Never mind ...

... it wasn't the flu.

I have pneumonia.

Apparently rice krispie lung is not normal. My doctor yesterday came in, muttering something about these things needing time to clear up on their own (which I know, and which is why I already cancelled my Tuesday appointment), listened to my chest, hopped up, raced out of the room and came back with a mask for me. At least I was there legitimately :-).

Many, many thanks to the happy little red pills that seem to be slowly clearing this up.

We just had the second wave of the three wave snow storm coming up from the States (thanks, Colorodo ... not!). Alison will be late for work this morning because of this ... Keep an eye to the right of the snow blower as you scroll down. Oh yes, there is our Honda. Oops.







We're expecting the last wave of the storm tonight and Sunday. The warnings from Weather Network have already started clogging my mailbox. To quote Kevin "Who lives in this country?" :-). Truly, I love the snow, but this was a little much. I'm just grateful for the high winds yesterday that blew much of it "away" ... somewhere ...

Happy snow daze to you all (okay, perhaps not our relatives in Georgia and Florida ... just think of what you poor souls are missing way down there :-D ) LOL.

Can I recommend something for keeping last minute Christmas spending in check?

It's foolproof.

The flu.

Blech. I actually have to try to get in to the doctor because although I'm over the acute part of this illness (high fevers, body ache extraodinaire, headaches) I can't seem to shake the breathlessness and exhaustion. Plus my lungs sound like a bowl of Rice Krispies :-) ... you know, snap, crackle, POP!

I managed to do a pathetic job of washing the kitchen floor yesterday ... then had to rest for two hours. Just sad.

My farmer friend Elmer came by yesterday on farm business, took one look at me and suggested I go to the doctors because his wife had pneumonia for six weeks in October, and apparently I bear a strong resemblance to her at that time. I know I don't feel that bad (at least not in the mornings!).

The only small show of productivity in the last week? Below. I've procrastinated these socks for ages because the wool wasn't fingering weight and I wasn't sure how to knit them to the right size. Then I procrastinated even longer because the skein got tangled and I didn't have any interest in the untangling process. Last snow day, I finally took time off from normal chores, and sat and made a centre-pull ball from the skein-mess. It took something over two hours. I'm glad I did though, because in the last week, this is about all I've managed!




It's a very fun pattern to do ... it's called a right twist, and the pattern is a four row pattern. Easy enough that even in my fog I can remember it ;-). The yarn was hand-dyed by my friend Ann-Marie, and Kev saw the skein, loved it and brought it home for me to knit up. Umm ... a couple of years ago. Better late than never! Unfortunately, my correctly-sized needle is missing (along with the socks for Alison I was knitting at the time) so I'm using quite a small needle for this heavier weight wool.

Stuart McLean, CBC's Vinyl Cafe, recorded at the Regent Theatre in Picton, Ontario

Stuart McLean of the Vinyl Cafe (CBC), speaking at the Regent Theatre in Picton on "Downtown Picton"

This is a delightful listen. Listen and learn about our town :-). Story surrounding this; my sister-in-law Kim was down to see Claire in Annie, and she prior to Annie we drove over to the bookstore (mentioned in the audio) ... Vinyl Cafe started and Kim was able to sit in Picton, listening to Stuart McLean ON Picton. Fun!

By the way, the ginger tabby cat's name is Miss Lily, and she is the mascot at Miss Lily's cafe, an awesome new cafe with lots of outlets for laptop computers, plus fair trade coffee and even (hurray) gluten-free desserts!

I love our community.

Finally, we managed a photo!!

Is that not the cutest thing? We have one more photo to get now ... when we go in to the coop at night, after eggs are collected, very often there is a large pile of chickens keeping warm together. If we look very, very carefully ... we can see a little pink nose in the middle of this feather blanket.

Perhaps we should be calling Roger "Rocky" instead, since he thinks he's one of our barred rocks!

Some people have point-and-shoot cameras; we have a point-and-shoot border collie.

The best thing I've done recently is to train Dickens to mouse. Two summers ago it was very dry and we had a huge explosion in the mouse population around our home. He caught on quickly, and, better than a cat mouser, actually learned to mouse on command. "Get the mouse!" said in an urgent voice would send him to the woodpile, or in to the field on a mission that wouldn't stop until he was successful (the wonderful obsessiveness of a border collie).

A few nights ago our garage door was not closed fully early one morning. Outdoor kitty made it in the house and was shooed out quickly. Apparently we had another guest as well!

For the last few days we've had gremlins. Cupboard doors mysteriously open, with things falling out. The dog searching behind our antique radio, where the cats don't fit. Yup, you got it.

Last night I stayed up until 11 (late for me) and as I headed upstairs, locking up, it finally occured to me that there had been a LOT of animal noise ... cats "playing" .... dog chasing ... I stood and watched what I presumed would be the dog chasing the cats ... and discovered instead all three chasing some unseen common target. Yup. A mouse in the house.

This would explain the open cupboard doors, the food falling out as the cats tried to squirm in to find the mouse. It explains the obsession our dog has had with our antique radio.

