Gramma Camp – Week 2.3

Isabelle has been amazing keeping the fire going. I woke at 12:30 a.m. coughing, and then 4, and thought I should go down. I decided to stay put. She did it, though. She is the new fire queen!

Breakfast was Bumbleberry Pie, toast, PB & jam. That was Josephine!
Isabelle gave herself some math questions.
News bulletin: 11 a.m. and Jos is getting dressed!
Izzy and Jos were outdoors, 11:22 a.m., climbing the tree before the rains fall.

11:30 a.m.

I saw a vulture circling. I dragged Jos out to the front yard, where we have some raccoon roadkill. The vulture vanished!

We've been trying to spot the pileated woodpecker, but it won't co-operate! We can certainly hear it.

We did some bird watching from the house, otherwise. I spotted a rock pigeon, and called them up. Jos checked it off her list.

For lunch we had yummy chicken noodle soup Momma sent.

I thought it funny! Josephine (12) is nearly as tall as I am.

The highlight of our day!



After lunch it was a concerted effort to bring wood in from the shed. They did a relay. (I'm coughing, the same chest cold from December.) They both loaded it up, then Jos put pieces on the cat tower, where Isabelle put them beside the fireplace. What a team!



Grampa snagged the cat food, we'd be out of cat food on Saturday. The vet clinic's peeps bring it out to the car with the hand held device to pay. Josephine went to the garage to bring it in for him. His left arm is still sore with his strained shoulder.

In the afternoon, Maggie turned up. She's the one with the dislocated ankle.

We ordered spaghetti and meatballs from a restaurant in town, and Grampa drove in to pick it up. They had really strict protocols, thankfully. Grampa even scored a package of 8 rolls of toilet paper at a nearby store! The supply chain is working, albeit slowly.

I had an incident, puting the spaghetti on plates, dropping one meatball on the floor. It bounced twice and landed on my slipper. Isabelle took the photo! There weren't that many meatballs, either. I rinsed it off and put it on my plate!

We live in interesting times. I wish you the best. People are beginning to self-police. They are looking after one another.

Coronavirus: RV-driving snowbird expelled from two Quebec grocery stores https://t.co/KKOnjcla64 pic.twitter.com/2uo1u9xY90

— Ottawa Citizen (@OttawaCitizen) March 27, 2020

"A man identified as a snowbird who had recently returned from the United States was reportedly expelled Wednesday from two Lac-St-Jean grocery stores after trying to shop there. 

Until further notice, Canadians returning from travel must comply with a mandatory quarantine. Offenders face a fine of up to $750,000 and a maximum prison term of six months."

To end on a happy note...

Just in case you need it, here’s a dog doing yoga in Italian. You’re welcome. pic.twitter.com/zTKp3MbI8e

— Amanda in Atlanta (@ATLnewsgirl) March 25, 2020

Gramma Camp – Week 2.2

9:00 a.m.

Grampa went in to pick up his medications from the drug store. He picked up groceries there, too. There were only two other shoppers, all keeping their distance!



I've printed worksheets. Grampa figured out how to make clipboards.

 Josee and I had a wonderful time birding on the front deck. Nearly an hour, all told! I had such a lovely time.
 It was cold, and we sat under a blanket! I taught her the difference between downy and hairy woodpeckers. We heard the pileated woodpecker, and the morning doves.


About 100 geese flew over while we were doing that.

Birding on the front deck, a whole fleet of Canada Geese. They were in one long line, by the time they went overhead. I hope the graphics help!

This is an old video!

Canada geese from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Izzy did the indoor, began the outdoor one, but got distracted poking in the forest. It was a lovely time.

Isabelle taught me how to use her watch as a stopwatch! It only took three tries!!!! We timed her on her math multiplication. It was fun!
We love math at our house. I remember Caitlin and JL in the foyer, they were about to go out for a winter walk. They were dating. They were debating a quadratic equation!


I timed her while she did one row. She was very proud as she got faster and faster. Isabelle estimated that by the time she made the bottom row, she could do it in 30 sec. She did that by the third row. She was so proud. I loved Kill and Drill sheets.

Then Jos did research on Centralia, while Iz read her novel. Jos came upstairs and talked to Grampa about the Centralia coal fire. She did well.

