"Fun Facts" List

 I know, this is a stretch, using a fun facts list as a blog post, but it's hot, so here you go...

The best advice I was ever given... was by my friend's mother, a no nonsense type of woman, who said, "Put the baby down awake" or in other words, allow your baby to learn how to fall asleep themselves. Otherwise you will be tasked with walking that baby up and down the hall, or rocking him or her in your arms until the baby falls asleep. Some people love to do this, but both of ours were excellent sleepers, sleeping through the night fairly early on. 

The hobby I could never give up is... gardening. Winter is LONG here, and when true Spring and Summer arrive, I cannot help but go out and putter around or even full-on dig, create, relocate, weed... Even though it just about puts me in traction sometimes, I just have to garden.

My biggest role model is... nobody. I'm one of those people who never had a particular celebrity or famous person or elder family member who I was somewhat "obsessed" (an over used word) with. I see certain traits and qualities in people that impress me or inspire me, but I do not have a role model.

One of my favourite books is... probably something from my childhood. I adored "The Magic Faraway Tree" and  "The Children of Willow Farm" by Enid Blyton, reading them over and over. I also loved "My Side of the Mountain" and read it to many of my grade three or four classes over the years. 

I would love to learn how to... sing well. My father sang, in many choirs, entering competitions when he was a younger man, even sang at my wedding. I can absolutely tell when someone is sharp or flat. I can "carry a tune" but I'm not great. I don't have a decent range. I wished that I had a wonderful voice. However, I am not going to sign up for lessons or anything. It's just something I would love to be able to do.

If I won the lottery, I would instantly... pay off my debts. I despise debt, but it is a fact of life for us. I know many people out there do not hold a mortgage anymore, but we do. Canada is a country of taxation and high heating bills, we helped our kids through post secondary education, and even though we live what I would deem frugally, we still carry a mortgage and a couple of other small debts. Now that we are "pensioners" is it even more important that we live frugally. Money is a touchy subject for me.

If I could have any superpower it would be... teleportation. Just let me do that Star Trek thing with the shimmery lights and electronic sounds and beam me somewhere. Or better yet, cross my arms and blink my eyes ala I Dream of Jeanie and let me go somewhere instantly. I DESPISE the travel part of getting to a destination. I cannot sleep on a plane or in a car (oh how I envy those who do). So yes, teleportation please. 

I first traveled solo when I was... Twenty-three?? I think that's how old I was when I loaded up my tiny little three cylinder Chevy Sprint and drove from Ontario across Quebec and New Brunswick to get to Nova Scotia to attend teacher's college at a wonderful university there called St. Francis Xavier. I am certain my mother thought I was going to be killed by a maniac on the way (she thought I should dress up a "dummy" and put it in the seat beside me so it didn't look like I was travelling alone). Before I left, it was one of the few times my father ever said, "I love you", thereby leading me to believe that he also thought he'd never see me again. This was in 1990, way before GPS and cell phones. I had written down the directions and the highways I was going to take and taped the paper to my dashboard. I also had a map. I made collect calls from the motels I stayed at on the way there back home to let my parents know I was indeed still alive. (I had already been living away from home for the most part since I was nineteen, so this wasn't like the first time the baby bird had flown the nest). I've always been pretty proud of myself for doing that, as I'm not a particularly adventurous or brave person. If you aren't familiar with the geography of Canada, it was a LONG way! (Southern Ontario, tucked in amongst the Great Lakes to slightly north-east Nova Scotia).

I have two kids. My proudest moment as a parent was... still is, happening. We are blessed with two really great young adult kids. They have never truly disappointed us, consistently make us proud, and are just really decent human beings!!

I hope you enjoyed this and please feel free to chime in on some of your answers, or use some of these questions for your own blog if you wish.

Pool Opening and a Different School

 Yesterday, we had both "kids" and the longtime boyfriend here helping with the opening of the pool. This is less glamorous than it may sound. It involved shop vacuuming all the refuse (spruce needles, cedar bits, other plant matter) that blew in and around the water bags that hold down the winter cover, removing the giant cover (it's a big tarp), spreading it out, sweeping, sweeping, sweeping, scooping more yuck from the bottom of the pool, cleaning up the outdoor furniture and retrieving cushions from their up-high winter storage place... The help was tremendous and a yummy supper of homemade burgers and macaroni salad ensued. 