However, rather than being the crisis this may have been in the past (I have less than fond memories of our home in NJ; mouse traps, mouse "alarms" etc) ... instead, I called Dickens to heel and said, "Dickens, there's a MOUSE in our HOUSE! Get the mouse". I pulled the sofa aside, and he had it in about 8 seconds. I then called him, and told him to take it outside and drop it. And he did! Because he's a wonderful and very useful dog :-). No traps, no poison, no hysteria ... just calm and hyper-focussed border collie obsession. I tell you, I practically threw a party for him when he came back in the house; he knows he did a very good thing.

Here is he is in his "kick back and have a beer" pose. But you still see the glint in his eye ... "Anything else you want me to do? Huh? Huh? Can I find another one?"

Good dog.

On Black Friday in the U.S. ...

Please, let Black Friday stay in the States. We just. don't. want. it. here. 'Nuff said.

In honour of American Thanksgiving, the link to a blog post on "The Purpose of Thanks"

http://tolovehonorandvacuum.blogspot.com/2008/11/thanksful-thursday-purpose-of-saying.html

Sheila's hubby Keith was our kids' pediatrician when we first moved to the area, and Sheila has quite a large speaking ministry. I always enjoy her blog :-). I particularly appreciate this one.

2008 School Photos :-)

Iain, almost 11

Claire, almost 13

Alison, 14.5

The school was kind enough to let us purchase Iain's photographs, despite the fact that we pulled him out at Thanksgiving prior to order date. The frame thing on Alison's photo was much more subtle on the proofs, and we were a little disappointed by the final photos. However, the kids look fine and that's the important part ;-).

And now, a "blast from the past"; all the kiddoes one decade ago:

This morning I was up at o'dark o'clock ... (family stuff mostly)

driving Alison in to the high school. Today her class heads to University of Toronto, where they are participating in a very cool sounding drama workshop. The day culminates with a production of Romeo and Juliet, which is the play they are currently studying. And for this trip, not just any old school bus, but a lovely big Franklin Tours coach! Our drive in was somewhat complicated by the face that we had quite a frost, and do you think I could find even ONE scraper for the windshield??? Nope.

Kev is back to work after a fairly restful "vacation". He did still do some church stuff, and of course, the ever-present "Annie", but on the whole he was able to sleep in to normal hours, do some reading, watch some TV and get some chores done. I'm not sure he was ready to go back today ... Kev, want to comment here?? :-)

Today is ice-skating day for my home educated student. However Iain did not sleep well last night (the first night ever he's been bothered by nightmares) so I've sent him back to bed, and we'll see how the day progresses.

Claire is enjoying some respite this week ... no Annie practices at all prior to Friday night's performance. She's basically enjoying school, protecting her voice, and getting lots of rest. She requested a sleepover with a cast member on Friday night, but her mean parents (both of us) emphatically said "no"! We suggested she wait and have the sleepover on a night where it wasn't quite as essential that she actually have a good night's sleep ;-).

I sold my first two fleeces this week. These were Eddy and Coriander's lamb fleeces, shorn this fall. Thanks, Ann and Michelle! I've actually changed my decision on a lamb based on her fleece. Coriander is staying because her fleece is just yummy and I can't bear the thought of not having her sheared next year. Remember girls, I want constructive criticism back on fleece quality!

Front and back of the "Annie" program!

Two shots from "Annie" and a too-short visit from Mom and Dad!

Claire and Kevin, taken after the performance.



Annie singing on the "Bert Healey" show (this is the part that Claire liked the least as she is teetering on a tiny box for this song!)

We've had serious camera problems, but Mom and Dad, driven by my nephew Ged and his girlfriend Amanda, came for an overnight and an Annie performance yesterday. It was wonderful to see everyone (and in particular to meet Amanda!!!). I borrowed Dad's camera to take these.

I'm hopeful that they will be making and selling a DVD of the production since our technology has failed us big time!

"Annie" in the County Weekly News

We Remember

"Greater love has no one than to lay down his life for a friend." John 15:13

To those who gave their lives; we remember you.

From last year's Remembrance Day post:



And one more ... "Soldier Song"

"Enchanted Sleeping Beauty" from last June

My wonderful friend Vic managed to get some video of Claire and Alison last year in their school production. Here they are :-). Claire is Evilina, and Alison plays the spider. I'm not sure how long this will stay up; Claire was not thrilled to be playing a witch, and was fearful of perpetual typecasting as an evil character. Given that she was 12 here, I think she'll be fine, and hopefully I'll be able to upload bits of Annie at some point :-).



And here is a last minute a capella rendition of "Tomorrow" that Claire did for the Talent Show at Mummers Drama Camp this past summer. I'm looking forward to see how she has developed come Saturday :-).

Thus begins the chaos that is "Annie" ...

We attempted a non-permanent dye job yesterday. No go.

Today, I dyed Claire's hair red with permanent dye. It is very, very (NEON) red. It's not my idea of "Annie" red, however the friends I took with me to Pharmaplus (Thanks Vic and Sally!!!) were sure that this was the one. I have the unsettling feeling that it will reflect the stage lights much like a disco ball.

I hope I'm wrong.

I also hope that I find my camera SOON! At the very least, in time for "Annie" and a visit from Mom, Dad, my nephew Ged and his girlfriend :-).

