The Day the Circus Came to Town

     Growing up in and around Toronto, Ontario, we had experienced a variety of different circuses. I don't remember ever going to any circuses as a child but as an adult, I have been to a number of them -- Shrine Circus, Ringling Brothers and even Cirque du Soleil. So I have seen some amazing performances, but on a hot day in Montague we saw a mediocre small-town circus.

     On this day, the circus had ten acts. Some of them were short and sweet and not of high skill but the kids in the audience were enthralled. The tents and some of the equipment looked old and well worn. A lot of the focus was on first selling pop corn and sno cones and as the show continued the focus changed to the selling of circus novelties, photos taken with "minions" or a ride in a small train. My favourite act of the day was the woman who did "hula hooping". It was colourful.

     The Great Benjamin's Circus is a family of 3rd generation circus performers originating out of Mexico and the United States. Their promotional material describes their Circus as a "one of a kind experience" which brings to the audience one of the oldest forms of live family entertainment, featuring clowns, jugglers, acrobats, daredevils and much more. Their goal is to entertain children of all ages.

     They sure did that. The audience that hot afternoon enjoyed the entertainment.

Act 1: The Space Wheel

 

 Act 2: The trained dogs

Act 3: The Aerial Strap

Act 4: The Clown -- silly stuff

Act 5: The Aerial Silk

Act 6: Fire Breathing

Act 7: Aerial Hoop and Mouth Piece

Act 8: Hooping

I like this action photo -- 32 hoops at once

Act 9: Clown Strong Man

 

Act 10 (final): Globe of Death

  

     In Newmarket, Ontario, we also had circuses come to town. One year, we had some excitement when the circus elephants escaped their pen. Click here to view the 911 call concerning the elephants. 

     I think that I will wait until I can take a grandchild with e before attending another circus.

35 Years Married

August 21, 1982 - 2017

35 years together

Many more to come!

Workshops on the Water

      I love learning a new skill in the field of crafts or art. This year is no different. In Montague, the old train station has been turned into a visitor centre, restaurant and in one large space, houses the Workshops on the Water. Linda, the proprietor, is a lovely woman who schedules a wide variety of workshops that are "fine art, fine craft, fine learning".

     I participated in a workshop on how to make heritage floor cloths. I have always wanted to learn this. During the two-day workshop, we were taught about preparing, painting and glazing a canvas to make a floor cloth. We learnt a variety of methods to create different looks. There were 7 ladies in the class with varying levels of painting skills. These women came from all over. One was from the States who has a summer home on PEI, three were friends who grew up together close by -- one of them works in the Northwest Territories during the winter but comes home every summer -- and another participant is from the west side of the island. It is wonderful to meet new people and learn why and how they are in the area. Every story is different just like their floor cloths -- all different!

     All we had to do was bring an idea of what we wanted to paint on our canvas. My inspiration for my floor cloth came from a beautiful rug that I saw in the Montague Museum and I chose to use the colours of my kitchen in Newmarket I had renovated three years ago (has it really been three years? -- Wow!).

     I had a wonderful time working on my floor cloth. The instructor, Margot, came all the way from Rockport, Ontario to teach us the techniques. 

This is the rug that was my inspiration for the pattern.
It is a rug that is on display in the Garden of the Gulf Museum in Montague

The colours of my rug was taken from the colours I had in my newly
renovated kitchen in Newmarket, Ontario

     Below are photos of the progress of my floor cloth. Of course, my design was time consuming and I had to develop a certain way of making it look similar to the swirls in the original rug. I think it worked out quite well. Try something new! It may be your new hobby.

Lots of measurements and lines drawn along with lots of taping to paint the design

Working hard but having fun!

The design is progressing

Lots more to go!

Looking at the progress

At the end of the two days. Painting is done but I still need to trim the cloth,
put a "wash" on it and then glaze.

The finished product.

Here is a close up of the design

On the Fringe

       One weekend we went to Charlottetown to see a few shows in the Island Fringe Festival: Take the Plunge. We were quite excited, or at least Al was, to be attending another Fringe Festival.  Fringe Festivals across the world generally consist of street performers such as magicians, circus type performers -- street  buskers as well as hour long shows that are performed on a stage or similar settings.

