I've been so busy lately that blogging has gone low on the priority list.  But I did promise photos of the Scotland trip.  And I suppose that an update on life might be nice too--at least it might provide me with the sense that I've been doing something lately.

I do have to apologize for the camera though.  It was acting up a lot, and I don't think the colours in some of the photos are perfectly true.  Still, I have picked the best of the lot to show you.


Cawdor Castle.  We've been there before, years ago.  I think perhaps it may have been my first trip to Scotland, or maybe the second, when Belle was a toddler.  If you know your Shakespeare, this is supposedly the scene of MacBeth.  It is an inhabited castle--so one isn't able to see the entire building, however the rooms we were allowed to see were very interesting.  One thing that helped a lot was the quiz the children were given to fill out.  It drew one's attention to details that would otherwise have gone unnoticed.


This is the countryside around Inverness.  I really really love this area.  My husband's Aunt lives up in this area, and we had a lovely visit with her.
The Fisher Woman statue in the town of Nairn, and the beach beyond.  It was a grey day but the sea was beautiful anyway.  The pinkish hue to the photo of the statue is due to the camera rather than the lighting.

Chatelherault, a former hunting lodge of the Duke of Hamilton, and now a country park with play area.  I believe the building, and grounds are often used for weddings.
The last three photos are of Bothwell Castle, again a place that we have been to on nearly every trip.  It is located about five minutes from my sister-in-law's house.  It is a very old castle.  We were actually there twice this trip.  The last picture is from the first visit, a late afternoon walk with Granny's dog.  I have a lot of good photos of the ruins from previous visits.  The castle is very photogenic with the red sandstone walls.  This time the weather didn't permit great photos, but I like this silhouette, even though the lines are caused by...you guessed it...the camera.

It was a bit rainy the second day we visited, when we actually went inside.  We climbed up a very steep, slippery, narrow, winding stone staircase to the top of the tower.  I didn't get photos of that because I was a) holding on with both hands to the rope attached to the wall, and b) because every time I looked at the stairs, I felt a bit dizzy.  Going up was difficult, and going down was SCARY.  But the view from the top was beautiful.  And yes, the kids went too--Daddy in front and me in the back, watching every step they took.  For some strange reason, nearly all of us had sore leg muscles the following day.

We had a great time browsing the wee shop in the castle and making some purchases to bring home, among them a book of castles (Usborne), and a fridge magnet for my collection.  The gentleman in the shop chatted with us for a long time.  I believe he probably hadn't had another visitor all day.

So a few photos of the trip.  It was a lovely visit, and fun to reminisce about it.  Just sorry the pictures didn't turn out better.

Back to our home.  Back to real life.  Back from a great holiday.  Back to the land of computers and internet and other time-consuming but necessary things.

I'm feeling ambivalent about the computer these days.  I spent three weeks away from it all--and the only thing I missed was the contact with family and friends.  Now I'm back, and under the tyranny of email again.  Oh well, one has to admit that the computer is very useful, and I doubt I could easily live without it for a long period of time.  After all I do everything from banking to menu and lesson planning on it.  I didn't have to do any of that stuff on holiday.

If none of this makes sense, I attribute it to jet-lag and the fact that I've been waking up anywhere from 2 to 4 a.m., and having to get up because at least one of the children wakes up then too.  Only five hours time difference--hopefully we'll be back to normal in another couple of days.

For the friends who aren't already aware, we are just back from a trip to Scotland.  We spent our time there visiting the other half of the family.  And we did a bit of sight-seeing on the side--to a couple of castles and museums.  We had a great time, and the weather was lovely--maybe the best it has ever been when I've been there.

Hopefully soon--once the camera and the computer get together--I will have photos to tell the story.  That is yet to happen, for I am in the throes of unpacking and laundry, and planning for next week, AND paying the bills.  The camera is a story in itself, for it has decided to go all jiggly and pink at times.  Fortunately I was able to get mostly clear photos--if I could be patient enough.  How does a digital camera die?  Does anyone know?

The biggest plus?  I got hours and hours of cross-stitch done (Relax TP--it isn't THE cross-stitch).  I even had time to take out a large chunk that I had stitched with two strands when it was only supposed to be done with one.  My travel project is a kit of Eilean Donan Castle that I bought on my first trip to Scotland about 13 years ago.  I was so motivated by it that I hope to be able to work on it more at home--whenever I can manage to get off the computer.

