Feelin' hot hot hot!

Small got up in the night to tell me he had lost his pillow! Had he eaten it? Had the tooth fairy taken it thinking it was another tooth? No, it had fell off his bed and was sitting there looking like a 'fallen off the bed' pillow, waiting for its master to pick it up and put it under his head. Silly billy. He woke up in a foul mood (pillow's fault?) and Small seemed to be getting the brunt of it!

It was 29* this morning with humidity of...... (I can't lie, I don't understand the humidity bit, but I do know it was bloomin' warm). Of course I had to do a grocery shop and my mission today was to find a washing line prop. prop, yes prop, an extendable pole that one sticks under the washing line to make it taut, to stop the washing from dragging on the floor! What? You haven't ever heard of one! Two shops - nothing. Gave up and came home.

After I had opened all the windows and doors in an effort to get some cool air into the house, and put all the shopping away (minus the prop), I had lunch and watched 'so you think you can dance' American version. Still got Kat Deely as the host. The people auditioning were amazing. OMG, what they can do with their legs and arms. Brilliant. The house felt cooler but every time I went past the back door it felt like a warm blast similar to when you get off an aeroplane abroad!

I tried to do a bit of gardening but it was just too warm. I tried to read my book but still too warm. I ended up sitting on the porch crocheting and in the shade it was still too warm. When the boys got off the bus they looked like they had been in a sauna, so I marched them off to get an ice pole. Smallest's temper seems a bit hot too! I gave them a snack, we talked about school and off we went to Spring Fest at the school.

First of all we looked at the cake contest - why didn't I enter? Then we bought some tickets. Everything there costs one, two or three tickets! We bought $20 worth and went into the games room. There the boys got to knock ducks over, hit a golf ball, throw toilet rolls down a toilet, throw rings around a bottle, strongman hammer, hockey goal, and when they had done it all they claimed their prize. Small chose a bouncy ball and a bat n ball (which broke before we got it home). Smallest chose a skipping role because he thought it was a bunch of candy canes and then swapped it for a squinky!? and a slinky.

Oh Smallest, get out of that toilet!

Huffle joined us and we saw the Reptilian Room. We got to see a tortoise (who would eat another's nails if they were painted*, a lizard (who smelt through his tongue), a tarantula (at which point I exited the room so have no facts for you because I couldn't even look at it!), the boys had snakes around their necks and we saw a scorpion (Smallest said "we've seen one of those in our house" "in Italy" at which point the man said "you're not from Italy are you? My mother in law is from Italy and she doesn't sound like you"), we also saw a small gator and Smallest told the man that he had sat on one! The expert said the reason I could stroke an Alligator and not a spider was because it looked like a Gucci Handbag! I said I wouldn't know! He said you don't have to buy one, you can just look at them in the shop!

 

The lizard was very soft

He said that the cartoon Franklin was an incorrect drawing - something about his feet

Small loved having this snake round his neck

However Smallest said it was strangling him!

This one wrapped itself around Small's arm

"err, can you get it off me now?"

Huffle moaned about the amount of money everything cost and then bid on the silent auction for two rounds of golf and a golf cart! Typical. He said "is there anything you would like to bid on my sweetness, anything you like?". Don't be silly, of course he didn't!

The boys had a hot dog each. I asked them if they thought that they could live on hotdogs and burgers and they said yes they thought they could.

smallest dropped half of his hot dog on the floor!

I found everyone quite rude and ignorant! Huffle says its just their way. There were a handful of people there who were nice, genuine people. I said that I was glad I wasn't overly homesick else I may just have wanted to go 'HOME!'. We escaped at a reasonable time (again). I can't say it was 'fun filled' but it was certainly better than yesterday's afternoon!

On the way home I drove on the wrong side of the road. Huffle sat next to me and he hadn't even noticed. It was only a side road but so easily done! Whoops.

Tomorrow we have the Hamlet's Garden Club Plant Sale, which I haven't volunteered for as yet and am hoping I can just go and buy and then come away. Also tomorrow is another festival. Feeling a little fest'ed out at the moment. I guess that this is the time of year when they know the weather will be good so they schedule all the sales, festivals etc. Another fun-filled afternoon?

