Winnipeg

We drove to Winnipeg for a short vacation, arriving Friday at supper and staying with Leslea and Leif. Today we did a bit of shopping, hitting Lee Valley Tools for an ergonomic keyboard tray for William. While there, I ran into Brian Duchscherer, the brilliant puppet animator I knew from film school but have not seen in a couple of decades.

He's in Winnipeg now and isn't currently animating. We also went to Ikea where I hope I found a lampshade mom needs and a few other odds and ends, as one does at Ikea. Other than that (Mordon's was closed today) we didn't much away from the house. Lots of great conversations and a really nice trip.

School reno continues

Huge crane down the street as they prepare to put new room into place.

Photographed this while coming home from dropping William's car off for rear camera installation. Heading to Winnipeg this afternoon. 

another camera painting

I've been working on animating with Adobe Animate but progress is so much slower than I'd like it to be that I feel weird posting updates about it. Instead, I'll hold off on it and post about completed segments. For more immediate creative results, I've been painting more cameras. The gazebo started getting cold so I quit after about an hour.

Office chair

I assembled my new office chair. The old one was bought used quite a few years ago. It was quite a wreck and I found my legs got sore from sitting on it for only short periods of time. 

Beak's Chicken

William went to Emma's going away party and Margaret was at work so Allan and I bached it at Beak's Chicken where someone he knew was DJing. Food was good but we were surprised that they ran out of chicken (pretty much the only thing they sell) at 6:00. The DJ suggested that this usually happened.

Recycling

It is usually something William and Gertrud do together, but with the operation and all, the recycling hasn't been taken in to Sarcan since spring and it was getting out of control. I took it in myself, totaled over $75. 

new play structure

Went for a walk. Rather muddy following big rain today, but could see new play structure beside Balkwill Centre. 

Indian Head antique store

We went to Indian Head to look around at the Sinking Canoe antique shop. Always cool stuff there, but they are only open another couple of weekends until closing for the season. William got a very nice tie pin and I got an album of family photos from the Dauphin area from the 1930s to 50s. Margaret got a mirror for the front entrance way. Orange milkshake hit the spot as we headed home.

I'm a comic character

I bought my way into the pages of Lowell Dean's comic "Atomic Victory Squad" #2. I play some goon, but with some sort of super powers that are yet undisclosed, and I am not shown as dead, so perhaps I'll return.....?

Backyard

I've been trying to continue using the gazebo while we have the weather for it. It gave some, but not entire, shelter from the strong wind so that I did my first camera painting since the spring course ended. William came out and drew with me. The honey bees, probably the ones that Berny transplanted to Rowan's relatives down the block, visited my bird bath.

M. Hulot in back yard

I screened M. Hulot's Holiday on 16mm in the backyard. Fortuantely the mosquitoes were not a problem as we opened up the screen of the gazebo to watch from beneath it but without its full protection. I used the projector I bought from Value Viillage a few days ago for $69. Very bright but the sound was sometimes odd (perhaps dust collecting in gate?). Chrystene, Berny, Mike, and John Kennedy all joined us. 

William turns 18

William's 18th birthday was full of activity, beginning with a new fountain pen, some long walks, a visit from grandparents. Friends Emma and Xander were over for both the afternoon cake and the supper and supper cake. After Allan, Geremy, and Mike arrived, we had a round of "Fiasco"in the gazebo in which a science museum and genetic mutations were the central concerns.

William's glasses

We picked up and fitted William's glasses yesterday. Conservative and radical simultaneously. 

Peach pie with mom

Mom's church fundraiser peaches arrived today. William and I went and picked them up and also stopped in to have a great piece of pie and some coffee with mom. On the way there, we also went to Value Village and bought and Eike slot load projector. Cost more than my last one but it sounds like it runs well and there is no moisture damage or any other red flags. 

Worst cat hair cut ever!

We took Nick to the vet. He had more matts than even last year. Two technicians worked on him for quite a while, shaving the bad parts off. Now he is much more comfortable, but we didn't have time for any finesse. He looks ghastly. 

Big Lebowski party

John Kennedy hosted his Big Lebowski screening fundraiser at the Cultural Exchange Society instead of his back yard this year. They found William a better chair than the normal ones, so that was a very nice touch. 

Art in Davidson

Drove back to Regina today, stopping for a break for William in Davidson. Margaret suggested that we check out a gallery she saw a sign for. It is a really nice gallery/studio/home renovated into an old bank building - great space. We bought a collage fashioned from old paper. 

Saskatoon medical appointment

We drove up to Saskatoon for an appointment with Dr. Allan and an x-ray. William is coming along well. No more dressings on his incisions.
We supped with Mike at Angeethi's Flame on the south end of Saskatoon. Mike had brought William butter chicken from there, which was some of the best I've ever tasted. Really great meal. 

Game of Microscope

Allen and Geremy came over and he had a game of "Microscope". On William's suggestion, we ran the parameters as the life of one person, rather than on a story of more long/epic proportions. Great fun. Most of the twisted stuff came from the central character's mother inventing a mind-transference device with Tesla. 

Jess Richter art house

We drove out to see the art house installation that Jess Richter has been working on over the past year. Beautiful work. He previous pieces were smaller and perhaps more clearly evoked the fairy tales and legends, but this was grand and I think could ultimately eclipse that earlier work. Love the colours.

Emma visit

William's friend Emma was over for a while. She'll be leaving town soon, which is sad. University should bring William more opportunities to meet people, which is important given how many of his friends have moved away. 

Retro Old Dutch chips

Retro-style of Old Dutch chips were quite eye catching and tempting. Wasn't really shopping for chips though. I'm curious to know if it is still multiple bags inside the box. I assume that is the only reason for such a box. 

AGR opening

The AGR opening has a display of strange embroidered garments reflecting upon iconography and mythology of eastern Europe but shaped and displayed as fancy western/rodeo wear. The artist was here. She's from Alberta and studied in Montreal - an interesting fusion. Rachel was in town, great to see her too.

William picks new glasses

William picked out frames for his first set of glasses. There are many gadgets I've never seen before for helping fit them properly. 

Terri and Xander visit

Terri and Xander visited.
Having binge watched "The Boys" on Prime over past few days, I borrowed the first four books from Kevin. 

Back to regular activities

William drawing on back deck. He still needs to figure out how his body works in conjunction with his drawing arm. He took four walks today including a trip down to the Slate Gallery (where they gave him a chair for a short break). Frans had a charming miniature dart board in the new exhibition. It was sold. 

more walking, no walker

William forgoes the walker now and we've been taking longer walks. Heat persists. Paul came over in the evening for a visit in the gazebo.

The Walker

Just as it was getting hot today, we took a walk down to the Balkwill Centre. As with earlier in the week, William decided to take his walker. Due to the roughness of the sidewalks, half the time he needed to carry it rather than actually use it. I offered to carry it for me and he rejected that saying "I can carry my own walker".