Well, the Fall Fair was most enjoyable.  As a family, we entered 18 different items.  In a nutshell, we won 6 first places, 6 second places, and one third place.  There was quite a bit more competition in some categories than there has been in previous years.

Belle won first place for her oatmeal raisin cookies, and second place for her skirt.  The beaded bracelet she made didn't place, but as that was her first attempt at anything like that, I am still pleased with what she made.
Here is the skirt.  Isn't it pretty?  She wanted it quite long.
Boo placed second in both the Lego category and the "My Favourite Collection" category, in which he put his collection of fishing flies.  He had taken the time and made the effort of carefully writing out the name of each fly.  I was proud of him.  He placed third in "A Big Cookie".  He had made M & M cookies, and they were delicious.

Here is his Lego effort.
It is a cutaway of a mobile police/emergency mobile station.

My husband took first place in both the Tea Biscuit and Cheese Scone category, and second in the Shortbread.  We have to chuckle over the shortbread because for some reasons the judges seem to prefer "whipped" shortbread (which looks to me like those buttery cookies you get in tins) to the real Scottish style shortbread.  Oh well, two pounds of butter as second prize is nothing to sneeze at.

I managed to do pretty well with my Pineapple Upside-Down Cake and Breadmaker White Bread--taking first in both again this year.  The winners in that category get auctioned off to raise money for next year's fair.  The same lady who bought my cake last year, bought it again this year!

I also earned one first and one second in the Amateur photography section.  That was a first for me this year, and I entered 6 photographs.  I was pleased that a couple of them placed well.

Last but not least, was the cross-stitch.  I didn't have time to get it framed (nor did I really want to frame it here because I plan to take it to Scotland).  The competition was quite stiff and the first-place piece was very pretty.  Mine placed second.  And for those of you who have been waiting....

Borders, borders and more borders!  I do still like the colours though!

So that is the Fall Fair for this year.  I am a week late in posting about it because I hadn't gotten around to uploading my photos until this evening.  One forgets how busy life gets when school is on.

Man this was quite the bug!  I am over a week into it and still have a lot of congestion.  I think I've got chest wall pain from coughing, and while my energy has increased, I still don't feel 100 %. 

Boo had a fever from last Tuesday night until Monday morning.  I took him to the doctor on Friday, and she started antibiotics.  It still took two days until his throat felt a lot better, and nearly three before his temperature stayed below 100 degrees F.  He is still coughing a bit, but is much much better!  I was quite worried about him one night--a horrible croupy sounding cough and significant fever.  His cough changed sometime during that night to one considerably less scary.

She didn't put me on antibiotics, but I wasn't nearly as sick as Boo.  And I do feel like I am getting better--just a bit more slowly than I would like.

Belle is much better from her bout with it, but she also sounds stuffy and coughs quite a bit.  She had nearly a week's head-start on the antibiotics.

By the time we were feeling able to start on our lessons again, we'd had more sick days than we'd had days of school.  That was depressing!  However, we are picking up the pace again--if only I can keep up.  Our upcoming trip to Scotland will be here before we know it. 

Yes, a trip is in the plans.  It is time to go and see the other side of the family again.  I am looking forward to it, but not looking forward to getting ready for it.

Last night we took sandwiches with us and went fishing!  The kids loved it--I enjoyed the time outside by the pond, looking at tall trees and peaceful water.  Unfortunately for me, my fishing license had expired, so I was unable to spend time casting a fly into the water.  I was impressed by how my children's ability to fly-fish is increasing!  I took my knitting, but didn't knit.  Instead, I spent the time walking back and forth between the kids, watching their bees float in the water and chatting with them.  It was a very restful time, and felt like the first time I'd been out in two weeks (although it wasn't--I'd been out taking either kids or myself to the doctor).

On another note--today I finished a cross-stitch project that I have been working on (off and on) for nearly eight years.  I started it when I was put on bed-rest for pre-term labour with Boo.  I spent somewhere around five weeks on bed-rest, and got nearly a quarter of it finished.  Needless to say--the rest of the project took a lot longer to complete.  Remind me not to do another project with borders for a long time!  This one had double borders with design in them, plus gold lines around each border.  And the backstitching!!!! Ay yi yi!  This thing had backstitching on everything--on the borders, in the borders, on every aspect of the design itself.  Did I tell you that backstitching is my least favourite thing about cross-stitching?  The backstitching took two years to complete--I'd work on it for a month and then get fed up.  Did I not know all this before I started the design?  I did, but it was the colours in the design that grabbed me--blues and golds and pinks--Gorgeous!

