Taking an Idea from Diana - Answering some Questions just in case There are Enquiring Minds!

I see that Nana Diana is taking a well-deserved summer break. In her second last blog post, she did a fun activity, answering some questions about herself and invited others to do the same. So I shall give it a go. 

 1.  Where do you like to vacation? 

My favourite places (and I haven't been to a lot of different places in the world) have been Prince Edward Island, here in Canada, and the Cotswolds area of England. Both are beyond quaint and beautiful in their own ways. 

2.  Do you have pets?

Yes, we currently have two cats: Scooter-the-cat-with-no-tail who is a black and white long haired cat, and Murphy the crazy decision during yet another Covid lockdown in Canada kitten/ now cat who is a tabby with white feet. We have never had a dog because we knew it wouldn't be fair to have it be on its own so much when we were at work. Both son and daughter have had a fish or two when they were little (Goldie and Army, I seem to recall).

3.  What is your favorite color?

See now, this one is pretty much impossible because it isn't about individual colour, it's about combinations of colours. For example, the iridescent combination of red and green in a stem of rhubarb is without comparison. Gold and green or gold and deep red makes me heart swoon at Christmas time. Spring green and pink makes me want to have poofy upholstered furniture in a feminine bedroom setting. The list goes on and on...

4.  How many are in your family?

In our own family, we have my husband and I, our daughter and our son who are now 26 and 22. In my own family growing up, there was my father, mother, two older brothers and an older sister. 

5.  What is your least favorite thing to do?

Mmmm, again, how to narrow this down? Waiting at an airport, shopping for presents (I'm terrible at it!), having to drive in a city with crazy traffic and not knowing where I'm going, dusting the house, dealing with confrontation...

6.  What is your most favorite thing to do?

Gardening without back ache, being around furry animals or seeing interesting birds at the bird feeder, having solitude in the house to read, watch what I want, eat what I want..., seeing beautiful sights, beautiful nature... I'm pretty low maintenance and a home body.

7.  If money were no object what would you like to do when you retire?

I have a hard time imagining a life in which money was no object, honestly. I suppose I would want to have enough things to do or see to keep me occupied. I'm not good with down  time. I would mostly love to have a life where my children can visit and be comfortable and happy, or be able to take wonderful  hassle-free trips to beautiful places and take family with me.

8.   What is your favorite season?

I always said it was Fall because I loved the "feel" in the air and the colours. But I'm thinking summer is now a close second.

9.   What book are you currently reading?

Believe it or not, I'm not currently reading anything! My library card ran out at the library in a town close by and I'm just ticked off enough about having to pay for a library card (it should be free according to the township I live in) that I decided not to renew. There is another library system I can go to in a different town, but I just haven't made the time to go investigate yet. If I was reading, it would likely be a murder mystery, probably set in England.

10. What time do you go to bed, get up in the morning?

If I am scheduled to teach at a school, I get up somewhere in the vacinity of 6:20 in the morning. If I'm not teaching, I sleep until I feel like getting up, but I don't like when I sleep in too late. It feels like wasting the day. I go to bed by 11:00 but often stay up reading or watching things on the computer. 

11. How long have you been blogging?

I had to go view my blog to get the answer for this one, but apparently I've been blogging since 2014 which feels like last week for me, but is in fact now about eight years! Holy cow! When did that happen??

At the end of Diana's Q and A, she included fun facts about herself. I don't think I have any fun facts, but I'll try for a few.

- I drove "half way across" Canada in a tiny three cylinder car to attend teacher's college by myself.

-I like brussel sprouts and hate salmon.

-I am extremely scent sensitive and no longer wear perfume or have anything scented in my house and have been known to breath through my hair as a filter when having to be close to students whose clothing smelled of strong fabric softener.

-My super power was being able to find things. I think it has faded a bit these last few years. I wish my super power was being able to teleport to anywhere.

-I would love to have a little hobby farm (oh, maybe that's what I should have said about the retirement / money no object question).

-I was morbidly embarrassed by my parents growing up and just wanted "normal" fun parents like other people's.

-I can't drive a standard (stick shift).

-The rules surrounding spelling, grammar, and punctuation are not too difficult for me and seeing errors in news articles drives me nuts.

-I'm often afraid of dogs I don't know.

-I love Dairy Queen Smarties Blizzards!

Oh To Be Five Again - The Best of Both Worlds in Kindergarten

 When I accept occasional teaching jobs (substitute teaching), I often choose kindergarten classes. Here in Ontario, if it is a JK/SK (junior kindergarten and senior kindergarten in one class), there is an ECE person (early childhood education) who is basically like a second teacher, who knows the routine and is a great partner to work with in a class you are not familiar with. There are also SK / 1 classes (senior kindergarten and grade one in one class), but they don't qualify for an ECE. 

