Summer 2013 - Adventure in Ottawa

The Parliament buildings!  The Canadian War Museum! The Museum of Civilization!  Maurice the Rocket Richard!  It doesn't get any better than all this greatness ... but, wait! It did.  Dinner and ice cream with Binkys was spectacular and a really nice way to enjoy our nation's capital.  Merci, mes amis.

And now:  a series of arty photos with things coming out of our heads!

Summer 2013 - Adventure in Niagara Falls

It had been many years since we visited Niagara Falls and it had hardly changed at all. Clifton Hill was jam-packed with tourists, the Maid of the Mist was exhilaratingly misty, Brock's Monument was impressively grand.  And hanging out with the family-gang was, as ever, so enjoyable! 

Pinky McPinkster

Wow! The saying goes "Pink sky at night, teacher's delight!"
Umm, doesn't it?  The countdown to a new school year has begun:  11 days.

I See the Light

Four years ago we moved in to this house, and we've been trying to find light fixtures for the front hall /foyer and mudroom ever since.  Not an easy decision!  They must be tight to the ceiling (to prevent flies from getting in), bright and able to use flourescent bulbs, easy to take apart to change the bulb, and they must fit in with our decor ...  WHEW!  Oh, and P and I must agree.  This might be the most challenging of the requirements.

So, at long last, here they are.  If you don't like them, please don't tell P!

This photo does not do it justice but here's the Cavan version of the SUPERMOON!

Chainsaw in Action

"I'll just trim these stumps so the lawnmower can drive right over them ..."  he said, implying that it would be a 15 or 20 minute endeavor.

A few hours later, it looked like a tornado had leveled the area.  Branches and saplings littered the ground.  So, we picked it all up, carted it to the burn pile and lit 'er up.

Marshmallows, anyone?

The Quest for the Holy Grail, er, Tractor

After much hunting for the perfect tractor in our price range, P located one.

He arranged the trailer and the driver and bright and early this morning they set out on their quest.

Over mountains and across rivers, battling dragons and storms, they sought their holy grail.

Et voila ... mission accompli.

Oh Deer Me!

P and I came home late last night when we came across a mummy and her baby trying to cross the road by our farm.  I whisper-yelled at my husband, who promised to obey me 22 years ago in front of lots of witnesses, to get his phone and he snapped this pic through the windshield. It was raining lightly and the deer were walking cautiously in front of us.  Was it Bambi's first outing?  He's so little and they both looked tentative.  A minute later they were bounding across the field into the darkness.

Dog and catapult

A high school science project is in the works. The requirements are to build a catapult that can launch a softball a minimum of 10 meters, but of course, farther than that will earn the student many many more marks! So S has been hard at work re-creating a better, faster, stronger catapult.

This project is due this week ... in just a few days.  The pressure is on.

I wonder how far it would launch a dog?

Depending a pond

Ah, this gorgeous warm weather bring with it the responsibilities of land owners, which means keeping said land in tip-top shape. And so, we don our new Christmas gifts, the chest waders.  What an inspiring invention!

All you have to do is walk carefully with arms held just-so above the water so as to keep them dry. Easily said. Then, kick up bits of trees and wood and other manky stuff to the water's edge.  It was surprisingly deep! We thought it would be just about 2 or 3 feet deep, but it was well over 4.  And really mucky on the bottom!

 

After all the work, a bit of flipping around was in order.

 After all that flipping around, some family time looking at photos was just the thing!

 And after all that photo-gazing, a thirst-quenching toddy was on the menu.  We had, after all, worked up quite a thirst!

Ice Ice Baby

On Friday morning, our area was hit with a terrible ice storm and our power knocked out. Now, 48 hours later, we are still without power. So, I grabbed the camera and took a few pictures. It's like nothing I've ever seen before.  Beautiful and awful at the same time.

The weight of the ice on the tree branches cause lots of the to break and fall, and we will have a lot of clean up to do in the next few weeks.  A huge maple on our road was split in two and fell on top of the power lines, dragging them down to the ground and blocking the roadway completely.

We're using candles and oil lamps (courtesy of Auntie Mary ... thank you! Thank you!) to get through the dark evenings.  We've been playing lots of card games and listening to the wind up radio.  Kinda fun ... but we're ready for things to go back to normal.  We'd like to have a warm house, frozen ice cream and clean clothes.  

 With the cold drizzle, the flow of water in our creek became pretty high and fast. You can still see the twists and turns of the creek, but the water is much higher than it's banks. The next day it subsided again but it's still higher than usual.  What an adventure!