Summer's end draws near

Not much new to report around here... the band rehearsal went pretty well; the police did not pay us a visit, but I am investigating how to muffle the sound of a kick drum, as it is incredibly loud.  It seems clear to me that we need to contact a specialist in acoustical insulation as part of our renovation plans.

Maggie had her first day with students yesterday, and all went pretty well.  We welcomed her home with my famous Montreal Bagels!  I made six with sesame seeds, and six with homemade za'atar spice.  This worked really well, so I'll be sure to do that again.  (If you need the recipe for the bagels (they're dead easy) just send me an email.)

As I wrote last time, I pulled a muscle in my lower back loading plants onto the trailer, so I've had to take it easy since then.  The boys have finished planting the rest of the currants and raspberries and rhubarb, and the bay laurel.  The garden is looking good and I'm happy about having it.  Interestingly we seem to be on a migratory route for geese, as they regularly fly over the house in formation at a fairly low altitude, so there is likely some sort of pond or water source nearby.  It's a nice feeling to be sitting outside in the evening, listening to the carillon of the Church of St. John the Baptist ringing out, and hearing the geese honk as they pass over.  Where I grew up in Belleville it was much the same, although instead of the carillon we usually heard the bagpipes being played by the Davis boys down the street, or it was the sound of the train whistle from the railyards a kilometer or so away.

currants and raspberries

This morning Malcolm and I went in to do some final sanding and lacquering work on the guitars and necks, but the three coats weren't quite ready to be sanded or buffed; they need another couple of days to cure.  So we brought everything home and hung it up here to solidify completely.

Ben and Sophie are coming for dinner on Monday, so he will come a little bit earlier and we can do some delicate sanding then, to prepare the guitars for a final "flash" coat of lacquer.  Then another couple of days to really cure the lacquer, and then assembly later next week (I hope).  We have almost every part required to assemble them; I am only missing the pickguard for my telecaster, but am ordering that today.

A few small things have just come in for September... I received an invitation to sing at another Canada 150 reception, this time in Luxembourg, at the end of September... I will have to add Luxemburgish to my list of languages, I guess!  As well, my friend the classical guitarist Ayman Jarjour has invited me to perform something with him at a concert in late September.  He's a wonderful musician; here is an interview from 2010.  I'm very interested to pull out some Bach and Schumann and Schubert pieces for voice and classical guitar that I've had in my library for years, but never have performed before...