Danica's First Day of School v3.0

Well, she's off on year 3 in her formal education, which is grade 1 (or the first grade for Americans). Once again, I got her to the bus stop and snapped pictures with abandon.

Here she is on her way to the bust stop, little brother, who begins on Friday, trailing behind with shovel and warrior's hatchet. You can see the congregation of kids and parents beginning to collect across the street.

Ready to cross. Be careful, there's a car coming.

Little brother seems to require some consoling as everyone mills about. He'll need more on Friday.

The lineup is beginning to form. Not all are exactly ecstatic, but of course Danica is.

The lineup is complete, and we all wait for the bus which is a wee bit late on the first morning. In an earlier picture, some lady was concerned that I got her in the picture. I told her that it wouldn't be in the paper. I possibly didn't say it all that endearingly.

Danica in the line: Miss Pleasant Personality.

Seated and ready to go.

Before we know it, I'll be taking pictures of the last day.

An Ending

Phew waddaweek! We spent our last week minding the kids, or at least minding the both of them. We've spent about 4.5 years out of the past 6 doing this, and our stint is almost over although we have JJ for 3 days next week before he heads to big boy school. Danica will start on Tuesday and JJ on Friday. After taking a break for holidays, we will still get them on and off the bus for 3 days a week, but the main task is over.

It's been both great and difficult at times, but I am glad that we did this and got to know them so well. Now, we more or less go back to our lives as they once were -- just older and stiffer.

This past week was a killer for me. To begin, I was going on fumes after 6 very poor nights. The latest I slept in that time was 5:30, and the earliest that I got up was 2:30. However, I did get a few more hours later after the 2:30 rising. I tell you, though, it was driving me crazy, and I was pretty doggone beat. It's not that I go to bed all that early either.

The week was also difficult weather-wise. There was always the threat of rain, so it was difficult to plan picnics or other events. When it wasn't raining, it was really humid, and we felt quite shut up in the house. Sue and I were miserably hot on the one picnic that we managed to take them to. We did get them into the pool twice, which was very good because JJ took another leap forward, managing to dog paddle across the whole pool all on his own. He did this a number of times and was enormously pleased with himself, as well he should have been.

There were other events, which I am sure Sue will cover this week, but here are a few pics from the week.

JJ leapt farther and with greater abandon than ever before.

Buppa did a fair amount of dwarf tossing.

He dogpaddled all by himself, but Buppa stayed close by in case he needed help.

We have enjoyed good times in the pool this summer.

On the final day of the week, we went back to the chip truck for the second time this summer. The kids waited patiently for the order to be ready.

I will probably post some more cottage pictures in coming days, but this seemed like the appropriate post for now.

There and Back

We made it back in one piece after really enjoying our week away. We had very nice weather for the most part, and we did a lot of reading and relaxing.

I guess it goes without saying that I have tons of photos, but here are just a few -- for now, at least.

Let's begin with the screened-in, converted planer mill that looks toward the old barn in this photo.

We spent a lot of time reading in here. I converted part of the next one to b&w to emphasize the colour of the blooming goldenrod outside.

We pitched a tent and slept in it for 4 nights of the 7 that we were there. On the first night we were awakened by a pack of yipping and howling coyotes. I think they were close by but on the other side of the road.

We enjoyed bright moonlight with several nights of a full moon or close to it.

This is the view of the farmhouse from close to where we pitched the tent.

Lots of these wildflower, which I am told are called The Devil's Paintbrush, were blooming around the place.

That's the broad overview -- for now, at least.

Gone Away but not Fishing

We're heading to the cottage today. For a day or a week. Who knows?

I thought I would post some past photos that I may very well have posted before.

This structure was once a little planer mill. Brian did some work on it, and turned it into a nice, mostly bug-free place to sit and visit, read or do nothing, The second photo, below, is of part of the inside at night.
 

Then there is the old barn.

The next two photos are of the inside of the old barn, the first upstairs (loft) and the second downstairs.

There is a new barn, which isn't at all new. Painted.

Finally: a shot of a bit of the property.

I could go on and on, for I haven't yet shown the river that borders the property. One could fish in there, but that doesn't exactly grab this guy.

The Curious Case of the Droopy Eyelid

Our oldest, Shauna, has never been thrilled with her droopy left eye -- or eyelid to be more precise.

Neither I, Sue, nor our parents have a droopy eye.

But in perusing the family album, I noticed something.

This is my grandfather.

And his father -- my great grandfather.

But that particular gene, skipped my father.

And me.

So, if I understand the math, there was only a 1 in 8 probability that Shauna would inherit this gene, and while there was a 50% chance that her kids would inherit, neither did.

This kind of thing just interests me. That's all this is about. Besides, she doesn't really suffer in looks.

View from the Bridge

With apologies to Arthur Miller for the title, here are some photos on and from the railway bridge. Not to worry, the tracks have been removed. To worry: there are no railings.

Before I go any further, let me acknowledge my senility by confessing that I forgot to check blogs for about a week. Sad, I know. In fact, I might have forgotten for longer, if Sue hadn't asked me if I had read a certain post.

I have visited the bridge on my own in the past and took this photo earlier.

But I thought the kids might enjoy it. I thought about it for awhile before I took them up there, but I held on very tightly, and they really liked the experience.

I got very nervous when they picked up stones to throw into the river because they started really leaning toward the edge.

So, we didn't stay too long after that.

I did, however, go back on my own to take some more pictures. These were taken just after sunset, so they are supposed to be a little dark.

I like the lighting on the townhall, but I wish someone would cut the trees, which almost obstruct the view.

In the other direction lies one of the three bridges -- four if you count the one on the bypassing highway -- to cross the river in Carleton Place. Obviously this is the least used one. I toned the two versions a bit differently.

Chicks and Chips

July was a pretty busy month, three weeks being spent with Danica and Jonathan. They are travelling this week and will be with another care provider for the two ensuing weeks, so grandma and Grandpa can recuperate.

So, I am going back through the photos and found this little series.

What's in the box?

Many little chicks.

Yes, during the summer, the Country Depot gets a shipment on every second Wednesday. JJ has seen them before, but since Dani is usually in school this was her first exposure.

So, I was able to prove that a guy is never too old to pick up chicks.

Everybody had an opportunity to pet the wee thing.

Then we toured the nursery part of the place, and Danica behaved like a prim and proper young lady.

Then, they sat around for awhile.

Finally, it was off to the chip truck for our treat of the day.

Where grandma and granddaughter enjoyed a moment before the chips (fries) were ready.