As the Bell’Arte Singers domain name seems to have expired for the moment, I thought I should post the season brochure here. Send the manager (yours truly 
) an email (bas DOT manager AT gmail DOT com) for a printed copy or for further information.
We looked after my son’s golden retriever this weekend. No real problems just twice as much work doing some routine tasks. Like wiping 8 dewy paws this morning—several times until I put a gate across the deck. My wife and I had to sleep apart last night; otherwise, despite the extra hour, we were afraid the dogs (probably our dog would start) would get up and wrassle again in the middle of the night. My wife is also allergic to the shedding golden.
Our dog is jealous of the golden. Every time we patted her, he would wrassle with her. It was only about a day after she arrived that Finnegan would finally stop trying to nip Cricket’s ears and want to wrestle. He’s very despondent right now as Cricket has gone home with my son.
After reading about this word I found I could use my two hands, my finger and thumb joints and tips and count up to 40!
nychthemeron (nik-THEM-er-on) noun A full period of a day and night: 24 hours. [From Greek, a combination of nykt- (night) and hemera (day).] Ever wondered why day and night were divided into 12 hours? The number 12 is not as random as it sounds. There are 12 moons in a year. The number 12 is easy to divide into halves, thirds, and quarters. Also, some cultures counted in base 12: three joints on each finger (thumb as the counter). Aren't we glad a nychthemeron isn't divided in metric? Who wants to sleep 30 hours every night? -Anu Garg (gargATwordsmith.org)
| Version | Image | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0 |  | As set put together one evening in the dark with a flashlight since rain was predicted the next day. |
| 1.1 |  | I realized I wouldn’t be able to empty the barrel completely if it was on the ground so I put it up on the two surplus concrete steps I had lying around. |
| 1.2 |  | I found the barrel would fill in a couple of hours on a rainy day and the overflow hose would make a big puddle. I now send the overflow down the original drainpipe drain. |
First it was three days of vacuuming each floor and spraying for fleas. Last night we saw Oscar Peterson at his namesake public school in Mississauga. At $20, it was a bargain to hear the jazz pianist legend.
I relaxed this evening by going to the grocery store for a few things and stopping at the drop-in clinic (because there was no-one waiting in the waiting room) for a flu shot.
Of course, I walked Finnegan for a about an hour each of those nights, too.
And I’m not talking ukulele-tuning!
The groomer found a few fleas on Monday. We got $100 worth of dog flea treatment and residual spray for the rugs and furniture from the vet. I have now vacuumed and sprayed the first and second floors. I’ll do the basement tomorrow. And our nine-month old puppy has had his first cutaneous dose. Apparently now he is a flea-killing machine.
The old windows were replaced last month; however, I hadn’t had the chance to take pictures until yesterday. My favourite is the large awning window in the kitchen. When we were cooking for 20 on Thanksgiving, I could cool off the kitchen with the ceiling fan and opening the window. The old window here was a sticky-side slider which we eventually gave up using.
“Siding” the kitchen window and living room window eliminates two more outside paint jobs. Though the thermostat has been switched to “heat” it hasn’t come on at all yet because these window insulate so much better than the old ones. These windows, as well as being low-E and better insulated, are also “self-clean”, too.
This cold is a bad’un. I felt somewhat guilty when I had to go out and walk the dog. It wasn’t particularly pleasant though: walking in the rain and blowing my nose every few minutes. However at work, I couldn’t have slept all afternoon like I did today. I think I may be well enough to return to work tomorrow. Don’t bother me at lunchtime though: I’d like to have a nap!
Dogs are great company when you are ill. Finnegan likes to sleep a lot during the day just as I have been doing.
Having gone through a couple of sombre days I have had to turn the thermostat to heat once again. I’m hoping this 25 year-old machine lasts another winter.
I was going to write a lot today about Thankgiving but the cold tearing my eyes is making monitor viewing a bit of pain. In brief, my wife and I served 20 of her family yesterday. Today I have been through more than a box of kleenex already. I believe I should sleep for a couple of days…
- Friday evening
- We were taught some early 19th century dances at Fort York in Toronto. Though we had never done this before we found that if you can count, visualize simple patterns and know you right from your “other right” it was fairly easy. Quite fun actually.
- Saturday
- Up early at 7 am to give the dog a long walk before going to choir rehearsal in the east end of Toronto. After a quick lunch and longish drive back as the direct highway route, the Gardiner Expressway, was closed for repairs, we did a quick change for a wedding of a school friend of my wife’s at 3 pm.
- Saturday Evening
- We experienced our first Taiwanese-type of wedding reception. It was supposed to start a 6 pm (no bar) and we finally started being served our first of twelve courses at 7:30 pm (no bar, no wine). Four hours later we finished the last course and left the hotel. There were 330 guests in the room. Part of those four hours was taken up by two(!) false alarms. We didn’t leave but neither did the serving staff serve for those periods of time. Did I mention it was dry and there wasn’t even a cash bar?
- Saturday Night
- One of my wife’s teacher colleagues had invited to a party. My wife phoned and they were still partying. Those three beers I had there tasted so good!
- Sunday, Very Early in the Morning
- Walk the dog. Get to bed about 3 am.
- Sunday
- Very tired today. We did pick a couple of bushels of Cortlands and Empires though.
- Monday evening
- Put out the garbage and did some grocery shopping as well as walked the dog.
- Tuesday evening
- Attend a Masonic reception for my father-in-law on the occasion of him becoming a very worshipful brother. Walked the dog after I got back and went to bed about an hour later than I usually do
- Wednesday
- One of those late afternoons when I hoped no-one would drop by my desk because I might have fallen asleep. I could blame the high pollution count, too.
- Wednesday evening
- Go to bed as soon as I have posted this.
