Conditions at 6:00 am: 19' and a few clouds
Expected later: 24' and mix of sun and cloud with rain this evening
Gosh, where do I begin - at the beginning of the weekend I suppose.
Friday:
We were up late Thursday night at the track but I was up by 7:00 on Friday morning. Brenda popped over and we had toast and jam and tea before either of us got our days off to a start. James was up soon after. We planned when best to go kayaking as it was quite overcast in the morning but was promising to be a nice day. After she left James and I went outside and stacked some firewood. He was getting quite good at starting and stopping the lawn mower by himself but I still wasn't comfortable enough for him to actually cut any grass. But he had fun driving the tractor with the little trailer on the back. Later in the morning Brenda called to say she was down the road picking raspberries and would be along shortly with the truck. So we got ready to go and when she arrived we loaded my boat into the truck then we took the car and followed. When we got to her house we loaded her kayak and James and I were off. He informed me he'd never actually been in a kayak by himself, only with another person so I was surprised at how really well he did. We paddled around the little lake in Tarantum and had a great time. When we were done we took Brenda's back to her place and dropped it off then dropped mine and came back with the truck.
Brenda asked if we would mind dropping off the boxes at Coffins from her berry picking in the so while we were there we decided to pick a couple of boxes for ourselves. When we got home with our berries, we were deciding what to do with them and James suggested we should make some jam. I got our my preserving book and inside was a recipe for Raspberry Blueberry jam. He said, oh grandma, it's too bad we don't have any blueberries. I said well actually, if he wanted to go for a walk in the back field he would find lots. So away he went and quite some time later, arrived with a basket of freshly picked blueberries. I have to say he did a really great job - I think there were about 20 stems in the whole box - very impressive picking, James. By this time we were both a little tired so I made us some lunch and we sat on the couch and watched some TV while we ate. I than kind of dozed a little while he watched TV then he fell asleep on the couch so I let him sleep for a while. Brenda called later to advise what time we were meeting to go for our bike ride. So we got suited up and ready to roll. Brenda arrived first and Bernie was soon behind her. James rode with Bernie and I think he enjoyed himself. We went to Cardigan and had a lovely dinner out on the patio. The plan was to go back to VanGaals for dessert- fresh made raspberry and cream cheese pie. On our way back I stopped at home and picked up the car and headed to their house only to find a slight change in plans. Bernie had to haul some grain and Brenda had to drive him to where the truck was. When we got there, James went with Bernie in the big truck and we followed. James had picked up a bunch of grain in the field and was fascinated at the fact that the seeds out of these plants could be ground up to make flour. More on that later. Brenda and I picked up James when the truck reached it's destination, as it was going to take quite a while for it be unloaded. We went back to the house and had our pie and tea then we were off as they had to get up early in the morning to head for Moncton. It turned out to be a later evening than expected but a fun one.
Saturday:
The day dawned a little cloudy but promised to get warmer and sunnier. James was intrigued with the the grains of wheat (which I later learned were actually rye, but not a problem). Anyway, he got out the mortar and pestle and spent quite a long time grinding it up. He only had a little bit of grain but I also had a jar of wheat berries so he used that. He quickly realized how long it takes to grind flour by hand so I helped with the coffee grinder and in not very long we had enough flour to make one cup. We found a recipe for scones in the Lucy Maud Montgomery cookbook I have and we used James' flour and some regular flour to make them. They turned out great and he really enjoyed them. But no time to dawdle this morning. Our day was taking us to Roma at Three Rivers, a national historic sight that was celebrating with a Heritage Festival. We headed out around 11:00 and stopped at the grocery store in Montague to pick up some pectin for our jam, later. For such a young kid I'm always amazed at how interested he is in historic things. He really liked the clay oven where the bread was being baked. Another highlight of the day was a visit by Chef Michael Smith, who did a talk about bread. Before that we went over to chat with him and brought a copy of the photo of James and his bread for him to autograph. He looked at it and said, "Wait, have I seen this picture before?" I reminded him that we had emailed it to him when he was at the Olympics. He was very interested to meet James and had a great chat and told him how proud of him and his bread he was. He signed the photo and took another one with James. When the bread demo was done he insisted on staying for more presentations. He really enjoys learning all that historical stuff. He was an eager participant in the demonstration of dancing in the 1700's, much to the delight of the girl who was doing the presentation. Reluctantly, it was all too soon time to go.
