Peppers and Aubergines

Up early this morning and back to work. Love it. The boys and I had breakfast together, which is rare as I normally wait for them to go so I can relax and enjoy it. Off they went to school.

Then once I had emptied the dishwasher, filled it, tidied and filled the dryer (all before 9am) I went to work. Today we worked in the greenhouse and between three of us, we replanted 1500 pepper and aubergine seedlings. There were some strange names of plants:- Sweet Banana Pepper (apparently it is long and thin and yellow), Hot Pepper Holy Mole (a hot one!), and what I didn't realise is that this garden centre grows plants for the Herb Garden Centre down the road that Grandad likes to go to. I got to bring some home and am struggling to find where to put them as they cannot get cold. I enjoyed being back there, it was very therapeutic, peaceful and we had a good cup of coffee, Chocolate hobnobs (I missed you hobnobs) and a good catchup mid morning up at the house. I am back there next Tuesday for Tomato planting.

The temperature today has been around 5-7* and the sun room was up to about 20*. The clouds were amazing and I took a few photos.

At the garden centre........................clouds in our garden................

barn, tree and clouds...... Clouds, sun, tree

.....and then I noticed Cyril, just poking out of the ground. Almost wincing as if the sunlight was hurting his eyes, he has been buried for so long under the snow.

I walked down the garden, the snow is starting to properly melt now. HURRAH. Then I looked at the weather forecast and it said there could be snow showers today, Wednesday and Thursday NO GO AWAY!

I had my lunch, watched a bit of Bomb Girls and then carried on with the varnishing of the stairs. I managed to finish the first coat completely. I had to stop because the varnish gave me a headache.

I emptied the dishwasher again until the boys came home. Small boiled two eggs for egg decorating tomorrow and then him and Smallest played on the computer.

We had to move the computer downstairs until all the painting and varnishing has been done. I will be glad when it is back in its room, and quieter!

I made dinner and sent the kids outside to play as they had far too much energy and were sillier than ships!

Huffle came home and we all had dinner. Smallest asked for seconds, which is very rare indeed. Normally he is still sitting there after everyone else has finished and cleared away. It was such a lovely evening I made everyone go out for a walk. We walked to the bottom of the garden, through the wooded area and onto the Royal's field. Then over and into their garden and back along the road. Not a long walk, but nice and the kids played well.

The tree that Smallest likes to call a boat......................mine and Huffle's shadows waving..................... Small's fall - he is NOT licking the snow!......the boys in the distance.........finding our way through those nasty weeds that stick to your clothes

When we got back, the boys cleared the snow in front of the gate. We haven't been able to close the gate for about two months so it's nice, now the snow is melting, to be able to shut it again. They did a good job.

The boys watched TV before bed and Huffle and I played Table Tennis. I nearly won! We read, tucked them in and then Huffle watched England v Montenegro

 

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Bringing it Back!

I may have mentioned that it is supposed to be Spring, and to be fair, the last few days have been quite Springlike, despite the still mounds of snow in our garden. What I forgot to mention was that Punxatawney Phil, of Groundhog Day fame, has been indicted for giving a false indication that Spring would be early this year. Oh dear, Poor Phil. Actually his handler is now taking the blame so Phil won't be sent to his death after all!

Small went off to school armed with his antibiotics (which he remembered to put in the fridge but forgot to take!!!). He seems much better. It's a miracle. I must remember to make an appointment for when he is properly better so he can be swabbed.

Smallest and I had a slow morning, eating, playing and then we got ready and went out to Dollarama where we bought far too much stuff for Smallest's party on Saturday. Then we went next door to Bulk Barn and bought a few things to decorate his cake. Next we went to The Tire and purchased some wire wool to smooth the first coat of Varnish, some wood stain to stain the stairs and some paint to go on the doors and windows, just to freshen them up a bit. Smallest found a friend in there and tried to spray him.

When we got home, Smallest ran off to get the Post. He was very excited because there was a card for him.