We had a great time at the UCB gala last night, so Kev is officially on vacation for a week. Unfortunately, I'm still homeschooling and working on UCB stuff. He will fill his week with some reading, some TV watching, some church stuff, and some home repair-type projects. Not to mention, dress rehearsals starting tomorrow night and running all week.

Life is busily good :-).

One more You Tube video this morning (thanks, Bev for sending this on)

Obama's Victory Speech, and a Christian university student speaks out

The previous post ...

also explains why it's been SOOO long since I've posted anything. Between creating lesson plans for an unexpected homeschool year, school with Iain during the day, continuing to work for UCB, and all of our other commitments, life is very, very full :-).

Thoughts on education ...

First, let me share this poem that my sixth grader, while in the school system, had to memorize. The kids were put in groups, and they created music for the prose and presented the result in front of their classes.

Homework! Oh, Homework

Homework! Oh, homework!I hate you! You stink!
I wish I could wash you away in the sink,
If only a bomb would explode you to bits.
Homework! Oh, homework, you're giving me fits.

I'd rather take baths with a man-eating shark,
Or wrestle a lion alone in in the dark,
Eat spinach and liver, pet ten porcupines,
Than tackle the homework my teacher assigns.

Homework! Oh, homework! You're last on my list,
I simply can't see why you even exist,
If you just disappeared it would tickle me pink
Homework! Oh, homework! I hate you! You stink!

--Jack Prelutsky

Now, it's not that I'm not a fan of kid poetry. My guys grew up laughing at pretty much everything written by Sid Silverstein, who borders on the irreverent :-). But from the head of a classroom? As an assignment? At the BEGINNING of the school year?

I've been contemplating this post for quite some time. I will not trash the school system. It is fine ... for some exceptionally strong kids. My girls are thriving in school .. however I am grateful they didn't start there. They are wise, and they are discerning, and they put up with the garbage because they love to learn and they have not lost that.

The teachers, however, at our local elementary school, are so interested in getting the kids to be interested in school, that they are dumbing the material down farther and farther. Guess what? It's at best, NOT interesting to the kids, and at worst, completely detrimental to their education (which, face it, is not just about school but maintaining an attitude of curiosity and desire to learn throughout your life).

My son was removed from public school six weeks into grade six. Academics were not the reason he was pulled. However, in the first week of his time at home, I was thanking God we decided to pull him when we did. He had completely lost his interest in discovery and learning. I'm not exactly sure when he morphed into a school-hater, but he sure memorized this poem with gusto. Unfortunately, he strongly identified with it as well. In his class, general consensus is that if you are male, you hate school. Learning is for losers (hello?). And because of his boredom in class, he started to act out and cut up. Sigh. As I've been working with him over the last few weeks, I've been horrified to discover that had reached a point where he just.didn't.care.to.learn!

His reading list from public school was a list of second grade level readers. "Oh, he's reading!" the teachers cheer. But he's not LEARNING when he's not even trying stuff at grade level. This is not the teacher's fault, of course; they are busy with the kids who are not yet reading at all. He became so lazy in this environment.

So he came home. And mom has been pushing this lad. It has been like pulling teeth to get him to do his work, and it hasn't been loads of fun for his teacher. Our three weeks have been filled with comments like "My teacher wouldn't make me do that!" ... "Why should I do that?" ... "You are way too hard on me!" ... or my personal favourite (NOT) "It's not fair". Whether setting up math problems, or picking a reader, or writing cursive, or even typing using homerow vs. the hunt 'n peck method he's been using, his goal has been the bare minimum.

But bright spots are appearing. Last week, he acknowledged that he has become very lazy. Earlier this week, he admitted that the novel I am "FORCING" him to read, "The Gammage Cup", might not be so bad after all. (Note, this is an older fantasy novel with quite complicated language and sentence structure; he started out absolutely refusing to read it. And the novel study will be serious and significant work!)

And today, oh glorious day, something magnificent happened.

I assigned Iain a project on Canadians in space. Basically taken from the Ontario curriculum, I outlined a project studying several Canadian astronauts, astronomers, and industries involved in the Space program. It was boring. Black and white print. Lists of questions that were going to involve paragraph answers. I was expecting a lot of flack. Today, he looked at it, read a few lines and said, "Wow! This looks really interesting!" then spent about 45 minutes researching new Canadian space developments. He was excited to discover a recent invention called Dextre, and now wants to do a field trip to St. Hubert, PQ to visit the company that designed it! Well, perhaps we'll make a trip to the observatory at Queen's instead, dear :-).

There is hope. And I'll hold on to this moment when it seems like we've back-pedalled again :-). And with God's help, we'll continue on our journey from "learning s*cks" to "learning rocks"!

Prince Edward County

The Toronto Star is publishing a series on spectacular places in Ontario to view the fall colours. Prince Edward County is in the top five. The location cited: from Lake-on-the-Mountain, at the observation point, looking down to the ferry and Adolphus Long Reach, and over to the mainland at Adolphustown. We'll have to get over there with the camera today (haha, our schedule has been crazy; not likely going to happen!).