I also got to see two and a bit parts of the new four part BBC TV series of Emma by Jane Austen.  I am very upset because I will miss the last part, and BBC iPlayer doesn't work outside of the UK.  I did buy the book to read on the way home.  Hopefully I can finish it now.  I did read three books all by myself (not to the kids) while away.  I think that is the most I've read in that short a time since Boo was a newborn.

So it was a lovely time away, and now the house needs a clean and tidy, so I'm away too.

In the afternoon, our friend had booked us a ride on a Duck (Dukw).  Our Duck was called "The Red Sox Nathan", and you can see it in these photos http://http://www.bostonducktours.com/about_gallery_01.html.  We were delighted to be able to ride on that particular Duck.  And our ConDucktor was very good! 

A highlight for the children was getting to drive the Duck while in the Charles River.  I wonder if it helped that they were both wearing Red Sox caps......

It was lovely to see the Boston skyline from the river.


Our day ended with a lovely dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.  The dinner was so filling that we ordered only one piece of cheesecake and five forks.  I have NEVER seen a piece of cheesecake disappear so quickly!

Saturday we had a cookout with friends, and an impromptu baseball game in the backyard with Boo's bat and ball.  I had the dubious pleasure of pitching a home-run to none other but my beloved husband!

Sunday was a restful day with church and Prayer Meeting. 

And Monday we started our trip home--to arrive on Tuesday just in time to get ready for guests to visit on Wednesday.  They stayed until Friday, and we had a wonderful time with them--mostly at home and in the house because it rained a lot!  Belle was in her element, looking after their baby.

Thus ends our vacation, one of the most fun ones that I can remember having with our family.

Two weeks ago we left early Monday morning to drive to Rhode Island.  We have a lot of friends there and we had been looking forward to seeing them, and preparing for the trip for some time.  I also tend to put in a curriculum order to pick up while in the States, and of course we also visited sites like Amazon.com, and Cabelas too.  So we were expecting a few parcels upon our arrival.  We were not disappointed.  I now wish I'd taken a photo of the stack.

The first full day we were in RI we visited our friend with a new baby.  My friend looks great!  And the baby girl is a sweet and very mellow child--at least she was at a week of age. 

After the visit we spent time at a beach.  The weather was beautiful, but it was very windy and not terribly warm!
We topped that day off with a seafood dinner.

The next day we got to go to a PawSox game.  I think it was a first for all of us to go to a real baseball game.  We munched on popcorn and slurped on frozen lemonade and had a grand old time!  The PawSox lost, but it was fun anyway.

Friday was another highlight of our trip.  Our friend took us to Boston!  Our first stop was at the Red Sox store right beside Fenway Park! (Can you tell I'm a Red Sox fan?)  Belle came out one Red Sox cap richer, and Boo came out with a kid's ball and bat.  I am the proud posessor of a Red Sox magnet for my fridge.

We then traveled downtown and parked right under the Public Gardens.  And yes these are the gardens of "Make Way for Ducklings" fame.  We even saw the swan boats!  And of course, Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack and Quack! But that was in the evening.  In the morning we took a tour of Old Boston--it was fantastic for reinforcing what we are learning in history.  And the guide was knowlegeable and funny!  I thought it was hilarious when he held his cane up high in the air or waved it at vehicles to get them to stop so we could all cross the street.   
 


We ended the morning with lunch at "Cheers".  It was very noisy, but the food was good.

(This is turning out to be a long post, so see Part 2 for the afternoon.)

You know it is getting bad when your wanna-be title of  "Catching up.." is already used.  That is what I feel like though--like I am constantly trying to catch up, or like I am chasing my tail.

We had a lovely time on our little vacation.  The weather was beautiful, and I got everything on my shopping list.  We tend to stop at factory outlet stores whenever we can to shop, and there are two sets on the way to Rhode Island from here.  Unfortunately I discovered when I checked the credit card balance that the Canadian dollar took a dive while we were away, so the deals we got don't seem so great after all.  Now we get to pay the piper...ugh!

Belle had her tenth birthday while we were away--it was great to share the time with friends.  I can hardly believe she is ten already.  My does time fly!

