Tuesday, June 28th - another great week, now that summer is finally here

Wednesday evening, I had the pleasure of attending a Small Halls performance in St. Peter's with Brenda, Meghan and Maureen. The Songwriters circle included  Catherine MacLellan , Stephen Fearing,Tim Chaisson and Sherman Downey. Meghan drove as she had just picked up her new car!  Great night was had by all.






Thursday afternoon, I arrived home from work and was greeted to a new chair sitting on my back step.  We have a very talented friend who makes these chairs with a particular wood he sources in the woods in the spring.  He's made some pretty interesting pieces over the years and I'm very thrilled to add one of his creations to my new flower bed. A huge thanks to Richard.






Friday was our weekly Capture the Queen of Hearts and we were pleased to have her captured! Thus ends our weekly Friday night events, at least until the fall. Congrats to the winner, Darcy Dunn of Fort Augustus. He wasn't there so his mom drew the card for him. A huge thanks will be going to her I expect.

Work is still progressing slowly on the little barn. Weather was great on the weekend so more got done.  Meanwhile the goats are enjoying exploring a new little structure that's out in their field. The roof seems to be the most interesting place to hang out!





Lloyd's flight to the Azores is booked, after quite a  few technical glitches. A huge thank you to Patti for persevering and getting it looked after. It was truly a challenge but she succeeded! I know he's really looking forward to his trip and he's got lots to do before he goes. Hopefully he works well under pressure!

Well, we were truly blessed by the weather gods on Saturday and Sunday. I had planned to ride my bike to work on Saturday morning but had trouble starting it - again. (Just as well, because I realized on Sunday that I'm jut not ready to head to town yet. A little bit of practice is in order). So Brenda met me in town and we headed out for a little tour, with me following in the Miata. Good thing it turns out as we needed the extra cargo space in the end. We met up at Jewell's for ice cream and to pick up a couple of plants for Brenda's garden. The we headed cross country and criss crossed our way around before ending up back in town. A call from the guys indicated they were planning a little guys get together and they needed some supplies, such as beer, etc. Good thing we had the car.

After getting all our shopping done, we headed home. Some lobsters had been ordered the previous evening so Brenda came over and we dined on lobster and wine in bug free comfort, while the boys fought off the mosquitoes beside the creek and BBQ'd sausages.  To each his own!

Sunday was yet again another gorgeous day, with temperatures in the high 20's. Brenda's cousin and his wife were over for a few days so we all met up in Cardigan for breakfast. Lloyd and Bernie were headed out for a bike ride. After breakfast we all went our separate ways.  I took the scenic route home and cut some grass when I got back. Then it was don all the leather gear to meet Brenda for a bike ride. I missed her call and got to her house where we decided it was really way too hot to have an enjoyable ride. I was really needing to go out to a vacant parking lot and do some practicing so I left my bike at her place. Not doing much riding the past two years has left me a little rusty. Better to get in a bit of practice before hitting the road too seriously...








Instead we headed back to my place where we shelled some of the lobster to make lobster rolls.

Our plans were for a supper on the beach later, the first one of the season!  We all met at Lakeside around 6:30 and enjoyed salads and lobster rolls as well as a beverage. Really, does it get any better??? Well actually, yes it does. Lobster season ends this week so we won't have to eat any more of those dreadful little critters. They do get tiresome after a while. One more meal last night and thankfully we're done until next year!!!- just kidding.  We will eagerly await our first feed again next spring.






The beach had a few people on it when we got there, which was no surprise as the temperature was 27'..  The people who had been there all day were just leaving as we arrived so we pretty much had the place to ourselves. 




Meghan came out on Monday evening and four of us did a few rounds on our bikes at the school then we were off.  A short practice run out through Bethel,  around and back through Fort Augustus gave us novices a good  little start. Each ride builds confidence.

Tuesday, June 21st - Goats can be crafty - literally!

Lloyd is still working slowly on his barn. It's not always easy with the help he has. There are three goats who hang around and tend to steal things and walk away with them if they can get them into their mouths.  In fact the whole weekend was all about the goats, but not necessarily in a good way!  Saturday was an absolutely beautiful day. It started out great with Lloyd and I meeting the flying club in town for breakfast. When it was time for me to go to work, I dropped him off at the bike shop where he picked up my little yellow beast and rode it home for me. She's now running like a charm, unfortunately I didn't have a chance to get out on it over the weekend. But there will be other opportunities.

Always looks so nice right after mowing the lawn

After work it was home to help out with some yard chores. I cut grass while Lloyd continued on with
his project.  We finished up the day with a quick but tasty supper upstairs on the garage sun porch. I put the card table and chairs in one corner and it makes a lovely spot to eat supper - not too sunny, nice breeze (if the wind is the right direction), great view, and best of all, NO BUGS!





Everything seemed in order until I later went upstairs to go to bed. I looked out the back window just in time to see three goats strolling down the lane away from the garage. This can't be good! So it was outside for Lloyd to round everyone up and get them back It seems the little beggers didn't mind going between the strings on the fence to go for a walk regardless of how many volts of electricity runs through them.