And continuing the emphasis on the County, rumour has it that we will be infiltrated by two more chains ... those "in the know" are predicting the arrival of a Wendy's as well as a Shopper's Drug Mart (perhaps this is why Pharmaplus is being completely renovated as we speak). A huge new Home Hardware is being built out at the corner of Loyalist Parkway and Scoharie Road. No Frills got approval for their big expansion. That will make four pharmacies and two fast-food burger joints in the County. I think there is room for all :-).

"The Saga of Kev's Jaw" and "Return of the Kitty-Meister" (aka "Relocation")

Starting with Kev's Jaw. Five or so weeks ago Kevin had a dentist appointment. He had a sore tooth, and it needed an old filling replaced. Just a routine, regular visit. Dentist put in a medicated temporary filling. After the visit, Kev's jaw started hurting ... extremely painful. Eventually he made his way back in, where the dentist discovered, with x-rays, that he had inadvertently dislocated Kev's jaw! Oops. Several weeks, and several bottles of Ibuprofen later, dentist makes plans to have him in this week to relocate his jaw under anaesthetic.

This past Tuesday, Kev and Iain were horsing around while Kev was on the recliner. "Somehow" Iain ended up kicking Kev in the jaw. It didn't seem like a really hard kick to those of us watching, but Kev was in agony (and not so thrilled with Iain!).

Fast forward to his last trip to the dentist. Dentist re-x-rays Kev's jaw, and comes back into the room holding the x-ray looking puzzled. "Kev, did anything happen to your jaw this week?"

Yup, one misplaced kick relocated Kev's jaw. Oops.

Now the kitty-meister story ... once little kitty was friendly enough, we relocated him to our neighbour's barn. She was hoping the two little kitties would stay and be barn cats. We left kitten (named Wisp by mom, Roger by Alison) there on Monday afternoon. His first sighting back with our chickens was yesterday (Thursday) and Alison took these photographs today. It really is remarkable, but I'm quite positive that this kitten, who was orphaned much too young, has decided that our chickens are his parents!

"But I'm already hatched!"



"Wanna play?"


Looking cute!


This one is incredible. It's not so clear here, but the hen is actually preening the kitten's fur!


Life is never dull here. Not. Ever.

A thought for today ...

We do not stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing.
- Benjamin Franklin

Play hard today, folks, and have a good one!

Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends! (and an interesting tidbit for all :-) ...)

http://www.kidzworld.com/article/2614-canadian-thanksgiving

So for years, I have thought (because I was TAUGHT) that the "first" Thanksgiving was the American one. I couldn't believe this link which my friend found. Our first Canadian Thanksgiving predated the Pilgrims by 43 years? Kewl.

Today ...

I am enjoying the last day of being at home alone. Actually, I'm really enjoying today because my husband has his Thanksgiving day off today and he is helping me organize the filing cabinet (woo hoo ...)

I am busily organizing because my life and daylight hours are about to become more complicated.

I am clinging to this verse in the Bible ...

• But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV
  

Because ...

I am on the threshold of once again becoming a home educating mom.

Yes, next Tuesday we will have children in three different schools ... Sophiasburgh Central (Claire, grade 8), Prince Edward Collegiate (Alison, grade 9), and School of Home and Community (Iain, grade 6). Can you say "Crazy". However, circumstances prevail and Iain is very much looking forward to "coming home" for the remainder of the year. And once I am organized, I am looking forward to being (at least partially) a home-educating family once again!

BTW, this has been coming for quite some time ... not a sudden inspiration at all. But not so long ago I was dead set against the idea. My heart didn't change until my husband gave a sermon at church one Sunday morning entitled "Constrained by Love". The conviction I felt from that message ... just wow.

So pray for us! The first few weeks of de-schooling can be rocky at best, and I will be juggling my home job as well this time around. We'll keep you posted!

And a quick peak at what is living in our chicken coop, besides the chickens, that is! :-)

Apparently two kittens were dumped at a neighbour's farm a week ago, and the little boy kitty has managed to migrate to our chicken coop. The hens have been very gracious to share their space. He was painfully skinny when he first showed up here; four meals later he's looking much better. We'll have to get him to a cat rescue; such a shame that he'll be living in a crate in someone's house for 3 months until he's old enough to neuter. He's a really cute little guy. He has a sibling around as well, but we've only had one brief sighting of her/him.

I speak quite often of our home in NJ, and about how much I loved it ...

and I promised one of you that I'd find a photo. Here is our last home, in Ewing, NJ ... taken at a rather dismal time of the year, but what a great house this was! (Time dims the memory of the new furnace we needed almost immediately, the re-ducting that had to be done prior to adding a/c, and the English Ivy that was actually growing through the basement window frames :-) ...)


I LOVE houses built in the 1950's. So solid it was, and so much storage. The loft above the garage stretched across the breezeway, with a staircase to the top. A full, unfinished basement. Knee-wall storage along half the front of the top story, and almost all the way across the back. Three pantries in the kitchen (two closets, one built-in hutch). Cherry trees, holly trees, different varieties of maple trees, a mulberry bush (just like yours, Janna!). Oh, and poison ivy!! Yuck. The grass on the front is not dead, nor is it even grass, but a plant called zoysia grass that is extremely heat tolerant and stays green without water all summer. And although you can't see in this photograph, the entire left front of the house is covered with massive rhododendron bushes.

