Category Archives: Family

Clarification please

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I have mentioned that my dear friend A is visiting at the moment. Her mother is also joining us for a few days before they set off to tour around a little. B6 wasn’t quite sure where A’s mother fitted into the picture. Here’s how the conversation went:

B6: What’s she to me?
L12: She’s June.
B6: What’s a June?
L12: That’s her name.
B6: I mean, am I her nephew or something?
L12: No, she’s just one of our friends, we aren’t related to her.
B6: But aren’t Mummy and A sisters?
L12: No, that’s just a myth.

Actually a myth A and I have perpetuated over the years,img_0532.jpg the most recent time being at church last Sunday. Someone just assumed we were sisters and we didn’t correct them … at first. Never for a moment, however, did I set out to deceive my own son.

I couldn’t ask for a better sister though.

 

Happy Birthday, Dad

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As it is my father’s birthday I have been reminiscing about things we have done together over the years. Of course there are too many to record here so I will just list a few.

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  • going with him when he did services at Aldersgate
  • swimming in the ocean before breakfast
  • catching waves on the surf mats
  • playing cards and doing jigsaws in the caravan
  • reading the newspaper at breakfast in silence
  • jogging on frosty Canberra mornings
  • watching McCloud and Columbo
  • going to “The Empire Strikes Back“
  • stamp collecting
  • tennis
  • driving lessons!
  • watching Hill Street Blues
  • walking me down the aisle
  • conducting Andrew’s and my wedding
  • choosing a Christmas tree
  • swimming in their pool
  • decreeing “driving out of the driveway time”
  • whale watching
  • making chutney
  • discussing Alexander McCall Smith’s Expresso Tales over breakfast

img_1724crop.jpgYes, there are many more memories but those are just a few which have popped into my mind today. One of my happiest recent memories of Dad is seeing him with each of our children last year, talking, reading, playing and getting to know each one better. We all wish you a very Happy Birthday, Dad, and send lots of love from all of us.

By the way, the beautiful picture in my header was taken my Dad while holidaying recently in Tasmania.

 

Initiative

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Our chore list is, I guess, what you could call a rolling list. When it is chore time we just look on the list and see what is next. This way we don’t have to do the same chore every week. I also like it because if we have a busy week (if?) then the next week we just pick up where we left off.

Well, I was just dusting in the girl’s room, usually one of them does this. Both girls have beautiful fairytale dolls, with full skirts, on the dressing table . I picked up the dolls to dust the dressing table and found a stash of bits and pieces under the skirts, you know the kind of things which are just a pain to put away. They all go in a different drawer or box, it’s much easier to put them all in one place, like under a doll’s voluminous skirt for instance.

We have been discussing taking initiative in keeping things clean and tidy around the house. Does this count?

Round the World in Forty Days

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School is not B6’s favourite thing at present. I believe there are other 6 year old boys who feel the same way. When the girls were around his age I remember we hit a bit of a slump with our school work as well so I invented a world travel unit. They had tickets to fly on our own family airlines, travel journals to fill and a world to discover. We recreated many famous landmarks in our own school room. Exotic foods and original crafts were tried.

I am attempting to capture B6’s interest by creating something similar. In the mailbox yesterday was a challenge. He has to travel round the world in forty days. He must visit at least 25 countries, travel by ten different modes of transportation and take pictures every where he goes. He might encounter danger, be captured or have to eat strange food.

I’m glad to say he accepted the challenge. As soon as he had filled out the requisite form he received a list of items he had to gather together before he could begin the challenge. A world map, pencil, eraser, travel journal, scissors, ruler, cell phone and binoculars were easy enough to find. Getting a passport took a little longer as did raising $500. Fortunately for him, his sister works at the passport office (actually she is the passport office) so by this morning he had a beautiful new passport. He earned his $500 doing chores around the home so he was ready to start. B6 believes that the letters and instructions are coming from me but as he doesn’t have any proof he has started saying that they are coming from “the community” and that I am part of “the community”.

His first assignment was in the mailbox today, a trip to Nunavut. Reluctantly he worked out what was written on the page. It was no use asking A10 and L12 to help, they were banned from reading it to him. After reading that he was going somewhere cold he had to list the clothes he would take; he drew them.img_2273crop.jpg I know that was clever of him, but I made him write the names anyway. After all, this is replacing his language work. I met him in Nunavut and showed him around, via books , then he built an inukshuk. His cellphone came in handy to book a hotel room for the night as he is yet to complete the whole assignment.

 

Project Feederwatch

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img_2223cropagain2.jpgAlexandra has been participating in Project Feederwatch this winter. Her designated area to watch is our backyard where we have two bird feeders and a suet basket hanging on our washing line. It is the only place we have found where the squirrels can’t help themselves. With three weeks to go and the weather warming up we might see a few more varieties.

She has seen:

cardinals
bluejays
chickadees
downy woodpecker
song sparrow
dark-eyed juncos
American crows
hawk
goldfinch
a robin

 

Dresses

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When writing about the Group of Four acting out scenes from Romeo and Juliet the other day I didn’t mention a small detail which delighted me. The acting was great, they really stepped into their roles, they made their props and organised their costumes. The extra little bonus for me was seeing A10 and L12 in dresses I had made for myself many long years ago. These dresses are not worn by anyone at present but neither have they been relegated to “dress up box” status. They hang with the formal dresses from the wedding years.

img_2248crop.jpg L12 wore my 21st birthday dress. I designed it and made it out of white voile with lace inserts, pintucks and a blue sash to go round my waist. A10 wore the dress I made for my older brother’s wedding. It was violet and gold shot silk with lace inserts (yes I did like lace inserts) in the sleeves and a very full skirt which A10 spread dramatically about her on the couch as she acted. It was made from a dress which my great aunt had made herself. Aunty Dot was one of three aunts who taught and encouraged me to sew from an early age. The material is really quite beautiful, the light catches the violet, then the gold as the folds of the skirt move.

