A New Venture

On Thursday I enjoyed taking part in an accordion band.  Susan Moser had told me about it not long ago and the timing was right this week.  The group consists of six accordion players plus a guitar and a banjo player.  We play at senior and care homes in the Estevan area.  We met at 2:00 to play at Valleyview Heritage Place.  I was given a binder of music for the accordion with a chair next to Susan so she could explain things as we went along, when we play the introduction, when we don't, which repeats to play and so on.  Very helpful for this new recruit!  It was a very fun hour for the players as well as the appreciative audience.  Goodies and coffee were served after but I skipped out and went to visit Howard instead.

The accordion players met at The Beefeater at five and had supper together.  Next week we will play at Midale Manor on Wednesday at 2:00 so I better do a bit of practising before then.  I could sight read most of the music but there were a few tricky ones that I need to work on.

On Thursday evening we played at Creighton Lodge.  That was a fun outing too with many of the residents out to listen and a special thank-you expressed to us by Stan Durr.

The only part I didn't like was driving home after dark!  The sun sets so much earlier now and it will not improve for several months.  It's hard enough to dodge all the holes in the highway in the daytime, let alone in the dark.  It's a good thing there are signs up to mark most of the rough spots.  A person can avoid them by driving on the wrong side of the road, providing there is no oncoming traffic.

Speaking of traffic, Laurel phoned me on Friday with the sad news that a young mother from Gray was killed in a collision on her way to work in Regina that morning.  She leaves three young children ages 10, 8 and 5.  The two older ones go to school with Dawson and Eric in Milestone.  The five year old will be starting kindergarten.  So sad for her husband and the three young children, besides family and friends.  Her 90 year old grandmother still lives alone on the farm south of Milestone.  That's encouraging for me as I have a few years to go before I get to that age!  But we will leave that in God's hands and I'll enjoy each day that I am able to be here.

I was in Estevan on Thursday as well.  No, I didn't take in the big Kraft event that was live on TSN.  I was there for the monthly birthday party at St. Joseph's Special Care Home.  Howard was one of five men who had birthdays in August.  We all enjoyed the hour of music by a group from the Estevan area.
Eighty-seven year old Fred played the violin.  That made me lonesome for my dad and his violin music.  Dad could play in any key and would find it by ear, whether he played the violin or his banjo.  The group also had two guitar players and a bass guitar.  Those three also sang and we heard many old time "goodies".

The picture below shows what I have been working with the past few days - making apple pies, cooking up apple pie filling and apple sauce.  I won't go hungry this winter!

Apples, apples, fine red apples
(and some green ones)

Tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. is Pastor Cicely's last worship service at Trinity after twelve years as our pastor.  She has accepted a call to Midale and will continue to serve Hamar, Bromhead.  We will have a farewell tea/coffee and cake after the service.  Everyone is welcome.