But alas, my faithful readers will have to wait for the photo.  I have to wash it, block it, and figure out a way to display it (I don't have time to get it framed before the Fall Fair next week).  Only after that will you get a photo.  I am delighted that it is finished.  Now I have to find another UFO to finish--of the several that are in process.  I am thinking about one that is nearly done.  Then I need to find more time to stitch.....

I haven't blogged in so long that I've even toyed with the idea of giving up blogging entirely.  I don't really think I could do that though, for no sooner would I close down my blog than I would think of something I wanted to say.  So apologies to those who check faithfully for an update.  I shall endeavour to provide you with one.

Last week I had the pleasure of a visit from my sister, Photogal, and her two boys.  Her husband and boy number 3 had to stay at home, unfortunately.  We would have enjoyed having them here too.  They were only here two nights, so we had to make the best of it.

The first evening, my sister and I went for a long walk.  I did not take my camera so have no photographic evidence of our walk, but we used the time to do some debriefing on our mother's condition.  It is nice to be on the same page.  It has really helped me this summer that both my younger brother and older sister have paid visits to Mom and Dad.  I am the closest in location, and sort of the first responder if they need help.  I deeply appreciate the backup and support I've been given by my siblings.

On Friday we took them to one of our favourite places by the lake.  Photogal spent time and money in a very large farm toys (think model tractor) store.  It is also one of Boo's favourite places.  Then we visited a farmer's market, and looked at the views of the lake.
Or boats by the lake.
Or at sister looking at the lake.
 
It was a fun evening.  We came back home to a late supper of hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill.

They all left Saturday morning.  I've spent a large part of the week catching up.

This is our last week of real summer break.  Our lessons start again on Monday.  I am not ready--or rather, the school books are ready, the school shelves are organized, some of the lesson plans are done for Homeschool Tracker--but I need to get spelling lists put into a spelling program I have to review, and I need to figure out what we are doing for French.  I decided not to try to lesson plan our history core since we only have twelve weeks left of that.  I will put my energies into lesson planning the next core.

Between now and Monday--I have two children's bedrooms to clean and organize.  Since we do most of our schoolwork up there, there is quite a bit of work to be done.  I also have to re-inventory my freezer and pantry, since I got behind the last few weeks with visitors and all.  I should clean out my hall closet again (it needs doing at least every year).

One blessing is that we had visitors over for lunch today.  That caused me to attack several piles around the living areas.  It is nice to see those areas tidy for a bit.

My dryer has been on the blink for a week.  Our fixit man says it is the "rollers".  At the moment I can still use it--for light loads, but it is very noisy.  I spent a good part of the week hanging clothes either on the line or on a rack in the house--alas I had only enough clothespins to hang a small load outside.  My dear husband got me more pins the day the fixit man came.  Oops, I just remembered that I have a few wet things still downstairs.

I'm looking forward to getting back into the routine of lessons.  I struggled during the break with a lack of routine, and feeling like I was spinning my wheels and getting nowhere.  I did do quite a bit of stuff, and not a lot of fun, relaxing stuff--why is it that I think I will have time to cross-stitch when I'm not teaching?  Why is it that I think I will have time to cross-stitch in the evenings when I am teaching?  Oh well, I live in hope--and the expectation of getting off more email lists so I am not swamped in email all the time.

We are starting into things slowly.  Next week I plan for two days of school and three days of working on a major project--more details to come.  The kids are planning to help, and it will be a surprise for my husband.  I just hope that when the time comes, I can do it because it is a LOT of work.

I've been interrupted by kids and a phone call and I'm done.

It is being a bit of a weird summer again.  We haven't had that many hot days, and the few that have been hot have been so muggy it is hard to do anything.  At least with cooler days, one has more energy.  It just doesn't feel like July--more like early June, or September.

The children are in their second week of swimming lessons, and both have made progress.  It will be interesting to see how they come out at the end.

My feet are improving--I say as I sit with them on ice again today.  The chiropodist gave them quite a workout yesterday, and I imagine they are sore because of that.  I am so glad that the calf stretches are helping!  And when I use the ice, I get so cold, I have to put on a fleece!

What do I do with my time?  More baking than usual has been one thing.  Another has been to do some cross-stitch (note to self to pick it up again after not touching it for two weeks).

Another thing I've been doing is working on learning the new (to me)  full HomechoolTracker program.  I am hoping to use the Lesson plan option on that in order to decrease the time I spend inputting stuff during the year.  It is taking quite a lot of time to learn how to use it now.  I am very thankful for the lesson plan sharing sites that are available.  It will save me a lot of time.  I hope I am able to figure things out well enough to give back to that at some point.