You can just see him waving his card

We unpacked the car and Smallest skyped Moo while I made his lunch and put the shopping away. She still has snow and although it has been a nice day today she says it's still cold. I had my lunch and watched a bit of HIMYM while Smallest watched SpongeBob.

Moving into the sun room we played, knitted and watched and photographed the birds. Oh and shooed away those pesky squirrels. One was precariously balanced on top of the Squirrel Resistant Bird Feeder, while the other was jumping up and swinging on the lower feeder. I would be quite happy to feed them their own food but they are so greedy and take it all.

I saw a Woodpecker today and a Cardinal and blue Jays. It even made me get our proper SLR camera out - good for zooming.

Small came home, feeling better, he did his homework and then the boys played on the IPads. Huffle came home and we ate. Today I made Chilli and Rice and Vegetable Lasagne. YUM! Small said it was 'okay' and Smallest hated the Kidney Beans but liked the rest!

Smallest went off to Beavers this evening and they visited the Firehall. I said he might be shimmying down the pole but he doesn't think they have those. That's just in Fireman Sam! When Huffle brought him home he was talking about how the firemen don't have a bath in their station. He wondered did they not play with rubber ducks and straws? He came home with stickers, a hat, certificates, a car, two badges and a book. He told the firemen that we don't have any smoke alarms. Huffle showed him the smoke alarms when they got home and he said "Oh yeah, that's what Mummy sets off when she cooks!".

Small, Huffle and I played Pictureka and Sorry Revenge and then Small watched TV while Huffle and I played Table Tennis - bringing it back!!!!!!

 

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A doing day

Nice night's sleep. A good lie-in. All breakfasted together. No more snow but still plenty outside. The sun room got to a nice temperature of about 20*. Small was feeling much better. Smallest has a gruffly voice and I have a sore throat. More gargling.

Huffle Skyped Grandma and then Stephen Fry this morning and had a catch up. The boys played with their circuit set. Huffle and I played table tennis while the boys had their baths and entertained each other. Huffle and I sanded the stairs in readiness for varnishing them.

The boys had plenty of computering and we managed to varnish all the spindles and bannister. It's going to need at least one more coat.

We stopped for lunch and had a picnic lunch on our bed whilst watching the second half of the Hobbit we bought yesterday. With the DVD we got a free download to our computer and a secret code which allowed us to watch a sneak preview of the second Hobbit film. We all sat down to watch, the boys got bored because it was lots of waffling and geekiness from Peter Jackson.

Huffle and I enjoyed it as there were lots of behind the scene footage. Once it was finished we got on with more varnishing and then we sent the boys out to get some fresh air and play while we made dinner.

Everyone was feeling tired today. We ate in front of the TV. We started to watch a film called Grown Ups with Adam Sandler. It was a 'PG' but Smallest was horrified because a woman was breastfeeding her little boy who was at least 6. He couldn't watch the TV. There were a lot of things in there that seemed inappropriate for small boys. Not sure if we will bother watching the rest.

By the time we finished eating, it was bed time, I read Harry Potter to Small and Smallest was read to by Huffle, they are reading Billionaire Boy by David Walliams.

 

 

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Hobbitses

All the boys got up early this morning and I had a lie-in all by myself, however I was woken by the bright sunlight streaming through our badly fitting blinds. We had breakfast. Small was feeling well enough to eat two Weetabix. He still looked really ill in the face and he said his throat hurt a lot but seemed much brighter in himself.

Whilst we were having breakfast Small suddenly got up and said "oooh I forgot to check if the Tooth Fairy took my tooth!" OH YES YOU BETTER LOOK THEN! He came down disappointed, I looked at Huffle and said quietly "explain that one!". We told him it was probably because he was feeling so poorly. Huffle said it was because his breath smelt so bad (naughty) - when Small gets his bad throat there is always a bad smell from his throat, bless him. He wasn't worried about the lack of money. I'm sure she will come tonight.

