Monday 7 June 2021

Gramma Camp – Week 31

 We are here, again. The last day of school is June 25. They've worked hard online, as this pandemic unfolds. Teachers are now writing report cards. 

There is much talk, by those with shrill voices, about how disastrous a year it was for education. I think teachers did a pretty good job, for the most part, in getting them through Virtual School. Kids are being taught how to learn, not to memorize facts. Every year we teachers manage to teach a wide range of kids in one classroom. 

Josephine, being 13, gets her COVID–19 vaccination next week.  We're getting closer to getting people jabbed who want the jab. That'll be good to get past. We'll see if we can book earlier than our scheduled 2nd dose in August. 

Warnings for our girls

This week begins with a warning or three. Firstly, I shall teach them about the 🍃LDD Invasive Caterpillars🐛, gypsy is a pejorative term. Some people are getting rashes from picking up the LDD caterpillars. A lot of hairy caterpillars have poison in their little spiney things. This is what I use to pick them up: reptile feeder tweezers. You can see that each instar is a little hairier than the previous ones.

Poison Oak and Poison Ivy Abound

I'll just leave this here: leaves of three...

Junior Bear

We hadn't seen one yet this year. This one was sniffing around for food. Stretched up a tree???? As he left, the dweeb was sniffing around the camera, and fogged up the lens. I laughed. Junior Bear  


🐣PHOEBE  is doing well. They should fledge June 8 or 9th. Twas a lousy video =>📹, but you get the picture!

The Garden

The weigela is doing really well. It gets lots of visitors, including the hummingbird. I tried to photograph a bumblebee, but you can see how well THAT went!


The clematis just bloomed.


I submitted my caterpillar to BAMONA. I found it on the aspen saplings out back, amongst a bazillion LDD caterpillars. It was confirmed as a 

Copper Underwing
Amphipyra pyramidoides

It's not an exciting moth, but we'll watch it this week, in the aquarium, and see what unfolds.



Devil's paintbrush in bloom.  It's not an artsy photo, like some of my nature buffs, but it is so pretty, the carpet of yellow.



Off we went to the hostage exchange. The air conditioner doesn't seem to be working in our car. We opened the windows. Poor Isabelle! After requesting we close the windows, she tied up her hair, and we opened her back up for the air! Doesn't she have beautiful hair?!

The corn is starting to grow in the fields. Recent rains helped, but we need more.

I wonder what happened here! I've a photo of a bear on the dash cam around here. Who knows?!

We arrived home after the hostage exchange and unpacked. Gramma had a wash to hang, indoors, due to the caterpillars. I hung up their bathing suits, as they'd had a swim at home. They'd visited Hogs Back Park, and the locks, for an adventure. It was Papa's birthday, and they'd done cake the day before. 

"Come on, pose, Jos!" Jos wasn't feeling too hot. She's get better slowly. 

Soon, it was dinner time. Poor Jos had braces put on last Thursday. She'll get some TLC. We discussed a menu, and Jos thought we might play it by ear all week. I doubted that would fly! Jos opted for a soft chicken pot pie. She really enjoyed the crust, nice and crispy. I nuked it, while Isabelle helped me unwrap the BBQ, and get the hot dogs going for us. They are such wonderful girls.

After dinner, Jos used the water pic on her teeth and brushed. It's three times a day for a couple of years! She's not as sore as she was, which is good news.

Cinnamon and Nutmeg were put in the Muskoka Room around lunchtime. I'm keeping them away from the nesting robins and the phoebe out back. I let the cats into the house after dinner, as I was in and out BBQing. Jos saw Cinn, and said, "Cinnamon, did you know I got braces?" The cats roared up and down the stairs. 

They listened to an audiobook together in Izzy's room until lights out at 8:30 and 9 for Jos. Gramma and Grampa watched a show, on Grampa's Chromecast through Amazon (it was a gift!), Rebecka Martinsson. It's a Danish murder mystery series, with subtitles, you might like it A/C. We konked out soon after. 

9 comments:

Tom said...

...I’m always trying to kill poison ivy.

RedPat said...

A busy day in the heat!

Christine said...

Yikes on those caterpillars!

Out To Pasture said...

Oh that horrid poison ivy! Found a bunch under my cedar hedge this morning and I'm VERY allergic to it! Your caterpillar invasion looks awful. With all the pros of living in the country, there are a few cons as well.

Anvilcloud said...

We've updated from Aug to July 01 in Almonte. We'd like to do even better.

Nancy J said...

Another very busy day, and warnings!!! I had no idea that caterpillars could be so harmful, they look innocent pretty creatures. When and if school goes back to normal, it will seem so unusual. You too have excelled with massive undertakings for Gramma camp and the morning school bus, lesser people would have caved at the first week. You make it all so interesting, innovative, and when the young ladies look back on this in later years, will marvel at you both and how you managed.
Grandson called in yesterday, on the way back to Wellington. No hugs as my cough still lingers, off he went with casserole, enough for 3 meals I thought, but he commented " That's dinner for tonight"!! Banana loaves, and apricot slice.

Red said...

That is a long day! I could never make it!

Linda said...

I think our grandkids have done well with the virtual school, no chop and change for them being enrolled for the whole year, Jos will adapt to braces quickly, our grandson has had them for over a year and is doing well.

William Kendall said...

The bear looks in fine form.