Another thing that is still on my list to do is to work on stuff in our garage.  I have boxes of stuff that I haven't really sorted through since we moved--nearly six years ago.  A lot of it is stuff I have kept from the past.  If the ravages of time and weather haven't taken too much of a toll on it there might be some stuff worth keeping.  If it is destroyed by damp muggy summers and cold snowy winters, it just needs to be gotten rid of.  I am hoping to tackle a box this afternoon.

The children are torn between playing by themselves and wanting to do "family things".  That means that Mum and Dad "need" to play with them.  We've played catch with ball and mitt, and with lacrosse nets.  We've taken an evening and practised batting.  We've played Sorry and Scrabble and Boggle.  It is fun.

Our Thirteenth Anniversary came and went.  Boo had a cold so we couldn't go out.  Also there was a death in my husband's family, and we haven't really felt like celebrating.  Still, I am very very thankful for all the years the Lord has given to me and my husband together.

Best get on to either doing something productive, or taking a short nap.  The nap sounds really appealing...

That is, done except for swimming lessons, which I count for PE.  I have to keep reminding myself that it is really done.  It feels strange not to have to think of lesson plans for next week--strange to think that I can wake up and not have to push the lesson schedule--strange that I can work on summer projects without feeling like we should be doing school lessons.

Grandma and Grandpa are coming next week for quite a long visit.  We are looking forward to it very much, and I am sure their visit will help to get us in summer mode.

On the feet front:  Seems that much of my problems are due to too tight calf muscles.  I can hardly imagine that I could have avoided much of my pain simply by doing calf stretches on a regular basis!  The plus side of all that is that I seem to have improved a lot this week.  After going back to ice and antiinflammatories regularly for a few days, and using some heel cushions that the chiropodist made for me, I am feeling much better--not completely better, but then this didn't happen overnight, so I guess I can't expect immediate recovery.  Also I seem to have another problem that we will work on correcting over time, and that is that my feet roll to the outside when I walk.

The other thing I did this week, (which has caused much pain to the pocketbook) is go shoe-shopping.  I have discovered to my great disgust that all the shoe brands recommended to me, by various people in the know about good shoes, only make up to a medium width.  Granted, most women are a medium width (B), but what about poor me, who happens to be a D width?  I was able to find VERY good supportive sandals, and my feet are VERY happy in them--however they were priced like gold, so the rest of me is not very happy at that.  Fortunately they are good walking sandals, and will have to do for everyday and Sunday shoes for some time to come!

Guess that's the scoop for this week.  On to the list of summer projects next week....

Boo helping to drive a tractor with disk harrow.

And it was a Monday, with reluctant students for most of the morning.  Why is it that bad attitudes prevail at the end of the year?  Still, we got today's work done in the end.

I then proceeded to update my pantry inventory, and make a shopping list.  We headed out fairly early in the afternoon to accomplish our list of errands.  These included shopping at several stores, and getting passport photos.  We ended up eating out, as we had decided that grocery shopping on empty stomachs was not a good idea.

Summer seems to have started, with temperatures in the upper eighties today.  That should help the garden grow!  Shopping was very warm!  I am looking forward to staying inside most of tomorrow--aside from a doctor appointment in the morning--and getting the air-conditioners put back in the kid's bedroom windows.  At the moment a fan sits in the hallway, blowing and hopefully cooling down the bedrooms a bit.  It is still reasonably cool where I sit in the dining room downstairs.

With the approach of summer seems to come a time of intense busyness.  As lessons wind down, the projects loom.  I'll need to sort and put away finished curriculum, organizing what I want to keep.  I want to tackle clutter and do some much needed cleaning/dusting/de-cobwebbing around the house.  I want to sew more--maybe make a skirt for myself and a dress or two for Belle.

I did accomplish two projects at the end of last week.  I made a skirt for Belle, and deep-cleaned the kitchen.  I am hoping that the end of this week will be equally productive.  I say the end of the week because the beginning is full of things like laundry, church cleaning, errand running etc.

Then there is the list of want-to-dos:  Working with my photo software, doing more with pictures, finishing a cross-stitch project, sorting boxes of stuff in the garage. Ahhh, the list goes on.

We've just come off a lovely week with relatives who came to visit.  They were actually only here for about five days, but it was a very fun time.  My Aunt and Uncle came from their home in OR all the way to our neck of the woods!  They spent time with my Mom and Dad. (Auntie and Mom are sisters.) as well.

My Uncle, who does not like to be idle, set about making my yard look about one of the best on the block.  He mowed and weeded and mulched and edged....with Boo out there helping and keeping him company every chance he got.  (I've gotten several compliments on the edging job he did around the sidewalks!)

My Aunt spent a lot of her time cutting out a set of paper dolls for Belle.  She had chosen Pioneer dolls, which suits us down to a T, given that we are studying a similar time in history.