One class that I go to fairly often is at my previous school and it is a JK / SK class. Often it is only for a half day (a teacher may have an appointment, for example and only requires part of a day off). I am familiar with the students in that room and I have experienced it when I was masked and they had to sit in separate desks and play individually, rather than together (a wholly unnatural thing for little ones), to how it is now, where they can be seated in little groups and can interact with each other. 

Students in JK must be four years old by the end of December of their school year (which means some are only three years old when they begin in September), so at this time of the year the students in that class would be four, or five, or even six, depending on when their birthdays are. 

When I say that this class is the best of both worlds, they have traditional in class learning combined with "play" where they learn those all important social skills and fine motor skills, but they also have a wonderful opportunity to be immersed in nature for part of every day. 

 The school used to be a high school, then morphed into an elementary school. It is located in a small town, but in a very rural setting. In fact, the high school had a wonderful programme where grade 11 or 12 students could learn about agriculture combined with science. There is a small barn (which would have animals like cattle, pigs, chickens, and rabbits starting in the spring), a greenhouse, and a garden, and a small "forest" where they tapped maple trees and made syrup. In addition to the "maple forest", there is also a mixed small woodlot that can be accessed via a gate from the main playground. The kindergarten classes, as well as the grade one class, use both of these wooded areas. Wonderful rough trails have been created, bird feeders are hung, logs are strategically placed, picnic tables have been set in clearings, water runs through in a small stream, and it is a most wonderful programme. The parents are requested to provide good outdoor clothing and rubber boots for their children, as they go out to the "forest" in all kinds of weather. In the winter time, they have even managed to get to the point where students hold very still and quiet with bird feed in their hands and chickadees land to feed on their hands!

I had the chance to be with this class for the afternoon, just the other day and we spent some time in the maple "forest". The students are good bunch, who know the rules, know where they can and cannot go (for example, beyond the trees to a parking area), and play and create and use their imaginations freely. They take basic toys with them like plastic rakes, big tin cans, some little toy vehicles, etc., things that won't be damaged by water or dirt or snow. They mix up pretend soup in their cans using wood chips, water from the stream and a stick for stirring. They play tag in amongst the trees. They play the regular imaginary games that all children play, but in a wonderful setting. There are paths laid with wood chips, logs and boards to sit on, slopes to climb up and down. 

I took some pictures to give you an idea of what it looks like. It was a little tough making sure none of the students were captured in the shots.

I know that I would have loved something like this when I was that age. I spent a lot of time outside anyway, sitting in a willow tree, watching animals, collecting chestnuts, or just playing. I think absolutely every child would benefit from an outdoor classroom, but I know it's simply not possible everywhere. When I attended it was only one year of kindergarten, no junior and senior business. My older sister, who is five years older than me didn't even have the option of kindergarten. School began at grade one. What was your kindergarten like, if indeed you even had kindergarten?

Catching Up - Mon. May 16

 Things have been quite busy lately. I did a lot of supply (substitute) teaching these past couple of weeks - all good experiences. The rip-apart-the-house-and-live-once-again-in-a-state-of-chaos insulation project continues. 

When I retired last year, my co-workers gave me a much appreciated gift certificate to a local green house / garden centre. I decided on Mother's Day to go with my two offspring and purchase two fruit trees. I bought a pear tree and an apple tree. They are both a decent size and already budding out into little leaves. Son helped me plant both of them this weekend. One hole with "easy" to dig (that was for the pear), and the other hole with not so fun. The ground was very hard and dry, so we put the hose to it and let it soak for a while so it would be easier to dig out. Son encountered many stones (anywhere from bigger than your head to bigger than your fist). I put lots of lovely compost in the hole and the apple tree got planted. It isn't staked yet, but we will do that later today, hopefully. Both trees have had a steady rain falling on them since last night.

I had cleaned out the chicken coop and spread the contents over my vegetable garden. I rototilled in two different directions, pulled out the loosened weeds, then sprinkled granular fertilizer over the whole lot and raked that in. I want a productive garden this summer. The price of groceries is ridiculous.

On Friday, I drove to a city about 2 1/2 hours away, same one where my siblings all live now, and attended a funeral for a cousin of mine. All my cousins are older than me. She was ill with cancer and made the decision to have an assisted death when the time was right for her. I was able to see three of her four siblings, cousins I haven't seen in about three years or more (we don't regularly get together). Everyone has aged tremendously and are in various states of turmoil in their lives. I came away from the day feeling very normal. 

Husband is in the process of just starting the proceedings of "opening up the pool" in addition to continuing the insulation project. We will be cleaning out our old yucky basement (our house is about 120 years old so perhaps you can imagine) this week so that those proceedings (part of the insulation project) can also begin. 