Sunday morning we were up early to try to figure out something for the fence as well as continue with

Watch for an update next week!

yard work.  We really needed to cut the grass behind the house but a collections of large rocks that had been hauled out of the cellar, was kind of impeding progress. I had glued some ceramic numbers into one of them and wanted it moved to the end of the yard. (We had picked up the numbers back in 2010 when we were in Arizona and still hadn't done anything with them.) Neighbour Frank to the rescue. He happened to come over early in the morning as he needed Lloyd to give him a hand with something. Then he came over with his tractor and bucket and moved the rocks down the
lane.


We still had several large boulders that needed to be moved, but to where? Problem solved. We have a large hole in our front yard that was one time a well. It's sunk down over the years and is now quite a size. So we placed the boulders around the outside and then Frank brought over a bucket of dirt and we filled it in. Instant flower bed!All it needs now is some flowers...



After working all morning., we were ready for a break. It was a beautiful hot sunny day, just begging for us to go for a drive. We put the top down on the little car and headed into town. Lloyd had a couple of things to pick up at Canadian Tire and I wanted to get some flowers for my new plot.  We stopped first and had some lunch, then headed to Canadian Tire. When we finished there we left town and stopped at Jewell's for some bedding flowers and ice cream, before heading back home.

You can imagine our surprise when we got back home to find the gate open and no goats to be seen (except Eddie, as he has his own little yard).  We were afraid they had gotten out on the road and wandered off. We searched everywhere and then Lloyd asked if the door was open at the top of the stairs in the garage. Sure enough, there were the three of them wandering around upstairs in my craft room!  I know they're curious but seriously???  Good thing one of the items we had purchased while out was new latches for their gates.

It's never boring at our house, I can tell you!

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Had a great time on Wednesday evening helping celebrate Meghan's birthday.  A good time was had by all and it was specially nice for the VanGaal family to have all the kids home at once, something that doesn't happen too often anymore.  (Hopefully someone got a photo without the demonic looking eyes!)

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Meghan (2) and her friends returned safely home from a school trip to Ottawa, which was not without it's excitement. They truly enjoyed the city and have brought back many memories including the Great KD Caper (and that's all we're going to say about that but they know the story!) Glad to hear that everyone had a wonderful time visiting our nation's capital.

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And finally, after returning from my brief visit to Guelph, I saw this post on the dance schools page. I hope they don't mind that I copied it.  I found it very inspirational and a great answer to that age old question frequently asked of dance parents - or any other extracurricular activity their kids might be involved in...

                                                                                                                           FROM A DANCE PARENT:

• One of my friends asked "Why do you pay so much money and spend so much time running around for your daughter to dance ?" Well I have a confession to make: I don't pay for my daughter's dance lessons. Or her pointe, Jazz, or tap shoes. Or her hundreds of costumes.
  
  So, if I am not paying for dance , what am I paying for? - I pay for those moments when my girl becomes so tired she feels like quitting but doesn't.. - I pay for the opportunity that my girl can have and will have to make life-long friendships. - I pay for the chance that she may have amazing instructors that will teach her that dance is not just about movement but about life. - I pay for my child to learn to be disciplined. - I pay for my girl to learn to take care of her body. - I pay for my daughter to learn to work with others and to be a proud , supportive, kind and respectful team member. - I pay for my child to learn to deal with disappointment, when she doesn't get that score she hoped for , or fell during a move she has practiced a thousand times, but still gets up and is determined to do her BEST next time... - I pay for my girl to learn to make and accomplish goals. - I pay for my daughter to learn that it takes hours and hours and hours and hours of hard work and practice to create a champion, and that success does not happen overnight. - I pay so that my daughter can be in the studio instead of in front of a screen... I could go on but, to be short, I don't pay for dance; I pay for the opportunities that dance provides my child to develop attributes that will serve her well throughout her life and give her the opportunity to bless the lives of others. From what I have seen for many, many years, I think it is a great investment!
  
  Author : S.Martin 

Tuesday, June 14th - a whirlwind visit to Guelph as well as "Mr. Edwards and the 3 little pigs!"

 Okay, go and grab another coffee, and sit down, this could take a few minutes!

I learned from my daughter many years ago, with a bit of planning, you'd be surprised how much can be crammed into just a short time. It went something like this:

I arrived in Toronto at 7:00 on Thursday morning. Picked up my rental car and headed to Brampton where I was to pick up some soap making supplies at 10:00, followed by:.

• Lunch with some old friends
• Tea with Fran and Janet, and construction of a birthday card for our friend, George, who was turning 80  (Happy Birthday, George)
• Visiting with a lady who used to live here on the island and now lives in Guelph
• Drop off and pick up Tristen at Karate for his rehearsal for Friday night

Friday was equally busy:

• Breakfast with the Balnar crew
• Help (briefly) with salad prep for lunch for the band at the highland games on Saturday
• Meeting with our financial advisor
• Lunch with Helen in Fergus

Helen and me on her balcony

• Home in time to change to attend the Black Belt Spectacular - which really was spectacular!
• Leave Black Belt Spectacular in time to catch the evening performance of the recital with Lynn, which totally blew us away again this year. What an amazing group of dancers they have all turned out to be.