We also took an afternoon to drive up around the lake.  I haven't uploaded photos yet, so don't have any to post.  It was a beautiful day with blue skies and sparkling blue water.

Now life is back to normal and we are finding our routine again.  Back to our summer schedule of half school days and attempts to accomplish projects in the afternoon.  Unfortunately I have been somewhat inhibited by my feet trouble.  After a very good week last week, I have succumbed again to a great deal of discomfort.  And when my feet hurt, I don't want to do much in the way of summer projects.

On a happy note though, I have an appointment with a chiropodist (Canadian version of Podiatrist I think) next week.  I am hoping that I can finally show someone who knows, just where it hurts.  And I only hope that the results won't cause too much pain for the exchequer.

In spite of pain yesterday, I did feel like baking pie.  I managed to do it all from peeling apples to getting the pie in the oven, in one hour!  That must be a record for me.  We enjoyed it last night and today.

What I really should be doing now, instead of blogging, is filling out passport applications, or planning lessons for tomorrow, or looking at the lesson planning software I plan to upgrade to.  If it were morning and not a school day, I should look at deep-cleaning the kitchen, or sorting the linen closet, or working on the front porch,  or sorting Boo's closet (which has storage in the back).  All of those things are jobs I hope to get to before the summer is over.  Not to mention the outside jobs--more weeding, working out what I want to do with the front flower bed etc.

So guess I will quit for now, and perhaps tackle a passport app.

It is often on Thursday that I feel very tired.  It is hard to get motivated to plan lessons for tomorrow, and the urge to sleep or otherwise waste an evening is strong.

However, I did get up early and walk today.  That was before the feet really started hurting (they've been hurting to various degrees all week, but today it was bad enough to take out the big guns--the prescription antiinflammatories).
Once I took them it took a couple of hours for the pain to recede, but recede it did eventually, and I was able to hobble through the day.  Now they are starting to bother me again, but I plan to sit most of the evening.

I don't mean to complain though.  It was a really good and pretty productive day.  We did lessons this morning, and then worked in the garden.  I got a lot of weeds pulled at the bottom of the garden (yard for Americans), and exposed the two and only two healthy leaves of rhubarb.  Mind you those two leaves are more than I got last year!  My husband potted the tomato plants this year--in hopes of getting them in position of the most sun our shady garden gets.  He put them on that black ground cover on top of where the gout weed grows--we hope that will discourage it from growing back.  I also found my lilac bush--a gift from the VON when I got my blood pressure taken at a clinic in the mall about three years ago.  It is getting much bigger, but hasn't bloomed yet. (The lilacs are amazing this year--really blooming!)

My dear husband and the children also planted the garden--broccoli and cauliflower, and some herbs, marigolds, and lots of beans.  We know to watch the plants more closely this year, as last year they got eaten by caterpillars.
The yard looks lovely.  All I want now is to get a couple of hanging baskets of sun-loving flowers to hang in the front of the house.  (I love our closed-in porch, however it is the home of my husband's library--in boxes, and it doesn't look nice.) 

We have been permitted by our "principal" to drop to half days of school for the next month or so.  We'll alternate between morning and afternoon subjects while keeping math going every day.  The days are so lovely now, and I think we have cabin fever--needing to get out and enjoy the good weather while we have it.  Hopefully I will also be able to work on some projects too.

Today was the first "normal" day after two weeks of vacation.  We went to Rhode Island to visit friends the first week, and had visitors here with us the second week.  I hope to blog about those things in another entry.

Our visitors left Friday evening after dinner, so I spend Saturday washing bedding and rearranging bedrooms, as well as my regular cleaning (which hadn't been done since before we went to RI).  It kept me pretty busy.  I also had to catch up with budgeting and bill-paying.   Then we went out to a local greenhouse and picked up plants for the garden and flowers too.  It did all get done, although I was pretty tired by Saturday evening.

Belle has a cold, and was really feeling ill this morning, so we limited our day to Sonlight and science.  It was good because we were able to get a lot of our work done, but still had time to do other things.  The weather was too grey and damp to work in the yard or garden, but my husband did shop for some of the supplies needed to put in the garden later in the week if the weather improves.

I spent nearly two hours working with my cookbook and kitchen inventory software after we finished lessons this morning.  I was trying to get caught up on the recent grocery shopping and inventory.  I am not sure that everything is accurate, but at least I have some idea of what is in the freezer and pantry.  I love the software that I use, but I haven't been using it long enough to really utilize it to its fullest potential.

This afternoon I read to the kids for a while, and then worked on backing up photographs.  I also filed two file folders worth of bills.  It felt good to get that done!