On the way home, I was tired from being outside all day and the last thing I felt like doing was going to work at the Rec Centre.James seemed to be tired as well and I wasn't sure taking him there would be a good idea. When we got home, I asked him what he wanted to do. He is such an amazing kid with a wonderful sense of obligation. After pointing out that Brenda was away, so they would be short two people if we didn't go. What could I say? He was, of course, obviously right. So I went inside to change and we left right away. Once we got there and we got busy it was fine and he really enjoyed himself. There were some other kids there and he just made himself right at home. He fit right in and did a great job of helping. I received a lot of compliments on how cute he was, what a hard worker he was, how well mannered he was... I just told everyone he takes after his grandmother (not really but it was tempting). It was another late night when we got home - leaving the rec centre at 10:45.
Sunday:
We may have finally worn him out. Sunday morning I got up about 8:00 and Jame slept in until 10:45. I had the chance to do a couple of things around the house and I made our jam. When he got up, we played a bit more of our ongoing monopoly game, which was set up on the kitchen table and we picked up whenever we were in the house for more than five minutes at a time, which really wasn't that often. We headed out around lunch time and went to Founder Hall where the Euro-bobble was set up. Basically a large hamster wheel for humans in a pool of water. It was a huge amount of fun but a lot of work. The time inside was about 5 to 6 minutes and before he got in James was wishing he could go in for half an hour. By the time he got out, he was glad it was only that short of a time - he said it felt like half an hour because you never stopped moving for the entire time. It was truly an amazing and unique experience. There was all kinds of activities going on downtown so we strolled along the shops and picked up a Cows ice cream on the way. When we were done we headed out to Bonshaw. It wasn't very busy at all so we didn't have to wait long for anything. First we did the go Karts and then the bumper boats. These were followed by a game of mini putt, at which I got seriously beaten. But it was lots of fun. Another turn around the go kart track completed our day. All too soon it was time to go but Patti wasn't now due in until 7:30 so we went back home for a bit and then when she called to say she was on the plane in Halifax we left at the same time. The travel time was going to be about the same for both of us - and it was. We got there just in time to see the plane touch down and before we knew it we were headed downtown to Peakes for something to eat. Brenda and Bernie had gotten into town earlier and we joined them. They had already eaten but had their dessert and tea with us. A great end to a great weekend. Now it is Monday morning, and with any luck Patti and James got out early this morning.
I think he had fun while he was here - I know I did.
The day dawned a little cloudy but promised to get warmer and sunnier. James was intrigued with the the grains of wheat (which I later learned were actually rye, but not a problem). Anyway, he got out the mortar and pestle and spent quite a long time grinding it up. He only had a little bit of grain but I also had a jar of wheat berries so he used that. He quickly realized how long it takes to grind flour by hand so I helped with the coffee grinder and in not very long we had enough flour to make one cup. We found a recipe for scones in the Lucy Maud Montgomery cookbook I have and we used James' flour and some regular flour to make them. They turned out great and he really enjoyed them. But no time to dawdle this morning. Our day was taking us to Roma at Three Rivers, a national historic sight that was celebrating with a Heritage Festival. We headed out around 11:00 and stopped at the grocery store in Montague to pick up some pectin for our jam, later. For such a young kid I'm always amazed at how interested he is in historic things. He really liked the clay oven where the bread was being baked. Another highlight of the day was a visit by Chef Michael Smith, who did a talk about bread. Before that we went over to chat with him and brought a copy of the photo of James and his bread for him to autograph. He looked at it and said, "Wait, have I seen this picture before?" I reminded him that we had emailed it to him when he was at the Olympics. He was very interested to meet James and had a great chat and told him how proud of him and his bread he was. He signed the photo and took another one with James. When the bread demo was done he insisted on staying for more presentations. He really enjoys learning all that historical stuff. He was an eager participant in the demonstration of dancing in the 1700's, much to the delight of the girl who was doing the presentation. Reluctantly, it was all too soon time to go. 
No comments:
Post a Comment