We didn't get the storm. The boys said it rained at school but I must have been in the non-existent line prop department at the time!

The weather is supposed to be a little cooler tomorrow 22* with rain on Sunday and a storm Monday and rain Tuesday and Wednesday - told you it would change!!! Looks like UK was mid to late 20's today again with the rest of the week sunny. Super!

* I wasn't going to explain about the tortoise but Huffle insisted. The expert was Telling the boys that the difference between a turtle and a tortoise is their feet and nails. He said (looking at my nails) if you wore open toed shoes all the time you would probably want to paint your nails, but if you painted a tortoises nails, other tortoises would try and eat them! Interesting fact in itself but then I asked "how do you know?" to which he replied "we had to paint some tortoises nails to tell them apart but they tried to eat them!" okay, fair enough!

A fun-filled afternoon?

Apologies for yesterday's post, I put it on my BusyButterfingers blog by mistake. SORRY AUNT PEAR, I didn't mean to ruin your morning routine.

Phew it sure is hot here. Over 30* in the sun room and the doors have been open for ages. However, looked at the weather forecasts and Leicestershire, England are having the same temperatures. WOW. England is supposed to be hotter than the Bahamas right now.

Smallest and I played junior scrabble,

Penguin race

Then while Smallest had a bath, I cleaned the bathrooms. (he actually helped on the bathroom he uses - he is a good little cleaner and he brought down all the bins and took them back when I had emptied them).

We were supposed to be going to the library today with clownRose and BabyMo but in true clown style, they weren't quite ready. We walked/scooted to the library and on the way there me met his friends who were at daycare. "Hi Smallest" they all shouted. He had his posse around him, ringing his bell, touching his hat. I wish I was this popular.

This is Grumpy Smallest who said it was too hot to scoot and expected me to pull him along even though I was hot too and was carrying too big bags of books!

On the way we passed some lovely wild flowers (some would say weeds!)

Lovely tree blossom

Someone's lovely iris'

We finally got to the library! Coloured in a picture for Father's day (not for a few weeks yet!), he played with his friends in there, we chose some books and then walked to the cafe. We met ClownRose and BabyMo and we had lunch together.

 

BabyMo learnt how to drink from a glass and pour ice over her head!!

These Poppies were outside the cafe - marvellous.

We had Strawberry & Kiwi ice lolly

...... And made our way back home. Too hot for the park today! This picture is of Smallest staring at a pile of horse poo! Don't know why as it has been there for over a week, but standing there staring he was!!!!

On the way, Smallest decided he just could not go any further

We walked babyMo and ClownRose home and said our goodbyes until Tuesday.

We got cool indoors and Smallest played on the computer while I chilled out in the shade outside. When Small came home we went straight off to a charity event at Huffle's work. It promised to be a fun filled afternoon with face painting, candy floss, popcorn, barbeque, games, a dunking tank where Huffle would be placed and dunked! However, the organiser didn't turn up with all the stuff till quite late. There was only one socket so they couldn't make popcorn and candy floss at the same time. The boys amused themselves with Huffle's baseball glove and ball.

There was a barbeque and the boys had hotdogs.

They were given tee-shirts to draw on and take home

There was no dunk tank as the organiser (someone who works for Huffle) didn't realise that they needed to fill the tank with water! Are you serious. What shall we dunk him in? AIR? For some reason they thought a tank would come with it! NO! Then someone suggested they should throw water balloons at him but that was decided against too. Health and Safety or little balloons might Hurt someone! Anyway, that event did not happen.

Mini golf they called this! A bit disappointing but it entertained the kids for five minutes!

They had popcorn and candy floss (not at the same time obviously)

There was a raffle for a ManU shirt which Huffle won and gave back (because he's the boss and not at all because we can't bear anything ManU in our house!!!!!). There was a raffle for a free day off work and Huffle drew the ticket and it was him again so unfortunately he had to give it to someone else.