Finally, I made dinner--one of our new favorite dishes, and I cooked it in my new electric skillet!  It was fun to cook today, but it took me an hour.  Then we ate and I had to face the cleanup.  Oh I am SO thankful for a dishwasher!

Tonight blogging is on the to-do list, and that is getting done now, and then I hope I can find something productive to do that is relaxing too.

Since spring has really come now, I'll post a couple of late winter photos.  This is one of my favourite places.


I am way behind on regular blogging again.  But that is life.  And life has been getting in the way.  Since I don't usually use blogging as a way of de-stressing, I haven't had the inclination or energy to put into a post.

This week has been busy.  The spring-cleaning itch has hit, so I cut lessons to the minimum and have spent the week working on some deep cleaning and organizing of our bedroom.  Actually, the deep cleaning hasn't really happened yet--that comes tomorrow.  I did rearrange my husband's workspace.  Now the book piles are off the floor and up where they can be easily reached.  That necessitated some rearranging of my stuff, and I took the opportunity to pull everything out of my closet and try to put it back in so that I can get to stuff more easily.

Other than the regular cooking and laundry, I have paid minimal attention to the rest of the house.  Again, I hope to get to that tomorrow.

On top of all that, there is some yardwork begging to be done.  I had planned to do that today after cleaning the church, however I was
too tired when I got home, and didn't figure I had enough time before making dinner.  Dare I say "tomorrow" again?  There is a lot of green and a few crocuses showing in the spot where our bulbs are planted.  I am hoping for a good show of flowers this year.  But the rosebushes and other evergreen bushes at the front of the house desperately need a cutting back.

The children have spent every spare minute running and playing outside.  I am glad.  It is good for them.

I just remembered I was going to use up some apples in a dessert this week.  At 4:50 p.m., do I have time to do it before dinner?  I would have to work at lightning speed.  Hmmm....I don't want to push that to tomorrow because likely I won't get to it, and Saturday is booked.

Guess I should post this and get moving--to make supper if nothing else.

I just looked at my last blog and it was more a moan than anything else.  A lot has happened since then, and tonight I'm moaning again.

My Mom ended up back in the hospital, and this time she was admitted.  But no beds available on the floor, so she spent two nights in a cubicle in Emerg, and the third in a very nice private room on a unit.  Fortunately, we have come home with a diagnosis that isn't too scary, and she is doing better on medication.  But during all that, they needed me, so I went down on Friday and spent the weekend with them.

Somewhere along the way, I picked up a sore throat.  I woke up with it Monday morning--the day my family was coming down for a visit to Grandma's and to take me home.  The throat is still sore, but I haven't developed too many other symptoms, (unless you can count extreme fatigue), so I continue with the vitamin C and lozenges.

We drove home yesterday--I drove most of the way because I felt like it when we left, but about 30 minutes from home I knew I was too tired to drive the rest of the way.  So I handed the wheel over to DH.  We got home and unloaded, and then I checked email and fell into bed.

Today we did a bit of schoolwork, I put away stuff, got a start on the laundry, and worked on cleaning up the house--not deep cleaning, just tidying.  While I was gone, my new desk came (guess I forgot to write about that), so I am enjoying it when I can.  I also worked on budget stuff, and a menu for next week.

Then late this afternoon I went down to rotate the laundry and found water leaking into the basement from the area under the kitchen sink and the dishwasher.  Water always leaks into our basement, but this was an unusual spot.  AAAAGH, it is leaking from the dishwasher somewhere (discovered that when I started it up tonight)!  Not onto the floor, but under it who knows where...from there it finds its way into my basement.  And I was planning to do school tomorrow....all day.  Now it looks like I will be doing dishes at least part of the day--and probably cleaning up the kitchen the rest of the day.

I guess I shouldn't fret.  It takes a while to get back into routine after being away.  Throw in a cold/sore throat, and decompressing from the strain of last week, and maybe I just need a bit more time.  DH thinks I should go to bed--I think that is a good idea.

Today started out fine and stayed okay until I got lessons done this afternoon.  Then it went downhill from there.  Truth is, I was feeling out of sorts this morning too, but I think the routine kept me in line.  Some days though, I am completely at loose ends after we finish lessons.  Today was one of those--to the nth degree!

I was planning to clean the church and pick up a few groceries to make soup tomorrow.  However, my DH was out and got held up (not literally--lol), and when he got home it was too late to go and get back in time to make supper.  Instead I browsed my recipes for a different soup recipe--one for which I had most of the ingredients (can one substitute white kidney beans for pinto beans in soup?).  It turns out that this recipe makes a lot so that is bonus--especially since my menu is not working this week.

