Way back in the summer, I wandered next door for a visit. Darlene had gone up town but I stayed anyway and chatted with Dave. Soon, a car rattled up the driveway and pulled into the drive shed. Out popped Darlene enjoying an ice cream cone. Mint, I think. Interesting. I didn't know that scooped ice cream was to be had in the village. I tucked that little tidbit of information away for another day and we had a nice visit in the shade of the old maple tree, out behind the milkhouse.
After lunch today, I shooed the kids upstairs to change into long pants and socks. They're still in summer-mode despite the autumn temperatures. Twelve degrees, I reasoned, didn't qualify as shorts-weather, even for me. Once all were appropriately attired and had peed, we left for a walk to the village. Except Riley, who rode her bike. And then complained that we walked slow. Eleven year-olds.
"Would you hurry up! Stop looking at trees."
Unlike a past walk, the boys didn't bother searching for lightsabers. No, this time they were soldiers. Up in the hills, through the trees, always on alert and scouting for...bad guys.
Marching-in-step needs a little work. Hup...
Eventually, we arrived in the village and made our way along the highway to the little shop where - surprise! - we found Kawartha Dairy ice cream on tap. I know! What are the odds?! Cammy had the Cotton Candy variety, Ri went with Chewy Chocolate Caramel, and their dear ole ma inhaled the Muskoka Mocha. Oh, 'scuse me; I'm drooling again. Nolan held out for a jawbreaker from the General Store a little farther up the road. Then, we turned around, summer-time treats in hand and headed back home. Not once, did we have to worry about it melting.
Our neighbours down the road have a kind of applefest each year, inviting family, friends, and neighbours to their backyard orchard...which is actually in front of their house by the horse pasture. They gave us a call yesterday and this morning, working around the rain, we went over.
I had seen the tip of the orchard before as I'd driven down their driveway but was astounded, as we walked through, at the number of trees they have. There has to be fifty or sixty trees pumping out gazillions of apples - delicious, macintosh and others. Why, if I was an applesauce maker, then...*gasp*...but wait! I am! It was applesauce heaven. So, while the boys played with their three apple-retrieving dogs (great fun) and Ri hung out with their daughter, Paul and I filled our baskets. Careful not to confuse the road apples with the macintosh apples, we came away with over a half bushel of firm red fruit in no time flat. Guess what next weekend's job will be.
Once finished, our host walked us around the farm, visiting the horse and donkeys, the hens and their rooster and showed us the new tree fort. The boys ditched the tour there and headed up the ladder. Next, we checked out their cider press and went inside for a taste. Mmm-mm-mm. Next on their list, is learning to make hard cider. May have to rename our road Copperhead.
A week ago Sunday, after the brownies came out of the oven, the kids and I planned to go for a walk. Paul arrived home shortly before the timer rang out and the kids asked him if he'd like to come along. Next thing I knew, the bikes were out of the garage, the tires were pumped up, helmets on and they were off. I stayed behind and cleaned up.
Yesterday the boys and I again decided to take a stroll into the village. Paul wasn't invited. Around 2:30, with the week's baking cooling on the kitchen table, we put on our walking shoes and headed out the door, across the road, up the mucky unassumed path and onto the old railway line. Within minutes Cammy had a lightsaber in his hands and was a swashbuckling Han Solo. Nolan and I were immediately on the lookout for another, uh, weapon. Fortunately, the path is bordered by lots of trees and shrubs and lightsabers abound. The trick, however, is finding the right one. The star wars heroes' mummy doesn't want her brave warriors getting a splinter.
Moments later we found what would be the first of three lightsabers. This one, while a little long and with too much bark, was an okay start. After a short duel between Han and Luke Skywalker, it ended up in the woods. Onward. The discovery of the next saber led to a masterful demonstration of parries, counter-parries and fancy footwork. I'm making that up. General Grievous and Anakin Skywalker (who, in the blink of an eye, could morph into a Jedi hunter) whacked their sticks together. Big smiles with each whack.
The long abandoned Millenium Falcon?
When we reached the gate at the highway, the lightsabers were stashed in the woods (just in case the Dark Assassin showed up, I reckon), and, transforming into earthlings quicker than Darth Vader can say "No, I am your father", we hiked along the highway and into the store. Minutes later, with goodies in our pockets, we again left civilization, and began the long trek home. Kids are so fun to hang out with. And nobody got a splinter.