Son had a soccer practise after supper (he's on the Over-18 team and as a 23 year old, he's probably the oldest one, but he enjoys it). Daughter and her boyfriend went for a nice long walk with me after supper. We spotted four rabbits. 

Today I am supply teaching at a school I have not taught at (other than one day of virtual teaching during the pandemic, so I don't even count that). It's a nice little "country" school and I'm hoping the day goes well. It is a grade 1/2 class. 

It's 6:49 a.m. and I'm typing this in the kitchen, as I just heard son leave the house to go to his construction job. They start early. He makes his lunch the night before and stashes it in the other fridge, grabbing it and heading out at this time every morning. He works hard and has applied for his ideal job, for which he trained at college. He will hopefully find out soon if he has been accepted. But in the meantime, he does construction work. 

Yesterday morning, before everyone arrived, I made stewed rhubarb to have as part of dessert. I remember an awful lot of stewed rhubarb as a kid. I did not particularly like it then. I've discovered that I don't particularly love it now. I served it with plain cake (no icing) and or vanilla ice cream. I think it will sit in the fridge for a while. I just feel obligated to do something with all that rhubarb. (And I still have bags of it frozen in the freezer...)

That's it for today. Have a nice day, everyone. 

Outdoors

 I filled my two hummingbird feeders- one for the back porch and one that I can see from the front porch. There have already been territorial battles. I adore watching hummingbirds. It is such a simple pleasure. 

I had spent a lot of time over the past couple of weeks weeding my vegetable garden. I then cleaned out the chicken coop ( it’s the size of a small shed one might have in the backyard for your lawn mower and such). I do the “ deep litter” method for the hens ( there are only three) over the fall and winter months and then give it a thorough clean out when things finally warm up. All the old shavings and manure then gets spread on my vegetable garden. 

Today I used my trusty rototiller to work up my garden, going in one direction and then the other. Then I rake it smooth. So much promise lies in that garden.

I then weeded around the outside of my compost bin at the corner of my garden. I sat on my garden seat. Inevitably, the inspector arrived. I do wish he wouldn’t sit under the seat. I am careful not to tip forward and I have to chase him out of there when I want to move a little to the side or forward or back.

Do you have or did you have a “ supervisor “?

A Mother’s Day to Remember

 This is a somewhat late post, as Mother’s Day was three days ago, but it still needs to be written. As you know, this past year has been a physical and emotional challenge for me. I told my husband that I wanted our two kids to be in charge of Mothers Day this year, as I’m not HIS mother, I’m their mother. I also let him know that he was on his own to figure out his mother ( who is in a nursing home and has had dementia for a while). 

I let the “ kids” know that I just wanted to have time with them and it didn’t have to be fancy or expensive. On Saturday night, my daughter called to say that I should be ready on Sunday morning around 9:45 and I should be dressed casually and comfortably- not in my favourite blouse- is how she described it. I thought, ok, maybe we are going for a nice hike. I would like that. 

Sunday morning came, we got into son’s freshly cleaned truck and off we went. We drove for quite some time and I kept making ridiculous guesses like “ we are going paint balling” or “ we are camping just for the afternoon “ or “ you’re dropping me off in the middle of nowhere and I get to make my way back home”. Each time they said, “ yes.”

Well, this is where we ended up:

Oh my lord, yes!!! If you know me at all, you know I like animals. This was a goat farm set up so you could go in with the kids ( that all had names from Harry Potter) and you could feed hay to the goats. 

I also made friends with the resident feline. It was so much fun. I thought it was a great place to go, but the day wasn’t over.

We then went to a wonderful little restaurant which is a breakfast/ lunch / bakery place. It was beyond delicious! They bake on site and it smelled like heaven! I thought it was a great place to go, but the day wasn’t done yet.

After that, we went to a garden centre where we wandered for a while and sat on the beautiful patio chairs and sofas. The kids bought me some luscious coloured petunias to plant in my pots.

I thought it was a great place to go, but the day wasn’t over yet. We came back home and son and daughter made a meal of fish tacos and chicken fajita fixings. They bought/ brought all the food for it and I got to sit and watch! Husband was done with his mom by this time, so we all gathered for supper ( daughter’s boyfriend was with his mom).

Daughter also had already purchased a lovely owl “statue “ for me earlier and some treats. The entire day just made me happy and thankful and I told them they had outdone themselves and all I needed in future Mothers Days was just their presence, not presents. I am one lucky mother!