We had planned to visit the city this week, however Boo was sick, and my Mom spent Sunday night in Emerg.  (She is fine now, except for a bug that has had a tendency to drain her fluids.  Her trip to the hospital caused a bit of consternation in the family and we are very thankful that she is doing okay!

Anyway, my Costco list is long and may be longer by next week when we hope to go again.  In the meantime, I hope I don't run out of sugar and a few other things.  Because we were planning to be away, I hadn't made a menu for the first part of the week.  Now it is made, and has been changed a few times already.  I am so glad for my program that makes it easy to change--otherwise my menu would be completely unreadable.

You know you're having a bad day when your Sonlight catalogue arrives and you can't summon up the energy to be excited about it.  We did order before the catalogue came out, and our box arrived last week.  The books are now neatly on the shelves--waiting for us to finish our current core.  Oh and don't get me started on the state of our dollar vs. the U.S. dollar.  OUCH!  And it isn't because our economy is doing badly at the moment, because compared to some others, it is very stable.  That is as political as I get on this blog...

I think I need a walk--I'll try for one in the morning--knowing my luck it will be raining.  But I want to get some photos.  Our snow is nearly gone--although we may get more soon.  I could see buds on the crocuses yesterday.

I'm still having trouble with this little problem of mine which isn't seeming to go away--at least not quick enough for me.  Because of the discomfort, I was back at the doctor this week--resulting in more lab work and another ultrasound to be done this coming week. 

After several days of barely getting through, I had a much better day today.  Maybe the bright sunshine has had something to do with that.  At 5 p.m., the skies are blue and the snow still lies in patches on brown ground.  The big piles are still there--looking grey and dirty.

The bright sky at 5 p.m. is about the only good thing about Daylight Savings time that I can come up with.  We've had a week of disrupted schedules--waking up too late in the morning to start lessons on time, and eating dinner too late in the evening to have evening time before the kids go to bed.  And the kids have had a lot of trouble falling asleep at night.  I blame it all on the time change!  We have our routine, and like to keep it the same.  Since my husband works mainly at home, his time is flexible--to a point.  I don't like it when the clock doesn't match my body clock.

Good things about the week--I sorted kids books into piles to keep, give away, or put away (for littles who come to visit).  I also ordered my next Sonlight Core.  I am starting to get into Spring Cleaning mode--my windows need washed in a big way.  I just hope I have the energy to do it when we plan our next days off.

Right now I need to go away and make supper--grilled ham and cheese sandwiches.  Then a boy needs a shower, and a girl will probably pass on it tonight as she has a bad cold and will most likely be staying home tomorrow.

It hasn't been the greatest of weeks.  I've been not feeling well, and when Mom isn't feeling well, things tend to slide--and not uphill either!  Suffice it to say that I probably should have spent more time in bed, and less time just trying to keep things going.

I am still tired today, but after a nap this afternoon, I felt more "chipper" than I had all week.  I just hope the feeling lasts, and that I am up to my usual Saturday doings tomorrow.

Between doctor visits, and life in general, lessons were irregular at best.  But we did get something done every day, and probably I shouldn't feel bad, because we did more than the absolute minimum most days.

The children helped a lot with things like the laundry--carrying baskets up and down stairs, and folding it all.  They helped with the dishes too.  I was so glad that I could keep the cooking to a minimum, thanks to a few meals in the freezer.

I am behind on some things, but I hope that I will catch up next week.  Felt like I should blog, because I haven't much lately--but I also haven't got a lot to say.  And come this time in the evening, I am pretty useless.

At least now the snow is melting, spring seems to be around the corner, and the days have definitely gotten longer.  I am enjoying the increased light.

I don't actually remember when I last blogged.  Life has just been hectic lately.  I think I may borrow from my sister and blog in bullets.

*Both children have colds, and I am looking at my second Sunday away from church so as not to expose others to their germs.  Belle got it first, and now I'm not sure if it is just persisting, or if she is on her second round.  Boo came down with it about three days ago.  Both started with sore throats, and then a lot of congestion.

*I spent most of the first three days of the week down in the city with my parents.  I got a call for help getting them settled last week, and went as soon as I could.  It is tough to move at any age, but when you are in your seventies, I think it must be hardest of all.  Mom has trouble with her memory, and it is very confusing when you are trying to adjust to new living space.  I had a good time with them in spite of the work.  We rearranged, hung pictures and got rid of lots of stuff.  Downsizing from 3 bedrooms (or 1 and 2 offices) to a 1-bedroom place is not easy.

*The ride home from the city on the bus was interesting.  It was snowing very hard in places, and it seems like the driver was having a hard time staying on the road at times.  We were nearly an hour late getting home.  I knitted, or read a book, until he turned the lights off (I think he must have had trouble with visibility and the lights must have bothered him), and then I listened to my iPod.

