varied and challenging program. While we were enjoying the concert freezing rain was falling outside, turning the carpark into a skating rink. We arrived home without incident but heard this morning that a 737 slid right off the runway into a snowbank.
A snow storm blew in mid morning yesterday and continued for the rest of the day leaving us with a foot or more of snow to deal with. We were out most of the day for our history lesson, followed by cross country skiing. Skiing in amongst the trees kept us from the bearing the brunt of the blowing snow but by the time we finished my hair was two big white clumps of snow. Our homeward trip was a little slippery in places; by this time a lot of snow had fallen and the van had trouble getting going again after it stopped at stop signs.
This morning we woke to bright sunshine but a white, white world. Four of us did some tag team shoveling in order to get out to music lessons and orchestra. Although we live very close to a main road, our own street is often not plowed until well after the surrounding streets. Once out of the driveway I immediately became stuck in the street. Andrew and a couple of neighbours helped push me into the “ruts” so I could drive fifty metres and get stuck again where our street joins the main road! They pushed me out again and we were fine until I attempted to return in the afternoon.
On entering our street I was happy to see the plow had been by, but as I turned the corner I realised the plow was only a few houses ahead of me and the cleared space in the road was only one car wide. I reversed out again, ran an errand, giving the plow time to finish and Andrew time to clear the entry to our driveway. All this detail may seem quite unnecessary to those to live in this city too, but I am still amazed by the whole “snow removal routine” which must be put into practice every time a storm hits. So it is for those who are have never experienced what is now a familiar part of my winter.
After rehearsal were over we met up with a group of people Andrew works with to skate on the canal. It has been open for just over a week and was full of people. The weather was great for skating not too cold and not too warm, just around -4°C. As it was a family skate, I did not feel too bad about my shaky style, there was a 5 year old with the same technique. We spent an hour skating before enjoying a potluck dinner and heading home. The night was not over for the girls who are playing at the Viennese Ball tonight. Stellae Boreales has two time slots finishing at midnight!
When Andrew brought the children home from their various activities on Saturday afternoon, I was greeted by a very excited B7. He entered the house carrying his new half-size classical guitar. The arrival of this guitar has been long anticipated. It was not the one Andrew had ordered months ago but we did not want to wait any longer. B7 proudly and carefully took it out of its case and showed me. He strummed and picked for a while and then put it away, only to get it out again a bit later to do the same thing. Sunday and Monday the same thing happened as he waited for his first lesson.
Andrew gave him his first lesson last night so now he has a little more knowledge about his instrument and some exercises to do each day during his “guitar practice”. He did mention to me that he thought playing the guitar would be easy but he is finding it’s not! Today I supervised a practice and he happily demonstrated what he has learnt so far. Soon the house will once again ring with the sound of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.
Yesterday we attended the award ceremony at the museum where the children entered the Gingerbread house competition. L13 and P13 were very pleased to be awarded first place for “Children’s Group – Original Design” and A11, H10 and B7 proudly accepted second place in the same category. The local newspaper had a photographer there so we will wait and see if they end up in the paper. The houses are to stay intact for a few more days so Group of Four can see them. After that some people want to try eating the two month old gingerbread…
Before 2008 even started we had one sick girl, but as she had done nothing but rest for two days straight and was feeling a lot better, we all attended a New Year’s Day dinner at a friend’s house. By the end of the night I was not feeling at all well and headed straight for bed, where I stayed for days. One child, then another, became sick, slept beside me during the day and then after a day or so was well enough to be up and about. I was not. After a week had gone by I was not recovering and L13 had relapsed so we visited the doctor, who prescribed more rest and some medication for me.
Two weeks into 2008 I am now up and about but still taking things slowly. L13 is still recovering. She was up on Saturday for a rehearsal and played on Sunday at two Seniors homes before playing her solo at our studio recital. Both girls played their solos beautifully, making us particularly proud as they had both battled sickness over the previous two weeks. I think the effort required to play on Sunday took a lot out of L13, so it will be a little longer before she is at full strength again.
All the while my cousin has been coming and going, showing herself around the city when Andrew (the well one) wasn’t available to accompany her. She did get a bit sick herself, but found a cheap flight to Florida for a few days which warmed her up and took her out of our plague ridden house for a while. She is off to Toronto and Niagara today, so hopefully by the time she returns we will all be able to do something together.
As you can imagine my school preparations did not get done but we are easing into school work again, beginning with the basics. For years now Friday afternoons in January and February have been spent cross-country skiing. Hopefully we can do that again this year. While I was lying in bed I did read an excellent book, which I hope to review soon. I also searched through The Book Tree for books to add to the children’s reading lists for this year. So life is getting back to normal and I have been told by several people, especially my husband that pneumonia can take a while to recover from, so I will try not to be impatient.
for colds and flu and we have all succumbed except Andrew who had the flu shot.
I shall write again when all are well.
For us as for many people Christmas time is a time to spend with family and friends. Usually the “family” is the five of us, the rest living far, far away over the ocean. This year we have been very happy to have one of my Melbourne cousins here for Christmas. She arrived on Christmas Eve from New York but had already spent a few weeks visiting warmer parts of north and central America.
On Christmas Eve she and I did a few last minute errands and while we were out she was delighted that it started to snow, really snow. After supper we all went to the carol service at our church. The next morning we had a leisurely start poking in our stockings, eating pancakes and then opening the gifts from under the tree. We headed off mid afternoon to spend the rest of the day with some friends who made us feel part of their family. We finished the evening doing Karaoke, all of us, not something that happens every day. In fact it only happens with these particular friends.
Then next few days were also spent visiting friends and enjoying conversation, food and fun. The children have tobogganed, seen a play, watched Oliver (A11’s Christmas gift) and made snowmen. We all spent one day in Montreal, visiting the Biodome and wandering in and out of shops on Rue St Denis. We left my cousin there for a couple of days and had a quiet day yesterday, sorting and putting away the debris of our merriment and gift giving.
Sentient 