Puppet build continues

 I helped build a puppet to William's specifications this afternoon. He's constructed five or six of the eight puppet cast. Scriptwriting is next. 

Farm and walking

We drove out to the farm with Fred this afternoon. We knew George was doing something with a bunch of guests, but we managed to land there for 45 minutes just as the early group was leaving. Allena and Simon were there. I considered bringing up the numerous unsavory stories that Allen was telling about George and Simon on William's radio show over the past two weeks, but decided not to rock that boat (there are potentially many more episodes in the future). We really just sat around in lawn chairs for a few minutes rather than the more rigorous walkabout I'd usually do. William and I did an hour of walking this evening, ending up many places in the neighbourhood (hi Amy). 

Gallery with mom

 Visited the Dunlop with mom after lunch today (we at at Creme, which was amazing). Mom hadn't seen Leesa Steifler's new exhibition yet. Leesa and mom used to live across the street from each other and often talked, so mom was certainly interested in what was new. 

Larissa Tigglers at Dunlop

 William and I finally made it up to the north end Dunlop to see Larissa's exhibition of paintings. We'd missed the opening due to the funeral, but I'd always intended to follow up and see this work. The paintings are very clean with colours that evoke calming feelings. 

Display case

 Walked down to AGR today where William talked about possibly putting work into their display case. No openings right now, but also no one on wait list.  

lunch

 Nothing actually special about this lunch I threw together, except that I liked the colour mix. 

Multiple birthday parties

Ed Willett and his wife Margaret both had milestone birthdays this week so Ed hosted a party at the Artesian where he sang an hour of songs from his repertoire. Simultaneously, Gerda had her own significant birthday and hosted a gin party to commemorate it. We hit both events. Lovely evening.
 

Rain again

 Weather keeps promising heat but keeps delivering rain. Got caught in it while driving Fred home. We waited a long while but eventually I just had to bite the bullet and dash for the umbrella and get him inside. 

Slate opening

 Drove back from Saskatoon in time for the summer show opening at Slate. The streets outside were filled with Rider fans heading to the game. No sense of that inside. 

Hamlet

Drove to Saskatoon today. Had tickets for preview performance of Hamlet at Shakespeare On The Saskatchewan. William's friend Victoria joined us. The play was skinned as 1920s with some early jazz and period costumes. The pre-show was a Claudius/Gertrude wedding reception with some lessons on how to dance the Charleston. As we had dressed up, we got to sit at one of the close tables for that. Afterwards we went to a very nice Persian cafe for desert. Mike had recommended it, but unfortunately he was out of town this week. 
 

Nothing But Trouble

 William ordered an old dvd for me for Father's Day. It finally arrived. I had never heard of it before; Dan Aykroyd's only film to direct, the 1991 "Nothing But Trouble". This was very strange and somewhat wonderful, but never funny (which is a drawback for a comedy). The dvd itself has a very crude menu and the case explains how to navigate the menu. This might be the earliest dvd I own, printed in 1998. What you see in the phone above is literally the limits of the menu. 

Coffee with Lori

At Lori's house today. Coffee. Admired her lettuce which is growing very well. She gave me a few basil plants. We opened up boxes for her tent to inspect the condition of everything. Two problem poles.  
 

Day in the life of an artist

 

William is learning how to be an artist this summer. I make sure he works every day, regardless of whether or not the muse is with him. This evening, having been informed of a new deadline yesterday, he is spinning words into a pitch for a art exhibition for himself for next year. As always, these are long shots. It is tying him to his chair even though he'd rather be reading in the gazebo or watching a movie. Midnight will come soon and it will either be in or it won't be. The chances of success when you don't submit is zero. Fingers crossed. 

Leesa Streilfer

 Leesa opened a show of new work at the Dunlop today. Great crowd at her talk, which was structured as a conversation between her and curator Wayne Baerwaldt. Some interesting discussion about the differences between this work and her previous Dunlop solo show in 1997 (Normal). The old show was angry and was directed at men. This show has less anger and is directed at women. Later a big group of us went to Crave for supper. 

Building bird puppets

Earlier this week, William put in an application to make a bird people show out of Access Tv. He toured the facility as part of his CJTR radio position on Wednesday and ended up meeting the person running that stuff, so all seemed well timed. Today he started assembling the first puppet for the show within the show - a bird soap opera. Took a while to get things working, but on the right track now. Has a number of dolls to strip for outfits for these characters. Got word that Access doesn't do scripted shows, so that is a setback. 
 

Italian Star with mom

Returned to the Italian Star with mom and got sandwiches this time. Mine was spicy, because those are amazing there, but I made sure mom's was mild (she couldn't eat the mildly spiced herb chips we bought there last week). Also had cakes from Cafe Francais. 
 

Security camera

 Reports from neighbours about some thieves led me to impulse buying a camera yesterday. Painted it today. Not inspired, but feeling out of practice too. Perhaps I'll do it again once it is deployed. 

Yard party

 Had a few people over to yard this evening. Kevin, Allan, David, Lara, and Noelle, Weather was great. Garage used for food and "the kitchen" part of the party. 

