Gramma Camp – August 2022

 

Our world travelers have been home a week. On the weekend, the girls went camping with friends at Lac Taylor, in Gatineau Park. While they camped, S-I-L Jean-Luc was off helping an uncle in Madoc who had terrible tornado damage from one of the last few storms along highway #7. There were stories of a family work party, and Wild Parsnip in Madoc, and a hot weekend of work. He arrived home to a big thunderstorm! 

It was a lovely, hot weekend and perfect for the girls to be beside the lake. Their friends had booked this campsite in February, in hearty anticipation. It looked delightful.

Sunday, they finished their camp weekend, and toodled on home. 

I spent the day in idle work. Sunday afternoon I finished my book, sitting in the pool.

The thunderstorm rolled in, Sunday afternoon. Josephine was supposed to help volunteer coach a preschool soccer team for volunteer hours. Ottawa had a thunderstorm and what with the heat warning – it was cancelled. She had a shower!  Caitlin texted me and we agreed on meeting at the Hostage Exchange for 4:30. 

Gramma Camp has begun. We had the girls for 35 weeks during the pandemic. I don't know if I should call this Week 36, or just move on! 

They drove through a storm to meet at Franktown. We left in clear blue skies! There were clouds to the south of us, you can see down the highway. We were happy to be doing the hostage exchange before dinner, as there was a storm warning for after dinner.

These are, of course, Drive By Shootings. I loved the clouds, and the corn is standing tall in the fields.

We were doing the speed limit, and two cars passed us. The second one passed the first car, as well as us, at the same time. Of course! ERs are closed, they are having trouble finding nurses to staff them, but foolish people continue to push their luck.

The anticipation of rain was near and dear to my heart! 

Hostage exchange complete, the kids said they'd traveled through a storm on the way. Off they went home. Bye bye, Momma and Papa!

Perth was pretty quiet, but look at the clear skies! 

Yippee, a sight for sore eyes. Clouds rolling in as we headed home.

 Happily home, the girls took their things to their room in the basement. I'd posted photos on the family photostream of Izzy with pollen on her nose. She reprised the moment. Josephine, an avid photographer, went outside to take some photos. I had to Google, "How to remove Tiger Lily pollen from clothing." 

Firstly, you use tape to remove what is on the surface. Then, spray it was spot fabric cleaner. Soak it a half hour. Then turn it inside out, and rinse it. Next, you wash it in as hot water as the fabric will take. It is still drying.

🍕 We decided on pizza for dinner. I ordered online for pickup, Grampa fetched it for us. Josephine blew up their bed, and we made it. There was some discussion on bed orientation. It was sorted out. 

Whilst eating dinner, we planned tentative meals for the week. Izzy fetched her iPad and checked out the weather. We figured out the best day for BBQing hamburgers outside, for example, and going out to the restaurant patio in Rideau Ferry. I made a list of possible activities, too. On the car ride here, Josephine asked if we had stuff planned for the week. After their world tour, it'll be difficult to find exciting stuff! 

We watched Pandora, a cheesy show set in 2199. It was just on the edge of acceptable. We will look for something else today. 

After that, Josephine must have been tired, she asked if it was bedtime. So, teeth and jammies! Grampa and I watched the last show in our The Bay series. As we watched, the Internet feed stuttered and dimmed. I figured girls were reading, as per normal routine, but this was a sign of bandwidth. They were doing Facetime with Momma, saying goodnight. Hooray for technology.

⛈ Jos popped upstairs saying she could hear it raining on the chimney cover. Indeed. We handed out flashlights, just in case. A total of 10 mm! Rain, glorious rain!

After a half hour, lights out. We finished our show and fell into bed!