One of the highlights of the trip was our visit to Newport.  I haven't been to Newport town since my first ever trip there.  On that trip, I had just been married a year and it was my first introduction to folk in other churches in our denomination, as it was the time of our annual meetings.  The women and children (I didn't have any of my own yet) spent a day in Newport and I bought my husband a scrimshaw knife in a little shop.  It has a sailing ship on it--and if you've been to my house you will know how much I like sailing ships.  The same shop is still there--more than 11 years later, but unfortunately it was closed when we found it after dinner.  I am still the proud owner of a new magnet of one of the Newport mansions to put on my fridge, and a little blue and white pitcher--in the tradition of my Grandmother.

(My Grandmother collected pitchers from places she had been, and was also given many by others from places they had visited.  I still remember sleeping in her little house by the railway track, and hearing the pitchers rattle every time the train went by.  I still remember the pitcher made from a walnut shell--or was it an acorn?  It was so tiny!  I am now the proud owner of several of her pitchers, and am adding to them my own collection.  I also have Grandma's little book in which she described all her pitchers, and I need to start my own journal as well.  What memories!)

On the way home I managed to pick up a cold.  Fortunately, apart from being congested and tired, it isn't too bad.

We arrived home on Friday and unpacked.  Saturday I cleaned house and did my usual budgeting stuff, plus the monthly stuff.  Sunday I went to church, and rested.  I was so glad I was able to go in spite of my cold.

Today we did laundry and worked in the yard, as well as our lessons.  Those were happily interrupted by a surprise visit from my sister-in-law's parents!  We had a lovely time with them, and I got to see photos of my brother and SIL repacking their suitcases in the airport!  (They had had to do some rearranging due to weight issues....has anyone else had that problem?  I certainly have.)

Tonight my feet are crying with pain.  Can feet cry??  Maybe it is me that is crying...I think (with some support from different quarters) that I probably have plantar fasciitis.  If you've had that, you will know what I am talking about.  I am probably guilty of causing it myself....see, those good shoes I bought six years ago still look good and still fit...right?  And I have several pairs of very OLD good shoes.  So I gave in and bought myself a good new pair of shoes on vacation, and they helped, and I wasn't running up and downstairs fourteen times a day, or wearing Wellies to work in the garden, and I stopped having to take anti-inflammatories.  Then I came home, and walked two and from church in church shoes 3 times yesterday (one more than normal because dear husband forgot his glasses--it is difficult to preach when the congregation is a muddled blur), and wore Wellies, and traipsed up and downstairs and to the basement doing laundry, and in spite of the good shoes I am again in pain.

Oh the other thing I did today....researched how to de-lump white sugar and did it.  I made the unfortunate blunder of thinking a tote in the basement (which tends to be very damp) was a good place for a pantry for dry goods, like sugar.  Well, my bag of sugar became a brick!  A very large brick!  So I had to break it up and run it through the food processor to break down the lumps.  I think my hands may complain tomorrow about all the pounding.

Fall is definitely here, although it has been unseasonably warm for these parts.   I do see the temperatures forecasted to fall at the end of the week.  We still don't have quite all our wood for the winter stacked--a job for husband, as I don't need to add sore back to the litany of pain. 

You know you're tired (and perhaps a little loopy?) when you take out a white cord to plug in your camera to download your pictures.  After looking at it absently for a few seconds, you realize that it is not the camera cord, but the iPod cord.  Then you get out the camera cord and it takes a while to figure out which end to plug into the computer...

Needless to say, I hope that having another cold is a good enough excuse for the absent mindedness I just displayed.

I've had two people contacting me today to find out why I haven't blogged recently (one of them is my beloved sister, who is wondering why I haven't yet said anything about the wedding--I was waiting to look at my photos).

Anyway do I start now and work backwards or start backwards, and work up to now?  I didn't blog last week because we were away...at my sister's wedding.  That was the first time my entire family has been together in four years--and that was a wedding too!  For those of you who don't know, my sister was widowed over five years ago now.  Last year she met a really nice man her age, a widower.  They got married last Saturday.  It was a very nice wedding--with hers and his children as attendants, as well as some friends.  I am very very happy for her, and very glad for the occasion to get together with our whole family. 


I'm breaking one of my usual rules, and posting this photo partly because we are all so far away you can hardly see us anyway.  If you can find me, the lady at my left is my Aunt, my Mom's sister.  She came all the way from Oregon with my Uncle.  It was lovely to see them!

