Reflections from Crumbly Acres: kothu lab

Thursday

Sleepy girls! It's been a long haul. Last night, two showers, and we're good to go today.

Yesterday, Isabelle stated that she has had enough of chicken noodle soup! She made herself a traditional sandwich, Grampa bought her some sliced Black Forest ham, slice of cheese and a sliced dill pickle.

This was a mnemonic device for something. I forget what. My brain is fudge!

I helped with some assignments. Poor Izzy was a tad bored, as they were explaining how to do an assignment she'd already handed in. The teacher puts a series of slides into their folder, and the kids type in the answers.

The daffodils Isabelle helped me plant. Still thriving in our rains.

"I've never sat on this chair before!" I usually have decorative pieces on it!

Down she runs to The Chair.

I've lost the R??!! Today, it reads GNIPS. They always liked to rearrange them!

COVID shopping...

I went walkies by myself. The girls were working, cats and JB sleeping.

This may seem a silly photo, but you can see the leaves beginning to flush out! Yay spring.

Tree fungus and green grass. OK, weeds. Can you see the heart shape in the tree trunk?

You cannot see them yet, but the aspen grove is ready to burst into leaf.

The tree house, before and after. The railings were gone, as the tree keeps growing!

We brought in dinner, Take Out from Kothu Lab. Sri Lankan, Kothu means a chopped meal. It's all made fresh, and each meal made to order: mild, medium (white man spicy!), and spicy, with a variety of spices: jafna, kerala, jerk, tandoori, thai. These girls traveled in Asia, have varied tastes, and are proficient with chopsticks. The take out boxes are recyclable cardboard.

Isabelle pretended to lose her bean. A long story, but that's what my Dad did, while he was suffering from his brain tumour, and it was a joke. My Mom nearly had a heart attack, as Dad laid there with his head on the table, looking for a lost piece of veggie. Isabelle loves to re-enact the tale.

March 25 - wood ducks down at the dock

Healthcare

In the meantime, JB had a phone appointment with our GP. He was out walking when Dr. Dan phoned earlier than the planned 10:30 appointment. Dr. Dan was happy he was out walking. He phoned back later, and indicated that the recent bone scan showed calcium deposits, and bone disintegration, which explains JB's neck issues, but doesn't help. He's taking Advil, will keep on with physio to strengthen the neck muscles to support the neck. He's pleased we're working on ergonomic work systems (the new standing/sitting table), pillow supports. It's not a soft tissue issue, as there would be reticular symptoms, weakness radiating down his arm. JB is in to see him in June for his next cancer treatment.

Good news: both working-from-home parents have had their vaccines at a pharmacy in Ottawa, yesterday. They are giving 40-somethings vaccines in Ottawa. I told Isabelle and she hooted with joy!

Saturday

The kids came over Saturday afternoon. The menu for the week was planned, as we've the girls for the week. Papa checked up on school work for next week. They are all caught up. It was a good review before the week begins.

We ordered in dinner from a new Sri Lankan restaurant in town, Kothu Labs. It was lovely! Caitlin took orders, wrote it all all, then phoned it in, and then picked it up. During dinner, Saturday, I noticed that we had a Jean-Luc, Jennifer, Josephine, Joseph, when I looked at our order list from Saturday. Grampa thought we could call Isabelle 'Jezebelle' to make another J.

It was a delight. The kids have travelled to Japan, etc., and are proficient at chopsticks, as well as beginning to experiment with spicy foods. The meals came in a recyclable container, with the name of the dish written on the outside.

Josephine had leftovers!

Sunday

The new teenager arose at 11:30. We checked on her many times. She needed her sleep. They are getting along pretty well. Isabelle is our drama queen, we have so much fun with her.