Huffle had to make a speech at the end and he waffled a bit and then said "Together Everyone Achieves More" which he stole from the school assembly

I am still not sure what we were doing there. I don't know who the charity was. There didn't seem to be any money taken so can't imagine the charity made anything from it. I know Huffle had to speak to the main Chairty man and he may have been wanting Huffle's office to sponsor various events - pah, you're talking to the wrong man!

We managed to get away at a reasonable time and get the boys in bed at a decent time. It is still very warm. We are even considering putting the air conditioning on. I don't want to as I like the doors and windows open but it is starting to get very humid. There are storms coming tomorrow, Sunday, Monday and rain on Tuesday but I'm betting that will change quicker than I can change my pants (and I mean underwear pants!!!!!).

I wrote a while ago about someone in the library making me mad by talking about £7 coffee and little houses with no gardens in England. Well today she talked about how our little hamlet (village) has no super market and swimming pool. WHAT. I told her to go and live in a town or city!!!!

Tomorrow it is SpringFest at the school and it promises to be another fun filled afternoon. Oh dear. It has to be better surely?

 

Do you have a friend called 'eeyore?'

I woke up with eight mosquito bites all over. One on my bum (how did it get there!!!), one at the top of my thigh! Two on my legs, two on my shoulders, one on my hand (now that one I saw biting me, it was dug in soooo deep I had to pull it off me! And one on my face. They really love me don't they! Mrs Royal gave me a patch to wear and it worked at the time but I forgot I am allergic to Elastoplast and it irritated my arm more than the actual bites. Small got two black fly bites - when he showed his teacher she said "welcome to Canada!". Apparently you don't know till you see the blood dribbling down that you've been bitten - how lovely. No more problems with the bird feeder, although it hasn't been filled since. One of my readers has suggested bringing it in each evening, may try that. No problems with the chipmunks either. No problems with the raccoons and the bins although the same reader has suggested maybe a raccoon is eating our bird nuts! My, the wildlife here are interesting.

All boys at school/work today so I got to go and get my hair cut. Mrs Royal and I left at 10:30 and travelled for over an hour (we got a bit waylaid as we were too busy talking to notice where we were going). We went to see the lovely 'Smoothie'. She coloured, cut and styled Mrs Royal's hair and trimmed and styled mine. LOVELY. We had a good chat about TV, children, schools, Canada, England, family, swimming pools, plants etc etc etc. Mrs Royal took sandwiches for us and I took Gingerbread biscuits. We didn't leave there till 2:30. Whoops. I got home and within five minutes of the boys turning up. Still a good day out and my hair looks fabulous (no I can't show you a picture because I look hideous under my beautiful hair!).

When Grandma and Grandad were here, the boys planted some bulbs in their own pots. Yay they are growing!

The boys played outside and then came in a did a jigsaw together before playing on the computer. They took it in turns to play and they played really nicely together. They came down when I asked them to and set the table (no grumbles). Huffle came home early (which is not good because that means he had a bad day!!!!)

Huffle had a CV in today and the person's name was Winnie Poon (he he, anyone who knows me, knows I am a big Winnie the Pooh fan. Huffle said if it was pooh and not Poon, he would have interviewed them just for me!!!). Funnily enough he already has someone famously named who works in the office. I am not allowed to say his name but he was famous for saying "oh matron" in the Carry On films!!!

We all had dinner together and then went and played football.

Smallest trying really hard not to have a tantrum

I love the way that Smallest JUST fits in the net!

Bedtime for the boys. Huffle sat and read the paper and revised for his exam in front of the football. I blogged and crocheted.

Oh yes, and wahooooo to my UK readers, you have finally got some sunshine. Let's hope this is the start of your Summer and that it lasts.

(pic from Chelsea flower show)

 

Daddy vs Squirrel

Recently a squirrel has been knocking down our bird feeder, rolling it across the garden (newly dug and planted) and emptying the contents. Huffle decided that he would fill the feeder and tie it to the hook to stop the squirrel. This he did yesterday. This morning, the feeder was still there, still attached but completely empty. Now, how has the squirrel emptied the contents but left it up there hanging?

Daddy 0 - 1 Squirrel.