Lots going on. Friday, Dorito and I went in to Toronto for glass water bottles. We were lost for only a short time, took the (very) scenic route (I didn't know that's where Holland Landing is) and then made our way towards Uxbridge to go to Richters Herbs. We seem to manage a trip there every couple of years. This time I picked up a peppermint plant and a Vick's plant.
Saturday, I zipped into Peterborough for the Farmers Market. Must have been the great weather 'cause it sure was busy. Picked up some more strawberries (dried and in jars now), got a great deal on green peppers (still to be dried) and grabbed a couple dozen eggs. Then home, loaded up the kids and went to Oshawa. Ri was staying overnight with Elaine so I wanted to be down there before she closed the flower shop at 1. We made it. Dropped Ri off and headed out again. Stopped by the blueberry patch for one last basket of fresh blueberries. While I picked, the boys played in the nearby field. At one point, they both had blueberries in their ears, smushed on their noses and were saying to each other, "Roger that." They so remind me of their Dad sometimes.
Sunday, we had a wonderful visit from Paul's sister Margaret, who's up from down East. Yes, this would be wife of SCUMbaagg, who, I'm happy to say, is just boring ole SUMbaagg now. She and Paul's Mum and Dad were good enough to pick Ri up and then come out for the day. I think Margaret was surprised at how much flavour is in those strawberry chips and was astounded at how much useless information we provided. (Did you know that there's one silk for each kernel of corn?) It was good to have them all out.
Today I dried a few more herbs, baked a blueberry buckle (Ri's choice for back to school) and zucchini brownies (Cammy's choice, although he doesn't know about the zucchini part, and we'll keep it that way for now), and went for a walk (oh, the free apples! if only I could get at them!!). Nolan will be able to put pictures up in his cubby at school, so I wanted to get a nice picture of the kids together in the woods. I don't think it was poison ivy that they walked through to get to the tree.
And, tomorrow, the Tuesday after Labour Day, Cammy and Ri will be getting on the bus and heading back to school. Grades 2 and 5. And wee Nolan starts JK next Monday. As Cammy said tonight, "Why does summer go so fast?"
One day last November or December, I came home from work to find the trees at the road in front of our place pruned and a mess of torn limbs lying in the ditch. I use the word pruned very loosely here. The site was shocking. We confirmed later that the township was responsible.
Well, come March, the snow melted and the abandoned limbs reappeared. So, during March Break (before the poison ivy and oak presented itself), Paul and the kids spent two days dragging branches and downed saplings out of the ditch and piling them in our yard. The site became less shocking.
Paul looked into renting a chipper but the price was, well, ridiculous. So, he called the township, explained that he had cleaned the wood up and asked that they remove it. Finally, after several calls, the township sent a crew out today to clean up the mess.
As I emerged from the garage this morning, I saw a white pickup truck in the driveway. It backed out and pulled up along our ditch. I headed out. After arriving at work, I called Paul and asked him if anyone was loading up the wood. There wasn't and he hadn't known they'd been there. Later, I called home again and asked if they'd returned. Well, a crew had arrived and there was machinery making a lot of noise out at the road. He figured he'd better go see what was going on. He made some comment about them "fixing his little red wagon for complaining about the mess they'd left" and he hung up.
The first time out, they had taken a look at the pile and figured it was too much to haul away so they came back with a chipper. Paul spoke with them and explained about the clean up and the poison ivy (they were going to go into the ditch) and that, if they didn't mind, we'd love the mulch. Turns out they were quite happy with that suggestion.
The trees at the road have all leafed out despite the maiming. I hate to admit it, but the ditch looks much better too. We're not quite as private at the road but the green understory is coming up beautifully. And I came home to a pile of free mulch. Things are looking up. Knock on wood.
Cammy learned to ride his bicycle last year and has now mastered it. Pretty much. And he's been itching to take the former rail line into the village for a couple of weeks - ever since he heard that Paul and Nolie stopped for a freezie on their way through. So, tonight after supper, Paul and the kids went for a bike ride. Destination: General Store.
While they were gone, I wandered around the yard checking the trees...again...for signs of growth. I checked the apple sticks that we planted last fall and five have buds. Not sure on the sixth but my fingers are crossed. The raspberries have come back but I'm not too sure about the blueberries. Maybe they're just slower to show life. There are signs of radish life and there's one lettuce seedling up...in the middle of a deer hoofprint. No signs of swiss chard yet, but the peas have emerged. Some of the strawberries survived and some didn't. And one of the old apple trees that I pruned this winter looks to be covered in wee flowers. Wouldn't it be nice if they turn into apples? My toes are crossed too.