*It has taken me a couple of days to adjust to being home again.  I spent the first day home nursing sick children and doing laundry, and it wasn't until yesterday that I felt somewhat on top of things again.  We did a bit of school work, but mostly the children listened to audio books or worked on crafts.

*The day before yesterday, winter came back again.  We'd had quite a thaw about a week or so ago, and one was beginning to think spring might be on the way.  Then we got dumped on again--I think we got over a foot of new snow.  There was a lot of drifting due to the wind, so it is a bit hard to tell how much we got.
 

*I'm planning out my curriculum budget for new books for next year--and where to get them.  I'll have orders for two of my usual places, and a few books to get at the conference coming up at the beginning of April.  I have mixed feelings about new books.  We are not quite halfway through the last history core, but I want to purchase the new one before the new catalogue comes out and the prices rise.  It is hard to get new books when you have a bunch of old ones to finish.

*I think I'm done.  Hopefully I can get back to blogging more regularly next week.  Planning to head to bed for an early night tonight, in hopes I can get up with enough energy to do my early Sunday morning duties--getting dinner in the crockpot, and making breakfast.

It has been a crazy and weird day, and it isn't over yet.  I feel both productive and unproductive....

I guess I can start with the end (so far anyway).  I have spent ages on the phone with my cell-phone provider trying to track down a phone that was supposed to have been sent over two weeks ago.  I have searched my mailbox daily, to no avail.  Well I was probably on hold for over 30 minutes in total today.  (I ended up reading a bedtime story to the children while listening to the music tonight.)  The very helpful man tonight discovered from the "Tracking Department" that my order has "just been sitting there."  He said that I could expect my phone within 3-5 business days, and EVEN gave me a number to call if I don't get it.  Lovely!

The next issue is that I've been looking for a good electric skillet--to buy with some of my Birthday money.  I found one, and even found that it was sold in Canada!  But alas, the local store that sells that brand (two phone calls and a visit) cannot get it.  Why?  Despite the fact that the name is one that exudes a quality product, and that all the reviews I've read have been excellent....they have DISCONTINUED it!  In all my searches, I have found ONE store that has it, and they want more than I want to pay, plus shipping.  Now, I can get it in the States--in all the usual places, and for a much more reasonable price.  But alas!  No trips to the US are in the plans in the foreseeable future.

This experience with the skillet reminds me of the one I had when I was enquiring about my breadmaker (also a quality product) which I brought with me when we moved up here.  I had a problem with the pan, and needed a part--or a new breadmaker.  I was told by my local dealer that this particular breadmaker is no longer being produced or sold in Canada.  This despite the fact that he sold every one of those breadmakers when he could get them, and people even bought a new one when the old one wore out.  Have I mentioned the fact that my breadmaker bread has won first prize at our Fall Fair two years in a row?

On to other things.  I was driving home from the post office today (I took the van because I needed to get milk and thought there might be a phone waiting for me, thus giving me too much to carry home safely), and slowed down before making the turn on to our streets.  To my intense surprise, when I put my foot on the brake pedal, not much happened except for a groaning noise and the feeling that there was no connection between the pedal and the brake!  And the next thing I knew, I was face to face with a snowdrift!  Fortunately the brake did connect and I stopped before I hit it.  I felt pretty silly because the van was right across the intersection at a funny angle.  Fortunately, I live in a small town.  And there wasn't any traffic behind, in front, or in the intersection.  I reversed, made the turn, and rounded the corner to our house without further incident.

This brought to my mind the fact that yesterday I had a similar occurrence of a noise and the feeling that the brakes weren't working as I came to a stop.  Belle remembered it when I told of the episode today.  It was a shorter episode than today's though.  And again there was no traffic.

So I came into the house and phoned our local garage.  You have to know the characters around here...the man lectured me on driving too fast!  Said the ABS makes a pulsing noise when it is engaged, and that it would engage on slippery roads.  I informed him that this was not a pulse, but a "GRRRRRRRRR", and I was not (said quite tamely I thought) driving too fast.  I am taking the van in tomorrow.  It probably won't perform for him, but I was somewhat reassured when my husband mentioned a similar episode which he had forgotten.

After all that, or rather before, we had a lovely day of lessons.  Boo has informed me that his favorite subjects these days are math and grammar!  Imagine my surprise when he got out his math book again before dinner and did another page.  I am loving the teaching right now. But I have a feeling that this might be one of the few full days we get this week.  Tomorrow I have an appointment in the afternoon.  Thursday might be a full day.  Friday, if the van is okay, we expect to go skating again.

Skating is becoming a regular event.  It makes an excellent PE course.  Monday and Friday afternoons for an hour at a time.  Both children are nearly to the point of skating without support.  I am so proud of them!

