9:05am
Pie tried to eat my crocs this morning!! But its okay - Janet reassured me that Pie plays with her crocs all the time and they have never been punctured. Neat! Maybe it cleans her teeth or something?
The route to Stratford was pretty straight - like most roads here. Although the roads were a little bumpy..! We passed a place called "Punkydoodles Corners" - I have no idea how its actually spelt. There is no sign for this place because it keeps getting stolen, what with having such an unusual name. I guess nobody would believe the name unless you saw it on a sign. Hmmmm. Have these people seen the names of some places in England, I wonder?
8:54pm
I had no idea how the day would turn out, or what we'd be doing. We stayed in the Tribick's house for around an hour - these are Mathew's cousins. Harry Tribick unfortunately passed away just a few months before we came to Canada, which was a real shame because from what Mathew had told me, he was quite a character. His wife June, her daughter Gail, and Gail's husband Brian showed us around the house which was filled with wooden carvings which Harry had made. These were mainly of birds, and birds with foliage but they were no ordinary carvings. I was told that Harry had never learnt to carve wood - he had taught himself. And if you could see all these pieces he had made, they were all just extraordinarily lifelike. I have no idea how long it took him to reach perfection with his woodcarving but everything looked incredibly professional and perfect.
We went into the garden, seeing the lattice garden gate that Harry had made in the most laborious way possible, and the pond which drained away into a barrel which watered the rest of the garden. And then we went into his workshop which had been left as it was, a time capsule filled with numerous finished carvings, half-finished carvings, carved leaves which were to be fixed onto a carved bird on a treestump. There were also intreaguing tools which Harry seemed to have created for himself, often amusingly labelled with things like "wing-bending jig" which only he could have figured out how to use!
After this, we piled into the car and rode around Stratford town centre. Just by being with his family and looking at what he had created I could tell that Harry Tribbick was a loveable person with a wonderful character to match. He is obviously dearly missed, and I can only wish I could have met him myself.
We rode around the area looking at June's "retirement appartment", still in the process of being built, and after a short while we got out of the car for a stroll around Stratford, enjoying the river until the wind started making us chilly, then up past some very, very nice houses! We reached the main shopping area and enjoyed a Toy Store visit before entering "Gallery Indigina" where I ended up spending my money!! I started my collection of art-cards, bought a Haida Eagle necklace, an Inukshuck pin, and a Haida wooden carving of a hummingbird. Not your usual brightly coloured painted carving, as it was plain, dark painted or varnished wood - I saw it on the wall and it just shouted at me. I had to look at it a couple of times before deciding "Yes!". And at $78 I didn't think it was too bad a price, as some of these carvings can be very expensive. It was the only wooden carving I bought and I would have liked to have bought SO many more, but they are the kind of thing that needs to jump out at you before you even consider buying. This hummingbird was exactly what I wanted! Or maybe it wanted me to buy it?
After buying lots of things, it was time to have lunch. We went to a Pizza restaurant, and Gail started having second thoughts about the place when we told her that the last Pizza I had eaten was in Naples in 2007, but I reassured her that I would enjoy my Pizza here. And I did! I had just eaten far too many Piazzas in Italy. I got "Pizza'd out". The choice for dinner was usually Pizza, Pasta or Risotto and it was worse at lunchtime: Pizza, folded pizza or mini-pizza. I don't know if we went to the wrong places or what, but we ate a LOT of bread in Italy....!
Anyway, back to Stratford Ontario: we had decided, whilst waiting for our Pizzas that we would go to see a play. Now, I had no idea what this play was about, sometimes I like to leave it that way and I end up being more engrossed and enjoy it more. And that is certainly what happened here. We went to see Cyrano de Bergerac, which I know many people had studied at school or college, but I had never even heard of it. The star was Canada's Colm Feore as Cyrano, and the play we went to see was actually a dress rehearsal, so there weren't too many people - which I found quite nice really! Especially as the theatre we saw it in was quite small. But this play was very entertaining, very funny, and at points, quite explosive..!!
