Toonie to ping pong balls

A blisteringly hot day of around 29* but I'm sure with humidity, it was hotter. We did nothing this much this morning except for swiffing floors, cleaning bathrooms, emptying and filling the dishwasher, washing, hanging washing and making a Beef cottage pie and veggie cottage pie. Well that sounds a lot in a morning actually so I change my earlier statement to one of 'we had a busy morning......' plus Moo and I fit in a couple of games of Skip-Bo and a tiny bit of Wimbledon watching.

Huffle and Small mended the pool by taking off the old patches, cleaning underneath and applying a new patch. It isn't leaking now and the pool has been refilled and shocked. Now all we need is some long term sunshine to keep the water warm.

We all had lunch together and this afternoon we left Huffle working and went to Suffolks for a play (the boys) and a cup of tea (Moo and I). Then we went to the nearby supermarket and stocked up on some food before coming home to put it all away and to the smell of dinner cooking in the oven.

After dinner, Huffle took Moo to Smallest's football practice and Small and I stayed at home. We played Connect Four and the practice was cancelled half way through because of storms. The storm hit here just after they all got home. Thunder lightning and heavy rain. They predicted hailstones the size of toonies ($2 coin) to ping pong balls. Ha! We didn't get any.

Garden Lovelies

Off to watch Monty Don play on a trampoline now!!!

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No swimming for Nigel

A beautiful summer day with temperatures of 27*. So nice we decided to go to the beach after breakfast. Moo made some sandwiches, the boys collected chairs, buckets, spades and parasols and I packed up the cool box with some strawberries, a couple of treats and drinks. Fully suncreamed and hatted, we headed off about 10:30. The journey to Cobourg is around 75 minutes along a highway mainly, so not pretty but fairly straight and fast moving. We left Huffle behind working and painting the bathroom.

Cobourg is a big wide beach normally with shallow water and is lifeguarded with a caravan (trailer) park attached so plenty of facilities. Because of all the recent rain we have had, Lake Ontario is very high and the beach is half it's normal size. It was quite busy but we managed to position ourselves next to the water with enough space around us not to have to listen to the conversations around. Parking by the lake was $2 an hour so I left Moo and the kids and most of our stuff and drove to find a better place to park. I found a free three hour one and walked five minutes back to the beach where I found the boys were already in the water.

Lock on the river

It was incredibly shallow and the boys were able to go in very far without it being too deep. They still managed to swim and Smallest did lots of somersaults and twisty turns. They also played ball and swam together nicely. See they do like each other.

Moo and I got to paddle up to our thighs, relax on the beach, drink coffee and read. We did have a few people encroach a little on our space but it wasn't too bad and it gave us plenty of entertainment. The sand was very wet and made a good sand castle building material. Smallest and I built a fort with a moat which he filled with water which stayed for the whole time we were there.

After three hours I moved the car, after we had a consensus that we all wanted to stay for another hour, and parked it near the lake. We played Jackers (boules) for the last part of our stay. We had a good time and Moo finally felt like she was on holiday. I'm glad we made the most of it because there are storms due again tonight and bad crazy wet weather on the way.

It was a busy drive home in rush hour but we did it in an hour and a half. Huffle was waiting to take us for dinner when we got back and we tried a local pub first which was too busy and ended up in the local burger place instead. Lovely (though Moo has been there twice this visit already).

After we had a good clear up and tidy at home, the boys played on their tablets and watched the baseball and Moo and I sat on the porch, fighting off the mosquitoes and drinking beer/wine.

Lovely day.

 

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Fringing

Huffle took this photo of a butterfly

That bloody man next door woke me at 6:30qm messing around in the garden with his piles of useless stuff! I couldn't get back to sleep and had to get up. As I opened the bedroom door, Smallest appeared out of his room. I sat at the kitchen table and he watched something on Tv that I deemed inappropriate for him when I heard the dialogue. Something about why does a woman have b00bs? So you have something to look at when she speaks. It was said several times and I said I didn't want him thinking that was an acceptable thing to say. He informed me only a stupid person would think it's ok to say that and he would never!!!! Anyway, we decided he wasnt going to watch it for a while.