Shortly after returning to the house, there were sounds of kids and bicycles outside. The travelling quartet had returned. Outside I went to greet them. Cammy was coming up the path first so I asked how his ride was, fully expecting to hear about a frozen treat. "Well," he said, "I fell in a ditch." Hmmm. Wasn't prepared for that response. But he was fine - no scratches - and he'd had a blue freezie. (I could tell.) Obviously, well worth the trip.
We're home again today. Ri's feeling much better but, as she hadn't eaten yesterday, I decided we'd take another day to slowly bring food back into her life. So far so good. There was a quick trip to the General Store for crackers and ginger ale this morning and she's now progressed from that to half a bagel with some homemade applesauce. I see formal learning in a school environment in her very near future. It's such a beautiful day out there with a good strong breeze. I hung the boys' sheets out and I think they were dry within an hour. Riley was inside all day yesterday and this morning so I thought the best medicine would be some fresh air and a walk. So we walked across the road and headed west along the unassumed road. Riley and her cousins Laura and Becca had found raspberries growing there a couple of years ago and she wanted to show me where they were. Well, we walked a good bit and came out at the maintained road on the other side. We've no idea where those berry canes might be but we'll take another look in July.
There's an old tree in there with a huge branch growing out near the bottom of the trunk. It has a fabulous shape to it - the great arm reaches out, then forks and stretches to the sky...
Further along, Riley found an old wooden door. I've never understood why people have so little respect and think it's okay to dump their garbage - I guess that's a story for another day. Anyway, she thinks Paul should go in and bring it back and build a fort with it. Wow. This could actually be something that her brothers would agree with her on. Not so sure that they'll win Paul's vote, though.
And then we followed a wee creek to this...
I wish I could have brought you the sound of that little waterfall too.
We arrived back at the house and Riley wanted to take a quick look at the bog where they skated. We found two ducks out for a swim...
What a start to the kids' March Break! This morning I saw three robins searching for worms on the lawn. A sign of spring! The starlings have also returned and were investigating the beam under the carport for nests. Yes, a sign of spring! This is also a great improvement on the location they used to choose - inside the barbecue. And, as if that wasn't enough, I had the sheets out drying on the line today. Yep, another sign of spring!
Riley went to a birthday party today. It was a surprise - for Riley - as we received a call last night inviting her to hang out with her friend, Abby, who is the birthday girl's older sister. Ri made a bead necklace and wrote a story about a princess for the now five year old birthday girl. And she had a great time. Riley especially likes playing on the swing rope out in their barn. Sure enough, when I picked her up, I found her out there swinging back and forth with another girl while everyone else was inside doing crafts.
While she was at the party, the boys and I went for a walk. Today we ventured across the road, up the unassumed road and onto the path that leads into the village. The path used to be the old railway line that went into Lindsay but now it's used largely for snowmobiles, ATVs and dirtbikes. And sometimes by us. The great thing about this path is the rocks. Just ask the boys. We have a growing collection of smooth rocks, pink rocks, sparkly rocks and, well, I could go on, but you get the picture. We did find a treasure today that was not made out of rock. Cammy is now the proud owner of an old railroad spike. Quite a find.
Way back when, before kids, we were living in Oshawa and dreaming of a place in the country. There was kind of an unspoken promise that, in exchange for me moving back from Calgary, we'd get the hell out of Dodge. Oshawa was a great place to grow up (and one day maybe I will ;o)) but I'd had enough and didn't want to spend the rest of my life there. So we started looking for a piece of property.
We weren't too picky but there were a few must-haves on our list. Like, oh, water. A reasonable commuting distance to the 'Shwa. Acreage. And, hmmm, I guess that's about it. I remember when we found this lot, wandering over to the neighbours' place and asking them about their well. Being city-folk and having limited knowledge of wells, we figured we'd better ask around about the water (limited knowledge, by the way, translates to not-a-clue). I should tell you that we pretty much live in the middle of a swamp. And there are bullrushes on our property. And I can just imagine what the neighbours thought about us but they kindly invited us in and told us about their artesian well. They also mentioned that years earlier, when they were raising cattle, they had hayed the property we were looking at. They knew the lay of the land intimately. And they knew we'd have no problem with water.
