Strawberry Harvest

Our garden is doing really well.
Despite the unpredictable weather this season, most of our plants are still doing well. 

The Foxgloves that we planted last year are blooming. 

The potatoes seem to like where they are in the potato bags. It is my job to top up the bags up with dirt when the stems get long. The bags are now filled with dirt and the potatoes have started to flower, so we just have to wait for the plants to die back and then we can harvest.

Today's exciting news is that we had the first of our strawberry harvest. We have seascape, ever-bearing strawberries that we planted last year.  We have been watching them ripen and today was finally the day to start picking.

We got about 2 pints of strawberries today. They are so sweet and juicy, the juice runs right down your arm when you bite into them. Nothing beats ripe, home grown, organic strawberries!

Suburban Steam Steampunk Festival 2017

Today, Dad and I went to the Suburban Steam Steampunk Festival at Zion Schoolhouse.  It's a small, community festival which celebrates all things retro-futuristic and fantastical. 

This year we also learned about lots of Canadian Inventions and there was a cool TTC Lego exhibit.

There were exhibits both outside and inside the Schoolhouse that showed Canadian Inventions.

Here are some pictures from Toronto Transit Bricks

From left to right in this picture:
Peter Witt Streetcar, PCC Streetcar, Gloucester Subway Car, CLRV Streetcar and Flexity Outlook Streetcar

Inside, I got to check out Mackenzie House's Proof Printing Press... I just can't help myself, I just love printing. 

The souvenir I printed had a picture of a Harmonium... It is kind of like the one we have at home. 

Here is one last picture from today. It wouldn't have been the same without the buskers. 

My Grade 6 Violin Exam

Yesterday, I had my Grade 6 violin exam. 

I think it went well.

Here are some videos from my last rehearsal with my accompanist, Christy, before the exam.

Concerto in G Major by A. Vivaldi

Sonata Number 4 in D minor by J.C. Pepusch

Adoration by F. Borowski

I messed up on the clap back in the ear tests and my chromatic scales weren't that good, but overall, I think everything was OK.

I have been keeping busy with RCM exams...
In December I did Grade 9 Harmony
In January, Grade 6 Speech Arts and Drama

In April, Grade 8 Piano

In May, Grade 9 History

This month, Grade 6 Violin
and in August, I will be doing Grade 7 Organ.

I have to convince my Mom to let me do these exams... She doesn't see the need to do exams in all of the subjects all of the time, but I enjoy them.

Our Garden

On Saturday, Mom, Dad and I went to see The Gardener at Hot Docs. Mom won tickets online from Not Far From the Tree. The documentary was about a rich, eccentric man named Frank Cabot and his Quatre Vents Garden in Quebec. His garden is extremely beautiful and very creative.

We just started gardening as a family last year. We put in a small berry patch and 3 raised beds for Square Foot Gardening.

This year, we have put in some small fruit trees. 

Frank Cabot's goal was to move people with his artistic expression through his garden but our goal with is to fill bellies and warm hearts. 

Lots of our shrubs are in blossom now. but according to a book that we are using, "Growing Urban Orchards" by Susan Poizner, we should remove fruit from the trees for the first two years after planting without allowing them to mature so the trees will have time to establish.

Here are some pictures.  

Blossoms on our Golden Sentinel Columnar Apple Tree

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Little buds on our Golden Prolific Nectarine.

Carmine Jewel Cherry Blossom

Me transplanting Foxgloves to attract pollinators

Lingonberry Blossoms

Strawberry Blossoms

Young Wellington Black Currants 

Gooseberry Blossoms

I think these are buds for blossoms on the Black Lace Elderberry

Raspberry Blossoms

Wintergreen

Pac Choi in the Square Foot Garden

Young Beets

Thyme and Walking Onions

A Tomato plant warm and safe inside a Kozy Coat

If anyone knows what these are, please let us know....

Here are some pictures of our dog. She loves our garden and she loves to dig holes 

But, our dog loves Mom even more than digging

Violin Recital

It has been a very busy month.
I got my grade for my RCM Grade 8 Piano exam... I got 87%. Not bad but not what I was hoping for.

My violin teacher put on a recital for her students today. I haven't performed on the violin in a long time. I really like accompanying and hiding behind the piano or performing with a group. It is hard for me to be in the spotlight. 

My violin exam is coming up and my teacher thought it would be a good idea for me to play this particular piece in front of people. It is a Romantic piece and I like to play Baroque. I was a bit nervous. I met the accompanist, Christine Kim, today for the first time. But, I have seen her play before... She accompanies Linda Eyman's Celebration Choir and I have seen them in concert. (My Mom is in Linda Eyman's Vocal Mosaic Choir and they put on a joint concert twice a year.)

Here is my piece. I made a couple mistakes in the middle and my posture wasn't the best.
I have a lot to work on before my exam.

It is Adoration by Felix Borowski

I realized at this concert, that the younger kids are probably looking at me and the more advanced students for what they can achieve in the future.

I remember how difficult it all seemed when I started  with the Suzuki method. It wasn't a good fit for me because I already knew how to read music from my piano lessons. Violin does get better if they stick with it.