House Show

Lots going on and seemingly little time to tell about it.  Working, ahem, selling my labour these days while also trying to grow a big garden.  So quite busy and ragged.  Isn't it funny how we equate working with selling our labour?  I do it all the time and perhaps you do too.  'I was working today' means I went somewhere to get paid dollars for doing something.  But really we are working all the time.  In fact I'm working right now, typing away.  Selling our labour and working are different things.  But we've transformed selling our labour into working and perhaps that means that all other times we should be recreating (interesting way to think of recreation).

So some things to share.  We had a wonderful house concert on Victoria Day.  Jenny Berkel and Demetra contacted me to hold a show here between Halifax and Sydney shows on their east coast tour.  It was lovely to have them and had a beautiful day with lots of wind to keep the bugs away.  It would blow and then die briefly and, then mercifully, blow again.  We had an interesting group turn out, aged 6 months to 76 years young, some folks from L'Arche and a man from Timbuktu.  I think people had a good time and it was nice for the musicians to have a homey break on their tour.

A few days ago the temperature dropped below zero and there was a super heavy frost.  I figured I had nothing to worry about since frost happens around this time of year.  I just moved the figs inside and covered them with buckets.  That was it.  Then I went to sleep.  When I woke up, I didn't even have a look around to see how everything coped.  Selling your labour keeps you busy and keeps you from noticing things.  Maybe it's designed that way.  Anyway just yesterday I worked in the garden and walking back I noticed that all the leaves on all the nut trees were black and shriveled.  Ditto the grapes.  Thankfully on closer inspection I noticed that the hazelnut trees could take such a frost.  But we planted close to 75 or so nut trees around the place.  I just checked a few but they are gone.  I'm hoping that the tree might have some kind of backup plan but I know it's hopeless.  I might take some pictures to share but it's a sad scene.

A few weeks ago I read something about southern Ontario and how the warm spring and then sudden (more seasonal) cold had ruined the apple and pear harvest there.  Actually 80% of the apple harvest is lost.  All the trees were fooled, leafed out and bloomed and then the blossoms were killed when the cold returned.  I must admit I was a little smug feeling that this couldn't happen here.  But it was 30 degrees last week.  And it happened here as well.  

We're all in this together.