     Here is a description of the history of  Fringe:

"It all started in 1947 in Edinburgh, Scotland, as an alternative festival that played concurrently with the Edinburgh International Festival. Though not invited to participate, groups of actors, musicians, and the like performed at various venues on the fringe of the EIF. In 1948, Robert Kemp, a local journalist, gave it the name Fringe: "Round the fringe of official Festival drama, there seems to be more private enterprise than before..." (Read more about Fringe history at Wikipedia.)"

If you want to learn about What is Fringe click here

     The first one we attended was in Edinburgh, Scotland. We just happened to be walking down a street in the meddle of downtown and there were lots of performers along the street doing their acts. We watched many of them. We did see that there were plays and stage performances available for us to attend as well but we did not have the time or understanding of what it was all about.

     The second one we attended was in Perth, Australia and again we just happened to walk down the right street. We saw very few street performers, maybe one, but we did take in a good show, 6 Quick Dick Tricks: A Dirk Darrow Investigation. You can read more about this in our February 15, 2017 blog post.

Entrance to Fringe World in Perth, Australia

     So now we went to see the Fringe Festival: Take the Plunge in Charlottetown, PEI. There were no street performers which is too bad because they can get the public excited about the other performances in the festival. There were six or seven different performances playing in a variety of locations. We took in two of them. The first one was:

     Sarah Hagen is a classical pianist whose story was not the typical. In her past, she has played Carnegie Hall so her story was not about how she got to Carnegie Hall but how she got from Carnegie Hall to a fringe festival in PEI. Her humour was dry but good. The straight face you see in the above poster is the one she used throughout her performance. The lines were delivered well and it was an enjoyable 60 minutes. Sarah did play a full classical piece during the show and it was wonderful. 

     For those who live in Newmakret, Ontario, watch for her performance in September at the Riverwalk Commons stage. I would be interested in seeing how she explains how she got from a Fringe Festival to the Riverwalk Common stage in Newmarket. After the show, I was speaking with her and she is looking forward to being in Newmarket and being the performing guest of Mayor van Bynen.

     The second show we attended was called, "What's so Funny About...?"  The possibilities for this show were enormous but unfortunately it missed the mark. It was two so-called local comedians who basically interviewed a person of interest. Each show they had a different person that they were interviewing. The person in this show was a guy who makes his living writing music for TV shows, games, commercials and movies. You know, the back ground music they play to develop the atmosphere of what is going on the screen. It was very interesting to hear how this guy developed his business and reputation but there was nothing funny about it, not at all. He gave a few anecdotes but nothing that I would consider a "thigh slapper". During the hour, about a quarter of the audience walked out. Oh well, that is life.

     Even though one show was a dud, that does not mean that we would not attend another Fringe Festival. I would highly suggest that you be very selective of the shows that you see though.   

In The Image of Man

     At the North Cape lighthouse there is a small red beach and many people have left their marks by making an Inukshuk. The beach is scattered with them. The rocks on this beach were ideal for making small ones. Why are people to fascinated with this figure?

     "Inukshuk, pronounced in-ook-shook and meaning "in the image of man", are stone monuments. One of their purposes was to communicate direction in the harsh and desolate Arctic.  As such, they were a tool for survival and symbolic of the unselfish acts of a nomadic people - the Inuit - who built them as signposts to make the way easier and safer for those who followed. In the past, these sculptures were massive and were a product of cooperation, teaching us that as good as our individual efforts may be, together we can do even greater things." Description from www.weegates.com

     

    To learn more about Inukshuks click here     

    

Art on the Tidal Flats

     We have explored several tidal flats on our travels. It is interesting to see the art left behind by the receding water. Here are some photos

Al walking the flats

Bev looking for treasures

     After the water has receded, the organic materials left behind can make interesting patterns.

      While walking on the tidal flats we found all sorts of different items you would classify as trash. We found several golf balls so we set up our own photo.

"The mother of all pearls"

A living snail leaving a trail as it moves along

A  longer trail made by a snail

Unfortunately this crab is no longer living.

Two snails