I was talking to the kids the other day though, and we realized that this house would likely feel quite small if we still lived there. The girls shared the masterbedroom, which was a good size, but the living areas were fairly poky and small. Still ... awesome memories.

I am going through the filing cabinet, and have come up with all sorts of gems in the process ... AND considerably slowing the whole process as I do :-).

Guess what Kev is doing in January???

Here are his travel plans:

Leave Toronto 23rd Jan @ 8:30 am

Via Narita/ Tokyo

arrive Bangkok 24th @ 10:50 pm

Have a day (2 nights) in Bangkok and fly to Chaing Rai on the 26th

Return Leg

Leave Bangkok on the 31st @ 8:35 am

Arrive, via Tokyo to Toronto at 6:25 pm

Kev is representing Canada at the International Marketing Manager's Meeting of UCB International in Ciang Rai, Thailand. Cool, huh? (It's spelled incorrectly above). Claire is beyond jealous, because she has a HUGE heart for Asia. She's planning to slip in to his suitcase :-).

Kev got an interesting phone call today ... (updated)

The receptionist called out to Kev, "Kevin, there's a Michael on the phone for you!"

Kev answered, and a polite Southern accent on the other end said "Hi Kevin, Michael Smith here."

Any guesses on who it was??? :-D

I'll await comments!


Janna got it ... BUT for those of you who don't know who Michael W. Smith is, here are some YouTube videos:

Michael's newest video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk5K-eTTkfM

And a blast from the past, with apologies to Kev ;-) (not his favourite song)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbPKaIozS-c

Michael speaking about the slums in Kabera, Nairobi (Kenya) on behalf of Compassion International last year
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_12H7ISnLo

Please pray for us ;-)

Heaven help us all! I was hoping for saxophone. My vote didn't count. Tee hee.

Iain is definitely in the early stages of playing. He can do ... uh ... loud.

Occasionally, Kev will answer the phone "House of chaos, Kevin speaking." Only too true now.

For those of you who have never owned laying hens, a photo ... (Edited Oct. 7)

Here are the first 24 eggs laid by our new Plymouth Barred Rock hens. They are all same-age new layers (some newer than the others!). First eggs are very inconsistent. Check out the 6th egg on the 2nd row; that is definitely a first egg. It's about the size of a quail egg! Some of the larger eggs are likely double-yolkers which tend to occur more frequently when a hen first starts laying.

Update: This morning for breakfast, Iain and I ate two of the big eggs. They were indeed double yolkers :-). Yum!

It's all about dessert tonight :-)

Yesterday was the Quinte Youth for Christ Chili Cook-Off and Pie Auction. As I lay flat out on my back with the "Death Cold" (circulating the county apparently I found out today), Kev dutifully made a delicious huge pot of chili, and three incredible pies. Why I didn't take photographs, I'll never know. The pies he made were found at www.recipezaar.com, and were called Caramel Crunch Apple Pie, Preacher's Wife Peach Pie, and Pear and Apple Streusel Pie. These three pies were auctioned off for a grand total of $310!!! The proceeds to the event fund the local Christian Youth worker at our high school (and our dear friend) Andrew MacKay.

Tonight, Andrew's wife made my day! This part is also entitled "Why I Love gmail!" Those of you who use gmail understand. Those of you who don't, I must teach you ;-). Once you have a gmail address, there is a list to the side of your computer screen of all your friends who also have gmail. Each name has an "avatar" (small photograph), and a line affectionately known as the gmail tag. Groups of friends communicate all day through their tags, keeping abreast on projects, attitude, prayer requests ... you name it.

Today, Ann-Marie posted a very fun recipe (below) for "Coffee Mug Cake". I looked at it and thought "How fun! What are the chances it will work gluten-free". Then, twenty minutes later my lovely last-minute son announces that there is a French party in his class, tomorrow, and that he has to bring cupcakes or something. So, off we went. It worked! Here is the result:


We added chocolate chips and turbinado sugar on top to decorate. You could easily ice, or glaze, or use marshmallows or mm fluff. It needs something else (cinnamon? vanilla?) but still, fast and tidy! We made one for tonight, one for Iain tomorrow, and now Alison is making one for her and Claire's lunch tomorrow ;-).

Thank you gmail and Ann-Marie for this quick and easy fix to Iain's emergency snack need!!!

"COFFEE MUG CAKE"
http://www.dizzy-dee.com/recipe/chocolate-cake-in-5-minutes

60 mL flour (4 T) (Bette Hagman's gluten free mix works great)
60 mL sugar (4 T)
30 mL cocoa (2T)

Mix the above together in a regular coffee mug.

Add 1 egg to mug. Pour in 45 mL (3T) milk or milk replacement and 45 mL (3T) oil, and mix very well (if you're doing this with children, make sure you use a fork and mix in the corners at the bottom of the mug).

Microwave for 3 minutes in a 1000 watt microwave (in our 1100 watt microwave, 2 minutes 50 seconds worked).

