School in a time of COVID – Friday

We're getting closer to winter. The goldfish pond froze over! Just a small layer of ice.

 

We had a big day. There was packing to do, costumes to put on. Grampa set the table Thursday night. He bought supplies in town.

Breakfast, and then dress up, and clean up, and pack.  "Gramma, can you help me 'put on my face? That's what you always say!" I helped Isabelle with her make up.

Isabelle's run: 54 sec. two times around, yesterday it was 52!

10:10 a.m. – I heard this from down the hall, "You're being too loud!" I went down to see what was wrong. Apparently, everyone was talking at once in their Google Meet. 

ISABELLE: (to me, rolling her eyes) "The teacher did nothing." 

     "You've got one job," she says, shaking her finger at the teacher on the creen! 

A note from Momma, at home, confirmed by the girls, the teacher's internet was wonky. There was a note on Twitter, too. The Google Meets just weren't working.

Some of our schools are experiencing technical issues this morning, which means that some of our #OCV educators are having trouble getting into Google Meets. Thank you for your patience as we work to resolve this. Students should continue with asynchronous work for now. pic.twitter.com/D33v9LTboa

— OCDSB (@OCDSB) October 30, 2020

Papa was getting snow tires on, so we had to wait until he was done. We had assembled all the luggage.Caitlin texted at 3 p.m. that they were done, but Jos was in the middle of finishing something. She was done at 4, and off we went for the hostage exchange. 

At the hostage exchange, on a Friday afternoon, the traffic was quite busy. The red car didn't believe the woman was pulling into the parking lot! 

We were sitting there. Grampa said it was pretty cold. Josephine said that, actually, there is no such thing as cold. It's an absence of heat. She's right, you can Google it! It's the atoms banging into one another that cause heat. "Not a lot of heat!" became our mantra on the way home.

I said something else, and Isabelle corrected me! So, it was time for a story.

I mentioned that Grampa Pat used to correct my parents all the time. It really ticked them off. They only had a gr. 10 education, they didn't have a wide knowledge. They did, however, have big hearts and did a lot of volunteering in their communities.

My third child used to correct his gr. 8 science teacher. Said teacher, apparently, had taught one year 25 times. He was wrong, but my youngest used to feel obliged to correct him. 

Hallowe'en decor!

Sadly, we realized that Josephine's laptop was still in the car. I phoned Caitlin, as we agreed to a computer exchange Sunday!

There was a hard frost Saturday morning.

Grampa and I slept in until 8 a.m. on Saturday. It was a great week, and we worked hard, and did really well. 

This is the 19th week we've had the girls since last March Break, mid-March. 

School in a time of COVID – Monday

School in a time of COVID – Tuesday

School in a time of COVID – Wednesday

School in a time of COVID – Thursday

School in a time of COVID – Thursday

 We're into our routines, now. We did forget showers Wednesday, oopsie. The new high-speed technology is working out well. Zoom takes a lot of bandwidth.

Isabelle had an art lesson, based on the angles curriculum in their math program.

We made it to Thursday dinner, which we usually order in. 

Deer tracks on the path, down to the meadow. I showed Josee on Friday.

Cinnamon brought in another tick. Grampa caught it on a piece of tape. They don't disappear until the temperature goes below 5 C. June 7th was when we put on their meds. It worked well.

• 🕷️TICKS 2020 <= tick counts over the years

The girls grabbed lunch from 11:00 to 11:45, the usual. I had the leftover lasagna!

I'd forgotten about these photos. Josephine knows where the trailcams are, and Papa does not. She lured him into the photos when they were here on the weekend!

I took some photos of our feeders. Josephine and I had spent many an hour birding all spring and summer. I rushed into the office, to see if she could pause and check out the evening grosbeaks. 

    "Can you pause? Look out the window, Jos!"

    "What am I looking at, Gramma?"

    "Evening Grosbeaks!"

    "There is nothing there!" Yep. They'd flown.

After school was done (3:30), Jos had homework. I thought the weather was turning, and I'd rather get there before the rain. Off we went. Pumpkins direct from the farm.

Back home, Isabelle asked Momma for permission to play Minecraft (she will do this remotely), while Josephine went back to schoolwork. Iz and I brought in wood, and moved the bed. All was well. Then, it was time for Minecraft and Border Security. 

Another great day.

School in a time of COVID – Monday

School in a time of COVID – Tuesday

School in a time of COVID – Wednesday

School in a time of COVID – Wednesday

 Here we are, halfway through the week already. I am sleeping better, as I am working harder, I think. We woke up to snow, but just a light dusting.  It melted.

Isabelle and Josephine managed to get up, after I cajoled, poked and prodded. Josephine had breakfast, but Iz wasn't hungry. Instead, I suggested she take some snacks with her to school! She read her book until school started. She ate her apple at her desk, and I trundled down some dried cranberries. A special UberEats delivery!

Once the girls are 'in school,' I go downstairs for a workout. That works out very well! The first hour is usually calm. 

Drama queen!

Grampa went into town for supplies. He phoned at 11:00 o'clock, break time, and asked if we wanted Subway sandwiches. Josephine declined, but Isabelle and I put in our orders, once Grampa got the pencil going. Josee had her butter chicken soup. Isabelle had begun heating her soup, and said she'd leave it until afternoon snacktime.

JB arrived home at 11:30, with a COVID non-mask story. A guy two customers in front of him in Subway wasn't wearing his mask. Someone else arrived behind Grampa, and Grampa explained loudly that he was standing 12' back of him until the dude put on his mask. The covidiot pulled it up, overhearing the conversation, but not up over his nose. Everyone else were wearing masks properly.

Anyway, Isabelle inhaled her ham sandwich, with fixin's, just in time for school to resume at 11:45.

Quite a morning, TWO dead voles on the deck. 

Most of their prey are rodents, a few snakes and frogs. The green on the graph, birds, but 4 of the 15 birds they caught over the year were released.

Grampa brought these for Jos, who needs them for a science experiment due Friday.

After cleaning up the bile and gall bladder on the front deck, cats were confined to barracks. 

They fought, objecting to being in the dog house.

We had a doe visit most of the morning!

Jos began her science experiment. Gummi Bears in the bubbly drink, vinegar, sugar, salt and plain water solutions.

Isabelle did her house run, 2 x's around, 55 seconds. 

Cinnamon from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

She finished her schoolwork by 4. Jos had a video to produce, which took her until 5 p.m.! She's been multiplying fractions, as well. 

Salad and lasagna for dinner, pie and ice cream for dessert. The lasagna JB bought at Coutt's, and it was great. Another great day.