Our immediate family took our time both coming and going, and we spent a night in a border town.  We enjoyed a walk along the river under the bridge at the border crossing.  Can you guess where we were?


My favorite part about the walk was watching the sailboats.




When we got home, it was time to prepare for the Fall Fair.  I was disappointed that I didn't have time this year to complete a cross-stitch project to enter, but I baked bread again, and made a pineapple upside-down cake.  If they win, I don't get them back.  I'm in the mood for pineapple upside down cake, so if it does win, I'll have to make another one.

Belle entered a doll quilt she had made, and Boo entered a Lego tractor-trailer (semi).  My Dear Husband baked tea biscuits and cheese scones, and we entered an assortment of tomatoes from our garden.  I'm always pleased if I win enough to pay for next year's ticket.  Tomorrow will tell.

Tonight I bemoan the state of my nose.  I feel pretty wiped out--no pun was intended, but I guess it is there anyway.  I hope this one only lasts a week.  I am hoping I have the energy to tidy the house tomorrow--I sure don't have it tonight. 

It rained today--feels like Fall.

Needless to say, it has been a busy month!  I don't know where to start, really, so I'll start at the beginning.

The second week of June, we had visitors.  One of the families we met on our travels last summer repaid the visit.  We had such a relaxing time of fellowship with them that I was sad to see them go.  Belle got lots of practice caring for a baby, including changing diapers.  She was ecstatic!  I thought she did very well.  Our friends have three little boys, the youngest being about 3 months old. 

We had prepared the main meals and frozen them ahead of time, so I had lots of time to sit and visit and relax without having to worry about major meal preparation.  I used a lot of that time to get started on a knitting project.  It is a blanket, and I get to use circular needles--a first for me.  My friend knits too, so when the baby was sleeping or being held by Belle, she had a chance to knit also.

Right after they left, we had Friday and Saturday to prepare for our trip to our annual church meetings and family camp.  This year it was held in Southern Indiana.  We left early Monday morning, and drove as far as the nearest Cabela's store!  We browsed there and had supper, and then went to a nearby motel where we had a swim before going to bed.  That was a highlight of the trip for the children.

The next day we traveled to the State Park where we stayed in the lodge for the remainder of the week.  It was great to get together with friends and fellow-minister's wives for a few days.  The children played in the newly opened water park and had a great time.  It was funny to see the children Boo's age.  It took them nearly the entire week to start talking to each other.  The women pulled some late nights catching up too--and it didn't take us as long to warm up either.

On the way back, we stopped to visit my sister and nephews.  Had a nice visit with them over the space of about one and a half days, and then drove on to a place about 3 hours from home where we spent a night with friends who formerly attended our church. We had a great time with them also!

It was a great trip, and while I am glad to be sleeping in my own bed at night, I have lots of happy memories.  Now I am back to the "too much to do, too little time" schedule of summer.

That's it in a nutshell.  You now know where I've been lately.  With limited internet access on the trip, I just didn't have time to blog.

We went to Iowa last week.  Left home on Monday, and got back on Saturday.  For a couple of days I had no computer access.  The rest of the time, I was either too tired from driving, or too busy visiting to blog.  We had a great time with friends!  One of the highlights of the trip was getting to see my friend, MishinIA, who was so sick in December.  She looks great!--even better because I was afraid (back in December) that I might never get to see her again.

We spent most of a day together.  I really enjoyed getting to know her kids, and so did our kids.  The children played really well together.

Other highlights were going to the Science Center in Des Moines--counts as a field trip for the children, and getting together with the minister and his wife from the church there.  And of course, spending time with the friends we stayed with.

On Friday, on the trip home, Belle came down with a bug.  Fortunately her throwing up was done in the hotel bathroom and not the van.  She is better from that now, but seems to have a cold.  She wasn't feeling well again tonight.  The rest of us seemed to have mild versions of the same bug, but none of us are really sick.

Today was spent mostly catching up on laundry and on a trip to the dentist.  (As if we hadn't already spent enough in the past week!)  My husband and I both needed fillings replaced.  I had a slight problem in that the anesthetic wasn't adequate at first.  Ow!  The drilling sure hurt.  Fortunately I could communicate that, and he gave me some more anesthetic.  Now my jaw is just a bit sore.  Hopefully that will go away soon.   I've only had two cavities so far in my entire life, and interestingly enough, they were found when I had dental insurance....  I've since had to have both of them re-filled--when I didn't have insurance.