At the interval we had a look at some of the costumes which were on display in the corridors, some of whch Gail had made - this is her job! Also on the walls were coloured drawings of some of the characters and their outfits before they are made - often by Gail with a multitude of materials. June kept telling me how Gail was reall
y good at her job, and I could tell by just seeing the costumes she had created. She must have one of the most enjoyable and fun jobs in the world. It made me wish I'd chosen to do art and design in college, instead of just art. Gail, along with most people in the audience, is a "Friend of the Festival" and gets invited to these dress-rehearsals, and we just tagged along! It was great!
After the play, we went to Gail and Brian's house for supper, and Janet came to join us. I had asked Mathew about Brian's accent because I was having trouble placing it......and he explained why: it was a mixture of English, Australian and Canadian; an intreaguing mixture explaining where he had lived during his life. No wonder I couldn't place it! Unfortunately he couldn't eat the same food as us - as he had been ill with throat cancer, the treatment had left him unable to swallow unless his food is in liquid form. But, he ate at the table with the rest of us as we enjoyed a buffet salad including "fiddleheads" which were quite nice, and pickled baby corn - I love baby corn but I had never had it pickled before. I have to say that I might be pickling some at home soon...!!
It was time to leave, but while I had visited the washroom, Brian had put some pots and bowls on the table - which he had made from several types of wood himself - and told us to pick one to take home. I had no idea that Brian worked with wood, this was completely unexpected and it was such a lovely gesture. I chose a small pot made of cherry wood, and Mathew chose a larger one made of a combination of maple, walnut and cherry. Brina wrapped them up in tissue after he wrote the name of the wood, and signed the bases.
I don't know when we will see the Tribbicks again, and it was a shame not to have met Harry, but it was lovely to meet June, Gail and Brian. One thing I do know for sure is that I will definately think of them and this holiday every time I see and use my cherry wood pot. It currently sits on a shelf in my room where I can see it wherever I sit, and it is home to all the jewellery I bought in Canada.
Pie tried to eat my crocs this morning!! But its okay - Janet reassured me that Pie plays with her crocs all the time and they have never been punctured. Neat! Maybe it cleans her teeth or something?
The route to Stratford was pretty straight - like most roads here. Although the roads were a little bumpy..! We passed a place called "Punkydoodles Corners" - I have no idea how its actually spelt. There is no sign for this place because it keeps getting stolen, what with having such an unusual name. I guess nobody would believe the name unless you saw it on a sign. Hmmmm. Have these people seen the names of some places in England, I wonder?
8:54pm
I had no idea how the day would turn out, or what we'd be doing. We stayed in the Tribick's house for around an hour - these are Mathew's cousins. Harry Tribick unfortunately passed away just a few months before we came to Canada, which was a real shame because from what Mathew had told me, he was quite a character. His wife June, her daughter Gail, and Gail's husband Brian showed us around the house which was filled with wooden carvings which Harry had made. These were mainly of birds, and birds with foliage but they were no ordinary carvings. I was told that Harry had never learnt to carve wood - he had taught himself. And if you could see all these pieces he had made, they were all just extraordinarily lifelike. I have no idea how long it took him to reach perfection with his woodcarving but everything looked incredibly professional and perfect.
We went into the garden, seeing the lattice garden gate that Harry had made in the most laborious way possible, and the pond which drained away into a barrel which watered the rest of the garden. And then we went into his workshop which had been left as it was, a time capsule filled with numerous finished carvings, half-finished carvings, carved leaves which were to be fixed onto a carved bird on a treestump. There were also intreaguing tools which Harry seemed to have created for himself, often amusingly labelled with things like "wing-bending jig" which only he could have figured out how to use!
After this, we piled into the car and rode around Stratford town centre. Just by being with his family and looking at what he had created I could tell that Harry Tribbick was a loveable person with a wonderful character to match. He is obviously dearly missed, and I can only wish I could have met him myself.