This week I will be taking our Scooter cat to a pet place to get him "groomed". If Joanne is reading this, she may be able to relate. Scooter is a long-haired cat and this year, for some reason, he has become incredibly matted about his hind quarters. He's never been like this before. He's a skittish, squirmy fellow and I hope / pray that the lady is able to perform the task of an over all trim and then a severe buzzing down to the skin on his matted areas. He is going to look atrocious but at least the weather is warm now, so I don't have to worry about him being too cold without all his long fur. If I can take a picture, I'll post is later. Poor guy.

Murphy continues to be himself, hanging out with the hens (I think they have deemed him an honorary chicken), leaning against things, and lord help me, bringing a small snake into the house which I had to transport outside, as I was the only one home at the time. 

The rain is falling outside still this morning, giving me and my back a reprieve from gardening and yard tasks for now. I hope you all have a contented week this week. It is the "long weekend" in May here in Canada coming up (also known as the Victoria Day weekend, and for some of a certain age, the "May Two-Four Weekend). We will be having a giant outdoor / car port sale of husband's various British car parts. He has decided that he is done with that side hustle and has advertised the sale for a couple of weeks now. I hope many people show up and take as many things away with them as possible!

Junk drawer overload

 Today one task on my list was to do a deep purge of the all mighty junk drawer in the kitchen. I threw out the multiples of restaurant menus, tested every single one of the double A batteries that were floating around without a home, threw out the handful of various screws, nails, and other fasteners ( trust me when I say there are plenty more in the garage), and gathered all the tape in one location. 

But then there were these:

Can anyone else relate???

Monday, April 25, 2022

 Time marches on. The temperature yesterday was 24 degrees celsius. Glorious. However, as I was doing some yard work, I realized my body is not used to this. I changed into lighter clothing and still had to take multiple sit down breaks. Not to worry, it's going to snow on Wednesday, so I won't have to concern myself with over heating. 

Husband continues to plug away at the "insulation / reduce the bleeding of money to heat this old house" project. Here is a new picture to show the next stage:

Framing and insulation has occurred. (Ceiling and floor will also be happening, this is a multi-multi-multi-step endevour).

Regarding the foxes, I have not seen mom or babies for a few days now. I read that mother foxes sometimes move their young two or three times, so perhaps that is what has happened. 

I went for my first bone density scan the other day. My previous, now retired doctor never ordered one for me, regardless of my lower back issues and diagnosis of osteoarthritis in my lower back. When the nurse practitioner took over patients for a six month period, she ordered a whole bunch of routine tests, including this bone scan (for which I waited four months, I think). I got my results this morning. Yes indeed I have osteoarthritis in my lower back and also in the "neck" of my femur (looked it up, it's at the top, where it connects to the hip). Well, that would explain all of my pain and problems. So now I increase my calcium and vitamin D intake, even though I've always been a regular consumer of calcium and have taken vitamin D pretty consistently over the last several years. Also, this is hereditary and I recall my mother taking calcium in her later years. Menopausal women also basically leach calcium as estrogen subsides. Yay, us!!

Our daughter finally, finally, finally gets to walk across a stage at university and celebrate her well earned graduation with a degree in Communications. She's already been employed full time in her field for over a year now, but of course with the whole pandemic thing, she, along with many others, never got to graduate in person with her course mates. She only gets to have two extra guests. Her long time boyfriend is writing an exam for a course he has been taking this same day, so husband and I get to go and watch this event. 

Son is now done his college course and we will be helping him move home this coming weekend. He has a big pickup truck and we have an SUV, so hopefully we will manage this all in one trip, as it is about three hours away. It will be odd having a "child" at home again, but I'm happy that he will be able to save some money and try to do some earning before striking out on his own. He's twenty-two years old. When I was that age, I was still in university. Of course, I had grade 13, which doesn't exist now. As well, I and most of my peers thought getting a university degree was the necessary next step after high school. I did a four year combined honours BA, followed by a year of teacher's college to get my B. Ed. But that was thirty years ago. Our son saw how many people were going to university only to not get jobs, or to then turn around and go to college AFTER university to get some sort of employable skill. He had no desire to become a doctor, lawyer, teacher, etc. which all require degrees, but instead wanted to get out there and make money. We have a huge nuclear power plant relatively close by and he found out what he needed to do to get a future job there and did it. He still has some steps to take in order to fulfill his final career choice, but he's on his way. And if he is successful, he may earn more than husband or I ever could have imagined as teachers. I wish him all the success and he's never been one to be afraid of hard work, so I have a lot of confidence that he will be fine in this world.

