Gramma Camp – Wednesday

 Wednesday – sunshine, and a forecast for 26 C. Perfect!

Grampa did morning walkies. I held down the fort. At 9:30 a.m. I put the basement light on, hoping for the best, i.e. to wake the girls up. 

Once breakfast was done (11:00!), we decided to head for mini-golf. 

Isabelle was keen to spot the big Muskoka Chair! The old photo is from 2017: Grandsitting Day 4.
 

I wonder about this house, right next door to the Perth Outfitters. People must turn in their driveway.  The front garden is always planted with flowers.

Wednesday afternoon was more fun! It was a full day. More later!

Gramma Camp – Monday

Up at 5:30, it was getting light. What can I do?! I was up. I put out the garbage and there was a beautiful fog. You can feel the forest inhaling the moisture and expanding in relief.

The moisture was most welcome.

Grampa went back to bed for a nap at 9 a.m. I toddled downstairs to open curtains and wake up the girls.

Cinnamon was lobbying to go out. I ignored him. The cats played tag.

Grampa shopped, now that we had a menu plan. Josephine wrote it out on the chalkboard. Izzy plugged her ears, as the sound cut to her very soul!

We cleaned out my 'office,' which is truly a storage room. There was loot to find. They ripped the pages out of old manuals I'd had from teaching to put into recycle. A couple of binders with tabs, paper, etc. They found harmonicas that belonged to their great-grampa. It was a great morning project and I appreciated their help.

I had an old micro cassette recorder. Josephine wanted it. We found new batteries. On the tape, was a vocal lesson I'd taken in 1986-ish. We listened to that awhile. It was when I was singing with the Ottawa Choral Society. I'd had several lessons with a private vocal teacher. I had totally forgotten it. It took some time to explain how the mini cassette recorder worked, and that they could reverse it and tape on the other side. They made up a radio show on the spot. 

Then, we took a break and reading was called for during the rain. Yes, MORE rain!!!!

Paper Wasp Nest

Having posted a photo on our photostream, they asked about it. I showed the girls the wasp nest. It is impressive. I noticed it on Sunday, as the branched bounced up and down in the wind!

I took three videos of the nest. Here is the first. Depending upon the positioning of the sun, it's easier to see it in the afternoon. Paper wasps 2 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo:

Leftover pizza and peaches for lunch. 

Dinner was chickenburgers. The girls made a salad for us. 

AFter dinner we tried Ghostbusters: Afterlife, but didn't finish it. That will be for Tuesday after dinner. 

Pond Pump Update:

I had a dumb issue with the pump. I lost the top after I'd cleaned it. I figured it would just run on its own. I was wrong. It's burned itself out. I'll have to come up with plan F. It's dead as a doornail. Happily, with the rainfall, and the re-repaired eavestrough, the fresh water filled up the pond and added oxygen.

pond pump from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo

Gramma Camp – WEEK 26

 I went out in the rain on Wednesday to check on my canoe. The local Facebook page for the lake showed a green canoe floating past. It wasn't mine. Mine was still there, A tad under water, but that was OK. Sadly, I didn't take my camera. There were 3 young otters playing on and under the ice. They bobbed up 2 m. in front of me, made eye contact, and slowly swam off. This was the day I didn't take my camera!

This was from a couple of years ago. They visited our frogpond and dock.

Grampa did a dinner show on Wednesday! [Magician 1(below) |  Magician 2📹 |  Magician 3 📹] 

 

Grampa did a bit of a shop. I've done a big online shop to be picked up tomorrow. Then, he took the car in for new summer tires. The girls worked madly, the last day of school this week. Josephine finished early.

I went down the hall to check on Iz. She was working on an April word search, but couldn't find any of the words. 

        "Is there anything else you can work on?"

        "Grammaire!"

        "Yes, Izzy?"

        "Oh, Gramma, you're so funny!" Easy audience!

At break time, Isabelle went outside, Jos wasn't interested. Iz came roaring back in, "IT's COLD out there!" It was below zero.

Later, I managed to get Josephine to go down to the trailcams with me. I have one on the dock to check for ducks, as well as the frogpond  one. 

As I watched her run to the camera (maybe to keep warm), I spotted a hawk. You'll have to trust me. I whispered to her, she couldn't quite see it from her vantage point. When I turned back to show her, it had flown. Honestly. This is right near where we saw the owl with the rabbit. Dang.

Back at the house, the poor little crocus shiver in the cold and the sunshine.

I've some work to do on my water barrel. I drained it, since our overnight temperatures were -7 C. This one has a leak. I'll have to add this to the ToDo list!

The daffodils aren't quite ready.

The bulbs will be fine, I think. We've often had snow in April, but this is ridiculous. 

Our Premier has ordered another lockdown, shutdown,  closure of non-essential services.  

Schools are still going to be open (?), but they will respect the March Break, now the April break.  WHEW!!!!!

Gramma Camp – Week 26

NEWS BULLETIN: they found the little 3-year-old lost in the woods not far from us. What a blessed relief. Today, it is snowing.

This Jude being carried out of the woods at scene. The three year old survived in the woods alone after going missing from his parents property Sunday morning. Incredible. More coming shortly @ctvottawa pic.twitter.com/SUsS2QCKz9

— Graham Richardson (@grahamctv) March 31, 2021

Happy Grampa. We've just a little deer food left. We stop feeding them after winter. JB went outside, having spotted Zola with the broken leg. As he walked towards the feeder, a deer ran up to him. It was Zola. She is not cured, but she can run, even with the broken leg. 

I was happy to have made JB an appointment for a vaccine. He gets his first jab at the end of April. It's a 40-minute drive into Brockville, which is doable. A bit ridiculous, I think. It's so stressful. We've so many appointments for healthcare. I don't qualify, yet, being under 70, and I dread more driving for appointments. We have a few this week, we'll see what is or isn't cancelled. 

Isabelle helped JB feed the cats, and then she fed the fishies. His neck is still bad. She's a peach. 

Today, we're getting our new summer tires on. Sadly, it is snowing, but it won't last!

We're sending the Easter decorations the girls made for their cousins to Vancouver. I wrote a note to go with it.

Jos is having fun with math. Both girls love math. What I noticed, since Jos has to email them to me to print, is that the teachers are using American learning activities. We use the metric system in Canada. It's a moot point, now. Rumours are we're going into a month-long shutdown in Ontario. Other rumours say not the schools or daycare. 

Josee's working hard on math and Gr. 8's "Systems in Action." She was filling in this worksheet. It looks like it's not meant for Gr. 8, but the Gr. 4 'Pulleys and Levers' curriculum. Oh my. My M.Ed. was in Curriculum and Technology!

Our standing joke is the 'postcards' we keep giving Isabelle. It's an ad for something. She feigns excitement!

I put on Frosty's Easter tie, but it is a bit faded.

The meadow is still a bit of a pond.

The frog pond is waking up and life is reawakening. Not tonight, we're forecast for -8 C.

You can see Isabelle tree climbing in the rain!

We've had rain, and you can see where the water barrel drains into the goldfish pond.

I tucked them in. Jos and Cinnamon! They worked hard all day.