While Huffle and Smallest went out to the Beer Store to pick up salt for the water softener (yes it is a hardware store too), Small and I played Yahtzee. The sunroom got to a temperature of 24* and we all sat in there. I filled all the bird feeders up,

..............took a walk down the garden, photographing as I went, and then Huffle and I sat in the Sun Room (with tee shirts on) watching the birds come and go, we saw chickadees, a woodpecker, blue jays and nuthatches. There were loads of birds. It was so nice and relaxing just sitting there, warming our bones.

Lovin' the shadows

Lovely blue sky

We skyped Moo to show her where we were sitting and she was very jealous as she was cold and it was snowing.

Us Skyping (in the corner) and Moo's road and car in the snow

We have been sent a few photos of the snow in the UK.

My old car......yahoo's poor snowdrops.......yahoo's garden (we've been texting a lot today)...... And a shot of Aunty A and Aunty Miaow sending me a message to say Cheers and they would SKYPE later

Strange seeing as our weather was soooo sunny today - still bloomin' cold though. We got ourselves ready and drove to Port Perry to try out a new Chip Shop.

The road to Port Perry - look at those clouds

It was the same chain as the one we normally go to but it was in a Conservatory as opposed to a Truck Stop. We all had Cod except for Small who had Haddock. It was very nice, though a little more expensive, possibly because of the setting. Shame it wasn't on the lake though. The lady in there was amazed that Smallest could cut up and eat his fish by himself. I told her he was nearly six but she said "I see a lot of kids in here and believe me, most of them can't cut!" I think kids here are a bit more mollycoddled than in the UK. We seemed to be a sideshow for everyone today. Everyone stared once they heard our accents and then they started looking at Smallest (and his hair no doubt!). No one was being horrible, just smiling and giggling and half pointing!

We left the chip shop and parked nearer to the lake. We walked alongside the frozen lake and the boys briefly went on the park (well Smallest did) Small wanted to rest as his tummy hurt - I think he may have pulled a muscle being sick yesterday. He wanted to walk on the ice but I wouldn't let him as there were great pools of water breaking through. Too thin now.

The boys dangled their feet on the ice and tried to break it with their feet, standing on it when they thought we weren't looking!!!

We drove to a supermarket and bought The Hobbit bluray, then drove home and prepared the film room (our bedroom). All the boys lay on the bed and I had my rocking chair with my crochet, just like a Granny. We got half way through the film before Smallest couldn't sit still any longer. We postponed the rest till another day. Smallest had some tea and the boys played with the circuit kit. I went out for a walk because I was grumpy but it did me some good because I walked around the village trying to get a good photo of the moon. I only turned back because my boots were rubbing (I didn't put my thick socks on).

When I got home we all did a salt water gargle, Small had his medicine and the boys went to bed. Huffle read to them both. Aunty A and Aunty Miaow skyped us (it was past midnight there) and after saying Goodnight to the boys, we sat and chatted for a while. Aunty Miaow telling us about her trip to see us this Summer and Aunty A threatening to visit us this Summer (only joking AA, you know you are more than welcome as long as we get our holiday in first!). We got complaints from Small because we were making too much noise talking to them. It was lovely to see them. I miss them. I miss lots of things and people today.

 

 

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Sleepy Mouse Wakes Up

One of the boys came in during the night (we think it was around 2am) and said they had a sore throat and could they have medicine. Huffle said "yes, go and get it and bring it to me". I thought it was Smallest and I had visions of him climbing on top of the stool in his slidy socks and toppling off. So I said NO HE CAN'T GET IT BY HIMSELF IT'S TOO HIGH, THE NEXT THING WE'LL BE TAKING HIM TO HOSPITAL WITH A BROKEN LEG! Huffle was not pleased as he harrumphed (he says justifiably) off down the stairs to get him his medicine.

When I came down this morning I bid my usual GOOD MORNING. Smallest croaked good morning back and I said SPEAK AGAIN SMALLEST. Small said "what about me, I'm the one with the sore throat". Ahhh now it makes sense. I sent Huffle an apologetic message. I toyed with keeping Small at home today but as our doctors walk-in isn't until this evening, one of their questions will no doubt be 'how long have you had this?', and I am the 'Mystery Reader' in Smallest's class today, I made them both gargle salt water, gave Small medicine and sent them on their way. Small has instructions to ring if it gets bad.