The other interesting thing was that I didn't miss the computer much at all.  Now I'm home, and swamped in email (I really am going to take myself off some lists very soon).  I like to keep up with blogs, but I just don't have time to read everything. 

Now I really need to try and figure out how much of our lessons we will attempt tomorrow.  I still have laundry to finish and other things to catch up on.  Trying not to be overwhelmed....

I had a legitimate reason for not blogging this week.  We went away for almost three days.  The previous two were busy with dinner guests one night and getting ready to leave the next day.

We had a lovely time with the Grandparents, and with the dear Auntie whom the children had not seen for something like 2 1/2 years.  Auntie I and Uncle N work overseas.  Auntie has come home a bit ahead of Uncle, who has stayed to finish up some work, and will be following in a month.  We look forward to seeing him also.

We went down on Wednesday morning and spent the afternoon (it is a three hour drive) with Grandma and Grandpa.  When we go down, we stay with them.  On Thursday we went to the home of Auntie's parents and had a lovely lunch and visit with them. 

Auntie I. brought lots of presents.  I will soon have some photos to post of the beautiful bedspread she brought us and the lovely Pashmina scarf/shawl she gave to me.  She brought Belle a beautiful outfit complete with shoes in the style worn in the country in which she works.  I've discovered that Belle is very photogenic, but as I don't post photos of the children, you will not be able to see her on my blog.  She had a great time dressing up in her new outfit.  Auntie also dressed her in clothes that she wears when she is there.

The highlight for me was seeing Belle's actions and face when she read the title of the book that Auntie brought her.  Belle has never been enthusiastic about books because she has had so much trouble learning to read.  However, when we were in Scotland we bought her a set of books on CD by one of my favorite childhood authors--Enid Blyton.  She loves them.  Auntie brought her the books.  Once she figured out the title she suddenly held the book to her chest with a look of pure joy!  And she is highly motivated to read it, on her own!  She was so proud when we got home that she had read the first page to herself in the car, that she told her grandparents when we called them.

Boo's favorite gift was the clay elephant "piggy" bank.  He has named it "Tembo".  Of course no one could let him take it home empty, so it has a few coins in it already.  It has pride of place on our mantel in the living room, since he has no shelf big enough to keep it safely in his room.

As all good times away come to an end, we left Friday morning to return home, via Costco of course.  The nearest Costco to us is inconveniently two hours away, so we make the most of our trips away.  I hadn't been to Costco since October.  We were out of everything we usually buy there.

Now it is back to reality--cleaning house today, church with dinner guests to follow tomorrow, and back to the books on Monday.  Oh well, spring is on the way, and so is our "local" homeschool conference.

Several of you have asked about our upcoming trip.  I don't like to give too many details but I can tell you a bit.

We are a "blended" family--culturally.  My husband is from Scotland--you only have to listen to him to know.  His mother and sister still live there.  His father passed away last October.  The special thing about everything in the past year and a half was that they celebrated their Golden Wedding in the spring of last year.  We were there, and had a wonderful time.  It was the last time I was able to see my Father-in-law, and the last time the children saw their Grandpa.

This trip will be the first for them with Grandpa no longer there.  I went over for the funeral, and my husband went when his father became ill.  Granny wants to see her only grandchildren again.  So away we go.

While we are away I will not have computer access, so you will know I am gone by my absence on the blog.  I am really looking forward to the trip.  I love my Mother and Sister -in-law, and am looking forward to spending time with them.  I also love to visit Scotland.  The country is so full of history!

Now if only I didn't have to pack to go....  Who else loves to travel but hates to pack?

A week ago Friday, when we were still in NC, several of the ladies went to the local laundromat to do our laundry.  Several of our husbands, and my son, went up to the lake to go fishing.  Sometime during the morning we got a phone call from one of the husbands, saying that they had heard a bear up around the lake.  They apparently did not see it though, and on Saturday I found out why.  There had been bear sightings in the area, so we were on the alert.