The afternoon movie was How To Train Your Dragon. Finally, after dinner hamburgers, I took off into the forest to grab the trailcams. All I found was a pile of poop and several raccoon videos! 

Momma sent a message that they needed showers. CHECK✅

We've enough firewood to get us through the next day. It's supposed to be raining!

Trailcam Mar 24 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Gramma Camp 2020 – Week 2.1

Tuesday, we had snow all night and day, after snow all day Monday.

Grampa left voicemail, ordering cat food from the vet. We were going to transition the cats to other cat food, but this sure ain't the time! The vet's peeps will bring the food to the car, with a remote credit card scanner, at a pre-arranged time.
JB canceled his April injection appointment in the city. His cold is easing, I'm fighting it, again, too.

The girls set their iPad alarms, and woke at 7:30 a.m., then promptly drifted off. When I went down they were reading. Izzy had added to the fire.



Izzy's dragon in the snow!



I went down to check on them, and suggested this: Virtual Roller Coaster Ride at Canada's Wonderland, there wasn't much interest! Jos doesn't like them, Iz prefers the real thing. She is the daredevil.

Breakfast was Bumbleberry Pie and toast. In that order.
Lunch was sandwiches, and a piece of fruit.
Dinner was weiners and beans.

Nutmeggie had a special surprise, which is why she had an excuse to sit on the table.



Lego for each girl, plus a monthly plan for doing a Lego project. (Grampa had bought them a couple weeks ago for just such an occasion!)



We hauled wood, duly captured on the trailcam!

We refilled bird feeders!


Brought in more wood.



Searched for owl pellets. (None!) I had to explain what they are. We couldn't find the white mute, on top of the white snow. I did hear the owl the other night.



Izzy practiced her 4 x's tables with me with her flashcards.
Next, a video en français: A Dog's Way Home.

I went off to grab the trailcam memory card, the girls went indoors. Two coyotes, and a cat!



I tried to look up Girl Guide badge requirement and they are pretty loosey goosey. It took me a good 10 minutes. Even then, they are vague. I think the Girl Guide leaders have to dream up a project.

Math, the teacher sent a URL for math worksheets. It's up to us to find the appropriate ones! (I am glad I'm not a parent working from home!)

As mentioned in my email before the break, students should be practicing their multiplication and division facts using single digit and then two digit numbers. They could also be practicing three and four digit addition and subtraction problems with borrowing and regrouping. 

https://www.math-drills.com/

http://www.mathisfun.com/

https://www.kidzone.ws/

Iz is supposed to write a journal entry daily, en français. We let it go last week. This week she left it at home. Apparently, regular paper, not the journal her teacher sent, isn't good enough! Gotta love 8-year-olds! It flashed through my mind that she would forget. I've sent kids home with homework, which they didn't do or 'lost!' The teacher even sent some writing prompts. I suggested she just write about what we've been doing. Nope.

Both girls are fluently bilingual, but they have to keep it up. They told me they tried to speak French all weekend, with their parents, but they kept forgetting!

Grampa gave Jos an assignment to figure out the Centralia Disaster. She is working on a verbal report for that, taking notes on her iPad. All of us took a trip to Tupper Lake, NY our weekend trip, which the girls don't really remember (Sept., 2016). Centralia isn't far away.
I remember the spider web trampoline.



I hope all of you don't feel like prey stuck at home in a spider web!



Kudos to all those who are self-isolating. Sadly, not all are doing this. Stories abound...

Snowbirds shopping in Brockville refusing to self-isolate https://t.co/2Wr47j5nqg

— Craig Searle ⚓️ (@CraigSearle1) March 24, 2020

The pandemic has pushed cottagers and snowbirds to places like Huntsville, Parry Sound and Tobermory (not pictured) a lot earlier than normal.
These communities aren’t used to the traffic this time of year, still on winter hours or with places not open at all. @LondonMorning pic.twitter.com/bH4HwSyNQ7

— Haydn Watters (@HaydnWatters) March 25, 2020

There are still people spreading non-scientific information. They are all laying into Terry Milewski, who used to work for CBC. He's not helping with fake 'cures.'