More purchases from Gale's

Today I switched from my android phone to an iphone, something I'd never intended to do. However, my bottom of the line Samsung was causing me lots of problems taking pictures. It often didn't respond quickly (or at all) to pressing the trigger. Pictures would often get lost if you turned the phone off too soon after taking one. Overall, I was frustrated. Margaret canceled her mom's iphone 13 and gave it to me. It is red, which makes me happy. 

William did some more shopping at Gales while I waited outside playing with my phone. 
 

Perogie making

I cooked up potatoes last night and today I went to mom's and we made 9 dozen perogies. Mom rolls out the dough and I do the rest. Takes me about one minute per perogy. 
 

Geremy, too much in the sun

Playing a game on Sunday afternoon at Geremy's house. We needed to be out of the room for some secret set up to take place so sat on Geremy's deck for a while. Not much shade in the neighbourhood yet, being a pretty new build. Saw a rabbit. 
 

Kentridge in Saskatoon

 In Saskatoon for the day for a CARFAC mentorship meeting and came early to see the William Kentridge exhibition at the Remai Modern. Jill, who I met as part of the CARFAC sessions, is based here now but has been working with Kentridge for years. They have set up an entire print studio in the gallery and are making new work under his directions. Pretty insightful. 

Italian Star pizza

 I took mom on some errands and we ended up at Italian Star (which she'd not been to the new store and possibly not the old store). Picked up some pizza and ate on her balcony. She wants to go back next week for the sandwiches. 

Pie

 Rhubarb is back in season, as is more and more fruit from "away". Margaret made a couple of pies. They disappeared fast. 

New juice lids

 The lid wouldn't snap off so I kept turning it. The result was tearing the lid right off of the juice. Why did this happen? Because they redesigned it to do this, to not come loose. There is small print, but who reads the juice container. Ridiculous. 

Dolls for clothes

 Gales is closing at the end of this month. William and I have been shopping. Today he bought some dolls for their clothing. He's going to be creating a puppet soap opera with his bird people and at half price, these clothes with dolls attached are cheaper than just the clothes. 

Father's Day

William snuck in and deposited this card by my bed in the middle of the night. It is me as "Pickle Gerald" in reference to Rick and Morty. We had Fred over for brunch later. George hosted a bbq at the house and so we also went there. William and I cut out early to play some Apocalypse World. Busy day but lots of nice moments. 

 

Fixing a kid's computer game

William went garage sailing today and bought a broken VTech Tote and Go Laptop Plus for 3 bucks. He opened it up, cleaned the battery area where there was corrosion, and got it working. Stupid game, but that is what he likes about it.
 

AGR with mom

Took mom to see William's "Cake" exhibition at the Art Gallery of Regina. We then sat in the courtyard for while. Perfect weather for us. 
 

Gazebo Cat (GC)

 There is a young cat that has been spending a lot of time in our gazebo lately. Very friendly. I'm trying to figure out if it is owned. It has a tattoo but it is so wiggly that I never got a clear photo of it. Certainly healthy. 

Philippe Mather

 Philippe is retiring at the end of this month. I therefore felt comfortable asking him to come onto William's radio show (he taught two courses William took but obviously there would no longer be any sort of conflict of interest). I have enjoyed every conversation I ever have with Philippe. He suggested that the discussion focus on Tintin comics. Unfortunately, William hadn't noticed that the recorder had stopped recording and they lost an hour of material. Philippe kindly stuck around and recorded some of the main points a second time. Nice afternoon and great to hear them chatting. 

Gold painting

 Painted a picture of a camera-shaped locket belonging to Noelle. It is gold but I don't have gold paint. I do have some silver paint, so it was mixed in with other colours. I struggled with this for a long time. The object is small and the shape therefore a bit soft and indistinct. I just kept layering and adding shadows and removing shadows, and adding and removing reflections until, almost unexpectedly, I was happy with the results. 

Marc LaFoy

 Marc in Regina for a funeral. We had him over for breakfast and great long visit to talk about current stuff. They days of talking about "the old days" is over. I mentioned the day at the end of grad school when he saved my bason with getting me onto an animation stand at LIFT, but he doesn't remember it at all. It was almost half our lifetime ago, and as we are 60, that's quite a stretch. Mostly we discussed his new studio and the artwork our kids are doing. Wishing the visit could have been longer. 

Fred

 Photo taken by Margaret of her dad reading and listening to music in his living room. 

Chrystene's painting

 I purchased "Rabbit Island" gouache painting from Chrystene Ells. Many secrets hidden within it. Delivered in person. 

Turkey

 Roasted a big turkey today. Bought it around Easter and have had it frozen since then. Need the freezer space so decided to feast with it. Froze half the white meat for sandwiches later and will make stew from a bunch of the dark meet. Our roaster won't hold much more turkey than this one without removing the lid. I cooked it upside down until the last 45 minutes when I turned it over, re-applied herbs, and finished the roasting. 

Wind storm

 Wind blew strong and for most of the day, taking down branches all over the place. 

William's gums

 William got a check up on his gums and gum care today in a last minute appointment. Not bad, but everyone needs improvement. Had some trouble a few years ago and don't want repeat of it.