After breakfast we decided to go and play tennis. We drove as it was another really hot day. Mainly 28* with no clouds and no breeze. It was hard work no we played for about an hour and a half. I don't know if everyone was tired or too hot but tempers seemed frayed. The boys helped Huffle patch repair the pool as it was leaking huge amounts of water. They had a great system. Huffle would take the glued patch under the water and stick it over the hole with Smallest standing on his back to stop him floating up and after five seconds Small would take over and hold the patch with Smallest standing on his back for five seconds. They did this over and over again until the patch was stuck. The pool was left for the rest of the day to see if it had worked. Unfortunately it hadn't and Huffle thinks they need to re patch the middle of the hole again.

BL: the ball got stuck in my racket when I tried to hit it! That's never happened before

Moo and I went off to join the knitters for lunch. ShopKeeperEl got the time wrong and arrived an hour before anyone else so she had almost finished her lunch by the time the rest of us got there. We had a nice long sit outside in the shade of a huge tree, chatting and eating.

A quick game of badminton before we got ready

It occurred to me today that I have posted lots of photos of the barn in snow but never in sunshine. So here it is.

We came home and had a game of Skip-Bo before getting ready for our evening out with ClownRose. She picked us up at 5:30 ish and drove us to Toronto. The traffic was horrendous and took us forever. We parked the car and went off to get food. We had already decided we were going to a local Indian. It looked very basic inside but had good reviews and was quick. It was a Roti House so we got a Roti (flat Indian bread a bit like a wrap) with curry inside. We chose an eggplant one, a chickpea one and a spinach. We chose rice with the spinach one but I wish we hadn't. It was very green and runny looking and reminded me of the first p00 from a baby. We asked for mild but Moo and I found it very spicy and struggled to eat it. We bought half of each dish home as we had to get back to the theatre for a Fringe performance that ClownRose's best friend was in.

It was in a small theatre and was about a Motel Room, a couple having an affair, and a murder. It was very dramatic and CR's friend was really good. Her parents are English and we had a good chat after the show outside.

We had a long drive home and a late night. The door was locked and we had no key but I knew Huffle's phone was left on so I text him a 'knock knock' and he came and opened it for us.

Today's beauties

While we were away, all the boys went to Home Depot and took back all the tiles we didn't use and got a refund. Then they all went and played mini golf. (Crazy golf).

 

 

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You're going home in a beep beep ambulance

A still from a video I took yesterday

Beautiful sunshine. Very un-Tuesday weather thank goodness. Today I took Moo and the boys to work with me leaving Huffle working at the kitchen table. We started on the Dog Strangling Vine near the gate and cut loads and loads of it. Then we moved inside the gate and cut a whole load more. This is a real pest in this country and is filling the forests and killing huge trees by its strangling methods. As yet, there is nothing that is able to kill the horrible thing. Funny thing is, I know we had one growing in a pot that Grandad gave us and called it a clematis. It has tiny little brown/black flowers and climbs very easily. However, in England there are plants and pests that don't let it get out of control. I think they are working on something here to control it, in the meantime though, it's a nuisance!

Hungry frogs

Beautiful water lily

Smallest's treat from MrsM (who works in a British Shop)

Coffee break was a Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie in Cake form with Cream Cheese Frosting. Yum yum. The boys definitely liked it! Back out we went again and did weeding. Smallest completely cleared a path all by himself and him and Small picked off snails and slugs and threw them to the frogs in the pond. It was very warm so we left around midday. We had lunch with Huffle after we planted our bulbs we brought home.

The boys played on their tablets all afternoon with interruptions for putting away their clothes and clearing shoes. Moo and I swiffed and swept, read and played Skip-Bo (I won. Score now forgotten but I'm sure it's close, plus I don't cheat like Moo does!!).

After dinner we all went to Smallest's football game. It was very hot and Moo and I went for a walk before the game to try and get some shade and listen to the frog chorus. I made Small come with us as I didn't want him sitting on his IPad for the rest of the evening. The game was awful. They took two of our best players for the other team which incidentally won and left us with Smallest and a couple of other hard workers but it wasn't enough. They lost about 13-0. Poor Smallest was so down after the game and during it. He is not enjoying it much at the moment which is a shame. Hopefully it will get better.

Milkweed

This evening we watched Gardeners World. It was a lovely episode and cheered us all up after such a terrible game. Good old Monty.

Late evening we went out to look at the moon. It was very bright and clear. I tried to get a photo but it's not easy.