Saturday - more of the same

• Up early to help assemble potato salad, cole slaw and pack up with desserts for travel to Georgetown
• Arrive in time for James first competition

Performing for the judge

Critique from the judge

• Head back to Guelph in time to change and meet with Nancy for the afternoon recital. Tristen and Greg met up with Nancy and I and we enjoyed the show together

Nancy and me

Back row- Nancy, Patti, Julianne, Pat, Front row - Meg and Tristen

• Head back to Patti's to make a quick supper.
• Movie night with Patti and the two younger  kids (although to be perfectly honest, she and I missed bits of the movie as we both took turns falling asleep) 

Needless to say it was a very busy few days. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of Tristen at his peformance and I don't yet have any recital photos. (there will be videos of both coming at a later date)

I was up and out the door by 5:30 on Sunday morning and was grateful to make my early flight, landing me in Charlottetown by 11:20 am.

Mr. Edwards - aka Eddie

I called Lloyd and he drove into town to meet me. I was starving so we stopped in at Boom Burger as it was on our way. We were headed to DeSable to pick up our new goat - Mr. Edwards  (or Eddie for short).  Somehow we missed the turn off and ended up at Bordon-Carlton so had to turn back.  My mood was somewhat less than perfect. I was very tired by this point and the cold wet weather didn't help my disposition. It had been sunny and warm/hot for the entire time I was in Guelph and it was so disappointing to come back to this - still.

The 3 little pigs already enjoying rooting around in the mud

We finally found our destination and loaded Mr. Edwards into the box on the back of the truck. We got home where I was introduced to the three little pigs. They had arrived on Saturday.




The trusses are finished and on the top of the frame for the barn so quite a bit of work was done while I was away.  Once we got the goats all settled in, it was into the house to still more work. I begged off and took a 20 minute nap as I was exhausted.  When I got up, 20 minutes later, it was time to finish the sausages Lloyd had started. The meat mixture was all done and in the fridge but 25 pounds of meat had to be stuffed into casings. And here I was expecting and hoping for a nice quiet, relaxing evening. Lloyd had to go to bed as he was off to work at midnight so we packaged the sausages and we

Sausages, sausages and more sausages!

finished with a quick meal of cheese, pate, crackers, bread and a delight I'd had at Helen's - a Melton Mowbray Pork Pie. I'd never heard of it before but I quite liked it and I knew that Lloyd would probably like it as well. I found out where she got hers and picked one up on my way back to Guelph. It did cause a slight bit of questioning at security on Sunday morning but in the end they decided it didn't pose any threat to crew members (other than a few extra pounds if they ate it!).

All in all, it was a very busy few days but I got to see all three kids in action as well as catch up with some old friends. There were a few that got missed and for that I apologize. There's only so much can be packed into such a short space of time.  Next time!

I finally did get into my nice hot relaxing bath on Sunday evening. I was checking email on my Ipad as I'd been sorely out of touch for three days. Lo and behold, it seems James has discovered another way to utilize his piping talents, at the Guelph Multicultural Festival on Sunday afternoon (these people never stop!)   Some other musician friends have formed a band and invited him to participate as one of the songs requires a piper...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpKER5uIlms&feature=youtu.be#t=76.247097

PS Happy Birthday to Meghan Van Gaal on Wednesday and welcome home Caitlyn and Mike

Tuesday, June 7th - a bit of a whirlwind week

We were very busy this week and not a lot got done, but there were some high points in spite of it (or because of it!)

We were pleased to spend a few days with an old friend from Guelph, who now lives in Brockville. Trish and Steph have been friends for a very long time. Unfortunately Trish wasn't with him but we were very happy to host Steph. Needless to say a few bottles of wine may have been consumed!

Friday night was our trivia at the Rec Centre and then I met up with the guys at Peakes Tee for some wings.

One of my evenings was spent baking a birthday cake for our friends daughter who was turning 3 on Saturday. She wanted a puppy cake so that's what was attempted and apparently it was a bit success.

Lillian and her mom Willow with the puppy cake

Saturday afternoon a group of people convened at the Rec Centre again, to help prepare for the fund raiser that was being held on Sunday. Then it continued early on Sunday morning. I met up with Brenda who was out in a field collecting apple blossoms. I assisted (only slightly, I might add) with putting together the centrepieces for the tables. She used the apple blossoms and some bleeding hearts from her garden and they turned out absolutely lovely. She definitely has a knack for this sort of thing and a great eye for what works and what doesn't.

Waiting to go on the tables

Sunday afternoon was spent at the dinner helping out there, then I headed home. I had to drop my little car off for some repair work and Lloyd had a pile of boards that needed to be moved into the garage for his roof trusses. Now he can work on those inside, in spite of the weather. Sunday night the skies were rather ominous looking after supper and they certainly looked like we were in for some wet weather and sure enough, that's what Monday was all about - cold and wet..

The early part of this week will be busy getting ready for my trip to Toronto. I'll be leaving early on Thursday morning and returning back to the island on Sunday. We'll see how much progress is made when I'm gone and not in the way!