While they were eating breakfast, Small's tooth fell out. He has had some funny ways of his teeth falling out over the years. One got punched out by a friends brother while Small was playing a pretend piano at a theme park. He laughed another one out and this one today, fell out while eating Weetabix - Weetabix, that tough chewy cereal. Ha! Of course, now he has to speak in a strange way because a tooth is missing!!!!

All this before 9am.

It snowed again in the night, quite heavily. The roads and drive and cars were covered. I thought the bus would be cancelled but it wasn't. Once the plough had been, the roads were clear.

So after breakfast, I packed up my knitting and went off to carry on my cardigan. Last week, I listened to the women talk about going to their Mediums. Never been a fan of psychics, medium etc but three out of the five women have lost one of their children. It was tragic to hear about. Two in car accidents and one got run over. Two of them were only 18. They only happened two - three years ago and it was heatbreaking to hear their stories.

Today was different. The chat went from baking and cooking to yoga and yoghurts. There was a lot of laughter and exchanging of emails. I gave my email to a lady who is going to give me her scone recipe. A lady gave me her email so I could send her my sock pattern, and I gave my email to a lady who knows someone who is British and not having a great time here. If I can help in any way I will try. I know what it's like to be here, be new and not feeling happy. Someone else took my email with the idea that she has some furniture she wants to get rid of.

I came home and went into the basement. I couldn't believe it. Another mouse. Sat next to the freezer, asleep or dead, why? What's going on? I can't move it so it will have to sit there until Huffle comes home. Very strange. I had lunch and for my storytelling later at school. I rang Huffle and told him. He thinks it's funny. I skyped Moo while I got my lunch ready and we chatted briefly. Then Yahoo skyped me. Guess what? We laughed a lot. She just has one of those faces (ha only kidding). I took her down to the basement to see the mouse. It had gone. Honestly, what is going on? Was it sleeping? Do they sleep like that? In full view of people.

Small phoned to say he wasn't feeling well and I persuaded him to stay till 3pm when I would be there anyway to read to the Kindergartens. Then I rang Smallest's teacher to see if I could read any earlier. I went in half an hour earlier than planned and text Huffle to let him know that I needed him to take Smallest swimming so I could take Small to the doctors. I got to school and Small was in the hallway, laid out on a seat looking a little pale and sleepy. I told him to stay there while I read and then he could go home. His tummy hurt too. Smallest's class were sitting on the floor hiding their faces (they weren't allowed to look until I was sitting down), then they all looked up and there was a cry of "it's Smallest's Mom!". I Sat on the floor with them, I showed them the book 'a squash and a squeeze' and then I got out my props. The story is about a lady who thinks her house is too small and a wise man tells her to take animals into her house. Eventually she can't move so she takes them all out and is grateful for all the space she has. I used my knitted animals. They loved it and I got a round of applause at the end. Smallest's teacher has borrowed the book and props to tell her Monday group the sory as she liked it so much. That was fun! I am definitely going to volunteer more once Smallest starts full time in September

Small and I came home and I sent him to bed until Huffle came home. Smallest came home on the bus by himself and the driver sent the girl from across the road with him to make sure he got in okay. That was kind of the driver and the girl. Then we made our way to the old walk-in clinic. Small felt sick so we took a bowl, a towel and a box of tissues with us, the drive is about 15-20 minutes and I drove swiftly but avoided swerving and bumpy bits. He struggled all the way there and just as we arrived and parked he was sick. It was horrible as I am his Mum and I have to be supportive and tell him it's okay but I can't bear to see other people being sick, it just makes me feel sick myself. Once he had finished I threw the bowlful down the drain and picked up a lump of snow and cleaned the bowl. Once inside, the waiting room wasn't too busy, but really warm. Small had to wear a face mask. We tried to play Yahtzee on the IPad but he wasn't even up to that. He looked really poorly and sleepy.