It was a hot sticky night last night. Everyone slept okay. No one got up too early. Huffle's car had been poo'd on by a bird (oh dear, after he had lovingly washed it yesterday too!!) Huffle went to work and Small to school. Smallest and I stayed at home. We spent the whole morning washing. Washing ourselves, our hair, our bed linen and our clothes.

I felt very English today, hanging out the washing on a washing line. Never see them here!

I don't know if you can see but there is a chipmunk sitting on the bird bath, bold as you like, having a drink, having a bath! "takin' liberties" says Huffle.

England's rain has finally stopped and the fine weather is starting. hurrah! Can't remember where I saw this picture now, but liked it anyway. We Skyped Grandma and Grandad while we were having lunch. Grandad was telling us what was happening in his garden. Grandma had been shopping and bought us some Mosquito repellents.

After lunch Smallest and I played Monopoly. the little chimp beat me easily. He took all my money and then took my properties. Pah - not playing with him again. We then played Dino Trumps and I drew him his favourite dinosaurs for him to colour so I could get on with my crochet (not for too long though).

Just like his Dad, look how pleased he is to get all that money!

He asked me to take this photo - he said "you could blog it Mummy, let everyone know that I got all your properties". Cheeky monkey.

Also played a family favourite space game until Small came home. While I got the dinner (made Cottage Pie), the boys played with some puzzles together very nicely and then on the computer.

We had dinner and then Huffle came home. I went off to the Garden Club where the talk was "My Favourite Garden Mistakes". It was a good talk and I won the raffle. I got an 'Easy Rose' book and a 'Gardening in Small Spaces' Magazine.

I walked home and saw a black hopping thing in front of me. Don't know what it was. A frog? It was dark so it may not have no been black but it was dark coloured and darting!

 

Unofficial Queen Vic's Birthday (really 24th)

There was a party going on last night over at a neighbours (who we don't know) and there was much revelry until the small wee hours. The boys were late going to bed and apart from a few fireworks going off they were asleep almost instantly. Huffle slept as soon as his head hit the pillow, but I had to put a film on to cover the noise of the party. However, I had to close the windows and turn the volume up because they were too loud. Eventually I fell asleep. Huffle woke in the night wondering why he was so hot (whoops I forgot to open the windows again!). Smallest came in to us at 4:30 to tell us the Tooth Fairy had been and left some money. Oh I can't tell you how pleased we were. He went back to bed.


We have been here six months. WOW, where has that time gone? We were asked a few days ago by Aunt Pear what marks out of ten we would give so far. Huffle said 7/8 and I said 7 (I never heard him say his answer). Ummm interesting. I don't think that's a bad score so far. Room for improvement definitely.

Prince Charles and Camilla are in Toronto today and tomorrow. I wonder if they will pop in. After all, we are English and we do serve Yorkshire Tea - They won't get that anywhere else here I can tell you. One thing the Canadians have not learnt to do well yet is to make tea!

Huffle found a piece of furniture on Kijiji he wanted so after breakfast, he took Smallest for a drive to fetch it. Small and I stayed behind, played Monopoly Deal and he played on the computer while I tidied and swept. When they came back we put the bench in the sun room. It is great for putting shoes in and sitting on when you are putting your shoes on or waiting for the rest of the family to get ready, eh Huffle?


The boys played on the computer for a while. We had lunch on the porch in the shade. It was a scorching hot day again. We made a den out of the Jungle Gym and a decorating sheet.

I mowed while the three boys washed the cars and had a water fight. Of course, as soon as I was finished I had to have a water fight too. We all got pretty wet. Smallest is fine with this now after we introduced the 'Time Out' signal, although that doesn't always work perfectly!!

Huffle cleaned his own car as the boys were bored of it by then!

Being sprayed by the hose

What a lovely clean car she is!

Smallest got some computer time for himself while Huffle, Small and I played Monopoly Deal again. When Smallest was finished we all played football.

Oh I forgot to mention we snook in a sneaky ice cream

Dinner made us come in from the sun and then we all played Disney Monopoly - we haven't seen or played this game for some time. It was the first time that Smallest has played without hell. He loved it. He especially loved getting its of money but wasn't so happy about giving it away. Huffle won!