Riding Lesson and New Hens

Alison was true to her word, and used up one more of her "banked" riding lessons to give Claire a turn. Here is Claire receiving instructions; once again, a lesson on Chevy. This horse is worth his weight in gold. He "reads" his rider's ability, then behaves correspondingly. If he senses a rank beginner, he does everything by voice command, and plods around like a downtrodden cart horse. If he has a beginner on board, he listens to the crudest aids. Once you hit intermediate, he picks up in energy level, and in his expectations of your ability to guide him, and can be downright naughty if you mess up at this point!





Claire has incredible posture; I fought my whole riding career with rounded shoulders and she looks like a dressage rider first time. She figures it's because of all of her voice lessons!


And of course, a video of Claire's first trot :-). You go girl!




This morning, Alison was working at the barn, and Kev and Claire headed off to an "Annie" practice. Iain and I hopped into the van and headed north of Shannonville to bring home these 8 lovely ladies. They are barred rock laying hens, and they are just starting to lay now. We purchased them from a 55 year old gentleman named Tom, who delayed his midlife crisis until age 54, when he convinced his wife they had to sell their lovely rural-home-on-1-acre, and buy an old farmhouse and barn with 16 acres so he could raise sheep and chickens/turkeys/ducks/you name it! We purchased 8 of his crop of 90 2008 day-olds.



First one in the coop! Plymouth Barred Rocks are a heritage breed. Nowadays, backyard breeders tend to purchase hybrids that can be easily sexed as day-olds, and that have increased egg production. Up until now, we've only had hybrids; the last hens were a Barred Rock/Rhode Island Red hybrid. But look at those gorgeous barred feathers!


All in and getting used to the new "digs" ...


Here's a close-up. (Janna, you must know that I'm specifically thinking of Eli when I post all these chicken photos!!! He does love his farm animals ;-) ...)


And lastly, a video ...

Baa baa black sheep ...

Another busy week. Work, homework, working on our homestudy for fostering purposes, picking up fresh lamb (yum)!

Each year I aim to ship the boys at 90 pounds. Last year (my first year) they ended up at about 105 and 120 pounds live weight. Oops. And "over-conditioned" (a kind euphemism for FAT).

This year, I did not pour the feed into the ram lamb. He has basically been grass fed only. Plus, being half Shetland, he is smaller. I took him in last Wednesday, fearing again that he might be too big. We do not have scales. There is a way to guesstimate based on heart girth measurements etc. which is quite interesting; every year I contemplate doing this in order to compare to the results after slaughter. Every year, time gets away from me, and I just wing it. (I just looked for the link and it appears to have disappeared from internet-land!)

Kev picked up our frozen lamb today. Total weight of lamb home is 42 pounds, which is ROUGHLY a live weight of 84 pounds. So this time, I sent him a little early. Oh well ... still closer than last year, and this meat will be even that much more melt-in-your-mouth tender.

We are also doing a "first" this time around. No photos though. We are currently salting his pelt, drying it out fully to get it ready for processing. Lamb skins are incredibly expensive to purchase, so we thought we'd try it once. I imagine we'll ship it to a processor rather than doing the tanning ourselves.

More farm news. Our most recent flock of black sex-link chickens was donated to the local food bank (via a kind gentleman who processes them for free!) and we have been busily readying the coop and pen for the new small flock. Originally we were going to take the winter off and get layers in the spring. It seems like a great idea ... until we look at store bought eggs. The ones that look like our eggs (but not quite as nice) are up to $5 per dozen (hello???). Then, I noticed a post at the Eastern Ag News board advertising ready-t0-lay Barred Rock hens. Well. Even the boy who does the majority of the chicken chores is excited again about having chickens, because he has always wanted Barred Rocks! Iain and I head out tomorrow morning to pick up eight new laying ladies, while Alison is working at the barn and Kev and Claire are at an "Annie" practice. Photos tomorrow!

Claire LOVES reading and writing poetry ...

I am organizing and decluttering today, and I came across this poem. Claire wrote it when she was just 5, and I still think it is quite extraordinary. I have her original copy, with a little picture of a girl on a sailboat, and age appropriate spelling (aim instead of I'm! although now that I look at it that was her only spelling mistake).

Sailor

I'm gonna be a sailor and sail out to sea;
I'm gonna be a mother and take care of three;
I'm gonna be a zookeeper and feed wild cats;
I'm gonna be a bug catcher and catch yellow gnats;
I'm gonna be a dancer and dance across the stage;
I'm gonna have a canary and keep it in a cage;
I'm gonna be a sailor and sail out to sea;
I'm gonna be a mother and take care of three.

copyright 2002 Claire Audrey Stenhouse


I love finding gems like this, and I'm so glad I've kept some of their earlier work! Each of the children have a file in our filing cabinet where the best school work gets saved each year. This was VERY helpful for Alison's Venture application this past April.

Mucho miscellaneous!

Okay, I'm playing catch up here, so this is a real hodge podge post ... my apologies. First of all, update on Kevin ... he has not used a cane in a month! He's doing very, very well! The last time he went in to the doctor's office sans cane, Dr. Blanchard was pretty much stunned, in the nothing-short-of-miraculous meaning of the word. (Sadly, Kev's cane, the cool one with the flames, was actually STOLEN while Kev was at the car wash in Picton. Can you imagine??? I guess it looked a little too much like Dr. House's cane!).