Saturday afternoon, another Mom and my kids and I decided to hike up to the lake.  It wasn't a long walk from where we were parked, and the lake was beautiful--fully enclosed with trees (possibly the reason why no one had seen the bear the day before) and clear enough to see fish from the bridge and floating docks.  We hadn't been up there ten minutes before I heard a noise that I had never heard before--a strange moaning/grunting noise--and it was LOUD!  I looked at Boo and he looked at me, and I said "Is that what you heard yesterday?"  He said that it was, which immediately gave Belle a fright.  We walked back to the little bridge at the top of the trail and I took out my binoculars and scanned the area.  I couldn't see anything through the trees surrounding the lake, and we didn't hear any other noise such as the crashing of underbrush, but we were still scared enough to hightail it back down the trail!  Belle was in Mommy-mode, bossing us back down the trail while shivering with fright.

On Monday we left NC and traveled through VA to WV where we stayed the night.  Tuesday morning we drove to PA where we met a couple that my husband had met online.  They are very nice and we had a delightful time, visiting with them and going for walks in their town.

Wednesday early afternoon took us to the home of TeacherPerson and her family.  I never dreamed that we could hit it off as well IRL as we did online!  We had a lovely time visiting and meeting folk in their community, as we accompanied them to a local event.  It was hard to leave.

While at their house, Boo ran face-first into a frisbee game and caught the frisbee with his eyebrow.  He is now sporting a black eye--which wasn't as bad as I thought it could be--with the swelling and bruising confined to his upper eyelid.  We are very very thankful that the frisbee didn't hit him right in the eye!  Apart from the pain at the time, and some that night, he hasn't complained at all.

Thursday afternoon we drove to NY, and Friday we drove home.

Today I have spent the day doing laundry and putting stuff away.  Finally the house looks picked up enough that I won't be fretting all day tomorrow at what still needs to be done.  I am looking forward to the Lord's Day tomorrow, and to fellowshipping with folk in our church.  I do hope that Boo's cold will be well enough that we can all go.  And I plan for breakfast to include those yummy blueberry muffins that come from the mix that TeacherPerson gave me!

That is the story of  the end of our vacation. 

We arrived home at about 6 this evening--tired and a bit sneezy.  I hope that the sneezy-ness is only due to allergies (I haven't taken any meds for the past couple of days) and not to the cold that Boo picked up along the way. 

Now I am facing the contents of the van which we unloaded into our living room.  I feel like it will take a week to catch up.  Hopefully a good night of sleep will make a difference.

We had a wonderful time with both old and new friends!  I intend to blog more about our experiences when I'm a bit more rested.  Just for the record though, we traveled through 10 States on this trip--and at least three of those were new to me.  That was an experience in itself.

Belle did her first performance in front of a room full of people and carried it off like a pro!  I am so proud of her!

The event was a talent show held at our church family camp.  Belle and six other little girls sang a song from the Sound of Music.  Each of the girls had a line to sing on their own and they all did so well!  I know I wasn't the only proud Mommy in the group.

On another note entirely (ha-ha):  I didn't realize that when we were told that we would be staying in the mountains in NC that they really meant mountains!  My hips hurt, my feet hurt, and I have shinsplints--all from walking up and down really steep hills--just to get to the dining hall and back!! 

I think I am showing my age.  I grew up going to a school on an escarpment.  We walked up and down hills all the time.  Having knee surgery at the age of 14 (or was it 15?) was the only problem I ever had with the hills in those days. 

Think of me on Sunday--downhill to dining room, back uphill to room, up another hill to church, back down to dining room, up to room, uphill to church, down to room, down to dining room, back up to room and uphill to church again (I think--I can't remember if we are having the evening sing service in our building or at the chapel).  My only consolation is that I didn't bring my heels--and my sandals just have a slightly raised heel.

Part one of our vacation was wonderful!  TN is a beautiful state, and we had a marvelous time with our friends there.  The children played so well with their daughter that they could have all been siblings.

Now we are in NC at a very comfortable conference center.  The men are in meetings today, and the children and I are lounging in our room at the moment.  We plan to take a walk of exploration in a little while.
I was delighted to discover that I still have internet access, and can blog!

Not too much to describe at the moment.  We went swimming while in TN, and basically just enjoyed the company of our friends.

Today we will explore the area and do things in our room.  This afternoon there is an activity planned for the children.  I'm just glad for the nice place to stay.

We had a good trip down to our friends' place 3 states south of home.  The first day, the timing went very well, and we had a few very fun hours at Cabelas where we shopped and ate dinner.  We all came away with a couple of things--among them a set of binoculars for me that is a bit better than the pair I had (those will eventually go to Boo.)

