April 2nd

This day was the last day of the second week of shooting, so I was pretty much beside myself with happiness. We had some strange weather in that week, but it had been so nice previous to this that things were looking exceptionally springy outside. This turned out to be a bit of a problem for Iris, who had picked the shooting to be in March specifically because she wanted it to look grey and somewhat desolate (but beautiful), and by the third week she was scratching her head trying to figure out how to match the outdoor shots together, since the colours outside had completely changed in that little time. The grass immediately went from brown to green, the trees exploded into buds and the frogs were singing at top volume day and night. Despite the insanity that was going on, and despite working at a pace that I can identify as being absolutely Not Country, it was such a sweet relief to be able to sit on the porch and hear so many lovely bird sounds. On this last day of the second week crew call was for an ungodly 6am, so I was up before 5 to do breakfast, and once everyone had gone to film at the hospital, I made a cup of tea and sat outside by the willow pond to watch the sun come up. There was a breeze blowing that was very warm, almost hot. It was so nice to be so alone, sitting on a plastic chair listening to pond and bird cacaphony, watching the moon set and the colours lighten in the sky. And then to go in, be back in bed by 7 and sleep until it was time to get up again. Things took a better turn this week as well since we had gotten the sauna into regular use. I can't say enough about Don's handiwork in putting that thing together. He constructed it out of old cedar fenceposts and built it inside a fibreglass kwanset hut that was on the property. The monastery is at an advantageous place, nearly on the brow of the escarpment, so that if you are walking north, towards the sauna at night, which is glowing from the light inside, you can be having a perfectly rural experience and still actually see all of the lights across Lake Ontario, from Burlington to Toronto. The sauna immediately became a very important part of my daily routine, now matter how tired I was at the end of the night. It was amazing.

During the second week I also started to feel guilty about how much sugar and carbohydrate-laden snacks everyone was consuming, so I started to branch out and offer fruit platters, healthy dips, vegetable trays and the like, which all went over very well. My favourite dip that I've ever come up with is very easy to make and I think quite healthy. You start with some feta cheese, maybe about half a cup, and put it in a bowl with lots of black pepper. Squeeze a whole lime over it. Also add a modest amount of pureed raw garlic, maybe 1 small clove, and about 1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil. Mash it together with a fork until the feta cheese is quite broken down and blended with the lime juice and oil. You can here add, as an option, maybe a tablespoon of dried oregano. Then blend into this mixture about 1 1/2 cups of plain yogurt. Adjust the seasonings to your taste, add more feta if you would like it saltier, or more yogurt or lime juice if you want it less salty. This is so easy to pair with vegetables, crackers, even in a sandwich.

On Friday when the crew had returned from shooting in Gasline the weather was back to being beatific, and suddenly everyone found themselves resting on the many lawn chairs at the side entrance of the house, availing themselves of the fridge full of Steam Whistle. Thanks to their generous donations, we had enough beer for everyone to enjoy, and some for a wrap party the following week as well. No one could have been working harder than that film crew, and we all know how much better beer tastes after you've been working very hard. After a long winter, it was just singularly sweet to see everyone, quite relaxed, sitting outside for a change and enjoying themselves.

- Deirdre



On the weekend the weather was so lovely that Dan, the film's main producer, decided to stick around. We put up a hammock and smelled the wildflowers and put the sauna to use and generally had a really nice time.

- Iris