 

 

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Cherry hulk's search for Strawberries

Breakfast, followed by a quick get ready, containers found, ice blocks and cool box ready and off we went in search of Strawberries. We went to the same farm we have been to for the last three years. As it said it opened at 10am, we thought we would be there before the rush and before the hot heat of the midday sun. There were queues to park as soon as we got there and we were turned into a parking space, then moved and then walked probably a 1km to get our containers weighed. It was a beautiful day and would have been a nice walk had it not been for the awful driving and attempted parking by the millions turning up to do the same as us. We got our boxes weighed and then we saw the huge queue JUST to pay. Huffle thought it was possibly an hour's worth of queueing and we contemplated putting someone at the end of the queue before we even started picking but that seemed ridiculous. They just weren't coping with the amount of cars or pickers today. We decided to turn around and get back to the car as it was just silly. Driving back we saw that the queue to park had become 2km long and getting bigger by the minute. Plus an accident had happened while we were in there.

Our next stop was a farm slightly closer to home and was an Organic Farm I have always passed but never been in. We parked the car (again a busy place but not nearly as much as th previous one) and got our boxes weighed. We were asked if we had been there before. NO? Well this one charged $10 per person as a deposit so we had to pick a minimum of $50 worth of Strawberries. Well we hadn't even walked into the place yet and they were wanting to take $50 off us. We make enough jam to last us the year plus some for visiting family, friends and presents but still we don't pick that much! We said NO and turned around again.

Our last try was a farm we went to ages ago when were looking for a Maize Maze in the Autumn. This one was perfect. A small farm, not too many rows of strawbs, not too many people. We weighed (after first asking how they priced their pick your own. The lady was astonished at us being asked to pay $50 and she said she would give up farming before she would do that). They had raspberries which weren't ready yet but I think we will go there for them when it's time too. We ended up eating tons and brought home $31 worth. Possibly more than usual.

We came home, had lunch and then made a start on the jam making. Small and Smallest cut the fruit and counted the amount of cups we had. I measured the sugar and Moo stirred and explained to everyone a 'rolling boil'. We ran out of lemons and Small walked to the Beer Store for some but they didn't have any so Huffle went to the General Store for some. Smallest continued chopping and we ended up with three batches of jam making 21 jars, all different sizes. We also had some non jarred for ourselves for later. Once all the jarring and clearing up was done, we went off to the pool. The boys had already set up stuff up there and Small was already annoyed at Smallest for wetting him, not helping and generally being annoying!

Recipe: 5cups of strawberries chopped

7 cups of fruit sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

Sachet of pectin

Heat strawbs lemon and pectin stir and mash till boil. Add sugar and stir till rolling boil. Boil for 1 minute.

(Sterilise jars and lids)

At the pool, there was a noodle war, bumper cars game and hide and seek. Huffle and I went in and made the fastest turnaround of homemade scones, jam and cream EVER which we all ate by the side of the pool. Then we went in again and forced Moo in too and we all played Hide and Seek. It was quite cool in there and the sun kept hiding behind clouds making it even cooler! We sat around for a bit while Smallest had his bath and Small played on his tablet.

Push her in!

We had a quick tea and then Huffle took Moo and Small to his practice where his team lost 12-3. They said the other team were horrible and laughing at Small's team for their lack of skill. Very naughty! Small got given his captain armband but it was too small to go over his shirt so it was hidden underneath! He played up front mainly today and got an assist.

Later in the evening we watched Life Swap. Very interesting.

 

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"Say Thank You!"

Definitely pancakes for breakfast this morning. Moo was on fruit duty but there were complaints of rustic cutting and not the usual thin slicing we are used to. No-one really knew what to do with themselves this morning and after Huffle and I went to check on the pool and consequently vacuumed it (first time it worked as it should), we all ended up round the pool and the boys all went in. Moo and I were not convinced it was quite warm enough (22*) and then the clouds came over and it spittled with rain so we abondoned it and came inside.

Noodle wars and Jumping in

Some LiloBanter and snorkelling

For dinner we drove to The Perry for Fish and Chips (seeing as we missed out yesterday). We had very nice chips and Huffle's mushy peas were excellent (he said) but the fish was a bit meh! It rained heavily while we were in there so we waited till it passed and then we had a wander around the town and by the lakeside. There were lots of curious people to watch today. Lots of fishermen/women too. It started to rain again so after sheltering under the canopies and a quick hello to MrsM who was working there today. We drove to the supermarkets looking for fruit sugar and pectin. (We are thinking about strawberry picking tomorrow) and we want to be prepared for jam making.