The interesting thing that happened on the way is that the glass on my drivers side mirror started to shake after lunch.  I wondered what the matter was, and worried that we might be having a tire problem at first.  Then realizing that the rest of the car was not shaking, I figured that something was wrong with the mirror.  Sure enough, eventually there was a "clunk" as the mirror hit the van on the way off and splintered into a million pieces on the freeway behind me.  Fortunately there was a large enough gap between us and the cars behind, that I don't think the glass hit anyone else.
So I spent the rest of the trip that day craning my neck to look behind me every time I changed lanes.

The next day our start was delayed as we looked for a replacement piece of glass.  All we could find was a cut to size piece of plastic that would be a temporary fix.  It was better than nothing.  At least you could see cars coming up to your left as you drove.

We arrived just before dinner time at our friends house.  Our friend is the man who did our wedding 11 years ago.  It was my first opportunity to meet his lovely wife and children.  We are having a great visit.

This afternoon we took the children swimming, and they had a great time.  Boo and Belle are both becoming more comfortable in the water.

Now I am off for a cup of tea.  Have a wonderful Sunday, everyone!

We drove down to the city yesterday in horrible cold and blowy weather with a mixture of rain, sleet and snow for a good part of the trip.  It was so cold, and my arms are sore from fighting the steering wheel in a cross-wind with gusts of up to 70 km/hr.

We took Mom and Dad out for a curry supper last night.  It was very good.  Then we spent a pleasant evening chatting about Mom's current writing projects.  She has written a book (the one in my sidebar), and is now taking an advanced writing course by correspondence. (at the age of 72)  While we chatted, I copied files of old slides from my childhood and before onto a disk, for me.  My sister, Photogal, has spent many hours scanning those slides and getting them onto disks for Mom and Dad.  Thanks for all your hard work.  Now I have to figure out the best way to view those on my computer.

This morning I spent my time downtown getting the business done.  We navigated the city by bus and subway, and having made the same trip two weeks ago, we (husband and I) were able to go without Dad as our guide.  Mom and Dad looked after the children for us.  Then it was home to them for lunch, and back in the van for a much smoother 3 hour trip home.

I am tired tonight--too tired to prep school for tomorrow.  My feeling is that we will take it as it comes.  We have haircutting appointments in the afternoon (desperately needed), so it will be a short day anyway.

We are shocked and saddened by the Virginia Tech shooting.  It was all over the papers here today too.

I think I was going to say something else, but I forgot what it was.

We're just back this evening from a trip down to the big City.  We spent the night with my parents, and the morning at the American Consulate, getting Boo's passport renewal application in.  My passport also expires this month, but the paperwork said I need to mail it to the States to renew.  So I didn't take it with me.  I was kicking myself when the lady told me I could do it there--my paperwork was three hours away--and that the turnaround time is about two weeks.  The turnaround time for mailing it--about ten weeks!  So the plan is for another trip down about two weeks to do my application---hopefully there will be no snags, or my passport will expire.

Now we're home--to a very cold house.  Did I mention we have an oil leak somewhere?  We've turned off the oil to the furnace, so now the furnace isn't running, and being away, we haven't had a fire in the woodstove for two days.  The house temp was 54 degrees when we got home.  Now that the woodstove is going, it has risen to almost 60 degrees in the dining room.  It isn't that warm upstairs yet.  And I'm sitting by the window where my computer is plugged in, blowing on my hands to warm them.

I'm also hobbling about, due to a fungal infection in my feet.  Looks horrible, itches like crazy, and hurts to walk on.  I have treated it for weeks, and it was getting worse, so I went to the doctor on Friday evening--wonderful to have an urgent care in our tiny ER in the evenings!  Now I am using an expensive prescription, and I think it has improved ever so slightly.  But my toe is still very swollen, and feels at times like I tied a string around it.  It doesn't help that I've done a lot of walking the past few days.

I really enjoyed the homeschool conference I attended on Saturday.  I thought it was the best one I have attended so far.  I managed to make it through with only spending the price of a magazine subscription.  I have trouble with sticker-shock up here.  Homeschool books are expensive!  I'm still reeling at the price of a book on training your daughters to be keepers at home-- $99.00!!!  It was a beautiful book, but honestly I couldn't justify that at all.  There was a CDRom of the book for $42, but that still seems like a lot.