As I was describing the history of the two dresses to one of the other mothers she mentioned how she had slightly altered her mother’s 21st birthday dress to wear to her highschool graduation. I did exactly the same thing for my highschool formal. We still have that dress in the dress ups and it has been worn by many a “princess” or “bridesmaid”.

Ski day

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Everyone was all smiles at the beginning of our day of skiing in Gatineau Park. The nine of us had water and plenty of food packed. The temperature was -15, we had sunshine, no wind and about 3.5km steadily up hill to get to our lunch stop.

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B6 led the way and set a great pace which kept us going but didn’t stop us from enjoying some conversation along the way.img_2227crop.jpg

We stopped for lunch in one of the cabins maintained by the NCC for use by skiers and hikers. It is heated by a wood stove and there are tables and a clothes line for drying your gear while you rest and eat. Each table has a candle sconce on the wall beside it so you can eat by candle light if you are skiing at night like Andrew was last month. It was warm and we had plenty of food and even the very chilly outhouse experience didn’t dampen everyone’s spirits.

After lunch however, we began to hear a few differing views on what should happen next. The two adults had no intention of stopping yet but we had to play the Smarties card to keep some skiers going. The next leg of the trail was nowhere near as long as the first but a lot more encouragement was required. When we got there we were treated to a display of chickadees, at least eight bluejays as well as what we think was a purple finch.

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The trip back to the parking lot was mostly down hill much to everyone’s delight. B6 was pretty weary by then so he and I brought up the rear. We talked about his favourite books and movies and didn’t talk about our tired muscles. Once we hit the downhill sections he discovered he could practically sit on his skis and fly along so that is what he did, calling from behind,”I can’t stop, Mummy, you’d better go faster.”

We worked out that we had probably skied 11km and the concensus was that it had been a great day. We ended it by joining up with the dads, who had been at work all day, for for chili, beef stew and a tart bought on the way home.

New strategy

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We had a decent snowfall yesterday, about 15cm. It made for fairly heavy shoveling though, as it was not light fluffy snow, it was wet and mixed with ice pellets. The children and I tackled it twice and got it all cleared before Andrew came home. During the night the plow came through and cleared the street, leaving a mountain at the end of the driveway. This is all quite normal and manageable, except on the days when you leave the house to head to a violin lesson 15 minutes before the lesson is due to start and then find the mountain of snow at the end of the driveway which you know will take at least 20 minutes to clear and the lesson is 15 minutes away.

Today Andrew planned to clear it before I headed out. A10 went out first and was making a good start on it when a truck with plow attached came down the street. This was not a city plow just a contractor who clears people’s driveways. He saw our young ten year old digging away at the mountain and took pity on her. In a moment it was cleared away and she was smiling back at him. I have often been out shoveling the mountain when a truck with plow has gone by and never has one stopped for me.

So the new strategy is to send the young girl out with the shovel and if that stops working we have a younger, smaller child we can send out.

As the shoveling was done she was able to work on the real project, building forts. B6 came out, as did his friend across the road. This impressive castle now stands in the yard across the street. I believe most of the work was done by our neighbour, aided and abetted by the children.

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Birthday report#2

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My younger brother called to wish me a happy birthday at 7:45am. It was very nice to talk to him and especially nice that he managed to get the time difference right, a couple of times he has called at 2am in the morning! (and he is not the only one). We chatted and he gave me some feedback on the blog, which is good, because I really don’t know who is reading it. One of the motivations for starting it was the fact that all our extended family and many friends live in Australia and they don’t get letters from me, other than the Christmas epistle. So I was pleased that one of the people who doesn’t get mail from me was reading my news and views. His feedback made me laugh: less recipes, more sport! Sorry, there will be more recipes but I will also throw in some more sport if you like, especially when our softball season starts, you will be subjected to weekly reports.

I was then showered with gifts from my dear family. B6 had drawn some beautiful pictures for me. L12 and A10 had schemed together to make up a basket of goodies, some to eat, some to drink and something to listen to. My sweet husband had listened to my hints and I unwrapped “The Cosby Show” season 1, Norah Jones new cd and some more treats. Gifts from Australia had also arrived during the week, I feel very loved. I also enjoyed a birthday call from my mother-in-law and a few messages on the machine. During the morning friends dropped in with something very pretty from one of my favourite stores and again I felt blessed.

As we didn’t have to go anywhere in the morning, I set up the sewing machine and worked on a something I started in the Christmas break. It is my hope and plan to attend to the sorry state of window coverings in this house during 2007 and to do so at minimum cost. The first project is Roman blinds for my room. I am using some green cotton/linen curtains that I bought at a thrift store. Two blinds are finished except for the wooden rods and I was working on the larger, middle one this morning.

The afternoon was spent with the girls at a rehearsal while the boys went from store to store looking for Xcountry ski boots. We have just finished some delicious Chinese take out and are going to pile onto my bed to watch an episode from the Cosby Show. So thank you to my children and husband for your thoughtfulness and love for me today and everyday. Thank you to my family and friends near and far who thought of me today or any other day. Thank you, Lord for your faithfulness which is new every morning of every single day.