Gramma Camp 3.2 Saturday

1. Gramma Camp 3.0
2. Gramma Camp 3.1 Friday

3. Saturday, Nov. 24

Gramma woke at 5:30! I let Daisy out of her crate, force fed her pill. Next, I rebuilt the fire. Isabelle woke about 7 a.m., we watched Nicky Ricky Dicky and Dawn, and SpongeBob. Izzy had some fruit.


Our new toothbrushes: Brush Naked. They are made with bamboo. They feel lovely on your hands. I told the girls Sean wanted a photo of them using his toothbrushes. They complied eagerly!


It was Isabelle's turn to make chocolates for the Advent Calendar. I'd learned many lessons from doing this project with Jos the day before.


The bonus was, leftover chocolate. We poured it over the fruit.


Grampa, who does dishes, said that Isabelle should market herself as a cleaner. She'd licked the molds clean. Izzy made a note! They have fun Grampa and granddaughter...

Izzy and I went out to haul some firewood. Josephine came out, as well, and we made a good haul!



This is what I usually do myself. We built up the fire, to keep them cozy in the basement.


Isabelle and I went down to the frogpond.


She was very concerned about making a hole in the ice! It tends to melt, in the sun, under the dock.


Next, we chatted about two years ago when we actually skated on the ice. Is cleared a spot and did some figure skating.


After she'd spent some time making the hole larger, we went down to look at the wood duck box, where mice friends are nesting.


Up the hill I went. Izzy could hardly make it, she was so tired.


We walked, arm-in-arm, up to the house.


My 'Close eyes' from Grampa yesterday.


We did another Swedish Irish Magic Viking Meatballs.


Mushy Annabelle.


Our afternoon movie: Kung Fu Panda 3!


Momma and Papa were having a blast in Toronto for the weekend. They were downtown, which is where I grew up. I'm an inner city kid! This is the Royal York Hotel, where my mom worked for 30 years in the Rotary Club of Toronto office. I would go in on March Break, and use the addressograph machine, to help her put out the 500-member weekly newsletter.


I took the subway to school, I lived on Walker Ave., and went to Jarvis H.S. Facebook has a page of archival photos from Vintage Toronto: Subways and Trains.

It was a decent bedtime hour, for all of us! There was a problem, as Isabelle read a lot in the morning. Her iPad is down to 26%, so I had to tell them a story. I told another Gramma story. Jos had asked about when they first 'met' Nebuchadnezzar. He is a product of her imagination, and we've carried it on for years. Isabelle and I reminded her that Momma met Neb, back in the day! Then, I took them back through time, when Caitlin dreamed of Neb, and then grew up, and had kids, who had stories about Neb! I contracted an artist to create Jos' mental image of Neb several years ago.

What a wonderful day it was!

Gramma Camp 3.1 Friday

Gramma Camp 3.0! (Thursday, the pick-up)

Friday, Nov. 23rd, 6:50 a.m.

I went downstairs to see how warm or cold it was. The girls were reading on the iPads. Gramma put the fire on. The basement was chilly, even though I'd banked the fire. There were coals, but not many!
This is why it was chilly, it was -21 C. We have a lovely furnace, but the basement isn't really on high heat. Hot air rises.

Izzy and I watched Sponge Bob Square Pants. Morning cartoons are the best! Josee continued reading. Isabelle made her own toast. We hung out.
I took Josephine breakfast in bed, a bit later! I guessed at her order for her toast, one with peanut butter, one with strawberry jam. Bingo!

We discussed the day, and Josee asked which crafts we might do. I explained that we had some ornaments, or an Advent Calendar involving chocolates. (She also has L.A. homework, and ukelele to practice.)

Meantime, Grampa was asked, by Isabelle, to do another "Swedish Irish Magic Viking Meatballs!"  

He heartily agreed; off he went to town to get some loot. The cats encouraged him in the hallway.

Josee and I began work on the Advent Calendar I'd bought from Lee Valley (free shipping days!). Chaos ensued. I don't have any sort of decorator's bag. We tried an old baster that doesn't baste any more. However, the chocolate just got stuck in it. Then, I suggested we put the chocolate into the measuring cup, and pour it. That was messy. but more effective. I licked the bowl scraper, Jos the pot!


Next, Jos and I did some outdoor chores. Firstly, refilling the bird feeders, fetching the SD Cards from the trailcam, and refilling the birdbath. It was lovely having a pal! She is a bit too short to hang this bird feeder up. Sooooo close! She has grown, she'll be 11 next month.



Down to the trailcams. Josee mugged in front of the camera. The camera has issues. It's been assaulted by Junior Bear. It hangs precariously.

Jos took the ribbon off the Gold Goose, as it was what caused me to record 1230 photos, as it flapped in the wind.


The 2nd trail camera pooched out on me. Our buck did up his scrape, again. No photos, as I think the trailcam froze. We walked up the driveway and found lots of tracks. Turkey, deer (large and small), and Grampa tracks!


Izzy was tired, and went back to sleep. She was having a good nap. If she is tired, she should sleep!


When she woke, she regaled us with a tale of her dream. It was about a whole bunch of Daisys going after Hooper, "Oh, no, what will happen to Hooper?" she thought, but then she woke up. What a precious little lady! She has pink cheeks, but doesn't feel feverish. It's about 23 C. in the basement, though. The fireplace insert is difficult to regulate.

 Jos and I are having a lovely time. Grampa went back out shopping!!!
Mini-pizzas for lunch, thanks to M and M's.

Swedish Irish Magic Viking Meatballs!

Grampa bought them helicopter Lego. Jos wished she'd had it when we wrote her book! Isabelle asked that we resurrect this tradition. Grampa was happy to comply. Izzy fetched Darth Vader and Grampa's wig from the basement. 
Magic Meatballs from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

LEGO!!!!! Iz put hers together, Jos and I played Skip Bo.


By 3 p.m., it was movie time! I did laugh at this one.



Grampa bought us some new knapkins.


Dinner was special. I baked some chicken, we had peas and corn. Then, a surprise. Since we won't be seeing them around her birthday, we prepared a surprise with Izzy's help. Josee served the cake, Izzy served the fake ice cream on top of the cake. Yum!

New earrings!




It was a big hit. Sadly, it's a bit persnickety. People play this in the store and wear out the batteries.


Bedtime was close to the right time (8-ish). Sort of! They watched two Wild Kratts videos (we bought the DVD series), and then it was lights out. By the firelight, I told them another Nebuchadnezzar story about visiting Gramma and Grampa!

Gramma and Grampa konked out in bed shortly thereafter!