Russian Dwarf hamsters, new house, tranzac

The photo below is of one of my nieces holding Fuzz, a new addition to my sister's family. Fuzz is a Russian Dwarf Hamster and looks an awful lot like a mouse without a tail. VERY cute, and seems to enjoy being held. She peed on my hand.



I could Blather on for many pages here about how much I enjoyed our visit to the New House yesterday, but I know it would make some of you ill. The hardest part was leaving at the end of the four-hour visit; I WANTED TO STAY. Jeff and I also very much enjoyed chatting with the current owner. Not sure how common this is during the house buying process, but my appreciation of the house has been greatly enhanced by getting to know the owner a bit, finding out how much love and thought was put into the design and maintenance of the house. It's a small house but has been opened up inside, giving the feeling of more space and light, full of unusual angles. There is no wasted space.

I chatted about the garden some more with the owner and learned more about a mock orange outside the kitchen window, two quince trees, a tamarisk, a crabapple tree, and the fact that our yard will have one of the few remaining mature elm trees in the city that survived Dutch Elm Disease. SO looking forward to seeing the garden once the snow is gone.

After talking with two sets of potential contractors about renovations, it seems clear that Jeff and I won't actually be able to move into our new house until the end of June or possibly even July. Augh. MustMUST be patient, I know, but I wish I had been able to see into the future back when I packed up most of my office supplies and warm weather clothes in December for the storage locker. I feel as if I've been wearing the same sweater for months now. Oh wait, I have. :-) I have no idea what I'm going to do when warmer weather comes.

Tranzac session last night was wonderful as usual. We learned Peeler's Jacket, The Butcher's March, and Sixpenny Money. And in the free-for-all, I was actually able to play on at least half a dozen tunes without my music! Including the Swallowtail Reel, which I had never heard played at the Tranzac before; it was the first tune I had ever learned on my own. When one of the fiddlers launched into it, it took me several measures before I recognized it and picked up my whistle. Only a few played along but everyone seemed to like the tune; it was put on the "learning list" for the future.

Which made me realize, of course, that I should have the confidence to be taking tunes I like into the session even if I'm not sure if others know them. Lesson learned.

I'm also starting to recognize many more tunes even if I can't play along yet, or even remember the tune name. Still very nervous about leading tunes in the circle; I'm much more comfortable playing along with tunes other people choose. And my ear is definitely improving; I was able to play along with "Ger the Rigger", for example, even though I've never tried to memorize the tune...I've just heard the tune so often through my iPod session recordings.

Going to Richmond Hill tonight to practice with Allison and Jodi. Only a week left until FilKONtario, yay!

March 2005 comments: Read Blatherchat | Post in Blatherchat | Livejournal comments