Secondly, two Picton Fair submissions:



Here is the felted purse that Claire made for the Fair this year. It won first place! It was a lot of work for her, and took her most of the year -- she's not as much in to fibre-y stuff as other pursuits. However, she did do everything but attach the handles (and I helped her by designing the loop closure as well). So fun!

And below is Iain's entry; "A Selection of Heritage Tomatoes". There wasn't really a category for his entry, but it was so fun he put it on display anyway :-). The tomato plants were given to 4H members by Vickie's Veggies in the County. We have had a glorious August eating tomatoes with names such as Trent, Quinte (canning varieties from this area), German Striped, Sungold (the BEST and FIRST tomato I can pop in my mouth like candy!!!), Yellow Pear Tomato, and others whose names escape me at the moment. We will definitely do this again next year.



Now some shots from last weekend's Milford fair. Milford is a village in the south County, and they put on an adorable one day fair. We don't make it every year, but this year since Claire is playing "Annie" she (and Kev) had to be on the Marysburgh Mummers Float.

This is Mount Tabor Theatre, in Milford. This is the old church, build by Dr. Bredin, that has become the home of the Marysburgh Mummers:


Just down from the theatre, across the road, is the mill pond that Milford is known for:


Here is the Mummers' float, with Claire in front. She was pretty nervous but managed to do the smiling and waving thing for most of the route. Daddy Warbucks is played by the son of Claire's voice teacher! For the production, we'll put a rinse in her hair and do ringlets; she had a wig provided by the theatre company but vetoed it instantly :-).




Side view of the Mummer's float ... Kev is wearing the cool hat, and our good friend Ann-Marie is up their as well! They both have 3 plus parts each. Kev was initially asked to consider being Daddy Warbucks, however it's a bad time of year for him to be that invested in a performance so he's pleased to be playing several minor roles, including the policeman.



Here is my friend Michelle. Her family (the Frasers) are a big county family. One of her sons is in the front seat ...


... and here is her oldest son, Blake, playing as part of Grandpa's Goodtime Gang. Blake was Alison's fiddle teacher.


I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE a good rural Fair!!!

It's fun movie trivia night (not a normal event on this blog!)

Tonight our family watched "Camp Rock", with the Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato. It was a fairly plotless, completely predictable teen romp, however we kept eyeballing the scenery and saying ... wow, that looks familiar. A few minutes on Google, and we came up with the filming locations of this movie, all in Haliburton/Minden, Ontario! One camp, a boys camp on Gull Lake, called Camp Kilcoo; the other camp called Camp Wanakita outside of Minden on Koshlong lake. Camp Wanakita (mom and dad, get this) is the YMCA camp of the Hamilton and Burlington area YMCAs. Here's a link to a map of the area ... I tried to embed it but wasn't able to.

http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Minden,+ON&ie=UTF8&ll=45.006564,-78.634644&spn=0.464115,0.64682&z=10

You'll see Gull Lake at the bottom. Minden is sort of centre. To the north of Minden is Boshkung lake; to the left is a very skinny lake called Lake Kuschog, a lake where I spent some time while growing up. My dad's two sisters own cottages on this lake. To the northeast of Minden is Lake Kashagawigamog. Kev and I stayed at a lovely resort on this lake for our honeymoon! And directly to the right of that lake is a small lake that doesn't have a name on the map, but it is Koshlong lake, where the other filming location was.

Just one more example of the long list of American films that have been shot in Canada. One of our personal favourites? "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" was filmed in Toronto. "The Day After Tomorrow" was filmed partially in Toronto and Montreal. "Fly Away Home" was actually filmed in Prince Edward County (Sandbanks Provincial Park, as well as flying scenes over north county and Quinte area, and Toronto! It always struck me as odd that the movie "Chicago" was filmed in TO. "Fantastic Four" was filmed in Vancouver. Portions of "Titanic" were filmed in Halifax and Vancouver. Others are at this link (interesting article):

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2007/nov/01/kellynestruckthursampic

Wow.

Very, very busy.

Sorry ... no time to do much here.

We do have a home visit with CAS coming up on Thursday. This past weekend was Fair Weekend. I have TONNES of work right now ... which is impinging on my time here.

Hope to fill in later in the week!

Look what Iain did today! Plus a photo of the girls ...

Alison had quite a few lessons "banked" in exchange for work at the barn all year, and was unable to use them all up before the end of the summer. She decided to give me, Iain and Claire all a riding lesson! Obviously there are no photos of me attempting to ride ... I felt a bit clutzy, but it was awesome. Today, it was Iain's turn. He has never really been on a horse before, and he did really well for a rank beginner. He even trotted several times, which was his favourite part. He has never been interested in horses before the Olympics this year. He became quite fascinated with the Grand Prix dressage, and when Alison offered the lesson, he was quick to take her up on it.


Mary is quite a cautious instructor, but he ended up doing circles at the walk without Paige leading him, and using inside leg and rein to guide Chevy.


Claire will have her lesson in a couple more weeks.

Claire received some photos from a friend today, and I LOVED this one of Alison, Claire and their friend Angela. It was taken at Alison's grad in June.

It's a historic and bittersweet day today :-(.

http://www.fborfw.com/strip_fix/

The incredible comic strip, that my children and I have grown up with, is ... done.