Guess that is all my doings.  I'd better get off here now and do something else.

Today was our first day back to a full day of lessons since we ended our Birthday weeks holidays.  We purposely don't take a lot of days off in December because I know I will take time off in January.  We took just over a full week off, and it was really nice to get back into it today.  The children worked well, got all their stuff done in a timely manner, and even enjoyed the new subject--Easy Grammar.  It was a wonderful way to start back into things.

I practised being efficient (which really means staying off the computer most of the day), and got laundry on the go--three loads washed, soup made for supper (we had leftovers for lunch), and the church cleaned.  My body is complaining tonight.

When I look at the state of my house these days, I wonder what I did during my week off.  I just can't seem to get on top of the clutter.  Maybe part of that is due to the fact that our bathroom is being renovated off and on, we've had two birthdays in the past week and the clutter from those is still around, and I got a new pantry cupboard for my kitchen yesterday.  It has more space than what we were using, but some things still need to find a new home.  I could be tidying right now, but my feet are refusing to allow me to move.

Boo has reached the ripe old age of seven!  He had a nice birthday I think--presents in the morning, and his first chance at ice-skating in the afternoon.  (I think the ice-skating may end up being a regular thing for us.)  Boo took to that like a fish to water--although he used an upside-down chair to support himself on the ice, and fell down regularly, he was moving quite rapidly pushing the chair in front of him within the hour.

Belle is gaining confidence on the ice as well, being encouraged by friends to let go of her chair at intervals and trying to go on her own.  As for me, well, I enjoyed watching.  I haven't been on ice skates since I was about 12, and I don't intend to try again at 40.

I haven't knitted or cross-stitched since before my birthday, and looking at the time now--it won't be happening tonight either.  I am in the mood to do something, but it is too late tonight, and tomorrow evening we will be busy too.

Today was the first day in over a week that the weather improved enough for us to go anywhere.  I was desperate for groceries and didn't want to get them at the little store in town, so we traveled fifteen minutes away to the nearest big store.  The roads were okay, some drifting and icy spots, but mostly were bare.

For a Boxing day when sales are supposed to be wonderful, I didn't see much that was great--unless you are shopping for Christmas gift wrap and decorations.  Since we neither decorate nor give Christmas gifts, there wasn't much that interested me.  In fact I was glad I had a list because the stores were so crowded with shoppers that I didn't have space to think.

I did get my magnetic fridge calendar and blank CD's and a new hoop for my cross-stitch ( my old wood one broke last night).  I was just glad it broke last night and not tonight AFTER I went shopping....

Well I've made a decision to turn off the computer right after the kids go to bed, and they have been in bed about 15 minutes, so I'd best be away. 

And I thought Friday's snow was immense!  You should see it now!  Standing on the driveway after it was blown out this morning, the snow at the side of the cut was up to my hips.  The new stuff that I stepped into to go and dig out the compost bin was up to my thighs--big fluffy soft stuff.  I shoveled big scoop after big scoop full off the deck so we can get the back door open if we need to.  I shoveled around the van, pushing all the snow into the driveway where it will get blown out tomorrow if the plows come through again.  I didn't bother cleaning off the van today as we can't go anywhere anyway.  And it was snowing nearly the entire time I was outside, and continued to snow this evening.

Incidentally my scoop looks a bit like this one:http://lawn-and-garden.hardwarestore.com/84-521-snow-pushers/ergo-sleigh-shovel-630408.aspx  And after I came back inside I took a dose of an anti-inflammatory.  I had a feeling the stiffness would be setting in soon.  I wish I could show you a recent photo of the snow but I didn't take the camera out, and alas it is dark now.

I had a few questions about what I decided to do on Friday.  The Caramel/Scottish/Millionaire's Shortbread won out.  My dear husband walked downtown in the snowstorm to buy me milk and digestive biscuits.  I usually have a problem with my caramel turning out too chewy, but this time it was just right!  And the chocolate was just right, and the biscuit crust was just right--are you getting hungry?  There is some left.  Want to visit?

Saturday turned out cold and sunny.  Instead of spending my morning doing my usual cleaning around the house, I had errands to run, and a church to clean.  So I had to clean house in the afternoon.  It was lovely being out in the morning, but I rather had a melt-down in the afternoon.  It was early to bed for me Saturday evening.  I hope to get errands run earlier this week.  I need Saturday to clean house.

Sunday turned out to be both snowy and very blowy--resulting in cancellation of the evening service.    Most folk made it into the morning service, albeit slowly.  We had to shovel a path from the driveway to the house when we came home--our path was obliterated by the wind and snow.

Ah, life in wintery Canada.  How goes life for you?