We rode around the area looking at June's "retirement appartment", still in the process of being built, and after a short while we got out of the car for a stroll around Stratford, enjoying the river until the wind started making us chilly, then up past some very, very nice houses! We reached the main shopping area and enjoyed a Toy Store visit before entering "Gallery Indigina" where I ended up spending my money!! I started my collection of art-cards, bought a Haida Eagle necklace, an Inukshuck pin, and a Haida wooden carving of a hummingbird. Not your usual brightly coloured painted carving, as it was plain, dark painted or varnished wood - I saw it on the wall and it just shouted at me. I had to look at it a couple of times before deciding "Yes!". And at $78 I didn't think it was too bad a price, as some of these carvings can be very expensive. It was the only wooden carving I bought and I would have liked to have bought SO many more, but they are the kind of thing that needs to jump out at you before you even consider buying. This hummingbird was exactly what I wanted! Or maybe it wanted me to buy it?
After buying lots of things, it was time to have lunch. We went to a Pizza restaurant, and Gail started having second thoughts about the place when we told her that the last Pizza I had eaten was in Naples in 2007, but I reassured her that I would enjoy my Pizza here. And I did! I had just eaten far too many Piazzas in Italy. I got "Pizza'd out". The choice for dinner was usually Pizza, Pasta or Risotto and it was worse at lunchtime: Pizza, folded pizza or mini-pizza. I don't know if we went to the wrong places or what, but we ate a LOT of bread in Italy....!
Anyway, back to Stratford Ontario: we had decided, whilst waiting for our Pizzas that we would go to see a play. Now, I had no idea what this play was about, sometimes I like to leave it that way and I end up being more engrossed and enjoy it more. And that is certainly what happened here. We went to see Cyrano de Bergerac, which I know many people had studied at school or college, but I had never even heard of it. The star was Canada's Colm Feore as Cyrano, and the play we went to see was actually a dress rehearsal, so there weren't too many people - which I found quite nice really! Especially as the theatre we saw it in was quite small. But this play was very entertaining, very funny, and at points, quite explosive..!!
At the interval we had a look at some of the costumes which were on display in the corridors, some of whch Gail had made - this is her job! Also on the walls were coloured drawings of some of the characters and their outfits before they are made - often by Gail with a multitude of materials. June kept telling me how Gail was reall
y good at her job, and I could tell by just seeing the costumes she had created. She must have one of the most enjoyable and fun jobs in the world. It made me wish I'd chosen to do art and design in college, instead of just art. Gail, along with most people in the audience, is a "Friend of the Festival" and gets invited to these dress-rehearsals, and we just tagged along! It was great!After the play, we went to Gail and Brian's house for supper, and Janet came to join us. I had asked Mathew about Brian's accent because I was having trouble placing it......and he explained why: it was a mixture of English, Australian and Canadian; an intreaguing mixture explaining where he had lived during his life. No wonder I couldn't place it! Unfortunately he couldn't eat the same food as us - as he had been ill with throat cancer, the treatment had left him unable to swallow unless his food is in liquid form. But, he ate at the table with the rest of us as we enjoyed a buffet salad including "fiddleheads" which were quite nice, and pickled baby corn - I love baby corn but I had never had it pickled before. I have to say that I might be pickling some at home soon...!!
It was time to leave, but while I had visited the washroom, Brian had put some pots and bowls on the table - which he had made from several types of wood himself - and told us to pick one to take home. I had no idea that Brian worked with wood, this was completely unexpected and it was such a lovely gesture. I chose a small pot made of cherry wood, and Mathew chose a larger one made of a combination of maple, walnut and cherry. Brina wrapped them up in tissue after he wrote the name of the wood, and signed the bases.
I don't know when we will see the Tribbicks again, and it was a shame not to have met Harry, but it was lovely to meet June, Gail and Brian. One thing I do know for sure is that I will definately think of them and this holiday every time I see and use my cherry wood pot. It currently sits on a shelf in my room where I can see it wherever I sit, and it is home to all the jewellery I bought in Canada.
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