Tuesday

Lloyd went back to work on Tuesday :( boohoo.

Chris had the day off of school although we had to run in to school t pick up a recommendation from his drama teacher. He had his audition for Drama 10 at the high school he wants to attend downtown. He needs Drama 10 if he wants to get into the Directing program he wants to take.

We stopped off for lunch at McD's and the younger two had fun in the playground. Abby made friend with a bunch of girls in there and Chris and I hung out chatting.

Chris did well in his audition and won a place. He was also thrilled to find out an old girlfriend from his last school also has a place so he will know someone there when he starts in the Fall.

Laurie won a place on the school singles badminton team on Tuesday to - he has been trying out for three weeks so he is very proud :)

I'm sure other things happened Tuesday but I can't think what else happened :)

Playing catch up - Easter Monday.

The children played out on their quad bikes much of the day. I was extremely lazy and stayed in bed for AGES....it was LOVELY :) soaked in the bath :)

In the afternoon we all went bowling which was so much fun! I am totally useless at bowling and poor Susannah has inherited my usless bowling genes - to the point that her three year old brother beat her!!! It was a great time though! After bowling we all went out for pizza and pasta and had the restaurant to ourselves :) It was a lovely way to end Lloyds week off!

Home and the kids got ready for school (showers/ lunches etc) and Lloyd and I re-potted all the tomato plants and pumpkins. They are now so big and we have run out of space so they have taken over the dining table! Lloyd and I will have to eat off of our laps for a while which we don't like at all but the plants must come first!

My Mom has told us that the plants grew so big because they didn't get enough light!!! So they grew tall to reach the light! So we learned what NOT to do next year! We started too early this year and we didn't give them enough light! I like this experimenting :) We're writing it all down in Lloyds gardening journal ready for next year and keeping it with the gardening Bible Jennifer sent us :)

Gardening is fun! I'm glad you tempted us to get started Jennifer!!!

So that was our Easter Monday and the last day of Lloyds week off :(

No more Honeybees in the UK.....

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7240456.stm

No more bees in the UK within 10 years? Could it happen? And could Colony Collapse Disorder happen there too? What would this mean to the environment in the UK?

If the UK lost its honey bees the countryside would face devastation, and that is exactly what beekeepers fear could happen.

Imagine a country lane. Hawthorn hedgerow on either side, clouds scudding overhead, apple blossom drifting gently by, the only noise the gentle hum of honey bees and the chirping of birds. What could be a more idyllic vision of British country life?

Then fast-forward 10 years.

The hedgerow is deteriorating, the birds are silent, the orchard is disappearing and the countryside is changed. Why? The hives are empty. Their once-buzzing occupants mysteriously vanished.

Thinking of you!

A friend (and blog reader) is in hospital today having day surgery and I just want to say I am thinking of her.....as I have been all week as I know how anxious she has been leading up to today!

Anyway - I know everything is going to go really well and before you know it you'll be all recovered and back to running after those beautiful girls of yours again :)

Thinking of you!

For my Mum and Dad.

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.
There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...

On Wednesday my Mom and Dad said goodbye to their little cat Sammy. She had a severe heart attack. They have buried her at the top of their lovely garden over looking the fields...where they buried our dog Kelly. I'm sure they must be very upset as I know how attached they were to her - I haven't been able to speak to them yet although I've tried to phone a few times.

Sammy was kind of a stray kitten - a kitten from a local farm cat I think.....she was often walking around in their garden and they would feed her(my Dads a kind of sap where animals are concerned - kind of like us - he feeds all the wild animals too like the hedgehogs and foxes and badgers etc etc).......so they asked around if she belonged to anyone and when no none claimed her they kind of claimed her as theirs. Got all her vaccinations done etc etc. Sammys Mom would often come and visit her and sit with her in their garden for a while before heading back to the farm or wherever she came from......

I remember waking up a couple of mornings when we were staying there, to Sammy sitting on the floor beside my bed with her face an inch from mine - scared the hell out of me!!!!! lol! I guess she was probably trying to tell me to 'leave and take those noisy kids with you'!!!