On a final note, our strange little cat Murphy has decided that he enjoys hanging out with the chickens from time to time. They don't even seem to care! 

Oh, also, has anyone noticed that things look different when you try to leave a comment on someone's blog? Ughhh, Blogger, just leave things alone. Anyway, have a lovely day. Let me know how your bone density is and if you are also having sun / snow /sun / snow. 

April 19, 2022

 Who Ordered This???

Can we all just have a moment of silence for the daffodils?

Easter and the Deconstruction 2022

 Good morning. Our Easter celebrations will be our little group again - myself, husband, daughter and boyfriend, son, and mother-in-law. Sometimes we do extended family, but this year, my sister is trying to keep covid-free for upcoming leg surgery (which has been postponed countless times due to fabulous health care), and one brother and his wife and daughter all caught covid recently. They are all fine for the most part. 

I have a pre-stuffed cook-from-frozen turkey, which is, in my opinion, the best and easiest way to make a roast turkey. Daughter is bringing a carrot cake. I said I wouldn't be doing Easter treats because 25 and 22 year-olds do not need chocolate bunnies and an Easter egg hunt. However, I ended up caving because it's Easter, so there are a few little treats! 

Yesterday I ventured into Walmart and it was un flipping real!! Keep in mind, Friday was a holiday where stores were closed. Today is a holiday where stores are closed. So Saturday was that day sandwiched in between where everyone is running out getting what they need for their kids' Easter or for a holiday meal, or whatever other incredibly necessary items that need to be procured from Walmart. (Yes, that includes me, but in my defense I did substitute teaching on Wednesday and Thursday this week, so was somewhat busy). I have NEVER seen it that busy, ever! Just navigating through the isles was a lesson in patience and the line for the check-outs went past the front of the women's clothes, past the front of the produce area and down into housewares! But I got those gold-wrapped Lindt chocolate Easter bunnies on sale!!

I've been continuing to rake and pick up the many spruce cones and other branches that have come down from the many wind storms this winter in our yard. I'm pacing myself so as not to wreck my back. Alas, we had wind warnings and extremely high winds just two days ago and now the front lawn and flower beds are strewn with spruce cones again and more branches have come down. Oh well, keeps me limber. 

We have something exciting/worrying in our little neighbourhood. In the last couple of weeks we have seen a fox in the "field" next to our property, as well as running through the neighbour's yard and along a line of downed trees and rocks. It is exciting to see such a beautiful, wild creature and I know that "urban" foxes are not rare (although I would hesitate to call our end of this tiny village urban). I researched to see if it would be a problem for our cats and no, usually foxes don't bother with cats or in rare instances will take a kitten or an old, weakened cat. The issue is of course, my chickens. In all the years that I have kept chickens I have never had a fox take a hen. Their chicken run is fenced , but not covered. As well, during one of our many wind storms, a big tree came down (Manitoba maples, grrrr!) and partially crushed part of the fence. The chickens still stay inside the enclosure, but it would be nothing for a fox to climb over (even without it being crushed). The fox has seen us and usually starts to run away, so it knows we humans are here. 

However, yesterday, as we were on our upstairs landing, looking out the windows (more on that later!!!), I saw the fox and watched it for a while. On the neighbouring property, there is a very small, very old barn. There is nobody living there now. The fox was behind that barn, and has been seen there before. Low and behold, I saw young ones! At first I thought there were three, but then noticed a fourth. The fox is a female and they were playing around her and stopping to nurse now and then. Oh boy! It's going to be an interesting rest of the spring and summer!

Now, onto the deconstruction. Our house is old. Not old by European standards but old, around 130 years old. It is double brick construction. Some parts have been renovated and some parts haven't. With the price of heating going up and up and up, as well as the price of everything else, we decided we had to act this year on doing some serious insulating in key parts of the house. Our old basement will be tackled in about a month's time. Right now, husband has been working on the upstairs landing. It has always been a cold part of the house. He has now ripped out all the lathe and plaster from the walls. Here are some pictures of what has been happening.

In the above picture, you can see the little old barn in the neighbouring yard. There is where the fox has her den. 

In this picture, above, the lathe and plaster is now gone and you can see the inside layer of brick in some areas. There are a couple spots where you can see daylight! No insulation here!

This picture gives you an idea of the "front landing" It juts out a bit from the house (same configuration on the first floor) with two windows facing front and a window on each side. The hideous blue carpeting will be ripped up later for in-floor heating, so it doesn't matter how dirty it gets. 

These neat old square nails were used in the bigger vertical boards. 

I'm no stranger to renovation and dust and chaos. This is a multi-step, multi-project endeavour with husband doing most or all of the work. I'll keep you posted on the progress.