So here we are. When the well went in, they measured the flow at 13 gallons a minute; three or four times what we needed for a mortgage. The drive to work is within reason for both of us and we have the most wonderfully, if somewhat useless, rolling five acres along the road. The wee little pines and cedar that had seeded to the north of where the house now stands, have grown beautifully in the eleven years we've been here and form a perfect windbreak. The hills are winter playmates for the kids and their toboggans. And the people next door are the greatest neighbours anyone could hope for. The best, though, is the surprises. The stuff you don't look for when scouting but end up making you really thankful that you found this spot. Running north and then east behind the house is a runoff. There's not always water there but it's wet in the spring, and we curse it. The kids love it. My floors don't. The lawn tractor's been bogged down in it a time or two and the kids have learned a couple new words. But every winter, there's a melt that's followed by rain, and we get this...the most fabulous natural slide any city kid could ever imagine. You can't skate on this one; the grade's a bit too steep but it sure is fun with boots on. And do the toboggans ever whip across it.
Out behind the property, on what we call the back-forty, is some swamp. And you just know, if the runoff looks like this, then there's a pretty amazing skating rink out back...
Awhile back, I told you about 'the goat way' and I also promised you pictures of 'the mail way'. Well folks, that day has come....may I have a drum roll please...I give you - 'the mail way'. (The crowd goes wild.) Yes. Thank you. Thank you. I know. It's a great day. I finally had enough daylight to take pictures that do our mailboxes justice. So, here we go...
Here we have the old green mailboxes, seasonally attired in duct tape.
And here, the stylish new mailboxes wearing Santa-red with just a hint of Rudolph-brown.
And finally, peaceful coexistence.
You wish you lived here, don't you? Anyhoo, this seems like a darn good time for a poll. Which way do you think is more scenic? The goat way or the mail way? Goat way? Mail way? Here's a side-by-side...
Two posts and I'm already starting to feel the pressure. I hadn't really intended on posting daily. I know, I know. What the heck else would a full-time working mother of three do in her spare time? However, it looks like at least half of my two followers want to see more. So, this is for you.
Nolan is in swimming lessons on Sunday mornings; Cameron & Riley go Thursdays after school. It was impossible to get them all in together and, quite frankly, what the heck else would a full-time working mother of...well, you get the picture. To be honest, it works out well this way. The older kids go to school in town and it's easy for me to leave work a little early, whip over to the school, pick them up and take them to the pool. Nolan? Not so much. Daycare is out of town, closer to home, and the driving back and forth is too much. But this works. Besides, Paul isn't in town every day like I am so he often takes Nolie on Sundays and then does his running around while he's there.
Now, whenever we go anywhere, there are really only two routes we can take...both involve driving north up our road and either turning right and curling towards the highway or continuing north to the same highway. We have creatively named these routes 'the mail way' and 'the goat way'. I know - the sheer imagination here is astounding. If you look to the top of this post (go ahead, I'll wait), that's 'the goat way' that you see. It's my favourite route. Goats are comical creatures. 'The mail way' is darned exciting too, especially with our new and improved Canada Post Superbox (installed just two weeks ago) but somehow it isn't as fascinating as 'the goat way'. I can get a picture of our mailbox if you'd like and you can decide for yourself but I think you'd agree, 'the goat way' is the way to go.
Which brings me back to swimming and every other excursion that involves more than one child. Invariably, as we approach the turn in the road, I ask, "Goat way or mail way?". And just as that turn in the road is always there, so too are the arguments over which way we're going to go. You'd think I'd learn.
Sunday's swimming session involved only Paul and Nolan. The day was cold, the snow was falling and Nolan was bundled up in winter coat, boots and toque. After the lesson, they left the pool, hit a few stores looking for soil for our apple trees (that's a story for another day) and eventually arrived home. Nolie, with his usual flair, removed his boots and toque. Apparently his hair was wet when he first donned his hat. That boy was a site to behold.
The long abandoned Millenium Falcon?
That's SpiderCam scaling the wall and SpiderNolie
The best, though, is the surprises. The stuff you don't look for when scouting but end up making you really thankful that you found this spot. Running north and then east behind the house is a runoff. There's not always water there but it's wet in the spring, and we curse it. The kids love it. My floors don't. The lawn tractor's been bogged down in it a time or two and the kids have learned a couple new words. But every winter, there's a melt that's followed by rain, and we get this...the most fabulous natural slide any city kid could ever imagine. You can't skate on this one; the grade's a bit too steep but it sure is fun with boots on. And do the toboggans ever whip across it.
Sunday's swimming session involved only Paul and Nolan. The day was cold, the snow was falling and Nolan was bundled up in winter coat, boots and toque. After the lesson, they left the pool, hit a few stores looking for soil for our apple trees (that's a story for another day) and eventually arrived home. Nolie, with his usual flair, removed his boots and toque. Apparently his hair was wet when he first donned his hat. That boy was a site to behold.