This is it.

The Pattersons will no longer age, change, adventure anew.

And what is terribly poignant, for those who have been following this last storyline, and in particular this last strip, is that Lynn Johnston's husband left her last year.

For those who never followed this strip, it is truly exceptional. It will continue. Lyn is retraining herself with a simpler style; the characters will no longer age and it will be present day humour alone.

Adios, Patterson family ...

Auditions held the last two nights down at Mount Tabor Theatre in Milford

Kev took Claire down, and both auditioned for parts. Kev didn't particularly want a major role, although the director had initially targeted him for Mr. Warbucks. He is thrilled that instead, he's going to play several minor (and, of course, character) roles.

And Claire will be Annie! She is beyond thrilled (and somewhat terrified ;-) ...). But her eighth grade year will be a good year for her to do this; she's in good shape academically and I would be less likely to encourage such a large part in high school. Plus she is UBER organized and I have complete faith that she will be able to maintain her school work and family responsibilities.

The theatre company they are a part of is The Marysburgh Mummers.

So excited for her ... :-) (and grateful that Kev is involved too, and will be doing the driving ;-) ...!)

Note to a child.

It is unwise, at this time of the month ;-). and when Mom has been outside since 7:30 moving a few hundred metres of Electranet fencing so that we have new pasture and are ready for winter ... when she has been digging up thistle plants and milkweed because they are alternately fleece-destroying and poisonous ... when at 10:30 a.m. she NOT YET had coffee nor breakfast, and when after she gobbles those, she must buckle down at the computer and work for a couple of hours, in amongst laundry and booking appointments and sundry other things ...

it is unwise ...

very, VERY unwise ...

to whine in reply "It's not fair!" when asked to do a chore that you should have done already this morning. A chore which you haven't done because you've been reading comic books and playing with the three caterpillars you've made a home for in your bedroom.

Heh, heh, heh.

Love (really!),

Mom.

P.S. But MANY, MANY thanks to the child who happily cleaned our entire house this morning, blasting ABBA (can you believe it) and singing at the top of her lungs :-).

2008 PEC 4H Sheep Club Acheivement Day, August 17, 2008

Here are the three handlers and lambs that went to the Achievement Day from our place.

Here is Claire, with FFF C0riander. I love this lamb. Her fleece is to-die-for crimpy, all the way out to the tip, and consistent all over her body. She has a lovely soft face (Arcott golden sheen) and a very sweet small head (courtesy her Shetland sire). She was extremely well behaved. She placed 2nd in the fleece class, and 3rd in intermediate showmanship.


Here is Alison with FFF Rosemary. Rosie looked REALLY great at home this morning of the show, but didn't show well. She must have been a bit stressed; she looked like an old plug during the the fleece class! Her fleece isn't quite as nice as Corianders, although it's still better than any other fleece I've had on my property so far, and she is still very consistent. She's also a bit taller than Corrie. She got a third place in the fleece class, and Alison won Senior Showmanship with her (and Reserve Champion Showmanship later in the day).



This is Amanda, our neighbour, with FFF Peppercorn. It's her first year in 4H, and her first club. She goes to the kids' school, and Alison encouraged her to join the club. Alison spent a lot of time with her; she was a great student, and was also the first to dive in and help out with chores around here this summer. She wowed everyone at the show. She won first place in Junior Showmanship, AND won first place in the fleece division. The judge made lots of nice comments about her being and up'n'comer. (Now, I personally would not have placed Pepper first in the fleece class, however the judge used to breed Texels and put a heavier emphasis on conformation). Since Pepper has Texel in her lineage, and picked up the stocky body type of her sire, she was a shoe-in over the other fleece animals. BUT, her fleece is NOT consistent, not very crimpy, and VERY inconsistent with substantial britch hair. She's very much her mom's daughter when it comes to fleece. (Her mom, Jazzy, won the Market Lamb class at last year's show).



So yes, lambs from our place took top three spots in the fleece class. I REALLY didn't want that to happen; the judge made lots of encouraging comments about how our three lambs were in top-notch perfect showing condition; perfect weight, yada, yada ... but then went on to describe how the other lambs were not. She wasn't particularly tactful. I was a little embarrassed. The other lambs in the class were purebred Shetlands, and one could say that the difference was that Shetlands don't tend to keep condition as well ... except that last year the class was all Shetlands and our little girl, from a different judge, again was much more conditioned that the others.

So.

Somehow, on our measly 3.25 acres, we do something right! Certainly one advantage we have is that we ONLY have sheep, and the other farms have mixed livestock including goats. Goats are very dominant to sheep, and I've noticed when visiting these places that their sheep all look much more nervous. I expect that affects their condition. Or perhaps it's the soymeal treats we feed them ;-).

Here's a shot of the final showmanship class.


Here's a small portion of the obstacle course. Jeff put a lot of work into it! The kids had a lot of fun, and after the show, Alison actually took all three of our lambs in-hand and put them through it :-P.




And, one of my favourite photos from the day ... Farmer Kev holding one of the lambs. Voluntarily! Really :-).


A photo of the 2008 livestock club, missing a couple of members unfortunately!