Groundhog Gardens

The kids each took a bag filled with 'Teacher Treats' today and stood waiting for their bus. Just as it pulled up I remembered Smallest's wellies and ran after him clutching them. Today he went on a Nature Walk with his class where the teacher thought they might encounter red ants so asked for them to wear long pants (long what? Pants that go down your leg? Oh trousers, right!) and rubber boots (wellies). Well yesterday when Small went Pond Studying, he ended up with more water in his wellies than in the pond!

Huffle went off miserably to work. Things are very bad now for him at work and he is very stressed.

Moo and I went to Toronto Botanical Gardens (or TBG for short). We had a good journey there with no incidents, parked and walked in.

This is the first time I have been here so I wasn't sure what to expect. It was probably not as big as I imagined and I am guessing it is maintained by volunteers. It wasn't the best kept place and as this time of year the flowers should be at their best, I was a little disappointed. Still, Moo and I had a good walk around, meandering rather than hiking. It was very hot and our hats were on and off and on and off as we encountered shady bits and hot bits alternatively.

After an hour of poddling around we stopped for a coffee and a shared scone from the only cafe there. It was quite expensive. Moo almost bought a bag of organic vegetable crisps but they cost double what the price tag said. We put them back, maybe we'll make some. We sat in the shade on a bench watching a lady walk round and round in circles, and then sometimes run really quickly. She didn't look like a walker/runner at all but it kept us entertained until we decided to try our scone but unfortunately it had a hair on it. Not just any hair, but a curly hair. Moo marched back and confronted them. They agreed it wasn't vey good and examined another one carefully to check it was okay. Moo said she could have made a real fuss but decided not to. The one we bought originally was a cranberry one and the one they replaced it with was a sultana one (yuk hate sultanas) so Moo took the sultanas out of my bit.

We carried on walking and found three different Groundhogs. One was happily eating the Coleus', another was hiding in the clover and the other one had just got out of the water. They are funny things. Moo thought they were a bit 'guinea piggy'.

We ventured past some baby Canada Geese guarded by their mum, who hissed at me when I got too close. We wandered through the vegetable gardens and found a good idea for growing beans which I might try next year.

We went over many bridges and climbed high to the Teaching Garden. Here we found a butterfly garden, another vegetable garden and a sensory garden. Another climb down and a few more bridges crossed and we ended up in another park. It seemed to go on forever and we decided to come away and find some lunch (not at the hairy cafe).

We got in the car and just drove. We had no idea which direction to go in because we didn't know where anything was so we just followed the majority of cars until we came across a street full of shops and restaurants. We did however pass the biggest houses we have seen here. Huge great billionaire mansions with tennis courts and pools. We parked the car, paid and walked along the street looking at menus until we found a lovely little cafe where we sat outside in the shade and had a small bite to eat. We seemed to be in an expensive area just outside of Toronto. However it was a lovely lunch and we spied some girls eating ice cream so had one of those too afterwards. At the TBG today there was an Organic Farmers Market but it didn't start until 2pm, we contemplated going back to the gardens but decided against it and drove home. It took just under an hour and the traffic wasn't too bad.

Once home, Scrabble and tea was taken on to the porch where we had a bit of peace (save for the frightening off the chipmunk who wanted to eat the bird seed) before the boys came home.

Peace shattered, bags left strewn, doors left open, ice poles dripped and messes left, the boys decided to go in the pool. Small practiced his handstands, underwater swimming and Smallest chilled on the rubber ring. Moo was lifeguard today.

We attempted to make a Roast Chicken Dinner (what a stupid idea in this blistering heat). Obviously the cooker thought it was too hot too as it decided to stop working 40 minutes into cooking and then wouldn't come on at all. Eventually when it reset itself we got it back on again but at a much lower temperature. Then it went off again. Much later we reset it again and it finally cooked after one more time of going off. Bloody thing!

The boys and Moo made angel delight and angel delight ice cream and the kids had them after dinner. I sat on the porch knitting and spotted two hummingbirds who fed at our feeder and fluttered or buzzed around our flowers poking its little beak in for the pollen. They are so small. One of them had a really bright red spot on its belly. I think that's the closest I have seen one. I got the camera ready but it didn't come back. Moo and I played a bit more scrabble but had to go in because the mossies were biting.

 

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