We eventually saw a nurse who took his temperature - he has a fever, she took a swab - he has Strep Throat again. After about an hour we saw a Medical Student who then fetched the doctor. while Small was waiting for them, he fell asleep. He has been given more antibiotics but due to the fact that he has only just had Strep, they are wondering if he is a carrier, so they suggested we saw our family doctor and get him to swab him when he is well. While I got the antibiotics I left Small in the car with his bowl. He was sick again. We got home, he tried some soup but couldn't manage more than a couple of spoonfuls and went to bed.

Smallest had a different teacher at swimming but he enjoyed it and Huffle enjoyed watching him.

Huffle and I played Table Tennis and then sat and watched TV. It feels like it has been a long day.

Wishing CousinPest a speedy recovery.

 

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He's just sitting there, sleeping!

Bizarre dream. We had moved into a new house (not the house we are in now but it WAS in Canada). The drive was very strange and went all around the back of other houses, even though there was a drive next to our house. While we were moving in, a huge crowd of people were gathered around the front of the house, all chatting happily. We joined them. We saw the people who used to live in the house before. We realised that the people were waiting for something and we wondered if they were there to welcome us, so we crept back into the house so we could come out properly and be welcomed. When we came back out, they were all gone. They were in the pub (we don't have a pub here) over the road. They had all just met up to go out together. We felt really silly. I had another dream about moving back to England and I didn't really fit in here or there.

I had a bit of a down morning. I don't know if it was my dreams or whether I just felt a bit lost. Like I don't have a purpose. I think I need to go back to working at the garden centre. I tried to find a fitness class too but I think it's on the same day as work.

The boys went off to school and hid from me when they saw my camera. Silly Billies.

I had a 25 minute workout whilst watching HIMYM. Then I had breakfast and started touching up the painting in the loft. I went around the walls and ceiling painting over any bits we had missed and going around the top of the skirting (base) boards. I filled in a hole above the bed and swiffed the room and made the bed. I gave the window in the computer room and the skirting a second coat and I painted the computer room door.

I am painting a canvas for over our bed and I made a start on that. Just a quick sketch. I also attempted to vacuum the stairs (with carpet on) but since the men were here the stairs are a mess and there is so much fluff (where does it come from?) I can't get the vacuum to pick it up at all. It's very frustrating (and No it isn't full and I did empty it).

By the time all that was done, I was starving and stopped for lunch. It had started snowing again. A lot of snow but not seeming to settle. I THOUGHT IT WAS SPRING!

At the weekend, Smallest decided he wanted a Birthday Party this year. Not a family one but a friends one. So we sat down on Monday and wrote invitations. No planning (apart from his cake which I drew out and planned this afternoon), but so far out of the six kids he has invited, three of them have accepted. He will be pleased. I guess we have to do pass the parcel (he wants to do forfeits which is a family tradition now). He doesn't want a piñata this year as he felt he didn't get much of it last year. He wants sandwiches, biscuits and a cake. That can't be that hard can it?

I went out to the shops and bought a few things. When I came out the snow was blizzarding again. I had to put my headlights on because visibility was awful. I got home, put out the recycling and then the kids were home. They were just trying to negotiate for who was going to go on the computer when MrsRoyal came by with a Science circuit set. That took their minds off the computer and they immediately began playing with it. They made a light bulb come on, something sang happy birthday and a whirly thing was launched into the air. They loved it. They skyped Grandma to show her. Mr & Mrs Royal are going off on a cruise tomorrow. They are sailing across the Atlantic (oooh rather them than me - I'm sure it will be fine) over to Spain and then going to Rome and Venice. We are very very jealous of the Italian part, not the Atlantic crossing. She said she will send me photos so I hope to post some on here.