Well we're back home to much less snow, but still more than we saw anywhere on our trip.  It rained almost all of our last three hours drive.  Our basement is wet, but probably not as wet as it could be, since we asked a friend to check on it and sweep water to the drain if the puddles got too big.  Our basement is not finished, and the water leaks through the walls.  Such is life in an old house.

I've waded through stacks of mail, done a bit of unpacking and putting away of perishables from our Costco visit.  I still haven't caught up on email despite having taken my computer with me.  Tomorrow will be an organizing, laundry and catch-up kind of day.  Friday may be much the same.  I'll be happy if I can just get school ready for Monday.

I am exhausted!  I think I slept the whole night through on maybe only two of the nights that we were away.  Last night was especially bad.  I kept waking up and having trouble getting back to sleep.  Tonight in my own bed maybe it will be better, and I don't have to get up so early in the morning.  I drove for four hours yesterday and three today.  My husband drove the rest.

The kids seem way over-tired, but both are having trouble settling down tonight.  Hopefully they will sleep in tomorrow.  Then I think they will have fun re-discovering their toys.

My favourite purchase of the trip was a programmable coffee-maker with an insulated carafe.  We were able to get a refurbished one for much less than the price of a new one.  The problem I am having just now is that it doesn't fit under my kitchen cabinets.  Aaaargh!  It has a smaller footprint than the coffee-maker I was using, but sticking out on the counter, it still uses a lot of space.  I think my other position of choice would be on the trolley in the dining room, but the disadvantages to that is that are that 1) there is no outlet within easy reach, and 2) the floor in that corner dips down so badly that it would take some doing to level the trolley in the corner.   I will address this problem further when I have had some sleep.

All in all though, it was a great time away, a good break from home routines, a great visit with friends, and for the most part, it was relaxing too.  I hope that now we can get settled back home and into our routines and feel better for having the time away.

Well, I am now in a house with four men (including my husband) and two children, who are at the moment, peacefully sleeping.  The gentlemen have found another room to visit in, and I am sitting comfortably ensconced in a recliner with my feet up and my laptop on my knee.  Aah, bliss, comfort and delight!

Tomorrow the men will be involved in meetings all day, and the children and I will be amusing ourselves here.   The weather promises to be yucky, so there is not likely to be much outdoors time.  I have access to a television--something we don't have at home.   Hopefully I will be able to find some interesting and edifying programming.  Somehow I think that edifying and television don't go together--but I am hoping for some Discovery channel stuff or something like that.

Belle has discovered Sudoku.  She had two American dollars collected from two birthdays (one of her Great Aunts sends $1 every year) and was excited to be able to spend them.  We found a children's Sudoku book for $2 and she spent quite a bit of time today, happily working the puzzles.  Boxes of four make them doable for her.

Boo was a bit at loose ends today, although he spent some time reading.

Yesterday we got together with another family and visited the zoo.  The first time Boo has been to the zoo in his life.  We had a great time, and saw some animals that even I (who has seen many animals in the wilds of Africa) have never seen before.  I haven't yet looked to see whether I managed to get some good photographs.

Well, my cross-stitch is sitting beside me and I have time for some guilt-free (guilt as in "I really should be doing something else") stitching, so I'm away.

Tomorrow we are planning a trip to the city to visit my parents and my brother and his wife.  They are visiting from farther west in Canada.  We are planning to drive down tomorrow morning, shop and visit, and come back early Tuesday.  DH has a funeral to conduct Tuesday afternoon.  I am looking forward to seeing my family very much.  We have spent so much time apart over the years that I relish any time I have with them now.

Those who know me from earlier in my blog may remember that I am an MK who basically grew up away from home--boarding school from age 6 1/2 to grade 12, apart from furlough years.  After I graduated from highschool, I went to college when my parents were still in Africa.  I haven't lived with my parents for more than about 6 weeks at a time since I was 18.  When I finished college, I settled down on the West Coast of the States, and lived there for 12 years--away from most of my family (although I do have relatives there with whom I am very close).  It is wonderful now to live only 3 hours away from my parents!  But my siblings are scattered -  in two other countries besides Canada--and Canada itself is a big country.

Well, I have rambled on enough for now.