Anyway, I know how upset I was when my cat Bailey died - I sat on the sofa and cried for three days...so I just wanted to say I am thinking of my Mom and Dad this week.....hope you are ok - I have tried to call and I left a message.

Lots of love
Jane

Egg painting fun.....

Everyone got to paint eggs today.....mine broke :( Laurie made egg stuffed olives, hitlers, shreks and spongebobs....the girls got creative with wax and dipping the eggs in the dyes....Lloyd and Sam painted with normal paints...Chris....he spent ages getting all artistic....

Lloyds egg painting

Lloyd really got into the egg painting....he painted peep on his egg!

Growing like weeds!

Our pumpkins, tomatoes of all kinds (including the seeds taken from my favourite fresh tomatoes that I buy in Costco) melons, asparagus, broccoli, are all doing so well we are a little worried that we started too early.....what should we do???? we need to repot again. We are running out of space!!!!! We now have stools to put them on until we buy a table.....my house is too small!!!! Next year we will have more space thankfully! Lloyd is thinking of investing in a greenhouse lol! He is LOVING this! He is so excited! he thinks he's going to win the Smoky Lake Pumpkin contest :) Hahahahahahaha

And the asparagus that is growing is like teeny tiny baby asparagus - its like teeny tiny asparagus spears - like miniature penises......or whatever the plural of penis is!!!

Gardening frenzy :)

Our plants are doing really well and A helps to check on them and water them regularly!

Egg painting

Painting eggs on Easter Day is always so much fun :) Even Daddy joins in the fun :)

Egg hunt......

This afternoon we had an egg hunt outside.....I haven't sorted many of the pictures though.......we're going to have another egg hunt tomorrow....we normally do two - one on Easter Sunday and one on Easter Monday (in England the Monday is a Bank Holiday so its the traditional holiday for us) and it means the chocolate and the fun gets spread out longer. The children had fun hunting for eggs this afternoon today though - one of the good things about havng so much land is having plenty of space to hide colourful eggs :)

The girls and their eggs :)

Sams egg....

Susan tagged me!

Susan from 'Its my Blog' (click on the link to the right to check out her fabby blog!) tagged me - I have to think of ten weird habits or facts about me. Then I have to tag five people - so basically if you read my blog and have a blog and haven't done this tag then YOU ARE TAGGED - so do this tag or start a blog and do this tag :)

Ok here are my ten things:

1. I buy lipsticks now and then....and I sometimes even put lipstick on if we are going out somewhere special...I may even make it to the end of our driveway with the lipstick still on...but then I will have to take out a kleenex and WIPE THAT YUCKY STUFF OFF because I HATE the feel of lipstick...I hate lip gloss and lip balm too. I even hate it when Sam and Abby put lip balm on and then come and kiss me....they love to do ths - they put fruity lip balm on and then come to give me a big kiss and you just can't say no to that can you?????? but it's yucky because I hate that yucky coated feeling on my lips and I have to wipe it off straight away. But I still occasionally buy lipstick. And for some reason always in almost the very same colour. This horrid kind of cappuccino colour......

2. I love bubble baths - I use about half a bottle of bubble bath in one bath. I get through a LOT of bubble bath - I throw in half a bottle of bubble bath and I even add shampoo and liquid soap to the mix too.....The bubbles are often pouring over the sides by the time I get in....I love it...I just love bubbles. Half way through I tend to pour in more bubble bath when I add more hot water. I don't have baths to get clean - I shower to get clean - baths are for relaxing and they just aren't the same without bubbles - so even with Lush products I add bubble bath to make more bubbles...
Sam loves sharing a bath with me because he practically disappears under the bubbles :)

3. I have a thing about spiral bound notebooks.....I have a drawer full of them. I find them hard to resist. Lloyd knows this and often surprises me with them from work. Staples is like spiral bound notebook heaven....so is Zellers at back-to-school time! The problem is that I rarely use them...I use the little ones but the big ones I rarely use because I don't like to spoil them. So I have this huge drawer full that I will use 'one day' but that day never seems to arrive.......they don't even have to be pretty or have special covers....but some of the ones Lloyd gets at work have these plastic pockets in the back that you can put things in - and wow those just make me go crazy :)

4. I can pop a ping pong ball out of my you-know-what :)

5. I quite like going to Home Depot now and then - sometimes they have interesting things to look at - but today I realised that six times in one week is JUST TOO MUCH and I very nearly LOST IT!!!!!! In the UK they have craft sections in Home Decor stores - they need to do that here - I could have been looking round the scrapbooking section while Lloyd was picking plumbing supplies!

