Oh So Busy

This April has been one of the busiest months in my life. No kidding. And it's going to continue for the next three weeks. I am nervous because I feel I have a lot of responsibility. What I am enjoying is teaching and gardening. I am so immersed in gardening right now I really don't want to do much else. The teaching stretches and challenges me and it also entertains me. I love working with the k-4 groups the best. I really like being an artist in residence in an elementary school. That paired with making art would be my ideal life, so I've got to try to make that happen more often.

The sun is shining, but it is still as cold as a well-digger's ass (as they say on the prairie). I transplanted sweet peas today, some kenekir, malva, dianthus, and a little borage sprout that snuck into a sweet pea tray.

I spent the morning reading excerpts of Taxi! to prepare for the walking tour tomorrow. She is a woman with a shocking sense of humour. Deets are over on my Beespeaker Saijiki blog. (See the link on my sidebar.)

Bollywood Royal Wedding Video

MJ Delaney, Will Bennett, Andy Gallagher and Christian Bennett

It's just spot on. I love the oversized pearls.

Beautiful Clothes for Kids

I discovered a local woman who makes amazing clothing for kids: Red Fish Kid's Clothing. Her dresses are amazing. I so wish she made them for adults. Apparently so do some major celebrities.

Royal Wedding Gnomes

You know you want a pair! And they will complement the biker gnomes you already have! How are you celebrating the Royal Wedding? I ate two plates of scones at Shaktea in Will and Kate's honor. You must see this Guardian article on how schools in Britain are celebrating--from elaborately staged faux weddings to cute songs to special cupcakes or "fairy cakes" as they are called there. This is my favorite quote from the article:

And Kate Edgley says she received this text from her son's school, Stanford junior school in Brighton, yesterday:

"Dear Parent. This is a reminder that the lunch menu is different tmrw due to celebrating the royal wedding. It is wholemeal breaded cod or quorn hot dog. Office."

Wow. What do they eat on regular days? Jamie Oliver is desperately needed at that school!

The Giant Easter Chick

She's bigger than the Easter Bunny and she's after your pea sprouts. It's the giant Easter Chick and she's hungry as hell!

Pierre Lapin and I hopped down to the Blim Market and had Michael's lovely cuisine. I had his grits mixed with cauliflower and five spices which was gorgeous as usual and Peter had his "Poi", really a play on pois verts or mushy peas. I should have taken a copy of his menu, it was full of really good puns.

We stocked up on Easter goodies and then I headed up the hill to tea at Shaktea with my buddies. Then I planted some zucchini, styrian pumpkins, and cucumbers in pots. It's a bit late, but then it's been a cold spring so who knows what May will be like? Que sera sera.

Happy Easter!

I Love to Read

I love to read. It is one of my favorite ways to get relax, refresh, and get inspired. This week I found a really lovely book called A Slight Trick of the Mind by Mitch Cullin. I can say it's my new favorite. It's about an aging Sherlock Holmes losing his memory, visiting Japan and keeping bees. Apparently it is going to be made into a movie starring Ben Kingsley. I hope the director can reign Ben in because he can be too much of a drama queen for me sometimes.

Also, the author Mitch Cullin wrote a book called Tideland made into a movie by Terry Gilliam shot in Regina, Saskatchewan of all places. Very cool. I must try to track down a copy of the book and the DVD.

I also read another couple of Margaret Grimes novels this week: Dust and The Stargazey. Someone from Britain was critical of her work and wrote a negative review in the margins of the book in pencil. The reader was quite aggrieved that Jury didn't pay for each drink as it was served, but left cash on the bar as he was leaving. True dat.

Memory and Gardening

There is a really good article about memory and Derek Jarman's garden on the Human Flower Project blog.

Cold Skies, Warm Heart

I feel warm-hearted after a good week of teaching. The students are so smart and so appreciative. I feel really privileged to be able to work with them.

It snowed today. Should I bring my pots in tonight? Must look at forecast.

I did a fun gig last night at ArtStarts. Very surreal because I wore my yellow Madame B. dress and hat on a drab day when everyone and their dogs were wearing Canuck jerseys. Had lots of interesting encounters including a woman who said "Just because you wear a hat does not mean you are innocent!" in a very thick French accent. I felt like I was in a movie.

Lots of talented young Albertans at the event last night.

April Showers Can Go Away Now

Okay, enough with the rain already. We are now finished with Gilligan's Island and on to Lost in Space which is almost as annoying, but an important pop culture reference to absorb. I had to buy new pea sprouts at the market because the first ones were decimated and you can bet that each one of these precious legumes is under a cloche. I have lost one precious cornflower to slugs, and so the war begins. Wierdly, my germination charm seems to have worn off, must be the change in potting soil. I am currently using a sea soil plus potting soil mix which is quite heavy, so we'll see what happens. Why is it so hard to get decent potting soil? Seems like a license to print money.

Spent the weekend immersed in prepping dried gourds for a school project. Many hours painting gourds, cutting them in half, punching holes in them and covering the insides with wax. I do love their sculptural beauty.

Tried to watching "Coupling" from the BBC which was the most painful excuse for comedy, I have had funnier root canals. Enjoyed a miniseries called The Cazalets--the last episode is particularly well directed and acted. Also, a good length for a series but I could have used one more episode to tie up loose ends. Tried to watch the Coco Chanel movie with Shirley Maclaine, but I could only palate about 8 minutes of it. Typical American hubris--not even attempting a French accent. In a word, depressing.

Did some gardening in the rain today. Like buckets of water being poured directly into my underpants. But I did tackle those invasives yet again.

What I am Loving About April

Cherry and plum blossoms.
Planting seeds directly into my garden bed: mesclun greens and radishes.
Nasturtiums. I'm just crazy about them right now. I love those leaves.
The anticippppation of waiting for the mason bees to emerge.
Chives and tsatsiki on my perogies.
Skinny asparagus from Mexico.
The first strawberries from California.
Cinnamon toast.
Working with elementary school students again.
Yellow!!! Daffodils!!!! Forsythia!!! Tulips!!!
Watching DVD's of Northern Exposure. I love Ed and I discovered the actor is the same age as me, has four kids and is married to a French chef.