We put them to bed, watered the plants, tidies the garden things away and sighed with a cup of tea.

Everyone seems to be okay now. I'm not sure the sore throats, coughs and colds have completely gone but all seem to be better. No tummy bugs now. All gone. Maybe it was the hot weather?!

 

 

Burlington's Bald Eagle

Another disturbed night's sleep! Smallest woke up with a blocked nose. We rubbed Vicks on his chest and blew his nose. 7:30am the smoke alarm went off. Huffle shouted "fire alarm, get up , get up" The boys were downstairs watching tv. The alarm going off was the one outside our bedrooms. We searched high and low, nothing. We checked there were no fires outside blowing in through the windows, nothing. We came downstairs and it went off again. We changed the batteries, it went off again. It's not very old so we guess it's just faulty! Well we had to get up anyway as we were off to meet the Burlington Berties at a conservation park an hour and a half away. The most west we have ever been EVER!

We decided to take the mini convertible today (ha ha only joking, someone else!)

It was a bubbling hot day. 26* but felt like 30*. Phew. The sat Nav took us to a housing estate and said "you have reached your destination!". No we haven't. So we used my GPS on my phone and ended up at a crossroads. Again we had NOT reached our destination. Huffle checked the map and we ended up in the right place, a bit late.

We started by looking around the farm.

There were goats. Goats that pooed In huge quantities, like I have never seen before. The kids thought it was hilarious.

Goats that climbed.

Cuddly rabbits

Nests of swallows or swifts. Loads of them, flying round your head.

We walked to the water (reservoir) and up the lookout tower.

All of us (not including the fisherman at the end!).

Me and Muffin

The men chatting

The Geese landing

Mrs BB and the boys walking

No chance of Ice Fishing today!

To you - To me!

Off to the Raptor centre (I was expecting dinosaurs at this point as I didn't know that Raptors were birds of prey). We had a talk about a Bald Eagle (not you Mr BB) and a Horned Owl.

The Eagle was huge. She hurt her wings (7ft wingspan) when she was a baby and has had to live in the centre as she would not survive in the wild.

The gang listening about the birds.

The eagle having some fish wrapped in newspaper

The owl who was too hot and had to be sprayed with water. She had a lot of feathers and she did not like the heat!!!

We had some snacks and then Small got tummy ache and felt sick. We left him with the men and Mrs BB, Me, Muffin and Smallest went pond dipping.

Over the railway

To the ponds where we were given a plastic sieve, a tray with water in for putting our catches in and a laminated paper telling us what everything was.

The kids loved it and we found it hard to get them away. They found red water mites, pond skimmers, scorpion things, and lots more that I can't remember the names of. We found a frog that sounded like a string being plucked on a banjo.

It was lovely and peaceful. Birds singing, frogs banjo'ing.

Smallest could pond dip for England! After stroking a frog we decided to go back for some dinner. We had a barbecue. It was great. A lovely setting.

There were people barbecuing all around us. A proper Canadian Day out.

Smallest's first tooth fell out!

The gorgeous colours on these trees plus the beautiful blue of the sky - awesome!

After dinner and a bit of football we decided to go for a walk. It was really really hot so we couldn't walk far. We walked through some wooded areas and came across a load of swallow boxes. Lots of swallows flying in and out. Some poking their heads out, some poking their tails out.

We found a lookout that looked out across the resevoir.

Two men fishing.

It got too hot and Smallest's legs were tired. Small felt better but weary. Made our way back.

lovely tree

Great picture of a dandelion seed head. The boys were not impressed by this picture. "it's just a weed!!!!"

We had a fabulous day at the park and would love to go back. Excellent company as always from the Burlington Bertie's. We decided to go back to their house.

the kids had a water fight and got very wet.

Drying off with an Ice Pole

Time for a pizza. It was late when we left. Smallest fell asleep in the car. I had a dodgy tummy. Small felt washed out. I am wondering if we have a tummy bug. Hope we haven't left it with the Burlingtons - Thank you for a wonderful day. We loved it.

Smallest's tooth is in his Mickey Mouse tooth holder that I made for him ages ago, hope the fairy comes!!!