Not long after we moved in to the new headquarters we (by necessity) upgraded most of the drains servicing the house from clay to plastic – except one section of about 12 feet. That’s where tree roots have now broken through the old clay pipes, causing our drains to stop draining. Not good.
A crew of guys will be invading the house tomorrow morning to dig a couple deep holes, one in the basement and another outside, and replace the drain. It’s a big job that will take at least the day and maybe part of the next day as well. I will try not to be grumpy.
Whenever we go for a long walk over in Sam Smith Park, one of us usually comments about how fortunate we are to live just a short walk away from such an amazing place.
Yesterday was a beautiful day for a walk and we took full advantage. I had the camera with me so I shot a short video. Nothing spectacular in it, just a glimpse of our beautiful park. By the way, you only see Ellie Mae and Tuffy P in the video. Memphis was walking beside me.
I know the Säkkijärven Polka as a Finnish accordion polka but I stumbled upon a banjo version performed by Cathy Moore. Kind of a best of both worlds situation.
She has a number of really interesting videos up on YouTube. Highly recommended.
Merlefest is an Old Time music festival that takes place each year at the end of April at Wilkes College campus in Wilkesboro North Carolina. It was named for ace guitar picker Merle Watson who died in a tragic farm accident in 1985. The festival has been hosted in the past by Merle’s father Doc Watson, but that won’t happen this year, as Doc Watson passed away last spring. For roots music fans like me, this festival is a big deal and I’m thrilled to say that this year, Tuffy P and I are going. The line-up is fantastic. There are numerous stages, as well as workshops, jams, square dancing, and over 70 crafts booths.
As I grew up I somehow or other absorbed the lyrics to many Stompin Tom tunes. I don’t know where I heard them. They never played his music on the radio. The songs were just always there. You just had to reach out and grab one. Tom’s gone now but Bud the Spud will always be speeding down the 401 with another big load of the best potatoes ever been growed. The man in the moon will always be a Newfie. Up in Sudbury, the girls will always be out to bingo, the boys gettin stinko. Ketchup will always love potatoes. Big Joe Mufferaw will forever be paddling up the Ottawa all the way to Mattawa in just one day.
He was unique, prolific, corny, passionate about Canadians he met everywhere. He wrote catchy, fun songs about life in Canada. He wrote songs you hear once or twice and they stick with you, stick with you for years. He managed a successful career completely outside of the style of the day, any day, outside of fad and fashion. For those of you who don’t live here or are maybe too young to have been exposed to Stompin’ Tom, here’s a taste.
All banjos were fretless once upon a time. Then everything went to hell. This is what I’m talkin’ about. I’ve been asked, hey how come you’re so interested in all this traditional old time music, banjo music, fiddle music, squeezebox music. Give these performers a good listen and hear what I’m talkin’ about.
I’m making a fretless oil can banjo now and I can hardly wait to finish it up and start playing it.
The dogs started barking, the kind of bark that says something’s going on out here. I looked out onto the deck and saw our cat Jacques, waiting for someone to come along and let him in. As I’m explaining to the dogs it’s a false alarm, I see what they’ve been barking at. There, just a few feet past Jacques on the deck, was a possum.
Possum on deck
We’ve seen possums around from time to time since we moved here a few years ago. These are North American possums, not the same species as the Australian possums. We’re a little far north for them but they’ve been managing in Ontario for some years now, in spite of winters like this one. These animals are North Americas only marsupials!
27th Street 