Gramma Camp 2020 – Week 2.0

It's different being home as grandparents, as usually: what happens at gramma's.... now that school won't go back on April  6th, sorta applies. That said, it's a different dynamic with grandparents than parents. They are quite co-operative, as different from parents trying to homeschool the kids. I love reading comments from parents, new to 'home schooling' who have a whole new respect for it.

Trying to teach kids at home? @joelwestheimer says forget the worksheets and trying to replicate school, just spend time with them, cooking or in the garden.

— OntarioMorning (@CBCOntMorning) March 23, 2020

9:00 a.m.

Off I went for the hostage exchange in CP. There was traffic. In Perth, they are laying in a foundation. Three cement trucks, and a 9+ crew in a hole creating a foundation for a house.

10:57 am

Fire is lit (Izzy and I), menu chosen (3 of us), basement beds were made (they made their own), Jophee and Iz were singing with the Ukulele. It sounded lovely.

Lunch: lentil soup.

 Grampa and Iz went to the store to get videos. Some are in French.

Influenza Pandemic of 1918

Being an amateur historian, Grampa gave a lecture on the Influenza Pandemic of 1918, then lapsed into how it related to his family. It was Caitlin's suggestion! I suggested Jophee go for the lecture. She whispered to Isabelle saying, "Let's call him Professor Racine!"
Upstairs we went,
"Professor Racine, could you tell us about the 1918 Spanish Flu?"


Prof. Racine – 1 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Two brothers and a sister married two sisters and a brother in his family tree.

Prof. Racine – 2 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Reporters

AFter the lecture Grampa said they should answer these questions. They went down into the basement, and came back shortly, after research on their iPads. They took turns reciting what they had learned.

The Spanish Flu
Why was it named that? Spain was neutral and reported the true numbers, the governments at war didn't want to report it.
It lasted from Jan. 1918 to Dec. 1920
There were 50 million deaths, with 500 million affected (25% of the population).
Four types of influenza virus: ABCD.
A has different categories
H1N1 is the pandemic of 1918.
Symptoms: fever, nausea, aches, diarrhea, pneumonia.
Killed twice as many people as WW I.

Grampa, who didn't have fun in school, gave them another assignment:
Why do we care about this? We look to the past for 3 things:

1. Why did it stop?
2. What did we learn?
3. How can we prevent it?

Assignment over, they'll do it day 2.1, they took off. Suddenly, Jos appeared with her iPad. I'd told her to call her other gramma, whom they call mémère. 
They spoke to her en francais, which was great! They showed her the cats.
That was part of our goal, to get them to speak some French, as they are in French Immersion. Both of their parents are fluent!



Today's video: watching Frozen 2.
"Gramma," asked Isabelle, "Could you put another log on the fire?"
"That's your job," reminded Josephine.
"I know," replied Iz, "but I'm feeling lazy!"

Both were tucked into cozy chairs. Of course, I fixed the fire!

We had a nice dinner. We scrambled for meat when the shelves were cleared. Grampa scored both chicken legs (Izzy fave) and thighs (for Jos). Rounded off with frozen niblets and peas, we did well. The bumbleberry pie I'd bought for dessert was frozen and needed to be cooked. I didn't process that in my head. We had cookies, instead.

Jos was drawing on a box!

Grampa comment, after I'd tucked them in at night, "If things don't change, they could be with us for months. I would consider this a gift."
It's so true. Our schools were to go back April 6th, after a week of March Break, and two weeks of self-isolation for the following two weeks. Our Premier says it'll take longer than that.

"CBSA says 959,600 Canadians and 43,890 permanent residents returned to Canada between March 14 and 20." Some people won't self-isolate nor do physical distancing. They've had to close parks across the country.

We're managing, all things considered. I get the heebee jeebies shopping, but we've a scheduled pick up Saturday. JB's cold is easing up. I have a cough and sore throat. No fever, so we are good. It's just a head cold.

How about instructing people to stay home in their permanent residence, NOT travel to second residences in cottage country? We can't handle the influx & pressure on our limited medical, food & human resources at this time! https://t.co/1ji8tYztba

— margaret #StayTheFHome #cutshurtkids #teamtrudeau (@forevercanada9) March 23, 2020