If you’re a regular visitor to these pages you might recall previous family reunions with the name “Sharonstock”.
On the weekend we attended Sharonstock Four (IV), or as I like to call it, Sharonstock I-V. Every year it gets bigger and the band gets even better. What started out as a bunch of guys jamming together in a dusty back room at the Toyota plant has become an actual working band booking real gigs. The Dust Monkeys play classic rock and in between sets various daughters, brothers, friends and others get up to perform a number or two. Then we all eat a massive BBQ dinner and visit until the mosquitoes threaten to carry us away.
Every year, York Region Police officers have visited because of noise complaints. Last year they shut us down mid-afternoon. This year, brother-in-law Rob secured a permit and distributed notices/invitations to neighbours even farther out from his huge back yard. Some of them attended for the first time. Police did not.
The older we get, the more likely it is that we’ll only see cousins and other relatives at weddings and funerals. Sharonstock has become a fun way to get everyone together for some music, food and to catch up, much like Cornstock, a long-running annual get-together put on by second-cousins on my side of the family. Sadly it ended when the host farm was sold but there were great times while they lasted. And that’s the key isn’t it? Nothing lasts forever, so enjoy it while you can.
Speaking of family, since the ones who would normally look in on Spice were also at Sharonstock, we hired a pro to pop in, visit with and feed Spice. Jeve’s Pet Care was recommended to us by a colleague and they get four thumbs up. They follow your routine, make notes of how your pet was while they were with them (Spice was shy at first!) and they’ll actually text or email a photo of your furry friend to you. Spice wasn’t overly enamoured with Jeve at first, which is how he always is with unfamiliar men, but he warmed up to him later.
We will use Jeve’s again for sure. 