6. My Venus is unaspected in my birth chart. This means:

You are cheerful, prepossessing, and primarily attuned to that which is pure, lovely, and of good report. You possess a childlike artlessness and naturalness, not because you are naive about what life is "really like," but because you have an uncompromising determination to enjoy yourself and to keep your spirits high, come what may. You know in your heart that life's rewards and pleasures are right there for the taking; you don't put a morass of complications (like feelings of guilt, shame, or lack of worth) in the path of your desires, but rather reach out unabashedly to take whatever you want from life without any need for coyness or pretense. You are open to receive from others (rather than impelled by a need to grab from them, as aspected Venus is) because you are moved by a genuine playfulness. You don't bog yourself down in tricky power manipulations since your only interest in other people is to feel good. If something isn't fun, or can't be made to be fun, then you don't much bother with it.

7. I have an addictive personality I'm sure. I love drugs. I love sleeping tablets - that woozy feeling when they start to kick in.....like alcohol before you start to feel ill. I am obsessional about things before I get bored too. I avoid commitment because I know I get bored easily. I love the obsessional part but once I get over that stage I know I will get bored very easily and won't be interested in the slightest. The only way to keep my interest is if the results are instantaneous. I guess thats why Lloyd and my blog have survived the test of time lol! Sometimes a fresh way of looking at something revives an old interest.....or I have to be cajoled into it...or the change of season pushes me into seeing it with new eyes again....

8. I don't see the point of the parents evenings at school/ meet the teacher nights or whatever they call them here. I think they are a waste of time. I hate them. Its this week and I probably won't bother going and the teachers will probably think we are shitty parents - in fact I KNOW they have asked my Son why we don't go (he told her I was scared I'd be struck by lightening when I walk in the door because I'm Atheist) I think schools suck to be honest. Most teachers piss me off. There have been very few of my childrens teachers that I have actually liked. Most of them have had attitude that I just couldn't STAND!!!!!

9. I make lists about everything...but not shopping lists. I very rarely make shopping lists - and when I do I forget to take them. But I do make lists about things I want to do - plans I have for Summer, letters I want to write to people, things I want to blog, crafts to do with the children, books to read, facts to remember, questions to answer, websites to check out.......

10. I am not very good at remembering things. I am terribly unorganized - hopeless to be honest! I really should have a calendar or diary..but I'm not organized enough to have one! But I am VERY good at remembering to put the enzymes down the toilet each week for the septic system :) and a good job too because Lloyd would NEVER remember :) He never remembers to de-clog the salt from the distiller!!! I am the enzyme Queen :) But yuck - enzymes smell like fish :(

When the bees arrive.....

This is kind of neat to watch as it shows what happens when your package of bees arrives....how to get them into the hive and how to settle your Queen...

Anyway...I thought some of you might be interested to see what happens and what is involved....

Lloyd is still keen for me to get my hive this year but I'm not sure.....I think he may call them on Tuesday to see if we still have time to order them this year......I guess I really should get my act together and go chat up my neighbours - I have to notify all neighbours whose land touches mine and tell them I'm going to have a hive......I'm sure they won't mind unless they have a bee allergy in the family.....I know Mary is an avid gardener so perhaps she will be thrilled to have bees to help her plants....everyone else though I'm not so sure. I plan to print out some facts on bees to let them now what bees are really like - so many people get the confused with wasps.....I need to get a permit from the county too and need to register with Alberta but that can be done with the people we're ordering from so thats easy.....apart from that we just order......

Hhhmmmmm what to do...what to do??????