This is a free annual music festival in Perth, Ontario. Stewart Park is gorgeous and the line-up is impressive. I spent most of the day at the Acoustic Stage, where there was a series of jam sessions with musicians who don’t usually play together. Among others, I saw Stephen Fearing, Rick Fines, Jenny Whiteley, Luther Wright, Martyn Joseph, James Keelaghan, Oh Susanna, Russell deCarle, Lynn Miles, Brock Zeman, Eugene Ruffolo, Andy White and Lennie Gallant.

They were all worth seeing, but BY FAR the most intense and engaging musical experience of the day was the Grrrls with Guitars jam session, featuring Ember Swift and her band jamming with the girls from FRUIT – Sam, Mel and Susie – and Carolyn Mark and Darleen somebody. Sensational. I bought a couple of FRUIT CDs after seeing that.

I’ve never seen so many kids at a music festival. They were everywhere! They all seemed to be having a good time too.

There was some kind of remote control boat thing going on too. I think that was mostly for serious grown-up remote-control boat enthusiasts. Weird hobby, but whatever floats your boat, I guess.

I just liked this cow on the wall of the butcher shop, so I took her picture. I also took a picture of a three-legged cat.

I’m not buying this house. I think there are just too many things about it that would make it kind of frustrating to live in. Besides, a couple of my more real-estate-savvy friends came along to help assess the property, and both of them and my agent agreed that it’s cute but over-priced. This, by the way, is my favourite room in the cute little house that I’m not going to buy. Sigh.

I’m thinking about buying this house. It’s cute, it’s fully renovated, it’s in my price range, it’s within walking distance of work (45 minutes) and there wouldn’t be any condo fees. But it’s smaller than my apartment, has no storage, has no outdoor space of any kind (except a carport), and the livingroom is kind of awkward. (The kitchen is great, but I’m more of a livingroom kind of person).

I’m going back for another look this afternoon. There are more pix & details on www.mls.ca – listing # 640294.

I have a bit of a problem when it comes to real estate shopping. I’m not an impulsive shopper. In a hot real estate market, though, you have to be an impulsive shopper because if something’s any good it’ll get snapped up in a heartbeat by someone who IS an impulsive shopper. So if it’s not in my nature to be impulsive about $200 items, how can I be impulsive about $200,000 items?

Last night was the weekly potluck barbecue at Stuart’s place. I keep meaning to photograph the feast before we devour it like the bunch of ravenous animals we are, but I never think of it until afterwards.

Here’s what I brought to the potluck, only mine weren’t as pretty…this is the photo from the epicurious.com site, where I got the recipe.

BANANA-BLACK BEAN EMPANADAS

Here’s Stuart, our perennial host and chief barbecuer:

And here’s Stuart’s $200 stainless steel stockpot, in which we cook the corn (that’s the royal we: my job is to tell Steven when 10 minutes is up):

Look! Jello Shooters! I’ve never had one before…I think I’ll have three.

This is John. John made those crowd-pleasing jello shooters:

Zita says “Don’t you be bloggin’ me!”

But I blogged her anyway. This is Zita eating mussels.

I’d blog Pat, but I’m afraid she really means it when she says “You blog me and you’re dead.”

The East Village Opera Company rockifies opera. They’re sensational. Based in New York City, two of their members hail from Ottawa and they’re bringing the band here this weekend to play a free concert in the parking lot behind Friday’s Roast Beef House. At first glance, that seems an odd place to play, considering they’ve played Barrymore’s. But…this parking lot has some serious symbolic value. That’s where Ottawa’s new concert hall is going to be built.

So if you want to experience a huge rockin’ good opera band for free – complete with a string quartet, 2 opera singers, and a 5-piece band – come to the parking lot behind 150 Elgin Street this Friday night (July 21) at 8:00. I’ll see you there. (And if you can’t make it, they’re also playing at the Stewart Park music festival in Perth on Saturday.)

It’s a tradition. On the first Monday in July that all three of us are on holidays, Orley, Jane and I meet for breakfast at the Ugly Club. We eat a good, hearty breakfast and then we drink beer all day.

So yesterday was the day. I honestly didn’t think I could drink beer all day, but I was up for breakfast and a beer. I walked over to the Ugly Club, and saw something interesting on the way.

My son was born on September 24, 1982 at the Grace Hospital. Whenever I pass by the site of the Grace Hospital – which has since been torn down – I think about September 24, 1982. So yesterday I was walking past the site of the Grace, thinking about September 24, 1982, and all of a sudden I noticed this car parked where the Grace used to be. Check out the license plate!

I got to the Ugly Club at the appointed time: 11:00. At 11:10, Jane arrived, and Orley came straggling in half an hour later. Sam made us breakfast even though we missed the breakfast cut-off time. (He knows how important it is for women to eat and keep their strength up during marathon drinking sessions.) Jane and Orley and I all confessed to one another we were incapable of drinking all day. None of us had been drinking much lately, and our drinking stamina was way down. We agreed to just have breakfast and a beer this time.

We drank beer until 8:00. I honestly don’t know how we do it. The hours just fly by while we exchange secrets, books, opinons, jokes, stories, rumors, whatever. All of a sudden, 8 hours and many pitchers of beer later, we’re congratulating ourselves and heading home.

I took the dog for a walk when I got home, and there was a quality sunset going on, so I went into the field to take a picture.

There were other people in the field, just lying around making films.

And then I went home and went to bed, satisfied that the tradition lives on and I am still capable of drinking beer all day long.

Another Bluesfest is over and done! Here are the last few pix to complete the Blue Stew.

Jody and Janet…listening to the Iguanas, I think.

This is the Green Bluesfestmobile.

I just passed by this stage on Saturday on my way to another stage, and noticed all these rapturous gospel singers. I thought they were a little bit scary, actually.

This is one of the Tony D & the Texas Horns jam sessions. That’s Drew Nelson up there with him. When my son was 17 and ready to move out and be a man and make his own rules, he phoned Drew and asked him to help him move. Drew said he’d help, but only if it was okay with me. (Good answer Drew.)

There’s a gaping philosophic chasm between chair people and non-chair people at festivals. I have always found the debate interesting. I’m not solidly for or against chairs, but I don’t bring one myself because I just don’t think of myself as one of the chair people. But on the last day of Bluesfest I had a blister and my legs were sore and frankly I was feeling a little burnt out after 10 days of bluesfesting. I wanted to sit down in a nice comfy chair. And suddenly, right in front of me, there was a young woman giving away free chairs, and all I had to do was apply for a Molson Canadian Mastercard. (She was giving away umbrellas too, but I don’t believe in umbrellas.) So anyway, not only did I get a free chair, but I told Janet about it and she got a free chair too, and we set up our free chairs and sat in them and pretended to be chair people for awhile. Janet said perhaps we had evolved, and I said perhaps we had sold out, but either way we were sitting pretty. Here’s Janet in her chair, and that beer in my chair is supposed to represent me.