It's been unbelievably hot here over the last couple of weeks, but then you probably already know that, as the so-called "Global Heatwave" has been affecting pretty much everyone (hence "global"). But late this past week and leading into the weekend we had a tiny bit of rain, and the winds have picked up a bit, so instead of the temperatures resting in the high 30s, they've instead been sitting in the high 20s much of the time, which by comparison seems practically springlike. Even so, the mercury is sitting at a solid 32 degrees here in Wavre today, but we're managing ok. The chickens are doing fine, although Beaker (the dark chicken) has been a little broody. Still, the egg count continued to climb, reaching fifteen eggs this past week.
As you can see in the photo above, all that sun makes the basil very happy, and the squash plants are taking over the entire back wall. The single zucchini plant seems to produce one of these babies (see below) every couple of days, and we are starting to run out of ideas. Marinated grilled zucchini, gazpacho; today it was zucchini bread...
It has been too hot to do too much of anything strenuous, so my mojo to continue work on the attic has weakened, but I am optimistic that some more progress will take place this week. Bryan and Kiana have moved up their departure date to for their trip to les Contamines in France, and so we'll be spending some time out there at their house in August. Even if we are dividing our time between here and there, it's a matter of a short 20 minute car ride to get here or there, so that's not a large impediment to doing the final bits of drywalling, framing in and running electrical wires.
Duncan has been earning a little extra cash by doing some work for Maurice and Jacqueline two doors down, and after he had painted their wrought-iron, there was a little green paint left over, so he used it on ours. Maurice gave him some tips, and the iron looks much improved.
We cleaned up the garage several days ago and cleared out the last of the things that the prior owner hadn't properly disposed of. It liberated a couple of square metres, so we moved all of the camping things and some sports and gardening items into that spot, and had a clear place to put the big woodworking bench, further back to the back door where the light is better, so that Malcolm could get going on some of his projects. I also took an old chest of drawers to use as a tool organiser, so it should be a bit easier to find hand tools when we need them. He's got a mandolin on the go that is his personal side project, and he's also begun some of the preliminary work on his next year project, a full-sized classical guitar.
Malcolm was also earning some cash this week; Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday he was babysitting from noon until six p.m. for the Vissols, friends of ours and an old client, and then on Saturday he took care of the Edwards kids. So add that to his regular rehearsals with Strawberry Storm (they have a gig in mid-August) and regular socialising with friends, and we haven't seen much of him. He has had some contact with a cabinetmaking business here in Wavre that will be resuming operations tomorrow (August 1st) and they seemed interested in hiring a student, so I expect he'll be doing some work this month to earn some money before he returns to school in September.
On Friday we had enough of the hot weather and decided to drive to Mechelen to take in the waters at the nature preserve called de Nekker. This is a really nice spot, with an olympic-sized indoor swimming pool and athletic complex, an outdoor aquatic play area for the kids, and then a soft sand beach and freshwater swimming area on the side of huge reservoir. We got there very early and grabbed a good spot under a big oak tree that kept us in the shade all day.
Fresh-water outdoor swimming is a particularly Ontario thing, and there isn't much of it to be found in Belgium, so we were excited to try this place out. Happily there was almost no-one there when we arrived at 9:30 in the morning, and the beach stayed pretty clear until around noon.
The swimming area was pretty restricted in size, but it was almost empty early in the day, and while swimming a little bit with goggles on I saw some positively huge fish! There was a large dinner-platter shaped fish which was probably a carp, and there was also long dark fish which was most certainly a pike. These fish must move back out into the deeper water when the swimmers arrive, but I looked online and saw some films of scuba divers exploring the different underwater wildlife in the larger nature preserve, so I am confident that it was a nice big pike. It would be great to fish there!
We made do without fish as we had packed a lunch and some other refreshments, so instead we relaxed, swam, played cards, and just chilled out. I actually managed to get in some reading, and worked my way through almost an entire issue of the New Yorker, which was satisfying, as I almost never seem to find the time to read these days. I've actually welcomed the lazy heat of this summer vacation as I have worked through several novels. But I still wish that Elmore Leonard was still alive, so that I could enjoy one of his new ones! Elmore, a hammock, an oil lamp, a glass of whisky, and a cigar is probably peak leisure for me.
Sunday we got up early and drove with Duncan in tow to visit our friends Lisa and Serge at their recently purchased and still-in-development farmhouse in Ellezelles, which is to the West of Brussels, in the direction of Tournai. We started out with a great 10+ km hike in the surrounding area, which looks like it would be a great running route as well; Serge often runs there so I hope I can join him on a trail at some point.
Their old farmhouse is very close to the Flemish/Walloon border, in a part of Belgium called the Pays des collines in French, and the Vlaamse Ardennen in Flemish (although it has no real connection with the Ardennes, much further east) and so our route serpentined its way back and forth across that boundary several times. In the later part of our hike, we passed through a forest area called the Musiekbos; in the centre was a curious tower (pictured above) called the Geuzentoren. When it was first built in the late nineteenth century, it commanded a view of mostly grasslands, but since then the forests have grown up and now it has quite a fairy-tale aspect, with large trees growing up all around...
Their son Octave was off with the Scouts, but Clara is in Duncan's grade at the same school, and so they know each other well enough, and had some fun doing archery in the field next door. It was a nice day out and a lovely lunch, but we took a lot of sun while out walking and lunching over the course of the day and so were happy to get home and get to bed.
Today I was sending out some emails to connect with conductors and agents, in Germany, Belgium, and in Quebec. It's vacation for most people but it doesn't hurt to start thinking about the audition season as it will be upon us soon enough.
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