Jane Austen's "Emma" and a Tools Class

Saturday, February 11, 2023, was a big day.  Dave and I took Sam and Henry to the play, "Emma".  For Christmas, Jonny and Jenny gave us season tickets to the Parker Theater in Midvale and also bought season tickets for Sam and Henry.  The Parker Theater is the successor to "City Rep," the theater company for which Grandma Rose held season tickets while Michael and Jonny were little.  Jonny has fond memories of attending plays with his grandma, and he wanted his boys to have the same experience.

"A play about marriage, no matter how witty, has a hard time holding the attention of young boys," I reported to Jenny, after our afternoon with Sam and Henry.  Still, we had a great time together, sitting on the front row and eating enormous cookies during the intermission.  The next play is "Pirates of Penzance," and I am sure Sam and Henry will enjoy those swashbuckling, singing pirates!  I was also pleasantly surprised with how good the acting and staging was at the Parker Theater.  It was a very fun afternoon.

After we dropped Sam and Henry off to their parents, Jonny gave us a tour of the latest work on his house.  The old-fashioned facing on the fireplace is being stripped away, new wood floors will be installed, and the whole house will be painted.

I adore gardening, and I can hardly wait to get my hands back into the dirt in March.  In the meantime, I attended Wasatch Community Gardens' February 11 class on cleaning and sharpening garden tools.  I have often felt frustrated with dull, rusty pruners, but I assumed my only options were to buy new ones or find a professional tool sharpening company.

I spent a productive two hours cleaning and oiling my beloved pruners and then sharpening their edges with diamond sharpeners. 

I even tried the Japanese whetstones, one soaked in water and the other in oil.  I went home and ordered a set of oiling and sharpening tools for myself.  I then cleaned and sharpened a bin of garden tools while Dave and I watched the news.

I do enjoy belonging to the Wasatch Community Gardens "gardening community."  Next up are classes on "propagating vegetables" and "secrets of tomatoes."