At home we played several games of Stop The Bus and had an ice cream. Moo and I sat on the porch enjoying the early evening sunshine. With no warning, we had huge crashes of thunder and fork lightning. We counted that it was about six miles away and I left Moo mesmerised by the storm. When Moo came in to tell me that DonNoQuotey was standing in his dressing gown, clapping at the lightning, we had to stop and watch him. What a Wally! It wasn't long before an intense storm happened. The wind suddenly picked up from nowhere, trees were bending and Moo ran upstairs to close the windows. Tap the photo below to see the video:-

 

The whooop in the background is Moo asking for help as the bathroom was swimming in water, the hail was hitting the windows so hard I thought they were going to break. Huffle and Smallest were in the basement, completely unaware of what was happening upstairs. Small's room was also swimming in water and his curtains were wringing wet and his floor was wet, even his walls and bed. It was horrendous. Once all the mopping up was done we set the washer going with wet yucky towels and bedding and anything else that got hit. All the cushions on the porch got soaked. The washing line had three things on it from the pool earlier and they just got thrown off onto the grass. It was over in about half an hour and the sun came back out. Then we had the severe storm warning which was a bit late really and we half expected another storm.

 

THROW BACK SUNDAY

 

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The red noses are in their satchels

HAPPY CANADA DAY. HAPPY CANADA 150. Today is Canada's 150th birthday. Wow, she's a baby!

When the house is hot from a lot of sun and not much air coming through the windows, it makes walking very noisy. Not sure if it's the floor or our hot feet but Huffle woke me getting up in the night and I woke him when I got up this morning. And there is nothing we can do about it.

When I got up Smallest was watching Tv and I went to sit outside with my cup of hot water. He joined me and we payed carcasonne online together. Then Moo joined us and everyone had breakfast. I asked if the boys wanted pancakes but they said no. A strange response but I soon realised that they didn't want to get up and help so we all had our own breakfast. Maybe pancakes tomorrow.

We had intended to have a slow morning and go out later to the Strawberry Festival but when we looked at the weather forecast, we chose to go out early to avoid the badness. The Strawberry Festival was in our local town and normally the Main Street is closed and the stalls line both sides. However this year they decided to only have the classic cars on the street and the rest of the stalls, food and fair was on the park. We normally come away with lots of freebies and today we managed two bird boxes to make (they ran out of nails so we had to bring it home unmade), several recycled shopping bags, two plastic slinkies, a seed (could be a bean or a radish), tattoos (temporary), magnets, sticky shopping list and bag clips plus a couple of sweets and popcorn. Huffle bought a Blueberry Struedel. It was quite hot and humid and we walked round for a couple of hours until we were ready for dinner. A man tried to sell a Medieval night to Smallest but got stuck in his speech when he said "do you like Knights" and Smallest shouted "NO!". We could have got a load of walking sticks but we walked away when we realised it came with a preach about religion.

Strawberry shaped cookie that he made into a Stoke cookie!

We had a vote and the majority wanted fish and chips so that's where we headed. The shop was shut (for Canada Day) and we didn't really know where to go as we weren't near anything we liked. So we went for our favourite pizza place and had Calzones. Yum yum (that's tomorrow's lunch sorted too as we always bring some home). As we were near the lake we parked up and went for a very small walk. We interrupted some celebrations but we think they were just finishing. We walked a bit but it was too humid and dark clouds were forming so we hurried back to the car (well Huffle hurried, Moo and I wanted to see the lightning on the CN tower but it was too misty). We saw a tent which boasted 'Isl@micCircus' and Huffle thought that might be amusing but it turned out to be an Isl@micCircle instead and we left quickly.

We came back home for a cuppa on the porch while the boys played on their tablets. Then we played Stop The Bus (card game) - I won. hurrah. Moo and the boys played badminton and Huffle got the telescope out to look at the moon. Despite it still being light we could see it faintly plus the craters.

YESTERDAYS BLOOMIN' LOVELIES (Moo included)

This evening when the boys were tucked up in bed, we watched Now you see me2. Very good. Better perhaps than the first one. There were huge firework displays going off around us which sounded like rumbles of thunder but we knew it was fireworks because of Canada Day. We got to look at the moon again and this time it was really clear, almost chalk looking and we could see the craters so clearly.

As we went to bed we could hear a party going on. I heard DepecheMode, Queen and BonyM. Wow, up-to-date for Canada!

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