Sunday Dancing

   A lovely day today, really the first that truly felt like Spring. The temperature was already 12C when I checked this morning and proceeded to rise all afternoon, to 16C. We had a rain shower in the morning but the skies cleared around noon. It's overcast now and more rain is forecast this week, but that will just get things growing.
   
   This afternoon was "Shiftin' Bobbins" celebration of the 90th Anniversary of the founding of RSCDS (Royal Scottish Country Dance Society). A Tea Dance was held and we have been practising the dances all week. Some were fairly straightforward but there were a couple of tricky ones. Luckily I had helpful partners and managed to acquit myself adequately!  My favourites were "Bratach Bana" and "McLeod's Fancy", both lively reels. We also danced a new strathspey which one of the group had devised, called "Ladies of Berkau" which is a beautiful dance with an original tune.

   Everyone brought snacks so we had a nice feed at the interval, sweet and savoury; sandwiches, cheese and crackers, scones, bars and cookies. Dancing certainly gives one an appetite!  Of course, I overdid the nibbling.  In fact, I still wasn't hungry when I got home around 5:00, so just had some fruit and yoghurt for dinner. Hope that holds me until breakfast tomorrow!
  

Last of the Snow

   I sincerely hope this is the last photo I will post that contains snow! Rain is forecast for the next few days so should clean things up and start the garden growing.

   This photo was taken a few days ago and the pile has diminished somewhat since then. James has been helping it along by shovelling it into his Tonka dump truck and spraying it across the pool cover.

    I am waiting impatiently to see some signs of growth in my forsythia which should be blooming by now. One hyacinth is on the brink of flowering and the daffodils just need a few more days and some rain to be in bloom. Meanwhile I have my beautiful lily to admire and relish!

Today's Excitement

   I was woken up at 2:30 this morning with my fire alarm "chirping". This is the technical term for the signal you get that the battery needs to be replaced. In a groggy daze I popped out the battery and stumbled back to bed. Come morning it occurred to me that I had replaced the battery quite recently so it might have been a "bleep" rather than a "chirp". Sure enough, when I reinserted the battery I got a continuous "bleep, pause, bleep". This is the signal that carbon monoxide levels are elevated, and warnings on the alarm told me that carbon monoxide is colourless, odourless and Fatal ! Panic stations! I popped out the battery again as it was really loud, and headed for the phone.

   As I was still alive and this wasn't really an emergency, I tried to find out who could check the CO levels in my house. After a prolonged search, I finally managed to contact our local fire station. Can you believe their phone number isn't in the directory? The receptionist was very calm, told me to leave my house and they would be there in 5 minutes which, in itself, was rather scary. I assumed they would send one guy with a monitor. But, nooo, they sent a fire truck - I could hear the siren as they raced through my nearest intersection. By this time I had reinserted the battery and, lo and behold, the bleeping had stopped!

   Feeling completely foolish at this point, I had to explain to two burly fireman in full kit, and their supervisor that, yes, It really had been "bleeping", not "chirping". They checked the CO levels throughout the house and all were normal. That at least is reassuring. They also advised me to replace the alarm (it's well over 10 years old) and went on their way. Another embarrassing experience!

  

Some new plants...I hope

    I have kept these plants flowering over the winter. I think they are a type of impatiens. In fact, this planter has been going for several years now. But, over the winter they have become increasingly "leggy" so it is time to take some cuttings from the tallest ones. Hence the photo as a "before" picture. I have another planter that completely died down recently so will prepare for the new cuttings once they grow some roots. I have found this to be a rather hit and miss process - sometimes the cuttings produce healthy roots but sometimes they just die. It usually takes two to three weeks. Once the weather warms up, towards the end of May, they will go outside to the front porch and add a nice touch of colour to my front entrance.



   James is sleeping at the moment. His naps are also rather "hit or miss" now but he went down fairly easily today, after a fretful twenty minutes. He certainly is a lot easier to live with if he has had a nap. It only took two books and one song before I was able to leave him. Time to get him up so that he is ready to leave with Judy in a half-hour.