Our basement is split into two. The first side is partly finished with walls and flooring where we play Table Football, Table Tennis, excercise and the kids games and Lego is in there. Then there are two louvre doors and that part of the basement has a concrete floor and all the machinery is in there. The water heater, softener, Furness, a cold room and a place where we keep an extra freezer. The reason for telling you this is because, I went in there to get something from the freezer and saw, in the middle of the floor, a mouse. Not moving, not squashed, not anything really. At first I thought it had stopped because it heard me, then I thought it might be asleep. Small came and looked and said "can I throw this pen at him to see if he moves?" NO! Smallest came down and said "can I see if he is asleep?" YES BUT DON'T TOUCH HIM. He walked up to him and shouted HHHEEEELLLLLOOOOOOOOOOO. It didn't move. Therefore, the mouse was dead or in a deep sleep. Do mice hibernate? Oh god, I hope not because Huffle has just put him in a bag in the dustbin. Poor sleepy mouse.

I made two quiches for dinner. One spinach and cheese for the boys

It puffed up like a soufflé!

and a roasted veggie one for Huffle and I.

Small did his homework. Smallest played on the computer and then Small played on the computer and Smallest watched him. Huffle came home and we all ate. Smallest had a sour sweet after dinner.

He pulled some very funny faces

The boys showed Huffle their science kit and what it could do. We all ended up sitting on the kitchen floor. Huffle and I played Table Tennis while the boys got ready for bed and then we read to them.

 

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Spring has Sprung

It had snowed again in the night, not too much. The sun room window had sparkly icy snowflakes on the inside. The sun was shining and making the snow sparkle too. Small went off to school.

Lots of cleaning was done today. Smallest had a bath, I had a shower. Then there was scrubbing, dusting, disinfecting, swiffing, sweeping, washing and drying. We changed all the beds and re-made them. Smallest had a go at writing his letters and numbers.

The tongue in the side of the mouth showing real concentration!

He did really well. He wrote his numbers up to 26 and everytime he got one wrong, he started from 1 again. We were laughing through most of it. I think we managed to get in a bit of lunch, a bit of TV, some jigsawing, some computer and a 3km jog on the Eliptical. I got on the scales this morning and I had suddenly lost 1.5 stone. I was amazed until I realised there was a candle (not sure why a candle) underneath the scales - maaaan. It was nice while it lasted. However, I have put on weight. I can't stop eating!!!!!

When Small came home we walked and scooted to the corner shop (about a 1km away). Of course, as soon as we started walking, the snow started, then it came down some more, then it was like a blizzard. Luckily it didn't last too long. The boys had to scoot on the road because the paths aren't clear yet. So I had to shout, "quick get in, okay time to get back on, oh no, back in again". It was tricky. We picked up our parcel (that was the reason for going there, and the reason we walked is because I've put on weight and I can't stop eating - see its all related, I'm not just idly waffling!).

There was a lot of photo opportunities......

Lots of sit-ins.........

Lots of scootering...

Thank you Grandma, we got our packages. One was left in the mailbox and one was left at the Corner Shop (both the same size and we were in all day!!!!). And then, when we got in, it started snowing again, really heavily, but again, just for a short time. It wasn't as cold today.

I know I show a lot of photos of the Barn, and the reason for this is because the snow shows up against the dark wood, plus I really like the barn and it kind of dominates our back garden view.

Well it is the first day of Spring. Which reminds me, Smallest got changed after his bath and shouted down to me "I'm putting a tee-shirt on because it is Summer now". NO SMALLEST, SPRING! oh yeah, well warmer anyway". I WISH!

Small did his homework while Smallest and I made meatballs. Then they both played on the computer.

Huffle came home. We all ate dinner. The boys went up to clear away the train track and Huffle and I played Table Tennis. I won one - yay! I crept upstairs while the boys were clearing, as they seemed to be taking a very long time, this is the conversation I heard.

Smallest : we just don't have to play with the train track ever again Small, and then Mummy will never know!

Small : but isn't that lying to Mummy? do you want to do that?

I came in and said "well do you want to lie to me". Their faces were a picture. Small had thrown a wooden house and the roof had fallen off. Smallest thought he could just put it away and hide it. I used the line "I'm very disappointed" and went back downstairs. Smallest came down about ten minutes later and said he was very sorry. I cant believe he was prepared to NEVER play with the train track again rather than tell me they had broken a small piece.

The kids watched TV and went to bed.

 

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